I missed posting last week, but that’s okay. Right? Of course it is. Life happens! When I started this journey, it was not my intention to make frequent blog posts but to do them as I could and when I had been working on something new. That doesn’t mean that the week before last Sunday I didn’t do anything. Just the opposite. I was still working on new cards but had a few other things going on as well. Halloween was coming up fast and I had treat boxes to get finished and mailed off to my seven grandchildren. I am happy to say, mission accomplished! They loved them, and the candy inside of each one! It blesses my heart when I can surprise them and do something for them that I know will bring even a small amount of joy to each of them. Who doesn’t love getting a box in the mail? I know I love it!

Halloween is over now for another year. I love seeing all the little ones dressed in costume and having a great time. I know we are in the midst of a pandemic and precautions must be taken, but I’m glad that the children were still able to go out and trick or treat, safely. So, what’s next? Well, Thanksgiving is the next big holiday of course! Although, it always seems to get overlooked a little because Christmas is already in our lives one way or another. I wasn’t born in the U.S.A. and didn’t grow up here. I grew up in Australia and believe it or not, we don’t have Thanksgiving. That might seem like an odd thing to say, but I have been asked if Australia celebrates Thanksgiving the same time the U.S. does! Um, no. The pilgrims did not come to Australia. Of course we have our own holidays in Australia, many of which the U.S. does not celebrate. Now you know! We do celebrate Christmas on December 25th. I have been asked that question before. I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. Australia does have a ‘hot’ Christmas due to the seasons being the opposite. I grew up spending December, January and February at the beach and school holidays were from mid-December to the first week of February. Yep! But back to Thanksgiving…. are you planning the big traditional turkey dinner with family? I am sure a lot of us are wondering what it’s going to look like this year. I will be traveling to S.C. and VA. I am visiting my son and his family in S.C. for a few days. My oldest granddaughter will be turning 13. Yikes! I feel old. After her birthday I will head on up to VA and have Thanksgiving with my daughter and her family. I’m looking forward to spending time with them all, but I am not looking forward to the travel and the restrictions.

So, this past week I have been working on some Christmas Cards. Did you know there are only 7 more Fridays until Christmas Day? That’s 54 days! What!!! Now I am not one of those people who like to usher Christmas in too soon, but I do love creating the cards and since they will go in the shop for sale, I need to get them done so if someone is looking for Christmas cards they can find them in my shop. Makes sense, right? I have acquired some beautiful and fun stamp sets and matching dies. It’s been so much fun using them. I really got into a rhythm with them. I live in the Phoenix area of AZ and we don’t get snow here. If I want snow though I just have to drive 2 hrs north to Flagstaff and there will be plenty up there. However, I love winter scenes, snowcapped trees, snowmen, and snow on Christmas cards. I would not consider myself a traditional person, but I do like some of the traditional colors and scenes of Christmas. I love to use contemporary colors too! Like aqua, teal, blues, lighter and brighter greens, gold and silver. Some of the cards I have created this past week demonstrate a more contemporary style. Here’s a couple of examples:

I love the combination of blue and green together. The more traditional colors of red and green can also look great together and I showcase that pairing in these cards:

Maybe you like a little bling! Who doesn’t love a little gold or silver to brighten thing up.

Then there are the fun cards with Santa and Frosty! I’ve got a few more rolling around in my head and I’ll be working on those this week!

I still have the ‘Funday, Monday’ zoom sessions with my friends on most Mondays. They are such fun! We had one recently that we all laughed so hard we cried! Do you ever have that problem when your brain function just isn’t up to par? Well I certainly did that day. I just couldn’t get it together and my brain went into a tailspin. It was a really good laugh and fortunately for me the ladies in the group had a good laugh too! I was worn out from all the laughter. What a great time! We made a couple of ‘step cards’ that night and it was the measuring and cutting that my brain had trouble with. One wrong cut and everything else went bye bye. I ended up with more paper than I needed but it all came together in the end. Thanks to the patience and grace of my friend and mentor Patricia. Here is the card we made and another of the same design that I made on my own, later, that was a piece of cake! Funny how that happens. The coffee themed one is the original.

Last Monday we made a box card. This one was made a little differently to the design I usually use and makes a smaller card, but I love it. I like that it makes a finished card that folds flat to a 4 ¼ x 5 ½ size A2 card. We chose our own theme and I chose Christmas and used one of my new stamp sets that features gnomes. So cute and fun! Here’s that card:

We had a great time creating and each box card was different. Everyone made great cards using various shapes, papers and colors. There was a box or ornaments, snowflakes and even a moose in the woods! So much you can do. I have a couple I want to CAS (Copy and Share) for the shop.

This has definitely been a year to remember and it is flying by! I remember thinking I couldn’t wait for 2019 to be over because of all that I went thru health wise, but this year didn’t prove to be what I had hoped it would be either. But, I am thankful to be living and healthy, and for friends near and far, and for my family who may not all be near but are always with me. It’s a stressful time for many and I hope that everyone will remember to be kind and show kindness toward each other. Let someone you know, know that you are thinking of them…. A great way to do that is to send a card.

Have a great week!

Jackie