The Holiday Countdown

Well, here we are at the backside of Thanksgiving, and you know what that means - Christmas will be here before you can say "Already??"  It happens every year.  The year just kind of moseys on, then it's September and the kids are headed back to school, and Halloween is on the horizon.  And that's when it all happens seemingly at once.  When the last trick-or-treater trudges down the front walk, suddenly we are thrust into the holiday season with a vengeance.  "Oh, Thanksgiving is almost a month away, I have plenty of time."  Really?  Because to me, Halloween was just last week.  Yes it was.  And suddenly the television ads are all jingly and Sugar Plum Fairy-ish (which is played every third commercial), and it's time to decorate the house, and "When are you making your homemade eggnog, hon?"  And "Are you making gingerbread cookies and decorating them this year, Mom?"

Sigh.  So much to do, so little time.  And Monday and Tuesday will be devoted to spreading 3 cubic yards of compost on all the flower beds when I should be hauling the decorations down from the attic.  Because I thought I had plenty of time back in September.

Sigh.

Today's card is non-autumn, non-Christmassy, and very springlike.  It's for newlyweds and is the only such card I have in my stash at the moment.  

It's a simple, yet elegant card.  I stamped the image onto watercolor paper and colored it with inkpads and a blender pen.  I popped up the top layer using dimensionals, added the greeting and a bow made with two ribbons simultaneously, and that's it - soft, simple, yet very colorful and it still has texture and a bit of embellishment

I will be making a birthday meal today which, knowing me, will probably take all day.  The cake will take the longest, but a birthday needs a proper birthday cake.  So no time in the craft room, but there's always tomorrow.  No, that's right, there'll be 3 cu. yds. of compost waiting for me in the driveway.

Sigh.

Have a lovely Sunday, and here's to slowing time down and spending it wisely (preferably doing something you love.)

Happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Stamps: SU Teeny Tiny Wishes, Flourishes With Gratitude
Ink: Staz-On, Tuxedo Black
Paper: Elegant Eggplant, Wisteria Wonder (I think), Watercolor, Whisper White
Accessories: SB Labels 18 and Lattice Rectangles, SU Oval and Oval Scallop punches; ribbon, SU inkpads, dimensionals

More bling

Hello and good morning!

I wanted to get one more card in before the holiday because I'll be spending time with family over the next few days.  My stepson is coming to visit from Denver, so the house will be full of football action, which means my DD and I will be spending time at her place before and after Thanksgiving Day so as to allow them some major father/son macho bonding, plus I won't feel like I'm getting in the way going from my craft room to my office and back, which cuts right in front of the tv.  Three whole days with my DD is something I've been looking forward to for a long time.  She has taken a couple of days off from work, and tomorrow we're crafting all day the way we usually do every Friday.  Thursday is Thanksgiving, and Friday she and I will go to a sweet "little" (it used to be) town here in North Texas that gets all done up for this time of year.  McKinney, Texas, will be doing its 32nd annual Dickens of a Christmas - Home for the Holidays, and many of the shopkeepers will be dressed in period clothing from the era of A Christmas Carol.  It is lovely.  The streets right off of the town square are closed to vehicle traffic and there is always a festive holiday air about the square.  We may even stay for the lighting of the Christmas tree this year!

Then Saturday and Sunday will be spent here at home with DH and DSS (Darling StepSon) and we will celebrate his 21st birthday on Sunday, though his actual birthdate was the 9th, but we couldn't be there for it (he lives in Denver).  I will, however, be back in the craft room on Saturday.

My card today is not my usual style, but I loved making it because I pulled out all the stops.  I always see such highly decorated cards on various blogs and have aspired to be able to make them myself, so today I gave it my best shot.  As I told my DD, "this is what over the top looks like."

And how.

I had such a nice response to my little piggy stick pin yesterday that I decided to make another one and incorporate him into a card.  I'm not saying who's getting it, but I have made it for a specific person.  And that's all I have to say about that.

 I've colored the image with Copics and thought about doing something other than coloring the centers, but since the card has a wee bit of other interest going on, I figured fluffy centers would be just a tad too busy.  Gee, ya think?

Here's my little piggy stick pin custom made specifically for this card.  If you click on the picture to enlarge it, you'll notice the little angel wing charm that is attached.  You can barely see it in the first picture - underneath the bottom of the bow, there is also a point protector so that this pin may be removed and either worn as a lapel pin or used in some other decorative fashion. 

You may be thinking that these are unusual colors to put together, and you'd be right.  SCS is having a fun color challenge using plum, navy and white, and thankfully I had the barest bit of navy left in my stash.  Must place an order TODAY.

The rose was made with SB Rose Creations die, and the smaller blossoms were made with the SU Boho Blossoms punch using plum, navy and white for the various layers of petals.  I spread a bit of glue on the petals afterwards and sprinkled them with superfine glitter.  

Have you noticed the stitching?  Isn't that a hoot??  At last I can use the lovely embroidery machine my DH bought for me two birthdays ago!  I'm not doing any sewing of late, but at least now I can use the machine AND the zillion colors of embroidery thread I've collected.  And fancy schmancy stitches that I never used, too!

I've put one of the tiny blossoms on the ribbon bow and attached a couple of tiny tags from SU's what else, Tiny Tags stamp set.

And that, dear friends, is my purplelicious, over the top card.  Thank you for joining me as I detailed it, and I hope you have a fantastic, happy and SAFE Thanksgiving.  Happy Thanksgiving, and happy crafting!

Ingredients:

Paper (all SU): Perfect Plum, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Stack and a tiny bit of Elegant Eggplant.
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Elegant Eggplant
Stamps: SU Tiny Tags, Flourishes With Gratitude
Accessories: SB Rose Creations, Oval and Floral Oval Nesties, SU large oval punch, ribbon, custom stick pin, Boho Blossoms punch, pearls, rhinestone swirls, Copics, glitter, embroidery thread, dimensionals, Scor-Tape.

Challenges entered:

SCS CC402 - A Perfect White Night 
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Thank You Challenge
Paper Playtime #89 - Anything Goes
Incy Wincy Designs - Hip To Be Square 
The Pink Elephant TPE175 - Giving Thanks
Flourishes Timeless Tuesday #196 - Whatever Makes You Happy (my friend, the color purple, and the piggy stick pin make me happy!)
Anything Goes Challenge #80 - Stitching Real or Faux
Creative Card Crew Challenge 24 - Anything Goes
Simon Says...Thanksgiving/Thank You!
Pause Dream Enjoy Challenge #46 - Thank You Projects
Crazy 4 Challenges C4C163 - Create a Tag!
Speedy Fox and Friends Challenge #134 - Pop It Up!
Drunken Stampers #106 - Cut, Crop and Die
CI Paints - Thankful For You


Alota Rubberstamps #95 - Sketch