Christmas Cookies!

And finally, one other thing I made during the holidays: cookies - lots and lots of cookies! I made 17 kinds for a total of 2,931 cookies, the most I ever made! I always try new recipes each Christmas and this year tried 3 news kinds, which I think were all hits!

1) Raspberry Wrap
2) Chocolate Spritz
3) Crescents
4) Peanut Butter Revel Bars*
5) Christmas Tree Spritz
6) Cherry Butter
7) Apricot Biscotti
8) Snickerdoodles
9) Melt in Your Mouth Sugar
10) Candy Canes
11) Cranberry Oatmeal Chocolate Walnut
12) Lemon Glazed*
13) Almond Brittle
14) Crackles
15) Super Easy Fudge Bars
16) Coconut Melting Moments
17) Cherry Tea Cakes*

* tried for the first time

I made a lot trays and boxes for friends and family. I should have taken the photo before I put the cellophane on it but it will give you an idea of what they looked like.

Christmas Tag

The ladies in my craft group exchange Christmas tags with each other and this is what I made for them.  The tag was cut using Lacey Circles nestabilities - I cut two pieces of wine colored, glittery Coredinations paper and sandwiched it with a piece of chipboard so it was sturdy.  I stamped the House Mouse and colored him with Copics.  I used Puff Paint on his hat to give it some dimension, added some glitter around his feet, stamped the sentiment and added the ribbon for hanging.  Isn't he cute?

Altered Notebooks

When I saw these notebooks in Michael's I thought they would be fun to "alter", so I decided to jazz them up a bit with snowflakes (Sizzix), flourishes (Cuttlebug), threaded buttons and ribbon.  Although hard to tell, I used a glittery white paper for the snowflakes and flourishes since it reminded me of snow.  These were another nice item to have on hand for a little gift....

Believe Santa

And yet another card from the Believe set.  Nichole had something very similar to this on her blog which I thought was just beautiful so wanted to make one too.  I used Kraft for the cardbase and stamped snowflakes in Fresh Snow ink.  The opening to the card was cut out using Mat Stack 3.  I stamped the santa and colored him with Copics, cut him out and mounted him onto the inside of the card.  I stamped the outside sentiment and added the perfect matching ribbon.

O Christmas Tree

After seeing the Believe set revisited on Nichole's Blog (PTI), I decided to get my set out and use it.  I used Ripe Avocado for the card base layered with a pretty striped paper.  I stamped the tree onto Kraft paper with Versamark, sprinkled gold embossing powder, heat embossed it, mounted it onto a piece of Pure Poppy paper and colored in the branches with Copics.  I stamped the snowflakes, dotting them with glitter, and then edged around the Kraft with Fresh Snow ink.  I put red crystals on the tree for berries, and added the sentiment, buttons and ribbon.

Poinsettias

I can't believe Christmas is over already....all the running around, preparations, stress....all over for another year!  lol  I made this card for my parents using PTI's new Year of Flowers:  Poinsettias.  I used Scarlet Jewel for the card base, a layer of silver and then stamped the flowers onto white cardstock and colored them with Copics. To embellish the card, I added corner flourishes made with a Sizzlit, small silver balls, glitter on the flowers and a silver ribbon.

Merry Christmas!

It's hard to believe it's Christmas again - the years seem to go by faster and faster!  This is the card I sent out to family and friends....  The card base is Kraft (I just love using Kraft!) and topped with patterned paper.  I cut out a notebook page with a die, and using PTI's Wreath For All Seasons, stamped the wreath and berries on another piece of Kraft.  I used Fresh Snow ink around the edges, stamped Merry Christmas, added the ribbon and some gold Stickles on the wreath.  I cut two strips and a flourish of Ripe Avocado and finished it off with a button threaded with twine.  Merry Christmas!

Holiday Notepads

These are notepads I made with tablets I bought at Michaels and then jazzed them up with cardstock, patterned paper, buttons, ribbon, etc.  The stamps are from Papertrey - the Santa, Snowman, Gingerbread man are from Holiday Button Bits and the rest are from Take Note.  These make great stocking stuffers or just a little something to have on hand for a last minute small gift.

Gift of Giving

I always make my parents a card for their mail carrier and try to use something "post office" related.  My friend (thank  you Jill!) sent me this image - it's a Penny Black stamp called "Gift of Giving".  My dad said she looks just like his mailgirl!  lol  The card base is white and I put a layer of green, red and yellow striped paper on top.  I colored the image with Copics and put white flock on her hat and coat bottom.  I wrapped red and white twine around the card, added some red photo corners, a few snowflakes and a sentiment.

Snowmen/Snowladies Nuggets

These are Hershey nuggets that have a label wrapped around them and a little hat to make them look like snowmen/snowladies.  I stamped the label with a snowman face (Studio G $1 stamp), colored it with Copics and wrapped it around the nugget.  Next I took a glove and snipped off the fingertip, rolled it up to make it look like a hat and added a snowflake.  Aren't these just the cutest???

I stamped two more labels with coordinating colors and wrapped them around the nuggets:

I put all three nuggets in a clear bag with cut up silver and white confetti to make it look festive.  The tags were made with PTI's Tiny Treats:  Christmas.

