I decided to go the easy route for Christmas cards this year, and buy a kit to make them come together more easily and cheaply. I found this kit at Michaels recently and, with my coupon, it only cost $8.50. You get 18 cards and envies, so only 47 cents per card is pretty dang good, I think.
The kit comes packaged very nicely, in this cute little box. It’s empty here….sorry, I forgot to take photos BEFORE I started..oops.
You get 6 sets/styles of cards, with 3 in each set. There are samples on the back of the box showing how you can assemble the cards, and everything is packaged to make that very easy to do….NO guesswork whatsover. Then again, you are free to mix and match or put the cards together your own way if you like.
I think the artwork is cute and unique. The messages are light-hearted and sweet. There are six different sentiments to go inside….here they are laid out on my desk. I added a quick dot of a coordinating color of Stickles glitter glue on the four corners of each one to give it a little pizzazz.
Okay, is it just me or whenever you say the word “pizzazz,” do you just want to break out some jazz hands right when you say it? Like, “Pizzazz” … jazz hands! I can’t help it. Both of my hands instantly starburst themselves into the air. “Pizzazz!” Wha? Oh, what is that you’re saying? … Oh, crap. You wouldn’t be caught dead doing something so “Glee”-ish, even in the privacy of your own home? And it IS just me? Wow. Major wake-up call, dude. Thanks.
Ah, okay, back to the Christmas cards….
One thing that’s really cool about these is almost every embellishment is pop-dotted already. So the cards have that 3-D look to them, and you didn’t even have to waste your own pop dots to get it. Sweeeeee-tuh!
I also inked the edges of a few of the elements…for instance…
and on the back of every card, it’s pre-printed with the “Handmade for you by…” thingee, so I stamped my name in a color-coordinated ink. I have 2 fairly new sets of Cats Eye CHALK INK queues from Michaels (love me some coupons!) so it was fun to use them on this…metallic blues, greens, reds from one set, and gold and copper from another set.
I got these cards about 90% done on Friday night…it took under 2 hours. I was running on fumes after a long week, so I was glad it was so easy-peasy. No brain cells required.
Here is the finished product, front and back, one of each of the 6 designs.
Just the fronts…
Pretty cute, huh? {Why, yes, I CAN say that! I’m not bragging, since I didn’t design them…I merely “assembled” them, much like one of Santa’s elves assembles toys….sheesh, don’t be a hater! I’m like an elf here, just trying to spread some goddamn Christmas joy!}
Since this kit only made 18 cards and I send out 40-50, I’m going to be on the lookout for another kit like this. I also got some “free” clear envelopes to re-use :)
What are you doing for Christmas cards this year? None, store bought, from a kit, digital/photo cards, or totally handmade? Would love to hear about what you’re doing and feel free to post a link if you’ve started them already :)
Since I started writing my scrapbook room makeover posts, some of you lovely readers have been asking questions about certain items. I wanted to catch up on answering those, if you don’t mind. Or even if you do….bwaha!
From the FIRST POST, “Diary of a Scrapbook Room Makeover: A Prologue”…
“My first question for your organizational knowledge is this: What are you going to do with your stickles? I can’t decide how I want to organize mine. I know they should be upside down, but I also like them in a container that I can just grab and go when I get ready to go somewhere else and crop. So, do you have any suggestions for that?”
Answer: Ever since I started collecting Stickles (yes, you are not allowed to own just one Stickle….if you buy one, you will soon find yourself needing more, and before you know it, you have a Gang of Stickles….I currently have 15 bottles)….Okay, so, ever since I started collecting them, Judy, I’ve been keeping them lined up in anal-retentive, ROYGBIV color order on my Making Memories Embellishment Shelf. This is an older photo, from when I only had 7 Stickles, but you get the idea:
I did hear at some point that it’s best to store them upside down to avoid the applicator clogging but, since clogging hasn’t been a problem for me, I totally ignored that suggestion. It reminds of those pesky exercise tips you see bandied about. I mean, exercise??? Doesn’t apply to me, so why would I take note??? But in the interest of helping out my Stickles Sista, Judy, I went and found a couple ideas for ya…
Here’s an economical route from SHAYLA’S CREATIONS. Looks simple, and it’s pretty to boot.
