Chocolate, Cricut, and 10 minute cards...

This year for some reason has been doubly stressful and more jam-packed than last year.  What I did not mention in previous posts is that I lost my job in late August which led to a new job and a new team. As I always enjoy doing, I make little chocolate packages accompanied with Christmas cards.

This is cut using the latest CTMH Cricut cartridge, Artiste. The neat thing about this cartridge is that due to all the 3-D options available on that cartridge, it comes with a how-to-assemble manual for all the 3-D options. The two snowflakes too are from the same cartridge. Learning my lessons from last year I broke out my trusty glue gun and everything stayed put.

A trick for those of you with unsightly glue-gun "strings" after your project is done - give it a few once-overs with your embossing heat tool and they will disappear.

After I was done this I was so exhausted but you just have to pair these with a little Christmas Card.

You'll have to pardon the yellow lighting, as these photos were taken late at night. I was cruising through a card store one day and noticed some cards had a second piece on them and one image. Taking that for inspiration I simply cut these little bases: 3x3, and then picked one color and finished all 7 cards in 1/2 hour. That's a new record!

The best part is that they were the perfect companion to my much fancier chocolate boxes stuffed with Ferrero Rocher.

My Stash:
* Solid color cardstock
* Ribbon
* Foam tape

CTMH:
* Wonderland Level 2 Paper Packet (retired)
* Pear and Partridge Level 2 Paper Packet
* Barn Red Ink
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Itty Bitty Sparkles
* Blue and Green Adhesive Gems

Thank you all once again for being such avid readers. Merry Christmas!!

P.S... I couldn't help but add the project (my triangles) to H2H's first challenge in 2013 :) 

December 2012 and Valentine's Day Promo!

I'm always a bit behind in telling you about the stamp of the month, but my December has been absolutely insane. I just wrapped up a second workshop yesterday and got the compliment that the workshops are really easy for someone who's never done this before.

So first things first - the December Stamp of the Month, Year Round Cheer.

There's so many little stamps that can be used year round, and this could be yours with a minimum purchase of $50 up to December 31st. I can't believe Christmas is next week!

I wanted to take this moment to say thank you to all of my loyal customers - for those of you that spend anywhere up to $50 between now and Dec 31st, I will throw in a free stamp pad as a thank-you gift! This is only available for emailed and phone-in orders.

Secondly, if you're organized enough to think about Valentine's Day, there's a promo for making treat boxes for people. This is fabulous if you have kids or have a great team to work with that enjoy your little crafts.

With a minimum purchase of $35, you can have this additional valentine's day gift for an additional $10. This promo is available until January 31, 2013. 

I know there haven't been a lot of posts but don't worry there's a gem coming your way. Just need to finish working on the photos for it! 

Hope you are all ready for Christmas,

Christmas is here...

Lately when I walk into the Hyatt on the way to work, they have been playing Christmas carols for weeks. I'm also connected into the Palliser Fairmont Hotel, and I decided to go for a walk down that way as I'm spending one night there to sleep off the liquor and go to work the next morning.

I walked into the Fairmont to be greeted by this:

This is carved from white chocolate, dark chocolate and sugar with a gingerbread chimney by one of the Palliser's newest pastry chefs. It took 40 hours to do. How amazing is that?

Today's inspiration is Case Study #118, in particular Maureen Merritt from Mama Mo Stamps' variation.

I've had the set Holiday Commentary for some time without not knowing what to do with it but it was the perfect pair to three cheery little raccoons. It's again a bit more simple than what I usually do, but the colors pop on this card so well and the Baker's Twine with green rhinestones just finishes it off.

As you can see, I carried the same theme throughout the rest of the card. I decided to do a bit of distressing throughout - on the front it's the paintbrush from the distressing tools from CTMH and inside the sponge for the edges.

My Stash:
* Green solid cardstock
* White cardstock

CTMH:
* Texture Tools
* Christmas Love
* Holiday Commentary (retired)
* Bundled Buddies (retired)
* Ponderosa Pine Ink
* Barn Red Ink
* Liquid Applique
* Blue and Green Assortment Sparkle
* Cranberry Baker's Twine

Stay warm and watch the ice on those slippery roads!