Christmas Card Catch Up!

Happy Sunday Friends!

Wow!  It feels GOOD to be here and get back on track!

When I look at the rare few posts I have made in the last few months I realize just how burned out and weighed down I was from the end of November until now!

Ya know ... a lot of people seem to think I have my act together, am organized and can "do it all".  They're wrong!  I am JUST as much of a hot mess as everyone else - just trying to hold everything together, making it to the end of the day in one piece and remembering to feed the family along the way! *lol*.  It has taken me over a month to try to learn to step back a bit and get a little more balance in my life!  It's a work in progress but I am slowly getting there.

I am TRYING to work less ... alas, I LOVE what I do so I REALLY have to focus on stepping away and putting Craig, the girls and ME first more often.  When you have a home-based business and you are a one-woman-show there is ALWAYS something to do or plan or schedule.  Making the distinction between what truly HAS to be done today and what I WANT to be done today is hard but I AM getting better at it ... and I HAVE been "stepping away" ... hence fewer blog and FB posts.

Now that I'm crawling out from under the pile of "must do"s and "wanting to do"s, I'm feeling more energized, organized and ready to dip my toes back into it all. 

My plan is to consistently do a blog post every Sunday morning.  Anything else is a bonus.  I've said it before, I'll say it again - if you want more samples, tips, promotions and timely "Tamara" you need to follow me on Facebook.  That is the quickest, easiest platform for me to share my crazy on.  Search for "Tamara's Paper Trail", like, follow, and "get notifications". That will keep you in the loop.

Thanks for you patience and for popping into my blog every now and then, despite my inconsistency!  Your support and loyalty mean the world to me!

OK - enough rambling!  Let's get to some projects, shall we?  This one is another catch up! I wanted to share with you most of the Christmas cards I got from friends this year. I say most, because I came across a few more in my cave the other day and realize I didn't take pictures and share them!  When I stumble across them again I'll be sure to share!

Now, for the sake of time I won't be listing the creators of these beauties - I DID share those on my Facebook posts earlier this month when I posted them there.  As always, if you have any questions about how the cards were made, what colours or what stamp sets etc, leave a comment and I'll get you the details.  So here we go ... these were most of the beautiful cards I received this year ....

 Aren't they lovely??  Every year I get more and more hand-made cards.  I think you guess how much I love THAT!

Now this year was a first for me with respect to ME sending cards out.  When did they hit the mailbox?  I think it was January 2nd!  Yup.  For the first time EVER I gave myself permission to send cards out late.  I had PLANNED to make pretty little cards using new products and have them NOT be Christmas themed ... alas, when I counted out the 100+ cards I wanted to send I realized I just couldn't make them anytime before, say, June so I gave myself even MORE of a break and decided to use up cards I had in my stash from years-gone-by!  It was a bit of an eye opener when I had exactly the 110 already-made cards in my box!  Hoard much? *lol*.

Here are the ones I send out this year ...

That ALMOST covers all the Christmas cards received and given for 2018.

One MORE Christmas project I want to share with you is the Wish List booklets I made for the girls.  Those who follow me know that every year, for about 11 years now, I have made these booklets.  The girls write what they WANT for Christmas (and, when they were young would leave them on the coffee table for Santa to review) and then, Boxing Day, I write in the back what they GOT, and from whom. It's one of my favourite traditions.  This year I made the booklets 2 days AFTER Christmas nut I got it done.  I wasn't ready to drop THIS project!  Here they are ...

I have another tradition that I started when Rebecca was born.  I had always wanted a Christmas tree with all hand-made ornaments on it so every Christmas I have made a new ornament for the tree.  I make at least three of that years design. One for Rebecca, one for Alicia and one for me.  The idea was (aside from ME having a memory-filled tree) for the girls to have a box of treasures to take when they move out to decorated THEIR trees with, once they leave home.  This year I didn't make one.  Oh, I still MAY at some point during the year but I just had to let it go this year.  The weight of everything was just too much and, on top of that, I caught the flu on Christmas Eve, FORCING me to rest.

I have learned a lot about balance and what is important over the last year ... and I'm getting my act together, albeit slowly.

So there is my Christmas Catch Up post for now.  I have new projects to share, which I will do for NEXT Sunday.  If I get on a roll I may post before then ... but I'm not putting any pressure on myself to do so.  Back to basics and having FUN!

Whatever you get up to today I hope it makes you happy.  Have a stampy day!


Tam