Christmas Sleigh Ride 2021

Hi everyone!

We’re going on a Christmas Sleigh Ride!

This is the first sleigh ride post this year. As before, I look around the World Wide Web and try to find some fun and useful ideas for Christmas. I wouldn’t say 2021 has behaved itself, but we’ll see if we can perk things up.

Christmas Gnomes are all the rage now. So I’ve found this little tutorial on how to make your very own Christmas gnome in 5 easy steps. And they are easy, cheap to make and adorable!

How to Make a Christmas Gnome, by Autumn.

Happy Hooligans thought they’d invite the kids to play along and make a bunch of super cute gnome ornaments. It’s a fun project and something for them to do while on Christmas holidays. 

Gnome Ornaments, by Happy Hooligans. 

Although it’s lovely to look out the window and see the snowflakes dancing in the sky and covering the lawn in a blanket of purity…shoveling it will give you a pain in your back. I found a great recipe for bath salts you’ll love to soak in. 

(No More) Back Pain Aromatherapy Bath Salts from Om Nom Ally.

These actually do sound amazing, and I think I have all the EO’s for these too!

The holiday season is always such a busy time and it’s easy to get overwhelmed and completely miss that warm cozy Christmas feeling. So I watch Christmas movies. I’ve included the Hallmark movie guide and am also including one for the kids!

2021 Hallmark Movie Guide- click the link to get a download of the guide.

Christmas Movies on Disney

Since we’re doing some things with the kids, here’s another super cute idea. There’s a little video included and honestly, these would be really cute to wear on your coat. You just have to attach a pin to the back. 

Tea light Snowmen Ornaments, by One Little Project. 

One of the ways we bring Christmas into our homes is by the decor we put out. There’s great ways to make things with what we have handy. Some Epsom salts, glue, a mason jar and a Christmas pick and we’re almost there! 

DIY Snowy Mason Jar Luminaries by Instru Pix

I love what you can do with barn wood for Christmas. Check these out…I love the rustic look, but the second one is beautiful too. I couldn’t find any sources for these, but they’re easy enough that anyone could make them just by looking at them. 

I don’t know about you, but I love to bake and Christmas baking is my favorite. I’ve shared my eggnog bread on this blog with you, and my fudge puddles. I found these recipes and haven’t tried them yet, but they look so simple! Who knew Jolly Ranchers would premiere in a cookie one day?

Stained Glass Cookies from Cooking Classy.

If you’re a no bake kinda cookie gal, here’s a recipe that may work for you.

No Bake Coconut SnowBalls

This particular post got a lot of attention when it came out, and no wonder! Who doesn’t like elf boot napkins at the Christmas table? Super cute and easy. Depending on what napkins you use, you can get elegant to woodsy!

Elf Boot Napkins

Last but not least, some cheery snacks!

Snow Day Snack Mix

That’s our Christmas Sleigh Ride for today. I hope you get a chance to try some of these ideas out!

Meanwhile, I’m off to work on another post!

See you soon,

Carmen

Watercolor and Ink Cards

Hello!

Has anyone out there had snow yet? My son in Fort McMurray, Alberta has, and a friend of mine had to shovel herself out of two feet of snow today. Looks like winter has arrived in the north. 

Meanwhile, just south of us the town of Merritt has flooded, Princeton has flooded, Abbotsford is partially flooded, and I think all the highways and roads from the Interior of BC to Vancouver on the coast, are closed! Many are heading here and to Kelowna from Merritt, and flights out are in high demand.

The Coquihalla (coke-a-halla), the main highway from here to the coast has a bunch of mudslides. It was so bad a part of the road got swept away. There were people trapped between two mudslides that had to be air lifted out. I guess in part, it was to be expected with all the wildfires we braved this summer.

I wonder what other surprises 2021 still has in store for us? I am just watching the drama unfold online and hoping everyone is ok. I haven’t heard of anyone dying, so that’s good.

I’ve been busy today!

I’ve been pricing all my cards and other goods to sell. I have a variety of card types, so my pricing differs depending on what they are. 

Hand painted canvas cards ($8). These are canvases that were made into cards. Some are embellished with gemstone rough. These are originals, not prints.

