My Christmas Cards

These are the cards I made to send to specific family members. I wish I was so full of talent that I could come up with 35 or 40 different cards so each family on my list would receive their own, unique card. But since that is never going to happen, I will settle for a few individual ones :)
 The first two are for my grandkids. I will admit the Santa and Chimney  one - from Simply Charmed -is my all time favorite card I have made so far! When I added the last of the Stickles ( more glitter, Grammie!! ) and stepped back, well, I was SOO happy with the results. The Reindeer card has been in in my head for my grandson's first Christmas card since I first got Create A Critter in the mail. I couldn't find background paper the I loved so I altered some I liked to suit me.

 

The next two I totally copied the main idea from a  very talented poster on the Cricut message boards. I am sorry I can't remember who you are, but I will give you credit if I can find the original post, or some one lets me know who it was :) The Smiley faces and the ho ho ho's are from the Smiley Cards cart for the Gypsy. The Santa hat is from Paper Doll Dress Up.

And lastly, I needed a more masculine card for our nephews. I have had this Stampin Up stamp since last year and hadn't used it. I think I will  be using it more for next year. I can see lots of other design uses for this image .

The plain papers and ink are Stampin Up and the patterned papers are Die Cuts With a View.

Some day I will be better at writing down the sizes I cut things at, but not this time... sorry...

I have one more card to get a picture of, hopefully tomorrow...

Thanks for stopping by. Feel free to leave me a comment and let me know what you think :)

Almost Ready!

Hello everyone!

I have finally finished my cards, tags and wrapping. I have taken pictures of most everthing, now just need an hour to compose the post to go with them all.

I hope to get it done tonight, so look for pictures tomorrow!

Countdown to Christmas ....4 days!!  Can't wait!!

Christmas Banner

I have a large window at work that was just screaming - Decorate Me!!! I knew I wanted to make a banner and that was all I took with me into my craft room. When I came out... I had this ..
                             

                            

                                                                                     

                                                                             

I spent way to much time on the elves, but I am very happy with how they turned out. The fan circles that are behind them, well, I need to be shown how to make them.... they gave me fits.

But in the end I love this banner and I got lots of compliments from my co-workers.

The banner is from Country Life -7" and the elves are from Paper Doll Dress Up - 3.5".
The paper is Diecuts With a View and Stampin Up.

I so wish I could get my Christmas crafting energy going in August, then I would have so much more ready now :)
Oh well, maybe next year!

Thanks for stopping by. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think !
                                   

I Love Blog Land!!

I can't begin to tell you how glad I am that I discovered this wonderful world of blogging. I have found so many people who share this love of crafting with each other and give, so generously, their ideas and creations. I honestly can't wait to get home from work every day, make my cup (or pot) of coffee, and sit at my computer to get 'lost' in the land of blogs! It's a good thing this didn't exist when my kids were little... I would have had a real problem :)
OK... back to the reason I started this post !

One of my new blogging friends, Sharon  , has put a huge smile on my face this morning... she is sharing this Award with me!! How amazing is this !!
           

Sharon has a great blog, with projects that will inspire you to create your own versions, so please go and visit her :)

The requirements for receiving this award are to list 3 things that give your blog attitude and then nominate 5 other blogs with some 'tude. Lastly, post this award on your blog ( that's the best part !). The nominating part is easy..

1. Shelly at Create with Me

2. Joy at Blondemommy's Blog

3. Tatiana at Created by Tatiana

4. Beccy at Beccy's Place

5. craftini-time.blogspot.com

Now for my 3 things about my blog:

1. My blog is much more organized than my craft room !

2. I want to learn how to put all the cool icons on my blog that I see on others.

3. I am hoping to share more projects that I make with my daughters and granddaughter.

I hope you visit each of the blogs I have nominated and leave them comments.... that is the best thing about blogging... reading all the wonderful things others say about your creations!

Have a great weekend.

