Oldie but a goodie!

Back to Christmas cards! Yay! I decided to pull out one of the very first stamp sets I bought just a year ago! (Seems like longer than that!) Any way, this is from Favorite Teddy Bear which has sense been retired. I forgot that I could use it for the holidays! I decided to make these cards for my friends with young kids. I am really pleased with how it turned out. I did a square card (first one I made). This was a very simple card! I used basic black for the teddy bear and the merry christmas. And green and real read on the scarf. The scarf is 3d, attached using glue dots. And I used White Craft Ink for the snowflakes. The Snowflake is from Holiday Tag Team and the merry christmas is from Loads of Love. I just love it! Sometimes I really like the simple cards. I usually put more than one layer, but sometimes its just too much for me, you know?

Went grocery shopping today and found the mini composition books, finally! I don't know why it never occurred to me to look in the office supply section of Wal-Mart..duh! So I bought 4 to alter. This weekend I have to make 10 dozen cookies for a cookie swap next weekend. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I signed up for that, but hopefully it will be fun! Tonight I am going to a crop, so I'll get some scrapbooking in finally! Yay! Sadly, I am extremely behind on my scrapbooking and tonight I am working on gifts, so I'll have to play catch up next year! Everyone enjoy your weekend!

Time Well Spent

Well, I've been wanting to mount this set since I got it a couple of weeks ago, but I've been focusing on Christmas. Tonight I decided to break it in and make a birthday card. I am not overly pleased with it, but my excuse is I've been sick the last couple days and I shouldn't have picked a card I had to color!! Oh well, I think it will do. I used Wild Wasabi and a SU pink (sorry, don't know which one). I've seen these colors used on other cards and love the combo. The greeting is from the Greetings Galore stamp set. I sponged the bottom using Wild Wasabi. Off to visit some blogs and then to dreamland!

Ho Ho Ho!

Although this is my favorite time of year, I will be glad when I am done with Christmas cards. I feel like I haven't had time to make any other card for months! I am enjoying it, don't get me wrong, its just I would like to mix it up a bit. I found the idea for this card from someone on Splitcoast Stampers, of course. Unfortunately, I don't remember who... so, if this looks like a card you created let me know and I will give you credit! I used lots of Real Red on this one, some whisper white, green galore and black. I used the oval punch in the corner to stamp the Merry Christmas, boy was it hard to get that straight. This is such a fun card! I wanted to do another card, but I wanted something simple, so I came up with this, very simple card:

I used Always Artichoke for the base, then Wintergreen designer paper, Sky blue and more Always Artichoke. I used White Craft ink for the Merry Christmas and Snowflakes. Very simple, but nice. I do wish I would have put the slots closer together on the ribbon. So now I am a little bit closer to being done with my Christmas cards. My goal was do be done by December 1st, but I don't think that is going to happen.

Gift Cards!

I stumbled upon this great blog a while back and finally had an opportunity to try one of her tutorials! Check out Cambria Turnbow's blog for instructions for this and some other great cards and altered items. I am going the gift card route this year with a few of my friends, but wanted something different for the presentation and I think these are perfect! I almost wish I was giving more gift cards so I could make some more. They are so easy to make too! I think I made all four of these in about 45 minutes (and the only reason it took me that long is I had a hard time deciding how to decorate!) I used Wintergreen and Dashing Designer Series Paper and various coordinating cardstock. My favorite one is the Merry Christmas one, I took individual pictures of it: I love this Merry Christmas stamp, I think it is from All Year Cheer, but I can't remember which one...

The inside looks like this:
I just love these colors, so pretty. Now I just need to buy the gift cards. Oddly enough, that's the hard part!

Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers-2

Today I stumbled upon an interesting blog called Sisterhood of the Blogging Stampers. It's basically a blog for all us stampers to meet new stampers and get feedback and inspiration from them. I am excited to join this group of talented stampers.

I have been married for 10 years, have one 2.5 year old little girl and work mostly from home. I also recently became a Stampin' Up! demonstrator, mostly to support my habit. I've been a scrapbooker for a long time (probably 10 years) and in the last year journeyed into the art of card making and the rest is history! Looking forward to getting to know you all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Well I thought I better get a post on here today, because the next few days will be busy. I made a couple more Christmas cards this weekend. I love this first one. I'm pretty sure I got the idea from someone on Splitcoaststampers, but I don't know who from. I used Night of Navy, Sky Blue and White. I also used my Snowflake folder on my Cuttlebug. You can't tell in the picture, but I put some glitter on the snow flakes and at the bottom of the snowman. It is such a cute card.

