Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

My dear followers and readers,

as I mentioned a few days ago, this is it for this years Card Classes and Page Workshops. I hope you have enjoyed the journey and got some inspiration for your own projects this year. 

My classes will continue next year, plus I have added some new once! 

Beside the Card Classes I will begin to offer Scrapbook Page Classes and Home Decor Classes next year. Interested in any of them? Let me know! Classes are held at my home and they are small, which means seats are limited. Take a friend and come and check it out. It is so much fun. In case you have a couple of friends and like to start your individual group, let me know and I can come to your home as well... My schedules will be out later this month so mark your calendars and RSVP...

We will have our annual Christmas Party next week and I am looking forward to seeing everyone there. I enjoy our monthly meetings with lots of fun, laughter and support. A good cup of coffee and once in a while something for the sweet tooth....What a fun group we have!

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you might have or if you like to come and join some of my groups. I would love to hear from you. 

To all of you who always wanted to try it, please give me a chance to show you how much fun it is to explore your own creativity and I promise, it is not difficult at all, but so much fun...

Thanks so much for all your support this year and I hope to see you and your friends back here in January. The blog will undergo a few changes in its appearance so let me know what you think!

From my family to yours

A Merry Christmas

and

A Happy New Year 2015

Blessings 

Claudia Henderson

Stay healthy and happy and 

give your creativity a chance to flow!

Merry Christmas Wonderland

All Christmas Cards we made in class were gone and I needed quite a few for us to be sent out to family and friends. Here is my design from this year and I personally love it so much, I think we will do this again in class...

First I have to thank Darlene from DarleneDesign for this marvelous idea. She showed this technique in a similar card. I had to change it just a bit since I didn't had all the products she used, but I am very happy with the result....Love it.

It will be a little glittery for my workshops, but it is worth it. So if you like to know how to make this card, make sure to contact me for my workshops in 2015.

Believe it or not, I only used two ink pads for this layout and yes, with one white and one green you can get all these shades. The snow falling from the sky is made with Close To My Heart shimmer paint (I don't think it is available anymore) and water...
I also stamped the inside of my cards with a wonderful Christmas wish phrase. 

Last but not least... snow is glittery on the bottom, but how was it done? I would love to hear from you... What you think about my last creation of the year? Would you like to learn how to make this card? I am looking forward to hearing from you!

Card Class Christmas Party

Our Card Class has ended another successful year with a delicious and fun Christmas Party. I like to thank all of my ladies for joining me each month for some fun projects. You are such a fun and loving group... Thank You!

We had many delicious dishes, Christmas cookies and lots of coffee. For some reason we manage to take pictures only after the food was put away ...oh well, next year we will :-)
Wait...I have a picture of the cookies 

 

Thanks to Ruth, Carolyn, Karen, Deb, Jan, Linda and Nikki (our photographer) for coming  and

We are missing Sandy (wishing you a speedy recovery), Marsha, Lin, Peg and Sarah and we hope you will be able to join us next time.

We created a little star project and somehow the decor idea was transformed 

 

and yes, Carolyn and myself missed the memo for the red sweater party :-) 

Oh and not to forget the most crafty dog in the world...Izzy! She is so much fun and always in the middle of the action...A couple of times she was left with lots of glitter in her fur. Well we work with glitter and she insists of attention during class, so ..... we have a glitter girl!

This group is awesome and I love to get together with them every month. Thanks ladies for another year of friendship, laughter and support. 

See you all next year!

Merry Christmas Card Old Fashion Way

Well, this is our last card for this year. 

I used some older Close To My Heart paper for this one. Layered between red cardstock and a stamped piece of colonial white cardstock.

I used the Yuletide Greetings (D1553) stamp set with its old fashion images...
The images are stamped in pine and grey ink. I enhanced the images with some water color pencils and a little bit of sparkle.

The Merry Christmas greeting is underlined with the wonderful glitter paper from Close To My Heart (Brown & Tan Glitter Paper Z1830)

Have fun creating and let me know if you have any questions or like to join my groups...sent me an email. I would love to hear from you...

