I am about to host my third annual holiday gift making party on November 29th! It is becoming one of my favorite traditions. It is a wonderful way to make some handmade treasures to share during the holiday season, and spend some sweet time amongst friends.

It is a little earlier in the season than I imagined, but trying to coordinate the schedules of 5 women, sometimes you have to wiggle a little. Since we won't be doing any food this year, we don't have to worry about things spoiling. So, doing it early is just going to give us a jump on things, and we will then have more time to enjoy the season.

My project this year is: hand made note cards. Last summer, I discovered some really interesting wood stamps at this adorable store near my house. Michael and I were having a rare afternoon to ourselves, and when we wandered in to the store and discovered the wood cut stamps - just sitting on a shelf begging to come home with us- we bought them. I then brought them home, and promptly tucked them into the cabinet and did nothing but ruminate on the possibilities. T shirts? Wrapping paper? Napkins? Coasters? There were a multitude of ideas. 

When it came time to decide my project for the gift making party this year, I decided on note cards. So, I thought it the perfect chance to use the stamps. I experimented with paint and after calling Beach House Style for advice, decided on acrylic paint. Three or four trips to various art supply stores and I had my paper and paint. Yesterday I did a test run and am very happy with the results. Here are some pictures of the 'test run". More pictures will follow after the gift making party.