Finally, Some Stamping!

I've done such little stamping in the last few months. My Christmas cards are only two thirds finished. That means the good news is that I have a good head start on next year's cards. Lol!
I did get a few projects finished that I started at my monthly stamping day with my good friends. I borrowed this darling little girl stamp from one of those friends and paper pieced her. It reminds me of something I loved doing when I was little....playing with paper dolls. The gray embossed coat was simple. I stamped the girl onto the gray cardstock, cut out just the coat, ran it through the Cuttlebug for texture, and glued it on.

Recipe: paper- chocolate chip (SU), brown and gray Bazzil, white, natural, designer papers (Old World Stack from DCWV, Classic K pad from K and Company, Della Fantasia cards from The Paper Studio); stamps- girl (source unknown), friend sentiment (Stampabilities), simple things sentiment (Hero Arts); ink- black archival, chocolate chip (SU), red and cameo coral markers (SU); accessories- Cuttlebug embossing folder, buttons.

Angelic Beauty

 

My extended family continues to grow (I have two nieces expecting babies...how exciting!). When we get together it's quite a large group: my 2 parents, 4 children (of which I am one) plus spouses, 14 grandchildren plus spouses, and 7 greatgrandchildren...that's 36 with 2 more on the way! Plus there are usually additional friends, girlfriends and boyfriends in the mix too. This makes for a large and fun gathering. I love it!! And I said all this to explain that for a good many years we have exchanged names for obvious reasons. This year my lovely and very artistic niece had my name and made this gorgeous creation for me. Sigh....
Make sure you click on the photos for a closeup to appreciate all the beautiful details, especially the hand painted face.
This is Chriss, the artist!

Catching Up On the Holidays

December was such a busy month that I didn't do any posting. So now I'm trying to do a little catching up on our Christmas. This is our tree. After thirtysome years of the country, homemade, memories kind of ornaments, I'm trying to go with a little more elegant look. That's why the tree is still a little sparse. The scheme is gold, glass and crystal and I can only afford to do a little at a time. I hope to at some time have two trees, because I still have and love those other keepsake ornaments.

Cookie Day!

Another Christmas tradition...our baking day...sugar overload day... "I can't eat another sweet thing" day. Our daughters Erin and Andrea, and I began doing this after they moved out and were no longer home to help with the baking, and now they have homes of their own that need cookies. Erin's buddy and roommate and our "adopted daughter" Jill joined us after college.
This year it ended up being the day after the big snow. We waited til the Sunday before Christmas so Natalie and Renee (our sons' girlfriends) could be included. The men usually just end up being TV watchers and taste testers. Church was canceled because of the snow so we got an earlier start to the day. Hundreds of cookies, a full house, lots of food, and a fun time!



And while normally we have three pairs of smaller helping hands, this year the baking had to compete with 15 inches of newly fallen snow.

Tra-di-tion......Tradition!

And that title is to be sung as Tevye in Fiddler On the Roof sings it. My family puts great stock in traditions, especially in December. The initiation of the Christmas season begins usually on the first or second weekend of December with the annual "going for the Christmas tree". We always cut our own. This dates back to my husband's and my first date. I 'casually' asked of a group of teachers eating together in the lunch room if anyone knew of a place one could go and cut down her own tree (hoping that a particular phys ed teacher might know of such a place). Well, to make a long story short, he did, we went, and we were married the following August. Every year since, we've cut our own tree. The kids always loved going, and now kids, spouses, and grandchildren keep the tradition.