It's that time of year....

... right when we can least afford to feel under-the-weather, that's when a cold or flu often strikes.  Stress can lead to a lowering of our immune response, and of course, so many of us feel stressed during the holidays.  Here's a little pick-me-up card I made with a new Cornish Heritage Farms stamp set that comes out Friday from the Saturday Evening Post line.  It's called Common Cold, and has wonderful vintage Norman Rockwell inspired images of folks battling a bug.  For this card, I paper-pieced the blanket using some paper from a Webster's pages 6x6 paper pad.  So many companies have come out with this size paper, and it's perfect for this application because it reduces the scale of the print to something that's very usable.  I used Copics to shade along the fold lines in the image, which makes the paper blanket look less "flat."  I used the same paper to frame the image.

Here's another image from the same stamp set, used to decorate a tissue box.  As I colored this image, I had to chuckle at myself, feeling bad for this poor little lady... all ready for a night on the town, and having to spend the night on a bed!  Wouldn't this be cute tucked in with a little care package for a gal pal who's stopped in her tracks?  Maybe it would bring a little smile to her face, each time she had to reach for a tissue. :)  You can see all the creative ideas the design team came up with for this set on the gallery... Joanne even has a project that isn't illness-related!  Too fun!

Have a safe and wonderful evening.

Jolly Flocked Santa

Here's another take on Cornish Heritage Farms' Stamp of the Month for December, Jolly Holly Santa Collage.  For this one, I stamped the image twice, once on acetate and once on cardstock, and cut out Santa's head from the cardstock.  I "scribbled" Glossy Accents all over Santa's beard and furry hat, then smooshed on some white flocking.  I let it dry, then tapped off the excess. I adhered the cardstock Santa to the acetate image, then popped that up over some patterned paper.  I used Smooch to color the hat and holly - love that stuff!  The snowflake background on the top portion of the card was stamped using Swirling Snowflakes Backgrounder.  One more to add to my stash.... gotta get these out soon :)

Advent Box

I promised I'd get back to Christmas today, so I'm getting waaaay back, to Christmas 2008.  I made this advent box last year and posted it to Splitcoast, but I didn't have my blog then, so I figured I'd post it here now.  First let me say.... I did not come up with this box design!  A wonderful lady from my ATC club first taught me how to make this box in a single layer.  As far as the stackable design, there are several versions floating around the web.  I originally saw THIS box on Ella's site (Ella's Craftroom), and this year found a nice little tutorial HERE by Hermine (Hermine's Place).  I used the large kitchen match boxes (not the little ones) so that I could stuff each drawer with goodies for three kiddos - my two nephews and niece.  This was LOTS of fun, but very time-consuming, because I made drawer pulls for each drawer (the simple way... use a circle punch and punch out half circles, big enough to fit a fingertip in to open the drawer), and I covered every surface with patterned paper (the simple way..... just brush some distress ink or paint on each drawer front, and decorate only the larger panels).   I will leave you with a bunch of pictures and a little bit more rambling :).  If you have any questions at all regarding sources, just email me!  I won't bore you all with a list of supplies 20 pages long ;).

Here's a side with one of my favorite Santa stamps, and some Cuttlebug cut snow- flakes.

This side is very matchy-matchy, and the only "blue" side.  Luckily, I don't think my little kiddos will notice the incon- sistency.

I kept the embel- lishments on the top of the box relatively flat, so there would be no worries about smooshing it when stored away for the offseason.

Some detail shots.... I used lots of different items for drawer pulls: pipe cleaners, ribbon, buttons, charms, bells, etc.  You just need to make sure that someone's fingers can actually get hold of the pull, so don't adhere your buttons/charms flat onto the drawer.  I created some lift with an extra button or ribbon knot BEHIND the main bigger button/charm that I wanted to use as the pull.

Here's an open drawer, showing some candies inside.  I used a bell and a snowflake brad on the bottom two drawers.  Note how I stacked a few buttons behind the brad so that it was like a knob.  This brad had very long prongs, and I glued the ends on the inside of the box, and covered them with glue and a scrap of paper to reinforce it.  For the bell, I threaded wire through the back slot, then poked it through the drawer, and through the holes of a button on the inside, then twisted the excess wire and tucked it behind the button (again, to reinforce the pull so that it doesn't pull right through the drawer).

Last picture.... for about half of the drawers, I just stuffed them with candy for the whole family to enjoy.  For the other half, I put in tiny toys, labeled with tiny little tags with the kids' names.  Here is a drawer with three bunches of metallic crayons.  Underneath (not showing), I made up little blank booklets using black craft paper, for use with the metallic crayons.

This year, I sent up some more candy and little toys for mom and dad to stuff the box with.  As a little added addition, I copied a nice, simple version of the Christmas Story from one of my favorite kids' books (The Christmas Star), and divided it into 24 segments.  I then printed it out, and punched out each segment using a tag punch.  I stamped the corresponding number of each segment onto each tag, and threaded red and green ribbons through the top.  Their mama can now add a little tag to each box, and as they read a new part of the Christmas story each day, they can hang up the tag on the tree, or a bulletin board, fridge, etc.

Whew, long post.  Thanks for sticking with me, and happy holiday crafting!

Shabby Chic Pink Persimmon Heart

I know, I know - don't yell at me, LOL!!  I just discovered this Pink Persimmon sketch challenge, and I don't have any Pink Persimmon Christmas stamps (yet!), so I had to jump ahead a little and think Valentine's.  Don't worry, I'll get back to Christmas soon :).  Anyway, this card uses this sketch for the challenge:

I used Pink Persimmon's Key to My Heart set, along with some My Mind's Eye paper, and some vintage trim and Foof-a-la buttons.  I sketched the heart myself and cut it out with pinking shears (no pun intended, LOL! - it's very late - sorry, I'm punchy!).  A simple little card that came together quickly. 

