Well I am geared up for holiday parties this year. The other day I was trying to remember last year's parties and gatherings and just couldn't. Then I remembered the curse word called "shingles". Yep, I spent the whole month of December (and part of January) with a case of the shingles. I missed EVERY holiday party, Christmas shopping, and all the other things you do for the holidays. It's no fun sitting in a chair with only a t-shirt and undies on for five weeks (clothing....ouch). Anyway, my suggestion to all of you is this: the best Christmas gift you could give yourself or a family member is to go get a shingles shot. Although expensive, it costs far more in pain and suffering and missing an entire Christmas than the cost of getting the shot.
Well, another type of mixer (besides parties) is in mixing your stamp sets. I very often pull out a stamp from one set and mix with another. It gives you endless possibilities! For instance, the Noble Deer set has a treeline image that I use constantly. Notice it on the flying Santa card as well as the snowy cottage card. Also, the Beautiful Season trees (large trees) can be mixed with many, many other stamps. Here I've used the Beautiful Season trees with the images of children playing in the snow. And the stamps don't have to be from the same season. Noble Deer stamps are not Christmas....but I use all the images during the holidays. You'll see in the next post that I used the "big buck" stamp from that set, combining it with a generic post card stamp that I picked up at Michael's on sale. And to get even more use from your stamps, try inking (using a marker) only the portions of the stamp that you want to use and mix with others. The possibilities are endless!!! Now go enjoy some "mixers".....both the party type and the stamp type!
Well I am geared up for holiday parties this year. The other day I was trying to remember last year's parties and gatherings and just couldn't. Then I remembered the curse word called "shingles". Yep, I spent the whole month of December (and part of January) with a case of the shingles. I missed EVERY holiday party, Christmas shopping, and all the other things you do for the holidays. It's no fun sitting in a chair with only a t-shirt and undies on for five weeks (clothing....ouch). Anyway, my suggestion to all of you is this: the best Christmas gift you could give yourself or a family member is to go get a shingles shot. Although expensive, it costs far more in pain and suffering and missing an entire Christmas than the cost of getting the shot. 
Well, another type of mixer (besides parties) is in mixing your stamp sets. I very often pull out a stamp from one set and mix with another. It gives you endless possibilities! For instance, the Noble Deer set has a treeline image that I use constantly. Notice it on the flying Santa card as well as the snowy cottage card. Also, the Beautiful Season trees (large trees) can be mixed with many, many other stamps. Here I've used the Beautiful Season trees with the images of children playing in the snow. And the stamps don't have to be from the same season. Noble Deer stamps are not Christmas....but I use all the images during the holidays. You'll see in the next post that I used the "big buck" stamp from that set, combining it with a generic post card stamp that I picked up at Michael's on sale. And to get even more use from your stamps, try inking (using a marker) only the portions of the stamp that you want to use and mix with others. The possibilities are endless!!! Now go enjoy some "mixers".....both the party type and the stamp type!
