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......