Merry Christmas!!!!

To all my friends, family and awesome customers - 

Merry Christmas!!! 

~*~*~*~*~

You all mean the world to me, and I pray that this Christmas will be full of wonder of this beautiful holiday, and your New Year full of blessings!!!  ~Maureen

It Came Upon the Midnight Clear

It came upon the midnight clear,
That glorious song of old,
From angels bending near the earth
To touch their harps of gold!
Peace on the earth, good will to men,
From heaven's all gracious King!
The world in solemn stillness lay
To hear the angels sing.

  For lo! the days are hastening on,
By prophet bards foretold,
When, with the ever-circling years,
Shall come the Age of Gold;
When peace shall over all the earth
Its ancient splendors fling,
And all the world give back the song
Which now the angels sing.

Christmas Wishes from Across the Miles

Tomorrow is Christmas - and this is my first Christmas where I'm not celebrating with my one of my daughter's and her kids :(  The other will be here on Monday with her kids - so that will be wonderful - but my heart is still just a little bit heavy.  So this year - I am really sending Christmas love and wishes across the miles.  It makes me realize how very fortunate I have been to have my family near me for so many years - praying that will be what the future holds again.  Not necessarily right next door - but not quite so far away :)

So today's card is one that we made in a recent cards class - and it had such an appropriate verse - I had to share it today.  It uses that amazing new Dynamic Embossing folder - "Cable Knit"!  Can you see just how deep that embossing is?  Beautiful!!!!

The set I used was "Holly Berry Happiness" - I have always loved holly - and I used to draw it all the time.  So when this beautiful set was in the Holiday Catalog - I had to have it.  All of the little leaves are stamped and punched out individually and then layered to may the little spray of holly on the right.

The Burlap ribbon from the annual catalog adds just the right layering between the Cherry Cobbler and the white cable knit.  Then the little pearls add the softness of some little berries on the holly.  I really love how this card turned out.  Makes me feel warm and cozy! Let me know if you liked it too!  ~Maureen
Here are some of the products used to make this card - click on any image to go directly to my online store~

5/8" (1.6 Cm) Burlap Ribbon

$7.00

Pearl Basic Jewels

$5.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Cable Knit Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$10.00

Holly Berry Builder Punch

$18.00

Holly Berry Happiness Photopolymer Stamp Set

$17.00

Merry Everything - Happy Always!!!

So I'm sharing a quick and cute card that we recently made.  It came together so quickly - but I love the look and it just makes me smile!  I used the "Suite Seasons" set - which is great as it has verses that cover Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and a general verse - so it makes it very versatile (no pun intended).

Also used the "This Christmas" lightweight Designer Series Paper - which I LOVE!!!!  I have it on a ton of cards this year - great designs, and because it is lightweight it is wonderful for adding layers to your card, without the bulk for mailing.  It is of course reversible, so here it is using the other side.

 

After assembling the card we added three little red gems - these are actually the clear Stampin' Up! gems - just colored ahead of time with a red sharpie.  It adds that little bit of bling that every holiday card needs.

Hope you like this card - I think it's perfect - clean, sharp and simple!  Would love to hear what you think!  ~Maureen
Some of the items used to create this card - click on any image below to go directly to my online store -

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

This Christmas Designer Series Specialty Paper

$13.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

$5.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

$4.00

Banner Triple Punch

$23.00

Suite Seasons Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$20.00

December Christmas Card Class - Card 1

So December's class was my last of the year - we'll start making Christmas cards again in January for 2017!  I really love this design..I saw a few similar on Pinterest -but gave it my own twist.  So you can see the deer in the first card facing the left.  This was made by cutting on the back white side of the foil paper - which was recommended - but it seems to give a little ridge around the edge.

So I decided to try cutting on the foil side (so deer faces the right) and it give it a much smoother rounded edge.  I like it better - and I had no trouble with it.  Unfortunately, all of the ones in class were made like above -  but they are still lovely.

I just love the look of the copper foil on the deer - so elegant and a little understated.  Really nice card if you are sending one off to a person of the male persuasion - as it's a bit rustic looking to me.  And I LOVE washi tape - fun, fast and looks terrific!

