"Dear Mr. Claus"

I cannot tell a lie- when I received the Cosmo Cricket "Dear Mr. Claus" papers to work with for the December My Scraps & More product reveal, I was a bit worried- ok A LOT worried- about how I would ever be able to create anything romotely beautiful and inspirational and satisfying with these papers. My initial thought was how ugly I thought they were (the girls even agreed that I had a huge challenge on my hands), then I thought about how my Grandma Nami would have loved them if she were still here among us. I grabbed onto that thought and used that as my inspiration for each of the projects I created. It's almost like my dear Grandmother was sitting with me, guiding my hands through the creative process.

And since I cannot tell a lie- I actually *gasp* like how everything turned out. I tried to think "old fashioned decor" with them, and it seemed to work. Do I love them? no. Will they be displayed in my home? no. They are going to be placed lovingly in a box along with some other things that I have created and don't neccessarily like, but would like to pass them along to someone who will enjoy them.

One more truth before I move on to the projects- I DO love how I was able to stretch my creativity and work hard with something that did not appeal to me with an end result that I can be proud of. I get it now. This is what growth is about. This is what being creative is about. Not everything we do or create has to be created with everything we love. Using something we are challenged with opens up a new thought process. , and in my humble opinion, makes me a better designer.

Onto my projects:

for this first project, I used an embroidery hoop that I spray painted black. I cut the base and adhered it to the hoop. I cut each letter out and used foam adhesive to gift them a lift. A simple bow and flower add just the perfect finishing touch.

these mini baskets were easy to create.

these cards came together quickly. I created them last using scraps from my other projects. Sometimes I struggle with cards, but not these.

And of course a banner:

Supplies for everything:

CC Dear Mr. Claus papers

The Twinery twine, and twine I found in the dollar spot at Target

Recollections Kraft CS

Basic Grey brads

Prima flowers

October Afternoon rubons

Thanks for stopping by. I think this will be my final blog post before Christmas, so I would like to take this time to wish each and every one of you a beautiful and blessed and most of all very Merry Christmas!