This week’s challenge, selected by Susanne, was to make a humorous Christmas card. I had so much trouble deciding what to use. I even spent some time surfing for a new digital stamp, but in the end I went back to my existing stash.

Here is my humorous Christmas card:

I got this sentiment from Hambo Stamps about a year ago after I won a gift certificate in their blog hop. I thought it was kind of funny, but it’s sat uninked since that time because I haven’t been sure what to pair it with.

Then, while I was working on my card from last weeks’ challenge, I decided that this little mouse on the lamp pole looked kind of humorous and might fit the sentiment perfectly! So, I used what I had instead of finding something new.

Not quite sure I “love” this layout, but it will grow on me!

(What I do love is that liquid applique!! Why did someone not tell me about this product before!?!?!)

As mentioned in yesterday’s Weekly Christmas Challenge post, some of the ladies on SplitCoast Stampers threw me a Virtual Baby Shower last night. It was so incredibly generous of them and I had a ton of fun!!!

Basically, everyone sent me a baby gift in the mail. I was to hang onto the packages until last night and then I opened them here while the ladies on the forum posted a photo so everyone could see.

The gifts could be handmade (since we’re a crafty bunch), but some ladies chose to purchase something as well. The variety was great!

Last night I opened 10 gifts. This post is going to be a bit long because they each deserve recognition. There is no way I can single out any one person!

Tami knit me a cute hat and made this adorable baby onesie card. Isn’t it cute? Since we live so far north and baby will arrive while winter is still here, this hat will definitely come in hand.

Vickie got me these great board books and a set of music CD’s. She also made the adorable monkey card you can see in the front of the picture. It’s really cute!

Melina sent a goody box. In the upper left corner, she sent a decorated jar that could be used as a piggy bank…or to store something. The two square pieces below that are 5×7 picture frame inserts that I can add a photo too (great idea!). Then, there is a 3×3 brag book and a gel frog. Her beautiful card with paper weaving is in the upper right corner.

Jennifer sent me a very thoughtful gift. It worked well for both of us! And, it was a gender neutral green! She sent some Canadian money that she received in a swap. Apparently, it cost almost as much as the bill itself to exchange into American funds, so it was just hanging around her house. During the shower, Jennifer mentioned her favorite children’s book, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I was admiring another book just the other day by the same author, so I’m going to go get both books in honor of her. This is the beautiful card she sent with it. Love these colors!

Susan sent me some great scrapbook inserts. These are designed to go in those photo albums that are split into pockets for 6×6 pictures. I can use these to decorate some squares and put pictures in the others to have a “finished” scrapbook page. Isn’t that sheep adorable!?!

Tess sent me some cute towels and made me a little scrapbook. The scrapbook is on a clipboard so that I can hang it, but also has a backing that will allow me to stand it up. The book on the left is for images (the first six months) and the one on the right is a calendar so that I can mark special moments. Neat!!

Patti send me this fabulous parcel. On the right is a very colorful and super cute fleece blanket she made. She also made the “Monkey Business” shirt on the left and sent some onesies. Also there is a board book by Sandra Boynton and some handmade 8×8 scrapbook pages. There wasn’t enough to room to share all of them, but take my word for it, they’re gorgeous!!

Barb also sent a homemade fleece blanket, which she indicated was a car seat blanket. It will work great for that purpose!! There were also some burp cloths in the package, onsies, hats and mitts (very cute designs!) and another book! Baby is going to love to read!

I didn’t get them into the same picture, but also wanted to show you the 4×6 scrapbook/photo album inserts and some cricut animal cutouts Barb sent. I love the skunk!!

Jen sent me some onesies and a snack (freeze dried strawberries). There’s also a taggies book there (has ribbons on the pages) and, of course, the adorable purple hat and booties. Super cute!! Her card is pretty adorable too. I love that pea stamp.

And, last gift that was opened last night was from Donalda. She sent me the cutest, fuzziest lion slippers. What was extra neat about her gift is that she printed off a picture of the fabric we used in the baby’s room (which I had shared with everyone) and used it to wrap the slippers AND make her card!! Such an ingenious idea!!!

I can’t forget a few other gifts that didn’t arrive in time to be opened last night, but were shared on the thread. Christina’s gift is a crocheted blanket in the most beautiful colors, Kelly is sending me an 8×8 scrapbook that looks GORGEOUS from the pictures and Toni also made me a blanket with cute monkeys on one side and terry on the other side.

