Merry Christmas to you all!

May your Christmas be a wonderous one, celebrating the birth of our Saviour and Lord.

I look forward to paper crafting with you throughout 2011!

Last Minute Chocolate Christmas Favours

Are you rushing to get last minute gifts ready for the morning? It's Christmas then, you know! Lol! Well, it is Christmas in Australia anyway. I know some people in the world have slmost another day to wait, and this idea may be good for them too.

I just spent about an hour making 36 of these little Chocolate Christmas Puddings and thought I would share the idea with you, just in case. A friend of mine told me how to make them (thank you, Kylie!) and I think they are just as cute as can be!

If you would like the instructions for how to make them, I put them on PaperCraftCentral for you.

Do let me know if you have any last minute ideas for special favours too, won't you!

Thoughts on decorative boxes

If you still have some special presents to wrap and you want to try something different from store-bought wrapping paper, here's a customised decorative box I made to inspire you. I added more views of the box (including what is inside the box!) and a few hints on how to make one of your own on PaperCraftCentral.com,

I made this little box in about an hour. It's not too late to make a really specially presented gift for Christmas!

Kit Kat Favours

Do you like Kit Kat chocolates? They are perfect for using inside a little surprise box like these to send a sweet treat to someone. I made this batch to mail out to my wonderful Stamp Club members last month and they have told me they happily ate their chocolates when they arrived!

It was fun decorating the boxes with tag punches and ribbon.

STAMPIN' UP! SUPPLIES LIST:

Ink and cardstock colours are Old Olive, Poppy Parade and Metallic Silver. I made the butterflies with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit Die.I used some more Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper on the tags. The stamp set is a Hostess Benefit one, Cute By The Inch.

Cards, cards, cards! And a gift tag.

Today I am showing you the last of the cards I made with the same sketch and variations of the supplies used. I am also showing you a card I made by punching out my gift tags and using the punched cardstock as a stencil. The second card shown here was made by sponging gold ink over a bauble cut out, directly onto the surface of the card. I used a curved line to stencil in the garland,  then used Stampin' Write markers and gel pens to add the details to both the baubles and the garland. I punched a small stamped circle and popped it up on the main bauble to become my message. A dash of white on each bauble adds a bit of depth to them as it looks like light is reflecting off the sides.

Have you seen the Christmas Extra Large punch from the Ideas Book and Catalogue? I love it. It is so versatile. I no longer need to buy tags for my gifts at Christmas when I have that punch! Here I have shown you a little tag made by folding cardstock in half and punching the bauble shape so that the fold line becomes the hinge for the tag, and I can write my message inside the tag. Punch designer paper, a stamped image or both and add them to the front of your tag, punch a hole in the top of it and thread it with ribbon or cord, and you have a lovely little gift tag for someone special. I added a punched circle of Whisper White to the inside of this tag so I could write something that could easily be seen.

How are your Christmas preparations going in these last few days before the big event? I am sending out my last cards today and am wrapping some gifts to be delivered on Christmas Day itself. The it will be on to the baking, of course!

(PS: Our greatest Christmas gift has already been given to us from God. The whole reason for the Christmas season is to celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour. I am so thankful  for the gift I already have from Him and hope you have it too. Merry Christmas!)

Still more cards!

Just giving you more looks you can achieve with basically the same idea and different designer papers :)

Chris, thank you so much for your nice comment. There is still time for if you want to make a few simple cards like these! I made 25 in one sitting using this idea :) And the people I gave them to reacted with pleasure. It really is the thought behind the giving sometimes, I think, and many people do appreciate handmade cards. I gave an older woman the card at the top and she thought it was beautiful.

Simplicity does it this close to Christmas, I am convinced! Lol!

More Cards

Today I have uploaded another two Christmas card ideas for you (see last post for a supply list). I love the colours in these, but imagine them made in different colour schemes - your favourites in fact! They really do look different when you make them using different designer papers and colours, but following the same basic design....

I will show you more of what I mean tomorrow :) I hope you are getting your cards done or have completely finished that pleasant task!

Busy Days!

Are you still making Christmas Cards? I am. I never seem to make enough during the year and am always making some at the last minute. Fortunately, many of the ones I am making will be hand delivered tomorrow when I see a number of friends at a church luncheon.

Here is a selection of cards I have been working on. Will post more in the next few days. I decided to use the same stamp sets, sketch, colours and supplies and see if I could come up with a couple of different designs. See what you think of them. All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

Stamps: Contempo Christmas, Delightful Decorations, Welcome Christmas, Heard from the Heart
Cardstock: Poppy Parade, Old Olive, Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizzaz, Whisper White
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Gold
Ribbon: Poppy Parade Stitched Poly Ribbon, Old Olive Taffeta, gold cord (retired)
Designer Paper: Jolly Holiday, Christmas Cocoa
Extras: Crystal rhinestones, heart punch, Lattice border punch, Real Red Stampin' Write! marker

Christmas Crafting

I like to make card toppers. Do you? I love them because I can then choose a topper and make a card pretty quickly when I need one in a hurry. I made these for the girls in my Stamp Club this month in case they needed to have a topper on hand for that card you suddenly need but might have forgotten to make for somebody! I used a stamp from the Autumn Days set, coloured it in with Stampin' Write markers in Close to Cocoa, Chocolate Chip and Old Olive, then matted it to some Soft Suede Cardstock. I added a piece of Christmas Cocoa designer paper to some more Soft Suede cardstock, adhered some Old Olive Taffeta ribbon to that, then popped up my image with Stampin' Dimensionals. For extra pizazz I added three little rhinestones ot one corner.

I hope the girls like them!

Ohana Girls

I finally scrapped something! I made this layout using a photo of us girls on the last retreat we went to. It was in response to a Scrapchat challenge where I had to use bright colours (think spring vegetable colours) and had to incorporate a tree into it somehow. There needed to be some flowers on the layout too.  I cut the leaves freehand from paper that was already embossed and drew on them a little bit with my Stampin' Write markers to look like they were veined. It was fun to use some hardware with the ribbon and add in my flowers. I sanded the background paper and emphasised the 'ha' in Ohana because all we do is laugh wen we are together. I hope you enjoy looking!

Summer Mini Is Here!

Finally I can show you the new Summer Mini catalogue! I have already added to my Wish List again. Lol! If you live in Australia I can enable you by helping you order any of the items in this Mini, do send me your email address or contact me.
Oh and I thought I would mention there's also up to 50% off selected Stampin' Up! products this month. Just in time for Christmas!