This Year's Ornament Exchange

Every year in December I host an Ornament Exchange Party.  This year we had 9 ladies that exchanged handmade ornaments.  We all bring something to eat and then gather 'round for the Exchange.

Each person gets to tell the "story" of their ornament - how they made them, what was easy, what was hard, how they came up with the idea, etc.  You can make your ornaments from any craft medium that you choose.

There are always so many cute and creative things.  I love putting all of these handmade things on my tree each year and remembering who made them.  Look at this cute sled with pine boughs and ribbon embellishments!

Don't you just love this pretty ornament made with fancy papers and snowflake cut-outs in it?  Each one is different. 







Then we pass the ornaments around and each person chooses one from the basket.  They're all so pretty and interesting, it's hard to choose!

It's such a fun evening getting together with the Girls!  We look forward to it every year.

Aren't these cute?  Painted lids to jar candles and then when the candle is burned, punch a hole in the lid to use them as an ornament!  The idea is so clever.  It's a Reuse- Recyclable ornament.  :)

There were so many different snow scenes in a jar to pick from.  How festive is this little caroler in her woodland scene?

I wonder how many bottles of wine one of my friends had to drink to make these ornaments?  Ha ha - just kidding!

Pretty felt cut-out snowflake ornaments made with the Accu Cutter.

What a sweet look to these ornaments made from dried okra and acorns!  They are painted and assembled to look like they are straight from the Christmas Garden and Forest.

And golden stars always make your tree look traditional and festive.

It's so much fun!  We all can't wait to do it again next year.

Have you ever had an Ornament Exchange?  What are some of your favorite handmade things that you put on your tree?

Ornaments for the Ornament Exchange

Every year I host an annual Ornament Exchange.  About 8 of my crafty friends make handmade ornaments ahead of time for swapping with each other. 

This year I found the cutest fabric while I was away at the Houston Quilt Show in November.  Its by Cori Dantini and features small images in vintage colors.

The images fit perfectly into a 3" embroidery hoop.  I had to go to several different craft stores to get enough hoops to make all of my ornaments.  Actually I thought that I had some, but couldn't find them. (!)

I added some embroidery using matching floss to each piece and made some lazy daisies on each one. 

I sewed on beads and buttons in clear, white and red to give them some dimension.  The back has stabilizer on them so the threads don't show through and then a piece of white Christmas tone-on-tone fabric to finish them off nicely.

I glued on matching pom pom embellishments to the edges and added ribbons for the hangers and to decorate the fronts.

There are so many cute images, I'm not sure which one that I like the best-  Santa, angel, tree, bear, bird and a snowman.  They were a lot of fun to make. 

Which one do you like the best? 

And Yet Another Deer

Are you surprised to see another card using the Dashing Deer set?  Nope, not me.  It's such a sweet set and I love using it.  :)

For this card that I copied from Su Mohr, I embossed the background using the Softly Falling snow background.  Then I just added some springs from the Pretty Pine thinlits.  Any greenery sprigs would work for this card.

The Christmas saying is a cut out from the Merry Christmas thinlits and is cut out using the Wood Textures paper.  I love how it makes the card look like you just took a trip to camp.

Add the saying Merry and the deer, a few rhinestones and you're done.  I love this card.

Santa's Doing a Little Baking!

For Christmas, I don't always get too much into Santa Claus, but I thought this little guy was so cute.  He's baking up a tray full of cookies for the holiday season!

He's one of the images in the "So Santa" stamp set.  I copied this card from Sandra Lewis that I saw on Pinterest.  I added the spatula and spoons from the Apron cut outs for an additional embellishment. 

I just love the plaid paper from the Festive Farmhouse collection in the background and his cute sayings.  For the inside of the card, it says May this season be the sweetest ever.  So cute! 

I feel like I might need to bake some cookies just so that I can use him again! 

Dashing Deer Homestyle

I love all of the things that you can do with the Dashing Deer set.  For this project, I cut out a couple of the deer and put them on a glittery snowbank in the woods.  I got rid of the glass so that it can have more of a 3D look to it. 

It's very hard to tell in the photo, but it's a very shiny scene.  The snow is glitter paper and the copper embellishments that I cut out for the corners shine along with the copper portions of the pretty paper in the background. 