Thanks for stopping by :)



                                       

See What Happens....

See what happens when you follow a blog hop?  You can get goodies like these in the mail!!
 

                                                           


Yup, that's what happened to me when I followed the Cricut Card Fairies blog hop. I left a comment on Scrappy Jess's blog and was chosen to receive her wonderful blog candy. Thank you so much Jess :)
 So I urge you all to follow the next blog hop you find. You will see some amazing projects and maybe find a new blog  or two to follow.
Oh yea, don't forget to leave comments to let them know you appreciate all the hard work and effort that goes into a hop, cause you never know what might happen :)

Thanks for stopping by....

I Was Given An Award!!

Oh My Gosh!!!!
Yolanda at Crafty Scentiments gave me this award!

When I first started talking to my daughters about starting a blog, I was only thinking of having a place to share my projects with, hopefully, new friends and my family. I never thought about being given any type of blog award. This is so GREAT!! Thank you Yolanda!!!

This is a pay-it-forward style award. Here are the rules:
1. Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this
2. Share 8 things about yourself
3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers that you have recently discovered
4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about their awards.

Here are 8 things  about myself
1. My husband is my biggest crafting enabler
2. My favorite time is crafting time with my daughters and granddaughter
3. I am a paper hoarder
4. I spend more time blog surfing than crafting
5. I love Harry Potter and the Twilight series
6. I would leave my Christmas decorations up all year long if I could
7. I am addicted to buffalo chicken bites
8. My Gypsy is my all time favorite crafting tool

 Being so new to the blogging world, I am finding new blogs all the time.. So I am going to share this award with 8 of my new blogging friends who,like me, don't have a lot of followers yet. They do have awesome blogs, though!

1. Amy at http://amydesigns.blogspot.com/
2. Shirley G at http://cardsbyshirleyg.blogspot.com/
3. Debra at http://outofmyhead-debra.blogspot.com/
4. Doris at http://momsbeenscrappin.blogspot.com/
5. Lisa at landofencraftment.blogspot.com
6. Rachel at trickut-rachelscrafts.blogspot.com
7. Houses Built of Cards at http://housesbuiltofcards.blogspot.com/
8. Brenda at infinite-possibilities.blogspot.com

I hope you visit each of the above blogs and let them know how great their blogs are.

Thank you for stopping by!





                                                      

Turkey and Pilgrim Cards

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I wanted to get these 2 cards posted today

as I won't have much time for the rest of the week.

My family is arriving later this afternoon

and our house will be full

of food, fun and kids!!

What a wonderful thing!!

These are the cards I made for my grandkids.

I used my Cricut, Create a Critter

and

Paper Doll Dress Up.

The cardstock is Stampin Up and

the designer paper is

Die Cuts With a View

The turkey is cut at 4 inches.

For my sassy little pilgrim girl

I used Stampin Up and Die Cuts With a View

papers and cut her out at 5 inches.

Of course her cute smile is from

Peachy Keen Stamps.

I am still working on making the hair feature on the

dolls look a bit more realistic, so if any of you

have suggestions, I would love to hear them!

I hope you all have a safe and happy

Thanksgiving!

Thanks for stopping by!

Wow... I won some blog candy!!

I followed the

Cricut Card Fairies

blog hop over the weekend

and WON some blog candy from

 Scrappy Jess .

She has an amazing blog

with lots of great projects and how to's!

Go check it out! I know you will love it, too!

I hope to get the cards I madefor my grandkids

posted tomorrow, so come back and check them out!

Thanks for stopping by !

More for OWH !

I know I still have my Thanksgiving cards

to finish and I haven't even started my Christmas cards!

But what did I spend my crafting time on

this weekend??

Yup... more Valentines cards :)

I was so inspired by all the cards I saw

On the Operation write Home

Valentine blog hop Saturday, I had to make a few more!

