Old Card Finds - Christmas Cards

I found a stash of very old cards which were made prior to my having a blog. 

This card features a wood mounted stamp that has gone to the thrift shop.  I stamped in black ink and trimmed it square.  I adhered it to a layer of blue card stock.  That layer is held by black photo corners.  I black grosgrain ribbon was wrapped around a piece of white card stock and knotted to the right hand side. The dove layer was adhered over the black ribbon.  This layer was then adhered to a card base of the same color as previous blue layer.


This a very simple card.

It has a greeting color printed in warm blue and I ripped the left hand side.

It is layered onto beautiful damask foil paper which the scan does not do it justice.

I added a warm blue card stock layer behind the damask paper which leaves a small border.

These layers were then adhered onto a textured white card. 

It has a seasonal insert.

Very interesting to see that type of card I was making over 10 years ago.  When stored properly they are still usable.  Great!

Polar Bear Card

I cut a few polar bears this morning to include in my exchange cards so I decided to add to my Christmas card stash.

I cut a piece of sparkly paper and adhered it to a piece of white card stock then trimmed the layer to leave a small border on the navy card base.

I ripped some snowbanks from white card stock.  I chalked the rough edges and the horizon line as well.

The polar bear was cut with the Cricut and the Joy of the Season cartridge.  I cut a navy scarf for him.

He is adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.   I added a silver star in the upper right hand corner.

Exchange Cards

I made a couple of cards for my exchange buddies today.

I chose some backgrounds I made a while back which I cut to leave a small border.  I adhered it to a warm green card base.

I cut some teal card stock using the Memory Box Row of Poppies die.  I adhered them to the decorative paper layer with double sided tape on the base and quick dry glue behind the poppies.

I ripped a piece of brown card stock and adhered it to the card front aligned along the bottom.

I added a circle greeting in the top right hand corner adhered with 3D foam tape.

Similar layout with different supplies.

I cut the poppies from teal again.

I chose a brighter piece of decorative paper and a bluer green card base and cut it as before.

A ripped piece of brown card stock for the dirt.

I inked a clear stamp with a marker and stamped the sentiment on a white banner which was adhered with 3D foam tape.

These are off to my exchange buddies.

Photos - This Week

My aunt gave me this plant - Dracaena.  It is a good indoor plant and helps with cleaning the air.

When growing a dracaena plant, locate it in brightly filtered light, such as through a sheer curtain in front of a sunny window. Room temperatures of 60-70 F. (15-21 C.) are best during the day, with night temperatures about 10 degrees cooler. However, the dracaena is forgiving of temperatures, as long as they are not too cold. 

I have placed it near the east window which is the brightest I can provide.  I think right next to the window would be too cold so it is about 4 feet away. We will see how it goes.  It benefits from misting occasionally and moist soil but not soggy.  It enjoys a time of dormancy in the winter during which it does not need fertilizer.

I really don't have a green thumb and growing things does not come naturally. 





I finished this book recently.  A Sudden Change of Heart by Barbara Taylor Bradford. The story's main characters are Laura and Claire.  Laura is from a well to do family and Claire is taken into the family at about age 10.  Laura is an art consultant and works in New York but travels a lot.  She enjoys time with her grandmother, Megan Valiant.  And the family farm where the girls spent time together as children is in Connecticut. Claire lives in Paris with her teenage daughter following a divorce and works for a magazine.

When Laura's work takes her to Paris she always takes time to visit with Claire. 

Laura works on finding art which was stolen from Jewish families during the WWII.  She finds several pieces but the challenge is to have the current owners relinquish the art to the rightful owners or their descendants. Many are worth a lot of money.

Health challenges visit Claire and eventually she is back in Connecticut in the home she lived in as child.  Memories surface of her home life before coming to live with the Valiants.  She comes to terms with the life events with the help of Laura and Megan.

I cut a few 2.5 inch strips of bright fabric for our quilting time tonight.  We are working on making some kid quilts for a women's shelter.

These will be assembled like jelly rolls.  They will get a layer of polyester fiber fill and a backer.  I believe the small quilts will be machine quilted instead of long arm quilted.

Hopefully, others will have some coordinating colored strips.  I forgot to ask if I should have included solids as well.  We shall see.

Upcycled Cmas Card

I upcycled this Christmas card with a cute puppy on the front. 

My friend wanted it turned into a Granddaughter card. I chose a Garden Green card base and cut it to an A6 size.  I added an ivory strip of card stock and placed it left of center and adhered it to the card front.