I wanted to use my Cuttlebug some

more so

I came up with another one. This one I used Purely Pomegranate and Old Olive. I stamped the trees in Whisper White craft ink. I also put glitter around the edges of both trees. I finished all my glass etched jars this weekend too! Yay! Now I just need to make the candy to fill them and they are ready to go! That's still a couple weeks away though. This week my focus is Thanksgiving! I am thankful for so much this year! I am thankful I have a wonderful husband who is also my best friend. I am thankful to have a beautiful, little girl who gets cuter everyday. I am thankful that we are healthy and I am thankful to have a such wonderful family that I love very much. I am also very thankful for the awesome daycare provider that we have to watch our daughter! I hope everyone has a safe and Happy Thanksgiving!

Gift Tags!

I spent some time this evening working on Christmas Gift Tags and I think I may have enough to get us through the holidays! I made about 40 of all sizes. The Sizzix tag die cut that I bought to use with my Cuttlebug is awesome! It makes 3 different size tags. I used Old Olive, Purely Pomegranate; Real Read; Green Galore and Ballet Blue, then decorated white cardstock with corresponding colors. I bought some Fibers at a scrapbook store and tied some on the ends. I used Season of Joy and Tag Team stamp sets. I also used my scallop circle punch and my 1 3/8 inch circle punch. I had all these done in less than 2 hours, from start to finish! This picture is a few of my favorites:

They are now ready to be attached to presents! I was thinking how cool it would be if I had everything done for the holidays before December, then I could just sit back and relax! I'm not sure if its possible, but I'm going to try really hard to make it that way! I'm off to a pretty good start, I think. Just a few more things to do.

Paper Bags!

I needed something easy to make for my favors for Thanksgiving, I was going to go with a box of candy, but I decided to make the Pumpkin bread that I told you about in my previous post. So I needed something to put the breads in. I decided to go with a decorated lunch bag, however, the bread won't fit inside a regular size, so I had to go to the Flower Factor and I found a brown bag that will perfectly fit the loaves I made! Yay! Here is what I did:

I used the Fall Flowers Designer Series paper, and cut it to just about cover the paper bag. I then cut off the top of the paper bag and used my large oval punch to create a handle. I used my scallop circle punch and my 1 3/8 and 1 1/4 circle punches for the Grateful for You. I varied each of those between Really Rust, Old Olive and Sky Blue...depending on what paper was used. They turned out really cute! I will probably add some ribbon around the handle after I put the bread inside. While I was at Flower Factory I looked around for a centerpiece for my table and this is what I came up with:

I bought the plate for $2.75, the marbles for $2.00 and the candles were $4.05 for the 3, I tied them together with some raffia and voila, my centerpiece! For Christmas I will buy different colored marbles and candles. I got this idea in a candle store we were in a few weeks ago. If I would have bought the stuff there it would have cost me over $30! And I think mine is nicer =-) This would be a great gift for someone if you could figure out how to package it. I think I'm ready for Thanksgiving! All that's left is to cook!

The Crafts!

As promised, I have pictures of the crafts I made yesterday! What we have here is the basket I personally weaved, a Mary and Joseph figurine, a Snowman and an Angel bracelet. The basket was, of course, the hardest and time consuming. It was fun, but I'm not sure if I really need to do that again. I am very impressed with how it turned out, because I really thought it would look bad. And it was bigger than I expected. It took about 2.5 hours to weave, but the lady that was teaching the class was very patient with everyone and very helpful too. The other three crafts were done in about 10 minutes, each, very simple, but fun. They had all the supplies ready. The Mary and Joseph is just two upside down hearts and various additions for the face and baby Jesus, I bought a few xtra kits of this one to make as gifts (because I need more to do!!). The Angel bracelet was a small kit. I also bought an xtra one of these, I am going to give one to each of my nieces for Christmas. The snowman is two small straw hats painted white, glued together with pom poms for eyes and buttons. Very cute. This can be used for a magnet, ornament or a pin! Here is another picture of the basket to give you an idea of the size:

Today I got up and made some pumpkin bread to give away on Thanksgiving. I made 10 mini loaves and my husband, daughter and I split one of them to taste test it, ohhh they are yummy! As soon as they cooled I wrapped them and put them in the freezer, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist. Here is where I got the recipe. I highly recommend this recipe. It was so easy to make and very good.

