Christmas time's a comin'...

I love this time of year, both at home and at work. I work with kids, and despite the craziness, and the amount of work and time spent doing report cards, concerts, craft prep and just generally trying to herd cats, it is full of energy and fun. 

My renewed energy in my craft space started with the On Stage virtual conference I attended in mid November. I got started making cards using the materials and sets that are coming soon, and it was a much needed thing. My crafting gets me in a better headspace, and as my husband said just this morning... it makes me happy. 

I spent time just playing in my things during and since that weekend. I took the ideas and dug out some retired products that are just sitting and waiting to be used and made some Christmas cards. Based on a challenge I saw not long ago, I started with some paper that were not the traditional Christmas ones. I loved how they turned out. I used the same basic layout as the cards I made in the conference, and just kept morphing from there. 

I also had gotten the idea of making sampler classes, something I love to make on my own. I picked out the Feels Like Frost, again non traditional for Christmas, but very wintery feeling.  I asked if my youngest daughter wanted to join forces and help me with it. The result was a beautiful sampler, and I got to spend quality time with my 19 year old. We had such fun together and I will always treasure this sampler just for that. 

When making a sampler, it is best to have a deeper frame to put it in. That way you can add depth to the elements and make it much more lively. It involves a bit of math to figure out the size of the pieces, and even though I messed up on mine a bit, I think it still works. 

I do have to admit that my daughter is responsible for most of the design, but I kept pulling out stamp sets and putting ideas out there on how we could make her ideas happen. We used new and old, dies and fussy cutting, and even added being. What would Christmas be without shine and sparkle? 

I hope you like the projects we made here. If you have any questions, or want to order supplies, use my link below or drop a comment and just say hi!

Shop with me at Sharon's Stamping Spot