Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Cuties Style!

That's right, bloggers, the guy in the red suit with the long white beard is on his way in less than a month!!!  It hardly seems possible to me that 2017 is almost over.  It will soon be time to start on next year's Christmas card stash!  LOL!

 

But before we get too far into the future, let's stop a minute and check out what I made for the current challenge over at the Christmas With The Cuties blog:

 

 

Let me tell you, this card did not turn out how I wanted it to!  My original plan was to have the stamped HO HO HO! all the way across the background, but I got so far with it, and then mis-stamped it.  Even using my MISTI.  Bummer.  So I decided to cover up the majority of the bottom (I had a couple of smears to cover up too), with a piece of Swiss Dots embossed red card stock.  On top of that, I added a piece of plain green cs to the border between the red and the HO HO HO!'s, which made a perfect place for my sentiment.  The HO HO HO! sentiment and the Santa come from a Hampton Art stamp and die set from Michael's.  I picked up a bunch of different sets like this last year, and this is the first I have used one of them.  Bad, huh?  My main sentiment, by Memento, was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black, and I attempted to clear heat emboss it, as I had done with Santa, but for some reason it didn't take.  Another boo-boo, but this one I didn't fix or cover up.  I gave Santa some sparkle for his hat with Diamond Stickles.

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Sweet Stampers #14:  Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas:  ATG

Mix It Up #7:  ATG or optional "stenciling" twist

Crafty Creations #355:  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #146:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #70:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #310- #311:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #176:  ATG

Winter Wonderland:  Traditional Christmas colors-- red and green

CHNC #361:  ATG or optional "use doilies" theme

Christmas Card Challenges #26 (their final challenge):  ATG or optional "candy cane" theme

Sweet Stampin':  Use your favorite Christmas color (green)

Create and Inspire #68:  ATG

Hiding In My Craft Room #328:  Any Holiday

Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

The Merry Christmas Challenge #44:  ATG Christmas

 

Well, I guess that will be all for tonight.  Time for this chickie to go to bed...after I do all this linking up, of course!  Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

A Christmas card for a special boy...

Hello bloggers!  I'm back again tonight to quickly share a card I made for Jacob Thompson.  In case you haven't already heard about him, he is a nine-year-old boy who is dying of cancer.  The article I read says that he may not live until Christmas, so he wanted Christmas cards to be sent to him from all over.  My MIL said that she heard he loves penguins, so that is the direction I took with this card:

 

 

I used the penguins and the larger Santa hat from Toboggan Together, and the smaller hat from Cheery Christmas, all from Lawn Fawn of course.  The igloo is a cut file I purchased from the Silhouette store.  I inked the outer edge of the main body of the igloo, and also each ice brick with Broken China Distress Oxide ink.  I inlaid all the bricks back into their places either with Tombow glue or clear dimensional Scotch adhesive squares.  The penguins are also popped up with Scotch foam tape.  I glued all of this to a blue "outline" of the igloo shape that is glued to an identical piece to make a card.  I stamped "Merry Christmas" from Toboggan Together using the same ink on the inside, as well as some snowflakes from the set.  I hope this card will help to brighten his day when he receives it!

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Merry Monday #265:  Outdoor Activities

CHNC #359:  ATG or optional "reindeer" theme

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #145:  ATG

Crafty Creations #354:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #69:  ATG

Holly and Ivy #19:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Cute Card Thursday #504:  Birds/animals

 

 

That's all for tonight.  Thanks for stopping by, and if you can, please send Jacob a Christmas card!  You can find his address on the web if you just type his name in.  Night all!

 

~Marie~

 

CCAYR mid-November 2017 DT post

Hey everybody!  How's it going?  Things are mostly OK here.  I am a little bit unsettled, as my current job will be ending December 22.  Depending on the workflow, it could be sooner than that.  I have interviewed for another job in the same field, but have yet to hear anything one way or the other.  I am supposed to hear this week...it's been a nerve-wracking week!  On a good note, tomorrow we are having a company-sponsored Thanksgiving dinner at work, so that is something to look forward to!  I haven't worked at this place for very long (3 years), but I will miss the friends I have made when the time comes to leave. 

:(

 

Anyway, on to happier things...how is your Christmas card stash coming along?  I think mine is looking pretty good, but I gotta keep adding on...Christmas will roll around again next year!  LOL!  So, here is the latest card for my stash, which I made for the Christmas Cards All Year Round mid-month inspiration post:

 

The theme for this month was Candies, Cookies or Gingerbread, and I had a plethora of images I could have chosen from my collection of digis, stamps, and cut files.  I decided on a print and cut Silhouette file, which printed out with lines on it?!  I tried to print it again, but it was worse, so I used this one.  For the rest of the card, I used a piece of green glitter card stock to cover the card front, a smaller piece of designer paper from the DCWV Mrs. Claus's Kitchen stack, and the 2 fishtail banners are also from that stack.  Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink was used to ink the edges of the image panel while still in the Spellbinder's die, to get that nice white border.  I will save a sentiment for the inside on this one.

 

Challenges:

 

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG with patterned paper

Sweet Stampers #14:  Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas:  ATG

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Crafty Creations #354:  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #145:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #69:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #308-#309:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #175:  ATG

CHNC #359:  ATG or optional "reindeer" theme

Card Mania #98:  ATG

Create and Inspire #68:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Holly and Ivy #19:  ATG

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I hope you all have a blessed day!

 

Take care,

 

~Marie~

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHNC Extra DT post for NOVEMBER!!!!

That's right folks, it's NOVEMBER 2017!!!  What the HECK happened to this year?!?  I can hardly believe that we are 8 short weeks from Christmas (according to QVC anyway!), and the Hallmark Channel is playing it's Countdown to Christmas movie series. 

 

Speaking of how many weeks there are until Christmas, are you ready to send out those cards to friends and family?  Have you joined us every month at CHNC Extra to help build up your stash?  If not, you'll just have to work a little bit harder these next couple of weeks to finish up.  But anyway...here is what I have to show you for my contribution to the CHNC Extra November challenge:

 

 

Christmas Bear was my image of choice for my card this month.  I decided to try "digital masking" (that's what I'm calling it anyway!) using my Silhouette Cameo program.  The bear in green was the png file, and the bear in red was the jpeg file.  I just flipped the jpeg file around and situated it next to the other one to make it look like a pair of bears sitting there, looking all cute!  I am really happy with the result!!  I used alcohol markers to color the bears, and added some Spectrum Noir clear sparkle brush pen to the white parts of the hats and coats.  I die cut the image with Spellbinders' Labels Eight, and then used the die to trace and cut a black mat.  The red polka dotted paper comes from the Love Nicole Seasons Greetings 6x6 pad.  Added another black mat behind that layer, and glued the whole thing to a white A2 card base.

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional Star Struck theme

Jingle Belles:  Not a Creature was Stirring (animals)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Craftyhazelnuts Patterned Paper:  ATG with patterned paper

Sweet Stampin' Challenge:  Bears

Animal Friends #56:  Merry Christmas

Card Mania #98:  ATG

HIMCR #324:  Any Holiday

Word Art Wednesday #306-#307:  ATG

Crafty Creations #353:  ATG

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #18:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Don't forget to join us at the CHNC Extra blog for your chance to win 4 images from our sponsor, Bugaboo!

 

Catch ya next time!

 

~Marie~