Christmas Tag

We had so much fun with our tag swap!  I don't think I have laughed that hard in a long time!  Here is one of my finished tags; it's my take on one of Tim Holtz's Twelve Tags of Christmas from a couple years ago. The best part of it was trying out alcohol ink for the first time. And of course, there's my Christmas Lodge again. :)

I will probably be MIA for a while because I'm having foot surgery and we're moving!  I'm in the process of trying to put together a craft pack to take with me to the temporary house.  I think it needs to be about the size of a big suitcase though...

Corgi Mini Album Cover (and tag sneak!)

  Well, I can see that this mini album is going to be a very long-term project.  Ohhh I both love and hate long-term projects.  Love because there is never a question about having an idea of which project to do next, hate because I don't like having unfinished projects.  (There's just a little bit of my rigid personality coming out there...)  


Obviously, this is going to be a mini album about my dogs thanks to my nieces' suggestion, so here is how the cover turned out.  Totally Pinterest inspired, and I used my Christmas Lodge stamps again.  I'm telling you, I've used that set so much already!

And here's a sneak of my Christmas tags to pique your interest.  Now, I realize that I don't really have to do a sneak, I could just post them, but then it would ruin some of your surprises.  They were super fun!  Even after mass producing seven of them, yes, seven because I didn't like the first one and I wanted one for myself, I was STILL having fun.  Now that's a good tag.  You'll just have to wait until Friday to see the rest!

Wishes and Wonder

I think snowflakes and pom poms make cardmakers happy.  It's like being back in third grade when your teacher showed you how to cut out snowflakes from a square of paper and then hung them all from the ceiling.  The fun just never stops!  

This card was made once again from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather paper that I got last year.  I love the diversity of the colors in it!  There are some with classic red and greens, and others that have purple (the polka dotty one is purple, but it's hard to tell) and light blue.  Gorgeous!

Vintage Christmas

Once again, I had some fun playing with the goodies from my new Christmas Lodge set (and if you want it, it's only available until Jan. 3, so I'd be calling your Stampin' Up demonstrator asap...and if you don't have one, I can get you in touch with a good one...)

This set comes with two cute little stamps that both have evergreenery (nope, that is not a word, but it works for this situation) on them: one with the little birds, and one just with curved branches.  I repeatedly stamped them into a wreath, then fussy cut two of the little birds out, watercolored them red and used Crystal Effects to gloss them up.  If you look closely, one of those little guys is staring straight at YOU!  Oh, he is just so cute.

Dec. 25

How much am I loving this stamp set?  Yep, that's right.  A lot.  The possibilities are endless!

I stamped the lodge in green on cardstock, then stamped it in black and fussy cut it, leaving the trees out.  I glittered the black-stamped house and used pop dots to give it some dimension...which doesn't really show in the picture even though I tried to take the bottom picture at an angle.  But you get the idea.  I paired it with some twine and a little jingle bell, and there you have it.  This card was super fun to make!

Supplies: 

Cardstock: Craft, Naturals Ivory (Stampin' Up)

Patterned Cardstock: Graphic 45

Rubber stamp: Christmas Lodge (Stampin' Up)

Ink: Black (Stampin' Up), Forest Moss and Brushed Corduroy (Ranger Ink)

Twine, Acetate, and Jingle Bell: JoAnn Crafts

It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas!

Is it really almost Christmas again already??  Yes, it is!  Yay!  I think I did my first layout last Christmas break, and now it's time for more Christmas cards and layouts!  

This is probably one of my favorite pictures of my hubby, me, and our crew of pets.  I'm getting double kissed :)  Awww.  This is us putting up our Christmas tree last year, and of course, the dogs just wanted to get into everything and the cat (or kitten back then) could not stop trying to tear everything apart.  Afterward, we drank huckleberry white hot chocolate and admired our little tree.  What a good memory.

These beautiful papers are from Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather collection.  Love!  (And by the way, Jess, I am so glad I went back and got that acetate pack last weekend!)

Christmas Lodge

My donated Christmas cards packs turned out great, and sold at the auction!  Okay, no one made millions off of them, but I'm glad that at least someone wanted them!  I had to hurry up yesterday between working out, cleaning house, finishing report cards, and my father-in-law coming to get one more card finished, so I broke out my new most favorite stamp set EVER and thought of a simple design that I could do quick!!!  Here's what came out, and I added it to the set with the Christmas tree and angels and called it good.  I do wish you could see the glitter a little better though...

Confession--I had a bit of a hard time giving these two packages of cards away...sigh.

Just the fact that the stamp set is called "Christmas Lodge" just gives me visions of sitting in front of a big fire with cozy socks, hot chocolate, and a book.  Mmmmmmm.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up except the button from my stash.

Christmas Card Pack

So every year I try to find something to donate to one of our local community organizations for a fundraiser they hold every fall.  So this year I FINALLY got my act together, (actually, it had nothing to do with my act and everything to do with being completely consumed by finishing my master's degree)...and I'm going to donate a "handmade Christmas card pack."  Or what else do you think I could call it so it sells big at the silent auction they have?


I think I will put five cards in it, but I've been so inspired, I will have more than five cards to choose from, so help me out by leaving a comment about which 5 you like together!

#1
Yay for my new cricut that cuts cute little trees!

#2
Okay, I really love this card. What a beautiful picture!

#3
Yummy yummy red and blue papers both from Graphic 45.

#4
Papercrafts inspired!

#5
The poinsetta was made with STOP THE WORLD---red GLITTERY embossing powder.
When you heat it, it just gets glittery-er.  Is that a word?

#6
This is NOT my design, it's my sister's.  I made this card last year at a Christmas Stamp-a-stack that she hosted.
I think it's so classy!  And if you are reading this and haven't seen HER blog, sheesh, you better get over there quick for some inspiration.  http://unrepentantcrafter.blogspot.com/

#7
Also NOT my design--my sister's--and an extra left from last year's Stamp-a-stack.

Oh, don't Christmas cards just make you happy?  And a little drooly?  :)

Fall Banner

Literally about two minutes after I finished submitting all 147 pages of my portfolio to complete my master's degree, the creative juices started flowing once again.  Thanks for all of you who have supported me in finishing, and also for those of you who listened to all my whining and let me just sit there and do nothing on crafting nights!

This is my first banner, and I love how it turned out, even though there were definitely some iffy moments where I almost threw the whole thing out and started over.  

It also made me once again realize how much I NEED black acrylic paint and some cute little hanging jewels...

Riding Horses

One of my nieces very first horse memories probably entails this day: the day she fell off.  In this layout, doesn't she look like the picture of a fun day of horse riding?  Well it really was minus that one detail.  The most important thing is that she wasn't hurt, and yes, she did get back on! 

You Want to Bring Home a What?

I never wanted a cat.  I actually was the exact opposite of wanting a cat at all.  Many times my husband said he wanted to bring a kitten home and many times I said no way, Jose.

So here's our cat.

Hmm.  How did it happen?  Well, one day at work my husband found this abandoned little kitten in the dead of winter in a barn.  She was mewing her head off, and animal lover that he is, he absolutely could not leave her there.  He called me once again, to tell me that he was bringing home a kitten.  I didn't believe him.  Then I said, we can't keep her, we have to give her away.

Then I saw her.  Awwwww.  Cutest little roly poly, friendly, purring, hungry, blue-eyed beauty I'd ever seen, and the rest is history. 

Book Box Labels

After spending the better part of yesterday thinking of and trying several ways to make labels for my book boxes, a brilliant idea occurred to me.  And that's pretty rare actually.

I am a paper crafter.  I am a scrapbooker.  I am a card maker.  I own hundreds of products that were made just to make paper look pretty.  So why don't I just STOP trying to make clipart look nice on my computer and get scrappy for my classroom???  Duh.

This morning, I didn't even look at the computer but got right to work and TA-DA!  I'm already done!!!  I love how these turned out!

I used 2 1/2 inch squares of white paper and framed them with 2 3/4 inch colored paper: blue for fiction, yellow for either, and red for nonfiction.  Now they're ready to run through the laminator and to help me get organized!  Whew, one more thing done!

Strength and Hope Card

I absolutely love the message on the new stamp set I got because it says everything for those times you just don't know what to say.

Materials:
Cardstock, Jumbo Roller (background), VersaMark ink, Sentiment and Butterfly from Strength and Hope set: Stampin' Up,
Ink: Tumbled Glass (Ranger)
Twine and Pearls: JoAnn Crafts
Button from my collection

A Special Friendship

My dogs are absolutely in love with my nieces, and my nieces are absolutely in love with my dogs.  All I have to say to Skippy and Cowboy are the words "the girls," and they go into near hysterics.  It truly is a special frienship.

I love these pictures because they were from a day we spent hanging out at the park, and the dogs followed "the girls" all over the playground.  

I especially love the picture on the right because Olivia is giving Skippy a hug, and Sophie is laughing.  So precious!!

Materials:
Patterned Cardstock: Echo Park Paper Co.
Plain Cardstock (Tags): Very Vanilla (Stampin' Up)
Rickrack: Walmart
Flowers: Prima
Eyelets, Glitter, and Twine: JoAnn Crafts

My Second Favorite Place Ever

And I have to say second favorite because my first favorite place is my Grandad's ranch where I grew up in VERY northeastern Montana.

THIS, however, is Bowman Lake, Glacier National Park.  I've only been there twice, and since it's an hour out of the way on a bumpy, skinny dirt road, no one really bothers to go there.  Both times, there have only been a handful of other people at this huge lake.  There is a hiking trail all around one side of the lake, or if you just sit on the shore, it's full of tiny, smooth pebbles in which you can hollow out a perfect little seat for reading.  Then the only sound is the water.  The water is so clear since it's straight glacial runoff all year, but you can't really tell in the picture because of the reflection.  The water is also EXTREMELY cold, but we still swam.  :)  That's Montana girls for you.

This picture is from my second trip there, and if you look on the very very right side, you can see my husband fishing.  Bowman Lake just equals peace.  If you ever get a chance, it's worth the hour out of the way on a very bumpy, skinny dirt road. 

 

Materials:

Leftovers from my BoBunny Roughin' It kit from last summer!

Birthday Cards

Okay, well really just one birthday card, which is for my mother-in-law since her birthday is coming right up.  But my question for you is about birthday sentiments...  I create BY FAR more birthday cards than any other type of card since I'm not really the type to send a "thinking of you" or "just to say hi."  Don't get me wrong.  I wish I did that.  But I don't.  So birthday cards are practical.

So I realized that I do not even own a plain "Happy Birthday" stamp.

No, that's not true.  But the one I own is from some cheapo clear set I bought at a discount store when I first started crafting, and the letters in the words go all different directions, which is meant to be cute.  But it just isn't.  Now you see my problem.

What kind of sentiments do you use for birthdays?  Do you have a plain and simple happy birthday stamp that can be used for many different types of cards?  I don't want cakes on it, big swirly letters, jumbled cutesy letters.  Just simple.  Where did you get it???  (This is your cue Stampin' Up demonstrator!!)


That said, I LOVE this sentiment and the background stamp in this set.  It just says summer.  Happy birthday carding!

Materials:
Cardstock--Stampin' Up
Patterned Cardstock--Echo Park Paper Co.
Embossing Folder--Stampin' Up
Rubber Stamp--Daisies and Sentiment from Upsy Daisy set--Stampin' Up
Ink--Baja Breeze--Stampin' Up
Glitter--Stampin' Up
Die--Little Leaves--Stampin' Up
Flower--Prima
Twine and button from my stash

Nieces. Is there really anything better? While we were watching these two...in much older form...ride carnival rides at the fair, I ask my mom (who is obviously their grandma), "What would we have done if Jess and Matt hadn't had the girls?"

My mom says, "Ohhhh. It would've been...boring!" And that is so true.

Not only did the appearance of these two forever change my view of young children, it really did inspire me to become a teacher. Then they moved back here, and I get to live close to them, which has meant sleepovers, dress up, baking, shopping, and teaching at the same school where they go. And buying little girl clothes is more fun than buying little boy clothes. There. I said it. I'm glad I got twin nieces. How fun is that? So here's some layouts...and many more to come I'm sure...of these two sweet girls who forever changed me.



This is Olivia about 8 years ago. I added a few things to the background, but I thought this gorgeous paper pretty much said it all, so I tried to keep it simple. Olivia had the BIGGEST eyes (well, still does) and the longest eyelashes and curly hair! Ohhh, I just want to send her back in time and give her a squeeze!!!



This is Sophia, Olivia's twin, about 6 or 7 years ago. We went to the park to fly kites (look how high it is!!) and I took these pictures, which I think are so gorgeous. They pretty well embody Sophie. She is a thinker, can't you tell? Those sweet little baby cheeks and gorgeous face...aww. And she BARELY hung onto that kite with one finger while her daddy stood by ready to catch it.







They really are the best ever.

Picture Perfect

I had so much fun with this week's sketch CPS #227!



I used crackle paint over one of the "Bathing Beauties" from Graphic 45, and I love how it turned out!!



Materials:
Patterned Cardstock--Graphic 45 (Domestic Goddess and Bathing Beauties)
Solid Cardstock--Stampin' Up (Very Vanilla)
Chipboard--BasicGrey
Flowers--KaiserCraft
Rubber Stamp--Camera and sentiment from Puns from the Past (Stampin' Up)
Ribbon--Offray
Pearls--The Paper Studio
Crackle Paint--Tim Holtz

Birthday Celebrations Tag

Thank you very much new Stampin' Up stamps!

One Sweet Boy

Ta Da! The girliest layout I've ever made, and it's of my dog, Skippy, who is...

A BOY!

Really?? How does this happen?

Actually, it's because I had already started the layout and then swapped pictures in the middle of working on it. This picture just looked great with the background, and my wonderful sister assured me that he actually doesn't mind because well, (HE IS A DOG...shhh) Good point.

And then I figured, he really is the sweetest ever, so why shouldn't the layout reflect some sweetness? So then I pretty much abandoned the idea that it should be masculine at all and just let it flow. I absolutely love this picture of him from late puppyhood.



I reaaaaally had fun making all of the paper flowers for this layout. I used Ranger Ink's Mini Misters and mixed some Distress Ink reinking drops to get those gorgeous colors.





I also had tons of fun altering the plain blue background with plenty of Distress Ink, masks, and stamps.

So thank you, sweet Skippy, for letting me do this totally flowery layout of you. After all, you are ONE SWEET BOY!

Materials:

Cardstock: Core'dinations (blue) and Stampin' Up (Chocolate Chip)
Patterned Cardstock: K&Company
Thickers: American Crafts
Tiny Type Alphabet: Cosmo Cricket
Chipboard flourish and dragonfly: BasicGrey
Mask: Tim Holtz
Flourish Die: Sizzix
Stamps: Cloud9 Design
Inks: Ranger (Vintage Photo, Brushed Corduroy, Crushed Olive, Tumbled Glass, Barn Door, Wild Honey) and Stampin' Up (Baja Breeze)
Pearls: Hobby Lobby
Crystal Effects (to make dimensional clear dots) Stampin' Up
Ribbon from my stash
One super cute picture of a sweet little Corgi: All Mine! ;)