These past several days have been FUN…a WHIRLWIND….but FANTASTIC and….

I missed my daily blogging…and I missed YOU!!!

Let me give you a quick recap…we had a fabulous Christmas and it is magical to have all of the peeps home chirping under the same roof…we have done everything and nothing all at the same time! When I say this, I mean – we have just enjoyed each other…no time schedules…no expectations….lots of cooking…game playing….sitting watching silly movies etc…

On Christmas Eve (in the morning) my Dad fell and I had to take him to an urgent care – he is fine but at 82 and has had hip replacements, you can not take a chance! Unfortunately he did not make it to Emma's for our special night but it is doing great!

After going here and there and having multiple things come up on Christmas Eve…I simply could not get my blog ready for you! This is the card I was going to share with you on Christmas morning and I decided to go ahead and share it with you as I think that it is super cute!

One of my childhood friends, John Hershey, has the luck of having his birthday on Christmas Day! I always felt sorry for him when I was a child as I felt he was always "ripped off" for gifts!

Now as we both turned the magical age of "50" this year, I view it very differently…a true gift! He is the last of the "friends" for this year in turning 50…many of us that turned 50 this year have known each other all of our lives…when I think about it – it is pretty special that so many of us were born and raised in our town and that we have all stayed here!!! There is something special about a small town!

Enough babbling…let's get to it!

• The size of this card is 5" X 7" – I thought for a milestone birthday, John deserved a special card! Because I was not exactly sure of the "placement" with the sentiments, I did use a piece of paper just 1/8" smaller and it worked perfectly!!!

• The sentiments came from the Sassy Salutations Stamp Set and this is a "keeper one" – just adore the whimsical feel of the font! Using the Stamp-a-ma-jig for perfect placement…this came together easy-peasy! The colors of ink that I used were Gumball Green and Real Red!

• The focal 50th came from the Memorable Moments Stamp Set and this stamp set sure does come in handy when you want a specific number etc…..

• LOVE framelits and WOW – doesn't this work perfectly! These are from the Labels Collection Framelits…and it is super fun to layer different sizes to create a special WOW effect! A quick "stitch" around the edges gives is a fun and festive feel!!!

• You can see that I used my Stampin' Vitamins…aka – Stampin' Dimensionals in LOTS of place – these little wonders truly make a HUGE difference to a card…

• Have you checked out the Clearance Rack??? well if not CLICK HERE and see the fun and savings! I used the Holiday Collection Framelit Dies and yep! they are on sale!!! There are some stamp sets that get retired but I hang onto them and this one….Scentsational Season Stamp Set is one that I love and now I am happy to see that the framelits are on sale! For $14.99 – I say WOOT-WOOT!!!

• You know how I made the envelope…..the envelope punch board to the rescue! Use that simple guide…find the card size…cut your paper…punch – score = DONE!

This card is a great "formula" to use for a multitude of cards…doing a "repeat" of a sentiment is always a great focal part and also if you did it on a tone on tone – the result would be super and then let the POP come from the center stamp!

I'll do a card this way on my blog in the future! Remember, when you are paper crafting…there is no magical wand to what works…just roll with what feels comfortable to you!!!

I hope that you are having a wonderful holiday season with family and friends….I have missed my "cyber friends" and a BIG hugs to each one of you!

Please share my blog with your friends…I am SUPER excited for you to see the NEW catalog….I will be posting new cards using these new goodies! Thanks for popping by and…..

Until tomorrow!!!!