Christmas Cards you didn't have time to make...

Hi All.

It's almost December and I've been making Christmas cards since September.  I'm ready to go with the bunch we're sending.  Okay, I'm still awaiting approval from my hubby for the Christmas Letter and I still need to get pictures printed.  I got the 70 done for the charity Auction at Scrapbook Blessings.  I hve a few left I'm willing to sell for $3.00 + tax apiece.  Please let me know ASAP if you'd like to purchase some.

This is the Silent Night Card, so named because the words to "Silent Night" are on the tree.

 I have 3 available.

SILENT NIGHT CARD -- OUTSIDE

SILENT NIGHT CARD -- INSIDE

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This is the "Out of the Box" card for 2012.  If you're looking for a card that's different, here it is.

 

I have 3 available.

 

OUT OF THE BOX -- OUTSIDE



 

OUT OF THE BOX -- INSIDE

((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

 

 

 This is my Frosty Friends card with embossed and slightly "blingy" snowflakes.

I have 8 available, total, with two different insides.

FROSTY FRIENDS -- OUTSIDE

FROSTY FRIENDS -- INSIDE "A"

5 available.

FROSTY FRIENDS -- INSIDE "B"

3 available.

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This is the Dove Card.  Please note this is one to be HANDED to your loved ones because it's too thick to mail in a regular envelope.  If you wanted to mail it, you could use a padded envelope.

I have 2 available.

DOVE CARD -- OUTSIDE

DOVE CARD -- INSIDE

(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

This is my personal favorite, the Stable Card.  It shows the simplicity of what I consider Christmas to be about.  It's hard to tell in the picture, but the Star is heat embossed and the wood of the stable was pressure embossed in the Big Shot, using the Woodgrain Embossing Folder and the Stampin' Up! Early Espresso Core'dinations cardstock.  The lighter color is at the core of the cardstock.  After embossing it, I sanded it down to expose the lighter color.

I have 30 available.

STABLE CARD -- OUTSIDE

STABLE CARD -- INSIDE

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 These were fun to create with the "Jolly Bingo Bits" stamp set.  It's difficult to see in the pictures but each of these has watemark stamping on the blue background.

JOLLY BINGO BITS CARD (Option A) -- OUTSIDE

1 available.

This is the inside of all the Jolly Bingo Bits cards

JOLLY BINGO BITS (Option B) -- OUTSIDE

3 available.

JOLLY BINGO BITS (Option C) -- OUTSIDE

 

1 available

 

JOLLY BINGO BITS (Option D) -- OUTSIDE

1 available.

 (((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((

This one has a bit of embossing, a bit of paper piercing, a bit of watercoloring, and a bit of bling.

4 available

POINSETTIA CARD -- OUTSIDE

POINSETTIA CARD -- INSIDE

If you are interested in purchasing any of these cards, please contact me ASAP.  I will post the information if they've been sold but plan to stop checking on December 8th.  First come, first served and the current supply will be all there are.

Thanks!

Marcia

And the winner is...

Thank you all so much for participating in my drawing to raise money for the American Cancer Society.  Each of these slips of paper represents $5 donated and I was able to raise just over $900 for Cancer research, education, and care. 

 

SO...  The person whose name I drew from the box will now receive a certificate for an All-Day Scrapbooking Day (for herself AND 19 friends!!!) at Scrapbook Blessings in Newbury Park and a package of fun Stampin' Up! goodies from me.  Thank you again to Beth and Leo Creger, the owners of Scrapbook Blessings, for making this opportunity available!!!   I'm telling you, if you don't know Scrapbook Blessings, you SHOULD!!!  They can be found at 300 Giant Oak Avenue, Suite E.  It's a big, beautiful store with beautiful scrapbooking goodies and wonderful people! 

 

Drum roll, please!


And the winner is...

Congratulations, Lisa, and THANK YOU to everyone who donated!

Camarillo United Methodist"s Craft Day on November 4th

On Sunday, November 4th, from 2 - 5 there will be a Christmas Craft Day at Camarillo United Methodist Church. There will be a variety of projects from big gorgeous wreaths to enjoy year after year, to coasters, to marble necklaces to my cards and more.  To find out exactly what's available and the materials fee for each one, contact Dr. Lynn at the church (805) 482-4312. 