The circle was cut on the cricut by welding

2 scallop circle shadows from

Mini Monograms at 4.22"

The inner circles are the regular image

cut at 4.22" and 4.0"

The stamps are from

Stampin UP.

I arrived at this card from stamping the image

and then picking a paper

to go with it.

That's not my usual style, but am trying to

expand my horizons a bit :)

My next test will be to see if I can follow a scetch!

The stamps and cardstock are

Stampin Up

and the designer paper is

from my stash.

If you want to see more of the hop from Saturday

visit OWH Stars and Stamps

all the cards are posted there!

Thanks for stopping by !

OWH Be My Valentine Blog Hop

Welcome to the

Operation Write Home

Be My Valentine Blog Hop!

I am so excited to be a part of this

wonderful event.

This is my very first blog hop.

It's such a great organization that I knew I just had to be a part of it :)

Please stop by Joann's daily and vote for OWH to win a $50,000.00 donation!!!

In addition, Archway is helping with a special mission.

Click Here to check it out!

This is one of the Valentine cards I have made to send to OWH before the

deadline of January 1, 2011.

I hope you will visit all the great blogs that are participating in this hop and leave lots of comments.

You will see tons of great projects and gets lots of ideas for your Valentine cards.

Your next stop is

Patrice at My Littel Patch of Dirt

Have fun and I hope you come back and visit my blog again!

All supplies to make this card are from

Stampin Up

PS... the deadline for Christmas cards  has passed :( ...

 but mark your calendars for next year :)

Christmas Tissue Cover

Here is my first Christmas cover.

I have several more planned.

They are so easy to make and then

decorate any way that fits the occassion.

My daughter has asked for one with snowmen to match her bathroom decorations.

You can find the complete directions Here.

There are lots of great tutorials at

Splitcoast Stampers for you to check out.

Don't forget to come back Saturday, the 11th

for the Operation Write Home

Be My Valentine Blog Hop.

It is my very first time participating in any sort

of a hop and I can't wait!!

As always, thanks for stopping by and let me

know what you think of my Tissue cover :)

 

Give Thanks

I am trying to find a design that I really like for my Thanksgiving cards.

I don't have to have very many, but would like to make them all the same to save time for all the Christmas projects I can't wait to make !

I am very happy with this card. It appeals to my sense of 'keep it simple'



Cardstock - Stampin Up

Old Olive

So Saffron

Cajun Craze

Whisper White

Ink - Stampin Up

Old Olive

Cajun Craze

Stamp sets - Stampin Up

French Foliage

Lovely As A Tree

Holiday Best (ret)

Scallop Edge Punch

Nestabilities - Big Scallop Oval

Don't forget to come back on Saturday

Nov. 13th for the

Operation Write Home

Be My Valentine Blog Hop!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Seasons of Thanks

I had picked up a glue pad a few weeks ago but hadn't had a chance to use it until today.

It really did make applying glitter to a stamped image

very easy.

It's odd how I can picture a color combo in my mind but when I go to actually put them together in a card,

it looks nothing like I thought it would :)

I had planned to use more of the dark colors on this card, but as you can see...

ended up with more of a lighter palette!

Stampin Up cardstock: Baja Breeze

Cajun Craze

So Saffron

Stampin Up Old Olive Ribbon

Stampin Up White Craft Ink

Stampin Up Harvest Home stamp set

Clear embossing powder

Glitter... unknown

Thanks for stopping by.

Don't forget...

 Sat, Nov 13th

Operation Write Home

Be My Valentine Blog Hop!!



Operation Write Home

I am so excited today!

 I love to make cards, all kinds and using all sorts of materials, techniques and designs. The only problem with that is I make them and then have no one to give them to. Well, that has all changed! I have discovered Operation Write Home . This group has a wonderful mission to bring handmade cards to our troops who are stationed overseas.

Now I have a place to send all of my cards that usually have no special home. I just make a card to use a particular stamp or an image that I like on a Cricut cartridge and it gets put in a file or box and is forgotten. Not anymore! 

