Christmas Happenings

So, it has been 2 months since my last post! I am not very good at this blogging thing. Maybe that should be one of my goals for 2011! I did want to share a few things that I made during this holiday season. Some were for gifts, for eating, for sending, etc. I ran out of time to do a few things I had on my list. Next year I plan to start earlier!! Here are some photos:

I made a few fun hair clips and decorated some bobby pins. I definitely plan to make more of these and add some new embellishments. They are fun and easy to make!

I got the recipe/idea for these fun little treats from my friend Kim. They are yummy and easy to make. I made some for our neighbors as well as some family members.

Here is one of the bags I put together with some treats for Josh's Grandma. I added a cute tag that I made.

Here is a shot of some more of the tags I put together.



Here is a close up view of some of the snowman ones (and one with a tree) I put together. I added a little bit of glitter. So cute!

I also got an order (thanks, Roxanne!) for some card sets used as stocking stuffers. I used the Sweetheart set to make this cute one. It would make great valentine cards as well!

I used Circle Circus for these next ones. I made 4 of the same card but then used different sentiments on each. I love the color combo on these as well!

Lastly, here is one of the Christmas cards that I sent out this year. I also used Circle Circus for this card. I was pleased with how it turned out!

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I will try to post again sooner than later. Happy New Year to you all!

October Club Projects

On Monday, the group of gals in my stamp club came over to make some fun fall projects. We created some neat paper embellishments using the scallop punch. We punched two scallops out of old olive, crumb cake, and a patterned paper from the Autumn Spice Designer Series paper set in the Holiday Mini catalog. We "crumpled" them up a little bit and held them together in the center with a brad. We then stamped a leaf image in chocolate chip ink and cut it out. We attached it to the scallops with a diminsional. They turned out really cute. The gals making cards used them on this card which uses a piece of another pattern paper from the same set. I'm not sure why my picture is in here sideways, but I don't know how to fix it!

Here is another picture of the card at an angle that shows the layers of scallops and how the "crumpling" added a fun texture.

Here is a photo of one half of the layout the scrapbook gals completed. It used a third piece of pattern paper from the set, old olive accent strips, and some fun ribbon loops attached to the crumb cake base.

Next month, we will be completing some Christmas themed projects. I'll be back posting them after next month's club night. Next, I think I will be showing you the cute cupcake birthday party invitations I made for Isabelle's party!!

Project Life Album

My friend, Kim Ryden, has been doing a great project this year, and I decided to join her on August 1st....better late than never right??? We are taking one picture every day of the year! I purchased this great kit off of Amazon that Becky Higgins put together. It is a binder, clear pages for photos, journaling cards, 12x12 paper, date stamp, and book marks. (I may have left something out). Anyway, it is everything you need to complete your album. It is great to keep me intentional on taking pictures and getting them printed out. Some of the pics are of the kids but some are of items such as a book I am reading at the time or a new item purchased. It will be so fun to look back through as time goes by and see what we were up to.

Here is a little bit closer look of one of the weeks in my album. You can see a shot of Owen ready for Awanas on the first night of club for the year, the boys at Fritz's, and some cards I completed at a crop I attended. As bigger events happen throughout the year like birthdays, I can insert scrapbook layouts into the binder!





If you are interested in doing this yourself, just search for Becky Higgins on Amazon. I know I will definitely be doing this again next year!!!

Scrapbook Layout

I kind of did things backwards (at least in my mind) and signed up to be a Stampin' Up demonstrator before I was very experienced in stamping and paper crafting. Since then, I have mainly been making cards and have been happy to stick to that, but this past Friday night I got to attend the crop at church and decided to take the plunge and do a scrapbook layout! I chose pictures from a recent morning playdate at the park. I think it turned out cute. It is simple but I like it that way.

The left page has pictures of each kid on the slides. I used some DSP (designer series paper) that was available only in the summer mini catalog and buttons from the brights collectioin.

The second page has two of my favorite pictures from the day and a bit of journaling. Of course, there are a few more buttons!

I really enjoyed putting this layout together and look forward to making more. That is a good thing as I have the boys' birthday party to put together along with a couple other fun pages from special summer memories!

Card sets for gifts!

A good friend of mine asked me to make some sets of cards for her to give to the table leaders of her MOPs group. She wanted to give a set of 8 cards with 3 different designs. I did a thank you with this cute little bird and flower stamp. The sentiment says, "Thanks...I needed that!" I added a couple silver brads and cut out the flower and raised it with a dimensional.

