Christmas time

Well, Christmas is fast approaching - after 47 of them, you would think I would catch on that it happens every year at this time! I have been busy making cards and some gifts. This first card was for the monthly swap at the Paper Wishes message board. These papers are from their Christmas Busy Scrapper's solution book. I love the oomph teabag folding gives to a card. It is a fun card because of the gate folding and the top flap.





I made these two star boxes -the first shaped objects I've worked on. They were easy in my mind while I was planning them, but not so easy to actually make. However, I do think the finished products are cute. Again the papers are from Paper Wishes.


I'm behind on my scrap booking, I haven't done a page in months. Scrapping came before card making, but cards are definitely quicker! I'm going to make a New Year's resolution to do at least 5 pages a month. I don't want it to become a chore, but I think I need to build the time into my schedule so I'll be able to work on those projects. One of my boy's brought his girlfriend home from college for Thanksgiving and it was really fun to pull out one of the completed albums and show her (and embarrass him - but that's what moms are for :)).

Life has been challenging in general the last month as well. My father died on "black Friday" and his passing brought up a lot of family issues to work through. My husband recently lost his job and with it our health insurance! So, I'm trying to add more time to my work as a clinical social worker, but that is pretty tough due to some physical limitations. I keep on telling myself we'll get through all of this - and I know my family and me will. All of life's challenges give me a great reason to work on my crafts though because it is such a great stress reliever