Dec 11, 20185 min read

Christmas Party at The Maples

Hello lovelies, well it's that time of year to get together and celebrate and that is just what I did with my lovely friends who are also my customers! Every year I like to host a special Christmas event to show my warm appreciation and gratitude to my ladies who have not only become wonderful friends, but have also supported my Stamping business throughout the year.

I hosted 2 Christmas themed parties over the weekend, where we decorated the beautiful Red Distressed Card Tin (now on sale!) and created 4 Christmas Cards to go in it.

Here is one of the four cards we made and the Tin.

I used Festive Farmhouse DSP for all the cards because I wanted to stay with the rustic vintage theme like the Tin. The base is Grey Granite Cardstock, then Very Vanilla, DSP. The second part is Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla and DSP. I cut 2 reindeers from the Dashing Deer Bundle and mounted the top deer on Dimentionals and tied a ribbon using the

Festive Farmhouse Cotton Twine (I thinned the twin to a few threads.)

All the foliage was snuck under the second layers quite easily because there are Dimensionals under the Cherry Cobbler cardstock layer.

Season's Greetings was stamped with Grey Granite Ink and from the Beautiful Blizzard Stamp Set.

I used Silver Foil underneath the Festive Farmhouse DSP, a strip of the beautiful Striped

Burlap Trim, then a few circles cut with the Layering Circle Framelits Dies topped with a fussy cut Dashing Deer image stamped with Cherry Cobbler ink.

The third card was quite a simple design, the tree is from the Winter Woods Stamp Set, I used Old Olive Ink and glued a Festive Farmhouse Element (wood) onto the tree. The star was from a retired punch.

I stamped the blue background image with Balmy Blue Ink using the Beautiful Blizzard Stamp Set. The square was cut out with Layering Squares Framelits Dies and the hand drawn lines around the edges were done with a Smoky Slate Marker.

The final card was a few layers of Grey Granite and two pieces of Festive Farmhouse DSP. The foliage was from my private stash using Soft Suede A4 Cardstock, it was finished off with a splash of red from the Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels and Real Red 3/8" (1 Cm) Cotton Ribbon.

I stamped Christmas with Real Red Ink from the Merry Christmas To All Photopolymer

Stamp Set. (The Merry looks a bit ruggarge because I had make a mistake and had to pull off once glued! oopps!)

The tin was decorated with Festive Farmhouse DSP, the Cherry Cobbler matches the tin so well. I punched out the spriggs from the punch with Mossy Meadow Cardstock.

The lid was finished with more Festive Farmhouse DSP, a deer from Dashing Deer Bundle and a stamp from Winter Woods Stamp Set.

There were door prizes and a funny Event calendar I made - each containing a small crafty gift from the current Catalogues. The calico Santa's Bags were stamped with a mix of Christmas images using Memento Ink. I added a touch of colour to some images with the Blends. Everyone went home with a bag full of goodies.

My thank you gift to everyone on the day, was a Take Your Pick Tool, it's such a handy tool with multiple uses. I think it was received well.

My happy place in my craft room all set up for the first class.

And here are some of my lovely Maple Stampers in action!

I made Christmas Chutney and decorated the jars with the Takeout Treats Stamp Set and the Dashing Along DSP. The table was set up and decorated by the beautiful Madi & Kyle Sauerwald (children of my lovely friend - Michelle.) I'd like to thank them all for all their generous time and hard work helping me set up for the events, cutting out hundreds of die images, setting up the room, putting card kits together and more. In total, between us we made up 80 card kits!

AND they gave me the stunning Deer centerpiece you can see standing proud in amongst the chutney. Wah! So spoilt.

I love to give gifts in the form of food, especially food that has a long shelf life and something that is handy to have in your pantry - jams, chutney, sauces are all great homemade bottled up jars of deliciousness made from the heart.

These tiny tins were decorated with the Signs of Santa Bundle. I think they are cheeky and cute at the same time! Inside is a mini photo album that one can add their favourite Christmas photos and either gift it to someone special, or keep it as a keepsake. They were in everyone's goodie bags.

The rounds for the mini album were cut out with the Layering Circle Framelits Dies. The circles were held together with a star shaped pin so they can swivel open and closed. The paper is retired Christmas paper.

I coloured the images in with Stampin' Blends (c). (see below for the colours in product supplies) I sponged a little green ink onto the Whisper White Circle before placing the Elf on top with a Dimensional. The Christmas

greeting is retired.

Another treat for my stampers, some homemade Peppermint Bark. Stamped with So Santa, Takeout Treats and the cute little bubbles are from the Artisan Textures Clear-Mount Stamp Set - first time I have used this and I LOVE IT!

The table is set ready for lunch! I do love a good party and part of the fun for me is planning and setting up. This years colour theme is soft pinks and blue with silver/gold accents.

And the party has begun! (These are Michelle and Madi's hands!) Great hand models ladies!

If you saw my last blog, it was all about these sweet Bakers' Boxes. They are so easy and quick to put together and you can decide how much decoration goes on it. I used So Santa for the stamping and Pool Party Cardstock to match my colour theme. More details are on my Holiday Catalogue ESAD Blog Hop page.

Everyone had one at their table placing for lunch.

Day two of my Christmas event, I used a different gift box for the dinning table - the Silver Mini Gable Boxes. Again, very quick and easy to put together and decorate.

Here's my Aunty Lee, Mum and cousin Michelle. (sorry your eyes were closed love!)

The lovely Tina and Kelly about to pop a Bon Bon and there is the amazing Mrs Michelle S and her gorgeous daughter Madi checking out their Bon Bon jokes in the background! (obviously not too funny!?)

I would like to thank all my beautiful Maple Stampers for their wonderful support for my business during the year, positive happy energy and most important of all their amazing friendship! It has been an awesome year, packed with classes and events, lots of crafting, laughing and even a few tears. I feel blessed to have these amazing women in my life who make it all worthwhile and a pleasure to be around. x

Products I used today

If you would like any of these products or any other goodies, and live in Australia, please don't hesitate to contact me or visit my online shop. Remember to leave your details so I can send you a thank you card (and my gift of the month if you spent over $60). Thank you for your support.

Wishing you all a fabulous time this Christmas and I hope you share some special and treasured moments with your family, loved ones and friends.

Here's to a safe and prosperous new year!