I trimmed the commercial card front to leave a small border. It was adhered to the card front over the strip.

I printed the word onto ivory card stock and punched it with the Word Window punch.  It was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I added a seasonal sentiment on the inside.

Star Birthday Card

I made a special card for someone who celebrates a birthday early in the year. 

A friend requested a special card and I know the recipient`s favorite color is purple.

I started with a deep purple card base. I added a layer of gold card stock. I then added designer paper pieces which had been splattered with gold acrylic paint. The designer paper is by Scrap Ease - Fleur de Lis - Amethyst. 

I added stars cut with the Stampin Up Star Framelits larger one in deep purple and smaller one in the same gold card stock as the background.  These were adhered together and adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I added a banner of the gold card stock on the bottom piece of designer paper and added a white ribbon and a white greeting.

Christmas Card Challenge - Bethlehem

Last year my Christmas Card Challenge fell apart so I am trying again.

I chose a warm white card base and added a designer paper leaving a small border. I cut the Taylored Expressions Bethlehem Border from a scrap of warm blue.  I added a ripped white layer along the border and another to match the designer paper.  I punched a star with the Creative Memories Sparkle Punch.  I stamped the greeting in the bottom right hand corner with the stamp from Stampin Up Come to Bethlehem set with a warm blue marker.

I cut the Taylored Expressions Bethlehem Border from a scrap of Bashful Blue.

I printed the greeting and star on the card base. I added a similar textured layer along the border and ripped the bottom edge. I have added a season inserts.

2020 Christmas Card Challenge

My plans fell apart last year so I have decided to recommit to making cards every month.

I have decided to focus on the layered cards for family.  I have indicated a general theme next to the month and my focus to use the tools I have in my collection.  I want to use what I have to bring the amount of supplies down again this year.  I will have to make more use of my Cricut machine as most of my wood mounted rubber stamps have been sent to the thrift stores.

Here is the list.

2020 Christmas Card Challenge
January	Bethlehem	Bethlehem Border
February	Star	Nested Stampin Up Thinlits
March	Madonna	Gentle Peace
April	Holy Family	Penny Black Manger Die
May	Large Words	Memory Box Greeting die
June	Silhouette	Holy Family on vellum
July	Polar Bear	Cricut
August	Wisemen	Cling mount stamp or Cricut
September	Gifts	Cricut or die cut bow
October	Snowflake	Die cuts
November	Candle	Cricut
December	Houses	Houses on a hill

If you are making your own Christmas Cards this year and need some inspiration please follow along.

Happy New Year 2020

Wishing all my blog friends a very Happy New Year in 2020.  I look forward to a year of new adventures, meeting new folks, and generally having a good time. 

Christmas Thank Yous

I got my Christmas thank you cards made.  I used gift wrap used on one of Mom & Dad's gifts.  Beautiful green background with white boughs and vanilla pine cones. I chose vanilla cards.

I cut the gift wrap paper to 4.00 x 5.25 inches and taped it to the front of the card.

I then cut a ribbon slider with Spellbinder slider set.  I printed thank you greetings and punched them with the 2 inch oval punch.  I adhered them to the front of the green sliders.

I added red cotton ribbon and trimmed the ends.  I taped them to the back of the slider so they would not move.  I added 3D foam tape to the slide and adhered it to the card front. 
On the wide ones I put plaid ribbon instead.

I am very blessed and it was good to have company instead of gifts in some cases.  I just need to spread out it a little more.  

Recent Photos

I finished this book over the holidays.   I was disappointed in some of the themes in the 25 short stories.   This is the first book she published so interesting that is one of the last I read.  Her books got much better.

Millions of people travel on London's tube every day, yet we usually only give our fellow passengers a cursory glance. Maeve Binchy infuses the nameless people with stories to provide a cross-section of London life.

One of the last books I can read from this author as I have checked most of them off the list.

There are couple I still have not read.

Sister Caravaggio (2014) - stand alone novel
A Few of the Girls - short stories

Suggestions for other authors I may enjoy.

This is the gift I received from my sister and her husband.  This is a large spool holder for my sewing.  I have invested in some neutral colored spools - white, grey and black in recent months as buying specific colors is expensive.

Most of the girls at quilting all have one of these.  My sister had let me know what I needed and how to DIY one for myself.  Our plans to share wire fell through so I just did not get it done.

