Thursday, December 25, 2014

O Christmas Tree 2014

I love Christmas. Love wreaths (does it show?! LOL!) - we have two that match - one over the garage and one on our front door. I prefer white lights and have those over the garage, my DH prefers multi-color lights and has those on the door with ornaments I'd hung. Love the tree, admit I keep it up WAY too long. I promise my DH that we'll have it down by my eldest son's b'day (early Feb) and there have been years it's been close! I keep thinking that one of these years we'll get it put up soon after Thanksgiving and take it down soon after Christmas, but we often put it up Christmas week and this year was no exception.

This year's tree is almost all red ornaments ... there are a few Christmas sentiments (iron word stampings I'd picked up at a craft show years ago which the artist painted white and frosted w glitter ... so pretty, and this year I put up the believe, joy, Merry Christmas, noel, and peace sentiments), my fav of the needlework ornaments (most I made, some are from friends in my needlework guilds), some crystal snowflakes (I'd picked up a few in recent years and my family got me the latest Swarovski one for Christmas this year. They're BEAUTIFUL and reflect SO much light ... awesomeness!), a set of metal curly-q twirled ribbon-look ornaments, and just a couple of my favs ... a great rocking horse and a great bird's nest one. Then we tossed on only our red ornaments. We have mixed ones, then a set of ivory, and a set of red ones. This year I found a couple deals at dollar stores so picked up more red ones ... some tiny ones I put on the kitchen table tree that you can spot on the mantle in the pic, and some more different-shaped reds - in assorted ornament shapes, different finishes - some mat, some sparkly, some dusted w glitter.

We broke down in 2002 and went with a pre-lit fake tree for our great room, then when lots of the lights quit on us replaced it in 2010 ... and I'm noticing that some of its lights are now quitting on us. I'd picked up multiples of cranberry/peppermint candy strands years ago that I strung together and that goes on first, followed by lots of glass icicles (thanx, Bronner's, as we've picked up multiple packages of various sized ones over the years from our main supplier), then the sentiments, and lastly, ornaments. Ta da! OK, so I just wrote a whole post about our tree!

Besides the main and kitchen trees, we have another one that's only about 4' tall that's by the entry to the kitchen that we leave up year-round. It's decorated in acorns, ribbons, berries, and assorted tiny kitchen-y ornaments - whisks, baskets, milk cans, flour sifters, strainers, muffin tins, aprons - thanx to Hallmark for this tree! I remember I'd originally ordered it for the kitchen table, but hadn't realized the proportion would be way too large for the space ... so it got relegated to the entry which is about 4' wide as well.

Other than that, we have a few wall hangings here and there, and a pre-lit holly-look vine across the mantle, small cranberry/twig wreath, wicked cool stained glass cardinal (my Mom and I have collected cardinals over the years), and some candles and metal snowflakes on the mantle.

So, how'd YOU decorate this year? Thanx for stopping by! We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I'm channeling my Dad today. He used to almost always end his phone conversations with "Peace!" - especially so this time of year - and every time I pick up this die it makes me think of him. Gone 10 years last month ... hard to believe but true! Love you, Dad!

I tend to make more cards than needed; then the last couple years even participated in a class where we made 4 cards of 4-5 designs! I don't send out all that many cards these days, so I've got a supply to last me ... but then, what holiday do you suppose I can't seem to stop myself from purchasing additional supplies for??! You guessed it! Christmas! I've got stamps and dies I haven't even used yet!

stamps: unsure of the inside sentiment's origin; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; paper: Bazzill Palo Verde and Neenah Solar White card stocks; accessories: white string; tools: Cuttlebug w PTI holiday word die, Sizzix Tim Holtz Festive Greenery die and Holly Swirls embossing folder, unknown crochet thread

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

CASe it simple!

I'm addicted to Pinterest! There! I admitted it; I admit it freely! I ended up reviewing my Papercrafts Pinterest posts (in that folder alone I'v amassed 3,558 posts to date ... see what I mean?!) to gather some inspiration, and found it from the lovely and talented Linda Callahan of Stampin' Seasons blog fame.

I Googled "free Christmas music" and downloaded this ivory sheet, then used one of my word dies in the same color as the background ... and voila! It'd make a quick to reproduce card in case you mass-produced them, but I typically don't. Thanx for stopping by!

stamps: SU's Holiday Home (inside sentiment); paper: Neenah solar white, HPC's Dark Red, and downloaded freebie music sheet; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; accessories: Technique Tuesday's Say It - Noel die

Sunday, December 21, 2014

SYSC#4 merry Christmas!

I seem to be on a red and white kick lately! I recently got together with a few friends for dinner where we exchanged cards; the first one to open one of my cards received one that was a white background with red ornaments ... and my stamping buddy kimR, who sat across from me, commented, "I like cards that are all white with pops of red!" Well, good thing, 'cuz that was the theme for the evening! And it appears I'm still on it! I'm playing with the folkes at the SYSC#4 showCASe your style blog challenge. Thanx for stopping by!

stamps: SU's Holiday Home; paper: Neenah solar white, and HPC's Dark Red; ink: Ranger's black soot distress ink; accessories: Spellbinders' layered poinsettia, SEI's Chalet sundries' bling, and unknown red/white washi tapes which are a very glisten-y red IRL. 

Saturday, December 13, 2014

Pantone announces Color of the Year for 2015

I'm lovin' this year's color, a rich earthy wine red named Marsala. How 'bout you?! Now I'm off to find the closest card stock to it in my stash ... hope to stop by with a Christmas card post later! Thanx for stopping by and hope you have a t'riffic weekend!

Sunday, December 7, 2014

SCT Winter 2014 Issue Is Out!


Just a quick "heads up" to note that the Winter issue of Scrapbook & Cards Today is available!

Brimming with inspiration, the Winter 2014 issue includes:
    scrapbook your holiday memories
    love is in the air
    seasonal cards
    hello 2015
    watercolour 101
    stunning, simple layouts
    bonus cutting files
    ... and a reader’s gallery full of stunning inspiration!

You can either order a print subscription, view it online, or download it to your desktop. See you soon, as I'm off to check it out now! Thanx for stopping by! Enjoy!