Tons of great Stickles Upside Down Storage ideas here at OBSESSED WITH SCRAPBOOKING. Now, even though the names of our blogs are similar, we are NOT sisters. But I do love her. She shows people who have more Stickles than I do, which makes me feel not so ashamed. I think my favorite idea is the mini-lunchbox, although then your pretty Stickles are hidden away and their bottled sparkliness cannot add extra shine and glimmer to your day each time you glance their way.
At the bottom of her post, you’ll see where TIM HOLTZ says it’s fine to store them either way, but if you store your Stickles upside down, they may glurb out when you open them. {Glurb is not an official word, if you were to ask Merriam-Webster, but it seriously should be. Are you with me? Let’s start a petition!}. So, it’s sort of like the G.D. ketchup that G.D. glurbs out because I store it upside down in the refrigerator because that’s how the bottle is made and I’m just following directions. Yep, your Stickles’ll be just like the G.D. ketchup. Just sayin’….
Judy, I’m sure I’ve answered your question and about 50 others by now, right? So moving on….
Here is a question from my THIRD POST, “Diary of a Scrapbook Room Makeover, Part Two”:
Jkaye asks: “very interested in your JETMAX cubes- do you like them? And are they heavy- as in too heavy to stack on a Rubbermaid like table? I might have to stick with my rubbermaid 3-drawer containers as for the weight is okay for now..I am sure the Jetmax ones would be much heavier..”
Answer: First, let me clarify (see photos below). The stack of cubes I have along the wall (there are 10 cubes plus a half cube) are the heavier duty cubes called Store in Style. As for the Jetmax cubes, which are lighter weight and can be found at Target and Michaels, I own 3 of the 3-drawer cubes. However, I’ve only assembled one and haven’t stored anything in it yet. So I’m not an expert on the Jetmax cubes, but they are definitely lighter and smaller than the Store in Style cubes. I did a weight comparison test of the Jetmax cubes and the Sterlite (like Rubbermaid) 3-drawer containers with the 12×12 drawers. I actually weighed them on a scale. The Jetmax 3-drawer cube weighed 15 pounds, and the Sterlite 3-drawer container weighed 5 pounds. So, Jkaye, I’m not sure if putting the Jetmax cubes on your table would be do-able. But definitely do not plan on putting the Store in Style cubes on a tabletop. They are MUCH heavier then the Sterlite containers.
On that same post, YvetteDownUnder {who has a cute, funky, phresh scrap studio} said: “Can I ask you about the Powersort boxes? What dimensions are they? You guys in the US have an abundance of cube options, but we are more limited here in Oz, so I wonder if they would fit in an Ikea Expedit? Most of my photos of now scrapped in albums :) and I need to downsize those that aren’t from multiple photo boxes. I am tempted by the Power Sort, but not yet 100% sold on it. So fitting it into my storage could sway things.”
Answer: To answer this question, I thought I’d pop my azz right over to CreativeMemories.com and find the dimensions of the Power Sort Box for Miss Yvette. But, no, they aren’t listed on the website. Isn’t that a little weird? I mean, how many potential buyers have NOT boughten them (no, “boughten” is not an official word either, but seriously, if we can make “blog” and “snorkel” and “obfuscate” real words, can we not make “boughten” official? It sounds much cooler than any of those other words. Man, someone needs to have a talk with those dictionary people!). Okay, so how many people have not boughten those Power Sort boxes because they didn’t want to commit without knowing the dimensions?? Oh, I get it! That’s their way of forcing you to speak with a Creative Memories Consultant! Ah, yes, mystery solved.
