Sunday, December 28, 2008

My first Cricut Card!

I haven't had too much time to play with my new toy, but I did take a few minutes to set it up and make a quick Thank You card for my mom. It was fun. So far the only cartridge I have is the George, but I have ordered a couple so hopefully soon those will arrive. But I did have fun making this, I think I'm going to like it!

I used Chocolate Chip, Gable Green and Cameo Coral cardstock and very vanilla brads for the flowers. Very simple! I can't wait to try new things.


Thursday, December 25, 2008

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is also my birthday and this is what my mom got me for my birthday and Christmas!









thanks MOM!!!!

and I took the picture thanks to my DH who bought me a new camera for my birthday and Christmas!



Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday with your loved ones!

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Secret Elf Days 9, 10, 11 & 12

Sorry to my secret elf because I am so behind on getting pictures of my last gifts! I didn't have a clean spot to take them!! he he! Yesterday was our final day and reveal and my wonderful friend Jen is my Secret Elf! She totally spoiled me and I love it!!

Here are my last, wonderful, perfect gifts:


Day 9 was a beautiful stamped candle! Which I will probably keep for ever because I hate to burn something so pretty! :)

Day 10 was a meander book that is just perfect! She sent me a bunch of punches to decorate it after I add pictures and journaling. I love the colors, it will be just right for my daughter's pictures!!

Day 11 was Stampin' Up!'s build a brads! I put these on my wish list because it was always something I wanted to try, but never bought!

Day 12 - our reveal gift, was supposed to include something from our home state and she sent me some Maple Syrup! (which I used yesterday on some french toast sticks and it was yummy!)

So Jen, thank you very much for all my goodies! I had so much fun with this and we are already talking about doing something for Valentine's Day, crazy swappers that we are!

Friday, December 19, 2008

Sympathy Card

I thought maybe I should share something that I've made since my last few posts have been what I've received. :) Unfortunately this is a sympathy card and I do not like having to do these at all, but especially at this time of year. I did this one quickly today because I was trying to catch the mail person, but I missed her by like 2 minutes!

Of course I used my top note die. That has been my best purchase for the Big Shot so far! I used Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke and Very Vanilla Cardstock; Chocolate Chip, Always Artichoke, So Saffron and Tango Tangerine ink; Flight of the Butterfly, Vases in Vogue and misc. sympathy stamp. I sponged the ink on the solid butterfly stamp, so its a little different. Then I added a bow in the Chocolate Chip Taffeta Ribbon.

Secret Elf Days 7 & 8

I would like to change the name of the Secret Elf Swap to the Awesome Secret Elf Swap, because that is what my elf is! Yesterday she gave me a post-it note holder with a purple pen and my initial on it and today I got a little gift bag with a note saying "a little pampering" inside the bag was some lotion and some SU chap stick. The bag is so clever and cute!












































Thursday, December 18, 2008

Secret Elf Gifts Days 5 & 6

Technically, I opened my Day 7 gift today, but I took pictures of 5&6 yesterday and I am recharging the camera battery now, so I'll have to post 7 tomorrow :)

This one is Day 5: it is a Punch Art folder. Of course it is purple, my favorite color! Here is what you can find inside:

There is a printout of all the cool things you can do with different Stampin' Up! punches! I've seen these on Splitcoast but never really paid much attention to them, but now I have my own handy dandy little reference folder to look at while I actually have my punches right in front of me! How organized is that?! So awesome!


So day six was homemade reinker ornaments! They are so pretty. She used the current In Colors for them and they are just perfect! The coolest thing about this Secret Elf Swap is that I am getting things that I would probably make for someone else, but never take the time to make for myself (cuz I am weird that way), but now I don't have to, because my Secret Elf is doing that for me! She rocks!




Gift Card Holder

We are giving a few gift cards this year and I made these to give them out:

I used Old Olive, Real Red and Very Vanilla cardstock. Some leftover Dashing DSP from last year to make the bands to wrap around the holders and then used the Scallop Circle Punch and the Curvy Label Punch to make the tags.


Wednesday, December 17, 2008

A few more Christmas cards...

I am finally done with all my Christmas cards and I think they are all in the mail! I have been using the top note die alot lately, so here are a couple more Christmas cards using the top note die!






For this one I used Night of Navy and Brushed Silver cardstock. I used the Snow Swirled stamp set and stamped the tree and sentiment in Night of Navy Craft ink and embossed it using ultra thick embossing powder. That's it! Another easy card. I made these for DH to give away at work.



Then for this card I used Old Olive, Riding Hood Red and
Very Vanilla Cardstock; Riding Hood Red ink; Old Olive
grosgrain ribbon and the Riding Hood Red Taffeta Ribbon. The stamp set is Cute and Curly, I stamped the stripes in riding hood red and then stamped the Merry Christmas separately and cut out the oval. I punched two holes on either side of the top note cutout and tied the ribbon through then added the riding hood red taffeta ribbon. Another very simple card!


Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Place Cards

Here are the place cards I created for my bosses holiday party for one of his clients.


I used Kiwi Kiss, Very Vanilla and Riding Hood Red cardstock. I ran the Kiwi Kiss through my Big Shot using the Top Note die and then scored it in the middle and folded it in half. Then I printed every one's name and menu selections on Very vanilla paper and corner rounded it and adhered it to the Kiwi Kiss. Lastly I used a snow flake die and ran Riding Hood Red through the Big Shot and adhered the snow flake with a glue dot.

I had to go very simple because I wanted to get them done and I haven't been feeling very well today.


Monday, December 15, 2008

Secret Elf Gifts Days 3 & 4


Short post today just to show off my last two gifts! Day 3 I got 12x12 making memories in my favorite color, purple! Day 4 I got 2 SU reinkers, Chocolate Chip and Certainly Celery! I love both of these colors and I have been using the Chocolate Chip ALOT so I am sure I will be using these soon!




Non-Traditional Christmas Card

We had Secret Santa at work last week and this is the Christmas Card I came up with for my reveal. My person likes butterflies, so I decided to put my Flight of the Butterfly to good use. I used Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Very Vanilla cardstock; Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Kiwi Kiss ink; Bella Rose DSP; Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon. Not very traditional, but I liked how it turned out.


I also did a birthday card for another friend of mine. I really like these colors together.

Sunday, December 14, 2008

Merry Candymas!

Saturday morning I got up at 6:00 a.m. and went grocery shopping. I came home with all the ingredients needed to make some candy.

So this is my BEFORE picture:



Then my husband and I got to work. Luckily my mom was watching DD, so we had the house to ourselves! My husband was in charge of the chocolate for covering the candies and pretzels. He plugged in the fondue pot and got to work!







Here is a list of the candies we made:

Turtles
Chocolate covered pretzels
Buckeyes
Oreo Truffles
Peppermint Bark
Mocha Truffles
Peanut Brittle

Here is the AFTER picture taken at about 7:30 p.m., we worked very hard all day long, but it is worth it. This will fill up tins for about 20-25 of our coworkers and friends.




This is ALOT of candy! Of course we taste tested it and it is all very yummy! I still have to make some Chocolate Chip Cookies...I give a big box to my boss every year because he really likes them. I've been doing this for about 10 years I think. The first year I just made fudge and filled very small tins. Over the years the candies have gotten a little more extravagant. I don't make fudge anymore =)



Don't you feel like your getting a cavity just looking at this!


Saturday, December 13, 2008

The 12 Days of Christmas.

Merry Christmas to me! I joined a fun swap this year with some of the wonderful ladies I met at convention. We met because we all had this little swapping addiction, but we have continued to talk and are becoming great friends. So we are doing a Secret Elf Swap. Each day we get to open a new gift and on the last day we learn who sent us the gifts. How fun is that?

Here is what my Secret Elf sent me:

The Scrapbook Case is my first gift and then she put all the rest of my gifts inside. I can't wait to open them all! I'm going to wait, but it is really going to be hard!!

The funny thing is I was going to buy one of these last weekend and I decided to wait until after Christmas to see if I could get it on sale! How cool is that?

Our little group is a very talented bunch of ladies. I always look forward to seeing anything they create. This swap could be items purchased or made.

My second gift was a tic tac holder:


Isn't it just so cute?! I only have to wait about 8 more hours to open another one! yay!

Friday, December 12, 2008

Happy Holidays!

Since this is the only time of year I can use my Snowflake embossing folder I thought I would do another card with it. I used Real Red, Whisper White and Glorious Green cardstock. Real Red Ink, Glorious Green, Pumpkin Pie and Black Stampin' Write Markers. I used the Frosty stamp set and stamped Happy Holidays in Real Red on the Whisper White cardstock before running it through the Big Shot. I stamped Frosty in Black on Whisper White and then colored him in and added some stickles at the bottom for the snow and layered him on a piece of Glorious Green card stock. Very simple and easy!

Can you believe it is less than two weeks until Christmas! Where did this year go? If anyone finds out, please let me know, I'm curious! I am getting ready, but still a lot to do!

Tonight we go to my firm's Christmas party, so that should be fun!

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Party Invitation

I wanted something very simple for our Christmas Party invites and decided to use my cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder. I used Night of Navy cardstock and Night of Navy craft ink. I stamped the You're Invited (non SU) on Whisper White then ran it through my Big Shot using the embossing folder. Then I cut off the top portion at a diagonal and used the Scallop Edge punch. I made the snowflake using the Big Shot and the Snowflake Sizzlit. I used a pop dot to adhere the snowflake. I am pleased how they turned out.
On the inside (not shown) I stamped some snow flakes in Whisper White craft ink. And put the information about the party on a piece of Whisper White Cardstock and stamped some Night of Navy snowflakes. The inside is almost as cute as the outside!


