What's Coming????

Today at Sisters in Stamping we decided to make this week optional because of the holiday. So even though all of us were unable to participate you will want to head over there to see what else there is.  We are giving a sneak peak as to what's to come January 4 with the new Occasions Mini Catalog. 

Here's the card I made using the new letterpress plate.  Isn't it cute, reminds me of x's and o's.  I used crumb cake cardstock as the base and for the piece I ran through the big shot with the letterpress plate.  I also used the fabulous new glitter paper to punch from the full heart punch.  Of course that's attached with some dimensionals.  I used the heart from the bitty punches to punch a white heart and then I used one of the clear itty bitty buttons with some linen thread to cover the white heart.

Remember to use craft ink when you are working with the letterpress plates.  It really works the best.

I wanted to show you where I got the idea from for this card.  I actually have been wanting to recreate the below card but for Valentine's Day since I made it earlier in December.

I made this card at a demonstrator friend's (Hi, Dawn) Christmas Party/Shoebox Swap in New Jersey.  Linda M. designed this card for all of us to make that night.  I loved it instantly and said it would be great as a Valentine card. So I decided today there was no better time than the present to make it and share it with all of you.

Don't forget to head over to Sisters in Stamping for some other sneak peaks.

Here's to wishing you a very healthy, happy, prosperous New Year. 

Christmas Cards I Received (Part 4)

Round four of the Chrismtas cards I received.  I definitely think I was very lucky to receive all these homemade cards.  Don't get me wrong I love all the cards I received this year but the hand stamped one really have a special place in my heart. Guess you can say I'm a little biased. lol

This card is from Lucia Behler (I showed you an earlier one from Lucia (a member of my downline), don't tell her she sent me two. I'm crossing my fingers that she'll make that mistake next year too)

This card is from Bobbi Leigh Eldred (another member of my downline group)

This card is from Jess Bunting.

This card is from Rachel Beavers (I chuckled when I opened the card because it was to Rachel & family from Rachel & family) For a moment I thought someone made a mistake.  lol

There is one more part but you will need to come back on Saturday for that. Tomorrow will be a sneak peak at the Occasions mini catalog on the Sisters in Stamping blog.

Christmas Cards I Received (Part 3)

Ready for some more cards?  There is definitely a lot of inspiration for you this week. Hope you are enjoying the Christmas cards.

This card was made by Roxanne Ross (my sister and a member of my downline).  It's a shaker card. She was afraid the postoffice was going to confiscate them but they didn't.

This card is from Patti Hreha (Patti is also a member of my downline group)

This card is from Mary Wayne (one of the newest members to my downline)

This is from Sue Schweinsburg.

Again, there are more to come tomorrow so come and check back. Do you have some ideas for your cards for next Christmas?

Christmas Cards I Received (Part 2)

Here is part 2 of the Christmas cards I received.  I love opening the envelopes to see what's inside when I know it's a homemade card.  I must admit every card I received was great.

This card is from Debbie Branning

This card is from Dorothy Rooney

This card is from Lucia Behler (one of the girls in my downline)

This card is from Annette Jurkowski

I love the variety and seeing how everyone puts their stamps, ink and paper to use.

There's more tomorrow so be sure to come back.

Christmas Cards I Received (Part 1)

This week I am going to be showing you the great hand stamped Christmas cards I received this year. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas. Here in the Yurkanin household it was fabulous.

I feel so blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life because of my "job."  I have met so many great woman during this almost 10 year journey as a Stampin' Up! demonstrator.  And I was reminded of that almost daily this Christmas season when I would go to the mailbox and open another hand stamped card.

This card was sent to me by my friend Tracy Mottola. She has been stamping with me since day.

This card is from Danielle Kretsch.

This card was made by Cindy O'Brien

This card was made by Erin Hubert.