Saturday, November 13th, I am participating in my very first blog hop - the Be My Valentine Blog Hop for Operation Write Home. It will be a wonderful way for lots of people to see great cards andget to know about OWH.

I hope you will come back on the 13th and follow the hop!

Anniversary Card

I have such good intentions of getting special cards made well before they are actually needed, but then I realize that I have missed the occasion completely!

So when my best friends anniversary came and went and I didn't have their card made, I spent time in my craft room and came out with this card.

The paper is Stampin Up and DCWV, the birds were cut from the Imagine More cartridge and the punches are Stampin UP.

I am very happy with the way this card card turned out. The only thing I would do differently is maybe use an edge punch on the blue strip across the middle.

What do you think?? 

Please leave me a comment with your thoughts!

Thanks for stopping by !

Halloween Cards

I have always bought holidays cards for my grandkids, but this year since, I forgot to get them, I decided to make them.

My granddaughter is going as Ariel and my grandson is Tigger.

Ariel was easy but I didn't have the right paper for Tigger, so I guess I turned him into a cheetah...

oh well, he's only 8 months old so I don't think he will mind :)

The kids are from Paper Doll Dress Up cut

at 3.5".

The papers are Stampin Up, K&Company and DCWV Safari stack.

The sentiments were done on the computer and punched with Stampin Up punches.

The faces are Peachy Keen stamps and the ribbons are from my 'collection'.

Stickles were added to Ariel 'cause my grandaughter wants glitter on everything :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Sour Cream Treats

I have wanted to make these cute little treat containers for a long time. I finally got to it this afternoon... to give out tonight... ok, cutting it close...

But they took no time at all, really. I used my own size, 4 x 6 inches and paper from a stack from

Me & My Big Ideas.

I used the Cuttlebug folder - Boo To You - and then punched the images out with a 1" punch and layered them on a 1.5" scallop and 1.75" circle.

The ribbon is from a package from Paperwishes.

Thanks for stopping by!

I would love for you to leave a comment and let me know what you think of my blog and projects!

Imagine More Birthdays

I finally got my Imagine to print close to the colors represented in the book and on the screen. They still aren't as dark as I would like, but it's definately better.

I am very happy with this card, my first using the Imagine.



The cartridge is Imagine More, cut at 5 inches. I cut 2 of the scalloped layer and put one on the inside of the card.  The paper and ribbon are Stampin Up and the stamp is Papertrey Ink.

Hope you like it!

Thanks for stopping by :)

Tissue Box Cover

As soon as I saw the tutorial on Splitcoaststampers

for this project, I knew I was going to make it!

This is my 1st of many...can't wait to try one for Christmas!

The cardstock is Stampin Up as is the white ribbon.

The cute little hanging charm is from the
SU set  Harvest Home stamped with Stayzon on white shrink plastic and colored with SU watercolor pencils.

The tutorial can be found Here.

Thanks for looking !

Fall Leaves

I'm not really sure what to call these. I sat down to make some sort of decorations to put on my bulletin board at work and these are what I ended up with.

I am pretty happy with the way they turned out and as I am typing this I just thought they would make great tags!

The leaves are from Stretch Your Imagination and Gypsy Wanderings. The circle and scalloped circle the preloaded ones on the Imagine.

I used the gypsy to set up and cut the layers of the leaves and the Imagine to cut the rest.

The papers are all Stampin Up as is the ribbon.

The flowers are from Paper Wishes and the brads from my 'collection'.

Thanks for looking.

I would love for you to leave a comment and tell me what you think :)

Tori's Pink Elephant

Tori's kindergarten class is called

the Elephants.

So during her visit this weekend

we decided to make a pink one for her

to take to her teacher.

She helped pick out the and colors

and the glitter!

Usually she would have been controlling

the gypsy and taking the mat out  and such,

but we did this before the updates to the Gypsy.

