O Tannenbaum - Postcard Mail Art

This is the postcard I sent to my December partner in the Envie Addicts Unite exchange.

I started by adhering Tim Holtz tissue paper to a watercolor postcard.  To that I added a layer of spray ink through a polka dot stencil.  The additional colors came from Gelatos.  I created the Christmas tree by collaging old postage stamps to a separate piece of watercolor paper cut into a tree-shape.  Stickles added some necessary glitz to this card.

Have a fabulous day!

Merry Christmas!

Let your heart be light.

Image courtesy of The Graphics Fairy.

Holiday Greeting by Western Union

As usual, I'm still working on my Christmas cards just days before the holiday.  Better late than never, I always say!

For this card I combined vintage images from two different Oxford Impressions stamp sets.  The little girl was stamped on white cardstock and colored with Prismacolor Premier pencils.  The Western Union image was stamped on vanilla cardstock and colored with distress inks.

I used a green color scheme for a second batch of cards.  The December 25 postmark was stamped in barn door distress ink, and the bow on her hat is red Stickles.

By the time I came along in life, not too many people were sending telegrams anymore.  I had never seen a real one until just this year.  I bought a 1940s scrapbook at a flea market in the spring, and it contained two telegrams sent to a woman by her husband when he was in the service.  The one above was obviously sent at Christmastime, due to the "Holiday Greeting" and Santa image across the top.  During World War II, telegrams were often the bearers of bad news, informing families that their beloved son or husband had been killed or was missing in action.  I'm glad to have found one that would have brought comfort to a lonely spouse.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day.

Supplies:
Blue and green cardstock by Bazzill; Teresa Collins and Graphic 45 patterned papers; stamps from Oxford Impressions; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; old paper, antique lace, pumice stone, gathered twigs and barn door distress ink; red and green Stickles; vintage book text; crackle background stamp unknown; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Color Box frost white pigment ink.

Christmas Baking Marathon

The other day, my mom and I spent 7 hours in the kitchen baking a variety of goodies for ourselves and some select neighbors and friends.  It's been many years since we've done this amount of baking, and it was a lot of fun.

This platter shows the things we made.  We chose just a few of our favorite recipes (not surprisingly, chocolate was a major ingredient!):  peanut blossom cookies, Viola's Bars (aka Seven Layer Bars), a cheese log, fudge, chocolate chip bars, thumbprint cookies with strawberry jam, and chocolate orange truffles rolled in different toppings.  All told we had over 250 pieces!

This is the goodie package I put together for a friend and her husband.  I reused a store package that originally held something like croissants or turnovers.  I lined the bottom with a piece of Christmas scrapbooking paper protected by a layer of wax paper, and then carefully arranged everything in a pleasing fashion.  I made the poinsettia "belly band" for the cheese log out of cardstock scraps.  I made a larger poinsettia to attach to the lid, but forgot to take a picture of that before I raced out the door.

This is the treat box I filled for my 90+ year old former boss.  Since she lives alone and is quite a small person, I know that just a few bites will be sufficient.  The butterfly-shaped item is a cracker by Pepperidge Farm.  I bought a variety package of what I call "fancy crackers" and repackaged a few in a clear cellophane bag.

This is the outside of the box.  I purchased a set of these from Avon many years ago and am glad to finally use them.

Do you do any special baking for Christmas, Hanukkah, or other major holiday?  It's a time-consuming job but it's so rewarding!  And not just because you end up with yummy things to eat.  When I handed the above packages to my friends, they were just thrilled and so appreciative.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Yuletide Greetings

Usually by this time in December, my parents have been in Arizona for more than two months, enjoying the sunshine and warmer temperatures.  However, due to my dad's cancer diagnosis and subsequent treatment, they have had to postpone their departure date.  You wanna talk about two people being bummed out!  But on the bright side, my mom and I have been able to do some things together that we haven't done in at least 15 years.  That has included putting up Christmas decorations and doing some baking.

I also suggested that we make Christmas cards to send to their friends in Arizona.  Well, we ended up making quite a few cards because once we got going, she decided she wanted to send cards to a bunch of other friends and relatives, too.

I kept the design fairly simple and used a variety of patterned papers from my stash.  The cute focal image is by Inkadinkado.  At the last minute I added some gold Stickles to the lantern for a little sparkle.

We had a lot of fun sitting around the kitchen table working on these cards.  We made two of each design above and in the end, my mom took all but three cards!  So now I'm working on a second batch of cards for myself.

I hope you're enjoying all the holiday festivities.  Thanks for stopping by!

Baby, You're a Star!

I created this card to send to a friend who is celebrating a B-I-G birthday.  One that ends in a Z-E-R-O.  For her sake, I won't reveal which number comes in front of it.

The little ballerina from Artistic Outpost was stamped on white cardstock, colored with Prismacolor Premier pencils, and fussy-cut before being adhered to the background.  The sparkles on her tutu and on the background are thanks to some Stickles.

Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
White cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Authentique; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; old paper distress ink; Derwent medium charcoal pencil; Stickles glitter glue; narrow scalloped rectangle die-cut by Spellbinders; EK Success border punch.

Still Young at Heart...

I created this birthday card for a friend of mine, and giggled the entire time.  I giggled as I colored the red stripe on the old guy's socks.  I giggled as I added the hair on his chest (and shoulders, and arms, and legs!).  I giggled as I thought about my friend's reaction when he opens it.

The old coot is part of a stamp set by Art Impressions called His and Hers Camper.  I originally bought these stamps thinking I'd use them on some cards for my parents, but (sad to say) my friends and I are getting old enough that we can appreciate them, also.  I stamped the old guy on white cardstock and colored him with Prismacolor Premier pencils.  His "hair" was dotted on using a brown Pigma Micron pen, size 01.  After cutting him out, I adhered him to the card front using pop-dots.

The sentiment comes from the same stamp set, but it wasn't working for me in its original size and shape.  So I printed a version on my computer that could be cut (or punched) how I wanted it.  You can find the easel card tutorial on Splitcoaststampers.

Thanks for stopping by!  I hope you find something to make you giggle today.

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned paper by Graphic 45; stamps by Art Impressions (Hampton Art Stamps); Ranger Archival black ink; pumice stone distress ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; 01 brown Pigma Micro pen; small oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; border punch by Martha Stewart; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.