I cut the scenery a bit smaller than the frame.  Underneath is a white piece embossed with the swirly embossing folder to give it some snowy texture.

Don't they look sweet in this frame?

Dashing Deer

These next two cards were also part of my Christmas Stamp Camp.  I love this set, Dashing Deer, even though we've had deer images for the past few years in the holiday catalog.  I think it's the pretty pattern on the deer that sold me this time.

This deer looks great showcased in front of a stitched circle and a coordinating scallop.  Simple to make, I glued the deer on with glue dots.  The cute little flowers also come with the cut-outs from this set.  This card also has a matching envelope.  You can see it better in the first photo.  I got this idea from stampingpretty.com. 

It's hard to tell but this card has embossing powder on the saying.  I also used the new Tin Tile embossing folder for the background.  I have to say that I love this deer. 

The deer on these cards don't seem to be doing a lot of dashing.  I'll have to come up with another card to show him leaping!  :)

Going on an Alpine Adventure!

For part of my Christmas Stamp Camp, I used the stamp set, Alpine Adventure to make these projects.  I like going on outdoor adventures, even in the cold and snow. 

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This card is pretty easy to make: add some washi tape along the bottom edge, a gentle snow embossing folder, some cut-out snowshoes, three green snowflakes and a saying.  I used an old tag punch for the saying and then mounted it onto some green cardstock and then cut around it to frame it.  I love its simplicity.  I got the idea from the SU catalog, only I changed the colors.

When I first saw the sled framelit in the holiday catalog, I knew that I had to have it!  I mean, what crafter doesn't need a sled cut-out at some point in her life?  I cut this one out using the Wood Textures paper and I think that it looks like it's made out of wood!  

I embossed the "Let it snow" saying and added a circle focal point to make the sled pop.  And I just love the snowflake cut out that comes with this set.  It's just the right size.  :)

The sled card idea is from Jaimie from stampitupwithjaimie.com.  

Last in this collection, but certainly not least, is the Hot Cocoa treat holder.  It's easy to make, and fun to decorate.  I got the idea from the Chic'n Scratch website.  The tutorial is here.  

Great Christmas colors, fun cards to make!  I even like how the Hot Cocoa mix matches the holder.  :)

Feathers and Frost

Feathers and Frost is a new stamp set from the Stampin Up Holiday Catalog.  It has two sweet little bird images in it and an unusual square wreath.

I took it out a couple of weeks ago to make a card and just love the images and colors of this card!  It's Tranquil Tide and Mint Macaron.  The embossed background is Quilt Top and sets the tone for the card.  I colored in the little bird using Stamping Blends.  The nice thing about them is that you can color in images that you have stamped with regular water based stamp pads.  And they don't bleed.

I was trying to think of some favors that would go well using this stamp set, so I made a candy box favor and some gift tags.  I was having so much fun that I also made a little holder to put the tags into.

If you'd like the instructions for making the candy box, use the link here from Chic'n Scratch. There's a little video on her website.  It's very easy to make!  I modified it to go along with the card.

Here are some of the cute little tags that I made to coordinate with this set.  The tags are made using the Tag Topper punch, so they are cut 2" to fit into the punch.  I added a colored piece of cardstock to the back of each tag to make it a bit more sturdy.  The little tag box was also made from the Chic'n Scratch website.  Here is the link to the box made using the Envelope Punch Board.  

All of these projects were part of my Christmas Stamp Camp.  They were all nice, but I think making these were the most fun!  

Do you like this little bird?  

Quilted Pumpkin

I usually post a lot of my stamping projects on my blog, but in addition to doing rubber stamping, I also like to do sewing and quilting projects.  The problem with them is that they take longer to make and don't always get finished on a timely basis.

A couple of weeks ago I started working on some pumpkin wall hangings, table runners and table toppers.  Most of them are still in the process of getting finished, but I did complete this one block.  It can be used as a table placemat or a wall hanging.  It's about 12" square.  I like to set them on my end tables or the dining tables and put some sort of decor on them. 

This particular pumpkin was gifted to a friend of mine whose birthday is in October.  She loved it and is using it to decorate a small table. 

Hopefully one of the days soon I will be able to finish some of my other pumpkin pieces!  I love to decorate for fall.  :) 

What to Do if the Wine Runs Out

There's a really cute stamp set called Half Full that I used to make this Christmas card.  The saying says, "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas."  On the front of the card is a bottle of wine and a wine glass along with a holly berry. 