Thank you ladies for thinking of me this Holiday Season. It means a lot to me.  Come back tomorrow for 4 more cards that were sent to me.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to you and your family.  I love this time of year, even though I go a bit insane with the prepartions for the Big Day.  But in the end it is all worth it when I see the happy faces around me. I feel blessed to be able to do all that I do for my family for each and every holiday.  The memories will last a long time.

I wanted to share with you my picture Christmas Card that I sent out this year.  Every year we do a family photo to include in our Christmas Cards.  This year, I told my photographer (my sister-in-law, Danielle from Oaktree Photography) that I wanted something different.  She said, "What do you think of something outside in front of a church with a red door?"  Of course, I loved the idea.  I even had the perfect church in mind.  The church Don and I were married in 15 years ago this past October (kind of special, huh?)  Well, we set a date and went out to the church to find that it wasn't as I remembered.  LOL  It didn't have a red door (that was the church across the street).  Didn't matter we liked the look of this church way better and the meaning was very special to Don and I (kids didn't care much).  The church we were married in is over 200 years old.  It's such a cute little church.  We chose a picture that was a close up for the card so you don't get to see much of the church but I promise I'll share another one or two that show the cute little church another time.

So here it is:  Yurkanin Family Christmas Card 2010

This is what it looks like when you open the envelope.

Pull out the insert, which is our family picture.  On the back sidek, I printed a greeting and our name with Christmas 2010.

Here's the photo by itself.  (The boys (all 3 of them) loved their sweaters.... NOT!)  Don't I have the best family?  I love each of them with all my heart.

Merry Christmas from the Yurkanin family to your family.  Hope you have a great day with your family.

Some Homemade Christmas Presents

Earlier in December we had our annual demonstrator luncheon for the Yurinkin' Stamp Addicts.  We were fortunate tohave 7 in attendance during this crazy busy month.  More would have liked to attend but had to do other things. We missed everyone not in attendance.

We had a great lunch at Cafe Classico II, swapped Christmas tags, chatted and shared ideas, and had our great homemade gift exchange.  Everyone did a great job and I didn't think it fair not to show you what everyone made.

This is a framed piece of art that I made for the gift exchange.  (See me in the reflection, lol)  It uses the great decor element piece, Jingle all the way.  I wheeled the white mat using the musical note wheel and embossed it in white.  I then created a red mat to lay over the white one.  Once it was all together, I added a large red button with some linen thread threaded through it to the glass of the frame.  Finished with the red striped 1 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.

Maria was the recipient of my gift.  Looks like she likes it.  Hope she will enjoy it for years to come.

Lucia was the next one to open her gift.  She received Dianne's gift of a gingerbread house that will be sure not to crumble letting her use it from year to year.

Here's a close up of the gingerbread house.  Dianne created the candy canes on her own.  Isn't it cute?

Next up is Patti.  She recieved a gift made by my sister, Roxanne.  I think it turned out great.  Roxanne used one of those room freshener little lights (can't remember who makes them) and created her own cover.  It's such a cute little night light.

Here's a close up of it.  Look at all that detail.  Great job, Rox.

Then there's Roxanne (my sister) showing us her gift.  She recieved the gift made by Lucia.  Lucia recovered a memo board with Stampin' Up!'s new fabric.  She used Stampin' Up! ribbon and brads to finish it off.  I love the extra special touch of a few stamped cards to bring it all together.

Here's a close up of the board and the cards. 

Here is Dianne with the gifts she received from Patti.  Looks like Patti had a great time making this perfect desk set. It included a notebook, pen, magnets, desk drawer organizer, stamped tealight candles and a little box to keep those important things in.  It's such a pretty set, I'm sure Dianne will put it to great use.

Here's a close up of Patti's desk set she made.  Very pretty.

Then there's me getting ready to open my gift from Maria.  Can't wait to see what's inside.