I see my brother-in-law's work in the beautiful wood base.  The loop replaces the loop on the machine.  The tall stick is for the large spool and the little one may be for a bobbin based on my research on line.

I am ready to get back to sewing but I have been taking a few days of down time as I have had a lot of company in and days out since December 13th.  I need some recharge time.

With a no caffeine tea regime I had put Bengal Spice and Licorice Spice on my list.  We had some at Mom's on Christmas Day and she requested a box on Boxing Day.  More of us on avoiding caffeine when possible.

I decided I needed a shorter string of lights now that I sent the 4 foot tree, the large ornaments, and other decorations to the second hand store.  I have decided to use my small ceramic tree with a shelving unit which will hold the few glass ornaments I have kept.  I added some narrow garland to the rungs of the shelf and hung the ornaments from there.  The old string was much too long and heavy.  I found these Retro lights by Noma.  They are irridescent, sparkly and a wonderful shape.  Love them.

The warm plastic lights are on the dark green ceramic tree and the white but still somewhat warm tear drops are the new ones.  I kept my iridescent bead garland.

The plan has not completely come together this year but next year will be better.

I kept all the small glass ornaments, the coordinating bead garlands, and the colored  ornaments which meant something to me.  Love the crystal tear drops from chandeliers. I could not resist the mercury glass tea pot on for 50% this year.

I placed the burgundy gift boxes at the base of the tree.

I bought this book at the library sale for .25 cents.  It was excellent.  It is set in France but more in the country which I enjoyed more.  The main character is English on a vacation and discovers a mystery about Isabelle and a stash of diamonds.  I will check other titles by this author.  The Splendour Falls by Susanna Kearsley.

Sharing with Angie at Letting Go of the Bay Leaf who hosts Mosaic Monday #60.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year as we enter 2020.   It is amazing where the time goes.

Merry Christmas

All Occasion Card Gift

I gift a friend a stash of cards for her Christmas gift each year. 

These are DSP Split design with designer paper made by Fiskars - Cloud 9 Design - Blue Shore Flowers.  I chose a warm green card base.

I cut the paper into 4.00 x 5.25 inches then cut again at 3.5 inches and taped the pieces back together after flipping one of the pieces. 

I have placed a length of the white grosgrain ribbon across the join and taped the ends to the back.  

I placed a blue bird post it on top with a couple of branches created with the SU Bird Builder Punch. 

I added the beak lines with a gel  marker and a white mini brad for the eye.  The wing was cut with the Cricut. 

This is a basic DSP Split based on the instruction above.

I chose a dark green card base.

I added a greeting printed and punched with the SU Decorative Label punch.  It was adhered over the ribbon with 3D foam tape.

I chose a white card base for this card and chose to keep the solid blue side.

I added a greeting done with the same punch and adhered with 3D foam tape.

I added hexagonal diecuts cut with Spellbinder Nestabilities thinlit dies.

I chose to repeat the blue and add a punch of red. 

I added a thread tied to the grosgrain ribbon to repeat the accent color.

I have added several more cards from my stash and packaged them along with her Caramel Popcorn.  Always a favorite.

Advent Wreath - 5th Candle - Purity

Today on Christmas Eve we light the 5th candle in the center of the wreath which is the Purity or Christ candle.  The time we have been preparing for is here!  Rejoice and celebrate.

From Ann Voskamp's Advent Book - The Greatest Gift.

The time came...  He has arrived!

God always wants to be with you.  God comes as a babe because grace is weightless.

God with us - Emmanuel.

All of conquered heaven and grateful earth echo tonight with the heart cry of the God Child - I did it for Love.

Merry Christmas!

Up Cycled Cards

A friend asked me to up cycle some commercial cards she received and meant something to her.

This is a sisters' Happy Birthday card.  It was a shaped card so I trimmed the folded edge then trimmed the blue to match the rest of the edges.

I chose a pink card in the half sheet size (5.5 x 8.5 inches) and added a strip of purple textured card stock.  I ripped both sides of the 2 inch strip.  It was adhered to the card front aligned to the left of center.

I then adhered the sisters layer with 3D foam tape aligned along the bottom of the card.

A custom insert was included with purple lettering.

This card is one of my designs which I turned into a wedding card.

I added a light blue card base leaving a small border of color.

I printed a custom insert in light blue lettering to match the card base.

The hearts are Stampin Up Sweet Heart punchies cut from non shed silver glitter. Mounted on a vellum circle.

