Festival of Trees

Hello Everyone!!

Here is another project for you on this Monday morning!  I am starting to work on Christmas projects, specifically cards, to get ready and prepped to send out for the holiday season.  This is the first year I have enough homemade cards to actually send out.  It has been so much fun being able to be creative and getting to share it with other people.

These cards were inspired from an online class I purchased from Robyn, My Pink Stamper.  This class was the festival of trees class.  For these, Robyn will send you that materials and a video, and you create as you see fit.  Here are all of the things that were in my kit!

The kit made three different cards!  There were a two in the kit I inspired to do something different, and the third card I kept the same.  

This was the card I kept the same.  It is a monochromatic card using Real Red cardstock.  I'm not used to doing monochromatic cards, so this was a lot of fun to make.  Very simple, yet very sophisticated.  I love it. 

This was one of the ones I altered;  I added the extra trees to the card.  It is very simple, but it is really cute.  The cherry cobbler accents bring a little something extra to the card.  I love the sparkle!! 

This is the other one I altered.  It is another monochromatic card, which continues to be out of my comfort soon.  This card has three trees and the twine.  I added the angled piece and extra tree.  I love how this turned out.  It's festive, but not overly "christmas-y"  

Thank you, Robyn, for such a great class.  Check out her latest classes here.  Also, don't forget to check out my 12 Days of Christmas coming up!!

Happy Crafting!! 

Watercolor Winter

For today's project, I pulled out last year's Christmas card kit from Stampin' Up, Watercolor Winter.  These kit made four cards, five of each card.  It's a pretty good value!  You used ink refills and mixed it with water to make the watercolor portions.  It was a really cool technique that I had never done before, and I'm not very good at.  However, it was fun to try.

Here's the first card.  The trees are watercolored.  This one is my favorite.  The pops of glitter, the blues and the reds.  I really like the blue mixed in with the traditional red and green colors of Christmas.  The trees are a little dark, and the "holidays" is a little off center, but that is what makes it homemade card.  It's part of its charm.

The second card is the sleigh card.  The red sleigh is watercolored in cherry cobbler.  This card seems a little more plain that I would like, but I think it came out cute.  It's something different than I usually would do.  I like the blues in the Christmas cards.

This is the third card.  It is MUCH more plain than I usually do, but it came out okay.  The "Joyeux" is watercolored in Old Olive.  They had several different letter, and some of the cards I did used "Merry."

I didn't attempt the fourth card because I wasn't impressed with the layout.  now I have more cards to send out, and get to learn a new technique.  These kits are really neat.  They are intricate to put together, so it keeps your interest and saves a bunch of extra time.

While this wasn't my favorite kit, it certainly brought a little extra to the Christmas season.  Leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Happy crafting!

Paper Pumpkin August 2015: Chalk it Up to Love

Good Morning!

Welcome back for another Paper Pumpkin project.  I'm trying to catch up on past projects as I've fallen behind, and easy to make and taking up space in my craft room.  So, you may see a lot of them.  I apparently have a few left to do ;-)

It has been very relaxing to get back into my craft room, and doing the Paper Pumpkin kits gives me inspiration to do my own crafting.  I am so excited to be back in the game and blogging again.  I'm off of work today for Veteran's Day, and I plan on being in my craft room all day.  I've even discovered graph paper in the back of my planner so I can sketch out cards whenever I need to.

Onto today's project...

I liked this project because it used the white ink on the black paper to give it a chalk board look.  I thought it would be really cool, but, to be honest, I had a hard time with it.  I think it was the stampin spot I was using.  It came out, but the sentiment is really light and difficult to see in the photo.  I used different sentiments for the different backgrounds, just to mix it up a little.  These projects were simple but very cute.  I love them!

This box it the ABSOLUTE CUTEST!!  It is such an adorable box, and it is perfect for little gifts.  The flower is definitely what makes it.  It was super adorable, and I love it.  This stamp come out perfectly.  I will be using these for gifts in the very near future.  

