On the Sixth Day of Christmas . . .

. . . I am home with a "code in my dose!"  Miserable but looking forward to clearing!

Just a short drop in to show off the fun Christmas cards I made and sent this year as well as a few photos of December happenings. (I suppose this could be my "month in numbers" - see Julie Kirk's very entertaining blog here - but, it would make me have to think to hard!)

 

Although tonight it is quite foggy, this is what the view is and has been since Boxing Day, December 26. Beautiful really; crisp and for the most part, pristine. On the other hand, it is quite a bit below freezing and going out takes one's breath away . . . since I have this head cold (flu shots don't touch this menacing little bug!), I haven't been outside except to run to the bank and grocery store. At that, it is bitingly cold and I find myself cranking up the heat (throwing another log on the fire!) after each outing.

On to some of the lovely, in my humble opinion, cards made for Christmas 2016.

This one I made six of which was the most of any of the various designs. Fortunately, we send out maybe 25 cards each year, so it was not difficult to experiment with different layouts, etc.

Fairly simple. I used stamps and dies from the 2014 Essentials by Ellen Christmas release.

The other cards I made were one of's or two, mainly because I was having fun with my supplies/stash. All of the designs were CASE'd (Copy And Share Everything) from cards I "pinned" one or other of my Pinterest boards; I just can't help myself, especially when I see designs done up with supplies that I own!

I made three of this style, two using Stampin' Up Christmas Pines stamps and dies

I used Winnie and Walter's In Bloom: Elsa's Flora stamps for this one of.

Last year Stampin' Up came out with Christmas Designer paper that had these adorable little Bambi's on it, so I spent an hour in front of the tube one evening fussy cutting them out with the intention of using them on cards . . . this year, it happened!

The pines on the first card are from the same Winnie and Walter stamp set used above but the pines on the second card are from Stampin' Up's Christmas Pines. The greetings are from random stamp sets in my stash.

All of the next cards were made for special people, so they were one of's.

For my sister in New Zealand, a flamingo!

This for my younger sister. I've had this wood block stamp for years and finally inked it up and watercolored it. What fun! I have stamped another one of these little guys and colored him in with my new Prismacolor pencils.

This was a tad labor intensive but I like how it turned out. The sentiment is from Essentials by Ellen 2015 Holiday II release, Holly Jolly, and the ornaments are from a very old wood block stamp set from Close to My Heart. I like the retro feel of this card and thought it perfect for my other sister. 

I actually made two of this design but smooshed my hand into one before the Stickles were dry - uh, oh!

I couldn't resist this image for my dad, colored in with Prismacolor pencils. It is from Penny Black called WinterTime Cheer.

A really simple card made for our 18-year-old grandson who actually would dress in a sweater such as this, with a bowtie!

I will wrap up this post with a couple photos from Christmas Eve. My granddaughter helped me take poinsettias to the church to place on the altar in preparation for Christmas Eve service. They look very pretty I think.

The candlelight portion of the Nine Lessons and Carols service at First Lutheran Church. Truly beautiful.

When we went into the church at 5:30 p.m., sunset, there was a light rain falling and by 7:00 p.m. it had dropped in temperature and snow was beginning to stick to the roads. By Sunday morning, Christmas Day, there was an accumulation of about 10 inches of snow, it was snowing until nearly 11:00 a.m., the roads were impassable, parking lots were unplowed, and worship service was canceled. I was so glad that we were able to make the Christmas Eve service.

Bye for now!

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