‘Twas the Night Before Christmas

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‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the shack

Not a creature was stirring, not even the pack; 
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that little Lexi would leave them there. 

The Boxers were nestled all snug in their beds; 

While visions of dog treats danced in their heads..

And so the revered poem goes! Little Lexi had an issue or two with Christmas this year.  First of all, she thought the old antique Santa I purchased was a toy.  I moved him from the sofa table, to the mantle, to the top of the refrigerator, to the closet.  He is resting comfortably in the garage now.

And those beautiful new ornaments I absolutely had to have for the tree?  Well, they were beautiful for awhile, until Lexi spotted them.  Yes, they were shaped like balls, which apparently are her favorite toys, right after antique Santas! After she removed the ones near the bottom of the tree and buried them beneath the tree skirt, I thought we would be fine.  But then she decided to create a new game…”Climb the Tree to Get the ‘Balls’ from the Top”.  Needless to say, the tree now has no ornaments and no tree skirt.  But, that’s OK. I adorned it with Muffy’s ribbons from this year.  Lexi has left those alone, although the middle section of the tree no longer lights up after she grabbed one of the branches and tried to spin it around.

As for me, I am still addressing Christmas cards.  Forty of them will be arriving after Christmas.  But instead of calling them late, I think of it as being my contribution to extending the holiday season.  Here is a peek of some of my favorite ones which I created this year:

 

I hope that you enjoy your time with family and friends, and that you have a wonderful holiday season.  As for me, I will enjoy our traditional Christmas Eve supper of cheesy potato noodle soup with Brady and Kim, after which we will head to church to listen to Brady play.  We’ll end our evening watching White Christmas, while a fire burns brightly in the fireplace.

Until next time…

Tuesday’s Deals, Specials and SHARES…An Information Round-Up

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Weekly Deals 
December 23 – 29, 2014

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog



End of the Year Closeout

It’s been a great month for deals, and it’s only getting better now that Stampin’ Up! has added even more products to the Year-End Closeouts! Be sure to check out the amazing discounts on the extra items, including stamp sets and holiday products.  Click HERE to see the goodies!

They’re Baaack….Occasions Catalog Shares 
Three share options will be available with the Occasions Catalog.  Here they are:
Designer Series Paper Share – $22.50 (postage included)(Note: The Designer Series Paper is cut into 6″ x 12″ sheets)

  • 24 – 6″ x 12″ sheets from each of the four new Designer Series Paper Collections
  • 24 –  4-1/2″ x 6-1/2″ sheets from the two new Designer Paper Stacks
  • 4 – 6″ x 6″ Designer Washi Sheets (4 different patterns)
  • 1 – 6″ x 12″ sheet of Chalkboard Paper

Ribbon and Embellishment Share – $15 (postage included)

  • 1 yard of Sahara Lace Trim
  • 1 yard of Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim
  • 1 yard of Pom Pom Trim
  • 6 yards of Cotton Twine (2 yards of three colors)
  • 1 yard of Hello Honey Ribbon
  • 1 yard of White Jute ribbon
  • 6 epoxy embellishments (1 of each size and style)
  • 8 designer buttons (2 of each design)
  • 3 Something Borrowed embellishments

I Want It All Share – $35 (postage included)

Includes both of the above shares

  • Paper Share
  • Ribbon and Embellishment Share
  • Bonus: 50 Pearl Embellishments

The deadline to sign up will be Noon, CST on January 5th.  The order will be placed and expedited on January 6th, so you will receive your shares as quickly as possible.

 

Please email the following information to me at ann@thestampinschach.com or kimschach@msn.com:

  • The Share in which you wish to participate 
  • Your PayPal email address 
  • Your mailing address

I will send out PayPal invoices beginning January 2, 2015.

Until next time…

Ornamental Pine in Cherry Cobbler

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Wednesday evening I held my annual soup supper for members of my Hostess Club.  Every year I whip up a Crock Pot filled with Taco Soup, served with relishes and a dessert.  After we eat, we create a card to give to our husbands.  I usually try to design something romantic.  I hope you enjoy this year’s card.

The Stampin’ Schach Design Tips
This card measures 4-1/4″ by 5-1/2″.

  • Touches of  snow! The “Speckles” image from Gorgeous Grunge is a perfect choice for softly falling snow. I inked it up with VersaMark, and then heat embossed it with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder.
  •  Touches of Gold!  A second Pine Cone was inked in VersaMark and heat embossed with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder.  After a little snip-snip here and there, it was “popped” up on a Stampin’ Dimensional to add…what else…a little dimension!
  • Touches of Love!  I am fortunate to have the retired set, “Best of Love” in my possession.  It is one of the sets with which I will never part.  Why? Because of this single sentiment…the scripted “Love”.  It was simply embossed in white to add a touch of romance and elegance.  If you don’t have this sentiment, there are others which you can substitute.  And you know what?  The Hello Life set, from the new Occasions Catalog, does have a similar sentiment!

I love designing the Club cards we make for our husbands.  I would have to say, it is probably my favorite meeting of the year.  The meal may be simple, but the soup is excellent.  (I have included the recipe in case you would like to try it.)  But more importantly, you can feel the love that each one of us of adds to the card we are making. 

I hope you enjoyed today’s card.  Won’t you let me know in your comment today?  And if you have a favorite soup which has become a tradition for you, won’t you let me know? I am always on the lookout for tried and true soup recipes. I have two more I will share with you in the upcoming days, including a wonderful cheesy-potato-noodle concoction! I will apologize for the Captcha Step which Blogger has added.  At least it is just a check box, and not a jumble of undecipherable words.  Try skipping it (wink)!  You may be pleasantly surprised.  Off to address Christmas cards and stamp a card or two.  Until next time…

For information on how to receive a FREE Occasions Catalog OR to sign up for the Occasions Catalog Shares: Click Here.