I made turquoise, pink, light green, red and navy:

Warm Winter Wishes

Today is the first day of winter....I hope we don't have a snowy winter like we did last year!  This card uses white for the card base and is topped with a fun winter pattern paper and a piece of Chartreuse that I ran through the Cuttlebug using a "stripe" embossing folder.  I used Lacey Circles nestabilities for the sentiment, added a strip of blue paper and a snowflake foamie.  All the colors just seemed to match perfectly with these papers!

Gift Card Holders

I have a lot of people that I don't know what to get them for Christmas and they don't know what they want either!!  Which means I bought a lot of gift cards and needed something to put them in.  These were made with business card cases, the same type of plastic material as cd jewel cases.  I put paper on the outside and also lined the inside and added a sentiment and ribbon.

This is what it looks like closed......

The inside with the gift card......

 

The back......

A few varieties......

Happy Birthday Wreath

Today is my friend's birthday and since it's so close to Christmas, she doesn't like anything that is "Christmas like" for her birthday.  I made her this wreath card, and yes, wreaths are associated with Christmas, but this is PTI's Wreath For All Seasons stamp set!  I used Spring Rain for the card base, then layers of white and blue pattern paper.  Since Sue sews, I sewed around the edges.....I wanted to show her I can sew too!  lol  I stamped the wreath on a die cut from Mat Stack 3, put little blue rhinestones on it and added a ribbon.  Happy Birthday Sue!

Matchbook Post-It Note Holders

The countdown is on - just one week until Christmas!  I always like to have stocking stuffers and little gifts on hand so made a bunch of these.  I bought Post-It Notes at Michaels and used Kraft card stock as the base, and then covered them with assorted papers and embellishments.  It's a cute idea and they're small enough to carry in your handbag.

Riley Graduation - Penn State

My friend asked me to make a card for her niece who's graduating from Penn State on Saturday.  She wanted me to include Penn State on the card and supplied me with stickers. Penn State's colors are blue and white so I used blue for the card base, topped it with white and then a blue striped pattern paper.  Riley is colored with Copics; I used square and labels two nestabilities for the center of the card.  I added the stickers, made a Penn State banner for his hand, ribbon and metal embellishments in the corners.

Happy Birthday

This is a quick card I made after seeing something similar in CardMaker magazine.  It's fast to make and can use up some of those scraps we all save!  I used white for the card base and found a piece of purple patterned scrap paper. I cut out a piece of scrap white paper, stamped it with Happy Birthday and used a Martha Stewart border punch along the bottom.  I added some scrap dark purple ribbon and a few embellishments and the card was done!  Easy!

Take Three: Winter - Part 2

This is the other stamp trio that's in the Take Three: Winter set, a flourish.  The card base for this is white, topped with a black and white pattern paper from Imaginisce.  I stamped the same flourish 4 times in raspberry and turned each one a quarter turn; 2 of the flourishes are on 3d foamies.  I decided to make this a birthday card so added the sentiment from the Mat Stack 1 stamp set and glittery embellishments in the corners.  I really like using black, white and raspberry together!

 

Take Three: Winter

Well, it's two weeks until Christmas!  It's going to be here and gone in the blink of an eye!  I'm still playing with my November PTI purchases; this is from the Take Three:  Winter set.  I used white for the card base, topped it with a layer of Pure Poppy and then a patterned paper of light grey polka dots.  I used the Take Three die to cut the windows in the grey paper and made two variations.

For this card, I stamped the snowflake images in red, directly onto white card stock and adhered them to the red paper on top of the window.  I added the red jewels, grey ribbon, twine and sentiment.

On this card I stamped the snowflake images in Fresh Snow ink directly onto the red paper (through the window), added the clear jewels, red ribbon, twine and sentiment.

60th Birthday

This is for a male 60th birthday - his wife gave me a list of his favorite things and asked me to incorporate them into a card.  I used Kraft for the card base and put together 2 pieces to make the card into 6 panels.  The card is 5"x5" square.  The images are from the internet and the sentiments were made on the computer.

This is the card closed with my typical "manly" jute on the front (and those photo corners!): 

And what it looks like open:

Favorite things:  Vermont, Lake Champlain and fishing....

Favorite things:  Frank Sinatra and cleaning (yes, cleaning!)....

Favorite things: trains and bird houses....

Sophie Skates

Well, it's gotten cold enough here for the pond to freeze so Sophie decided to go skating in her new pink outfit and matching pink skates!  The card base for this is white, topped with a patterned light grey.  Sophie is colored with Copics; the image and pink are cut with oval nestabilities.  I added a pink ribbon, tag, twine,snowflakes and did a little highlighting with a sparkle pen.

Male Get Well

This is a quick card I made using PTI's Fillable Frames #10 stamp set and die.  I used Kraft for the card base, topped it with a layer of black and an olive green patterned paper.  I stamped the frame and sentiment with olive ink, put a black banner behind it and added some silver embellishments. 

21st Birthday

Another 21st birthday card for someone who likes red cars, swimming, drinking beer and attends Miami University (I found those images on the internet).  The card base for this is white and I used a layer of navy blue and a striped pattern paper.  I made the banner with a Sizzix die, Kevin was cut with the Cuttlebug, the 21 on the Cricut and the tickets were made with PTI stamps and ticket die.  And there's my signature "manly" jute!  lol