MDS Blog Hop - What are you working on?

Hey guys - Christmas is next week! How did that that happen?! I swear there was a Nickelodeon show when I was a kid about a girl who could stop time by putting her fingers together. That's the super power I want! Because you know what I would do? Stop time and take a nap. That's right. Uninterrupted sleep. No alarms (aka kids) just sweet slumber. Ahhh. A girl can dream right? ;)

My parents are coming to spend Christmas with us this year (yay!!) and I'm still trying to make things lovely and cozy for them. So I'm working on a few printables for the finishing touches. I've loved the chalkboard look that has been floating around on Pinterest for a few years now so I'm making a few of those. I may frame some and I may mount a few others on foam core; I haven't quite decided yet.

This is the first that I made using the Watercolored Winter download:

I wanted a few more and as I was scouring through my massive list of fonts for the perfect ones, I realized that I have several amazing downloads already. Why not use what our amazing Stampin' Up artists have already designed for us?

Voila! From the O Holy Night download:

And Daily December Memories:

Quick and so much fun! So before you spend oodles of time trying to duplicate that amazing printable on Pinterest that you don't want to pay for, take a look at your downloads and see what's already there. You might find something that you don't have to tweak at all! 

Before I send you on to Cindy I just wanted to take a quick second and thank you for visiting my blog. I've been doing the MDS Blog Hop since it started 3 1/2 years ago and it's been such an amazing opportunity. But 3 1/2 years is a long time and I need a break! Life is crazy (as we all know) and I'm finding that I need some time to step back and focus on my family. 

I have loved being a part of this group and it's pushed my creative limits much farther than I ever dreamed. I'm amazed at how far I've come in the last few years! I've made lifelong friends as well - something I will always cherish. Hopefully I'll be able to still participate in projects with these amazing women in the future - I don't plan to drop off the face of the earth completely! But I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who has followed us whether you've stuck with us the whole three years or just popped in every now and then to see what we're up to. Your support really does mean a lot and we love being able to share our love of digital designing with you!

I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!

Ok... now you can head on over to Cindy's blog ;)

MDS Blog Hop - Christmas Traditions

Hello! Can you believe it's December already? Crazy how the year flies by. Today on the blog hop we're sharing our Christmas traditions with you.

Last year in our house a cute little elf named Christopher started coming by to visit and ahem...caused some mischief while he was here. When he first came the other toys weren't too thrilled to be sharing their territory. They chased him all over the house. But this was one of my favorite days - we found him playing a game with a few of the guys. Looks like he's finally fitting in.

My boys are so excited that I'm creating a book of all our Elf memories - a book for each year that he comes. "But where are we going to keep all those books?!" they asked. Well, on the shelf of course! 

I hope you're enjoying today's hop and love taking a peek at all the fun traditions our blog hop team is sharing! Cindy is up next :)

MDS Blog Hop - What are you working on?

So. . . Christmas is only 6 days away!  Can I get a what what?  Christmas is the same date every year and still it sneaks up on me.  One of these days I'm really going to have things ready in November so that I can sit back and enjoy the fun holiday activities rather make December a mad dash to get it all done.  I still haven't delivered my neighbor gifts and my Christmas cards are sitting here on my desk, waiting to be addressed and mailed.  Lucky for me, I have MDS because it makes these tasks so much simpler. And faster!

For my neighbor gifts I found some adorable boxes to fill with delicious treats on Pick Your Plum. The only thing missing is an adorable tag.  Enter MDS.  It didn't take long to create this and now all I have to do is print a bunch, tie them on and I'm good to go!

Front:

Back: 

I'll be sure to take pictures and post them so you can see how it all turned out.  Hope you enjoy the rest of the blog hop and that you enjoy a wonderful holiday season with your loved ones! 

MDS Blog Hop - Christmas!

Wahoo!  It's time for another MDS Blog Hop!  Just FYI, we're shifting things up a week from what we normally do, but just for the next couple of months because of Thanksgiving and Christmas.  In January we'll move back to the 2nd and 4th weeks.

This week we're all working on Christmas projects, which is awesome timing because Stampin' Up has a bunch of great holiday kits on sale.  You can shop the sale here.

For this layout I mostly used the Jingle and Joy kit (which is on sale for $8.37 right now) along with some papers from the new kit Snowy Soiree (on sale for $12.57).  Both are really fun to use and have some great elements!

Next stop is Cindy's blog!  Thanks so much for stopping by - have fun! 

Leadership Samples - Christmas card

I'd planned to post a few things earlier this week, but I came down with a cold and I just haven't been thinking straight.  Lucky me, my sweet husband took the day off so I could rest and then I remembered - I need to post my Leadership samples!

Here is a double-sided Christmas card I made with the Letters to Santa paper and embellishments.  It was a lot of fun to put together and really quick!

Letters to Santa DSP	Merry & Type stamp set	Letters to Santa Embellisments	Tree Trimmings stamp set
Old Saint Nick stamp set	My Digital Studio software

InLinkz.com

Come back tomorrow for more of the projects I created for Leadership!

MDS Blog Hop - Christmas Picture Cards

Yikes - I'm a little late getting this posted.  So sorry!  I thought that since I was sick this week that I'd be able to sit and scrapbook to my heart's content.  Not so.  Every time I picked up a book or turned on my laptop I fell asleep.  Maybe next time - because I'm pretty sure there will be a next time  ;)

Our challenge this week was to create a picture Christmas card.  We haven't had family photos done for awhile, so I had to pull pictures from the last shoot.  I'm not sure what I'll actually do for our Christmas card this year, but I'll figure something out.  For now, here's what I've come up with:

I used a template to start from and just replaced the elements with my holiday themed papers and embellishments.  The only time consuming part was deciding what elements to use!  Here's the original template (it's included with the Petite Pennant Punch download):

I had a lot of fun using a new download - the Very Merry Twenty-five Designer Tags.  It's oh, so adorable!  I have a few other ideas that I've been playing around with, so with any luck I'll be able to post those in the next couple of weeks.

You'll want to create your own Christmas cards with My Digital Studio this year, because Stampin' Up is offering bulk buy pricing.  Here's a link to the price list.  I can't wait to finish mine and have them printed.  This year my Christmas cards will be on time!

I used the font Blackjack and these are the supplies I used in making my card:

 

Jolly Holiday designer series paper	Very Merry 25 Designer Tags	Petite Pennants Punch	Crochet Trim Ribbon
Taffeta Ribbon Color Pack	My Digital Studio software	Vintage Trinkets

InLinkz.com

Enjoy your time on the rest of the Blog Hop - I hope we've inspired you to make your own cards using My Digital Studio!

1. Jeanna Bohanon
2. Rochelle Gould 

3. Mandy Grant

4. Julie Leblanc 

5. Amber Meadows (that's me!)

6. Terri Mongeon

7. Aly Schilling

8. Cindy Schuster

9. Erica Shaw

10. Heather Summers

11. Alesha Walls

12. Holly VanDyne