Christmas is coming....

Christmas cards are coming....BEFORE Christmas people! BEFORE the 25th! I can't believe it...no New Year's cards from me this year. Big accomplishment...HUGE! LOL

2016 has been incredibly busy for me--my job is demanding and fulfilling (working in the Operating Room--LOVE IT!), and while I haven't crafted as much as I planned to this year (or blogged as much as I intended), I am happy with what I did make, and the time spent was more fun.

Hope you're able to make some time for crafting for 2017

These are the only snowflakes I'll see in Texas!

Here's another card I put together for Splitcoaststamper's VSN challenges. The challenge was to use a snowflake on our card.  I used many thanks to the fun Northern Frost deco strip die from Stampin' Up! I thought it would be fun to deviate from my usual blue card with snowflakes and went for a neutral theme. I like how it turned out!

And it'll be the only "snow" I see here in South Texas! We're enjoying our "warm" 45 degrees today! (as I am bundled up and avoiding going outside! HA!)

Stamp: Four the Holidays; Ink: Crumb Cake; Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Very Vanilla; Accessories: Northern Frost Decorative Strip die.

I was debating if we should brave the crowds and go shopping for the After Christmas Sales...but I think not. I'm going to try and finish organizing my stamp room....which I started weeks ago before I got involved with Christmas projects and now will try not to PLAY before it's done. We'll see how successful I am. HA!

Surfin' Santa

Merry Christmas y'all!

Blue Christmas

Here's another card I made for Splitcoaststampers VSN challenge...a blue Christmas card. Of course I thought of Lydia (Understandblue)! I'm sure a lot of us did!


 Stamps: Delightful Decorations; Paper: Pacific Point, Baja Breeze, Whisper White; Ink: Night of Navy, Pacific Point, Baja Breeze; Accessories: Ornament punch, Dots embossing folder, white gel pen

I'm still cutting my paper for my Christmas Cards...hoping to mail them on Monday...or Tuesday (which means I'll be assembing them on the road since we're visiting family next week.) But they WILL be mailed before Christmas THIS year. Right.

XOXO,

Your Procrastinating Stamper....procrastistamper!!! :D LOL

Thanks for stopping by!

Things that make you go SQUEEE!

There's a fun website www.wimp.com full of family friendly videos...really the best videos available online...and my hubby always saves the cute little animals that make me SQUEEE :D Red Pandas make me SQUEEE quite a bit. Here is a video I LOVE....

Major cuteness! Did you squeee?

So I played this weekend in the Virtual Stamp Night over at Splitcoaststampers (SCS)! So excited that I was able to participate--for each challenge you have 45 minutes to complete your card. I swear I work better under these conditions....I come out with more original cards SUPERFAST instead of pouring over the SCS site for hours looking for ideas! The first challenge was from my friend Lydia (Understandblue)--we had to make a card with something that gives us a warm fuzzy feeling.  So I stamped this little red panda and started watercoloring him and then realized he's a FOX! He's still cute though! I had to color his little present blue in honor of Lydia's challenge. I loved watercoloring him so much I decided to make my background paper by watercoloring Cherry Cobbler red and Garden Green. So fun!



Stamp set: Forest Festivites; Paper: Watercolor paper, Garden Green; Accessories: Very Vanilla ribbon, Modern Label Punch, LG Scallop punch, 2 3/8" Circle punch

Thanks for stopping by...hope you SQUEEE some today!

XOXO

Best time of year (and busiest!!!)

 The last few weeks have been soooo busy! A few weekends ago I got to participate in a Splitcoaststampers Shoebox Swap....(you saw my card in my previous post)...and here are a couple of the different cards we made (we got to make 22 cards that day!)

Look at this amazing poinsettia! This set is from Kitchen Sink Stamps--a multi-step set. I loove KSS! I used the KSS multi-step moon for one of my Christmas Cards...which you'll see in my next post!

Here's another cute card we made :) I wish I could post all of them...but seriously...the photo editing alone would drive me crazy. I just don't have the patience for photo editing! Pffth.

I'm off from work for 2 weeks (SQUEEEE!) and at the 11th hour (literally) the night before our last Friday I decided to make goodies for my coworkers....which of course wasn't something simple....it involved die-cutting many, many favor boxes and bagging up my version of homemade candy--tiny pretzels topped with a Rolo (chocolate caramel candy that is nearly IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND!!! GAH!) baked in a low oven until soft then topped with a pecan half. NOM NOM NOM! (and super easy--a requirement for me!) I finished this monstrous project around 2 am and got up for work at 6 am. Insanity, I know.

I was able to mail a handful of my Christmas cards BEFORE Christmas this year! As in...today. Bwahaha! Still working on a bunch of them...and will share with my next post (after I edit more photos Pfffth!)

Hope you are having a peaceful Christmas Eve. I'm enjoying every minute of my vacation so far!

Are you ready to SQUEEE?!??!!!

This post really should occur on Sunday...AFTER this amazing swap (22 stampers getting together and each making the card with the supplies we bring--so I'll come home with 21 new cards I made there! SQUEE!) I'll be sure to share all the stampy goodness with you in the next couple of days!  However, it's been a MONTH since I blogged and I'm so stinkin excited about my card that I HAD to post about it now!

