Merry Christmas to all

Every year I share the following letter that I sent to the local newspaper in 1997. It's my favorite Christmas memory; a memory that means so much to me and reminds me every year to be grateful and count my many blessings. (I don't live in the same area now and I'm a "little" older too. LOL) I will never forget that Christmas. It was truly the best Christmas ever. Please enjoy.

The Key Peninsula/Gig Harbor area has been home to me and my family for 34 of my 43 years. During those years, I have donated clothing, household items, and food to local food banks as much as I can throughout the year, never expecting, of course, that I would one day be in need myself.

Several years ago, my daughters and I fell on hard times and the holidays seemed bleak. By Thanksgiving, I still had not found employment. The girls had just entered high school, and though they had never asked much for Christmas even in good times, I felt despair in knowing I would not be able to give them much of anything that year. We did our best while I continued looking for work, but finally had to seek help from a local food bank to make ends meet. A short while later, we received a call from the food bank telling us a local family wished to “adopt” us for Christmas. About that same time, my job search finally paid off and my first day of work was to be December 20. That day, we woke to several inches of snow on the ground and no power. I had no way to get to my new job and no number to call them. We were not the only ones snowed in, however. The food bank was unable to deliver Christmas to many adopted families. Though the families and the adoptees generally remain anonymous to each other, our “family” decided that if it meant the difference between our having or not having a Christmas, they would make the delivery personally. Not only did our family bring gifts in abundance, they also delivered a van full of groceries, including laundry and cleaning supplies, and everything imaginable for Christmas dinner. As if that wasn’t enough, this wonderful man drove me to my new job and later called to find out what time I finished so he could drive me back home!

This true story of the spirit of Christmas always brings tears to my eyes. We never heard from our adoptive family again. We understand they left the area some time ago, but their gift of love and generosity will never be forgotten. That Christmas, which looked so dismal, remains one of our most cherished and treasured holiday memories.

***
Merry Christmas. May you be as blessed as I am!
Isaiah 58:7a ...Share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless into your house.

Melonheadz Friends, Christmas challenge!

Are you ready for the big day?! Well, I guess it's too bad if you aren't at this point, right?! LOL!!!

For my challenge project, I made these adorable little gift tags. These sweet images can be found on the Christmas Stuff and Christmas Bobbleheads digi sets in the Melonheadz Etsy store. There are so many cute things in this set, it's a must-have add-on for any of the Christmas sets you may already have. Then, come over to the Melonheadz Friends blog and join us for this super fun challenge!

To/From stamp and tag die by My Creative Time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS, CRAFTY FRIENDS!!!!!!
Wishing you and yours a happy, happy holiday season and a very merry Christmas. :)

Melonheadz Friends, Winter Holiday Challenge

Happy first Monday of December. Seriously, can you even believe how close we are to Christmas....and the end of 2015!!?? Crazy! But let's get to the new challenge, okay.

This week's challenge is Winter Holiday. I used the Christmas Stuff and Christmas Bobbleheads image sets. They are just too cute.

This little elf holds a hammer, but I replaced his with a candy cane! :) The stack of gifts is a stamp by My Favorite Things from the Santa's Elves set, and the sentiment is a stamp by Technique Tuesday.

Other products used:
My Creative Time Rectangle Frames, and Stitched Ovals dies
Tim Holtz Crazy Things candy cane
My Favorite Things, Santa's Elves stamps (stack of presents)
Foam tape, glossy accents, Wink of Stella glitter pen

Melonheadz Challenge - Use a digi

Digital scrapping has grown more popular over the past couple of years and, while I don't do digital pages myself, I do love adorable digi images. Such are those by Melonheadz Illustrating, which, of course,  I use on all my Melonheadz Friends projects! Check out these super cute digis:

This wreath is part of the Christmas Stuff image set. I use the print and cut option on my Cricut Explore to cut these and it saves so much time. Not to mention, you can cut them any size you wish. If you've been on the fence about digis, jump off and go look around in the etsy store. Nikki has so many super sweet, adorably cute images and you can get most of them in black and white so you can color them yourself, already colored, as these are that I used today, or even both sets.

