{Gift} Card Assortment

As part of a Christmas gift for a friend, I made up an assortment of cards for her and her mom to use for the church (her dad is a minister). As expected, it was a HUGE hit. The bulk of the cards were sympathy, get well and thank you, but there were a few miscellaneous ones mixed in as well. Here are a few of the cards I made for her.

This one uses dimensional stickers and computer-printed greeting.

Stamps: Winds of Grace (SU)

Stamp: Exotic Birds (SU)

This card features a gold rub-on (presents) and dimensional sticker (greeting). There is also some piercing along the top. 

I did about two dozen of these 4.25" square thank you cards, using a variety of paper scraps. I remember taking a collage photo of all of them, but now I can't seem to find it. Ah, well...at least I still have individual pics of some of those I made. There is ink sponged along edges of the greeting, which is popped up using dimensionals. "Thank you" is stamped on the inside.
Stamp: Small script (SU)

Noah's Ark 2012

I have a friend who loves and collects Noah's Ark. It has become a fun treasure hunt to find different items to add to her collection. Last fall I happened across a book marked way down on clearance that features Noah's Ark and animals in three different styles. Here are some of those stitched for 2012. I made cording out of DMC floss for hanging them.


Bears:

Chimps:

I had to do the cording for the skunks a bit different than the rest. I didn't like how long and narrow the skunks were when completed. I was wondering what to do about them, and decided to try cutting them in half, then having one hand down below the other. Excellent idea and look, if I do say so myself!

This was a double win, as she also loves tigers.

These porcupines are so cute, I think I need to make a pair to keep.

This one went to another friend, who likes panda bears:

And the raccoons I kept for myself:

Wishing You a Happy New Year

Happy New Year!

Do you have any plans for the evening, exciting or otherwise? Here, NYE will be spent in the company of friends during our annual gathering. We'll open Christmas presents, gorge ourselves with a rather extensive buffet, play games, and talk into the wee hours of the evening. New Year's Day we'll get up just in time to watch the Tournament of Roses Parade commercial free on HGTV. The theme this year is "Oh, the places you'll go," and it's always fun and interesting seeing how creative entrants are. This year's parade includes 41 floats, 24 bands, and 21 equestrian units. Among the entries will be the Badger cheerleaders with Bucky Badger and the UW Marching Band.

We'll graze on leftovers throughout the afternoon, talk some more, and maybe put in a movie or play games before watching our Wisconsin Badgers take on the Stanford Cardinals in Wisconsin's third consecutive trip to the Rose Bowl. This is the 99th Rose Bowl game, with more than 64,500 tickets sold. Here's hoping for a successful showing this year--go Bucky!

I leave you with a few songs to ring in the new year, and wish you a safe and happy celebration!

A few Final Christmas Cards for 2012

Before we say goodbye to 2012, I thought I'd share a few last cards for this year . . .


The first was my friend KM's card for this year. Every year she says she wants to do something a bit simpler, then comes up with another time-intensive card. First she had to emboss the purple panel using her Sizzix Big Shot. Then the candy cane was die cut on her Cricut machine, and all the little holes had to be punched out of the red so the white would show through. Then the red had to be mounted on top the white, and the white on top the purple. Trust me, it was a lot more work than it looks. I usually receive a few handmade cards, but this was the only one for 2012.

And here are a couple one-offs created by moi . . .

I'm waffling over whether to commit to a "100 cards in 100 days" challenge at SCS, which starts January 1st. You do not have to make one card a day, but can do several in one sitting. Looking at the calendar, there are fourteen weekends during those 100 days. Which averages out to seven or eight cards per weekend -- totally doable. Wait . . . better make that ten to twelve cards a weekend, as our annual Ladies' Night and my birthday fall during that time frame -- which reduces it down to twelve viable weekends.

Cards can be for any holiday or occasion. Valentine's Day and Easter are both coming up, and I always need birthday cards, so this would be a good time to beef up my stock. Also, I have a shoe box full of paper scraps that need to be used up -- plus a couple stamping friends each sent a box of paper scraps home with KM for us to share. So whether I am home or at her house during those fourteen twelve weekends, there would be plenty of scraps to use. Plus, stamping at her house means using stamp sets I do not have. It's nice to play with something new or different once in a while!

Will have to think about this over the weekend . . .

Mr. And Mrs. Flake

One more snowman ornament made for friends of mine. I've learned the hard way that if I don't make them identical snowmen gifts, they "argue" over them or try to "steal" from each other. *Rolls eyes*

These are again from Janlynn kits, and are stitched on plastic canvas with DMC embroidery floss. The pattern kit comes with materials to stitch one, so I had to delve into some of my own supplies to make a second one. 

The kit also comes with a coil of wire for hanging, which was long enough to snip in half for two ornaments. The dangling snowflakes and candy canes are attached with a small piece of embroidery floss.  

Merry Christmas

May Peace and Goodwill be with you,

now and throughout the New Year.

Snowman Mitten Ornament

A third ornament design from Janlynn stitched this year.

These are stitched on plastic canvas with DMC embroidery floss. A length of curled wire was attached for hanging. All materials were provided in the kit.

2012 Christmas Cards -- part 2

In addition to all of the cards shared last Sunday, I also did a few for the CAS189 sketch challenge for Splitcoast Stampers.

SUPPLIES:

Stamps: Itty Bitty Backgrounds (Stampin' Up)
Paper: White (Wausau Paper), Patterned Scraps (DCWV)
Ink: Not Quite Nanvy (SU)
Accessories: Dimensionals, Diecuts (Current Inc), Dimensional Stickers (Mary Engelbreit), Brads, Computer printed greetings, Word Window punch (SU)

Peeking Snowman Ornament

Another one of the Janlynn ornament designed stitched this year. As with the Reindeer Puppies, I did more than one.

And here's the close-up--click on the photo to see a larger view.

Thursday Thirteen 268: Holiday Fantasy in Lights

Sunday evening, a friend and I were returning home from running errands when we decided on a short detour through Madison's Holiday Fantasy in Lights display. It is a drive-thru event free to the pubic and open from Nov 9 until New Year's Day at Olin-Turville Park. Here are a few photos of the many lights on display.




Sorry this one looks a bit fuzzy--those animated ones can be tricky to photograph.



They were doing maintenance on the rocking horse.



This one is sponsored by Buffalo Wild Wings.



On Wisconsin!



Another animated that was tricky to get...

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Wordless Wednesday 77: Christmas Lights

(You may want to click on photos for a better view)

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