Since I can’t find the dimensions online ~ and as much as my CMC would luuurrve a phone call from me at 2am ~ I decided to get out of my comfy recliner, put my laptop aside, pause “TMZ” on the Tivo, and go measure my Power Sort Box myself. No, really, Yvette, it’s alright. Don’t feel badly. It wasn’t THAT much trouble. Really. (Man, am I making you sorry you ever asked this question? LOL!). So the measurements of the Power Sort Box are: 14.75″ x 13″ x 5.5″. I don’t know if that works with the Expedit but I hope so. They are crack-a-lackin’. I love how they hold so many photos, are archival safe, and you can pull the little holders out to rearrange how they are in the box, to take a chunk of photos to a crop, or just to your desk to scrapbook.
Okay, I think I got all your wonderful questions answered. Thanks for asking, and I hope my answers were helpful. No worries, the smart-assidness was no extra charge. See, “smart-assidness”….yet ANOTHER unofficial word that should be official! For shizzle….
“Fabulous shelf to store your rubber stamps or ???? 48″ high 29″ wide and 5″ deep with 10 adjustable shelves. Painted Red. $20.00 (you can’t even buy the lumber for that)”
Do I need this?? Should I get it??
The red is super cute but it wouldn’t fit with my scrap room colors. I could easily paint it white or some great color. I don’t have a ton of rubber stamps, as I mostly use acrylic, but do I still need it anyway??? It’s so stinkin’ cute and I love that the shelves are adjustable. I have plenty of free wall space to hang it in my scrap room. But I already have the MM embellishment shelf and it’s full of Stickles, MM embellishment jars of felt flowers, etc., and MM paints. Here is a picture of when I first got it; it’s now more “fully loaded.” I put the dowel rod in the bottom section and have ribbons spools there, I have more Stickles, etc.
See, I don’t really need that cute red shelf, do I? What else could I put on it? I actually love the red color and it would go with the red accents in my kitchen, dining room, and living room. I wonder if I can think of some way to utilize it in one of those rooms?
Ack! I just hate to pass up such a good deal on an adorable shelf. I e-mailed to poster to get the photo, then wrote back to say I’m interested. Will let you know when I hear anything! {{fingers crossed}}
I’m in the midst of a MAJOR scrapbook room / home office / play room switcheroonie and reorganization and purge. I’m taking pics along the way and will post a series of blog entries coming up….
This may be old news for some of you, but my Michaels just started carrying DISTRESS STICKLES by Tim Holtz. Yeah, finally! I’ve been a huge fan of STICKLES forevah! {Although, as scrappers wanting to finish a project, “waiting for the Stickles to dry” has become our version of watching paint dry…}. Anyhow, have been wanting to try these. I got a 3-pack; I think they were around $6 but I had a 1/2 off coupon. Sweeeeeet….
ETA 9-11-09: Found the LINK to Distress Stickles at Mike’s, and here is the pack that I got. This is the only choice they had, but the website shows a total of 4 combo packs so hopefully my Mike’s will get the other 3 eventually…
Also, the Peas are talking HERE about some Tuesday Morning finds. Let’s just say Making Memories “Whimsey,” Pink Paislee “POP FASHION,” and lots of other stuff.
I finally found the new issue of Scrapbooks Etc…you know, the first issue with the CHANGES I talked about before. I’ve been thumbing through it the last couple nights and I’m taking note of the changes I like and don’t like for a future post. What do you think of the new format?
