let earth receive her king!

It has been a very busy pre-holiday season for me! I've been crafting like crazy getting ready for a craft fair, and I've been coming up with projects for three (three!!!) Stamp Camps! I have my traditional Christmas Stamp Camp, complete with Christmas music, Christmas cookies, the Cocomotion full of frothy hot chocolate, and ten Christmas projects. I've got one for my co-workers featuring nine cards and a sock snowman filled with rice. And I'm doing a special mini camp for some friends in their home. A first for me, so I'm getting excited!

My friend sent me a link to a card that she loved. 

http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/2463311

I loved it too! So I set to work figuring out how to pull it off. Imagine my surprise, and frustration, when I discovered that there was no "recipe" online for the punch art. Gasp!!! Unbelievable that no one has taken the time to write it up. Punch art is not my forte, so for a few days, I just let the idea of doing this card die. But I really do love it. And I didn't want to disappoint my friend. So I dug in for a day (literally) of playing with my punches. Here is the result!

I'm so very proud of myself for figuring out how to make this card happen! It's something that I could never do for my traditional Stamp Camp because of the enormous time involved in cutting the card kit. But for a smaller, in home session, it's perfect! I can't wait to gather with my friend's group of ladies to put this together. 

My sample is sitting on my mantle right now. Every time I walk by it I smile inside. Not only am I psyched that "I made that!", but it's a great reminder for me of why our family celebrates Christmas. It's not about the buying of gifts, the making of cards, the baking of cookies, or the hustle and bustle. It's all about the humongous love that God has for us. About his willingness to send his one and only son to the earth to live among us, Emmanuel, God with us. Jesus came to us as a baby, and would die for us as a sacrifice for our sin. I'm so incredibly thankful. Joy to the world, indeed!

Happy stamping!

ho ho ho!

A Of all of the items that I made for the RCS PTO Holiday Bazaar, this has got to be my favorite! It's the swirls on Santa's beard that just puts it over the top for me. So super cute! It is hinged with a brad so that it swings open to reveal a gift card.

Gift cards are such a practical gift to give at the holidays. Putting one into a handmade holder makes it feel personal too! I've got a dozen of them made up to sell at the RCS PTO Holiday Bazaar. Hope to see you there on November 8th between 10:00 and 3:00 at the RCS Middle School!

Happy stamping!

mini sweet treats

Some things just make me happy inside. Snail mail with a hand written address. Freshly washed sheets, still warm from the dryer. Days when there is no bickering between my girls. These things cause little bubbles of joy inside that put a smile on my face.

And these little cuties do the same thing! Every time I see them, I grin from ear to ear. Rudolph hides snack sized Hershy bars. And Santa's coat conceals snack sized Kit Kats!

Now that they are all finished, I can enjoy them. But putting them together required tweezers. And tiny dots of glue. And precision. Ugh!!! Any craft that requires a pair of tweezers can drive me nuts! 

But the end results were sure worth all the frustration, and sticky fingers, and the fact that, for days, I was finding tiny black circles all over the floor. 

But look how sweet they look all ready for the RCS PTO Holiday Bazaar! I'd make a bunch of them again, in a heartbeat!

Happy stamping!

it's what they want

I am the mother of two teenaged girls. When they were little, Christmas gift buying was so very easy! A couple of Barbies, some frilly dresses, Polly Pocket sets, and a game, and I was done! Fast forward ten years and who knows what to get them?! They want big ticket items, like laptops and musical instruments. I can't even dream of picking out clothes for them, because apparently, Mom had no fashion sense. When relatives ask me what they want for Christmas, I always answer, "Gift cards!" 

Of course they say, "But that's so impersonal." I take those teens to the mall and see how much fun they have spending those gift cards! There's nothing impersonal about it! They know whose hard earned cash they are spending, and they are grateful! And careful. They turn into bargain hunters when armed with a gift card. 

But still, I know I feel like I'm taking the easy way out when giving a gift card. So I make adorable gift card holders! This one features Rudolph on the front, and a pocket for the card on the back. 

I think that these will fly right off of my table at the RC PTO Holiday Bazaar!

Happy stamping!

melts in your mouth...

A candy cane shaped tube of M&M's just screams Christmas to me. As kids, my brother and I usually found them in our stockings. Or we got them from Grandma. Red and green treats of sweet, candy coated chocolate! Yum. 

I decided to make my own version for a holiday bazaar. Smaller in size, and adorable, they don't take up quite as much space in a stocking. 

A little candy trivia for you: M&M'S are currently produced in 25 different colors available through special order on their website. I'm partial to teal! 

Happy stamping!

taste the sensation

Did you know the the very first version of the York Peppermint Pattie was not soft in the center? It wasn't! Who knew? The original version was produced in York, Pennsylvania by the York Cone Company, starting in 1940. That pattie was firm and crisp in the center. It was what separated it from it's competitors, which were all soft in the center. Just a little candy trivia for you. 

Peppermint Patties have always made me think of Christmas. Maybe it's because they are minty, like a candy cane. I decided to dress the miniatures up for Christmas, and package them in green and red. 

So that the patrons of the RCS PTO Holiday Bazaar would know that they were the real deal, and not some icky imitation, I left their back sides naked so the label could be seen. There's nothing like a chocolatey, minty snack in the middle of a hectic, holiday shopping day to pick you up!

Happy stamping!

advent calendar creation

Christmas time is magical! Well, I want it to be magical. But sometimes in all the hubbub and business, shopping and partying, prepping and scheduling, we forget about why we celebrate Christmas in the first place. We get burnt out and exhausted from everything that we think needs to be done. And so I set about coming up with a way to gently remind myself, and my family, of the reason for the season. A good friend of mine made an advent calendar like this and posted it to facebook. I'm so glad that she did! I stole her idea and ran with it!

My first stop was the dollar store. They have six cup muffin tins for a buck! I thought about using mini muffin tins, but when I decided to put mini candy bars inside the tins, one for each of my family members (that's 4), mini wasn't going to cut it. So full size it is. And it's a good thing too! From a design standpoint, my Cricut had a hard enough time cutting the details at full size. I shudder to think about what I would have gone through trying to cut the images any smaller.

I used the basic cartridge, Printing 101 for the numbers set at a size 3. And I used two Christmas cartridges, Joys of the Season, and Christmas Cheer. I had to play with the size of each image. I still don't understand how to use my Cricut properly! So for me it was a bit of trial and error using sizes 1 1/2 - 3, depending on the image.

I used my trusty Stampin' Up paper (but I think that it's just a little too thick for the Cricut) and stuck with a traditional color scheme of Old Olive, Real Red. I used Soft Suede to make it feel a bit homey, and threw in pops of color when needed for an image. I even got out my glitter paper to give it a bit of sparkle. I really do think that glitter is the herpes of the crafting world. It's pretty much banned from my house! ; )

To adhere everything I used Tombow mulit purpose adhesive. Lots of tiny pieces made glue, not a tape runner, my tool of choice. I have to say that this project took me all day and then some! I was at it from breakfast until the wee hours of the next morning! But all the hard work and time was worth it, as I am in love with the results!

The back side of each muffin cover has a scripture reference and a short devotion. The idea is that each evening, the four of us will gather to take just a few minutes to read the Bible and remember all that God has done for us in giving us his son, Jesus. Just a short pause in what I know will be super busy days and nights! 

As I write this, it's now December 10. We started off with a bang, but we are already a few days behind! Ah well. The best laid plans... We'll catch up!

Merry Christmas and happy stamping!