I got this design/idea from Gretchen Barron...an UBER talented Stampin' Up demonstrator who makes the MOST amazing stuff with paper. (Who got the Poinsettia idea from Connie Babbert, another Stampin' Up Demo in Ohio). Once I saw this idea in my Google Reader I could NOT stop thinking about it! Once I got in my studio and started making the cards I was SQUEEEEEing like crazy!!! Making these made me soooo happy!

First off--I have to show you my view from my stamping table: my super cute Bichon Frise CHIBI :D She makes me SQUEEE whenever I see her...she is so cute and fun. Except today she was a little mad at me because I made her go to the groomer.  I took this pic shortly after we got home and it wasn't until now I realize she's not "smiling" in this photo. She looks kinda mad. Bwahaha!

She props herself up on the back of the sofa that backs up against my IKEA hack desk. I love having her company when I stamp! I do have to make her stop trying to walk onto my desk though! :)

Ok...are you ready to SQUEEEE?!?!?! Here's the RED version of the card--The Poinsettia is made by stamping the leaf from FRENCH FOLIAGE with Stampin' Up Bravo Burgandy ink onto Regal Rose cardstock.  I stamped 13 leaves then cut them out (the worst part...I hate cutting stuff out! But the results are always worth it so I should just stop whining!) The card base is Always Artichoke. I know...I really thought I hated that color...but with Bravo Burgandy it's gorgeous! I then used the Gold Smooch Spritz on the poinsetta for a subtle shimmer. That stuff is AMAZING! More SQUEEEEing ensued!!

Then I thought I'd play with white and gold (with the white shimmer Smooch Spritz)....here's the result!! SQUEEEEEE x 10!!!!! OMG OMG OMG!!!!

So tomorrow I am driving up to Austin (at the Crack of Cranky!!) to have breakfast with my friends Lydia and Kim at Baguette et Chocolat (NOM NOM NOM!!!) then Kim and I are heading up to Georgetown for our Splitcoaststampers Christmas Card Swap! Lydia will be meeting us a little later and then the 3 of us are having dinner before I have to drive home to San Antonio. So. Much. Fun. Can't wait! I'll post again and share all the amazing things I made!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

XOXO
Dana

Family photo and TWENTYTEN!!!

First of all--I promise to start my Christmas cards BEFORE THANKSGIVING next year.  Wait. THIS year! It's twentyten!  So I had to stamp HAPPY NEW YEAR inside my cards this year. Oy! I'll be posting the pic of the card this week...don't want to spoil it for my friends who haven't received theirs yet! HAHA.

We've started this tradition to include a family photo...and a letter...with our Christmas Cards.  This year I scrapped the letter--it's so hard to compile the lives of 5 people onto one page.  More than one page in a Christmas Card is a little much.  Really.  Who wants to read a novel with a card? Ahhh I digress...but here was our photo.  We decided to do something different and this version won because my hubby liked the expression on my face with Chibi licking my chin.  So cute!

That's me, with Chibi our adorable Bichon Frise, my hubby Dean, Delaney (11 yrs), Kayci (10 yrs) and Madison (15 yrs). We had a lot of fun trying to take this photo (my father in law is holding the camera).

So I don't really like to do resolutions every New Year, because I basically set myself up for failure. Seriously.  I've NEVER EVAH kept my resolutions. However, this year I'll be 40 and I promised myself years ago that I would be in the best shape of my life EVAH by 40...so I'm getting serious about that.  Now. Plus my favorite Triathlon is in June and I plan to be so ready for it!!

As for my stamping goals for 2010, I plan to:

Blog at least once a week.  I can do that.  I enjoy blogging and will most likely have new stampin' stuff to post each week...so I plan to share more!

Participate in more challenges--I love them.  I really loved KWernerDesign's challenge, so I hope she picks it back up. But I've also discovered many more that I want to participate in!

Both of the above mean I will set aside time to stamp at least once a week.  Life gets away from me usually and I have this fabulous crafty space to work in...I want to utilize it more.  So I will!

I've also decided I'm going back to my Franklin Covey planner.  My iphone calender is great for setting alarms for stuff--but I'm a tactile/hands-on person and need a central location to write my TO-DO and plans.

Wow. All this and I don't have a card to post!  Stay tuned! I'll be back!

Happy New Year!

Christmas Cards and Portfolio Class November 7th!

It's NOVEMBER!!!! My favorite Holiday is in this month--Thanksgiving!  And Christmas is just around the corner!  YAY!!!

Sorry I haven't posted this class sooner--it's been on my Stampin' Up! Website for a month www.danakeith.stampinup.net Silly me for maintaining TWO websites :)

Anywho--here's the awesome stuff we're making THIS SATURDAY November 7th from 1-4 pm.

Gorgeous, right?!?! We'll make our own Designer Series Paper by stamping snowflakes with ink mixed with the new shimmer paint offered in the Holiday Mini Catalog!

You will make all you see pictured above--the 6 cards and the Matchbook Portfolio for $18.00

If you'd like to make another set of 6 cards it will be an additional $10.00

You must RSVP by Wednesday, Nov. 4th

Call me to make this cute set!!!

210-216-4301