Busy.. and a couple of Christmas Cards

This is such a busy time of the year. I have been writing my Christmas cards and thinking about the Christmas preparations. I have the tree up and the wreaths - so cozy!
My heart has found much more rest since Friday when we picked up David to find him happy, relaxed and upbeat! I was so thankful to God as I had prayed all week that I would find him settled and at peace. Change takes time to get used too and we have to give ourselves and other people time to adapt.

This is a joint effort Christmas card. Susanne sent me this deer diecut a long time ago and the snowflakes are from my American friend Betty, who visited me in the summer. I got the idea for this card from Pinterest and it was one of those cards I just had to case. I also embossed some snowflakes on the patterned paper. I can't take credit for the stitching because it was already on the paper, which I believe also came from Susanne. So you see how much we need each other in crafting!

Edit: Just adding another card which was made with a different die cut. I used the Misty Garden pattern background stamp from Hero Arts and stamped a Christmas definition three times. Added some die-cut snowflakes and it was done very quickly. I will be adding this card (which I made today 05/12) to the challenge on Simon Says stamp blog who are asking for snowflake cards.

 And another one.

Other than that, I have been cooking - since I got introduced (via the TV and books) to a very inspiring cook (Jamie Oliver), I have been on a discovery trip and want to get hold of as many herbs, spices etc. that I can!

This was so nice.
On Sunday we came home from Church to find that one of our shoes had been put in front of the fire with a burlap wrapped present and a poem. This had to be our son and daughter in law as they excused themselves from the church service earlier than usual. They had been preparing all day Saturday as they made their own Pepernoten, which are sweet spicy little biscuits, which were in our shoes, and a lovely poem for everybody. It was such a lovely treat and so thoughtful of them.
This is what they call Sinter Klaas in the Netherlands, and it is usually celebrated around the 5th of December.

Jacqueline

Christmas cards for Scrambles

Yes, there were tears in the car yesterday. David started tearing up and I started...
I am so happy to have him home so that I can pamper and love him to bits. He seems to drink it all in. When he went to bed last night, he started looking all around him, just remembering his room, his cupboard, his springy warm water-bed. He was snoring in no time! Care-ladies can't take the place of a mum and I've noticed that it may take quite some time before David finds his rhythm. Apparently he won't take off his shoes, as if to say, I want to go home. Even in the evenings, he sits with his shoes on and they have difficulty getting him into bed... I am going to be phoning and calling in more often I think.

Today is a 24 hour scramble day on the Hero Arts Flickr Gallery. Different volunteers take it in turn to  host a 45 minute card-making time with a special theme. So, as it includes all time periods, I was able to take part.

This was for the theme 'Use a tag on your card'. I was going so quickly because I had to go shopping that the C on the Christmas wasn't complete. This is a HA sentiment.
I found these window cards very cheaply at the ALDI. I used the front of a 6x6 Christmas pad which I have kept for ages and adhered it to the back. Then I picked out a small tag and adhered a small snowflake and two branches which were die cuts from Betty (thanks Betty) to make a snow flower arrangement.

This is a card for my son to give to his girlfriend this Christmas. Cecilia's challenge was "All that glitters is not gold, or silver". The card had to glitter but not with silver or gold.

And this photo was taken this week Thursday. The weather was so warm that my daughter in law with her two friends, took my crafting supplies outside to play with them! Can't imagine that now, we have had to light the fire today!

Have a lovely weekend!
Jacqueline

Merry Background stamp and a give-away

Today I want to center around this beautiful Christmas stamp from Hero Arts: Merry Background S5531.

Here I used it for a Fall card. The beautiful leaf was a gift from my Russian friend Maria. I used my favorite distress ink color: bundled sage.

 

I treated myself recently to this Bird stamp from Stampendous. I had been looking for a nice bird stamp for ages and when I saw this one, I thought, thats it! Here, this stamp is used to create a Christmas background, stamped with Stormy sky.

This third card is another one using the Bird stamp but with a different background stamp. This one is an old one from Hero Arts, called the Misty Flower Pattern. I used my favorite definition stamp for the sentiment.

 

And lastly, this Christmas card using a variety of Old and new stamps from Hero Arts. The first wreath which is called the Leaf wreath is layered by the Berries stamp in the set CG363 Poinsettia & Berries from HA.

 

And now for my giveaway:

 This stamp set is called CL596 Pattern Hearts & Flowers.

If you want some ideas on how to use these stamps just look at the Flickr Gallery under this thread.

Just leave me a comment and I will choose somebody on Monday. I might not use Random Org this time, we will see. 

Have a lovely weekend!

Jacqueline