Happy Birthday Brennan!

Fall is here.  The high for tomorrow is a chilly 62 and the low tomorrow night is supposed to get down to 37!  Burrrr!  I don't like cold weather so I'm not too excited about the forecast.  Today is my youngest grandchild's 2nd birthday.  He is an adorable little tow-headed boy who is full of enthusiasm and mischief.  Here he is with his favorite thing in the whole world, a stuffed dog named Scout that I gave him for Christmas last year.  It was definitely a good choice!

Speaking of cold weather, have you started making your Christmas cards yet?  I had requests for Christmas cards at my Sept stamp club so here are the cards I came up with.  They got to make 2 of each card.  One of the ladies needed thank you cards so I brought some thank you sentiments and the Lovely as a Tree set to substitute for the Christmas images on the cards.  It fit in the same space as the Wise Men on the first card and the single tree worked on the second card.  I should have taken pictures of the cards she made, I was so glad when I noticed that Lovely as a Tree would work on all of the cards.

For the first card I used the Come To Bethlehem set.  I really love that set, it is a great image of the nativity and the star makes a perfect place to put one of the Basic Rhinestones.  I used the Oh, come let us adore Him . . . quote under the image.  The background was embossed with the new Snow Burst embossing folder. 

The second card was first stamped with the full ink pad directly to the center of the card.  I used the Crumb Cake ink pad so it would be a muted background that wouldn't overwhelm the stamped image.  None of the ladies in the stamp club had ever tried this technique and were pleased with the results they got.  I love a technique that is fast and easy and doesn't require a lot of extra supplies!  The ornament from Delightful Decorations and was stamped in Cherry Cobbler ink.  It is impossible to tell in the picture but I swirled some Dazzling Details on the ornament for a little sparkle and then added 3 of the Basic Rhinestones to add a little dimension to the card.

Last is a fun gingerbread card using 3 stamp sets.  The background Soft Suede strip is stamped with the large swirl stamp from the Baroque Motifs set and the gingerbread man comes from the Got Treats set.  If you look closely at the ribbon you will see how beautiful the new Quilted Satin Ribbon is.  It is in the new Holiday Mini Catalog and comes in 2 colors, Cherry Cobbler and Early Espresso. 

If you are ready to start your Christmas cards, let me know!  I'll be doing Christmas card classes each month that will help you get ready for all the cards you want to send out to friends and family.  I also have gifts and treat ideas that I'll be teaching to help you prepare for the celebrations that are just around the corner.