I also did a "hello" card that can be used for just about any occasion! The hearts and butterflies are so cute! I love this Hello Again set!
Finally, I did a "thinking of you" card that will also be very versatile. I love the color combo of the red, crumb cake, and chocolate chip! A little piece of ribbon adds a fun touch!

I put them together with envelopes and tied them with a ribbon bow. Such a cute gift that will definitely come in handy to the recipient. If you are interested in purchasing a set of cards for a teacher, friend, or other loved one let me know! They would be great gifts for the holidays just around the corner!!!

Card Event

Last night, I held my first card event since becoming a Stampin' Up demonstrator. Six gals came to make holiday cards and gift tags. I forgot to take a picture during the fun but here is one of the table set up before everyone arrived.

We made 2 different Christmas cards. I showed you one already in a previous post, and here is the second one. This little snowman is so cute! It is from the set Big On Christmas. I love the real red satin ribbon bow too!!
We also did one Thanksgiving card. We used the Falling Leaves set and added a little bit of chocolate chip ribbon!

Here is a shot of the gift tag we made using the Cute Christmas set from the Holiday Mini catalog. It is cute all right!

Thanks to everyone that attended! If you weren't able to come last night but are interested in attending an event let me know! I am also looking for a couple more people for my stamp club!! Ask me for details!!! Thanks for reading!

Gifts for my nephews

Over the weekend, we went to Tulsa to visit my brother's family and celebrate their little boy's second birthday as well as the upcoming arrival (any day now) of their new baby boy. Roman's birthday party was a truck/construction theme so I used the invitation to the party to create his birthday card. I made it at the Friday night crop I attended to complete the challenge of hand-writing a sentiment on the card. I also used the new sticker maker I received for free by taking an online survey to turn the cute little cones into stickers!

Of course I had to make a little card to go along with the gift for my soon-to-be born nephew, Levi. I used my Seeing Stars stamp set along with the Picture This hostess set. I also used one of my new brads from the brights collection. I loved all the bright colors together!

I wanted to make something for Levi and decided to cover a set of 4 blocks with some fun papers in bright colors and decorate each one with a letter from his name. His mom is planning to do an "under the sea" theme in his nursery in bright, tropical colors so I included a turtle, crab, and whale. I used buttons from the brights collection to make an "L".

Here you can see a few more of the patterned papers I used on the sides of the blocks. Hopefully it will find a perfect home in his room! We are so excited to get to meet him!!!

We had a fun weekend of partying and cousins playing together! Hope everyone had a great Holiday weekend!

Holiday Cards

I am hosting a card making party on Thursday September 9th at 7:00 pm at my home. We are going to be making 10 cards and 5 gift tags. The cost is $15 (cash or check). I will have everything cut and ready to stamp and assemble to make cute Thanksgiving and Christmas cards! You will also be able to see some new products from the Stampin' Up new Holiday Mini Catalog that just came out on September 1st. Below is one of the cards we will be making that night. I used the new stamp set called Holiday Happiness.

The card base is Old Olive, and I added a touch of satin ribbon in Real Red. It turned out cute! I am excited to start creating the rest of the cards and tags! Let me know if you are interested in attending the card making night so I will have supplies for you! I also just finished some cute cards and a gift for my nephews we are visiting this weekend. Stay tuned next week for pictures! I don't want to post them now and possibly ruin the surprise!

Friday Night Crop

Last Friday night, I was able to attend a crop held by my "stamping mentor" as my husband likes to refer to her. I had some of my own projects I was working on, but she had some "challenges" she had brought to give us some inspiration. I completed all 5 of her card challenges. I am going to include pictures of two of my favorites!

This one was based off of a sketch that she had drawn up. I love these little buttons. I think it turned out really cute!

This one was for the challenge of using old olive, pumpkin pie, and rich razzleberry as a color combination. I thought they looked like fall so I used them to make this Halloween card!

This one was not part of the challenges. I just wanted to use some of my new buttons and colored brads. I am also loving the crumb cake card stock!!

It was so refreshing to have an evening away from the house to be creative! If you are wanting to do the same, I am hosting a holiday card making party at my home on September 9th at 7:00 pm. We are going to be making 10 cards (2 Thanksgiving and 8 Christmas) and 5 gift tags. The cost is $15. Let me know if you are interested!!!