Santa's On His Way!

Okay, okay, I know - I didn't post at ALL yesterday!
Can I just tell ya', I don't have enough hours in the day right now. There is so much going on in our life - all of it GOOD STUFF, but Oh, so much of it at one time. And I hate dropping the ball on anything, especially YOU guys!

Anyway, thanks for being so patient with me. You wouldn't believe the number of projects I have stored up to share - and I will get to each one of them!

Today I wanted to show you what the Stampin' Fools made last night:

We had such a great time in the studio together! Christmas was definitely in the air, with lots of gifts and goodies being shared, treats to eat and of course - fun stampin' projects! I love these ladies so much!

So, just in time for Christmas, Santa made his appearance in the studio. I'd seen many projects using Santa's suit over the past few months and finally decided to make my own version. Here is the cute tote:

It's an old, old design idea that uses one full sheet of 8 1/2" x 11" cardstock for the tote. From there, you can decorate it however you wish. I saw Selene's photo tutorial for it on Stamping 411 yesterday and it all just clicked for me! Make a Santa tote!!
Here's the link to the Stamping 411 tote tutorial for you: Tote or Card Holder Tutorial

For mine, I used Real Red cardstock for the body, Shimmer White for the furry placket, Silver Glimmer Paper for the belt buckle and Basic Black Satin Ribbon for the belt.
The fur was made with the Vintage Wallpaper Folder in my Big Shot and I just tore down both edges. The belt buckle was made with the small size on the Scallop Square Duo Die.
The handle is Basic Black cardstock cut at 3/4" x 11". It's attached with two Silver Jumbo Brads. I made the tag with the Tags Til Christmas stamp set and used my Tag Punches to punch it out plus the layer. It's tied on with Baker's Twine. SO easy!!

Here's the card I designed to go with it:

All the same supplies, just a regular card size of 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" folded.

On the inside, I used two Whisper White panels. One for our family photo on the left (no, the Stampin' Fools did NOT use my family photo, even though some of them asked me for it! ha!), the other for the greeting stamp. I used one from Many Merry Messages stamped in Real Red.

Really quick and easy projects to complete, but they are sure to bring a smile to anyone's face!

Ok, so that's it for today. I'm headed out the door to go pick up stuff for Emma's 14th Birthday Party Sleepover. Yep, I'm a crazy woman! 8 teenage girls all in my basement overnight! Aiyiyi!! What was I thinking?!!
I can tell you this - it will be LIGHTS OUT at Midnight! No cranky kid running around here tomorrow! Hmmph!
And Momma needs her beauty sleep!

Have a good one and wish me luck!
~~Robin