(Santa Struck Supply List below)
Even though I got most of our shopping done on Black Friday, it still seems like Christmas snuck up on us again and with a vengeance. We did manage to get our Christmas tree up the first week of December, which hasn’t happened in a very, very long time but not all the decorations were hung or placed to my liking—oh well! Next thing I knew, it was time to make batches upon batches of Heavenly Layered Bars (my husband refers to it as my Christmas Crack), volunteer for kids’ Christmas parties at school, and manage to get to school Christmas programs by 6 p.m.—all in one day—oh and work, feed the kids, and go to the bathroom (LOL!). It happened but barely, even the bathroom (LOL) thing. Me and the kids are off for the next couple of weeks and we plan to hug, craft, and be merry! I’m sure it’s just as hectic if not more so for everyone else on the planet. How did we get ourselves in such a jam for the holidays? I still haven’t wrapped any presents nor found a gift for my mother-in-law. That, I hope, will happen today. On Christmas morning, as always, I plan to make Monkey Bread, grits, and this year, start the crock pot using a recipe of scalloped potatoes and ham. I really don’t want to make things difficult. Relax and be merry. Just have fun and be with our family. Simplicity is key. I really don’t know how other families deal with and accomplish as much as they do for Christmas—cheers to you all for your hard work and I hope your families treat you with the respect and love you deserve.
The layout above was inspired by a visit to see Santa last weekend. My children, just like your children I’m sure, tell you all year what they would like Santa to bring them for Christmas. When my children were presented with Santa’s lap and his ear, I could not believe what I heard! They were star struck and stunned by the legend himself. Couldn’t even utter the words they had been telling me for a full year. My son is a full-blown video game fanatic. What did he tell Santa he wanted? A car and a plane—I’d never heard that a day in his little life. My daughter, on the other hand, took the crowd by storm (and might be a future candidate for Miss USA), “I just want my family to have a merry Christmas.” It warmed my heart to hear them utter such cute nonsense and reminded me of one of my favorite holiday movies, “A Christmas Story”. I still have not found time yet to see it this year—I’m adding THAT to the list.
I used my circle punch to punch bottle caps from Carina Gardner’s element collection for the middle of the rosettes. Also, when I die cut the rosettes from the digital kit papers, instead of folding a couple of them and using them as rosettes, I used them at the bottom of the photo/journaling block as scalloped borders.
Jessicasprague.com Supplies for Santa Struck! Hybrid Layout
Vintage Christmas Element Collection--COMING SOON!
and Essentials Plus Mega Collection by Carina Gardner.
Other Supplies: Tim Holtz Rosette and Mini Rosette Sizzix Dies, Tim Holtz Vintage Photo Distress Ink, small circle punch, sewing machine/thread, printer, etc.
Did I tell you I happened to squeeze in some time to get some tags done? I just couldn’t help myself. This year I noticed a big trend online--tag making. In noticing that, I went searching the internet and found it’s been a trend for quite some time now—thanks to Mr. Tim Holtz! I’ve had his Vintage Photo distress ink for years but really didn’t know what wonderful, cool coloring tools these distress inks were until I took an online card class, “Inspiration Showcase” by Jennifer McGuire a couple of months ago. Since then, I’ve purchased quite a bit of Mr. Holtz’s inks, dies, tools, stamps, etc. Thanks, Jennifer. If you haven’t taken this class, I suggest you do so. My fingers haven’t been this inky in years! It really revitalized my love for stamping. Have you seen Unity Stamps? Soooo cute! Have you seen the new Hero Arts 2012 stamps—amazing! Oh my wallet hurts but my tags have never looked so good!
