12 Months of Christmas Catch-Up

I'm back! Did you miss me? I missed you. I missed having time to sit and write on the blog. There just aren't enough hours in a day are there?

I've been enjoying a busy summer with my handsome hubby. He is now a teacher, and this was his first summer vacation since he was in high school. We had a lot of fun! We were pretty busy getting several items checked off our "honey-do" list and we managed to sneak a couple of mini vacations in there as well. If you're interested in hearing more about it you can check out our family blog.

School has now started back up and I am trying to revamp our schedule here at home so that I can get some time at the computer. We'll see how well it goes.

Anyway, back to the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge, how are you doing with it? Me? Ok, I guess. My goals for April-September were to make 10 cards each month and start making gifts. While I didn't get the cards done, or make the gifts, I did come up with several ideas for gifts for loved ones and have gathered supplies for some of them. I will be back later next week with details of some of those gift ideas.

How's your Christmas folder coming along? Mine was at a stand still for several weeks while my computer was acting up, but I'm hoping this next week to finish getting the Menu section finished up by adding one recipe to it each day. I've also been adding links to gift ideas I've found on the web. My friend mentioned that it might be a good idea to go through the address book this month. I know we've had several of our friend's children get married this last year (am I really that old?!?) and I need to get their new addresses and check in with a few of my military friends who are, or have, moved.

So, it looks like I've got some catch-up work to do now so that I'm not super swamped come the end of November. Here's what I plan to do this month:

1. Make 16 cards.
2. Finish the Menu section in my Christmas folder.
3. Organize my Gift section and finish filling out what I'd like to make/buy for friends and family this year.
4. Make at least 4 gifts (that's 1/week) this month. 
5. Check address list.

I think that does is for me. My schedule is busy enough, I don't want to add too much to the list. How about you? What are your plans to help make the holidays a little less stressful? 

Since I think blog posts are pretty boring without a little eye candy, here's a card I made back in June. It's the only card I've made lately that I have a photo of. Looks like I need to spend some time with my camera and get some pictures taken. 

I used the Awesomely Artistic stamp set to make this card, and I will say that I had a really hard time with it. I just couldn't figure out what to do with the fern and flower stamps at first. I ended up masking off most of the vanilla cardstock and stamping several of the images. The card on the right I did a bit of a watercolor wash first and then stamped. The one of the left was just stamped. To get the lighter blue color on the flowers, I stamped off once on a scrap piece of paper, then onto the cardstock. I stamped the linen and "friend" images after I removed the mask. The dragonfly was just stamped and then fussy-cut and popped up on dimensionals. Which one do you like better, the watercolored one or the plain? 

I think that does it for me. Time to get ready for bed here. I hope to be back in a day or so with my updated Stampin' Up! class schedule for you and a couple of projects. 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!

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12 Months of Christmas March Challenge

Hello there! I made it! I blinked and March almost disappeared without me seeing it. If you remember from my last post, we are busy with a kitchen remodel project, but I did get to spend some time at my desk working with paper and ink and not just wood and paint. Here's one of the cards we made at my last Stamp-A-Stack Class.

This is a single layer card using the Lotus Blossom Stamp Set you can get FREE through the end of March 2015 with any $50 purchase. It's a beautiful stamp set. Here I stamped in Whisper White on Crumb Cake Cardstock and then allowed that to dry before stamping the detail stamps with Calypso Coral. I tied a simple knot around the card using the FREE Calypso Coral ribbon in the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack.

What do you think? I like that it uses just one layer of cardstock, yet is so pretty.

OK, so back to the challenge. My challenge for March is to get my menu fine-tuned and transfer the recipes into my Notebook along with a grocery list. The menu will be pretty easy since we pretty much have the same thing every year, but I do try to incorporate one or two new recipes, especially for cookies and treats to give away. Plus, it will be really nice to have all the recipes in one place rather than digging out multiple different cook books this year.

