December 18, 2008

Thirty Minute Thank Yous

Edit: For my pocket Christmas cards, I simply folded a half sheet of cardstock in half, trimmed a little off the top of one side and sewed around 3 sides to make a pocket. I trimmed an insert to fit inside and added a computer generated holiday sentiment and a small family photo. Embellishments are from Papertrey Ink.

Edit: Alicia asked if I would recommend using the Canon Selphy home printer to print out all my photos for scrapbooking. Let me first say that I love the quality of the photos and have gotten lots of questions about how did I get 4 to a page, and that the quality looks great. For me personally, the answer is no to printing out all the photos though. It really depends on how you scrapbook. If you only scrapbook 1 photo to a page, maybe this would be for you. But when I scrapbook, I usually do (2) 12" x 12" layouts and have 5-8 photos for each layout. And I take a LOT of photos. So I'm going to save my biggest print jobs for Shutterfly or my local photo shop. I definitely have been using my Selfy for my Daily December pages and will continue to use it for mini albums, etc. I love, love, love it and highly recommend it. And the folk at Canon are THE BEST for customer service.....they are in the USA, I can understand them and they are sooo helpful!

Hi everyone, what's on your list today? I was chatting with some friends about how the countdown is on. One week til Christmas and I want to enjoy the Christmas break with my family. I want to have everything wrapped up and ready to go so that I can enjoy the true meaning of Christmas and just *be*. Nothing else but reading a good book, playing games and drinking hot cocoa, watching movies, etc. The stuff that childhoods are made of.

But to accomplish that goal, I've had to keep busy to get everything checked off my list. I issued myself and my friends, and now you, the Thirty Minute Challenge. Make your list, keep it handy, and allow yourself 20-30 minutes tops to work on one selected task. This helps you to not spend all day piddling around on the computer, etc.

Yesterday I took the time to make one last batch of cookies for holiday trays. While I had the timer set for 35 minutes, I printed off my family Christmas photo for this year and addressed all the envelopes. I got them all done by the time the buzzer went off on the stove. If you recall, I had all of my Christmas cards finished back in the fall when Nichole issued the design team a challenge. Thank goodness I took the time to make those 25 cards back when I had time!


I tweaked my card design but here's the simplified version of my Christmas cards this year. I cannot stress enough how much I looooove my Canon Selphy printer. It was an early Christmas gift and it's probably one of the best gifts/tools I've gotten. I didn't have time to get online and finish up my photos and I didn't want to stand in line at Wal Mart. So I just put 4 photos to a page and printed them off at home. Easy peasy!
Here's another 30 minute task I did...little Christmas thank yous for the girls to write out. Yes, we DO still write thank yous. I insist. No, a phone call won't do. I grabbed some precut SU! scallop notecards because I wanted quick and easy. I cut some K and Company patterned paper to put on the front of the cards and used scraps to put strips on the small envelopes.
I used Just Rite's thank you center and border from the Designer Borders and Centers set. I stamped the images with Java Versamagic ink, let them dry a little bit and then punched them out with a SU! scallop punch. Again, easy peasy and quick! I edged all the scallops on the sentiment part and cards with white ink. I grabbed some velvet ribbon from my May Arts collection (available from Cindy at Star Lit Studio) and glued it on, then added a few staples to secure the edges.


I got seven little thank you notes done in that 30 minute time frame and even had time to put away my supplies. Thank you notes, CHECK!! Now I'm going to move on to some laundry and picking up the house. You can do it girls, these 30 minutes tasks make a world of difference!

13 comments:

Alicia Weiman said...

Michelle,

I know you commented on your new printer a while back, but I was curious to see how you like it now that you have gotten to use it for a while. I would definitely be interested in buying for the simplicity of printing from home. I now upload to Wal-Mart and am completely satisfied, but would love to have a photo printer right here at my fingertips. Would you recomend printing all of your pictures for scrapbooking on it?

When you have time .... please wait until after Christmas, can you let me know how you like your printer? Thanks so much....hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I enjoy your blog and all the ideas that you have.

Dottie K. said...

I'm together for the holidays and love the 30 minute rule. It really makes you concentrate and get done what you have to. It's amazing what you can get done. I do this when I start my spring and fall cleaning each day to get a room done. Love your tips and beautiful cards. Thanks for sharing and Merry Christmas!

Courtney Baker said...

Oh I love the idea of 30 minutes! I've got so many projects left and so little time!

I absolutly adore your Christmas cards!

Katy @ Live Laugh Love Craft said...

Those thank you cards are SO cute! And I love the 30 minute idea.. Gonna have to try it! :)

Linda Carson said...

30 minutes? You & Rachael Ray have a lot in common! It's just I can't do either one in 30 minutes!! LOL I think it's great you have your daughters send thank you cards.

carmen said...

I LOVE EVERYTHING YOU DO ITS JUST AMAZING, BUT I WOULD LOVE SOME DIRECTION ON THE POCKET CARDS YOU MADE FOR CHRISTMAS, I JUST LOVE THEM, JUST WHEN YOU GWT SOME TIME

retiredheather said...

I agree about the Selphy. I love mine. Great for the I need one more times. Also your cards are great.
Happy Holidays
Heather

Scrappin' Mama said...

Great cards & Thank You's...

How do you like your little photo printer? I have it on my Christmas list?

DeeDee said...

WOW Mish, what lovely little cards....you are so much fun to visit! I always come away with loads of inspiration and a great big SMILE!!! HUGS!!!

Anne Marie Peterson said...

Mish, you are amazing! Such gorgeous cards and you have time for cooking, spending time with your family, shopping, quilting..... I'm going to try your 30 minute rule. Maybe I can get it together! Have a blessed Christmas!
Hugs,
Anne Marie
http://didsomeonesaystamp.blogspot.com

Anonymous said...

I love, love, love these quick little notes! Just adorable! I love coming to your blog to see each awesome project of yours! Thank you!!

Anonymous said...

Michelle -- I just wanted to take a moment to tell you how much I have enjoyed visiting your blog almost daily for the last several months. I appreciate that you put yourself, your creations, your home and family out there for all of us to enjoy (use, CASE, etc.) God bless you and your family ten fold for all you have given to me.

Sean Marie Blancaneaux

Anonymous said...

The various links on Just Rite Stampers aren't working for me this morning. I don't know how to let them know. Thanks!

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