Santa's Stash

The challenge at the Card and Craft Club in December, is "Old Time Christmas" and the items to be used include paper, a clothes pin, and a paper mustache.  I left it until the last minute.  (Really? LOL!) and all I could come up with was a Santa face on one of the cocoa cups that I have been creating for co-worker gifts.  Actually it turned out kinda cute, but I expect everyone else had the same idea! 

I used the Santa from the Doodlecharms cart, and sacrificed some of the Graphics 45 "Twas the Night Before Christmas" stack for an old fashioned feel to the container.  What is more 'old time' than a Santa who is NOT watching his weight?   Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Cocoa Cup Treats

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see ALL our family, this year but Master J. certainly kept us busy!  You just can't tell a 2 year old to sit and salivate at the delicious turkey aroma for 30 more minutes.  He wants dinner now!

Well, it's time to pack away the cornucopia, gourds, garlands of leaves and the Thanksgiving Cabin and put up the tree and the Mistletoe Manor.  (Although with the release of the new Frozen cart, I was thinking it might be fun to make a 3D Elsa's castle decorated for Christmas with all the characters skating around it.   What do you'all think?)

I have been working on the treats I love to make for my family to hand out to co-workers and friends and this year, I adapted the cocoa cup file from Lori Whitlock and filled it with my favorite Ghiradelli  chocolates.  The paper comes from Martha Stewart and the sentiment from CTMH Artbooking.  The snowflake flourish comes from Theresa Collins' December 25th cart and I cut it from DCWV Glitzy Glitter paper on the Intricate Cuts setting. It's gorgeous!

I am going to link my treat containers to the Decorate to Celebrate challenge # 89 Anything Goes!   This is one of my favorite sites to browse for inspiration.  Check it out!

Thanks for visiting with me!  Time to get on the road and deliver Master J back to his parents - who moved from their apartment to a house today!  : ) Christine

Mistletoe Manor

I have SO enjoyed seeing all the versions of the Mistletoe Manor on Pinterest and on the SVG Cuts Facebook page.  Mary gave us an amazing pattern file and set us free to adorn it in as many ways as we could think of!  But, the magic happens when you add lights to the house and a photograph just does not do it justice.  (So you will have to come see it for yourself, Sister!)  Love it, love it, love it!

I, um, mentioned that I made a big mistake when I was making it and, unfortunately, I made another mistake yesterday when I let my 2 year old DGS see it lit up!   However, a little extra glue and you can't even see where the repairs were needed!   I have to say his reaction was lovely to see!

So my first mistake -  I adhered the base pieces together in the wrong order and then glued the house down.  Oooops!  When I came to add the pillars - there was nowhere to put them!  A creative repair was needed and a good coating of texture paste and fake snow plus glitter covered everything up.   : )

Here's my version of the Mistletoe Manor: -

 I used Graphics 45 "Twas the Night Before Christmas" stack and Bazzil paper to make the house sturdy.  It was such a fun project!

Thanks for visiting with me today and allowing me to share my Mistletoe Manor.  : )   Christine

Thanksgiving Box Card

I played at 'Little House on the Prairie' last week as we had two days of power cuts due to a rather nasty wind storm.  The first day it was fun cooking on the wood stove; the second, not so much!  DH trundled out the generator and we ran it for a few hours to recharge the propane stove battery, and keep the freezer and 'fridge nice and cold.  I am so grateful to the PUD guys who worked overtime in the storm to get us up and running again.   I had serious internet withdrawal, I can tell you!  : )

Then on Thursday, it snowed all day!  We were able to get down to pick up Master J. and give him a snow day which was fun, fun, fun!   (Although, he did get upset because the snow kept covering up the images of Thomas on his boots!  LOL!)

It was too cold to spend much time in the craft room, but I did get the SVG Cuts Mistletoe Manor cut out and assembled on the kitchen table over the weekend.  I made a huge mistake which I need to cover up and then I'll share how it came out.  Oooops!

