Mr Cute Boy and his Reindeer

I'm really loving these originally sized Elzybells.  I can't wait till the store opens again in January to pick up a few more!!  

This was a special Christmas card for a friend, and fellow addicted crafter, who had been in on the "approval process for my standard family and friends card.  I wanted to surprise her with something she hadn't yet seen. 

This sweet little guy and his Rudolph are colored with Copic markers, and you'll see that "Mr Cute Boy" has lots of liquid applique for his Santa-esque coat and hat.  Lastly, I added some ground snow with my Diamond Dust. 

 The cardstock base is Paper Trey Ink's Pure Poppy (a truly luscious red!) and the designer paper is Wassail from Basic Grey.  

December has been a fun month, exceptionally busy, but fun.  I'm so looking forward to sharing the holidays with my family....  the boys are both old enough to really get excited about the holiday, and my eldest is hoping to learn to skate this week.  Hopefully we'll be getting the littlest one all ready for ski lessons which begin in January. 

I'll have a few quick blog posts over the next few days as my daycare business is closed, and my husband will be home from work too!  Lots of fun planned with the boys and lots of rest, and relaxation.  I'm sure I'll be crafting now and again on some upcoming deadlines, but mostly I'll be taking a little blog break.  

Looking forward to visiting with you in the New Year!  

Have a great day!

 

 

Merry Christmas!!

At long last, here's the Christmas card that I taunted you with only pieces of.  As I've mentioned, these were a lot of work, because I just can't say no to layers and embellishments and ribbon and buttons and such. 

I did have a crazy thought that I'd run all the cardbases through my Janome and sew all these panels- but reason set in when remembered that I was creating 100 cards this way.  I also had my heart set on 100 nice loopy bows, but sadly, I had to give in on that wish too.  I wanted to be sure I could mail each card with standard postage, and I knew my buttons were already putting that in jeopardy!  

This is Cornish Heritage Farm's "Joyeux Noel" stamp set and the paper is from October Afternoon.  I love the rustic detail of this image, and the beautifully scripted sentiment.  I remember I first saw this set used by Amy Rohl and then added it to my shopping cart the next day. She has some seriously beautiful creations on her blog "Ink About Me." I must say, if you don't already read her blog.... get going!

My husband thinks I'm totally crazy, but it was well worth it and I actually can't believe how quickly I was able to get the job done and somehow, I managed to keep this blog populated with newness too!  

Wishing you all a wonderful holiday, filled with all the people you love best!

Christmas Cards, Mass Production Style

If you've been reading here a long time, you may remember that last year I shared my Christmas card making process... but not the finished card till they had been received.  Its been a little quieter than usual here on the blog because mass production has commenced. 

I'll admit that I contemplated just buying photo cards this year, because I've been finding mass production totally tedious lately.  But, I can't be the lady who makes cards who didn't make her cards.  So, here's how I get around the tediousness of doing the same thing times one hundred. I break it up into smallish chunks and just focus on one portion of the job at a time....

I spent one morning just cutting nesties.  I cranked them out in less than an hour, which was better than I thought.  Over Thanksgiving break, I spent about 2 hours stamping all the card fronts, and then later that afternoon, I tied knots inside of buttons for a while. Let me just say, that got really really boring very quickly, so I might be skipping the knots on the remainder of my cards!! 

Last night my order arrived from SU, and in 20 minutes, I had ALL MY CARDSTOCK CUT! With the help of my trusty carl cutter. 100 cards, 20 minutes.  Love it!  While I watched TV with my husband, I scored all the bases and got 50 mats assembled with ribbon.

Today, I've got more nestie mats to cut - I tried, hard, to make the card without a double layered nestie, but I just couldn't do it.  If I'm going to make cards, I want to like them, and I'm not so good on cutting corners.  

Tonight, I hope to crank out the last 50 panels and then I'll just have to do the final assembly.  (Right now I can't even think about the fact that I have to go back and print labels, sign cards, enclose photos, buy stamps... aaaak!)  

I've got to just motor with each small segment of the job and feel like I'm making major progress.  

Besides, as long as they get there before Christmas I'm good. Right?