Should do it more often!

My next door neighbour Lisa, from Dreaming of Creativity came over last night and we visited and made cards. She finished 4 cards for her children's teachers. I managed to get 3 finished...but I am a slow card maker!
I tell you, I should do it more often! When I sit and create by myself, I am lucky to get one card done in an evening...but with a friend over, I do better. It is quite surprising cuz as you may have guessed, I am quite the Chatty Cathy!!!

We started around 7:45 and finished up just after 11:00 pm. I think it was ability to bounce my ideas off someone else and hear their feedback that helped me create a little faster than my normal snail's pace..

Here is the first. It is a quick and easy card...no coloured image...but it was just what I needed to get some more cards finished and added to the Christmas stack. I found a sheet of these brightly coloured chipboard ornaments. I fell in love with them and there was enough on the one sheet to make 5 cards. I didn't worry about depth on the card as these are more for the hand delivered stack.

The corners and the snowflake are heavily stickled but it barely shows in the first photo. Here is a bit of an angled shot to show you the glimmer...I even added a bit to the doily!

Recipe
Card Base - Michaels Reflections Kraft corrugated card and envelope
Designer Paper - MME, Merry
Cardstock - Kraft from my stash
Doily - Dollar Store, from my stash I have had this pack for a couple of years. There is still a huge stack left as they were on clearance for 25 cents so I bought about 10 packages. I always use 3 together...stapling them together first..
Punch - Martha Stewart , Snowflake  from my stash (already punched out of tiny scraps and stored in my albums)
Die - Spellbinders Lattice Accents - from my stash of already cut friom scraps dies.
Diamond - Dollarama bling from my stash
Twine-  from my stash
Peace - Dollars and Sense

I am entering this card in the following challenges.
1.Pixies Crafty Workshop Use snippets.
2. Stamping for Pleasure Rudolph Day Challenge Must be Christmas themed

They'll make it overseas!

Finally got my overseas prototype to fit through the acrylic slot tester at the post office. Yay! Here is the finished card. I did have to pull the stamen off and redo it with ordinary kraft card stock.

Here is a close up of that poinsettia made with the Tim Horton coffee sleeves. This shot shows how much I loaded up on the stickles! It is Christmas after all.
As the stickles dried, they made the pointed edges of the petals separate from the backing of the sleeve and sort of curt upwards ever so slightly. At first I thought I had ruined them, but then I grew to love it as it adds extra depth.  When I tilted the card to show the sparkle, it made the poinsettia look all washed out. In real life, the red of the poinsettia does match the patterned background paper. The stamped "Merry" however,  is a slightly different red...(

 I have ten base cards made up with the two strips of patterned paper already attached and the Merry square stamped, die punched and assembled onto the cards already.  I used an assortment of colours from this patterned paper line .I just need to sort the poinsettia depth problem and I can get them all finished off tomorrow.
I kept the inside quite plain. Just stamped the sentiment straight to the card. I am amazed that I got it level! Whew!

Just need to roll off the poinsettias and have a field day chalking 50 little pieces of coffee sleeves...a job I can almost predict will end in me losing one tiny piece! I think I will cut and chalk one extra set just to be sure. Then I will have it ready to throw together for an emergency card.
Recipe
Card base - 1/2 sheet of 8 1/2 x 11 cardstock from my stash
Design  paper - 2 strips from my stash (originally from a patterned paper pad)
Card stock - snippets from my stash
Stamp - Stampin' Up

Dies - Spellbinder Poinsettia,
Punch - Martha Stewart
Flower - poinsettia cut from Tim Hortons coffe sleeves
Ink - Memento red, brown; edges inked with Chalk ink chestnut roan

I am entering this card in the following challenges:
1. Pixies Crafty Workshop - Must use snippets- All the pieces on this card are snippets. The patterned paper is leftover from previous years cards. The poinsettia is made from coffee sleeves. The Merry stamp was already done and assembled from previous years.
2. Stamping for Pleasure - Must be Christmas theme.
3.Little Clare's Designs  - Christmas
4.Hiding in My Craftroom - Christmas
5. Shopping Our Stash - #79 Odds and Ends - I will finallay be using up these card bases with the two strips of patterned paper already affixed. They have been in the cupboard for over a year. They were the base for a previous years card and this will be using up the last of them.
6.  Lexie's Creations - Christmas
7. The Paper Girls  - Xmas or Winter
8. Scrap-Creations -  Merry Christmas
9. Tuesday Throwdown - Lots of layers -The poinsettia has 5 layers inclusive of the leaves.
10.Forever friends Glitter and Sparkle - The poinsettia is stickled from top to toe. The patterned paper is glittered,.
11.Sparkles Monthly Challenge  - Christmas is coming

WOYWW 182 Keeping my fingers crossed it's .2

Here is a shot of my scary desk. Why am I showing you? Because it is  WOYWW Wednesday...the day we unveil the current state of our desks and reveal what we have been working on. To see more desks go  Julia's, and be sure to leave her some bloggy hugs for starting all of this for us.

As you can see,  I am still trying to get my Xmas cards finished up. The Dec 3rd international mailing date is fast approaching so I am trying to finish up the overseas cards.

I've been trying to create a card that can be posted overseas for regular international postage. The card over to the front left of my desk s is my first prototype, so I will take it to the post office tomorrow for the big test...it must slide through a thin little .2  slot in an acrylic ruler.
Of course you can't buy your own tester ruler...You have to drive up there, waste their time (and yours) only to go home and tear some elements from your card and start over.

I don't understand why you can't buy one of these postage "testers". Whenever I ask if they are available for purchase, I get a blank look. When I try to explain if I had my own, it would save me from wasting my time (and theirs) running up there to check on the width...they  just look at me as if  I am from Mars!
Now I do try to be frugal. Regular overseas postage is $1.80 and if possible I would like my card to fit this standard postage.  If if means 2 trips up there, so be it. So this is what I have come up with so far.

Yes, I know that this card is similar to the blue and kraft poinsettia card in my last post. That one had foam pop up dots between the poinsettia layers. Now I do know that 4 layers of pop dots will not make it through the infamous acrylic slot. So this time I put my love of Tim Horton's coffee to the test. I have 4 layers of Tim's coffee sleeves, rubbed with Stampin' Up green and red chalks. There is just a very thin glue dot circle between each layer. Oh gosh, I guess  the leaf makes a fifth layer. I think the layers might make it through but the center of the flower may have to be pried off and replaced with a new one made from a snippet of thinner kraft card stock. Another option would be to pry off the two poinsettia leaves and just leave the thin, fine cut, green leaves.

Wish me luck!