For the wreath I heat embossed with clear powder and added some bling for the berries, and bam - done! The sentiment is by Technique Tuesday and is also heat embossed.

For my second project, I used the Christmas Bobbleheadz set. This little elf and frame couldn't be any more perfect for gift tags. I used a small alphabet stamp to add the kids' names, then heat embossed with clear powder, punched a hole with my crop-o-dile and added twine. I just love them!

If you have any questions, please ask in the comments or shoot me an email (see link, right sidebar). :)

Day 11, One stamp five ways

Well, I couldn't decide which style to choose for today, so I did all five. For my one stamp, I chose one of the scribbly trees from Tim Holtz Scribbly Christmas set. Which is why my post is so late today. It was a really busy day in the studio today, so let's get started.

Clean & Simple
I used a color wash background and heat embossed the tree in green and the shadow in silver. Sentiment is also from the Scribbly Christmas set.

Classic & Elegant
Here I used the tree to make a subtle background. Because I wanted to use silver for the mat and embossing, I used a light gray shade of ink for the background trees. The ink, Grout Gray, and the sentiment are by My Favorite Things.

Cute & Whimsical
For this one I went with a non-traditional color scheme to create a whimsical feel. Stripe stamps are by Technique Tuesday; ink colors are Distress Picked Raspberry and My Favorite Things SnoCone, and embossing powder by Zing in aqua.

Shimmer & Shine
Simple card with gold cardstock, gold foiling, and black heat embossed sentiment by My Creative Time.

Soft & Subtle
White embossing powder for the tree and snow, inked over the top (I've forgotten the color I used, sorry), then gently wiped off the tree and snow. Sentiment again from the Scribbly Christmas set.

Hope you've enjoyed my class projects. I've had such a great time creating them, and discovered I have finished over half the number I need for my card list for this year so... BONUS! :)

Day 10, OCC Soft and Subtle Inspiration

For today's card I decided to try something I hadn't really done before. It's sort of a no-line technique with watercolor. Let's just say I have a lot of practice ahead of me to get this one down, but I do like the finished result for a first attempt. And how could you not, with these adorable images from My Favorite Things!

My Favorite Things, Jingle All The Way
My Creative Time, Rectangle Frames
Distress Inks, black soot, festive berries, wild honey, antique linen, forest moss, gathered twigs, tattered rose
Wink of Stella, Copic multi-liner

Day 9, OCC Soft & Subtle

When I logged in to class this morning, I have to say I was slightly intimidated at first. But once I got started I was oohhing and aahhhing. I love it!!!

This awesome die by Memory Box is quickly becoming a favorite. I love the window affect and used clear acetate behind it.

I used watercolor paper for the background piece starting with a wash of evergreen bough Distress ink for the sky, then fading into the lower part of the scene using pumice stone to give the snowy areas and distance some depth. But then, before I adhered the top piece, I decided it needed some "real" snow, so instead of just gluing it down to the card base, I used foam tape on the back, then added microbeads!! Perfect snow.

The sentiment is stamped in pumice stone and hand cut. From the Hand Lettered Holiday set by My Favorite Things.

Thanks for checking in today. I hope you've been inspired by these class projects. If you are interested in taking any of the Online Card Classes, you can register any time and take them at your leisure! Details here.

Product list:
Memory Box, Woodland Oval die
My Creative Time, Rectangle frames die
My Creative Time, Boughs of Holly stamps
Jaded Blossom, Christmas Panels stamps
My Favorite Things, Hand Lettered Holiday sentiment stamps
Tim Holtz Distress inks; evergreen bough, forest moss, pumice stone, gathered twigs
Watercolor paper, clear acetate, foam tape, microbeads

Day 8, OCC Shimmer and Shine Inspiration

It's inspiration day in class, and while it is not a holiday card, per se, it's sort of a holiday and it is shimmery and sparkly, so here you go. Littlest grandgirl, Emmy, will be 8 next week and she LOVES all things Hello Kitty. And sparkles.

Hello Kitty is a cut file. I used the Birthday Wishes and Balloons sentiment set by My Favorite Things for the sentiment, and personalized the card and envelope by masking off and stamping her name. The "M" is actually the "W" in sweet. The balloons and sweet outline hearts are also part of this stamp set.

