Christmas cards

As promised, here is the Christmas card we made at Kris' workshop last weekend. It is a super cute, simple yet elegant card.

It uses Dashing Double Sided Designer Series Paper, Old Olive and Real Red cardstock and Classic Ink, as well as the Tags On Board stamp set out of the Holiday Mini Catalog.



And here are sneak peeks at our Christmas cards for this year. Obviously I can't show you all of the card as that would ruin the surprise for the receivers! :-D

Thanksgiving....

Has anyone recovered from Thanksgiving yet? Are the left overs gone yet? Not in our household! (yum!)

Thanksgiving for us was spent with friends.

Sheri made her fabulous Cinnamon Rolls (photos below) which are tradition for Thanksgiving and boy, where they GOOD! It is definitely worth hanging out a whole year waiting for these wonderful bites of pure bliss! Wowsers!

Keeley Anne made a pumpkin pie as well as a pecan pie (photos below).

We all had a great time and of course, ate way too much, laughed too much and stayed up WAY too late playing games. Fun times indeed.

Of course, I forgot to take photos of the turkey...I had cinnamon rolls on the brain :-D

Here are a few photos of our Thanksgiving Feast desserts.

Sneak Peek - Time Well Spent

Stampin' Up! sent all demonstrators a free stamp set to say thank you. A lovely gesture indeed! The stamp set is a Level 3 hostess set from the Spring/Summer catalog..yippee :)

At Kris's workshop on the weekend, we made two cards, one card featured this stamp set and the other I will post tomorrow which is a Christmas card :)

We used the Le Jardin Double Sided designer paper, Chocolate chip cardstock and ribbon and Marvelous Markers to color in the image.


This set is adorable, and you’ll have the opportunity to earn this Hostess Level 3 stamp set for free if you host a virtual workshop with me in January or February! More details to come on my virtual workshops in January! If this has peaked your interest and you want to learn more, email me at marie@stamplounge.com for some additional "pre-announcement" information. :)


For a sneak peak, here are some other samples (by Stampin' Up!) using the time well spent stamp set...

28 days

28 days and counting until we close on the house!

By popular demand, here are a couple of photos of the new digs that I took on November 3. We haven't been to see the house since and we won't be until we close on it next month.

This is historically my busiest season at work which means I have limited time at home before we close. I am traveling for work 12 out of the 28 days which means I only have 16 days to pack the house up! (faint). That sounds like a lot but take out the work days and that leaves me with very few hours to get it all done!

Needless to say, by the end of this weekend, the majority of our current digs will be packed up with only the bare necessities out. Now that is a tall ask but when I am on a mission look out! I am like a tornado...you don't want to get in my way LOL



My stamping time has been reduced to near nothing...whaaaaah. I did get a chance to get in there this evening as I needed to prep for a workshop tomorrow, which should be a lot of fun :-)

I hate to admit to the fact, that may very well be the last time I get in there before the move. I am suffering withdrawal already, I can't imagine what I will be like by the time we move!

I hope you like the new abode :)

Oh So Lovely...

This week has scooted by so fast, it's just amazing. I spent a day and a half this week in Salt Lake City, Utah for work. The last time I was there was a year and an half ago for my very first Stampin' Up! Convention. How time flies.

I have been busy with work so the evenings and weekends have been consumed with getting in and cleaning out all the clutter in the house. Working out what to give away, sell or take with us to the new house isn't that easy! It sure is amazing how much one collects and doesn't use. Our motto is, take only what is worthy. Sounds simple...not so easy to execute! 34 days until we close on the house and I am starting to get into the packing mode. I have tackled the kitchen, spare room, the garage and the linen cupboards so far. The next great adventure is to work through my craft room....whah! :( lol

I walked in there this afternoon thinking, OK i can do this. Clear out the clutter that's all I have to do. Pack what I don't use often and hopefully leave the bare essentials out. Well, after looking around i realized that EVERYTHING is essential LOL. I put aside the thought of sifting through my craft room and decided to make a quick card...surprised???! :-D


I made this 4.5x4.5 card using Oh So Lovely Stamp Set, Chocolate Chip and Confetti cardstock, Le Jardin and Brocade Backgrounds Designer Series paper, Blue Bayou, Real Red and Close to Cocoa classic ink with a blender pen. I believe both ribbon have been retired from Stampin' Up! (smile) and I used a half pearl from the Pretties Kit.

OK now to head back into my craft room and try and begin sifting through the room. I can do this...really I can! ;-D

Name Day Card and Gift Tag

Do you know about Name Days? Well, if you aren't Greek or know someone who is Greek, probably not.

For members of the Greek Orthodox faith, name days are a much-anticipated event each year, greatly overshadowing birthdays.

Children born into Greek Orthodox families are given a name that coincides with the name of a Greek Orthodox officially recognized saint. The name day is celebrated on the saint's day (for example, Saint Patrick, Saint Valentine, Saint Nicholas), and is a cause for birthday-like celebrations including sweets, gifts, and parties. Much the same as birthdays in other cultures, the honoree is the host. Family and friends wish them Χρόνια Πολλά (pronounced HRON-yah poh-LAH, and loosely translated, means "many happy years").

Here is the card and matching gift tag I made for a Name Day celebration last night. My Pretties kit is getting a lot of use these days! I used Stardust Stickles to dot the edges of the card and the scallop centerpieces.

The centerpiece is River Rock and Soft Sky cardstock, feathered with Close to Cocoa. I sponged the flower with Apricot Appeal classic ink and used a Rhinestone Brad for the flower center. I used the retired Organza Ribbon on this card, which works well - gives it just a little bit of detail without detracting from the centerpiece.

I took these photos at night so it has a haze of yellow to it...sigh :)

Mojo 9 Sketch Challenge

I was beep-bopping around blogs yesterday seeing all the wonderful creations of late. What fun to live vicariously when you can't get into your own craft room for some paper crafting therapy.

I used Julee's Monday Mojo Sketch challenge for the layout of this card. It's a Pretties Kit extravaganza! I have the kit have been using it sparingly of late but yesterday I dove right in and at one point had to just stop :D



This is Julee's sketch layout










Here is my take on Julee's sketch.

No stamps were used for this card. I used three separate sheets from the Stampin' Up! Le Jardin designer series paper, Chocolate Chip, River Rock and Soft Sky cardstock, the flowers, half pearls and tiny brad from the pretties kit as well as the blue brad from the Ice Rhinestone brad collection. The paper piercing set from the Crafters Tool Kit was used to pin hole the edges.