Here are the cards side by side - as I said - they both look great -and I kind of like that the deer can face either way.

See you all soon!! ~Maureen
Click on any image below to go directly to my online store!

Santa's Sleigh Photopolymer Bundle

$45.75

Warmth & Cheer Designer Washi Tape

$8.00

Sahara Sand 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Garden Green 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Cherry Cobbler 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$8.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Garden Green Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Baker's Twine Trio Pack

$9.00

Copper Foil Sheets

$4.00

Table by StampinBuddy. Try it FREE.

Stampin Friends December Hop - New Year Celebrations

Thanks for joining us on our hop - this month's theme is "New Year Celebrations!"  I was so excited to get and use one of my favorite sets from the Stampin' Up! Holiday Catalog - "It's a Celebration".   This set is soon to be retired - after Jan. 2 - it will no longer be available.  And that makes me sad - as I am so looking forward to making cards for July 4th!!

But back to New Year's - my projects this month are this adorable wine bottle tag and matching card.  You never want to go to a New Year's Eve party empty handed - and whether it's a bottle of Champagne, or Sparkling Cider - this set gives it that perfect CELEBRATION look!

The tag is made with a 8.5"x3" strip of black card stock - scored from one end at 3".  In the center of that square I punched a 1.5" circle to go over the top of my bottle.  Then stamped gold and silver snowflakes and speckles on the bottom section.  The card starts with a white base.

Both have a white layer on Metallic silver, on black.  So on the top white layer I stamped Gold and Silver small fireworks, as well as a Sparkler with gold and black sparkles.  The Happy New Year on the tag is stamped in blacked, ends are flagged, then layered onto a Metallic Silver piece that is also flagged.  I then curved with my bone folder and popped up on dimensionals.

What makes it just sparkle is all the gems that were added at the ends of the sparkles!  I love bling on just about any card - but it especially works well on this card!

Hope you liked it - don't forget to comment with the hashtag below for your chance to win a creative product from each of the ladies in this hop.

Keep hopping and seeing the other wonderful ideas out there!  ENJOY!!  ~Maureen

Complete list of hoppers -

Kirsteen Gill 

Carolina Evans

Twila Davis  
Steph Jandrow
Lynn Streifert

Maureen Rauchfuss - YOU ARE HERE 
Cindy Slack Waldorff
Kim Lamos
Barbara Welch 
Melissa Thomas 

Nothing like a cookie to start a Fiesta!

Here's one of the cute little treats my TEAM got from me at OnStage earlier this month.  I wanted to share a bit more about these guys - because I think they are just STINKIN' Cute!  It was pretty much my first time using our Birthday Fiesta Bundle.

These little pockets are so easy to make - they are all over Pinterest.  See diagrams below.  1) Start with a 6"x6" piece of paper and fold diagonally,  2) Turn so that it sits in front of you like a triangle with the point at the top, 3) Fold the bottom right corner up to the center of the left side, 4) Fold the bottom left corner up to the center of the right side, 5) Fold down from the top of the triangle the front sheet only forming a little cup.  It will hold it's shape without any adhesives and you can fill as you like.

I slipped a chocolate chip cookie into each treat cup, and slipped the entire thing into one of SU's clear envelopes, folding the back down and taping.  Then I decorated the front with the verse flag, and the cute little llama.  

What a fun way to give someone a little treat!  These would be adorable as party favors, or place settings - fill with candy, cookies, gift tags - or whatever your heart fancies. 

Don't forget the Year-End closeouts sale going on right now - click on banner below to go to my online store -

See you soon!  ~Maureen
Click on any image below to go directly to my online store - 

Birthday Fiesta Photopolymer Stamp Set

$21.00

Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper

$11.00

Fiesta Time Framelits Dies

$27.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$9.00

Melon Mambo Classic Stampin' Pad

$6.50

Clear Medium Envelopes

$5.00

Paper Snips

$10.00

Birthday Fiesta Photopolymer Bundle

$43.00