December Blog Hop is here!!!!

I am so excited to be back again for our December SUStars Blog Hop!!!  And I am very excited to see what everyone has been creating for this event!  If you started here because you are my friend, great!!!  If you want to start at the beginning, you can go to our main blog at http://www.SU-Stars.blogspot.com ... or you may have come here from Veronica's blog - Bluegrass Stamper Studio at http://bluegrassstamperstudio.blogspot.com/ ... what a creative gal she is!    


I love Christmas - mainly because we celebrate the birth of the Christ Child, but also because people are, well, nice ... at least for the most part.  I have been busy making cards (check out Thursday's blog post) and have mine stamped now, just need to get them signed and the envelopes ready - all 157 of them!  My goal every year is to have them all made and addressed by Thanksgiving - whew, made that goal again!  Was not sure I would after making 200 for a friend, but it sure feels great to have them almost ready to mail. 


For this blog hop, I made some cards and a cute Gift Card Holder.  


I got this idea from a post from Glenda Calkins and changed it a bit.  We all need gift card holders especially this time of year, so I try to have several ready to use.  

  

I used Rich Razzleberry and Wild Wasabi, two of my fave colors (do I say that about all the colors we have??)  The measurements are:  7 1/2" x 5 1/2", including the punched edge.  The band is 1 1/2" x 06 1/2", Eyelet Border punched, then added a Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border Punch strip and Scallop Circle Punch with the smaller ornament from Snow Swirled.  In the center of the circle is a brad ... I don't have any Rich Razzleberry brads left (a customer needed all I had for a project) so I took a silver brad, dipped in Versamark, then Rich Razzleberry Ink then Clear Embossing Powder and heat embossed - repeated this several times until it had the color I needed.  That's a great way to get any color brad you need!

When I was trying to decide what to make, I realized that I have lent out several of my current stamp sets which limited my choices .... but I am always happy to help my friends and customers with any supplies I have. 

My first two cards use our beautiful double-sided Designer Paper, Jolly Holiday.  I just love our Designer Papers - so many color combinations and I always have just the right colors and patterns for my projects.  

   

Along with the Jolly Holiday Designer paper, the colors I used are Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive - don't they look great together!  I decided to show you how cards look when we do them very simple as compared to one more busy - which do you prefer?  Personally, I like the simpler cards better.  I would have added a sentiment at the top, but all my current Christmas sentiments that I wanted to use are lent out so I will add it later.  

I saw this idea on Splitcoast, I think .. using the tree from Lovely As A Tree for branches.  I embossed them in white along with one of the ornaments from Delightful Decorations on Cherry Cobbler cardstock .. and then I realized that I must have lost my hanger from Tree Trimmings set, so I used a stem from another set and embossed that (sorry it's crooked), then added the 5/8" Whisper White Organza Ribbon on the corners.  It just seemed to need something, you know.  

Hope you enjoyed a look at my blog, and be sure to visit Raissa's blog at  www.raissastamps.com  ... and remember, if you get lost or have a problem, you can always go back to our home base   http://www.SU-Stars.blogspot.com  and find the next stop.  

As always, take care and God Bless, Sassy Shirley