Well hello, Crafters!
It’s that time of year when I try to get ahead of the holiday season. I’ve got my tree up and my house is decorated, my lengthy shopping list is dwindling thanks to some early-bird holiday sales, and I have my planner scheduled with events to make sure I visit all those I care about. But I’ve got a great reason to get things done early this year so I best try a little harder this year. I am expecting baby number 3 in late January! With most of my family taken care of, next on my list is teacher Christmas gifts. Typically, I give them a gift card along with one of my favourite things to keep things a little more personal (I gave them my favourite mascara last year).

Teacher cards can often be difficult to find. As a card maker, it’s a style that I am asked about often. I am not aware of any specific holiday or Christmas teacher stamp sets. This means I have to mix and match my stamp sets to find that perfect style. The thing is that I don’t mind doing that but I try not to spin my wheels for too long. Mixing and matching is exactly what I did to create this card.  I used SIX different Stampin’ Up! stamp sets. Yup. I did. Four stamp sets were used to create the card front and I used an additional two other stamp sets for the sentiment on the inside of the card. Here is the list of stamp sets you can find in this project:
Making Christmas Bright
Check You Out
Harvest Hellos
Greatest Part of Christmas
From Our House to Yours
Santa’s Suit (retired)

When it comes to Christmas or Holiday cards, I generally follow my own rule of thumb… so listen up because it’s important – In my world you can make any image a holiday card if you slap a Christmas hat on it. My absolute favourite Santa hat image comes from the retired Stampin’ Up! Santa’s Suit stamp set. I will never ever let that stamp set go. I’ve used that stamp set so much that the rubber should be wearing off by now.
While this kind of seems obvious, it’s not always something someone might think about. For example, I put a Santa hat on a school bus and a whale and well, putting a Santa Hat on a library Index card isn’t really obvious.
Try that trick next time you feel a little stuck for a holiday card. I promise you won’t be sorry! I always think about Oprah’s Favourite Things show, ”You get a Santa hat! You get a Santa hat! And you and you and you!” And just because I won’t be here until the New Year, I want to make sure to wish you all the best holiday season. In fact, I wish you a season where you don’t sweat the small stuff and just go with the flow. From my family to yours – Cathy, Ryan, Jane (9) and Jack (7) plus Baby #3 on the way!
Photo Credit to White Willow Photography.

Until next month, happy creating!
Cathy

 Cathy Caines, Independent Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator
2013-14, 2017, 2018 Stampin’ Up! Artisan Design Team Member
St. John’s, Newfoundland Labrador
http://www.inthecatcave.com

If you are interested in Stampin’ Up!, are living in Canada and don’t have a demonstrator, I’d love help you out.  Feel free to drop me a line to get a catalogue or if you have any questions/comments you can always find me at inthecatcave@hotmail.com.
Images copyright © 2019 Stampin’ Up!

Supplies and images used are © 2019 Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise stated: Whisper White Paper, Balmy Blue Refill Ink, Stampin’ Write Markers, Basic Black Ink, Soft Suede Ink, Granny Apple Green Ink, Marking Christmas Bright stamp set, Check You Out stamp set, Harvest Hellos stamp set, Santa’s Suit (retired), Greatest Part of Christmas, From our House to Yours stamp set, googly eyes, Basic Black cardstock, versamark, Whisper White embossing powder, Glitter