My Holiday Card

My posts have been fairly sparse this month but I'm sure you can all relate.  December is just a busy, busy time for everyone. 

After much procrastinating I managed to finish my cards and have them postal in time for the holidays.  (Well, maybe not for my Canadian friends but Happy New Year to you friends!  LOL!)  As I've probably mentioned before, I mass produce my Christmas cards.  Each year I pick one design and create them assembly line fashion.  This is my 2019 design....

Stamps from MFT

If I'm being entirely honest (and when aren't I?) I'm not in love with this year's card.  I chose a snowman thinking that it would be easy but my CAS gene wasn't entirely in gear when it came to the coloring and blinging.  I kept adding little time consuming details to a card that didn't even meet my expectations so that by the time I was barely half done,  I. WAS. OVER. IT.  

So my thoughts for next year.....

Mass producing one design (as opposed to creating dozens of different cards) eliminates the stress of me having to figure out "who got what card" each year.  Over the years however the number of cards I mail out has increased significantly.  Mass producing one design when my mailing list was 35-40 wasn't a big deal but now that I'm at 85 cards, it's just downright boring.  Not to mention that I have very little self control when it comes to shopping for all those cute holiday stamps and dies.  As a category they make up the majority of my stamps so why am I limiting myself to just one for my cards????  (Don't get the wrong idea, I do use many for my holiday tags so they're not all unused but I could be getting much more out of the larger images.)  

After far more internal debates than necessary *blush* I have decided to create 4-5 different designs each year...15-20 cards per design.  I think that will help with the boredom, utilize my stash more efficiently (as well as justify my spending habits) AND I will still be able to keep track of the cards vs. recipients so there's never any duplicates.  Bottom line....Jules Needs Some Variety. 

What's your preferred holiday card method?  Do you get bored with mass production?  If you aren't a mass producer, do you stress over the "did I send her this image/card last year?" syndrome?  I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I'm hoping to get back to online challenges and return to a regular posting schedule in a few days.  I hope each and every one of you has a fabulous holiday, no matter what you celebrate.  Thanks so much for following along with me.

Love...

Jules

Perfectly CAS #4

Today's card was created with the challenge over at the Perfectly Clean & Simple blog in mind.  Their theme this month is Celebrate. 

I tried something a bit different from my usual linear 1/3 and came up with this....

A little closer look at the coloring and shimmer...

It may not technically be 33.33% of the card front but hopefully it passes their scrutiny.   It went postal as soon as I got it photographed as it was Perfectly CAS for my sister-in-law's birthday.  :-)

Thanks for stopping by during this busy holiday season.  Much appreciated!

See you on the crafty side....

Jules

Snarky Stampers #150

Today I'm playing along with the gals at The Sisterhood 'cause procrastinating my Christmas cards seems to be what I do best lately.  hahahaha!

Their last theme of the year is X for X-rated and let me tell ya, some of the DT really know how to make a raunchy/naughty card.  *wink*  If you visit their blog, don't say I didn't warn ya.

Edna's not looking as happy as Santa.  LOL!

I decided to keep my 'for mature audiences only' card at one teensie weensie bit of foul language, which in this day and age isn't really even considered X-rated.  But I thought it went well with the image which I've had forever and never used.

A good multipurpose card, don't ya think?  :-)

Supplies.... image - Art Impression

                  sentiment - Snarky Stamps, a division of Paper Issues

                  border die - PaperTrey Ink

Believe it or not, I'm actually working on my Christmas cards right now and am almost at the addressing stage.  Thanks for spending some of your hectic holiday time with me.

See ya on the crafty side....

Jules

Finley Turns Five

This past weekend I made a very special card for a very special boy.  My grandson turns five on Tuesday and he is soooo excited.  He's really into Batman right now, especially Lego Batman, so I created his card around the character.


I used the Super Boy stamp from MFT Stamps to create a FinMan superhero.  I set it on an Art Impressions action wobbler so that it will wiggle on the front of the card.  (I made him a frog card several months ago with one and he still loves it.)

To create the background I blended several colors of Distress Inks onto a piece of blue card stock.  After it was dry I added some splatters with white acrylic paint. The skyline scene is from a very, very old set of dies from Memento. 

 A closer look at the coloring., using some tips 

I picked up from Kathy Racoosin's Road Trip.

And finally, because he is SUPER EXCITED to be turning five *wink* I had to announce it in large letters on the interior.  The alpha dies are also an MFT product, Little Letter Dienamics.

Thanks for stopping by!  And the answer to your burning question is No.  (Has she finished her holiday cards?)  Soon though, I promise.  ROFL!!

See ya all on the crafty side....

Jules

CC&S #351 and Some News

Hello friends.  Today I'm playing along with the CAS Colours & Sketch Challenge Blog once again but this time with a twist.  I was invited to join their Design Team recently and today marks my first  post as a member of their blog.  It's been a long time since I've been on a design team (at least a decade) and I'm excited to be back to being part of a team.  My first DT entry and their final challenge for 2019 is this....

                                       

I dug into their past challenges for 2019 and chose a sketch from Challenge #329 as the inspiration for today's card.  

                                                     

And now for my card....

