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I must admit that leaving Oregon was MUCH harder than I expected it to be, and I never thought it would be easy. Fortunately, we already have our next trip planned, so that makes it a bit easier. For the first time in several trips we actually got home on time, despite a long delay leaving Medford. So here we are, a bit jet-lagged trying to get ourselves back into some semblance of routines. I've cleaned our basement pantry since we returned and done a huge grocery/pantry shopping. Today was filled with appointments and commitments, and tomorrow doesn't look a lot better.

But what I really want to do is get busy in my studio. I have over 100 photos of the baby to edit. (Don't worry, you won't be subjected to all of them!) I started working on Finding Photo Flow, an online course by Kayla Lamoreaux, while we were away and which I can already recommend. I really need to get through the next lesson soon. Then in just a week or so, two new courses begin:  a BPC class on type with Cathy Z. and a class by Amy Tan at Studio Calico on stretching your scrapbook kits.

January is a month filled with birthdays. I got most of them made ahead of time so I could mail them from Oregon. Most of them are for guys, so I made a set of cards with a new Hero Art set I picked up in Buffalo earlier in the month. 

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All four cards were made with small ready-made cards from Paper Source, the new Hero Arts "Past Times," "Simple Sentiments" by Papertrey Ink, and patterned papers from the "Funday" paper pad by My Mind's Eye. The tags are from my stash, and I wish I knew where to get some more of them.

And because I'd hate to leave you without a baby photo or two, here are two favorites. The first one Adam took with Caleb in one hand and his Rebel in the other. Nothing I'd ever be able to do, and I just love how it came out.

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And one of Sarah and Caleb:

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He's so tiny now, but he gained over a pound in the second week we were there, so I know he's not going to be tiny for long.

Project 64: Blue Green

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Last week's color at Project 64 was Blue Green. I found these mugs at the Breadboard in Ashland on Saturday morning. Just in time, as I hadn't paid as much attention to this project as I usually do. This week the color is Brown. I shouldn't have a problem with that!

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Twelve on the Twelfth: Posted on the 18th

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I'd like to use the excuse that I'm spending my time holding babies, cooking, and visiting, but the truth is I'll probably always be posting this project a day or two or three later. Nonetheless, I've decided to give 12 on the 12th a try this year. When I get home, I'll add this template to a scrapbook page.

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From top left to bottom right:  our room number at the Best Western, Sarah and Caleb, Grandpa and Caleb, Sadie (best dog ever!), the current book group book (very interesting; I'm getting a bit of it read here while Caleb sleeps in my arms), Sadie checking out Caleb in his car seat before we leave for the mall, Sarah and Caleb, Caleb in his stroller, Caleb's mirror on the back of the car seat so Sarah can see him in the rearview mirror (we never had such products when she was a baby!), the mall sign, my Photo365 app, and turkey chili for dinner.

I think I'll try to always have a shot of our dinner and the book I'm currently reading. Beyond that, who knows? It was no problem getting 12 photos here in Oregon. I think it might be more challenging once we get home. Our time here is more than half up; we have just five full days left. It's not going to be easy to leave! 

Project 64: Wild Strawberry

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Last week's color at Project 64 was "Wild Strawberry." Not a color you'd find in my house or my closet, and certainly not outside in January in Rochester. So before we left for Oregon, I visited Skylar's closet and nursery and had no trouble coming up with the right shade of pink.

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Baby Uggs waiting for Skylar to grow into them.

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The crib mobile

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And a cute little bib that came on a sleeper with little pink and green whales all over it. Betsy sent Caleb the same ensemble in blue and green.

I'll be back later with photos from Oregon as well as some cards I finished before I left.

Ten on the Tenth

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Normally I wouldn't subject you to ten scrapbook pages in one post, but I really did want to do 10 on the 10th this year, and I have finished my Christmas Journal and there were exactly 10 pages to share. You can find more 10 on the 10th at Shimelle's blog.

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Years ago, we added a new ornament to our collection every year. For many years, we added one from our travels. Once we had more ornaments than our tree could hold, we stopped buying new ones. But this year, I bought two beautiful new glass ornaments, one from Denver, CO and one from Ashland, OR. They’ll remind me of the year both of my kids made big moves.