 But she was happy with results and

her teacher loved it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Please leave a comment and let us know

what you think of Tori's elephant :)

We used Create a Critter and Nursery Tales

and cut the elephant out at 5 inches.

I sponged the edges with Melon Mambo

and used glittter glue that I got from AC Morre

Halloween Post It Holder

I found this Post It Holder online

quite sometime ago, but I have forgotten where.

So I am giving all the credit for the original

idea to the unknown creator,

with a BIG thank you!!

I think they will make a nice

'non candy' teacher gift.

Thanks for stopping by :)

The details:

Cardstock - Stampin Up

Patterned Paper - Me and My Big Ideas

Cuttlebug folder - Spiderweb

Champagne Shimmer Mist

Cricut Cartridges - Happy Hauntings and Simply Charmed

Ribbon - Paperwishes

Punch - Stampin Up   1 3/4 Circle

The base is 8 x 5.5 , scored at 3.74 and 4.25

The inside pocket is 4 x 6 scored at .5 and 5.5 on the 6 inch side  and .5 in the 4 inch side



Boo Banner

Dani wanted Halloween decorations for her dorm room

and since my latest obsession is banners,

well, that's what I decided to make.

I used Country Life for the pennants and Happy Hauntings for the letters.

The pennants were cut at 5 inches and the letters were cut at 1 .75 inches

The paper is Stampin Up and Me and My Big Ideas.

Thanks for looking.

Please leave a message and let me know what you think :)

Pink Pilgrim

I made this card to enter in the Hope You Can Cling To Challenge at Splitcoast Stampers.

It is the first challenge I have entered. I think I am hooked!

Now I have to make the time to do more :)

I used Paper Doll Drees Up and

cut the pilgrim at 3.5 inches

used

Peachy Keen and Stampin Up stamps

Stampin Up cardstock and corner punch

Fiskars scallop edge

Please let me know you stopped by

Leave a comment !!

Thanks for looking :)

Dorm Room Decor

I was asked to make wall size letters to spell out Dani's name

so she can put it up on the wall in her dorm room.

She wanted pinks, browns and blues.

I used Ashlyn's Alphabet cut at 5"

with DCWV papers

and lots of embellishments from my 'collection' !

Hope she likes it!

Halloween Banner

I wanted to make something special for my daughters dorm room. I have seen so many wonderful banners that I wanted to try one, too.

I designed the whole project on my Gypsy but had some help choosing the papers.

I used Country Life and happy Hauntings cartridges

the patterend paper is Me and My Big Ideas

and the ribbon was a bundle from Paper Wishes.

I can see a few more of these for the upcoming holidays!

Thanks for stopping by!

First Challenge Card

I started this blog to push myself into the world of crafting challenges. When I saw the challenge on Split Coast Stammpers, I figured this was the one to get me off and running. For the month of October one of their challenges is Pink Holiday. Basically, turn any holiday into a pink one. So I decided to pink up Thanksgiving, a very under rated holiday, in my opinion!

The details:
Card stock is Stampin Up - Very Vanilla, Melon Mambo and Chocolate Chip
Pattered Paper -  DCWV
Ink is Stampin Up - Melon Mambo and Craft White
Stampin Up Iredescent Ice Embossing Powder
Cricut Cartridge - Paper Doll Dress Up
Ribbon - Stampin Up Pretty in Pink
Fiskars Border Punch


I had so much fun and just a little anxiety making this card. I know I will be answering the challenge call as often as I can now!

Thanks for stopping by!

The Begining

Today starts my blogging adventure. I am begining this blog with absolutely no idea of what I'm doing! The only thing I know about blogging is how to follow them and spend hours reading them. I hope in the days to come that I figure out the basics and then move on to a place where I can put things I have had fun making. I am hoping to share this place with my two daughters, who also love to make things.

So off I go to learn how to do this thing called blogging :)  Wish me luck!