I added a silver thread across the bottom tied around the embossed layer.

This card is a Christmas card for sending wishes across the miles.  She has received it from family in the Maritimes but next year she will no doubt be mailing back to Alberta with Christmas wishes. 

She is moving to be close to her son in Nova Scotia.

I love the little rabbit reaching to post his card in the mail box.

I trimmed the original card a bit and adhered it to the front of a red card to coordinate with the letters.

I added a custom insert in this card to go with the sentiment started on the front of the card.

This card spoke to me of the Maritimes.  It was in my stash so I up cycled it for my friend.

The gulls are waiting for lunch as the fishermen arrive from the sea with the boats loaded with fish.  Bound to be some tasty bits for them.

I chose a blue layer to place behind the trimmed card.

I chose a kraft colored card and added a narrow grosgrain ribbon across the top.  I then adhered the boat layer to the card front with double sided tape. 

Advent Wreath - 4th Candle - Peace

Today we light the fourth which is the Peace candle. 

Let us remember the Prince of Peace.

From Ann Voskamp's Advent book - The Greatest Gift.

There is no need to produce or perform or perfect - simply become a place for God.  That is all.

The being with is always the gift,  not merely the doing for.  Spending time is more important than stuff.

I have just put up my small ceramic tree, the nativity and a few ornaments and lights.  Just don't need the stuff anymore.

I have focused on people this season rather than gifts and producing stuff.

Hosting Family and Friends

With my place in order I have hosted 5 sets of folks in the last week.   The table was set with the red tablecloth, a white linen square on the diagonal and plaid Christmas place mats. White plates and large mugs was the order of the day.  Large white porcelain tea pot.

My friend to celebrate her birthday on December 13th with our favorite - pecan crusted cheesecake. My niece on Dec 16 where we had steak, baked potatoes and coleslaw and we had a great visit.
My sister and brother in law on Tuesday where we had a great lunch of chicken, rice, brocolli and a pineapple squares for dessert. Lots of tea. 
Another friend came on Thursday for morning tea to celebrate her birthday with Earl Grey Decaf and sweets.
Tonight my neighbor came and we munched on cheese, veggies and a few sweets with Jasmine Green Tea.

This Christmas season is more about people and less about stuff.

Card Exchange Cards

I started with a Pea Green card base. I placed a piece of organza ribbon across a strip of designer paper, taped the ends to the back then attached it to the front of the card.

I used a coordinating desinger paper which I cut square, adhered to a pink paper from the same set cut just a bit bigger.  These were adhered together then I added 2 iridescent snowflakes with pink brads.  This was adhered to the card front with 3D foam tape.

I added a Stampin Up Word Window greeting on the left with 3D foam tape.

I started with a olive green card base.

I assembled my trees by cutting the black strips and adding one to each tree with a tiny brad. The trees are adhered to the card front with double sided tape.

I used a Zot to adhere the silver stars above the tree to the card front.

Ripped a white card stock to create a snowbank.  Adhere to card front then trim it to the card edge if necessary.

Layer the white circle greeting onto the black larger circle. Add the 3D foam tape to the back and adhere to card front as shown.  

These are headed to my card exchange friends today.

Advent Candle - 3rd Candle - Joy

The third candle in the Advent Wreath is Joy.   It is also sometimes called the Shepherd's candle as they were the ones to come, see the Child and went about telling the news of great joy.

From Ann Voskamp's Advent book The Greatest Gift for today.  We are made to worship.  We bowed to something.

We create idols to worship in our lives that do not give life but rob us of life.

Take time this season to slow, to be still and wait Advent will whisper - There is one God.  Let us leave the wrapping, decking and the performing  and come in awe of God.

O Come Let Us Adore Him.  Let the Joy of the Christmas enter our spirits and help us to express our joy.  Sing hymns, dance in the living room, look at nature, or find a way to be joyful just for the sake that the Child is coming.

Photo Coaster to Gallery

I made a few more sets of photo coasters.

This set is called Beautiful Butterflies. 

I love the shadow captured on the fist one. 

I made a set of 4 of the same image of this magnificent Bison at Elk Island.

I called this set Majestic. 

It features Sunlit Mountains in Canmore, the Hoodoos in Drumheller, Niagara Falls and the large Oak Tree.

This set is called Winged Ones 2. 

The beautiful rust colored in the top left, gorgeous large Blue Morph, a lovely Red Lady Bug on a green/silver leaf and Bumble Bee on purple globe flower.