But the real pun is on the inside of this card (sorry that it's a bit blurry).  The saying says, "but if the white runs out, I'll drink red."  Cute, isn't it?

I was waiting for just the right time to make this card.  I love the silver accent pieces on the front along with the black and white snowflake paper.  I even added some springs of greenery for a more Christmas look.  I saw the idea on Pinterest by Jan Musselman.

So what do you think of this? 

I Love Fall

I love everything about fall - the cool crisp air, the colorful leaves on the trees, the smell of mulling spices, apple cider donuts, Thanksgiving, being thankful, etc.

For this class I chose shiny copper paper and copper dry embossing for the accent colors to my cards.

This card features the new stamp set, Falling Leaves along with its set of framelits.  The cut outs are a shiny copper and the saying is made with copper embossing powders.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the coppers all stand out so well, making this a glistening fall card!  I used the Tin Tile embossing folder for the background and some punched out copper stars for embellishments.  I love the font for the saying, too.  My idea comes from Leena Ginsa.

Remember the awesome birch tree embossing folder?  I think it's called Woodland Textured Impressions for its formal name.  Doesn't it look sweet on the background of this fall-colored card?  The leaves are cut out with the Colorful Seasons leaf thinlits and the saying is embossed with copper powder.  Simple, and yet so elegant.  Idea is from Jan Higgins, one of my stamping friends.

Next up is a card using the Springtime Impressions thinlits.  Of course, you can make it to work for any season by just changing the colors.  I cut out the floral die using the Wood Textures designer paper.  The background is lightly stamped using the Hardwood background stamp.  I colored some pearls with orange blends.  The idea for this card is from Stesha Bloodhart.

I have to say that I love this fall card!  It's made using the Coffee Cafe set and a stamp set that was in last year's holiday catalog.  The designer papers are left overs from last year but I love the look that they have on this card.  The leaves and pumpkins really add to the fall feel, but most of all I love the saying, "Hello FALL!  It's pumpkin spice latte season." 

I've never really had a pumpkin spice latte before, but it sounds so good that I'd like to try one.  What better reminder of fall than the smell of pumpkin spice? 

Do you like to make fall cards?  What are your favorite things in fall that you like? 

It's Like Walking Down a Country Lane

 Last week's stamping class featured a new stamp set, Country Home.  It has such sweet images in it, like a milk can and a retro pitcher.  The paper coordinates nicely with it, to bring out that sweet country feel.

The Tin Tile embossing folder has such an awesome look to it - it makes paper look like decorative metal tin.  We embossed some galvanized metal paper with the folder and take a look at the first card, especially in the first photo.  I love these colors together. 

The second card has cotton balls on it to complete the look of the cotton that is in the milk can.  I colored in the images using the Stamping Blends.  I love these cards so much - I think I need to make some more projects with these colors and this stamp set!

Rich Razzleberry is the shining color on this card, too.  I embossed the saying with white embossing powders to make it stand out. 

Finally, we stamped the milk can onto colored cardstock so that we didn't have to color it in.  A different look, but still a lovely card.

When I advertised this stamp class, I told the ladies that making these cards would like taking a walk down a country lane.  And boy, was I right!  :)

Wedding Frame and Accessories

Last week I attended a Bridal Shower for a special friend.  I made her this Wedding Collage Frame for her home.  The colors of her wedding are navy blue and gold.  I used the Springtime Impressions die cut for the focal point and flowers and added some decorated squares for the accent pieces.

I didn't want a lot of color, so I kept with just a few gold accents to keep it simple. 

Then I made some Love Notes mini cards for her to give to her husband, or vice versa. 

There are 3 different sizes of Love Notes.  I made a box to put them all in.  Just a note to slip into a lunch box, put on a pillow or a gentle reminder that you are thinking of your special someone.  :)

Here is whole collection.  The four to the left are tags, 3x3" note cards, and some mini cards.

I also made a couple of fridge magnets that match the collection.  Here is close up of the Love Notes box.

Here is the whole gift.  I forgot to take a photo of the card that I made- it matches the collage frame.  Later in the day, she sent me a pic of the frame on her wall in her new apartment.  :)