 Watercolor and ink cards (6.50). These are watercolor painted backgrounds with either stamped and colored, or hand drawn subjects. Also originals, not prints.

Hand painted acrylic cards ($8). These are painted acrylics onto the card itself. Originals. 

Textile art cards ($12). These cards are sewn and hand stitched satin, cotton and lace, embellished with buttons and little sayings on cotton, framed in an aperture card that can be gifted as a card or framed and given as a gift.

Designer cards ($6). My regular cards that are pieced and embellished with various items. These come in two sizes. The smaller cards are $5,

 In addition I’m selling handmade fabric envelopes ($3)

 Bits of encouragement booklets which will make great small gifts or additions to a card (4.50).

 Soon I will have framed textile art, but it’s still in the works. The pricing on those will begin at $25.00

The two I have are 5” x 5” and will be featured in a post soon. 

I will ship purchased cards for actual shipping costs.

Looks like this is going to be a long post because I still have some cards to share. These are in the Watercolor and Ink category. These are 7” x 5” 

(this is a small 4.25 x 5.5 card, it’s $5)

And I think I’m going to leave you here because I have another post to prepare. I’m going to be doing up a Sleigh Ride post. Do you remember those? I did them in 2010 to 2012, a few posts close to Christmas with all kinds of Christmas ideas, decor, food, etc. 

I’m also doing a post where I’ll be linking up many of my free Christmas Digital Stamps for you to use. 

But first, a coffee!

Thanks for stopping by!

Blessings,

Carmen

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Alchemy Cards

Hello,

These were made a few weeks ago but I’m only just getting to them now. This paper pad is Alchemy, by Stamperia. You’d think I was representing them, but I’m not. I came across their papers and just loved them. My card stash is really growing quite happily. 

Note the metal globe embellishment.

This one just has brads and some flags

There’s a metal keyhole, a metal gear and metal brads.

Note the wooden key

Last, but not least, some sparkly accents and a turned over corner with a rub-on underneath and a metal brad holding it in place. 

Many of my cards have raised elements as well, and the insides are completed, but without stamps or sentiments, which can be added. 

That’s it for today. I hope you have a wonderful week!

Blessings,

Carmen

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Dragonfly Fabric Cards

Hi there,

Sewing is a long time love of mine that I am introducing into my cards. The card window is about 3x3”, so this is small work, but I so enjoy it. I am incorporating appliqué, machine sewing, hand sewing, quilting and pressing the sentiments with permanent heat n bond. I’ve used lace and satin over the cotton background. So it’s a lot of little things. Maybe it’s the variety I love so much. 

I’m learning a new phone and as you can see, my close ups are kind of dark. They’re clear enough that the detail is observable. This is with brightness and brilliance added…but, back to the drawing board I guess. 

I really loved playing with these and plan to make more. 

I just got back from Fort McMurray, Alberta where the weather is cooling down but still perfectly nice. The northern lights are just spectacular right now. I looked for them every night because they’d been active before I got there, but it wasn’t until I left that they showed up again. I’m leaving you with a few photos my son took after I left. Enjoy!

Have a great weekend!

Carmen

Eco Thank You Cards

Good Morning!

Every once in a while I go through my stamps to see what I have, what I haven’t used, and what I won’t use. As time goes on your interests really do change, so being a fairly organized person, I need to do this for myself. To be honest, I have written down every stamp saying I have, but I didn’t keep it up. I think stamp companies should include a paper in with their stamps, the name of the stamp set, and their company name. They can then be saved in a book so you can look there for what you want and then find it in your stash. It would make my life so much easier!  Bar that I may just have to stamp out every stamp I have and keep a record that way. Just my opinion. 

While looking through I found some little stamps and was reminded of a card I’d recently seen somewhere. I’m guessing probably on Pinterest because that’s where I look for ideas and tutorials. I quickly cranked out these simple cards using papers I had in my stash. 

Because, who doesn’t use thank you cards? 

While some may think these are just insects, they’re all beneficial in some way and an important part of our eco system. I love them all! Even the bees. As for the dragonflies, well, they’re just whymsical. I love them. Speaking of which, I’ll be posting some dragonfly cards soon. 

All my cards are available for sale. Hopefully I’ll find a platform that I like soon. For now I just post them on Facebook, here and on Instagram. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Carmen

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