Little better view of the stickles on Hello Kitty's outfit.

 ....and SHE WOBBLES!!

Thanks for coming by! :)

Day 7, Shimmer & Shine

Ohhhh shiny!!! :) In today's class we are focusing on shimmer and shine. I decided to keep with the gold that I used on Day 3, Classic & Elegant. I made two cards so far today and I do like them both. That doesn't always happen. LOL Which is your favorite?

Gold foiling using the stripey background stamp by My Creative Time.

The deer die is cut from gold cardstock, and the sentiment is heat embossed in black. 

On this card, the snowflakes are gold foiled.

 

Product list:
My Creative Time, Stripey Background stamp
My Creative Time, Rectangle Frames
My Favorite Things, Hand Lettered Holiday sentiment stamps
Tim Holtz, Retro Christmas sentiment stamp and die
Ellen Hutson, Savvy deer head die
Thermoweb gold foil, gold cardstock, embossing powders, laminator, snowflake stamp

Day 6, Cute & Whimsical Inspiration

What a great class this is! I'm really enjoying all the inspiring designs. I love these crazy birds from Tim Holtz and decided this day was the perfect time to use them. This card is inspired by Nichole Magourik. Isn't he fun!?

The hat and candy cane are from the coordinating Crazy Things stamp and dies set. I love that it comes with dies that allow you to cut pieces to layer.

I added glossy accents to the eyes, heat embossed with clear powder for the candy cane, added Wink of Stella glitter pen to the hat, and for the fluff, used liquid applique. Totally love - he's even cuter in real life!

Tim Holtz Bird Crazy stamps and dies
Tim Holtz Crazy Things stamps and dies
Tim Holtz Bubble layering stencil
Technique Tuesday, Everything Jolly stamp
My Creative Time, Pretty Spring Wreaths stamps
My Creative Time, Rectangle Frames die
My Creative Time, Fun Stitched Edges die
Copic markers, liquid applique, glossy accents, foam tape, clear, white and black embossing powders, Wink of Stella glitter pen

Day 5, Cute & Whimsical

Today's class theme is cute and whimsical cards. I have lots of super cute stamps to play with. For this one, I used the My Favorite Things, Jingle All The Way set. The Santas in this set are all so sweet.

I colored with copics then heat embossed with clear powder and placed him on a wobble!!

Look at him go! LOL He's as excited for Christmas as I am, I think. :)

My Favorite Things, Jingle All The Way
My Favorite Things, Hand Lettered Holiday
My Favorite Things, Grout Gray hybrid ink
My Favorite Things, Diagonal Inside and Out Rectangles
Tim Holtz Scribbly Christmas stamps
Red, gold, white and clear embossing powders
copic markers, versamark ink, wobble, foam tape

Day 4, Classic & Elegant Inspiration

Welcome to Day 4 of Holiday Style card class. I love wreaths. A simple wreath image on a card is so classic. I loved how this one turned out. Instead of placing my sentiment along the bottom, I decided I liked the white space below and stamped it over the center of the wreath and embossed in gold. Love!

The red mat brings out the berries in the wreath perfectly. Nothing fancy or overdone, just enough! Thanks for looking. :)

Product list:
My Creative Time, Pretty Spring Wreaths stamp set
My Creative Time, Boughs of Holly stamp and die set
My Creative Time, Rectangle Frames dies
My Favorite Things, Hand Lettered Holiday sentiment stamps
Distress inks, Bundled Sage, Forest Moss, Ground Espresso, Festive Berries
Stampendous Gold Embossing powder, Versamark ink

Day 3, Classic and Elegant

I love the way my card turned out for today's class assignment. The "window" die is by Memory Box, and the sentiment and ornaments are from Tim Holtz Retro Christmas stamp and die set.

Inside: Tree boughs stamps by My Creative Time.

Here's a better shot of the awesome gold and white embossing on the ornaments. I just love it!

Oval window/tree die, Memory Box
Tim Holtz, Retro Christmas stamps and die set
My Creative Time, Boughs of Holly stamp and die set
Stampendous white and gold embossing powders
Distress ink, Forest Moss for tree boughs
Tiny holly stamp and die by My Favorite Things