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This year my gifts are under three trees:  one here, one in Oregon, and one TV tree in Denver. When Matt received some boxes a few days ago, he called to see which ones were safe to open. Only one of three in which I had sent some wrapped gifts for him to open Christmas Day. 

 Knowing full-well he hadn’t any intention to buy a tree, I said, “Put them under the TV and pretend it’s a tree.” 

 “That’s the plan,” he responded.

 I’ll miss my kids on Christmas morning. This is the first year in 31 years that neither one will be here on Christmas Day. But it will still be festive, as nearly 20 of us will gather here at 4:00 for Christmas dinner.  And I only had to send a few of Matt’s gifts as he’ll be here for a long weekend in early January.

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I love to make tags and wrap gifts. This year I had fun making some tags for specific gifts and people. I don’t always find the time to be as creative as I’d like during the holiday season, but it certainly is fun when I do.

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Having seen Sarah and Adam in November, and knowing I would see them again as well as Matt in January, I didn’t expect to feel particularly sad at Christmas. But Tracy figured out how to stream our Christmas music through Apple TV and added lots of Christmas photos from past years as a screen saver. I was done in when this one showed up on Christmas Eve. I really do miss my kids at the holidays! 

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The first page of a two-page spread.

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The Walker Family Christmas is always lots of fun, but this year it seemed even more laughter-filled and joyous than usual. We visited, sang, saw interpretative dance, ate, ate some more, opened gifts (more laughter and fun), and simply enjoyed one another. The only way it could have been better was to have Marc (who had to work), Sarah, Adam, Betsy, Skylar, and Matt with us.

I've ordered a pile of prints from Christmas which should arrive today (after we leave for the airport). They'll go in these pages:

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Despite a gorgeous new kitchen, I just wasn’t interested in making tons of Christmas cookies this year. It broke a 40+ year tradition, and in the end, both Tracy and I were sorry about it. We did, however, have cupcakes! I made three kinds: carrot cake with cream cheese frosting, chocolate with peanut butter frosting, and our favorite:  gingerbread with lemon frosting. No one in the family seemed terribly disappointed, but I especially missed not having goodies to give to our neighbors. 

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I didn't journal for this page, I know I'll have lots of baby pages in the near future and I thought "Best Gift" said it all.

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Matt was home for the weekend, and I took tons of photos. This is one of my favorites. Skylar is so attentive now, and she is staring at her Aunt Sarah in Oregon on the iPad. I love how much easier it is to stay in touch with Face Time. We visit with Caleb, Sarah, and Adam almost every day. 

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Matt left today, and that signals the end of the holiday for me. We’ve been blessed beyond measure again this year by family, friends, and good health. On our way home from the airport, we stopped to see the night lights at the Lamberton Conservatory. I was glad we hadn’t missed it after all.

Thanks for sticking with me through a lot of pages. I always enjoy this project, and every year I'm so glad I've made the time for it. We're off to Oregon later today, so I'll be checking in with your posts, but probably not commenting as often. Babies to hold, you know!!!

Journal Your Christmas: Part 4

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I'm still working on my Christmas Journal. I have seven or eight more pages to go, and I'm determined to get them finished before we leave to visit Sarah and the new baby. Matt comes home today. We're off to Buffalo to pick him up, but he'll leave from Rochester on Sunday. It's a short trip for him, but I'm so glad to be able to see him as part of the holiday. We've left our tree and Christmas decorations up until he has a chance to open the rest of his presents. It will all get packed away this weekend before we leave on Tuesday.

Here are the latest three pages. I continue to work on them in a random fashion, and it's a process that seems to work very well this year.

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Sometimes I put one of the cards I make in my Christmas Journal, but I didn't have any left this year, and wasn't inclined to make any more so I was glad I'd taken a photo of some of them ready to go with the letter to out-of-town friends and the family photo. The journaling reads:  

Almost all of my Christmas cards this year were of the same design. I’ve found over the years, it’s just easier to mass produce a lot of the same card than do many different designs. I did send out the cards I made in a Memory Box class in Buffalo, and ones I made for the Scrap-Mart design team. The beautiful snowflake die was cut from some silvery text-weight paper from Paper Source which required a quick stop in Berkeley to pick up some more on our way to Sarah’s at Thanksgiving.