Do you ever feel like you never finish anything?  House cleaning, gardening, cooking, volunteer work, even keeping Cocoa's coat brushed and clipped are never ending tasks!   And don't get me started on the saga of the new, and still unfinished, barn!  

The answer, of course, is to download a pattern and make a card.  I love the Autumn box cards from SVG Cuts.   They are relatively simple and yet quite lovely when done.  I chose to do the Thanksgiving box card, but felt the need to add a sentiment and a pie!  I mean, nothing says 'Thanksgiving' like a turkey and a pie, right?

I used shimmer paper for the turkey and the cute patterned paper comes from a 6 x 6 Doodlebug stack.  Isn't that lace panel in the side of the card fabulous?     Well, now that's completed, I'm going back to cleaning the house!  Thanks for visiting with me today.   : ) Christine

Thanksgiving Treats

It was time to make the November treats for the children at OHM and I was determined to make a candy corn shaped box with candy corn and pumpkins inside.  I could NOT find a 'candy corn' box in Design Space but I was sure that I had seen one somewhere.  But where was it?  (I hate those senior moments!) Ugghhh!

Eventually, I came across this 'Teardrop Treat Box' on the Fancy Boxes cart.  Yeah!  Then, I had to learn how to use the slice tool so that I could cut the different layers. Then, I found out that it does not glue together properly.  Then, I found that I had 15 shades of orange card stock none of which were the exact same tone.  Ugghhh!

I added a little bling and tied the top with jute thread and called it cute!   Wait!   Would the little boys want 'bling?'    Ugghhh!  Then, the old brain cells ground into motion and I remembered the BBTB2 Challenge this week - football!  Quickly, I cut out a football from "Life's a Party' and goalpost from 'Team Spirit' and glued them in place.  Double cute. 

DH has his instructions for the OHM ladies - the children get to choose whether they have bling or a football.  No sexism here!    Thanks for visiting with me today.  : )   : ) Christine

Star Wars Anniversary Card

Like many other 40 somethings, my DS was/is a big Star Wars fan.  It was such a thrill for him when the DGDs saw it for the first time and loved it just as he did way back in the Dark Ages!

When I saw this pin by Got Scraps? it seemed the perfect fit for a card for his upcoming wedding anniversary.

I used my PC star embossing folder on the outside, and tried to keep the design as 'normal' as possible so that the inside was a surprise!

This is NOT my favorite line from the movie.  I wanted to smack Han Solo on the head when he said it and I'm not a violent person!

Thanks for visiting with me today.  : ) Christine

Thanksgiving Cabin

My sister was packing up to return to White Rock after house and animal sitting for us while we were in the U.K. and I was packing up the Halloween decor.  A doubly sad occasion.  : (   I hated putting away the SVG Cuts Bewitched Cabin.  When all of a sudden, as Thomas says, an idea flew in my funnel!  I would make a cabin for Thanksgiving!   My sister was enthusiastic and full of ideas for the cabin.  And here it is!   Love that wreath on the door.

I did enjoy browsing the images in the Design Space library.  I love having all those choices available in my subscription and while I ended up using carts that I do own, there's no way I would have pulled out all those carts had I been doing it the old way.  Don't you just love the pie cooling on the window sill? That never happens at my house!

Here's the old tree at the back of the house and the leaves blowing around.

And I put the sentiment here on this big back wall.

The paper is from The Pumpkin Patch from DCWV.   I used images from Autumn Celebrations, Thanksgiving, Wild Card, Heritage, and Mickey and Friends to name a few.

The challenge over at FCCB is "Anything Goes!"  It's always fun and inspiring to look at all the entries for this one!  Click on the link and have a look.  : )

I am also adding my cabin at the Linky Party at Craftin' Desert Diva's where the theme is orange and brown.  Great projects here. too.

Thanks for visiting with me today!   Hope you like the cabin, Sister!   : )  Christine