Christmas Sparkle by Cheryl Wright

Over the years I've accumulated a ton of Christmas stamps, which I regularly use to make cards. This year I vowed I would not, under any circumstances, buy any more Christmas stamps. I could make do with what I already had.

Yeah, sure. And pigs might fly.

I belong to a Facebook group where retired Stampin' Up products are sold. Some are new, some are  second-hand, it depends on how old they are, and who is doing the selling.

Most of us buying these sets are doing so because they became unavailable (due to limited quantities) when they were in the catalogue. Or because we didn't know they existed back then.

I managed to get an incredibly elegant set called "Special Season".  (If you would like to check it out, go to my Pinterest board featuring this set here.)

The greeting shown on this card is from that set. The wreath however, is not a Christmas stamp at all. It's from a set called Stippled Blossoms, which is a fabulous set, and I use it regularly for birthdays and thank you cards.

Again, you can check it out on Pinterest. This is another retired set, which I've had for several months now.

While I was in the process of making my Christmas cards recently, I found a video that uses the leaves from the Stippled Blossom set to produce a Christmas wreath.  (You can see the video here, or at the latter link.)

It was actually incredibly easy to do. Much easier than I'd anticipated.

While I've made a wreath using the technique shown in the video, the card itself is nothing like the orginal card shown.

To sparkle up my card I've added some glitter glue, some matching glitter paper, and some gold ribbon.

This close up gives you a bit more detail.

Til next time,

p.s. The winner of my last giveaway was Karen H. Congratulations Karen!!





Links:

My website:  www.cheryl-wright.com 
Blog:  www.cheryl-wright.com/blog
Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/cherylwrightauthor

Lovely Maeve Binchy by Karla Stover

A biography on Maeve Binchy just hit our library shelves, and I snatched it up. I think I read all her books and bought a few to reread. I remember when Minnie Driver was hired for the movie, Circle of Friends, my favorite of all the Binchy books and how displeased (but in a gracious way) Ms. Binchy was because heroine, Bennie, was a big girl and Minnie Driver wasn't. What I didn't realize but learned in the bio. was Ms. Binchy was six-foot tall and what Alexander McCall Smith would call, "traditionally built."

In reading the bio, I learned what a penny candle is (Light a Penny Candle), and also that not every author makes for an interesting biography. Ms. Binchy traveled a lot, partied a lot, and drank a lot. She lost her faith but, nevertheless, was buried with Catholic rites. More of her books were made into movies than were shown here, at least in the Puget Sound area--more's the pity. But here's the cool thing: she lives on in uTube and was a delightful speaker. It's easy to spend half-an-hour or so listening to a charming Irish brogue tell stories. Goodbye and God bless, Maeve Binchy, thanks for the many hours of good reading.

Christmas Traditions Warm the Heart by Betty Jo Schuler

     Christmas Eve, late at night, my husband Paul and I pour a glass of

wine, sit on the floor by our fragrant long-needled pine, the room lit

only by the tree's soft lights, and exchange gift-wrapped boxes

containing ornaments we bought one another.  This tradition began

twenty-five years ago, the year we met, when he gave me a breathtaking

bauble—a clear glass pear-shaped ornament containing a partridge and a

pear tree.  Every Christmas Eve since, we've exchanged ornaments in a

special moment of quiet, peace, and love.  A Candlelight Service at our

church, early in the evening, followed by family gift-giving at my

mother's, sets the tone for this special night.

     Our Christmas tree, cut from the forest days earlier, is decked

with love and memories, and on this particular night, we reminisce.

There's a tiny red-and-white striped stocking, yellowed over the years,

that I bought the year my first son was born.  (Paul wasn't a part of my

life then; we married when my youngest son was in high school, but they

are like his own and he's a beloved stepfather.)  A "God's Eye" made of

Popsicle sticks woven with yarn nestles in the branches, a gift made by

our first grandson, his initials on the back, written in crayon.

Picture-frame ornaments with photos of other grandchildren, when they

were small, evoke tender memories.  A smiling ice cream cone, a gift

from my daughter and her husband, marks the sale of my first published

children's book, Ice Cream for Breakfast.  A china bell with shamrocks,

brought from Ireland, and a gold cross from Rome, are mementos from my

youngest son and his wife's travels.  Paul's and my trips are noted too,

and there are decorations given to us by his brother and sister, and

mine, and my favorite cousin.  Beaded candy canes and wreaths were made

by an aunt that's deceased.     And the lights that bubble around the

bottom of our Christmas tree were purchased only a few years ago, but

reminders of Paul's childhood, they still intrigue little ones. The

quilted tree skirt, hidden by piles of gifts before our family opening,

bears a large green S on a background of red and white—a treasured gift

made by our daughter-in-law.  Our middle son and his wife gave us

appropriate ornaments for our interests, a golf club for my husband and

a book for me.

     The day we take our ornaments, some shimmering, some dulled by the

years, from their boxes, is a special one at our house.  Most of the

boxes are labeled with the date, and a description, but others are

labeled in our minds.  And each year on the night before Christmas, we

reminisce.   

Merriest Christmas Ever by Betty Jo Schuler  

 http://bookswelove.net/bettyjoschuler.php