A Clean and Simple Thank You Christmas Card

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Christmas.


Years back, my Holiday was a whirlwind of activity. Christmas Eve we would watch Midnight Mass and open our Stockings. Then it was up early in the morning to make the hour drive to my Parents. We would spend half the day there and then drive back to the city to spend the remainder of the day with DH's parents. There were stops at friends along the way back to the city too. We would return to our house around midnight and finally open our gifts to each other. Whew...it was a lot but I have such wonderful memories of those days.


Alas, both of my parents are gone now as is DH's Dad. :o( Now, we still keep the Christmas Eve tradition, but there is no long drive to the country. I cook dinner at our house, pack it up and take it to DH's Mom's house for a quiet evening meal. As my Step Dad always said..."time marches on" and I suppose that is what has happened in my family. The kicker is, we now have all morning and early afternoon to open our gifts. Do you think the DH will budge on that tradition??? Nope...can't open our gifts to each other until we return home from Mom's house....stubborn stubborn man. :o)


This year, as I had a card and message all ready to post, when the phone rang. When I answer, I hear "Merry Christmas" in a voice that I hadn't heard in at least 5 years. It was a boyhood friend of DH who moved to Chicago many years ago. As I proclaim "What a treat for you to call today," I am asked, "Guess where I am?" He was here in Philadelphia visiting relatives and staying in a hotel a mile from my house! I starts saying, you are coming over and DH's eyes are getting wider and wider...See, he has no clue who is on the phone. I hand the phone to DH and with in 30 minutes we are all sitting in my Living Room enjoying what turned into be a very special Christmas afternoon.


Christmas is magical. Not only for the obvious "Reason for the Season," but also, I think wonderful things happen on Christmas Day. Last year, a cousin who I had lost touch with for many years contacted me via facebook on Christmas Day!


Yesterday, I had the opportunity to make a card for the Splitcoast Stamper's Clean and Simple Card Challenge. A CAS card is one that focuses on design. It should one focal point and be uncluttered with layers and embellishments. Give one a try sometime...they are harder than you think!

The challenge was to make a CAS card using 2 shades of brown, green and white. I chose Chocolate, Brown Bag, Topiary and White Daisy. I randomly stamped the pine branches around the edge of the square. I made sure to use generation stamping for a realistic look. The pine cones were double inked (rock and roll stamping) in Brown Bag and Chocolate. Both those stamps are from a company called Rubber Stamp Tapestry. The "Thank You" is from Close To My Heart's really cute set called "Tag the Occasion." I assembled the card and in a jiffy it was completed.

I wanted to make a "Thank You" card because so often we forget to say "thank you" to Christmas. I say, "thank you" for the reason for the season and "thank you" for the memories that Christmas creates. For Now, Happy Crafting!