A Card in the St. Nick of Time

Whether it's Jolly old Saint Nicholas, Santa, St. Nick, Papai Noel, Kris Kringle, Sankt Nikolaus, Weihnachtsmann, Gwiazdor (Star Man), Babbo Natale, Pere Noel, De Kerstman, Viero Pascuero (Old Man Christmas), Kanakaloka, Julenissen (Christmas gnome), Jultomten (Christmas brownie), Swiety Mikolaj, Ded Moroz (Grandfather Frost), Sinter Klaas, Papa Noel, or Father Christmas...

Santa Claus is coming to town!

Card Details:  Image and star punch by Stampin' Up, star embossing folder by Darice. 

Cards for A, D, G, and L

My dilemma today is whether to write about the women for whom I made the cards or explain my inspiration for the design. Since I mentioned them both...

D and A are my younger daughter's church group leaders. They are twins and have committed to meeting with this bunch of girls every Sunday throughout their four years of high school. G and L have been with my older daughter for three years now. Talk about giving a mother's heart some peace of mind! I am beyond grateful both my girls have strong, faith-filled, adult women to speak wisdom into their lives when they may not want to listen to me.

Would you believe a one layer card with a floral background inspired my design? I tried covering a white card front with letters, but consistently stamping them straight on a larger area wasn't happening. I did not want to give up my idea of using last name initials as a background for a bolder, first name capital letter, so I limited the space and added layers. And, I do love a textured background. Ta da!  

Remember my blog post about fonts from January? 

Well, I am happy to end the year jamming with fonts, too.

Card Details: Alphabet stamps by Stampin' Up; Inkadinkado; and Hero Arts.

Hope for Mail Cards

Crafting, writing, and mailing Christmas cards is my standard operating procedure for the month of December, but these cards will be sent to children I do not know, because my daughter asked me if I wanted to participate with her church group in writing letters to Hope For Mail. My daughter is asking me to make cards and support one of her friends!?! Gotta say yes to that! Hope For Mail, founded by 15 year old Kate Rojales, is a non-profit organization whose mission statement is "Sending words of encouragement to families battling life threatening childhood illness in the name of Jesus." Please read in her own words (by clicking here) what sparked her desire to share the love of Jesus all year . 

If you have an extra card and a couple of minutes you can share your love this season, too.

(The handmade part is optional.)

Card Details: Tree die by Sizzix; Paper by Recollections; embossing plates by Stampin' Up.