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It's been awhile since I played around with the opacity of a photograph. I didn't want the large one to overpower the strip of close-ups so I decreased the opacity to about 65%. I tried printing the journaling right on the patterned paper, but it has a bit of a shiny surface so that didn't work. I ended up printing it on vellum and attaching it with the border sticker. Journaling:  

Although we frequently walk past Lamberton Conservatory, we don't often stop. Today we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through their lavish display of poinsettias. They've also installed lots of tiny lights among the tropical plants which are lit on Sunday evenings. We'll definitely be going back on January 1st to take another look.
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I was blessed by receiving cards from all over this Christmas, many of them handmade. One of Shimelle's prompts encouraged us to use postage stamps from some of our cards to embellish the page. I still have a few saved to use on other pages (or projects). Journaling: 

Being part of a crafting community, both locally and through blogging means I received many beautiful, handmade cards. This year they came from England, Ireland, New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon, Arizona, and California. I also got a lovely card from Australia. I decided to showcase all the handmade cards on my new magnetic chalkboard in the kitchen. They were admired by many during the holiday!

I can't resist leaving without sharing a couple of baby photos. This one of Caleb was taken in the brief hours they spent at home last Sunday. Within several hours of arriving home, Sarah developed a high fever, and they were back at the hospital. She had a kidney infection which took several days to get under control. They're all home now, and doing well.

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I can't wait to get my hands on this little one. In the meantime, I'll be spending more time with Skylar this weekend while Matt is home. I have to figure out how to post a video. Betsy posted the most fabulous video of Skylar laughing on Facebook yesterday. Here are a couple of my favorites of Skylar, taken right before Christmas.

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Project 64: Green

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Last week's color at Project 64 was green. My favorite shot was a macro shot of a poinsettia. Not what you'd typically choose for "green," but the inner green here seems to be a perfect match.

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I was surprised and pleased to see that my bowl of SILVER bells was the favorite last week at Project 64. This has to be one of the only challenges for which I have never missed a week!

2012 OLW: Balance

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My OLW for 2011 was FINISH. And although my active pursuit of the 12 projects I wanted to finish collapsed in June, I did complete half of them, and got a good start on #7. The truth is I probably wouldn’t have finished any of them if it weren’t for the OLW project. For awhile I was discouraged about the outcome, but considering our travel and remodeling projects in 2011, I’ve decided it was pretty successful after all.

This year my OLW is BALANCE. Two years ago  I took a class from BPC called “Reclaiming Your Time” by Karen Grunberg. I had just retired and was finding my days slipping away without doing many of the things I really loved. The class was fantastic and helped me set priorities. I still do a better job of balancing activities than I did before the class, but I feel myself slipping again so “balance” seems to be the word that fits.

Family, social activities, volunteer commitments, and cooking always find a place in my schedule. It’s really fitness and creative pursuits that don’t get balanced. Although I walk regularly, I haven’t been to the gym in months. It’s time (especially with the winter weather) to get back to a regular schedule at the gym. 

Scrapbooking always takes a back seat to cardmaking, but I’m hoping to complete at least one layout a week this year.

I’d like to establish a daily practice for photography, so I’m going to try a couple of new photography challenges since I’ve enjoyed Project 64 so much (and it won’t last the year). I’m also determined to finally master Lightroom this year. I’ve signed up for Photo Flow, and Cheri and I are hoping to be class buddies via email.

Reading only seems to happen at bedtime, and I often fall asleep before I’ve read very much. I need to set aside some time during the day to read. Blog reading has also taken up much of my reading time. I recently reorganized my Google Reader and am finding it much easier to keep up with the blogs I want to read regularly.

Not long ago, I read a blog post (by Karen Grunberg again) about how a 15 minute daily practice improved her sketching skills and confidence. So I want to try this technique to improve my coloring skills with Copic markers. I’m hoping to start this next month once we’ve returned from Oregon.

Cardmaking always finds its way into the creative process because I make cards for every birthday and occasion during the year. I had a whole list of challenge sites I checked regularly, but I’ve narrowed it down to just five I enjoy. Whether I participate regularly or not, I’m hoping to incorporate them into the cards I need to create anyway. 