 

The day will be set up so you should be able to do more than one craft (make cards while your coasters are drying and such...).  Please sign up with Dr. Lynn or, if you only want to do card, with me. 

 

These are the two designs I'm making available for the day.   The fee to make both is $5.

 

 

 

Embossing is SO MUCH FUN!!!  :>)  I threw in some paper piercing, punching, sponging and

stamping for this relatively simple card.

 

 

Now this one is SUPER SIMPLE!  You can choose to make it like I did or use the other stamps in the set to change it up.  I thought this one might be easy enough for some of our younger set to manage but still cute enough for everyone. 

Christmas Card Class -- Sunday, October 21st

These are for the my class on October 21st.  It's a Sunday afternoon in Camarillo - 2pm.  The materials fee is $10.00 and we'll make all four cards.  All materials, tools, and instruction are provided.

 

If you'd like to join us, please let me know by Sunday, October 14th.

 

This one is made with Stampin' Up!'s new Scalloped Tulle Ribbon.  I stamped the bird and used the coordinating punch to punch him out. The sentiment is from the, "More  Merry Messages," set.

 

 

For this one I used the Early Espresson Core-dinations Cardstock, the Early Espresso Embossing Powder, and the "First Christmas," stamp set. 

I plan to send out a lot of these this year because this just says, "Christmas" to me.  It's not about gifts or parties.  It's about a little child, born in simple circumstances, and shone upon by a star.

These guys are just so darn cute I had to use them!  This is the single stamp, "Frosty Friends," coloredwith markers and Blender Pens.  I made it colder by adding the snowflakes with the, "Northern Flurry," Embossing Folder and some rhinestones to sparkle things up a bit. 

Anyone who knows me knows I love to sing and Christmas Carols are some of my favorite songs.  The stamp set, "Evergreen" was used here and contains the words to "Silent Night".  Again, I wanted this card to be relatively simple to go with the words of the song.

Here's the inside of the card above.  I love that I can make the trees so many ways with the same set.

So, those are the four cards for the class.  Please let me know if you plan to come.  I love sharing Christmassy stuff!

Christmas Cards starting in OCTOBER -- Cards for Card Buffet, Oct. 19th

Hi All. 

I came to a realization 2 years ago.  If I have Card Buffets in November or December, no one shows up.  We all get crazily busy around the holidays and I'm just going to save myself the stress and frustration by doing my Christmas Cards in October and very early November.  Please know I'm willing to schedule home parties during this time, just not my usual open-ended events.  I'm going to try to stay sane and devote my crafting time to helping Aaron with HIS Christmas projects.  :>) 

To that end, here are the designs I've come up with for the Christmas season this year. Please note, I'm listing them by the event at which I plan to use them.

Cards for my CARD BUFFET -- October 19th, 7pm until Midnight, Oxnard 

Please let me know if you'd like to come.  Each card will be $1.50 if you bring your own double-sided tape.  $2.00 if not (or buy a SNAIL from me for $7.00.  Refills are only $4.95!).

Sometimes I feel as if gold tones are overused for Christmas, so I wanted to make a card which used silver instead.  I used the Stampin' Up! Brushed Silver cardstock for this one and the new silver mini-brads.  I also used the new stamp set, "Watercolor Winter," as well as the, "More Merry Messages" set.

I try to make something out of the ordinary for at least one of my Christmas Cards.  Here's my "Outside the Box" card for 2012.    I used the "Good Cheer" roller with the "Merry Minis" stamp set and their matching punches.  Different.  I like it though.

Here's the inside

This is FAR easier than it looks.  A little time consuming, but it turns out really pretty.  I used our new Core'dinations Cardstock in Early Espresso and Gumball Green with my sander and some Victoria ribbon as well as the Candlelight Christmas Designer Series Paper.

This will only make sense to you if you live in Sunny SoCal.  ;>)  I used my, "My Digital Studio" program to print up appropriate wishes for the inside. 

 

Here's the Gumball Green Core'dintions cardstock used with a different embossing folder.  I used the 3 colors of our Glimmer paper for the "Light bulbs".  Maybe a few fewer in future cards.  I believe I may have gotten a bit overenthusiastic. 

