Thankfully Christmas comes but once a year

If it came more than once a year, I would be in serious trouble. I never seem to get things done for this season on time. However, this year I am actually somewhat ahead of the game. Did some shopping on Black Friday, which is a new experience for me. I have a cards made and ready to mail out. Maybe I am someone else hiding in Annie's body.
This is one of the card designs I did this year. It was pretty quick and very easy with the stamp block from Purple Onion Designs. The paper is Basic Grey Wassail Collection. It was alot of cutting and taping but went pretty quick once I had all the pieces cut out.
I am not really a Christmas person. Scrooge would be a better adjective if you were describing me around Christmas. I do love to give gifts. That is probably the only part about Christmas I like.
I hate that this holiday has turned into a barometer of how the retail business' are doing. Just seems wrong when you think about the true meaning of Christmas. When did the season turn into a spending extravaganza?

This is the second design I did. Another putzy one. Lots of cutting and taping. I forget who made the Merry Christmas stamp. The package is Purple Onion Designs. The Santa is a Sizzix die. I put glitter on the hat. The paper is Basic Grey Wassail Collection. I used up a whole pad of the 6x6 for these two designs.

The ribbon on the package is colored with a Copic Marker as is the face of the Santa. One of the Ovals is a large punch, the other one had to be hand cut since I didn't have a larger oval punch.

Another part of the holiday season I like is making Christmas cards. I have a ton of holiday stamps too. They really make nice stamps for Christmas. Even though I already have a ton of stamps, I usually end up buying a few every year. This year I only bought two sets. I am really trying to keep to a no spending on craft stuff pledge that I made. I need to use what I have. And believe me, I have alot.

This is the third design that I did. It is all stamping. No paper cutting other than the mats. The Holiday Greetings Stamp is by Stampin Up. The tree is a Stampers Anonymous Tim Holtz Collection. I cut out a circle and then used a sponge to stamp the background. The trees were added afterward and I stamped off on a couple.

What you can't see is that I added some glitter to the branches. I used a glitter pen. I wanted the card to have some shimmer. I matted with two shades of blue. I think this one is my favorite. Since I tend to putz quite a bit when it comes to cards and I totally hate doing mass production. I am thankful that Christmas only comes once a year. I make about 80 cards. So far I have 60 done. The rest will be one of a kind for family, and for Mike's bosses. For some reason, I get volunteered every year to do those cards.


This is the last design. I loved the tree stamp, which is Memory Box. I borrowed the design from a card on their gallery. I changed it a wee bit by adding the star and the sentiment, which are both from Purple Onion Designs.

I used white and gold ink on this one and a gold mat behind the green card stock. A very simple design.

This is what I have done so far. I am also going to make some ornaments out of little tins. Haven't even started on those yet. Maybe tomorrow.

I still have to do something for the insides of all these cards. I will probably just print a nice festive sentiment and call it done.

Hope you and your family have a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for stopping by.