I’ve created a new checklist, much like the one I created in Finding My Time to track how I’m doing. Cheri did something very similar last year. I also have a list of techniques, software, and ideas I want to explore this year that I’m posting it on my bulletin board.

Of course, travel to the west coast is in the plans, and I’m hoping to use these times as a creative break . . . a time just to kick back and relax. It’s probably the one thing I don’t do well at all! (Yes, Cheri, I do plan to work on the class a bit while I’m away this time.)

 

CAS-ual Friday Challenge

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One of my intentions this year is to limit the number of card-making challenges I read each week. I chose five to check each week, and here's my interpretation of the CAS-ual Friday challenge to use brown paper and string. I need several birthday cards for men this month so this was a perfect combination.

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The first card uses a sticker from Imaginisce that I knew I'd use either for cards or for a travel page in a scrapbook. I adhered it to a Hero Arts card, and stamped the banner and the sentiment from Papertrey Ink's "Fly Away" sent, attaching them with some twine. The twine and Scarlet Jewel button are also from Papertrey Ink.

The next card is for my nephew's 40th birthday this week. 

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This is a really CAS card that reads inside "looks good on you!" I die cut the numbers from MME's "Fun Day" paper pack with Papertrey's By the Number dies and layered them on the Mat Stack #3 die cut from a dark brown scrap in my scrap file. I inked the edges with the Tea Dye ink from Papertrey.

 

 

Before the Old Year Slips Away

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I'm trying to organize my folders and prepare for the photographs and challenges of the new year. In the process I found some projects I created recently that were never posted so before the year slips away, here they are. A tag I created with a Maya Road chipboard house and Tim Holtz distress inks for a house-warming gift I gave Sarah last month.

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Although I created some gift-specific tags (you'll see those in an upcoming JYC post), here are the bulk tags I created this year with my Silhouette. The white dots are a glitter pen, and the recipient's name was written in white. I wrap all my gifts in red and white paper so they worked for any gift.

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And a group of thank you cards. The first with one of my favorite dies by Memory Box.

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A thank you note created with LifeStyle Crafts wreath die.

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Three thank you cards with the delightful dies "In the Meadow" by Papertrey Ink, inspired by a home decor project created by Melissa Philips.

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A birthday card for a friend, using the "Friends Til the End" and "Birthday Bash Sentiments" stamps by Papertrey Ink.

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And finally, I want to share a beautiful work of art by Cheri. I received this in the midst of our kitchen remodeling, and set it on a shelf in my studio. One day while they were working on the new window, everything on that wall fell off and hit the floor. Fortunately, nothing was damaged, but I piled it all up and this wonderful canvas was "lost" in the pile until recently when I got it all back where it belongs. Thanks, Cheri. It's one of my favorite quotes, and a lovely reminder of the wonderful relationships I've made through blogging.

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So Excited!!!

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The best Christmas and New Year's gift ever arrived today. Caleb Elijah was born this morning and weighed in at 8 pounds, 4 ounces. Caleb, Sarah, and Adam are all doing well, and we got a Face Time introduction to him shortly after he was born. LOVE technology! 

Here are the proud and relieved parents!

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We can't wait to meet him in person! 

Journal Your Christmas: Part 3

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I spent three hours at lunch today with four good friends. It was a great way to spend our first wintery day. I did get one more page for the journal done tonight and a couple of thank you cards, all of which will show up here in a day or two. For now here are the pages I promised yesterday.

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Betsy and Skylar came to dinner. We feel so blessed to be near by and get to see her nearly every week. I have new photos to share of her as well. Journaling reads:

What a blessing Skylar Rose and Betsy are to our family! Although she’s too young this year to understand Christmas, we know what a special joy she’ll be bringing to all our holiday celebrations. She is the sweetest baby ever!

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It's not often I have a page to add with the prompt about visitors, but this year my brother spent a weekend with us and we had great fun.

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I extracted part of a template by Ali Edwards for this page. The journaling reads: We were delighted to discover that Colgate Rochester Divinity School was hosting a carling party and bell ringing concert today. Our street dead-ends on the CRDS property so we had an easy walk up the hill to listen to the bells and sing carols along with our neighbor, Paul, and about 300 others.

