Hoping For a Calm Christmas

I'm sure we all hope for a calm, peaceful Christmas but how likely is it? We have been madly putting up the Christmas Tree, a live one, and the biggest we've ever had! I'm lucky because one of my sons goes each year to get trees for himself, his in-laws and us, so that is a big help. However, our lights weren't doing the tree justice, due to its increased height, and we have been out to purchase a larger set (and flashier too, I might add). We have added another bauble to the tree this year too, for our small grand-daughter, Alice, born March this year.

As promised, here are my Christmas Cards for this year. Both styles use Calm Christmas (132736) and the card on the right has World Map (130342) as the background. Petite Pairs (128706), on the left card says Merry Christmas on one stamp, while the other half of this pair says and a Happy, Joyful, Bright New Year. Petite Pairs is one of those "must have" stamp sets with greetings for all occasions. Instead of using my 12" by 12" pack of Winter Frost DSP, I used the Winter Frost Paper Stack (132183) because it contains 48 sheets of card-front-size double-sided paper in four of the designs, making it easier to mass-produce a quantity of cards. The items above are all directly linked to those items in my online store if you want to take a closer look. If you decide to shop there be assured that you are shopping on a secure, reputable site. It is recommended that you shop early, as Stampin' Up gears up for a clearance sale of retired stock, beginning early on Tuesday 10th December. Going by last year, stock will move very fast, some items were sold out within minutes, due to low numbers of stock items, and a heavy demand. This is the link to the online store.

The colours used are Smokey Slate, Bermuda Bay, Midnight Muse, Pool Party(World Map) Sky Blue and Marina Mist. The pale dove was inked with Sky Blue and then thumped with the three Stampin' Write Markers shown in the picture. The Thumping Technique is a BIG favourite of mine, I love the soft mottled effect this technique produces, but I'm equally fond of the bold appearance of the Midnight Muse dove. It shows up the patterned surface of the stamp so clearly. Do you like to craft your own cards, or Christmas decorations? I haven't any classes scheduled for the immediate future, because everyone seems to have a full calendar, but as I am away from my regular job from 20th December until Australia Day, let me know if there is a product you'd like to try out. or a technique you'd like to learn and we can see if it can be arranged as a workshop or party.

Thanks for passing by today,

Rachel

Retired items newly listed under For Sale tab at top of page.