12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 12

Here are two final cards that I made a few weeks ago for friends and family.

This first card was made especially for my friend Dianne, who gifted me with the silhouette carolers last year.

And this is the card I made for my sister (that's her in the antlers), because I know how much she loves Rudolph!

Thanks for checking out my 12 days of Christmas cards. I hope you all had a very merry holiday season!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 11

As promised, here are three cards I made from the same paper pad I showed yesterday.  They are all rather simple in design, not that that is a bad thing!

 I love the cute little snow people on these last two.

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 10

I made this card for my friend Kelly, who likes both coffee and Starbucks.

I even decorated the inside of this one, because I know she does when she makes cards (I don't usually, although I like the idea!).

The paper I used came from this paper pad.

Tomorrow, I'll share other cards I made from the same paper pad.

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 9

Just to switch things up, I thought I'd share this birthday card I made for my nephew, Bentley, who is turning 17 today. (Where does the time go?!)

The stamped image is from the "Gifts of Love" set that came with the Simon Says Stamp December 2015 card kit.

Lots of cute images. I didn't get a chance to use the tree stamps, will save those for next year's cards.

Happy Birthday, Bentley!!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 8

This particular card I made was sent to my friend Laura. I love the simplicity of it.

The deer image came from the paper pack that was included in the Simon Says Stamp December 2015 card kit of the month, as did the sequins, the puffy peace word sticker and the diagonal striped paper. I really love the grey and turquoise colour palette they chose for this card kit!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 7

Just like that, the holiday rush is over and hopefully we can all settle in for a quiet, relaxing Boxing Day.

Here's a card I made for a cat-loving friend:

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I need a nap!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 6

Merry Christmas!!  Thought I'd share this photo from days gone past.  It makes me laugh - all you can see of me is my braces!

 Here's another one, which I assume is Christmas time, based on the matching red sweaters my brothers are wearing. My baby sister would be just under two months old.

In the photo below, probably taken that same year, it looks like we are all wearing our Christmas pyjamas!

We are missing my brother Craig (on the left in each of the above photos) today, this first Christmas without him.  It is such a magical time of year for so many, we often forget there are also many people grieving during the holidays. My heart goes out to all of them, especially my sister-in-law, niece and nephews.

Here's a card I made for my mother, as my sister and I are joining her to celebrate this first Christmas in her new home.

As Charles Dickens wrote, God bless us, every one!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 5

Hard to believe it is Christmas Eve already!  I think I'm ready.  Almost.  Just one more gift to find and wrap.  I'm going to one store at lunchtime and if they don't have what I want, I have a backup item at home that I will wrap up instead, and then that's it, I'm done.  Phew!

Here is another of the cards I made last weekend:

To all those who are celebrating, may you have an enjoyable Christmas Eve!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 4

I mailed most of my handmade Christmas cards on Monday and heard from a couple of local friends that they received theirs today.  As a result, I can safely post images of their cards now and not have to worry that I am spoiling the surprise!

This card went to Frances, who had sent me this beautiful card last week.

To see more of her creations, check out her blog here.

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 3

I made this card for my cat sitter.

I have to admit, it's one of my favourites!  And yes, I signed it from me and all my cats! ;)

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 2

Here is card number two in this series:

Definitely one of the simplest designs I made. The card base was already patterned with the starry red background, I just added a strip of the patterned paper from the Simon Says Stamp December card kit and a couple of the sequins and boom, done!

As a special treat, here's a picture one of the Christmas cards that arrived in my mailbox late last week.

Isn't it the cutest? (card published and distributed by Portal Publications Ltd.)  It came in an envelope addressed in my friend Michelle's beautiful handwriting:

And how about this wax seal?

Thank you so much, Michelle!

12 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 1

Back in late November, I decided to treat myself to a monthly subscription to the Simon Says Stamp card kit as a birthday present to myself.  The first one was the December 2015 kit, which arrived a few weeks ago (you can see the contents in this YouTube video). I didn't have time to play with it until today, when I spent several happy hours making cards for friends and family.  I decided I would share 12 of them here on my blog over the next few days.

For this first card, I was inspired by a card made by Yana Smakula.  You can see her card and read her description here.

Here is the card I made:

As you can see, it is very similar to Yana's but not quite the same.  I was excited to discover that this 6x6 inch paper pack I picked up recently at Winner's coordinates perfectly with the SSS card kit:

I used one of those papers for the edges of the card and a narrow strip of turquoise cardstock where Yana used the grey (both of which came with the kit). I also made the sentiment box a little bolder by adding both a grey and a turquoise frame.

Many thanks to Yana for sharing her card with all of us, I for one certainly appreciate the inspiration!

My Book of Hours

I had a busy few days last week and didn't have time to blog. I wrote a post on Saturday and forgot to push the "publish" button.  Then when I went to write a post last night, Blogger was having issues. But finally, here I am, and I've got lots to write about!

First off, I want to share about the Book of Hours Workshop taught by Rozanne Lopez that I took last Wednesday night.  Since then, I've been writing in my Book of Hours journal every day, usually at night just before I go to bed. I'm finding it a really good way to slow down and settle my mind before sleep, especially this month, when things get so crazy busy with the holiday season.

This is the first page I made, during the workshop.

Here are a few of the pages I have done since then.

We also received an amazing kit at the workshop, with all sorts of goodies provided by Rowena of Paperpluscloth (check her out on Instagram and Etsy, her website is closed at the moment).  There were rolls of washi tape, scrapbook paper, the Moleskin journal we are using, tags, a pen to write with and all sorts little bits and pieces to use for embellishment.

If you'd like to see more, Rozanne has been posting her beautiful pages and telling the stories that go with them, you can read about them here.  Maybe some days, I'll have stories to go with my pages too! For now, I am enjoying the simplicity of these pages and finding inspiration and comfort in the words of others.

#30daysoflists - December 2015

Remember that sneak peek I gave you a few weeks back of the little book I made out of file folders? At last, I can reveal why I made it:  I'm playing along with #30daysoflists again (just like I did in September) and I'll be keeping my lists in this book.

Here's what my list for day 1 looks like:

And here's how it looks tucked into its pocket in the book:

Stay tuned this month as I list my way through December!