Deck the Halls

Well here is another card of our Christmas Card Workshop from November. 

 This card is perfect for sitting on a nice mantle of your fireplace.

Once opened you can see the personal greetings on the last panel while the others  show a cute little winder scene.

 Folded in M-shape it is just as big as a regular card.

 I colored all houses and trees in with watercolor pencils. A little bit of clear sparkle went on the snowy areas and the little snow man.

 I hope you'll enjoy this card and if you like to learn how to make on, please feel free to contact me. Also ... a few set of the workshop class are still available for purchase or the card itself. Just email me.

Merry Christmas - Yuletide Carol Paper Pack II

Welcome to page II of this layout ...
To assemble this page place the page right next to page one to line up the green design paper strip and the golden shimmer trim. Next I placed the Desert Sand photo mat under the gold trim. Ad the cream design paper strips as seen and adhere the red design paper to the upper right corner; flush with the right side of the page and the gold trim.

Place two of the 3" x 3" Desert Sand squares to the top of the page; one in the left upper corner and one flush with the top of the page and the red paper strip. The third square should fit right underneath the other two, touching on the corners.

The fun little tickets are stamped with the stamp set from the "Yuletide Carol" workshop kit. 


I just tucked them to the sides, but you can also place them anywhere else on the page. More glitter gems are used to decorate and finish the page off.

You can create this layout in one of my classes, or you can order the kit including everything you see on the layout. (Papers pre-cut, stamping done and complete colored instructions with pictures included). You can also purchase the layout assembled and ready to go....

Please contact me via email for more information!

Let me know what you think about this layout and leave a comment for me... 

Rolling and Shoulder Totes from Close To My Heart are available

They have finally arrived, just in time for Christmas. They are the perfect crop companion. Lots of storage, very durable and if not in use you can store them flat! Yes, even the big tote...

Shoulder Tote

Shoulder bag with snap closure. Comfortably

fits our 12" x 12" paper organizers. Perfect for

carrying projects in progress, idea books,

papers, small tools, and embellishments.

$26.95 USD (Z3031)

Rolling Tote

Durable rolling bag designed to hold organizers in various sizes. Top zips all the way down for easy loading. Front pocket sized to fit 12" x 12" paper, plus two additional side pockets to store more! Finished size 25½" x 16" x 17½".

Some assembly required since it stores flat...

$149.95 USD (Z3032)

To get it under the Christmas tree...

order here on my website!

Host a Gathering at your home, my home or online and be able to get a tote 50% off...plus many free products!

Merry Christmas - Yuletide Carol Paper Pack I

Just in time for Christmas... 
What better month to pick than December to present this layout made from the Close To My Heart "Yuletide Carol" (X7187B) paper packet? I have to admit paring these great Holiday colors with a black background was a challenge. But who would think that the black cardstock base will bring out the Christmas colors so vibrant and festive?

On the first page of this layout I used a strip of the red and green design paper. The gold shimmer trim from Close To My Heart is adhesive backed and gives the page the festive tone I was looking for. Another piece of the design paper packet is placed underneath the photo mats.   

Each photo mat is cut from "Desert Sand" Close To My Heart cardstock, which appears golden in this layout. Both mats are cut in 4" x 6".

To give this layout extra room for another two photos or some more journaling, I used one of the awesome "Memory Protectors Flip Flaps". The are perfect to ad extra pictures to your layout.

Once you have finished your layout, place your page inside your page protector. Remove the adhesive cover of the flip flap (it is included in my kits) and lay the flap over one of the photo mats from your page. Adhere to the page protector. Now the flap opens like you can see in the picture above. 

Merry Christmas and some fun glitter gems giving the page the last finishing touches.

You can create this layout in one of my classes, or you can order the kit including everything you see on the layout. (Papers pre-cut, stamping done and complete colored instructions with pictures included). You can also purchase the layout assembled and ready to go....

Please contact me via email for more information!

Stay tune for part II ....

Christmas Coffee Pot

My favorite coffee store over in Door County has a blend for Christmas that is my pick for the season. It is called "Jingle Bell Java" and is delicious.