Try as I might, a well lit photograph would not pick up the embossing on the circle however a photo with horrible lighting will pick up the texture....

Cringe-worthy photo but it does 

illustrate the texture.  

__________________________________________________________________________

My supplies included:

From MFT Stamps --  

starburst die    

Stitched Stax Circle Dies 

Trio of Trees (sentiment and apparently retired.)  

From The Stamp Market -- all cardstock, enamel dots and ink 

_____________________________________________________________

Clean and Simple are my favorite cards to create and I'm excited to get to know my new teammates.  I know this time of year is hectic but I do hope you all will check out the challenge blog and participate in some future challenges when you have the time.  

Thanks for taking time out of your day to spend a little bit of it with me.  See you all on the crafty side....

Jules

SOSS #149

It's the weekend right now and I'm still procrastinating those holiday cards.  *sigh*  What better way to avoid that pile than to join the gals at the Sisterhood of Snarky Stampers challenge blog?  The challenge this time around is "Y is for Yummy."

I could think of a numerous avenues to take but in the end, I let one of my snarky sentiment stamps guide my direction.  

I've had that sentiment forever and can't believe I'm only just now using it.  THIS is why I participate in challenges!

Supplies -

Riley & Company - sentiment stamp

Hero Arts My Monthly Hero - figure stamps

Pink & Main - pie stamp

MFT - latte and heart stamps

Hope you all had a great weekend with lots of pies and lattes.  Me?  I'm actually drinking tea and heading out to Sunday night yoga.  Seriously.  (I'd love the latte right now but I'm honestly not tempted by pie.)  

See you on the crafty side....

Jules

25 Days of Tags - Final Post

I feverishly finished up my tags for Tracey McNeely's annual series last week, completing all 25 days (plus the bonus day) before the challenge deadline.  Let me tell you, it was a mad scramble and my craft room is showing the effects.  Yikes!

To simply my life, you can find details on her blog.  In a nutshell though, each day showcases a different manufacturer.  We, the participants, create a tag or tags inspired by her one of her Design Team examples.  Here are my tags for Days 21-26.  For more details on the folks who inspired me as well as the products I've chosen and, please follow me on IG @juliepeddicord

 Day 21

Day 22

Day 23

Day 24

Day 25

and finally, Day 26

Catherine...it is your duty as my friend to MAKE SURE that I start my Christmas cards in September next year.  I know you reminded me this year but in 2020 you have my permission to kick. my. butt.  (And for those wondering, hell no, they're still not done.)

I thoroughly enjoyed moment creating these tags and many have already found homes with some of my local friends as I can't possibly use them all.  I love the process, even if it was a bit more stressful this year.  *wink*

Thanks for spending a little bit of you day with me.  See you all on the crafty side....

Jules

CC&S #350

True to their blog name, I created a very Clean & Simple card for the current CAS Colours & Sketches Blog where they're celebrating their 7th birthday with challenge # 350 this week.  They're doing it in style with some very festive Christmas colors. 

And here is my very clean and simple card....

I centered a stamp from Ellen Hutson inside a wreath die cut from an cute Avery Elle die.  I added some tiny finishing touches using a sparkle gel pen and called it good.  Doesn't get any simpler than this one. 

I'll be back soon with a report of my awesome trip to MFT yesterday.  Right now I've got to concentrate on de-cluttering my poor neglected house.    See ya on the crafty side....

Jules

Fun Day Tomorrow!

Tomorrow (Friday the 6th) I am headed to the MFT Stamps Boutique in Eustis, Florida for the next stop on Kathy Racoosin Road Trip.  MFT Stamps definitely knows my address *blush* but being two and a half hours away (and off the beaten path), I've never had the opportunity to visit their boutique so I'm excited on both counts.  Of course when I signed up for this the past spring I had no idea how busy I would be right now.  So much to do and so little time for it all but you make time for what you love. 

I'm hoping Kathy has some great tips for this mediocre colorist but I'll settle for learning by osmosis.  LOL!!!  My stuff is packed, I have a new audio book downloaded, and I'll be ready to hit the road early, early tomorrow.  I'll let you all know how it was when I return but I am hoping to do a little IG'ing tomorrow from the boutique.  Til next time....

Jules  xoxoxoxox

25 Days of Tags - Post 4

Well, I didn't make it back to blogging on Monday but Wednesday is a close second.  ;-) 

I have been speed crafting up a storm in order to finish up Tracey's 25 Days of Tag Series before the deadline.  (As my Christmas cards collect dust....) 

To simply my life, you can find details on her blog.  In a nutshell though, each day showcases a different manufacturer.  We, the participants, create a tag or tags inspired by her one of her Design Team examples.  Here are my tags for Days 16-20.  For more details on the folks who inspired me as well as the products I've chosen and, please follow me on IG @juliepeddicord

Day 16

Day 17

Day 18

More Day 18

And More Day 18

Day 19

Day 20

(Sorry, couldn't get a good photo to save my soul.)

I completed all 25 tags plus the bonus day last night so the blog run of tags will be coming to a close very soon.  Thanks for stopping by!  Hope to see you all on the crafty side ....

Jules