Jenn Balcer

It’s 12:30 on Thursday night/Friday morning as I type this, and I have a stack of movies to watch and an even bigger stack of Christmas-y paper to play with.  I know there’s no way I’ll make all of my Christmas cards this year, but I do have a few things that need a personal touch, and what better time to do it than now, right?  Are you going to make your own cards or handmade gifts this year?  Have you started, or are you a procrastinator like me?

I wish the picture picked up on all the vintage glass glitter and sparkle here! There’s no stamping on this card, just a bunch of things that I pulled together from stuff on my craft table.  Last weekend, my daughter and I made a little detour to our local scrapbook store on the way to do some Christmas shopping and we both “ooooooh”ed over the My Mind’s Eye holiday collection. The little girl and snowflakes were punched out and then glittered with vintage glass glitter and some dazzling diamonds, too. The punched border is one of the new big border punches from Martha Stewart that I sprayed with Elmer’s Craft Bond and then glittered with the glass glitter and dazzling diamonds, and the blue shape she’s on is a Spellbinders die cut that was embossed with my favorite Cuttlebug folder. The ribbon is some random wired organdy from my stash. Whew! Lots of stuff, huh?  Loved the sketch this week  - it’s what I call an old reliable. . . Strip on the left, something on the lower part of the card, some ribbon, and done!  You can find it here.

For more takes on Lori’s sweet sketch, visit  Cami, Charmaine, Lori, and Sharon.  As always, I’m excited to see what they’ve shared. . .

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Down where I live, this is the one of the only kinds of snowmen my kids know. He’s glittery and on paper here, but we also have ‘em to set out on the mantel, hang on the tree, and on stockings, too.  They’re hoping, hoping, hoping that they’ll see snow on Friday. As I type this at 1 am, our forecast says, “Snow showers. Cold. Temps nearly steady in the mid 30s. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of snow 70%. Snow accumulations less than one inch.” When the kids were talking about the possibility of white stuff, there were a couple of words they mentioned that made me cringe a little inside. Early and release - two words that I usually don’t mind together but with all the stuff I need to do before our family Christmas gathering on Sunday. . . . those two words kinda frightened me. So much for trying to get the house spotless and all the decorations out (as if that would really happen during the day. . .who am I kidding?)!  Anyway, we shall see what Texas weather brings.  I am sure that in a couple days we’ll be in the mid-70s again, and the blustery weather we’re expecting will be history. . .

The card is based on one I fell in love with in Edna15’s gallery.  You can find the sketch on Beate’s blog here. Make sure to check out what Beate, Charmaine, Laurie, Lori, Mary Jo, and Sharon have done. . . I have two weeks to catch up on and can’t wait to see what pretty stuff they’ve shared!

Paper: Brushed silver from my local Fas Clampitt, aqua is Core’dinations. Stuff: Double Scallop punch at top by Martha Stewart, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots folder, Making Memories felt snowflakes, random pink snowflake brads, pink Swarovski crystals (where’d all my clear ones go??), aqua button, May Arts ribbon, dazzling diamonds and diamond dust glitter, and foam dimensionals. Ink: StazOn opaque cotton white + Palette Noir. Stamps are from Papertrey, designed by sweet Pinefeather, Heather Nichols. Love that set!

after a late night shopping. Yes, I was one of those crazies out there at oh-dark-thirty Thursday night/Friday morning. My mom, sister, cousin and I do it every year. . . head out to the mall and just bum around looking for stuff. I go with no plan other than to have fun. . . and have fun we did!  We got in at 5 am or so and I got a couple hours of sleep and then woke up to make a quick card.  After I get this posted, I’m going back to bed!

This simple and quick card was easily made. All I did was pull out the never-been-opened pad of Cosmo Cricket Early Birdpaper and cut a couple of pieces into strips. I glued some patterned paper onto a piece of chipboard, glued that onto the card, and then added a sticker (October Afternoon) to the middle. Done!

Find the sketch here on Beate’s blog, then check out the other girls’ interpretations. . . I’m off for a nap!