I'd like to share a couple more handmade Christmas cards I've received from you! 

This one's from Angela Z., and features that fun origami folded Christmas tree – topped with a rhinestone.  Thank you, Angela!

And this one's from Chris H.  I think she used the new Northern Flurry Embossing Folder (available in the Holiday Mini Catalog for only another week or so), and then sponged a shiny ink/paint over the texture to highlight it.  Then she placed rhinestones in the centers of some of the snowflakes.  The greeting is stamped and embossed in white, then punched out and mounted on dimensionals.  Thank you, Chris!

Here's another handmade Christmas card I've received recently.  Thank you, Kevin!

Doesn't your heart just skip a beat when you find a handmade card in your mailbox?  I know MINE sure does!

But this year I'm noticing a greater and greater percentage of holiday cards seem to have been made via computer……. most via online services that apparently offer templates into which you place your family photos and call it done.  And it appears that some of those services even mail your cards for you, so you don't even have to write a personal comment, or sign or address them – or probably even SEE them!

Now of course I LOVE the personal computer and the software and services that are being developed every day to make our lives easier.  We have SO many more capabilities than we could ever have even dreamed just a few years ago!  Our computers certainly have their place in today's world; in fact I'm in front of mine probably half of my waking hours, as part of my work. 

But with regard to creating a Christmas card and marrying the convenience of computer-assisted design with something at least a little bit personal, my mind, of course, goes to My Digital Studio.  With the My Digital Studio software by Stampin' Up!®, you can enjoy the quicker design and development process (as compared to handcrafting a card from scratch), but there's still plenty of room for individuality and creativity. And because you'll actually touch your cards once they're printed, you can even add some glitter or another quick embellishment to customize them even further (we call that a "hybrid" design – part handmade, part computer-designed). But so far the software does not sign, address or mail your cards for you; you still have to do that yourself, lol. 

So while I'm still suffering a bit of a challenge accepting the all-too-rapid evolution (dare I even think "devolution"?) of the tradition of sending Christmas cards, those cards that I *am* receiving this year that have been made and signed by hand are becoming even THAT much more special to me – and I want to share them for your enjoyment.

Here's one I received from Kathy A:

Thank you, Kathy!

There's still time to order a gift certificate for someone special for Christmas!  I will still accept orders through tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 18) for gift certificates to be ready to mail or pick up by Monday.  Here's one I finished recently.  Yours will look similar, although perhaps in different colors.  It fits in a standard-size envelope, but will require extra postage due to the bulk of the bow.

Front:

Certificate is inside:

While you may purchase a simple gift certificate in any amount (no minimum), I will prepare a presentation similar to this for gift amounts of $25 or more.  But hurry!  Get your order in before the end of Saturday if you want it by Christmas!

I finally found time to unload recent pictures from my camera – and whatdya know?!?  I found busy hands from one of the sessions of last weekend's Stamp-a-Stacks!

 
 
And not only that, but some pictures of recents projects, too.  Here's one from that same Stamp-a-Stack.  Doesn't this Santa just make you smile? 

Now remember, he's only available – along with the other adorable images in "Jolly Old St. Nick" – through January 3rd, when the Holiday Mini Catalog takes a final bow.  So if you've had your eye on this jolly old Santa or any of his winter companions, better get him now.  Lessons were learned at that very same SAS last weekend:  one of our projects featured a retired stamp from LAST year's Holiday Mini which is no longer available; but THIS year everyone regretted not having gotten it LAST year! 

Remember the products in a mini catalog are subject to not reappearing in any future catalog, so it's best practice to get your faves while you still can.  Don't forget you can always order 24/7 at my online store!

And speaking of my Stamp-a-Stacks……… We're gonna shake things up in January.  (But JUST for January, so don't get *too* confused!)  Since New Years Day is on a Saturday this year, and since the day's all about football anyway, which some of us don't particularly rank at the tippy top of the excitement scale, I'm declaring this year's New Years Day to be another Stamp-a-Stack Open House! 

So if you remember how we've done this in past years……… while I do need to know you're coming so I can prepare enough supplies, I don't need to know WHEN you're coming.  So make sure you get your registration in to me in advance, but feel free to arrive any time between 10:00 am and 6 pm that works for you!  Sleep in, watch the parade(s), eat a late breakfast, or an early lunch, or whatever….. and then come on over when you're ready.  What better way could there BE than to start a new year by STAMPIN'?!?

