mmm.... thank you

With American Thanksgiving just days away, the CSS team is showing off our best "thank you" cards.

I thought I would make a little something to send to the gals who participated in the cookie exchange party that my sister and I hosted together.

If you missed seeing the full party, click *here.*

And it all started with an invitation - click *here* to see the beginnings of our cookie exchange paperie.

If you host a party, and prep all of your own decorations, here's my best tip for you: use parts of the decoration to create quick and easy (and matching!) thank you cards.

I deconstructed the candy cane striped background from one of the leftover voting cards, found an extra tree-shaped cookie image that I had never used, and gently peeled the "mmm..." banner from one of the cookie labels.  Even the holiday twine was re-purposed!  I removed it from a voting card, and used it to thread a festive red button.

The only stamping I did was to stamp the text background on the main panel, and add the "thank you for coming" sentiment, from "favor flags."

Just for fun, I added a snowflake pattern to the envelope - which is A4 sized, to match the thank you card.

So, happy thanksgiving!  And also, see?  creating thank you cards can be so quick and easy!  I hope I've inspired you to create and send out handmade thank you cards after your next party.

Grab a mug of hot something and enjoy your visit to these blogs:

Lori ♥ Jaclyn ♥ Tracy ♥ Dana ♥ Laurie ♥ Jennifer ♥ CSS

christmas cookie exchange party

Candy cane stripes, forest green banners, and softly-browned cookie colors were my inspiration for creating the decor for our Christmas cookie exchange party:

 If you are thinking about hosting your own cookie exchange party, here are the details to remember:

- invite more people than you think: not everyone likes to bake, or will be available to come.  I invite a dozen ladies, and ended up with 8.  (If you missed yesterday's post, click *here* to see the party invite.)

- each guest should bring 1 dozen cookies for each person in attendance, plus an extra dozen for sampling at the party.

- pull out some of your own Christmas decorations to set the festive mood, and have the platters set out before your guests arrive.

- since we hosted our party very early in the season, I encouraged my guests to bring cookies that would be suitable for freezing.

- do what we did, and turn the party into a fun contest!  I created voting cards and award ribbons... in the end, "best tasting" went to my sister, for her yummy peanut butter buckeyes...

- it was a very fun-filled evening with friends & sweet treats, and I have a fully stocked freezer ready for holiday gifting, as well as 7 new cookie recipes.


And, if you are crafting your own cookie swap decor, here is a link to the stamp sets you'll need from the Clear & Simple Stamps store: cookie bake, designer lines, favor flags.

If you have a minute, I'd love to know if you'll be participating in your own holiday cookie exchange party!

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at ours :)

cookie exchange party invitation

I hosted a cookie swap over the weekend!  I'm showing off the invite today, as kind of a teaser, before I show off the whole party tomorrow...

When I put out the idea for a cookie exchange in November, I thought my friends would think I was crazy, but apparently we're all smart ladies, who would rather take it easy come December... you know, relax and enjoy the holidays and all that... *wink*

So, right now, I have 9 dozen cookies freezing comfortably, waiting to be defrosted for gifts or whatever (and by whatever, I may mean just for me...) It's like the heavens open up every time I peek into my freezer - all of those beautiful cookies!

As with any party decor, repetition is key to creating a pulled-together look.  So, this invite is the jumping off point for all of the decor you'll see tomorrow.  I used 3 CSS stamp sets to make Christmas come early: "cookie bake," "designer lines," and "favor flags."

I created a candy cane-striped base, and added a texty layer overtop (I adore that background strip from "cookie bake" - it just lists all kinds of different cookies!  What could be more perfect if you're hosting a cookie exchange?)  

My favorite part of this card (and I love it so) is a toss up between the green sentiment favor flag, and the white enamel accents on the christmas tree cookie image.  It looks like those edible pearls you'd see on a yummy gingerbread cookie.  It's the little things that make me happy :)

I tucked the when-what of the party onto a second tag shape... I love the personal touch of handwriting on a card, but I don't think everyone needs to see it front-and-center, either... hee.

If you are thinking of hosting your own cookie bake party this season, do it!  Here are the cookie swap basics:

-your guests come with their pre-baked cookies and the corresponding recipe (1 dozen x the number of party guests, plus an additional dozen for sampling at the party)
-you get to spend quality time with your best lovely ladies before the holiday rush, eating delicious treats
-you leave with enough cookies to gift out to teachers, neighbors, yourself (did I really just write that?  i have no shame...)

And, you can do what we did and turn it into a fun contest!  I won't give away too much, but I was voted best looking.  Er, my cookies were...

Hope to see you back here tomorrow!

Seasonal inspiration: let me wine & dine you!

Some of the CSS girls are sharing their favorite season of the year, and drawing inspiration from this photo to bring you a special project:

I think I spoiled the suprise by posting the photo above *wink.*  A Canadian through and through, I love winter.  I love the first snow-fall, the silverly, glistening, white banks... the kids sledding and laughing in their gigantic snowsuits... but most of all, I love to stay indoors in the winter, by a crackling fire, with some warm & delicious drink in hand - ha!  (ahhh, the magic of the season.)

So, for my project, I am bringing you a winter gift, to be able to "wine & dine" someone special:

A bottle of red wine, a gift card to your favorite restaurant, and a cozy card filled with all the "sweet nothings" you don't always say out loud... hee.

I love a cozy plaid for winter - don't you?  I used the new-to-me "create-a-plaid" to create my background.  I inked up a warm red, and two tones of grey ink to create the look.  I then die-cut a tags #1 shape, and stamped it with the coordinating frame.  I also stamped the cookie-tree, and a sentiment (from "cookie bake").  Everything on the tag was white-heat-embossed.

The same steps were taken to create the bottle tag, except that I stamped the snowflake cookie in grey ink instead of the tree.

Thanks for popping by!  These other designers all have fun projects to show off:

Jaclyn

Kim

Tracy

Dana

Jen

Laurie

Lori

Audrey (guest designer)

CSS