Simple  with embossing, paper piercing, and coloring with the aquapainters.  I know it's difficult to see from the picture, but there are 4 tiny rhinestones in the corners.  The stamp set is, "Christmas Blessings".

Spookily Cute and Thankful Cards --THIS FRIDAY NIGHT

 

 

I'm prepared for Halloween.  Are you? 

 

I had Aaron try on his Halloween costume today to make sure it still fit.  We're blessed with a sweet boy who likes to wear his costumes for multiple years.  YEAH!  Our budget is supremely thankful!

 

I'll have these projects for Halloween and Thanksgiving (or just general thanks...) available at my card buffet on Friday, September 28th.  Bring your double-sided tape and make the ones you like for $1.50 apiece.  The jar will be more.  I still need to figure out how much. 

 

Please let me know if you plan to come out.  We'll be at the regular Oxnard Location from 7pm until Midnight.  If you don't know where that is, Give me a call for more info.

 

 

I really am enjoying this stamp set, "Bootiful Occasions".  This is a cute card for a beginner to make a big impact with the stamps and a few circle punches.

 

 

I think I'll call this one "Fractured Feline".  :>)  I used the "Frightening Feline," stamp, some of our textued paper (the Wild Wasabi green on the left), Stampin' Up!'s Striped Satin Ribbon, a brad, a googlie eye, and using our jewelry tag punch.

 

 

I embossed this one using my Big SHot Die-cutting Machine  with the Spider web embossing folder.  I added a cute spider with googlie eyes from the Ghoulish Googlies stamp set and went a little (okay, a LOT...) crazy wiht the Dazzling Details to sparkle it up. 

 

 

 Here are the exterior and interior of a graveyard scene card made using the Toxic Treats stamp set.  I've been thinking of all kindas of ways to use that little frog!  :>)

This "Autumny" Thank You uses the Big Shot Die-Cut Machine to quickly cut out the leaves and to emboss the woodgrain background with out new  Core'dinations Cardstock.  It's topped off with a tag punch, linen thread, and  our new buttons from the Holiday Minicatalog.

Here's some more of that linen thread and Naturals Buttons pairs with Leaves I cut out wiht the leaf die and then embossed with the Square Lattice Embossing Folder and a beautiful stamp set called,    
 "French Foliage".  I made some coasters with that set last year and they were gorgeous!

If you need a jar for little Halloween Goodies, come make this on Friday.  The jar's about 4" high and you can have fun with the  Ghoulish Googlies set I used on the spider card, above.  I'll have a limited number of these jars available and still need to figure out the price.  I know it won't be more that  $5.00.  It's even cuter in person.  :>)

,

 

Please let me know if you plan to attend on Friday night.  There will only be one more Card Buffet (Christmas Cards in October) this year!  Come out and get CREEPY!!!  ;-)

 

 

Ribbon, Anyone?: Yes, school's started and I'm behind AGAIN!

Hi All,

School has started and we're getting into the swing of Fall at our house.  My first volunteer day at school is coming up this week, I had a party with some wonderful ladies yesterday, and I'm behind AGAIN.  I keep thinking I'll catch up some day.  That's what dreams are for, huh?

Why do I say I'm behind again?  Well, this special has been going on all September and I'm getting around to mentioning it to you on the 23rd.  Ooops! 

Here's the deal if you'd like to take advantage of it:

Now, through the end of Sptember, you can get a roll of the Stampin' Up! Stitched Satin Ribbon in your choice of colors (These 4 and a darker pink called Raspberry Ripple), for FREE for every $40 worth of Stampin' Up! products you order.  Each spool is a $8.95 value and you get them for just buying what you already want!  The ribbon is 3/8" wide and there are 10 yards on each spool.  The sale is cumulative, so you can choose 2 spools for ordering $80 of products, 3 spools for $120, and so on. 

You can order by contacting me or by place an order on my website, www.playwithmarcia.stampinup.net , at any hour.  Thanks for looking!  :>)

Crop 'til You Drop and Help Find a Cure! Please help and, maybe, win. .

