Jingle Belles Old and New - Photo Challenge/What's in Your Bag

I'm determined not to get behind on my Christmas cards this year.  Sounds funny to hear that in January, I'm sure, but listen, if I start now I'll be able to spend December without that over my head.  

So, yes, I am taking part in the Jingle Belles challenges again.  Those ladies sure do come up with some great prompts and inspiration, and you know that once the weather gets warmer (well, normal warmer - this warmer we've had is not normal) it would be a lot harder to come up with Christmas card ideas without those wonderful prompts.

And speaking of prompts - we're starting with Something Old and Something New - using something we had in our stash and something we either got as a gift or recently splurged on ourselves.  

Since, according to my Wacky Holidays Calendar, it is "Bird Day" I wanted to make sure that I had a bird on my card.  I have had this IO dove die since......a long time ago, so that is my old and I recently was gifted with Inkadinkado's Snowflakes-a-Plenty (thank you LB) and paired them up here.

This should have been a quick card, but if you could see the condition of my craft table--- OY!  And I was forced to use my paper cutter on my lap as I couldn't find my snowflake punch - this was after I couldn't find my PEACE die, found it, die cut it, and promptly decided that it wasn't meant for this card.  

I originally thought about using white embossing powder for my snowflake swirl, then I said to myself "No, that will interfere too much with the bird, use silver instead."  So I did.  Didn't like it.  So I then said to myself "Try the snowflakes in silver - that should give it some sparkle and show off the bird."  Nope.  Didn't like that either.  Then the genius in my head (NOT) told me to try heat and stick and diamond dust. Well, that genius was an idiot that made a mess and will be tracking diamond dust through the house for the next couple of days.  And then the lightbulb went off.  "You should have gone with your first thought!" someone was screaming in my head.  So you see the snowflakes embossed in white which doesn't look that bad compared to the other disasters, but it's still a bit too busy I think.  

I know you'll be honest with me - wontcha!  It's okay, it's the first week in January and I have to find my mojo again!

Okay, let's take another turn - to the photo challenge for today - this is my new tote bag given to me by my mother this Christmas.  It's holding the extra skeins of yarn I have from the chair socks I was making (the last one of which was finished as our New Year's Eve company was pulling up our driveway).  I'm debating whether to keep these extras or return them to the store.  I guess I could make a couple of extra pairs to rotate them when they get dirty.

My mother handed me a gift bag on Christmas Eve and this tote was folded nicely and in the plastic it had come in.  No wrapping paper - but I couldn't exactly tell what it was, though I knew that I loved the colors.  I asked her what it was.  Her answer "Oh, I don't know.  You'll have to take it out of the plastic."  My mother belongs to "book clubs".  Not the kind that meet to discuss books.  The kind that send you lists of books to order and promise you all these little "prizes" when you order a certain amount of books.  So during the course of the year she amasses quite a few "prizes" which then she gifts to us.  It's become a family tradition.