Christmas 2008

NEW
Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

My goodness; where does the time go? For weeks I've been preparing for Christmas. I made and sent about 60 cards this year. I baked three kinds of cookies and a batch of fudge. And of course there was the shopping, wrapping and decorating. And now, it's almost all over. For most people it IS over; but since Larry and I both come from large families, there are still two more family get-togethers we have to get through. Which means more eating!! LOL
I am so pleased with my tree this year, that I wanted to share a couple of pictures. These are close ups of some of the blue & silver ornaments.



I haven't been able to get any good photos of our outdoor decorations this year; it's either been too cold, too snowy, or too foggy! I'm still hoping to get a couple before it's time to pull the plug though.
My mother in law is one of the most difficult people on my shopping list every year.
She always comments on how lovely the hand made cards are that I send her for her birthday and at Christmas though; so this year I made her a set of 12 all occasion cards to send out during the year and alterd an empty envelope box to store them in. I am really looking forward to giving her this gift this year because I think she will really like it.






Well, I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of my Christmas activities. I'm really sorry
to see it all come to an end! It's a lot of work and gets very hectic; but I really
love everything about this holiday season. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all
of my friends!

NEW
Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

I've needed to make about 55 Christmas cards this year. Needless to say; I've had
to make them quickly, but still wanted to make them attractive. Here are a dozen that I was able to make in one evening. Just red and green cardstock (all embossed with Cuttlebug folders), a bit of print paper (Making Memories Fa La La), and images
from Altered Pages.

Too busy........

NEW
Public Enemies Columbus Merchandise
WWW.PublicEnemiesColumbus.Com

I really wish I could do without sleep. I just have so many things that I want to do and not nearly enough time to do them all! I did get my Christmas cards finished and most mailed. I have my gift for the gal that I am Secret Santa for; but have to mail it yet. I started decorating the house (have the bathroom done; hey, it's the smallest room!)
I had a couple of birthdays to make cards for, so I thought I'd share them with you. The first one is for my son in law. His birthday was on November 30 so I thought I could still get away with a fall card. I find it really difficult to make cards for men. Guess I just don't have the right kind of stamps for masculine ones. Hmmmmmm; a reason to go shopping for more!

I did a little experimenting with this one. I stamped the veins (normally would stamp the background shape first) of the largest leaf twice on white cardstock using Versamark ink and white embossing powder. After heat embossing those, I then stamped the background shape over the veins. I continued to fill in the remaining space with the other leaf background and vein stamps. Then I took a Versamark marker and went over each leaf and then heat embossed them all with clear embossing powder. Finally I used a dauber and a brown ink pad and starting at the edges, inked the entire background; lighter in the center. The stamp set is by Close To My Heart.
The second card is for my grandson. He is playing basketball for the first time this year, so I went with that theme. I stamped the words "Shooting Hoops" all over the background on white cardstock, again used a dauber to shade the edges and background. Then I stamped the basketball, cut it out and attached it with a pop dot. These stamps are also from Close To My Heart. I covered the chipboard arrow with white cardstock, inked the edges and stamped the greeting on it.

Finally, a Christmas project that I did this week. I used the Karen Foster Countdown to Christmas box, Making Memories Fa La La papers, and flowers from Making Memories and Prima for this. The ribbon and flower embellishment slips off so it can be changed. I found as I was working on this that the drawers can be reversed; both sides have the finger notch. So after Christmas I will slip off the ribbon/flower and decorate the other side of each of the drawers in another theme and then add a different ribbon and embellishment. So stay tuned..............