Re - Starting......

Good Evening Internet Friends.

Well, as my son would say "Re-Starting".  The weekend is over and it's back to work and school for one final week before Christmas Holiday's begin for both of us.

Yesterday was ridiculously cold.  Somewhere in the -35 C (-31 Fahrenheit) and the wind was strong.  We did not leave the house yesterday.  It was a pajama day.  We watched movies, made popcorn and had hot chocolate a few times.  In between fun I organized my quilting patterns and knitting patterns into their proper folders, organized some of my craft projects, sewed on a couple of projects and made Sticky Pecan Buns:

Finished wrapping the Christmas presents for under the tree.  Put the extra leaf into the dining table and started to put out the Christmas runners and placemats.

And yes, we are currently using up a stash of party napkins that I found from various birthday parties over the years ☺

Today we ran a few errands and got parcels in the mail (late.....I know).  

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Grateful

Good Evening Internet Friends!

It is officially the start of the Christmas Season in Kathy's world.  I LOVE Christmas.  It is my absolute favorite holiday.  

Yesterday while kiddo and I were out we discovered what I think are the MOST beautiful poinsettia plants.  You may remember that my son used to sell poinsettia's as a school fundraiser.  Each year our close friends would always receive one of these as their Christmas present from our family.  My son no longer attends that school, but every year I still keep the tradition of the poinsettia gift going.

This year I decided that I would not only gift these to the usual poinsettia gift friends, but also my friends who have been there for me over a very difficult time in my life.  Not only did these friends all receive a poinsettia, they all received a poinsettia in a Kathy color and with GLITTER!!!!!

This is my poinsettia on the dining table!  I LOVE the color!

Now for gifting it to the friends I wanted them to know that not only was this a gift like previous years.  It was also a Thank You for how truly grateful I am to all of them for the support they have been over the last year.  That meant I needed to make a card.  Don't get me wrong....I have made a few cards over the last year just because I had to, but today was different.  I wanted to make these cards.

Here is the card I made:

I had so much fun making this card and even remembered why I used to like making cards ☺ Plus I got to use glitter .....

The last card and poinsettia was delivered this afternoon to a friend and colleague of mine who has been encouraging me to join a women's group that she belongs to.  For that I am truly grateful.  I met a fabulous group of women, who truly care for, love and support each other.  Today was their last get together of the year due to Christmas activities and as such their Christmas Party.  Guess what we participated in at the Christmas party.........Card Making!!!!

I did have to fix a couple of these when I got home as some ink ran, but otherwise I LOVE these cards.  They made me happy not only making them but also being with other people who are so super supportive of each other.

For my family, my friends, and for all the support I have received this past year and the ability to really and truly look forward to Christmas this year (not just going through the motion like last year) I am so very truly Grateful.

I hope this inspires your own creativity.......I know mine has been sparked again ☺

Kathy

Poinsettia Thank You Cards

Good Evening Internet Friends!

Every year my son's school does a fundraiser selling poinsettia's.  These poinsettia's are just beautiful, and everyone loves them.  Of course it is mostly my colleagues that purchase these poinsettia's and as such I feel that they deserve a thank you card for purchasing these plants in support of the school.

Here are the cards that I was up until 0200 hours making earlier this week:

I love how these look and turned out, but they were super time consuming, so not likely to make it onto my Christmas distribution this year ☺

I have had a few questions about how these were made so here goes:

Joyful Christmas poinsettia and leaf stamp

Stamp with Versa Mark

Emboss with Gold Embossing Powder and heat set

Color with Cherry Cobbler Blendabilities Markers

Cut out with scissors and adhere.

Glue Dot in Center and add beads!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Poinsettia Thank You Cards

Every year my son's school does an annual fund raiser selling poinsettia plants from a green house in Chilliwack, British Columbia.  These poinsettia plants leave the greenhouse very early in the morning arriving very late afternoon/evening in Edmonton, Alberta.  These plants are always beautiful and no one is ever disappointed with them.  Each year the number of them that I have to distribute grows (what a pun).

Of course, to say thank you to my friends and co-workers who go along with this annual tradition I make Thank You cards to show our appreciation for their contribution to the school.

This year I actually used all Stampin Up product on these cards.

The base is gum ball green card stock, with a layer of Be of Good Cheer Designer Series Paper.  A layer of Primrose Petals, and Very Vanilla run through the Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder.

The "Poinsettias" are made cut from Raspberry Ripple card stock using the Fun Flowers Bigz Die.

The button centers are leftovers (OMG - yes I used old product again....), and of course the Raspberry Ripple Stitched Satin Ribbon.

I think that they are beautiful!

Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Quick "Top Drawer Gift"

At this time of year there are always unexpected visits from family and friends, and times when you need a quick gift.  I guess I could just not bother (probably what most people do).  However, I feel that if you had the thought to stop by I should reciprocate with some token.  Now of course that cannot just be any old thing...., so I make up throughout the year these table runners called 20 Minute Table Runners.  If you Google it you will find lots of patterns for these.  The runner is made basically from 2 different widths of fabric sewn together and then stitched down.  The really do only take about 20 minutes to make, and I definitely think this is ":top drawer" as it is not something you can get just anywhere.  Off to sew some more of these....Valentines, St. Patrick's, Easter......  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Poinsettia Table Runner

I picked up this table runner as a kit last winter (after Christmas) at Lori's Country Cottage in Sherwood Park.  This kit was designed by Jeri Kelly and what was really neat about the kit was that all the pieces were already die cut with the fusible applique already on the back.  It did make free motion quilting a little more difficult, but looking at it now... it was all worth it.  I think it looks great on the coffee table with a poinsettia on it.  Merry Christmas.  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

The Annual Poinsettia

Every year my son's school does an annual Christmas fundraiser selling Poinsettia plants.  These poinsettia's are AWESOME, and usually last until August when they are thrown out due to vacation schedules.  I have several friends and colleagues that purchase these plants yearly and so to say Thank you for their support of the school I always include Thank you cards.  These are the cards I made this year.  I used my Cricut and the Joys of the Season cartridge.  The card stock is real red, garden green and whisper white from Stampin Up.  After I cut the poinsettia's I used the Distressing Essentials Kit from Stampin Up to flat stamp across the leaves with tea stain ink, just to give the leaves a more "real" look.  I rolled the edges and then used glue dots to adhere each layer and then place on real red ribbon placed over whisper white card stock embossed with the Snow Burst folder.  The centers are made from Flower Soft that I had lying around the craft room.   The last picture is of one of the poinsettia just after being taken out of the plastic wrap, it will get much fuller.  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy