I Survived!

Well, what a busy long holiday weekend! Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving and survived Black Friday shopping, if you dared. I went shopping with my sister, leaving the house at 5:30 a.m. (yuck). But it was all worth it - I found some great deals and took care of several people on my gift list. But I still have more to do, including making more Christmas cards! Here's one that I made last month for Purple Onion Designs:

I really like making Christmas cards using non-traditional colors and, in this case, shapes! I used my circle and scallop Nestabilities again to make this round card, like I did here and here. After stamping and coloring the images, I added some punched snowflakes and placed little buttons in their centers. I also added Liquid Pearls on the tree for ornaments. Some fun pom pom ribbon and Aqua Mist polka dot ribbon finished it off.

Well, back to the work routine tomorrow morning! Which is a good thing - I think I've consumed more than my fair share of turkey and pie!

Stamps: Merriness and Deluxe Labels (Purple Onion Designs)
Ink: Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado (PTI), Antique Linen (Ranger)
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream, Sweet Blush (PTI)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle and scallop circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), snowflake punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Ribbon: Aqua Mist swiss dot satin (PTI), white wired pom pom
Other: Stardust pen (Sakura), Koh-I-Noor woodless colour pencils, buttons, Pink Petal Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Blog Decorating!

Surprise! Once again, I've stayed up way too late to redecorate my blog! I can't help myself...I just had to decorate for the holidays! And, in my usual fashion, I'll probably tweak a thing or two before I'm completely finished. So don't be alarmed if you notice a few changes over the next day or two! Most of the digital elements on my blog are from Heather Ann Designs, using the Reindeer Games digital kit. I just love her stuff!

Today's the Day...

Coffee? Check.
Comfy shoes? Check.
Sales ads? Check.
Gift list? Check.
Wallet? Check.

On your mark...get set...shop! Just don't drop.

Stamps: Date Me (Purple Onion Designs)

Ink: Basic Black (SU!)

Cardstock: Kraft, Dark Chocolate and SS White (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Pop Culture (K&I Memories)

Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle classic and scallop Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you are all having a terrific day with your friends and family. Gobble, gobble!

This is the last of the Fall/Thanksgiving cards. I actually made this card as part of the Design Team final call for Purple Onion Designs back in August. To make the wreath, I simply traced a circle on my cardstock using a very light shade of pencil. I then randomly stamped my leaves, inking them with a few different fall ink colors. I also added a few acorns. When it was all done, I went back with my Versamark pen and traced a few of the leaves and lightly dusted some gold mica powder for a bit of shimmer. It's a very subtle look, but it adds just the right amount of glitz, without being "too much."

The final touch was to add some of my favorite eyelash ribbon tied onto Dark Chocolate satin ribbon. Can't go wrong with chocolate! Have a great day!

P.S. I just realized how well my supply list coordinates with the Thanksgiving theme...lol!

Stamps: Purple Onion Designs

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip and Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Kraft (PTI)

Ink: Dark Chocolate (PTI), Creamy Caramel, Cranberry Crisp, Pumpkin Pie (SU!), Versamark

Other: Dark Chocolate satin ribbon (PTI), eyelash ribbon, Versamark pen, gold mica (pigment) powder

Papertrey Ink November Blog Hop

This month’s Blog Hop challenge was “Floral Frenzy” and the idea was to build our own floral embellishment. Whew, was this one ever tough for me! Mostly because I have been sick for several days, but also because I have been so immersed in Christmas that I was at a loss as to what to do with flowers! Then my good friend, Hollie, came up with a brilliant idea...poinsettias! Now I realize the idea of this challenge was to take a break from holiday projects, but…

Since I had already been working on this gift box, I started with that. I added a tiny poinsettia that I made using my daisy punch. I simply snipped the ends of the petals to make them less rounded. The box, by the way, was covered with my favorite new Melissa Frances patterned paper, a bit of Basic Grey and 7Gypsies flocked paper. I added a big snowflake that I inked up with white pigment ink and glittered with my latest obsession, crystal coarse glitter by Martha Stewart Crafts. I just love this stuff!

Now, for the big poinsettia. I apologize for not taking photos of how I put this together, but not only was this a last minute job, but I honestly didn't know if it would turn out (and I’m still not sure!). I made the poinsettia by punching out ovals with a paper punch and, again, trimming them to appear more poinsettia-like. I used a chipboard circle base to adhere the petals to, and to also add stability. I just continued to layer them until it looked filled in. The center is a small circle with three gold brads. I didn’t care for the finish, so I covered them with gold Liquid Pearls. The final touch was to ink the edges with white pigment ink and add more coarse glitter. I think it gives it a snowy, icy look. I also added a simple ribbon hanger and a tiny tag with some fun iridescent eyelash ribbon. The poinsettia could go into the box as a gift (an ornament), or it would make a great addition to a pretty wrapped package and I could save the box for another gift idea. So many options, so little time!



Enjoy the floral frenzy tonight! I can’t wait to see what everyone else has come up with!

Stamps: Made of Snow and Merry & Bright Additions (PTI)
Ink: Cranberry Crisp (SU!), Antique Linen (Ranger), white pigment (ColorBox), Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Wassail (Basic Grey), Savannah flocked (7Gypsies), Holly (Melissa Frances)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), tiny tags die for Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), slit punch (SU!), oval punch (Marvy), daisy punch, oval punch (McGill), circle punch (Fiskars)
Ribbon: Vintage Cream satin stripe (PTI), green with gold floral satin, iridescent white eyelash ribbon
Other: circle and snowflake chipboard (SU!), crystal coarse glitter (Martha Stewart Crafts), green felt flower (SU!), gold Liquid Pearls (Ranger), Glossy Accents (Ranger), gold brads, wood gift box (Michaels)

Let's Get Organized!

I discovered a little something last year that made preparing for the holidays just a smidge easier. A holiday planner! Some of you already do this, and others may prefer a binder or a larger type of notebook, but for me, this little notebook is the perfect thing to slip into my purse to keep all my holiday plans organized! And, I loved this project so much, I made three – one for me and two for friends! These make great little gifts!

Two things got me excited about this project right from the start. 1) This notebook from Target was a mere $1.99! And it has a nice and sturdy front and back cover! 2) My spiral punch from Stampin’ Up! works perfectly with it! No adjusting, marking, measuring…I just cut my paper and started punching! Insert happy dance here!

So now for the embellishing! I covered my planner with flocked paper from 7Gypsies. I’m lovin’ the flock these days! This paper is so holiday-ish, and it takes this notebook from Plain Jane to Sophisticated Sally in one easy step! I simply trimmed my paper as close as I could get it, punched it along the side and glued it down using my Ultimate Glue. When it was dry, I trimmed a bit more, then sanded the edges to finish it off. I designed my title on the computer and printed it out on Kraft cardstock. After trimming it down to size, I layered it with Dark Chocolate cardstock, punched, then adhered it to the front cover. I decided it needed a little more, so I stamped some snowflakes and added some sparkle with Diamond Stickles.

Now, onto the inside! I created some dividers for my planner by cutting cardstock to size and punching them with the spiral punch. I then created tabs by printing out my subjects ("Crafting," "Baking," etc.) onto Kraft cardstock. I had measured my tab punch to determine how small of a font I needed to use.

For my last subject, “Notes” (or “Calendars” on my planner) I printed out a November and December calendar onto Vintage Cream cardstock. This comes from a CD Calendar digital kit I bought last year from Heather Ann Designs. I added the word “notes” in Photoshop Elements, again sizing everything to fit on the page, printing it out, then punching.



Finally, I took a small envelope, sealed it, and then notched out the top with a circle punch. I punched it to fit inside and added it under my “gifts” tab to hold my receipts!





And there you have it! I’m organized and ready to go! It’s almost too pretty to use, but I promise, I will!







Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes (PTI)
Ink: white pigment (ColorBox)
Cardstock: Kraft, Vintage Cream and Dark Chocolate (PTI)
Patterned Paper: (7Gypsies), Festive & Frost (My Mind’s Eye)
Tools: tab, circle and spiral punches (SU!)
Other: Diamond Stickles (Ranger), Glossy Accents (Ranger), spiral bound notebook with elastic closure (Target), envelope (Office Max)

I'd Like to Thank the Academy...

ETA: Well, I'm a real dork. I got two bloggers mixed up, but have now fixed the error. Please note that person #2 has been corrected to read Nathalie Mejdoub. I'm blaming it on the fact that I was very sick when I typed this up, and the fact that her blog is written in French. It could happen...

ETA: I forgot to pass on the rules for the five people I awarded, although I'm sure they figured it out by now! But, here's what you do next:

1. The winner may put the logo on their blog.
2. Put a link to the person who sent you the award.
3. Nominate 5 blogs.
4. Put links to their blogs.
5. Leave a message for your nominees.

Okay, so it's not an Oscar, but I really don't have much of a chance at getting one of those. Besides, this means just as much...

The super talented Claire Brennan has awarded/tagged me with this Kreativ Blogger award. I don't know how this little award got started, but it's here now and I need to pass it on! And, please stop by Claire's blog to see what amazing things she has created - the woman is pure genius! Okay, now for five blogs that I would like to award:

1. Kimberly Crawford - Not only a very sweet and supportive lady, but she had loads of talent!
2. Nathalie Mejdoub - Fellow Purple Onion Designs team member. I love her style and bright, unique designs. (By the way, her blog isn't written in English, but the photos say it all!)
3. Heather Nichols (aka Pine) - Some of my favorite stamps were created by her!
4. Michelle Wooderson - Not only super crafty, but funny, too!
5. Tracy Schultz - She's got twice the talent - check out her beautiful jewelry, too!

I could have picked a ton more, but I wanted to stick to the rules! And I'll be back soon with my weekend projects!

Mini Notepad

Hello, all! Hope you are having a great weekend. I have had a rough week. First tending to a sick child, then getting sick myself! Boo. And I have no idea how he does it, by my husband manages to NEVER get sick! Instead, my daughter and I are like sickie twins - I get it, she gets it. She gets it, I get it! Ugh! So, forgive me for not going into great detail about this next project, but I have had a productive day (all things considered) and I have some great Christmas projects to share with you in the next day or two! When the going gets tough, the tough gets stamping!





This is another project for Purple Onion Designs using the Date Me stamp set. It's a mini note pad holder, with a magnetic clip. It was super simple to make! I just layered a few patterned papers, cutting them out with my circle classic and scallop Nestabilities dies. The notebook paper was cut with a die, too. (This is a great way to use up old notebooks that are partly scribbled on!) After adhering the layers, I notched out the top using a circle punch so that the clip would fit down low enough to "catch" the notebook paper, as those pieces are not adhered down. I hope that makes sense...

So, speaking of notes, do you need a little help getting organized for the holidays? If so, stay tuned for my next project!









Stamps: Date Me (Purple Onion Designs)
Cardstock: Kraft (PTI), So Saffron (SU!)
Patterned Paper: All My Memories (AMM)
Ink: Dark Chocolate Palette (PTI)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle and scallop Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)
Other: magnetic clip, notebook paper

Thankful

Another quick card tonight, or a quick post I should say. I'm up late (for me) due to the fact that I have a snoring husband and a sick, coughing child. No sense in just staying there in bed, TRYING to make myself fall asleep! But I'll be ready to give it another try after I finish up this post!

This card is one that I submitted as part of the final call for Purple Onion Designs. I kept the background fairly simple with patterned paper that I stamped with leaves and acorns. I just love that little acorn stamp from this set! The thing that makes this card so special is that I stamped right on the ivory ribbon. I used Dark Chocolate Palette ink from Papertrey Ink and it worked great!

Well, I'm off to bed, wish me luck!

Stamps: Purple Onion Designs

Cardstock: Dark Chocolate (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Wild Asparagus

Ink: Dark Chocolate (PTI), Creamy Caramel and Cranberry (SU!), Canary pigment (ColorBox)

Ribbon: ivory satin looped (Michaels)

You Can Dance

Just a quick post tonight to share a project I'm working on. This week I am scanning some of my four year old daughter's artwork from the past year so that I can turn it into a keepsake album that I'm purchasing online at Snapfish. Actually, the album is free thanks to Oprah (did you see that show?). While the album will have some photos, it will mostly contain her drawings. And she loves to draw! And these days it's all about the princess thang.

With each drawing, I'm asking her to tell me about the picture and I'm typing her quote to include in the album. Here's the story for this drawing:

"That is Sleeping Beauty. There is a friend standing right there and he doesn't have a face. He lives in a pumpkin. In a disco."

So, as you can imagine, I had a few questions running through my head after she said that. But my initial thought was, "How the heck does she know the word disco?" That was immediately followed by the tune, "Dancing Queen." Ugh..Gotta get that song out of my head!!

Quick & Easy

This month's Guest Star Stamper contest at Papertrey Ink included a category for "quick and easy" holiday cards. Since I was having a busy month, I decided this would be the only project I would enter. And you know what? Sometimes quick and easy isn't always that easy to think up! But I had a few self-imposed requirements - things that I thought would make a card "quick and easy":

1. No coloring
2. No heat embossing
3. Minimal cutting of paper

So, with that, I came up with this card:

The first step on this card was to create two sets of score lines on the card base using my Scor-Pal. It's very hard to see them in this photo, but you can see them better on the next one. After that, I masked off with a piece of scrap paper and stamped my snowflakes and stippled white pigment ink around the edges, for a snowy look.

The next step was to stamps my sentiments along the top and bottom edges. To do this, I placed all three words on one acrylic block, evenly spaced out. This makes stamping much quicker! And nothing says quick and easy like a punch! I used both the Marvy oval regular and scallop punches on this card for the main image. The little tree was stamped on white cardstock, with a bit of Liquid Pearls for ornaments. This adds an extra step, but could easily be excluded if you really want to keep things simple.

Lastly, I added tiny dots of white around the scallop edge of my oval using a white gel pen. The whole thing was adhered to the card using foam mounting tape.

So, after the initial concept was figured out, this card really is quick and easy to make. And with punches, you can easily take care of a few steps while you're watching your favorite television show!

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes and Merry & Bright Additions (PTI)
Ink: white pigment ink, Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Cardstock: Kraft, SS White and Pure Poppy (PTI)
Tools: oval regular and scallop punches (Marvy Uchida), Scor-Pal
Other: white Signo gel pen, Ruby Red Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Christmas Stocking Ornament

Have you seen any of the buck naked chipboard from Cosmo Cricket? Well, I scored big time at my local scrapbook store and picked up two packs of the Buck Naked Ornaments for half off! And I put it to good use to make this little ornament for Purple Onion Designs:

It simple, cute, and a quick holiday gift for a teacher, co-worker, or yourself! The cuff, toe and heel of the stocking are all separate pieces of chipboard. I love the dimension it gives to the project! I simply added a little tag stamped with my new Date Me stamp set (love it!), added some twine and a sparkly snowflake button. And that's it!

Speaking of the Date Me stamps, there's still time to win your very own set of these wonderfully versatile stamps on Michele's blog. You have until tomorrow (Sunday) night, so don't wait! I'll be sharing more about my Date Me projects over the next week or two, so make sure you visit me often!

Stamps: Date Me (Purple Onion Designs)

Ink: Pure Poppy and Dark Chocolate (PTI), Antique Linen distress ink (Ranger)

Cardstock: Vintage Cream (PTI)

Patterned Paper: Wassail (Basic Grey)

Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Tiny Tag die for Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft)

Other: twine, snowflake button

This Just In!

Michele from Purple Onion Designs just posted a bunch of the design team's projects for the new Date Me stamp set! And this is the best part: You can win one of these sets just for posting a comment on her blog! So, what are you waiting for? Get on over there! And check back on my blog this weekend when I'll post one of the Date Me projects I did for this set!

Not a Birthday Card

Happy Friday! I’m so glad to have made it through this week! It was a busy one and I’m looking forward to the weekend. My niece and nephew turned seven yesterday (they are twins) and we have two birthday parties to go to this weekend! One on Saturday that’s just for the kids, and then the family birthday party on Sunday. And since there are two of them, that’s like having four celebrations! Whew! You’d think I’d have a few birthday cards to show you today, but nope…it’s a Christmas card!

