A painful end to 2014

If you follow my blog then you've become accustomed to seeing new posts several times a week.  That hasn't been happening lately, has it?  Well there are reasons, besides the Christmas rush and all the visiting and celebration that comes with the time of year.  On Christmas Day, while helping my daughter finish up Christmas dinner by making the gravy, I had an altercation with the roasting pan lid and it won.  I lost and came away with some nasty burns along my hand and wrist.

I've made a couple of cards since then.  I've posted them.  It has taken more time than I'm used to simply because I'm right handed and the burns are on my right hand and wrist.  I hate burns.

Luckily there have been no infections.  The blister on my wrist unfortunately opened and will most likely scar but I'm not vain.  I can live with that.  The one closer to my thumb is slowly diminishing and as a result the painful pressure is also diminishing and I can type so much more easily.  I should also be able to get back to the card-making I love.

Before Christmas I was contacted by someone I had never met before.  She had a group of ladies who were expecting to attend a stamp-a-stack.  Their Demonstrator had suddenly become unavailable and they found me through my DBWS (online store).  I had never attended a stamp-a-stack or done one but I knew the concept because I'm curious and had asked about them before.  I had five days.  Before I got back to them I checked my cardstock and supplies.  Remarkably I had enough.  And so I agreed to do the stamp-a-stack.  They already had the venue and it would cost me nothing.

Somehow I designed five cards and cut up sufficient cardstock and Designer Paper for eight people.  That took longer than I anticipated but I was ready to roll and travelled to a nearby town for the event.  I'm going to share the cards that we made with you.

For this one I used the Tim Holtz trees embossing folder.  Along with the stag from the retired Winter Post stamp set and the sentiment from the retired Greetings of the Season stamp set, this made a very elegant card.

If you look closely, I've used my Lucky Stars embossing folder on the Pacific Point before cutting that oval into the front of the card.  The sentiment from the Christmas Bliss stamp set is absolutely perfect for this card.

The ladies caught onto the masking technique quickly.  I was proud of the way everyone's cards turned out.  The retired Christmas Lodge stamp set works beautifully with the Holiday Home stamp set, doesn't it?

For this card I had no choice but to use non-SU! Designer Paper.  I simply didn't have sufficient on hand for a good background.  Everyone loved cutting out the moustache and attaching it with Dimensionals.

This card took the most work and I wound up with my entire container of Irridescent Ice embossing powder used up by the time eight people had each made 4 of this card.  (That adds up to 32 cards.)  After stamping the Whisper White with the snowflakes, they had to brayer it completely using Versamark and then covered it with the Irridescent Ice to heat emboss it.  Yes, it made a sparkling, wonderful background, but it was messy work and took the longest of any of the cards.

It went extremely well.  Everyone loved the diversity of cards and techniques.  There were treats, laughter, and all-in-all it was a hugely fun evening.  Exhausting but fun.  

I hope you'll all have a wonderful New Year's Eve and celebrate a fitting end to 2014!  Cheers!