Pretty Peony

Here is a card that I made for my Mother-in-Law for her birthday. I always have a hard time deciding on what to get her since her birthday is right after Christmas but for the past few years I have been making her a selection of cards and it seems to be going over well. At least that is what she tells me :)

I made this card using the Pretty Peony set that will be retiring (see the retiring sets here). This set uses the two step stamping technique to get the layered look. I don't concern myself too much with lining the stamps up, I figure it gives it more of an artistic look if they don't match up. For the greeting I used my Sincere Salutations, my absolute favourite greeting set. It has something for every ocassion and the font goes really well with flower stamps.

For the peony flowers I used Regal Rose and Rose Red since they both come in the Rich Regal stampin spots set. For the leaves I used Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss (one of my favourite combinations). For the ribbon I only had white but didn't want to use it white so I ran it across my Rose Red ink pad (or Regal Rose) to give it a bit of colour. To finish it off I added some faux stitching with the black marker. All this was done on Kraft cs and mounted to a Chocolate Chip card.

This has to be one of my favourite cards, so simple yet really easy to make. I hope you like it too.

Late Christmas Cards

Since I just love Christmas so much I am having a hard time letting it go. I got some great Christmas cards and probably should have showed them before Christmas but since I didn't I'm going to post them now. The first one is from the well-seasoned Stampin' Up! demo Ann Driscoll. I just love how she made the poinsettias with the 5-Petal punch and the Spotlight on Christmas stamp set. The other stamp set used is Christmas Classics which she embossed in gold. This card is quite simple to make but is really great. Beware if you are on my Christmas list you may be seeing a card like this one in your mailbox next year.

The other card is one my husband got from my cousin Sheila (she drew his name in the swap). I love this card because it is a little different, it is not a traditional card because it doesn't open but it does stand on it's own. What is really cool is the santa is stamped and coloured in and then placed on the back piece of cardstock behind a window that is on the front piece of cardstock. It is hard to see but on the window the greeting is stamped. I think I will be modifing this design for another occasion. The santa is from the Jolliest Time of the Year set and the snowflakes are the Bold Snowflakes wheel I believe.

Both of these cards, like most cards, would be great for any occasion if you just change the stamps and sentiment. I think I will be taking ideas from both for birthday and may be mother's day cards.

Valentine's Day is Next!

Phew, the holidays are finally over and now I have time to think again. I had a blast seeing all the family but with the travelling and all the snow I have to say I'm glad to be home. Now that all the Christmas presents are put away and some of the pre-existing clutter is cleared away I can finally sit down and craft a little. Well, I haven't yet but I should be able to now if I want to.

I wanted to let everyone know that there is a Valentine's promotion bundle out - the Love You Much bundle - and the best part is it is 20% off until January 31. It is super cute and comes with Candy Cane Lane DSP, the Heart to Heart punch and the Love You Much stamp set. All these items are exclusive to the bundle so if you want them this is the way to get them.

I will be posting some more in the coming days to show you some of my projects, some of my favourite handmade Christmas and birthday cards that I received (my birthday is a little before Christmas) and to keep you posted on the goings-on at Stampin' Up! Remember the retiring stamp set list is out the but the stamps will only be here for a few short weeks more.

Festive treat tins

Here is a great idea for holiday treats. It may be a little too late to get these for this Christmas but I thought this is a great idea for house warming or hostess gifts. And the free shipping promotion is still on so if you are interested you should pick up some of these tins!

The list of supplies for this particular project are listed here but you can jazz up this tin with anything. What you need to know really is that there is a strip of cardstock wrapping around the tin (here Night of Navy) with some silver elastic cord around it and a rub-on (p. 178-179 of catalogue) on the tin itself. If you vary the colours and sayings you can have a tin for any occasion.

Because I thought this was such a fantastic idea I decided to share my newest favourite cookie recipe - Chocolate Mint Truffle Cookies!

You need:
4 oz unsweetened chocolate
3 oz semisweet chocolate
3/4 cup butter
1-1/2 cups granulated sugar
3 eggs
1/2 tsp mint extract
1-1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 mini chocolate chips
1/3 cup crushed candy canes

Melt chocolate and butter in pot over low heat. Stir in sugar and extract. Add eggs one at a time, making sure each one is incorporated before adding the next. Add baking powder and flour. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill for 2 hours. Roll dough by heaping teaspoons into balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350°F until slightly firm to the touch. Remove from oven and sprinkle with candy cane pieces.

Apparently the recipe makes about 9 dozen but I only ever get 4 dozen and I've made this a lot this season!

Decor Elements

So at the last Colourful Impressions meeting, a meeting for demos, I won a set of the Park Avenue Decor Elements. I was pretty excited about this because I hadn't tried the Decor Elements before but had wanted to. Please ignore the yellow wall we are renting and that is what colour our place came.

For those of you that don't know the Decor Elements are a new product line that SU! is now offering - click here for more information. They are vinyl wall decorations that are removable so if you are like and have a small place they are perfect for adding some holiday flair without taking up valuble floor/shelf space.

The Decor Elements are really easy to put up and do seem pretty forgiving. This set came with extender lines to make the ornaments look like they are hanging from the ceiling if you wanted - and I wanted that look. I had to reposition the bottom half a few times before actually getting the strings lined up and they seem fine although the instructions say not to do that. I even ripped one of the ornaments because I wasn't being careful enough and you can't even tell on the close-up photo.

I think I'm going to be getting some of these every holiday season. I love the look of them and they add some holiday touches to areas that ordinarily don't get decorated.

Retired list AND free shipping

So it had been about a week since I've even had time to think about posting anything. With the holidays in full swing I'm busier than ever but SU! announced a promotion that I just had to tell everyone about.

First of all they announced their retired list and there are some favourites retiring so make sure you take a peek to make sure that set you had your eye on isn't on the list. As an added bonus SU! had announced that until Dec 23 you can order the reitred sets at 10% off. Yah!

As another added bonus if you put in an order over $100 you can also get free shipping, again 10% off. So if you fill up your order with retired sets you get 20% off, that is huge.

If you want to place an order but not to the full $100 amount then let me know and I can combine orders to make sure everyone gets their discount.

This is only until Dec 23rd though so make sure you get your order in before then if you want to take advantage of these savings.

Tasty Treats

Here is my latest little project that I am making. I am pretty much obsessed with these little guys, and they are so easy to make. What they are is little sandwiches with a peppermint patty in between two scallop circles. These ones are mostly done with the Deer Friends hostess set but the snowflake is from Season of Joy. Really anything that fits into the 1-1/4 inch circle punch will work. You can layer it with the 1-3/8 inch circle and then assemble the whole thing.

These would be super cute as little treats for a holiday dinner, you could even print a name in the center instead and have them as place holders.