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I'm So Excited I Won!

I just found out that I won blog candy! Jeanette Lynton, the founder of Close To My Heart, has a blog and just posted a little while ago the winners of her Passion for Paper contest. I totally missed my name the first time I read the list. Thankfully, I read it again and saw my name in the number 1 spot. I won a paper pack and My Stickease from the new spring catalog. I don't know which one I won because she will pick the pack for each winner. She was very generous and gave away 12 paper packs instead of the 5 that she orginally planned on giving away.

Well, I got to run now. I have to take my oldest dd and her friend to Girl Scouts. Then I am taking my youngest dd to shop for a Christmas gift for the little girl that I watch after school.

Christmas Carol quiz

Here is a fun Christmas Carol quiz. After you take the quiz, leave a comment with your results! I, unfortunately, only got a 68%. It told me that I spend too much time shopping and eating and I need to spend more time singing. I am definitely not a singer and very rarely listen to music--well, I should say pay attention to the words in a song. I am going to the local high school choir concert tonight so I am definitely going to pay attention to the words.

I have lots of cards to post but have to get the pictures off my sister's camera first. I guess I need to start taking my camera with me when I go to her house to stamp so I can get my pictures posted quicker. Hopefully, I can start posting some cards tomorrow.

For those of you who take the quiz and leave a comment, I will have one of my dds draw a name and you will get a little something for me. Leave your comments by Thursday, December 18 at noon (EST) and I will have my dd draw a name after school that day.

Christmas Cards for my MIL and FIL

In addition to making Christmas cards for my DH's grandma, I also made some for my MIL and FIL. I made 10 of each of these cards.

This card was inspired by Sharon Johnson's card:


Stamps: SU! Snow Swirled
Paper: gold metallic


Stamps: CTMH (can't think of the name of the stamp set right now)
Paper: CTMH holiday red
Accessories: Cuttlebug Winter House, Stickles

I have a question for anyone who has the Cuttlebug Winter House embossing folder. Does yours deeply emboss your cardstock? When I made these cards, I used my friends folder but used my machine and they were deeply embossed. I ordered a folder for myself and my sister used it today. She used a leftover circle that I had embossed with my friends folder and she noticed that there was a big difference in the two. My folder didn't emboss nearly as well as my friends and also, the images seemed to be a little different because she could not line the circle up over the full embossed sheet. I am going to get in touch with the company but was just wondering if anyone else could tell me how theirs embosses.

Last of the Card Donations

Here are the rest of the card donations.

These were made by my sister Carol:





From Stacy M., Pasco, WA:





These are from Sue C., N. Royalton, OH:


This is a set of notecards in different colors sent in by Susan R. Springboro, OH:


This large lot of cards was donated by Susie H., Tucker, GA (thanks, Susie, for your very generous donation!):












From Taylor V., Pasadena, CA:



This set of Christmas cards is from Teresa K., Staunton, VA:





And last but not least, this card is from Tosha L., Dinuba, CA:


And here is a picture of 5 of the 6 baskets that we donated for the benefit:


The basket in the middle is the one with the stamping supplies. I didn't get a picture of the 6th basket. We didn't get that put together until the night before the benefit and I totally forgot to take a picture of it.

Thank you again to everyone for your generosity in donating your cards for the benefit!

OCC Sketch Challenge

Very rarely do I get to participate in sketch challenges. I keep all my stamping stuff at my sister's house so I don't always have time when I am there to make everything that I want to make. Fortunately, today I had time.

While I was working on my Christmas cards, my sister mentioned my cousin's birthday which is on Tuesday. I knew her birthday was coming up, but I guess it came quicker than I was prepared for. I had every intention of getting her card done so I could get in the mail on time but I guess my card is going to be a day or two late. She lives in Texas so I don't think the card is going to get from Ohio to Texas by Tuesday.

I remembered that OCC was having a sketch challenge so I came up with this card:


And this is the inside:


Stamps: SU! Paris in the Spring, PTI Birthday Basics
Paper: CTMH Stylin' (retired), black, baby pink
Ink: CTMH archival black, baby pink marker
Accessories: Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls, Scallop square Nestie, SU! black grosgrain, CTMH flower, CTMH baby pink brad

At first, I colored the presents in using my PrismaColor pencils but I decided there was too much color going on. So I threw that piece away and just added some color with the baby pink marker. It was so much better and had just enough color.

I was also really pleased with how my flower accent turned out. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted and then this idea came to me. I cut three pieces of the grosgrain ribbon and folded the ends under to the middle on each of them and adhered them. I then used my paper piercer and put a hole in the center of each so I could put the brad through. I think it is a fun accent piece and will have to remember to add it to other cards in different colors.

Christmas Cards for DH's Grandma

This year I decided to give my DH's grandma an early Christmas present. I made her two sets of 10 Christmas cards. I hope she liked them. I didn't get to give them to her personally since she lives about 2 hours away. I took them with me when we went to my in-laws for Thanksgiving so they could give them to her the next time they saw her.

Anyways, here is the first card. It was inspired by this card by jennifv on Splitcoaststampers:


And the inside:



Stamps: PTI Snowflake Serenade
Paper: red metallic
Inks: CTMH holiday red
Accessories: Cuttlebug Lace Tree, rhinestones

And here is the second card:


And the inside:


Stamps: PTI Snowflake Serenade
Paper: CTMH outdoor denim
Ink: CTMH outdoor denim
Accessories: Cuttlebug Snowflakes, rhinestones

When you make your Christmas cards, do you make them all the same design or do you do all different cards? When I started stamping, I used to make mine all the same design but now that I have more stamps and a lot more ideas, I make different sets of cards. I'm still working on my Christmas cares but will be posting them as soon as I get them all done.

More Card Donations--almost done

I think I should be able to get the rest of the cards posted tomorrow.

This card is from Jazzi B., Portland, ME:


This is from Jerri Kay:


From Joanne B., Franklin, MA:



From Julia B., Red Creek, Alberta:




From Katherine R., Rockledge, FL:





These were sent in by Kim M., Flowery Branch, GA:



These are from Laurie W., Katy, TX:



These were sent in by Lorri H., Cave Creek, AZ:


These are from Makiko J., Waskom, TX:


From Michelle B., Fenton, MO:



These are from Pam S., Connoquenessing, PA:






Sent in by Peggy E., Terrebone, Quebec:



From Rita C., Showlow, AZ:


From Rita R., Charlotte CH, VA:


From Rochelle W., Sacramento, CA:


And finally for today, from Sharon J., Baraga, MI:



I want to say a special thanks to Sharon. She posted about the benefit on her blog which resulted in 17 people sending in 90 cards! That was a huge help and greatly appreciated!