Stocking my stash...

It's getting to be that time of year when I start making my Christmas gift lists.  Our moms always look forward to their pretty sack of cards so this week I'm stocking up my stash of cards.  It's so cute to see both my mom and Eric's mom and his grandma tear open the sacks first thing and go through each and every card.  It's what makes stamping and card making so much fun.

So since I had all my supplies out from assembling the Happy Day Card Kits, I just kept on creating. Many of you have commented on the happy colors of this kit and mother agrees.  She saw this stack sitting on my counter today waiting to be photographed and said...."ohhhh, what cute cards, I love the colors."  Little does she know that many of these will make it into her gift this Christmas.  

So here's stash #1.  In addition to the kit items, I used lots of items that are still available in the shop.  

A nice stack of Dainty Doilies came in very handy to add a little texture to my cards.  The little strips of Studio Calico fabric strips come in the Happy Day Card Kit.  

 Grid Paper Labels with stamped sentiments also made my card making go really quickly.  The grid lines help to line up stamps nice and straight too. A little machine stitching adds fun detail without adding any bulk to my cards.

 This Aqua Stripe Washi Tape is fantastic for quick and easy cards.  Just rip & stick.  I love that you can see through the stripes on this one.

 Here's stash #2 of my cards that I'll be using for gifts.  A funny little thing....the moms seem to love the simple cards more than any fancy, heavily layered cards.  I think they like the simplicity and clean lines.

Here I used a wood veneer butterfly from Studio Calico.  I tied twine from this colorful bundle around the butterfly then added a cut strip of the washi tape.  All of the patterned papers I used for my cards today are from the 6 x 6 paper pad that comes with the Happy Day Card Kit.  It's nice to challenge yourself to use just one little pad of paper.  Limiting your choices when you want to mass produce cards is a great tip.  

 Here I made some notched little pennants from a scrap of patterned paper and the fabric strip.  Buttons from the Pastel Button Assortment are just the right finishing touch. I like to mix one white button with one colored button.

 Here I stamped my Hero Arts sentiment on a Starburst Grid Paper Label.  I absolutely can't get enough of my printed labels.  They are so easy to stamp or run through my vintage typewriter.  I know I'll be using them lots in my Daily December. I used more of the aqua stripe washi along with some October Afternoon washi from the 9 to 5 collection.  The cute girl typing is also from an OA 9 to 5 stamp set.

 The Large White Parcel Tags made their way onto many of my cards this time.  They're just the perfect size to fill up some space on a card.  I like to layer them under a horizontal strip of patterned paper & a strip of Washi tape.  Here I typed my sentiment and then added a wood veneer typewriter from Studio Calico.  It was a fun discovery to find that a strip of Washi tape fits right in the typewriter to act as paper.

 So, I've got a nice little stash built up to add to the holiday card pile.  So happy about that.  If you purchase(d) a kit and want to keep on stamping past the supplies that I included for the 4 cards, keep that paper pad out and just keep going.  I've got additional aqua envelopes and cream envelopes in the shop that coordinate with the colors in the kit.  The Mixed Greetings Card Kit is still available too, perfect for adding more cards to the gift pile.  Happy card making everyone!