Thanksgiving

I think I mentioned the other day that I have my place cards done for Thanksgiving. So I finally have a picture of one to show you: I used Sky Blue (notice that Sky Blue is the same color as the background of my blog! cool), Really Rust and White cardstock; and Really Rust and Old Olive ink. I stamped the names in Really Rust and used the Brushstroke Alphabet for the names and the Dotted Autumn Stamp set for the rest. This is similar to what is in the Stampin' Up! catalog, but a little different. I am happy with them. I have my menu planned and my party favors planned, I am going to work on the party favors this weekend. My next project is designing an invitation to our Christmas party. I will work on that next week, I think. Today I went to a craft event at a local church and had so much fun! I made 4 different crafts, be sure to check back to see pictures, I will try to get a picture tomorrow. My major craft was basket weaving, but I'll post more with the picture! I also wanted to share card I made for a friend's birthday:

On this one I used Blue Bayou, River Rock and Naturals Ivory cardstock; various inks and the Vases in Vogue stamp set. I also used a punch I purchased at a local scrapbook store. Hope everyone is enjoying there weekend! This fall weather is wonderful!!!!!

I think I need some help!

So I haven't had a lot of time lately to surf the web! (Which means I haven't spent a lot of time at Splitcoast Stampers). Today I decided I needed to look for some inspiration for my Thanksgiving Goodie bags and head over there. Big mistake! In the five minutes I was at the site I found 3 things I want to do and none of them have anything to do with my Thanksgiving goodie bags!! =-( Here is what I want to do (1) Paper Bows; (2) Scallop Circle Ornaments and (3) Gift Card Holders. I just had to leave the site. I already have plenty to keep me busy for the next 3 months and I don't need anymore projects!!! And you know what I figured out? It doesn't matter how early you start for Christmas, there is always something that pops up that you like better. I'm about 1/3 done with my Christmas cards and at my card club Tuesday night we did a card that I just love and want to do some of those for Christmas, but I told myself NO NO NO NO! You have a plan, stick with it! Plus it would require buying another stamp set and I just don't need to do that now! Especially with the new Stampin' Up! catalog coming out soon. That is my vent (for lack of a better word) for today.

Stained Glass Technique

I wanted to try a new technique today, so I pulled out my latest Stampin' Success and found the stained glass technique. It was so easy and I really liked it. I did a birthday card and a Veteran's day card for my dad. First you stamp your image(s) onto vellum using staz on. After that drys, turn the vellum over and color the image using watercolor crayons or pencils and then use a blender pen to blend. Turn over and adhere the vellum to white paper and voila! It looks so nice in person, but this picture isn't too bad. I used the Vases in Vogue for this one, I didn't think I would like this set, but I really do! It's so cute! And now for the Veteran's Day card... I had a hard time getting this picture. I tried scanning it, but it didn't come out too well, so I took the picture. The technique aspect of the card doesn't really show up, but I think the colors and the image turned out good. I used the Land that I Love stamp set for this. I wanted to use the flag, but I don't think it would have been a good image for this particular technique. I did color in the stars as well. I think this is a very easy technique and it ads so much to the cards!

I don't have a title!

I can't believe another week has flown by! In just two weeks it will be Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving! I'm sorry, I'm having a hard time believing that in two weeks it will be Thanksgiving! OK I have issues, but there's nothing we can do about that now, so on to some fun stuff! I made a few cards to include in a bag of goodies I am donating to a church for a silent auction and here is what I made:

I recently purchased the Season of Joy stampset out of the Holiday Mini. Originally I didn't really like it, but I started seeing it used and I just had to have it! I am really enjoying playing with it. This card was very simple. I used used Purely Pomegranate cardstock and ink and Wild Wasabi ink and threw some White craft ink in and voila. The snowflake is from the Holiday Tag Team stamp set. I'm really happy with this card. This next one is pretty simple as well. I used Wild Wasabi and Purely Pomegranate, of course! I also used the Happy Harmony designer paper. A little sponging technique on the white card stock. Isn't the ribbon so cute?

This one is my favorite, it is a criss-cross card!

More Purely Pomegranate (love this color!) More Happy Harmony designer paper and some of the Purely Pomegranate satin ribbon. The inside is my favorite...I love the Merry Christmas stamp (it is from one of the All Year Cheer III), I am so glad I bought that set before it retired. I am going to make some of these my Christmas cards this year. Oh, by the way, did I mention it's only two weeks until Thanksgiving? I need to get busy on my menu!