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This was a fun page to do. I used one of the October Afternoon Holiday Style journaling cards to write out the list of things I still had to do. The houses are from a sticker sheet from the same line, the clouds are from Studio Calico, and the Filagree Border is one of the two new ones I just got from Papertrey Ink.

Journal Your Christmas

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I've had some time the last two days to get a few more pages done on the Christmas Journal. Rather than work sequentially, I've been doing the pages I had photos for, or ones I had written the journaling for already. Since there are several of them, I'll post a few tonight and the rest tomorrow. It's a rather electic scrapbook as I've been choosing papers based on the photos rather than sticking to a particular set of papers or a consistent template. I'm quite enamored of some of the Christmas Journals I've seen this year that have a more consistent look, but I'm not sure how well I'd be able to stick with them. Food for thought for 2012. 

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The idea for this page came from a prompt I received from Tracey Clark about holding onto gratitude. The journaling reads:

Thanksgiving is the holiday where everyone focuses on their blessings, but, truly, Christmas seems like just as good a season to take stock of all I am grateful for.  The list is too long for this entry, but the top three are . . .

 FAMILY–I am more appreciative than ever of time with family now that both Sarah and Matt live miles away. This holiday season would seem much bleaker if it weren’t for a large extended family that is here and will make Christmas Day a rousing, happy holiday.

 HOME–Having done so much work on our house this year, I am truly grateful for a beautiful home, a fabulous new kitchen, and wonderful neighbors.

FRIENDS– We are truly blessed with many friends with whom we share joys, tribulations, fears, and celebrations. Our lives are enriched by our many close friends with whom we share meals, events, and travel. Our book group, our fellow bridge players, my blogging buddies, and our church community add such richness to our lives.

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One of the articles in a recent Creating Keepsake magazine was about using calendar pages in your scrapbooks. I had this page from a Papertrey Ink calendar I didn't use this year and decided it would be a fun way to document the social events of the holiday season.

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I lifted the idea for this page right off Miriam's blog. (Thanks, Miriam, I like it a lot.) Tracy and I were bemoaning the fact that it didn't seem much like Christmas this year, but in addition to the fact that neither of our kids were here, we also skipped a few of the annual traditions. We've decided we won't do that again.

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For both Advent and Lent our fabulous church choir presents special music. Since we live in a town with a renowned music school, our choir director and organist (who also teaches at the Eastman) has access to wonderfully talented muscians who accompany the choir on these occasions. This year it was two brass choirs, and was not to be missed! I included the page from the bulletin that describes the two pieces they sang. Our church is always beautifully decorated. I wouldn't take a photo during any service, but I did get one of the chancel area before the service began.

We had a fabulous Christmas celebration with our family. I turned my point and shoot over to Jessie, Tracy's cousin's daughter who took over 250 photos. She recently sold her camera and is saving for an DSLR. She had a lot of fun, and I got to relax and enjoy the family. I have them uploaded, but it will be a while before I get through all of them and decide which 5-10 photos I want to use for my journal.

 

December Papertrey Blog Hop

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I missed last month's blog hop because we were traveling, so I really wanted to participate in today's. Fortunately, we have NOTHING planned for the day after Christmas so I had time to make a card. The challenge this month for the Papertrey Blog Hop was to use  any of the wrapping paper, bows, ribbon, tags, canceled postage from holiday cards you have received, photos from holiday cards and anything else you might have laying around after the holiday preparations have ended. I decided to use some of the wrapping paper and twine I used on the package and try the technique Maile posted here on her blog a week or so ago. Here's what I came up with.

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I ran a piece of cardstock through my Xyron and laid strips of wrapping paper down, then used the diecut from Love Lives Here:  Holiday to cut out the mittens. I added some white Liquid Applique to the top of both mittens and then a bit of glittery Stickles. The evergreen boughs were stamped with Love Lives Here:  Holiday and the sentiment was a surprise gift from PTI in my December order. Perfect for the thank you notes I need to write. The heart was punched from a piece of the prepared cardstock and I used the same twine I used to attach tags to my packages to attach the mittens.

Here's a close-up:

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Hope you had a wonderful holiday! We had tremendous fun at last night's family celebration, and we're resting up today.

Merry Christmas

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. . . to you and yours! May your day be blessed with family, laughter and the many joys of the holiday.

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