They not only offer this coffee in big bags but also in small one pot coffee packs. Just the right amount to brew a 12 cup pot of coffee. It is a wonderful little gift and to make it really special I decided to dress it up a bit.

A red burlap bag (containing the coffee package), a little green, a pine cone and a wooden star make the perfect packaging. A little tag for a personal note and you have yourself a merry little Christmas gift...

If you are interested in any items you see on this blog, please don't hesitate to contact me. I would love to create a special gift to give for you...

Happy Thanksgiving

A Happy Thanksgiving 

to all of you. 

I'll hope you will enjoy your time with family and friends.

Blessings

Claudia

Thanksgiving Silverware Pocket Holders

How about dressing up your Thanksgiving table with some cute little pockets that will hold your napkin and your silverware? 

The cutlery set seen on top was my demo piece. The little tag can be used to place your guest name on it.

One of my customers ordered a big set for their Thanksgiving party and I changed the design just a bit.

Instead of the two green leafs I placed a green and brown leaf for decoration in the corner. I also added a little pumpkin to the front, just to make it more festive.

Now all my customer has to do is put the napkins and silverware inside and write the guests name on the tag....

If you would like to order some of these, please contact me! I will have post some Christmas versions here shortly...

A Box for every occasion

Here are some other samples from my Craft Show attendance ...

I love these little boxes. They are just the right size for one cup of coffee for your Keurig coffee maker. I placed a pumpkin spiced coffee cup from my favorite coffee place, Door County Coffee, inside.

This little cute cup with saucer and spoon is from a "LawnFawn" stamp and die set. 

 Since we are so close to Thanksgiving I thought I need some more autumn decor on the box. A wrapped some ribbon (sorry I can't remember the word for this material) around it and attached two tags. 
One with a Thanksgiving greeting and the other with the "Love you a Late" phrase and room to write a personal note in it...

A little stocking stuffer or how about a little teachers gift? No matter how you gonna use them, they are cute little gifts.

I placed a mini BareMinerals lip gloss in them, just the perfect size for your purse.

This box is with a Christmas theme, while the flower on can be used for all sorts of occasions.

For the Christmas version I had my customers pick the color they wanted and I wrap everything up in the box.

The flower version seen here has a little window so you can see the lip gloss color without opening the box.

Want some of these for Christmas? Let me know! All items from the craft show can be ordered just as you like them...

A wonderful Merry Christmas

This is the second card for Christmas made in our card class in November. I found the design (seen from Dawn Griffith) so cute that I had to use the base and give it my own spin.

The card base is a piece of red cardstock with a little flap seen on the left. The green design paper is adhered to the center of the red base and to the outside of the flap.

A piece of black cardstock folded in half is glued into the center of the green base paper. The fold of the black piece is to your right so the card opens on the left. The small flap from the red cardstock will hold the black card closed.
Make sure to adhere a piece of colonial white cardstock in the center so you can write your greeting inside.


I used another colonial white cardstock piece (same size as the one inside the black card) to stamp and decorate the outside of my card.
Close To My Heart has a great stamp set available for all hostesses that is called "Sing Glory" (C1587). I used the Holly garland and leave motive, as well as the phrase from it. If you are interested in this stamp set, please contact me on how to get it.

First I stamped the garland and leaves in olive ink. To make the berries pop, I used the liquid adhesive pen and marked each berry with some liquid glue. A little bit of red embossing powder, a heat gun and my Holly berries are done.
The three ornament are from an older stamp set. I stamped them first in grey onto the card and then a second set on a separate piece of cardstock. These I colored in with alcohol markers and cut them out.
A foam dot and a little bit of glitter and they were place right on top of the grey stamped images.


All cards and layouts presented on my blog can be purchased as kits (while supply last) or as finished products. Please contact me if you like to purchase any item.

How about making this card in one of my card classes? I offer small classes at my home or if you have a couple of friends that like to come together and make some of these cards, I will come to you place as well. Contact me which days are still available and what other projects I am currently offering. 

Stay tuned for more crafting ideas...