And just to avoid any confusion:  this will be the ONLY Stamp-a-Stack I'll be running in January.  Just this Open House format – just on the 1st.  Then we'll pick back up with our usual scheduling ("first Friday and the following Saturday morning") in February.

We're excited that Shelli will be returning to the Today Show this coming Monday morning as part of their Holiday Toy and Gift Drive! If you're a Today Show fan (or even if you're not a regular viewer), please tune in from 9 am – 11 am (Eastern) to see if you can catch a glimpse of her. 

Last year I remember she only had a few moments to speak, but perhaps they'll give her a little bit longer this year.  Well, we can hope, anyway!  🙂

More information here!

You've probably been able to tell I'm a big fan of My Digital Studio!  And one of the features I'm totally HOOKED on is the regular stream of image downloads that Stampin' Up!© makes available to expand it.  (There are generally new downloads released most every week!)  I don't have all of them – probably not even half – but I've got a lot, nonetheless.  And when they released more yesterday I just had to help myself to a selection of those, as well.

One of the new downloads I selected was a template for a desktop calendar for 2011. Once I had it installed and opened I was really impressed to see what was included!  If I had wanted to, I could literally have done nothing more than drag & drop some photos into the photo page for each month and it would have been entirely complete – ready to upload for printing! Each decorative page was already designed with a background paper, matted photo boxes, and the month and year already labeled.  Each calendar page had the entire grid with dates, along with the name of the month – and US holidays indicated, too.  Literally, it could have been used just as it came – without any further messing around except to add your own photos!

But of course *I* had to "mess around" and make it totally my own, lol.  So I changed all of the background DSP papers, as well as some of the colors used in the month-and-days-of-the-week text.  Then just 'cuz I could, I added some custom embellishments to the decorative pages – after dragging and dropping in some random photos representing a number of memories in my world.  (Where appropriate, I also added a tiny bit of captioning to make sure that no one in the future might think that the photos I used were current as of the month/2011 year that appeared on their pages!) 

And then I uploaded it for printing.  It's a BIG project – 25 pages long – so it took about 20 minutes to upload.  But then everything was smooth from that point on, and now I can't WAIT to see what I've got once it's printed and delivered! 

 
The picture I've included here is the cover of my new calendar.  I left the general layout of the template intact (photo box and location of the label for year are both in their original places on the template).  But I changed the background Designer Series Paper and swapped out the original "2011" for an image of a different style – and added the seam binding bow on the lower part.  And of course I added my own photo; I chose a floral arrangement I had made a few years ago for Christmas.  It just seemed appropriate for a cover page for this project.  Not pictured, are the 2-page layouts for each of the 12 months of 2011.  It seems like it would be quite the project to photograph all of those, so I probably will not do so.  But you're welcome to ask to look at the calendar when you're here for a workshop or class!

If you're still looking for a special project to make for gift(s), you might want to consider this new template for a 2011 calendar!  Customize it with your own photos & colors, then upload it for professional printing and binding.  Once you've done the work to design your initial calendar you can order as many copies as you want – without any extra work!

To view the digital downloads available, visit my online store: 

 http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/Default.aspx?dbwsdemoid=3992

….. and click on the digital crafting category.

Ordering your downloads is simple, and then you'll be able to download your images as soon as you've completed your order.  (And there's no shipping/handling, either - woo hoo!)

The suspense is over and the surprise is out!  Check out these videos to see how the excitement of the day concluded!

Aren't Stampin' Up! and Shelli just THE BEST?!?!? 

THIS is a big part of why I'm a demonstrator; just think of all the thrills I'd miss if I weren't! Wouldn't you like to join us, too? 

(While it's too late to be the 10,000th new demonstrator of 2010 and have this much hoopla made over YOUR starter kit, at least you can still get 50% off the investment price of your kit through November 30th!)

I'd love to welcome you to my team of Sea to Sea Stampers!

PS:  Be sure to watch these 2 videos in order….. this top one first.  And if you're reading this from a feed, click here to view the posting on my blog so you can SEE the videos!

Now is Stampin' Up! a fun company to be associated with, or what?!?

Check out this video.  But shhh!!!  Don't tell anyone, ok?  Let's just keep this between you and me – 'cuz afterall, it's a secret.

Oh!  But can't view the video from your feed?  Click here to see it at my site: http://www.stamptherock.com/2010/11/shhh-dont-tell-anyone-its-a-surprise.html