Enjoy the rest of your day!

A Jolly Holly Santa!

Stamp of the Month time has come a little early for the December selection at Cornish Heritage Farms.  It's this adorable Santa, which I particularly love for a bunch of reasons.  I love that he is surrounded by music, I love that he is a wonderful size for both cards and ornaments, AND... I got to design this card, which you'll get instructions for when you order the stamp. :)  To make this very fun card, you'll need the Jolly Holly Santa Collage stamp, along with the Swirling Snowflakes backgrounder - a very versatile stamp you'll use again and again.  Just have a little white embossing powder on hand, a snippet of ribbon, a button, a few markers or pencils, and some cardstock, and you'll be churning out those holiday cards!

The best part... you'll get 20% off this stamp in the month of December.  (And by the way, you can get it cling mounted or wood mounted... I always link to the cling mounted because it's the least expensive and easiest to store, and it's what I use myself.) 

Hope you had a great weekend!  I've been doing way too much eating and watching sports, and way too little crafting! Time to catch up on all those fun challenges I missed last week, LOL!

Reasons to Stamp

Are you running out of reasons to stamp this month??  Now that you think I've lost my mind, I'll explain (LOL!!)... it's that time again - Gingersnap Creations has listed our "Reasons to Stamp" for the month of December.  I certainly never knew that December was "Bingo Month," but it did inspire me to create something a little different for my Christmas decor.  For this quicky little project, I scanned a vintage bingo card and printed it out on cardstock.  Then I just reached for what was already out on my very messy craft table.  The Santa image is from Crafty Secrets (the Christmas postcard kit), as is the hanger.  I used some red felt snowflakes from Stampin' Up, some red pom pom trim that I got at JoAnne's, and a few other little bits that were just lying around.  A fun, no-stress project for a doorway or little nook.

Hope all my fellow Americans had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Onwards to Christmas...... :)

Edited to add:  I've had a request for my source for the vintage bingo card.... I happened to get this one at a local scrapbook store in Buffalo, NY, called Buffalo Stamps and Stuff.  For those of you not in western NY, you can find them on Etsy as well.  If anyone would just like a copy, here is my scan. (please note: I have no idea of the original manufacturer of this card, and so I don't know if the rights are under copyright.  Please enjoy for your personal use only. :)) 

 

 

Vintage Christmas Stars - An Ornament Swap

This month our ATC club decided to swap ornaments instead of ATCs!  Since I can never settle on one favorite image, I made four each of three different designs.  I found the plain wooden star ornaments at JoAnne's (only 60 cents), sanded them, painted them ivory, and distressed the edges with some Ranger Distress Ink in brown corduroy.  For the center, I scanned the music for Silent Night taken from a vintage hymnal, cut it into stars, stamped a flourish (from Stampington) onto them, and glued them inside the inset portion of the star.  The Christmas images I used are from Crafty Secrets and Dover Designs.  Then I used one of my new favorite products - glow-in-the-dark glitter from Martha Stewart!  I glued it all around the raised outside border of the star - it will look so pretty once all the lights are turned off for the evening!  I embellished each star with some cuttings from Christmas floral picks, vintage buttons, ribbon, etc.  This was such a fun project, and in the end I don't think it took me any longer than ATCs would have taken.  I'm sooooo looking forward to seeing what the other ladies came up with!

Have a happy Monday - and remember, crafting is the only remedy for a Monday! :)

Calendar Year Scrapblock

Cornish Heritage Farms releases it's new Scrapblock today, Calendar Year.  This stamp has so many possibilities!  For this card, I was going for an old-time postcard look, using K and Co. patterned paper, some Hero Arts Art Flowers that I colored with my Copics, and some die cuts a friend gave me.  The sentiment is from Vintage Christmas Expressions.  For more great ideas, check out the Gallery at CHF.

We're starting a busy weekend of hockey today.... a USA hockey training event tonight (at the home ice of the Carolina Hurricanes), then practice, game, another practice.... plus, my daughter wants to get some figure skating practice in.  It's gonna be coooooold and icy, even here in NC, LOL!  Have a great Friday everyone!

Tag Tuesday, A Big Thank You, and a CHF Sneak Peek

Lots to get to today, so first up, my tag for the Tag Tuesday #26 challenge.  Louise is starting a "Colors of Christmas" series (how fun is that?), and this week the colors are pink, brown, and burgundy - luscious!!  Pop on over to see Louise's tag, which is soooo pretty, and all the other gals' work.

{Deets on the tag: image from Dover Design Sampler, papers from Paper Temptress, Prima flower, Making Memories chipboard flourishes, flourish and snowflake stamps by Cornish Heritage Farms, Stickles, vintage music from Louise, vintage ribbon from my stash.  Email me if you need more specifics :)}

Next up... a big THANK YOU!!!! to Louise, of Tag Tuesday and Kard Krazy fame!  I was the lucky winner of some fabulous one-of-a-kind blog candy oozing with vintage paper goodness.  Check it out:

Louise, you rock!!  I will have weeks of fun with this! :)

And finally, that sneak peek I promised.... sheesh, this one sneaked up on me big time!  Tomorrow, Cornish Heritage Farms will release a new Scrapblock (those 6 x 6 inch stamps) called Calendar Year.  This one is soooo versatile (I know, I keep saying that about these stamps, but it's true!).  This is one that you scrapbookers in particular will like, because you can cut it up and use it for journaling blocks.  I'm thinking of using the "December" for my December Daily album.  Anyway, enough talk... here's the peek:

This card uses the Calendar Year Scrapblock, along with the Sweet Bee set from The Rummage Bin.

Thanks for sticking with me through this long post!  Hope you're having a great week!