Here's my announcement about how to help in the fight against Cancer in a more readable form. 

If you're a Ventura County Scrapbooker, PLEASE passs this on to all your scrapping friends!  Beth, at Scrapbook Blessings in Newbury Park, was SO generous to offer this to help me raise funds.  Please let people know about it so that opportunity can be maximized. 

Please donate if you can.  If you're in Ventura County and would like to be entered in the drawing, please let me know that too.  THANKS!!!

PL

WIN a Scrapbooking Crop Day for you and your friends AND do something GOOD!

This is primarily for folks who live in or near Ventura County.  Please read it and FEEL FREE to donate if you're from outside the area too.  If you want to donate and have chances, please just let me know when you send your donation or in the notation to me online.  THANKS!!!  :>)

 

Also, PLEASE tell other area folks about this too. 

________________________________________________________________

 

Dear Crafty Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have an amazing offer to make to you and I'm SO excited about it!!!

Scrapbook Blessings is a terrific scrapbooking store in Newbury Park. It's always my store of choice when I need something I can't buy through my own business for two reasons: 1) They always have beautiful stuff; and 2) the people there are WONDERFUL! I've been shopping and scrapping there for years. It's a family owned and run business and they're both super-friendly and talented. If you need help with something "scrapbooky," they're the folks to help you through examples, advice, and classes.

Really, the next few sentences belong here, please keep going... It'll make sense.

Some of you know I've lost several people I love to cancer and am blessed to have a bunch of Cancer Survivors counted among my family and friends. I'm involved in raising money for the Amercan Cancer Society (which provides funds for research and support for survivors in treatment), through Relay for Life this year with a goal of raising $4,000. I sent out 110 letters this past week to people I hope can donate but, obviously, I can't send a letter to everyone I'd like to. One of the last I distributed was to Beth, co-owner, with her husband Leo, of Scrapbook Blessings because I know that their hearts are always willing to help others.

BETH, of SCRAPBOOK BLESSINGS, BLEW ME AWAY!

Instead of offering a donation directly from their family, Beth offered me a FREE CROP DAY!!! Our hope is that this will bring in even more donations.

Here's what the offer is:

Scrapbook Blessings will provide the space for 1 Lucky Winner and 19 of your closest friends (I'm hoping you'll invite me but you don't have to. :>)) to crop on one Saturday of your choosing from 10am to 5pm. Basically, you and your friends get to take over the classroom and crop to your hearts' content! There will be someone from Scrapbook Blessings there to help you out with whatever you need and it's SO easy to match colors when you're scrapbooking in the store! If you're the winner, you just call Beth at the store to set it up and you can go in and play. This opportunity has a value of up to $300!!! That's 20 people x $15 for a full day's crop.

Please note: The certificate has no cash value and will effectively be worth $15 x however many people you bring. It must be redeemed by June 30, 2013.

************************************************

Here's what you have to do in order to have a possibility of getting the certificate.

I will give you one chance for every $5.00 you donate, through me, to Relay for Life.

$5 = 1 chance $25 = 5 chances $50 = 10 chances $500 = Well, you get the idea...

*************************************************

I'll let you all know who gets to go play at Scrapbook Blessings and donate my own package of Stampin' Up! goodies on October 15th.

In order to receive your chances:

 

To donate by check, please make your check out to: “American Cancer Society”.

You can hand it to me or send it to me at:

Marcia Yoshida

5205 Prairieview Street

Camarillo, CA 93012

To donate online, go to:

· www.relayforlife.org

· Choose ,“donate,” from the dropdown menu under, “Get Involved”

· Scroll over, “Donate to a Participant,” enter my name, and follow the directions to donate by credit card

Donations must be received by October 14th as the Camarillo Relay for Life is on October 13th and 14th.

