Merry Christmas

First off - thank you all so much for your well-wishes and prayers. Surgery went off without a hitch and I did not have any scary anesthesia issues. Recovery was painful and tough, but with all the prayers and good thoughts coming my way from all of you, I managed to get through 3 1/2 days of pain. My doctors were even nice enough to schedule my stent removal a day earlier - to put me out of my misery. So a few more days, and I should be back to my lil' old self.

So on to more fun things? It's already August and I have not really started on any Christmas card. So I dug out my Eskimo Kisses pattern paper from Basic Grey and drew my inspiration from one of the pattern papers.

And since one of my addictions is to play along with with the Mischief Makers on the next Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge, I had better get crackin'. The sketch deets:

Did I mentioned I was not in the mood to do red/green color combo? So when leafing through my pattern paper pad, one of the pattern paper sheets struck my liking and this is how it all came together.


Stamps: Vintage Circles (Waltzingmouse Stamps); Mega Mixed Messages (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Paper Basics Card Stock - Kraft (Papertrey Ink); Eskimo Kisses (Basic Grey); Basic Card Stock - White (Recollections)
Ink: Earth Elements - Old Olive (Stamping Up!)
Embellishments: Jute Packaging Twine (Westim Crafts); Hemp Cord (Darice);  Vintage Buttons- New Leaf (Papertrey Ink); Nestabilities - Classic Scallop Circles Small, Standards Circle Small (Spellbinders)

Weaving the twine was easy enough with a yarn needle through a slit that was made with an Xacto knife. Forget trying to hand-weave it -- too much of a struggle ;)



Also, remember to pick out two matching buttons first if this is important to you, or else you'll end up dumping the entire jar trying to weed through and match the one you already attached. Well - let's put it this way, I had enough time to admire all the fun shapes, finishes and sizes of every button, to the point I was sighing and realizing how sold I am on my Papertrey Ink buttons.

Are you a believer in those Papertrey Ink buttons? If not, where do you buy your stash of buttons?