I think, while I'm at it, I may put together tabs in the Notebook for both Resurrection Day and Thanksgiving menus as well. Why not have everything together?

Since I didn't make my goal for last month, I will continue to look for gift ideas to make and get that part of my Notebook organized. I will also make an additional 10-12 cards.

I guess that's about it:

1. Organize Menu Tabs
2. Look for gift ideas
3. Make 10-12 cards

Since it's already the middle of the month, I think I better set some time aside to work on these! 

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Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas February Challenge Update

Hello there! I know...I know. I'm late with my update on February's challenge. But, I'm not super late (only 2 days), and I do have a really good excuse. Really. See:

Handsome Hubby had a week off of work so we decided to tackle one of the major home improvement projects on our list...opening up a window from the kitchen to the living room. Needless to say, I didn't spend much time this last week at my desk. We're probably about 75% done with the project and I hope to post an update on the family blog soon.

Anyway, here I am, and I'm sad to say that I didn't make my goal for this month. That's OK, though. I'm closer than I would have been had I not challenged myself. I did get 12 cards made for the month, and I did do a bit of perusing Pinterest for gift ideas, I just didn't see much that sparked my interest there. That may or may not have been due to the fact that most of my perusing involved paint colors rather than gift ideas. ;o)

So, here are the cards I made for February:

I used our Wondrous Wreath stamp set, and after adhering the white cardstock to the card front, I used the center die to cut a "window" out. This allows you to see the "Joy" stamped on the inside of the card. I think it might be cute with a family photo peaking out as well. What do you think?

Here's a list of supplies I used to make these cards. LOVE the glimmer paper bows. :o)

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I will be back with the challenge for March along with a card we did at my Stamp-A-Stack last week.

till next time...
God's love and blessings!

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12 Months of Christmas February Challenge

It's February. Yep, January is gone and it's time for the next month of the year. Funny how that works isn't it? For those who are new to this series, I'm posting challenges each month to help make life a little easier come Christmas time. Last month we put together a notebook to help in keeping track of all those great ideas and made 10 cards.

This month's challenge is to focus on ideas for home-made gifts. Pinterest is a great place to start, but I also have a HUGE collection of craft books that are collecting dust on my shelves. I think I may dig out one or two and peruse them for some ideas. A couple of things I'm going to keep track of are not only the ideas, but any recipes and supplies needed. This way I can keep an eye out for needed items when they may be on sale.

I will also be making 10 cards again this month. I'll probably end up making 12, just because it's easy to make them in groups of 4, plus, I can use extras for gifts, or possibly sell them at one of the many holiday craft bazaars they have around here. I've always wanted to do something like that, just never planned far enough in advance. Maybe this year, my daughter-in-love and I can do some of the sales together. That would be so much fun!

That's really it for this month's challenge. I hope to gather at least 1 idea per person on my gift list, hopefully more.

Well, I can't leave you without a project of some kind, so I will share this little cutie I made last week.

Isn't he adorable?!? I used this tutorial for the bunny with just a little tweaking.  Of course, he's trying to get inside our new Berry Basket for some treats.

A friend mentioned that he needed some carrots, so I used our Tree Punch for the main shape, cutting off the trunk and used the Corner Rounder to round out the tops of the carrots. The branch from the Builder Bird Punch made the perfect greenery and while I was playing with the Bouquet Bigz Die my daughter said the frilly flower die would make the perfect grass for the bunny. Great idea!

Aack! Bunny booties are just too cute! Can't stand it! I think I'm going to have to play around with this idea and see if I can come up with some Christmas type characters to hang out on the berry basket.

I better get going. My order came in and I still have a lot of new stuff to play with. ;o) Feel free to leave a message and let me know if you're playing along and how you did on last month's challenge.

till next time...
God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas January Update

Hello there! It's the last day of January 2015. I told you I would be back with an update on how I met the January challenge to get ready for Christmas 2015, and here I am. The challenge for January was to Start putting together a notebook, whether it be paper or digital, put together a list of gift recipients, and make 10 cards. 

