Stamping Sentimental: Matt's Card from December 1992

I think Christmas Eve is the perfect time to feel sentimental. This card always makes me feel that way. I have been stamping for almost twenty years now. When I first started, my boys were 4 and 5, and they quickly became stampers as well. They had their own stamps, and inks, and markers, etc., and they loved to sit at Mom's desk and make their own cards. You probably have similar memories with your children, or will create those memories in the future. They're special memories, a bonding experience with your children that time and circumstance can never take away from you, or them. This card represents this feeling for me. Matthew, my youngest, was five at the time he created this card. By then, he had watched mom go beyond just stamping and coloring, to embossing, and foiling, and glittering. He did this card all by himself. I remember him talking about it as he carefully worked on it. He drew the frozen pond and the mountains, and colored them in along with the sky. He broke out his little Disney set of stamps that included Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, and other images for a holiday scene. He stamped his trees in green, the holiday light strings across the top, the little cottage, Goofy ("rolling down the hill in a Panzer", which was a favorite expression after seeing "The Santa Clause" for the first time), and colored them all. He stamped Mickey separately, colored him, and cut him out. He wanted the pond to look icy, so he applied some glue pen, let it dry until tacky, and applied silver foil over it. He wanted snow on the hills and trees, so he used a embossing marker to color on those areas and applied white embossing powder with glitter in it, heating with the heat tool just like Mom had shown him. The final touch was popping Mickey up off the card with a little foam tape. I was amazed by this card at the time, and I still am every time I see it. He gave it to me for Christmas that year, and I've treasured it ever since, and always will. Maybe someday he'll show this card to his children, and tell them how he carefully created this for his mom. Maybe they will want to do the same. This is how treasured traditions begin. Merry Christmas to all of you, and wonderful memories for you and your family in the new year.