Again, I just don’t know how to thank these ladies for their time spent thinking about and spoiling this baby. It’s just great and I thank each and every one of them (again!!) for their gifts.

Thank you, friends.

And, it’s the 17th, which means one more week of work AND my virtual baby shower tonight! A great group of ladies from the online craft site I frequent threw another lady a baby shower about a month ago. I thought it was a cool idea and I joined up, making her a mini album. You can check out my post from the event here. Anyway, after that shower, the ladies decided to throw me a shower too. I’m so grateful for the support of this community and these wonderful ladies and can’t wait to open the stack of packages that have been accumulating in my craft room since late January!! I’ll post more about the event later today (or maybe tomorrow).

In the meantime, I know you’ve been waiting for this week’s Christmas Card Challenge.

Lena chose this week’s theme and she wanted to see a snowman and purple paper (patterned or cardstock).

I did not have any purple Christmas paper in my stash, so I needed to go shopping. I suppose I could have used purple cardstock, but that didn’t really occur to me and shopping seems like more fun, right? Unfortunately, I didn’t have much luck at the store either in the way of purple Christmas paper. I ended up scouring the racks for something I could use and found some purple plaid.

The snowman image is from Penny Black’s Jolly Follies set that I received before Christmas. Isn’t he adorable?

I loved how this layout turned out so much, I ended up making another card based on it, but with red papers.

Alright, that’s all for this morning, but remember, come back tomorrow to see how wonderful my fellow stampers are!

But, I am still working on my rather large scrap pile. My scrap pile is different than my “desk reject pile”, which I’ve also been using recently. Basically, my scrap pile is an envelope of paper pieces. Once I cut into a 12×12 piece of paper, it generally goes here. Sometimes the pieces are quite big, but as I use them I start to accumulate odds and ends. I hate throwing out paper, but those odds and ends are hard to use sometimes!!

These cards are one of my favorite layout ideas for using up my scraps. The original inspiration was a card I found on SCS. I’ve used the design idea several times to create different cards. I’m never really disappointed with how they turn out.

This next card uses the same layout, but I’ve replaced the buttons with ribbon and the colors are quite different.

And this card is a slightly different layout, basically turning it on it’s side. The image didn’t look right centered (it hid too much of the patterned paper), so I positioned it at the top.

No, not a BIRTH-day….my lovely little baby hasn’t arrived yet (I’ll let you know, don’t worry).  Use It Tuesday is celebrating 1 year of fantastic challenges with a birthday BLOGIVERSARY!! Does your crafty collection feel a little lighter than it did a year ago? Are there bare shelves and baskets where paper once piled and ribbon over-flowed? Ah…just think of where you’d be without Use It Tuesday’s influence (hey, Siobhan, can we go shopping now?!?).

The best part of the blogiversary is that we are celebrating with a blog hop and presents!  For you! Now, I know that we don’t usually do “prizes” around here, (being that we are the blog that encourages you to use your stash), but hey, this is a PARTY after all!

I am stop number 4 on the on the blog hop train (toot, toot). I’m hoping that you arrived here from Eka’s blog and admired her deliciously cute creation, but if you jumped aboard mid-station or missed anyone, head on back to the Use It Tuesday blog and make sure you visit the entire Design Team because we have some great projects and some hidden prizes all along the way!

How can you win? Well, each of our Design Team members has a prize hidden on their blog. Simply leave each one of us a bit of comment love and you will have an opportunity to win.  It’s as easy as shopping for new craft supplies!

But, it wouldn’t be Use It Tuesday without a challenge for you to play along with too. Before I tell you this weeks’ challenge, pay attention to these important party rules. In order to win, you MUST:
– Be a follower of the Use It Tuesday blog;
– Mention in your blog post entry (or gallery description) that you are playing with us at Use It Tuesday;
– Make a project that meets the guidelines of the challenge; and
– Tell us what hoarded supplies you used.

Got it? Alright then….

Since this week is all about our 1 year blogiversary, we want to see a project that has to do with BIRTHDAYS!

This week, I was lucky enough to get to play with something new in addition to using up my stash. My fabulously generous sponsor for this blogiversary is Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps.

Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps has some fantastic images for you at very reasonable prices. Their images cover a wide variety of categories and are easily organized into categories (I love that!). For this hop, Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps was gracious enough to let me work with Fireman Jim, which you can find in their “People” category. Here is my creation for this week, which is an Easel card:

Fireman Jim is pleased to be working with some hoarded corduroy brads and red fabric that go nicely with his best boots and hat. He’s also delighted with the way that hoarded glitter paper sets off the sheen in his uniform. Happy to make you look good, Jim!

You have the chance to work with Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps. Simply leave me a comment (make sure I can contact you) and you could win the “Primitive Pitcher” stamp from Robyn’s Fetish Digital Stamps. A winner will be randomly chosen from those who leave me a comment by February 24th.

As usual, it’s your turn! Link your blogiversary birthday creation to our challenge post at the Use It Tuesday blog using Inlinkz. As usual, one winner will be chosen by the Inlinkz Froggy and asked to be a guest designer for an upcoming challenge. But wait! There’s more!! That lucky winner will also win a GRAND PRIZE package donated by our fabulous sponsors.

The Use It Tuesday Design Team wishes to thank all of our wonderful sponsors for helping to make our blogiversary extra special. We all loved our new “stuff”. As you hop, please take the time to admire our sponsors’ wonderful products. If there’s anything that catches your eye, each blog should have information on where you can go to make that product your very own.

Your next blogiversary stop is Irini and I know she’s got a gorgeous creation for you. Hop over to her blog to continue playing along with us!  Grab some cake before you go….it’s calorie free today.

And, we’ll see you next week for another Use It Tuesday challenge (it’s going to be a good one, trust me!).

Here’s a few more pictures of Fireman Jim and my creation:

For the first time, I signed up to be a hostess. My challenge was called “Tulip Tones” and the idea of the challenge was to make a card using a floral image plus the color combination of green and the color of your favorite tulips!

This was the sample card I made for my challenge. I can’t resist a good tulip, but the purple and pinks are a favorite, especially when paired together.

I had planned to play along with the other four challenges for the night, but didn’t find the time in my busy weekend to get my cards done.

For those of you who want to play along, the Mini challenges are open until 8pm EST tomorrow night (Monday February 13th). If you can’t play the mini, you can also come play the main event on Friday March 9th and Saturday March 10th.

This week’s challenge was selected by Vickie and she wanted us to create a square card, with lots of bling and the color pink…..did she forget it’s a Christmas card and not a Valentine’s card?!?!

My guess is that she just knows how great pink can be on a Christmas card!

I started this card by heading to my stash of patterned papers to find something Christmas themed with pink in it. I found this great red and pink patterned piece, which I thought looked a bit vintage.  I also thought it looked great with this red image I received in a swap last year. What do you think?

I don’t do vintage very often, as it’s not really my style. I’m not even sure if you’d call this card vintage, but I certainly think it’s pretty different and I enjoy it!

Thanks for stopping by. Come back next Friday for another Weekly Christmas Card challenge creation.

It arrived before Christmas, but I just didn’t find the opportunity to ink it up and try it out. Since I’ve been working on a few Christmas cards lately, I decided to try him out.

I really love how this card turned out! I lucked out and found some scraps in my stash that paired nicely. And the bright red worked out great too!

I’m not sure if you can see the difference or not, but I’m so excited that we got a new camera!! Our old one was “good”, but the technology has updated itself so much. We decided we needed an upgrade before baby gets here (gotta be prepared for that extra cuteness!), so went out last weekend and found what we wanted. So far, we love the picture quality and the features on this new camera!

The first one continues the clean-up of my desk stash and patterned paper storage. The paper is from a Basic Grey collection I just love and that piece has been sitting and waiting for the perfect card for awhile. And, the yellow and brown square was started for…something…and abandoned to the pile almost a year ago. In some ways, it’s good because otherwise I wouldn’t have this great card, right?

The next card is a “redesign” of something I made earlier, although I tried to make this one a bit more masculine. I think the original inspiration might have come from someone on SCS, but I couldn’t tell you who. I peruse the galleries quite a bit.

That’s all for today!

This week’s feature image is Bailey Cupcake. I made this cute little birthday card with the image. I love the Tempting Turquoise accents on the card.

Check out the Hambo Hoedown…when you participate, you get the next week’s feature digital stamp free! How can you lose?!?