З Різдвом Христовим - Merry Christmas

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Merry Christmas.  I know that for many of my blog faithful today is Christmas Eve, as well as for many of us here in western Canada, especially Edmonton.  For today's post I used two of the stamp sets from the Stampin Up Holiday Mini Catalogue.  The stamp set on the left is The Sounding Joy set, and the one on the right is the Forest Festivities set.  These cards are part of something I have decided to do this year called my cut once stamp twice concept.  Both of these cards use basic black card stock for the base.  The Joy card has a piece of Designer Series paper for the background, while the Present card uses whisper white (both cut the same size).  I used my Elegant Edges Cricut Cartridge to cut a 3" scallop square, but for all you Big Shots out there you can use your Big Shot for this with the 3" scallop square die.  The Joy image was stamped on very vanilla card stock and the JOY was embossed on with cherry cobbler embossing powder.  The Presents image was stamped on and colored with Stampin' Write Markers and I colored with whatever colors I felt like.  The star at the top is a puffy star that I found at Scrapbook Memories & More in Sherwood Park last spring, and the neat thing about it was you could buy it by the meter!!!  So, I put one on the top.  Now, off to finish the pyrohy my son and I made for supper.  Have a Merry Christmas, and Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Sale-a-bration Cards

Sale-a-bration is a promotion that Stampin' Up runs from end of January - March every year, and what is neat about it is that on top of the stuff you usually get with an order for every $60 Cdn you get to choose an item from the special catalogue.  I was able to get a few of these items early and decided to play with them tonight, however the problem with red eye crafting, is that pictures are hard to take - too much flash, not enough, shadows of ?gremlins....

The two cards I have here are part of my idea for this year of cut once, stamp twice.  In this case I started with soft suede card stock for the base, ran both cards through the Framed Tulips Embossing Folder.  For the card on the left I used my quilting rulers to measure 1/2" from the embossed edge and then my handled cutting blade (it is from SU, just so long ago I don't think they make one anymore), to cut out a frame.  Then I used glue dots to put in a window sheet, so that you can see the Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper.  The greeting on the front is from the You are Loved stamp set and I stamped this with White Staz On ink (leave for a week to dry - or overnight).  

The card on the right is made again with an image from the You are Loved stamp set and the image is stamped on using  Versa-mark.  Then I cut out a heart with the heart punch from the Everyday Enchantment DSP and added a small piece of pretty in pink ribbon.  Done.  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Christmas Candle - Teacher's Gift

My son decided that what he wanted to give his teacher for Christmas was a candle made by him (I helped).  We melted soy wax, used a red dye chip, and fragranced with Grand Fir, Vanilla and Peppermint oils.  It smelled delicious.  I put the wick in a medium sized metal pail (found at the M craft store) and thought this would be a great idea and presentation for the candle.  Unbeknown to me, these pails are not leak proof and in a matter of minutes we had hot wax spilling all over on to the cupboard!!!  The only thing that I had around in a hurry to salvage this, was freshly washed canning jars from the dishwasher.  In went the wax and we ended up with 2 full jars of  fresh peppermint candles.  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

Christmas Candy Corn

While in Canmore my son and I made almost daily (not a typo) trips to the candy store there.  One of the treats we got were these Christmas Candy Corn.  We ate several small packages of these while there and of course had to bring a HUGE bag home with us.  I made up these treat bags to give out as treats to some of his little friends we would be meeting up with after Christmas.  Now, I have to wait til February and next trip to the candy store, maybe they will have Valentine's Candy Corn (?).  The treat holders are made by cutting a 3 3/4" by 8 1/2" piece of card stock and folding in half.  I measured the top and divided into thirds and then cut on  to the diagonal to the corners, used a corner rounder on the edges, and then used scrap pieces of card stock in about thirds to cover the base in candy corn colors, I sponged garden green between the red and green to imitate the strip along the bottom edge.  Put the candy into treat bags and used sticky strip to secure inside and a bow of course.  The greeting is from the Forest Festivities stamp set.  Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Happy New Year

Happy New Year!!  I hope that so far the new year has been good to you all, and that not too many resolutions have been broken or modified yet...  For once I am ahead of the crafting deadline.  I actually completed this calendar in November of 2011.  This calendar was a class taught by Wadean at Scrapbook Memories & More in Sherwood Park.  I love this store, they really do have the best products, the staff are all helpful and friendly, and Wadean has awesome projects that she designs.  So, when I saw this one, I had to do it.  The cream areas on each page are for photo mounts, and the good thing about doing it in November was I had the time to get the photos done and put in so that today it is already on the wall.  Hope you all have a wonderful 2012, and Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy

Gnome Sweet Gnome

I got the Gnome Sweet Gnome set in my shipment the other day, and decided I better do something with it.  Now a gnome needs to live in a tree, so I used up left over Frostwood Lodge Designer Series Paper to make the tree base, and the baby needs to be in there, so I made him, and her a little hatch to live in comfort in their trees.  The gnomes are colored with Stampin Write Markers and because they are known for their fashion sense I colored them with every color I liked.  I love to color.  Now, I am not the crazy gnome lady, however, I do have the Travelocity Gnome at work (given to me by a student a year ago because I frequently sing the "Gotta Get Outta Here" tune at work, and the Saskatchewan Rough Rider Gnome is a must for every Saskatchewaner - yes he lives in my house, I dare not put him outside, 1 in 3 people living in Alberta is from Saskatchewan)!  Now, off to see if i-tunes has yet to get either Green is the Color or Rider Pride on it, and if not I will just listen to it on  www.riderville.com/page/audio.  GO RIDERS GO!!!   Hope this inspires your own creativity...

Kathy