Monday, December 8, 2008

It's Beginning to Look alot Like Christmas!

We got some snow this weekend! Not a lot, but it was the big fluffy kind so it was very pretty! And enough to make driving a bit of a hassle, but that's OK. Friday night I went to a crop at my LSS and they showed us how to make this snow flake:

This was made with 7 pieces of double sided scrapbook paper, I think they were 3x3. I am going to make a few more to put around the house as decorations. They are a good size. At first it was kind of hard to do, but after you get started it is easier. If anyone is interested in learning how to make these, let me know and I will attempt a tutorial!


Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Holidays

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We went out of town for the holiday and had a great time! I just wanted to check in and tell you I'm still here and don't give up on my blog! I have a ton of things to show you but can't because the recipients haven't received them yet! I am hoping to create something this week that will be postable! I try to post something creative at least once a week, sometimes more, but until Christmas is over I will probably not be able to post as much. But after Christmas, watch out! I will post everything! I guess it is good that the people I make gifts for read my blog, but I have some really cute things I can't wait to share!!


I can't post without a picture, so I will leave you with a picture of one of my favorite buildings in Chicago! DH and I celebrated our 11th anniversary in Chicago this year (in June!) and I took this picture. I believe this is the Wrigley Building.



Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Carousel Notes Card

This is actually the first card I have made with the Carousel Notes. I wasn't exactly sure what to do, but I like how it turned out. The Scalloped Carousel
Note is Groovy Guava. I used Green Tea DSP and my Creative Memories circle cutters. Then I made a smaller circle with more Groovy Guava and cut a half circle of DSP to make a pocket. I made a large tag and stamped Thinking of You. I used some hodgepodge on the end and tied some White Taffeta Ribbon to it. I punched holes at the top and tied a bow there as well.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Friendship Top Note Book




I have a very dear friend of mind with a birthday coming up. We do not see each other very often, but we had lunch this week and when I saw this blog with these little books, I knew exactly what I was going to do for my friend.

I used Green Tea DSP and Old Olive, Certainly Celery and Baja Breeze cardstock and ink. I used various stamp sets through out (the book was only 4 pages). All the stamps where friend related. On each page I wrote with a Stampin' Write marker 1 reason why I feel like my friend is a good friend to me. When I gave it to her I told her that this way she can look at it whenever she wants and know that I am her friend and will always be there for her, even though we don't talk all the time. She cried and was happy with the little book. I used chipboard for each page of the book and covered it with either DSP or cardstock and used my Bind it All to put it all together. Very simple project. Then I needed a gift bag for this and her other present (a gift card). So I made a little bag that I've been wanting to do since I saw it on this blog last year! Now these colors didn't match the DSP 100%, but very close.


For this I used the Carousel Notes I bought last year, so this is actually Sky Blue. I used the Garden Tea DSP again, Certainly Celery ribbon, Jumbo eyelets, misc flower and brad and Creative Memories Cutting system to cut the circle. I used my Crop A Dile too! this was the perfect little bag for her gifts and she loved it. This was very easy to make as well. It is funny, I see these projects that look like fun but I stay away from them or put them off because they sound a little complicated, then I do them and I think how easy it was, why didn't I do this sooner?!





Monday, November 10, 2008

Holiday Happening!

I spent Saturday at a local church making crafts. It was a day filled with crafts, food and a silent auction. I got a couple of Christmas presents taken care of and the best part is the proceeds benefit a local chairty. The morning is spent making smaller crafts and then after lunch we spent time making one large craft. This year I chose to make this snowman. I try to choose a craft that I wouldn't normally do on my own. This was really fun to make and very easy. The body of the snowman was already cut out and sewn for us, we just had to stuff it and decorate. He is just so cute! I was going to give him away, but I'm not sure I can... Isn't he just the cutest?
I guess this means the holiday season has started. Can you believe Thanksgiving is just over 2 weeks away? Where has this year gone? My blog posts may become less frequent through the holidays because a lot of my creations are going to be gifts and I don't want to spoil any suprises! I will at least post once a week. Then after Christmas I will be able to post all the fun stuff!


Friday, November 7, 2008

Berry Bliss Gift Bag

OK, I decided to make a gift bag for my notebook I made. I had this small tote bag and I copied the idea from the bag we made at convention. The Cardstock is Pretty in Pink and Berry Bliss DSP along with some Purely Pomegranate Satin Ribbon. Stampset is Doodle This.

This bag was perfect for the notebook and the little gift card holder.