Do you recognize that I used my new Label 1 die on this card? It’s very subtle, but the patterned paper was cut along the edge with the die, just to give it that wavy label shape. I don’t know what I was going for here, but I think it turned out okay. And the little tree is from the Merry & Bright Additions set from Papertrey Ink. There are a few different trees included in the set, but I seem to keep coming back to this particular one. And I jazzed it up this time with a bit of Liquid Pearls in two different colors - red and gold. I also used my new long rectangle Nestabilities to both cut and emboss. This shape is perfect for trees!

And, by the way, this is a 3 x 6 inch card, one of my newly discovered favorite sizes! I was able to find envelopes to fit them at an office supply store...on clearance no less!

Okay, so next up will be the birthday cards. I just have to make them first! Then buy the presents! Nothing like waiting until the last minute…

Stamps: Merry & Bright Additions (PTI)
Ink: Dark Chocolate and Ripe Avocado (PTI)
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, SS White, Spring Moss (PTI)
Patterned Paper: Wassail (Basic Grey)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), long rectangle plain and scallop Nestabilities dies, Label 1 Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders)
Ribbon: Spring Moss satin (PTI)
Other: Stardust pen (Sakura), gold and ruby red Liquid Pearls (Ranger)

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Happy Veteran's Day! No day off for me, but that's okay. If you are home today, do a little extra crafting for me, will ya'?

I made this card right off when I received my Snowfall stamp set from Papertrey Ink, then I stuck it away and forgot all about it! So...here it is! It's a simple little card, I just wanted to get ink on all those new stamps! The background was embossed with my Swiss Dots embossing folder and I dragged my white pigment ink pad over it to give it a snowy look. I punched out a few snowflakes and stamped them with one of the smaller stamps from the set. The sentiment stamp I curved slightly as I placed it on my acrylic block, so that it would flow a bit better with the snowflake flurry.

And, baby, it is getting cold outside! I started going sweater shopping this weekend, only to discover the latest trend seems to be short sleeves. Now...does that make sense? A short sleeved cable knit sweater? I guess the idea here is to layer? Why do I suddenly feel so un-hip?

Stamps: Snowfall and Polka Dot Basics (PTI)
Ink: white pigment (ColorBox), Ocean Tides (PTI)
Cardstock: Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides and Kraft (PTI)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), Swiss Dots embossing folder for Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft) snowflake punch (Martha Stewart Crafts)
Other: Stardust pen (Sakura)

A Little Peace

Happy Monday! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was pretty busy. I worked away on my Purple Onion projects for this month. I'm very happy at how they turned out and will share them all with you just as soon as I can!

While the creativity was flowin', I cranked out a few more Christmas cards. I came up with a card that seemed slightly different from some of the others I've made lately. It's a bit vintage, a bit rustic, and a touch elegant. Or at least that's how it looks to me...




I picked up some of the new Basic Grey Wassail paper this weekend and I had to give it a whirl. These two patterns are probably my favorite so far. I added a bit of distress ink to the edges of the snowflake paper to give it more age. The red floral piece was punched with my Threading Water punch by Fiskars, then lightly sanded around the edges. And there's just a little strip of flocked paper tucked in there, too.

The large snowflake was stamped with ivory acrylic paint, then the word "Peace" was stamped around the edges. I then lightly stamped smaller snowflakes with more distress ink, just to fill in the large circle a bit. I added a button to the center and outlined the circle and the snowflake with my Stardust pen, although you can't see it in the picture. It's just the right about of sparkle for this card.





I like this card so much, it is definitely one I'll have to duplicate for family and friends. So this may not be the last time you see this card...

Stamps: Rustic Snowflakes, Snowfall and Merry & Bright Additions (PTI)
Ink: Pure Poppy (PTI), Antique Linen Distress (Ranger)
Cardstock: Vintage Cream and Kraft (PTI), Chocolate Chip (SU!)
Patterned Paper: Wassail Collection (Basic Grey), Savannah Flock Papers: Bird (7gypsies)
Tools: Cuttlebug (ProvoCraft), circle Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Crop-a-Dile, Threading Water punch (Fiskars)
Ribbon: brown wire
Other: Stardust pen (Sakura), red button, twine, ivory acrylic paint