Christmas Postcards

Happy Christmas y'all!! I'm in Ohio for the holiday. Hence these postcards below. 

Wishing you the merriest of days!

cheers & besos,

Brunch Invites

I wanted to do something different this year. Instead of giving my friends presents, I wanted to give them an experience....so to speak. We brunch semi-regularly. Everyone loves to eat and hang out. Chat and catch up. So I decided this year I'd take everyone to brunch. A first annual "Brunch on Us".

I put together these glorified invitations so they'd have something to open up. I had next to no time to make them. Actually, we were late to lunch because I was literally working up to the minute trying to get these done.

To be perfectly honest, I had no concept of what I wanted to do when I woke up that morning. I originally thought I'd put together micro mini books so I pulled a variety of photos and compiled them together for printing. But I liked the grid so much together that I decided to keep it.

And the cover, it was cut with my Silhouette. This "quote" rattled around in my brain as I was putting together the photo collage. So I thought it'd be perfect sentiment for my invite. Which is all about us being together anyhow.

I really quickly (and I mean really quickly) created the inside in PSE. But I like how it turned out. Maybe there's something to be said about not having time to second guess yourself.

I'm pretty sure my friends didn't know what to think of idea. But they liked the invite itself! They'll come around and we'll have more happy times in 2014.

cheers & besos,

Snowglobe Cards

It's here! It's done! It's in the box. I finally mailed off my 2013 Christmas cards. These things were a labor of love let me tell you. There's sooooo many steps involved in making them.

But finally, after 3 years of having this idea in my head. They're out and in the world! 

I present, a snow globe ornament.

These would not be at all possible without the help of my Silhouette. It seriously did all of the heavy lifting. I ended up using this design purchased from the online store. But did some serious editing in the studio software.

I feel like I threw just about every technique I could at these cards: letterpress, die cutting, stamping, heat embossing, confetti pocket, machine stitching. But it was well worth it.

The confetti inside is my favorite. I used a variety of speciality confetti/sequins, plus some punched shapes, glitter and even tiny bells. They jingle when they're moved.

For the backs, I heat embossed an Ali Edwards stamp (I also just realized I used that same stamp set for last year's Christmas cards. I guess that makes it super versatile!) with green powder and then stamped a few gold snowflakes around the edges. Matt & I signed the bottom of these with white ink and I added peoples names around the top.

The finishing touches are what took me the longest. Not stapling the ribbon or adding the twine. Nope it was printing out the address labels!!! I'm not even kidding you, everything but this was finished by the 1st of the month. But I just had this huge mental block about sitting at my desk to type up the labels. Finally, I got that done.

I decided to use these amazing gold dot bags as "envelopes" To keep them closed I used a plain jane return address label as tape. 28 of these suckers got mailed out today. They're zooming across the country as we speak =)

Christmas cards are my absolute favorite. I invest a whole lot of time and energy into them every year. But that's because I love to make them. If you'd like to share, I'd love to see your 2013 Christmas cards. Handmade or otherwise!

cheers & besos,

Christmas with Urijah

I scrapped! I just couldn't take not scrapping anymore. I started these pages last night at 10:00 pm. 

Last week, I pulled out my Christmas box. I went through it all, rediscovering some of the great products I had, getting ideas and inspiration for this year's Christmas card. But I ended up with a pile of patterned paper scraps and odds and ends on my desk. Which was really helpful with this week's Studio Calico challenge.

As soon as I saw that it was a puzzle challenge, I knew I wanted to make a star. I pieced this one together tucking one leg under the photo and one over a corner that didn't have much in it. I love how it's all tucked in there nicely, the way Urijah is tucked into my brother's lap. And I love that the stars point and frame the two of them.

This page ended up being super hodge podge, as I pulled a ton of different designers and lines together. I like scrapping like that. I'll have to start doing more non-kit scrapping!

This next page was almost entirely done using last year's Studio Calico/Ali Edwards December Daily kit. I still really love that kit. And yes, I'm even ashamed to admit that I haven't used as much of it as I would have liked. But I'm doing it now, right! That has to count for something?!

I also used last week's Studio Calico Sunday Sketch for this photo of Urijah opening up his presents. I changed it up a lot, to make it work with my photo, but the basics are all still there.

Can I just say, I love a red and green color combo. Most of the time I'm trying to not let this combo look to Christmasy. But now, as I'm making these pages, I get to go all out!

I also love how they look in my book side by side. It just makes me happy =)

Oh, and in case you're wondering. I did not use last year's kit as a December Daily album. It's my Christmas album that I plan to keep adding to over the years.

What about you? Did you buy any December Daily or Christmas kits? Do you plan to DD or just use the stuff? I'd love to hear!

I pre-ordered both (yes I know I'm obsessed!) the Studio Calico and Kelly Purkey kits. I cannot wait for  them to get here. I already have plans for my KP kit. Still working on what I'm doing with SC's. Stay tuned, we'll find out together!

cheers & besos,