Christmas wishes for you (and of course some links)

My wish for you and your family is a most happy, joyous Christmas and New Year.

This time of year can get crazy, buying gifts, making gifts, decorating, wrapping, cleaning, visitors, visiting others, preparing holiday meals (are we there yet?) and, well, the list is endless isn't it?

Please know how grateful I am to all of you who visit here, you are all so kind, sending me emails, posting comments, making sure all is well here in San Jose, I am very blessed to have such a wonderful and caring group of people who visit this blog.

So, how about a shot of the "AfterHoursStamper" Christmas tree? Ready? Here it is:

From 12-20-2008

And here is one of our kitties, Mishgie (no one knows how to spell her name, even our daughter who is the one who named the cat....) Mishgie can be found many times under the tree (thankfully she hasn't decided to climb the tree yet), she has pulled a few ornaments off, but not too many:

From 12-20-2008

Ok, so how about some budget ideas and links? And a question about a product you may or may not have used yet.


First of all I found a GREAT deal at Target a while back, a set of 12 glitter pens for $4.99, and these pens are a good quality pen, here is a picture of the set, and I found them in the regular pen sections, not the paper crafting section:

From 12-21-2008

And of course after Christmas we all are in the mood for stamping since it is usually cold, wet and windy outside, but, if you are like me, January isn't usually a great month to spend money. So, here are a few places you can go to buy sheets of stamps at prices from $7 to 30. Some are unmounted, some you can buy trimmed and mounted on cling material, many are unique, all pretty fun:

* Blockhead Stamps: HUGE selection of rubber stamp sheets, from 1/4 page to a full 8 x 10 sheet, you can order these stamps mounted on cling or unmounted, and the prices are GREAT. Here is a page of "INK-N-RUBBER EXPRESSIONS RUBBER STAMPS," some really neat floral images, here is a set of "Hearth Mice" from the Blockheads image page, mounted on cling for $30 (which, for the number of images you get is a GREAT deal)

* Evolving Images: Interesting idea: you can buy a small sheet of stamps AND a matching stencil (which includes the cut outs you can use for masking). The sheets are $8 for 1 to 3 sheets, $7.25 for 4 or more. The stencils are the same price. So, for $15 you can get a 4 x 7 sheet of images, stencils and masking pieces. This website also has some good ideas on how to use the stamps, check out how to layer the die plate number 6, pretty neat.

*Stamping Ground: WOW! Check out the prices of some of these sheets, as low as $7.50 for a full 8. 5 x 11 sheet. Here is a link to a set of kids toys, here are some cool corner stamps, and some kitchen utensils (this set is $11.25, still a great deal.) Their regularly priced sheets are reasonable at $15, here is one that I may order, really cool floral images.


And if you like to laminate your projects (like the pocket planner) try buying packs of 50 self stick laminating sheets, you don't need a machine to heat set and truthfully the sheets have WAY less waste then the Xyron machine I have (the cartridges are so expensive for the Kyron, and there is too much waste as well). I used the sheets for the 30 pocket planners made for gifts, and still have about half of the sheets left for other projects. Here is a link for an online store that carries the sheets for $15.99, a great deal!

From 12-21-2008

Last, but not least, has anyone tried this product: JudiKins MicroGlaze? I am really tempted to try it, especially using it as a resist ink on stamps and using it as a mask on an existing stamped image.....if you have used the product, post a comment, and I am thinking of ordering it online in January to try out : )

Not sure if I will get a chance to post again before Christmas, but will try.

Hope you liked the links today. Take care, and don't forget to take care of yourself as you run around for the holidays.

Peace.