Here it is.  A very pretty covered notebook (to keep track of all those Christmas things), a matching pen and what really caught my eye, a bag full of some chocolates.  You know me, stamping and chocolate go hand in hand. That's what I always say anyway.  lol

This week at Sisters in Stamping we are taking a little break, so come back next week for a sneak peak from the Occasions mini catalog and/or the Sale-a-bration Mini catalog.

Hope you enjoyed a little glimpse into some of the fun we have as demonstrators.  You can always join my team to be included in the fun. Contact me for more information.

Hope you have a wonderful Christmas. 

Check back tomorrow to see a special greeting from my family to you.

Winter Thank You to Warm You

This week at Sisters in Stamping we are focusing on Winter thank you cards.  Something we will all need once the Christmas Season comes to a close.

Once again this week, I used Crumb Cake for my card.  I've been using that a lot lately, so bear with me.  I used the Serene Snowflakes stamp set and stamped snowflakes in crumb cake, chocolate chip, and whisper white (craft) inks.  I used the Thank you greeting from Curly Cute (I just love that set).  Once stamped I punched the greeting out using the decorative label punch. I cut the top and bottom portions of the punch off the crumb cake punched piece and then backed it with a piece of Whisper white cardstock punched from the decorative label. 

I attached the scrunched ribbon using sticky strip. I really like how the two different colors looks together. Wasn't sure what was in my head was going to work out on paper. Ever happen to you?  To finish it off I added a button with some linen thread tied through the holes.

I love the look of this card. It may be COOOOOLLLLDDDDD outside but receiving this card would sure warm me up.

Don't forget to go check out the Sisters in Stamping blog for even more winter thank you card ideas.

Hope you have a great weekend and aren't too busy running around to enjoy the Christmas Season. Although I will be extremely busy this weekend celebrating my baby's 7th birthday (how in the world did that happen?) I can't believe Jonah will be 7. Keep telling him to stop growing up but he's not listening.

Quick Last Minute Gift

This week at Sisters in Stamping we are focusing on quick and easy Christmas Gift and packaging ideas.  I decided to do a notecard set that is bundled together with our 1/8" taffeta ribbon.

I used kraft cardstock and the coordinating kraft designer paper from the Neutrals Patterns Pack along with the tasteful trim die (found in the Holiday Mini Catalog) for the Big Shot.  These really were pretty simple to put together.

I also decorated the envelope with a piece from the tasteful trim die.  Need to bring the inside out, right?

This is a close up of the card for you.  I used the neutrals buttons with some 1/8" taffeta ribbon tied through the center to dress it up some.  Also stamped the "just for you" stamp from teeny tiny wishes in white in the corner.

Here is a view of just the card. Isn't it a cute little notecard?  Imagine the possibilities by changing the cardstock and DSP colors.

And lastly, here they are all bundled together.  This set has 8 notecards and envelopes.  Now how's that for a quick last minute gift idea?

Don't forget to stop over at Sisters in Stamping for more Holiday Ideas.

A Quick and Easy Friday Card

This week at Sisters in Stamping we are focusing on quick and easy Christmas cards for all the procrastinators out there that haven't even set their idea on what their card will look like.  I have actually started my cards but they are no where near finished yet. I also have to order the family photo for it.  Don't worry I will share it with you once they are ready.

For my quick and easy card, I used the Perfect Punches stamp set and the Jolly Holiday Designer Series paper. (BTW, I absolutely love that paper, it is also used on my personal Christmas cards this year).

I used the Cherry Cobbler and Old Olive markers to color the Joy at Christmas scallop stamp.  It's stamped on Very Vanilla cardstock and punched out using the 1 3/4" scallop circle and then used the 2 3/8" scallop to layer it on.  I also punched each scallop with the 1/16" punch on the large scallop circle.  And of course, I used dimensionals to attach the scallop to the card.  You already knew that though, right?

To cover the "seam" between the two different designs of the DSP, I used the Very Vanilla 5/8" satin ribbon.

Definitely a quick and easy card to make if you need to make a lot of them and haven't started yet. Don't forget to check out what the other sisters did.