Okay, the plan today was this: I was going to crop with friends from 9am (or whenever I could get my lazy ayshe out of bed) until 5pm. The family would come steal me away from the crop at some point to get our tree, then I would return to the crop, they would come home and get the tree put up in the stand, and we would all decorate it tonight. Sounds good, yeah? I got up at 8am, had some breakfast, did dishes, then went over to my scrap area to pack some goods to take cropping. I figured it would be a “Papercrafting” day instead of scrapbooking, and I started stacking up my K&Co ornament kit, the new Christmas STICKLES pack I got from Mike’s (red, green, and yellow!), and then gathered things to make my Christmas cards….{No, Miss Smarty Pants, I’m-so-organized-my-cards-went-out-last-week, I HAVEN’T done mine yet!}. Okay, so then it’s time to get my XXL out of the corner to pack everything in. It’s under 2 other crop bags, and to get to it, I needed to clmb over a stack of scrap crap. As I’m doing all this, I’m thinking about what else I NEED to accomplish this weekend because, seriously, time is running out…Christmas is only 12 freakin’ days away, people! Let’s see…decorate the tree, write our Christmas letter, make those cards and ornaments (for gifts), make peppermint bark, help child with Poland cultural presentation, clean the house, laundry, pay bills, finish major transcribing project that’s due by Sunday night, wrap presents, RSVP to neighbor’s open house, make appetizer, make hotel reservations for the weekend after Christmas, call my mom with the info….crap, I’ll just stop there because it became painfully obvious as I tried to figure out how to climb around the pile of scrap stuff to reach my XXL….that there was no way in St. Nicholas that I was going scrapbooking today.
Yeah, I just love the holidays, don’t you? Have you had to put off fun scrappy plans to attend to the Joys of the Season?
Btw, here is a pic of the Stickles pack I got at Mike’s (picture from Jen at the creative juices flowin blog)…I think it was $4.99, which was a deal for me because my LSS sells them for $2.49 each is which totally ridonculous. So it’s like I got one bottle for free! LOL
I’ve had my MM Embellishment Shelf for about…well, let’s just say I got it with a 50% off coupon from Michaels so it must’ve been since a recent holiday. I finally got it hung ~ all by myself and I even used a level ~ DH would be so proud! Here it is in progress. I’m still working on it, while I organize my entire scrap space. I love to see all my little pretties lined up, so cheerful and colorful. Stickles make me smile :)
Since I took this picture the other day, I decided to add one of the ribbon spool dowels. Yikes, I had put both of them in my bin for Scrapbook Garage Sale and was going to get rid of them. But I had all that cute Target ribbon in the bright Spring/Summer colors so it has been installed. I’ll post a pic when I’m all done too.
I actually turned off the computer FOR AN ENTIRE DAY yesterday. Yeah, I know, I didn’t think I could do it either. But it was amazing how much stuff I got done when I wasn’t saying to myself, “Oh, just one more post on AMR MB….Wait, I want to check my blog stats…Darnit, I need to e-mail so-and-so about whatevah-whatevah…Shoot, one more look at CKMB won’t kill me… And before I know it, the entire morning is gone and I still have tons to do, nevermind not getting to those “extra” things that would be nice to get done.
Here is my list of accomplishments from yesterday:
1. Moved all of my scrapbooks to the empty shelf in the living room that has been available for about a month. I wanted them out of my scrap area so people will actually look at them once in a while, LOL.
2. Moved layouts around and got things in chronological order. Put some “homeless” layouts into scrapbooks…you know, the ones you complete then keep in a stack somewhere? I had nowhere near the job of ALI EDWARDS, but it still took some good ol’, sit down on the floor and spread it all out kinda’ time…
3. Lots of housework ~ yuck! But a good feeling of accomplishment…
4. Continued my scrap space organizing. It’s a never ending project, I swear. But I can see my two beautiful Basic Grey Magnetic Mats! So I can actually get some scrapping done now.
5. Found some childhood pics of my hubby, noticed how much one of our children resembles him, and left him a little love note with the pictures for him to see before he left for work this morning.
Believe it or not, I got even more done but you’re probably dozing off by now, so I’ll stop. I’m sad I missed a whole day of message board and blog haps, and I didn’t blog, but feel really good that I got so much done around here. Maybe I’ll have more Turn Off the Computer Mondays!
Have you ever been forced to stay away from the computer for a day, just to get something done?