If you have already donated, THANK YOU and you'll still get your chances. Don't worry! :>)

*************************************************

THANK YOU SO MUCH to Beth and Scrapbook Blessings for making this opportunity available!!! I struggled a lot with whether or not it was appropriate to send out a donation request to all of you. To my mind this makes it a GREAT IDEA! :>) I hope you'll all forward this to others you think might be interested in this opportunity. It's always good to do something to help others but it's even better when there's a chance you could have a fun day out as a result. :>) I always tell new scrapbookers about Scrapbook Blessings because they're so terrific in general but this and the Charity Auction they do for military families every December are examples of the heart of Scrapbook Blessings. Tickets for the December auction are on sale now. They auction off all the gorgeous layout samples from throughout the year and loads of other goodies. $10 for dinner, a goodie bag, and "a show" with Leo in Dress Uniform! December 1st. It's a blast! Call the store for more info -- (805) 375-1568.

I told Beth, the other day, she has no idea how much I appreciate their donation to my fundraising cause. We all have our personal stories of how cancer has affected us. If you can, please contribute, in the hope that someday this will no longer be true.

Very Sincerely,

Marcia Yoshida

Stampin' Up! Independent Demonstator and Hopeful Cancer Reasearch Fundraiser

(805) 479-8385

 

STORE INFO:

Scrapbook Blessings

300 Giant Oak Avenue, Suite E

Newbury Park, CA 91320

(805) 375-1568

What happens when you listen carefully...

 

 

When we visited the Sequoias, we had the pleasure of noting this beautiful creature and her fawns.  I scrapped these two pages using My Digital Studio 2.  There's nothing exciting about them "techniquewise"' but sometimes (often) I find that simplicity is best when scrapping.   Check out my journalling to read the story.  :>)  

 

I'm hoping to receive my printed copies of these pages any day.  They need to arrive before my scrapbooking class on Sunday!

 

If you're interested in joining us for a "Scrapbooking with Stamps 101" type of class, I'll be having mine on Sunday (9/16/12) at 2pm in Camarillo.  I only have 4 spots left, so please contact me if you'd like to join us. 

 

The face says it all! 

Birthday Cake 2012 -- Giant Sequoias!

Every year, for the last 3, my guys have made me a special birthday cake.  The process is always shrouded in mystery and a lot of sugar.  :>)

This year my guys made a representation of one of my favorite places on earth, Grant Grove in Kings Canyon National Park.  It's in the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, about 1 1/2 hours out of Selma (near Fresno), where I grew up, and we introduced Aaron to it last year.  Obviously, he was struck by its beauty too.  He mentions it fairly often. 

Oddly, as I was banished from the kitchen while they were working, I was working on some scrapbook pages from that same trip.  These only give you the tiniest idea of the magnitude of these living giants.  The sequoias are truly awe inspiring.



Here you can see my guys hunkering in a hole at the base of the tree to the left.  It just begins to give you the impression of how large they are.  My brother lived in Saudi Arabia for a number of years and worked with some of the local men.  He told them about these trees and they thought he was kidding.  On a visit home, he went and took pictures which he took back and showed them.  They still couldn't believe it and were thoroughly convinced he had "Photoshopped" the pictures.  If you haven't, and ever get the chance, go see these trees.  If you ever get to feeling too big for your britches, think of these and it'll bring you back down to a more reasonable size.  :>) 


Here are the sequoias my guys made for me.  The trees are pound cake and Ho-Hos.  The bushes are squished rice crispy treats (My boy doesn't watch the Cake Challenge shows for nothing, you know!).  This year they added the new technique of painting on additional food colloring for contrast.  :>)



Here's the whole masterpiece.  The loaf cake is "The Fallen Giant".  It's a fallen sequoia which has been used in many ways, including as the quarters for a cavalry unit in the 1800s (even the horses fit).  I first visited as a young child and have always been fascinated by it.  You can walk all the way through it, as much of it was burned out, probably by a fire started by lightning.  The general consensus is lightning killed this tree and caused it to fall though no one living knows for certain how, or even when, it fell.  Some of these trees in this grove are more than 2,000 years old.

The next two pages show us in and around the fallen giant.   In the picture, bottom right, of this lay-out, we're standing by what's left of the tree's root structure.

 

 

 

In the middle, below, Aaron's standing about half-way through the tree.  Above him, Roger's standing in the sunlight let in throught the hole at the top, right.

 

 

 As you can tell, I love this place, and I loved my cake too.  Devil's Food to fit my personality!  ;>)  Thanks guys!!!  I love you!!!!!!