Let's start with the notebook. As I mentioned in the challenge post, I am using OneNote to organize all my thoughts and ideas for Christmas. It's still in the process, but this is what I have so far:

1. Gift Recipient List
1. Family
2. Friends
2. Emma Ideas (This is our "elf" that helps out around Christmas)
3. Gifts
1. Ornaments (I make ornaments for my niece and nephews every year)
2. Ideas
3. Inventory
4. Recipes
5. Supplies
4. Menu
1. Recipes
2. Ingredients

I filled out what I could for Gift Recipient List and I started adding recipes to the Menu tab. These are things that pretty much stay the same every year, but I hope to add in at least one or two new recipes each year. 

I am really liking the idea of having a notebook like this. I can continue to add to it, and if I'm good at keeping notes, I can see what I sent to who and not repeat myself. I wish I'd thought of this years ago. It would be nice to have a record of the handmade items I've sent people over the years, especially the ornaments. One of the things I like about using OneNote is that I can drag and drop things directly to the pages and it adds links to websites for me automatically. I can also use Pinterest to help me remember ideas, but some of my gift recipients see my Pinterest boards and I don't want to give things away. ;o) Of course, I could probably make a private board that no one can see but me. 

I also made my 10 cards. Actually, I made 12 just because it's usually easier to make cards in groups of 4. Wanna see? 

I even stamped a sentiment on the inside. :o)

That's it for now. I will be back later with the challenge for February, but right now I'm going to go finish up a cake for church fellowship tomorrow, and then play with my new Occasions Catalog and Sale-a-Bration stuff that came in. Yay! Play time!!

till next time...

God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas Challenge for January

Hello there! Happy New Year to you! I hope you had a chance to look back on 2014 and find that you were blessed beyond measure. I know I was. Always am. He never ceases to amaze me.

Anyway, I am back with the first of the 12 Months of Christmas Challenge. So how did you do with the pre-challenge? I did find some of those fuzzy socks I was looking for. Even found some that weren't specifically Christmas, so I can use them throughout the year. Woo hoo! We also picked up some filled stockings for our pets for next year, but not much else. I found a largish box to stash what we bought in, and to keep the craft projects I work on throughout the year. I found a spot in my closet for it, for now, but it may find a new home later.

So, here's my challenge for January. Get organized. Yep, that's it. I plan on making a notebook to keep all those recipes and ideas in one place. Somewhere for all the lists of what to make, what to buy, who to send them to, etc. I went back and forth on how to do this for quite a while. I, personally, love physical notebooks, writing things down and checking them off. However, I know that being able to access this notebook while I'm away from home would really come in handy, but carrying around a 3 ring binder everywhere I go, just isn't going to happen. In the end, I settled on using OneNote for my Christmas organizer. I can organize it the way I need, copy and paste ideas straight into it, and access it on my phone when I'm out and about. I also figured out how to put little "To Do" check boxes in front of my lists so I can check things off when they are finished. :o) Win-win.

I will post more about my notebook at the end of the month and how I decided to organize it, but I will tell you that the first thing I'm going to put in it is a list of who I would like to have gifts for next year.

Oh, and as I mentioned before, I plan on making 10 cards this month to go in my stash.

So, that's this month's challenge. Start putting together a notebook, whether it be paper or digital, put together a list of gift recipients, and make 10 cards. I can do this, and so can you! I hope some of you will play along with me this year. I would love to hear what you are doing and how you plan on making next Christmas a little easier, and more relaxing.

I just can't have a blog post without photos, so I will share with you an idea for an easy gift to make. These were little boxes that held a Hershey chocolate bar. The snowman hats and reindeer antlers were made from gloves, so it was kind of a 2-in-1 gift. I will have to find the template so I can put together a little tutorial for you.

What do you think? Cute and quick to make. You might want to keep your eyes out for inexpensive gloves this season.

Well, I'm off to start taking down the Christmas decorations and get my house cleaned up.

Till next time...
God's love and blessings!