Thank you for coming to check out my blog, and for everyone's support.  I was reviewing my blog earlier in the week and cleaning it up a little bit.  I noticed just how many "I'm back" posts I had.  This time, I just jumped in.  I'm doing it because I love it, and it is good for me.  I honestly feel better when I am getting those creative juices flowing.  I think it's because I'm so analytical at work.  Really, I am pretty creative in treatments, but it's not the same.  

Don't forget to come back this month, then during the month of December to check out the holiday projects I will have.  It's going to be a good time!!

Happy crafting!!

Happy "I Do" Day

Good Morning!

Today I have a simple wedding card for you.  I made this card for a couple that is very special to me.  My mentor called me one day to ask if me and my partner would go to the court house with them.  They are very private people and did not even tell their family what was going on.  I was very honored and blessed to be part of their special day, and I decided to make them a card.

I used Real Red, Whisper White, and Basic Black card stock.  It is a 5x5 card with 2" squares.  The white layer squares are dry embossed with a retired embossing folder (that I don't remember the name of).  The person I was making the card for loves red, and I thought this was a really classy card.  I wanted to keep it simple and classy.

The sentiment was stamped with a retired (I know, I know, I need to stop using retired products) set from Stampin' Up called Word Play.  I used a rhinestone to be the diamond on the ring of the "o."  I cut out the paper for the sentiment from the deco labels framelits.  

I love the simplicity and classiness of this card.  The card was really appreciated, and it's fun to give people homemade gifts.  And, it's fun to make them. 

Supplies Used

Deco Labels Collection Framelits 

Word Play Clear Mount Stamp Set

Rhinestone Basic Jewels

Basic Black Cardstock 

Real Red Cardstock

Whisper White Yardstick

Don't forget to check back in December for the 25 Days of Christmas.  Happy Crafting!! 

Paper Pumpkin October 2015

Good Morning!

I'm trying to get back on the crafting wagon and keeping up better with my blog.  I've been really into stamping lately and, since my mom is a demonstrator, I have access to a lot of things to play with.  For a while, they have just been sitting in my craft room.  We rearranged some things to make room for our Scentsy business and my craft supplies became disorganized, life got busy with my new job, and I just put crafting on hold for a while.

To stay kind of in the game, I subscribed to Paper Pumpkin, which is a subscription crafting service that sends you a project in the mail every month.  So, every month I get a cute project that is all inclusive and involves stamping and putting it together.  For the month of October, they sent a pink box (usually it's red) and donated a portion of the proceeds to Breast Cancer Awareness.

This month (well, last month) was a really cute set of cards.  The cards came pre-printed with all of the color, and I stamped all of the flowery details and the sentiments, placed on all of the embellishments, and had 9 adorable cards all ready to send out!

Here's a close up of all of the cards.  You can mix and match.  For these projects, I usually follow the directions, but the creative freedom is all yours.

If you would like to subscribe to Paper Pumpkin and have a crafting project at your door every month, click here.  

Look forward to many more projects on the blog!  I'm planning a 12 Days of Christmas where there is a Christmas project every day up until Christmas to make sure you have lots of ideas for a homemade Christmas.  

Come back for many more projects!  Happy Crafting!!

Celebrate You Box

Hello Everyone!

Here is my first project of 2015!!  It's a box! 

One of my mentors had a birthday, and I had a bracelet made for her.  I thought a plain ole jewelry box would be boring, so I made one!  I had just received a Stampin' Up order, and I was dying to use my new stuff.  I thought this would be a great time to use it. 

To create the box, I used the Curvy Keepsake Box Thinlet die.  You have to cut it out twice.  I used the Sweet Taffy paper for one half and Tempting Turquoise paper for the other.  This is also the box I featured in a project my mom and her stamping crew made in this post.

While the box looks small, it fits pretty good size things.  It's hard to get everything in there and fold up the sides, so you have to grow a third arm to hold everything while you assemble the box.  Don't worry, you can do it ;-)

To create the tag, I used the Cupcake Party stamp set and the mini banners framelet die.  I used two different sizes to create the banner. 

I hope ya'll enjoyed this super simple project.  Have a great day, and I will see ya'll soon.



New Years Resolutions 2015

Happy New Year!!


I'm hoping that 2015 is going to be my most balanced year yet.  I find that I am focusing a lot on work and doing virtually nothing for myself or my family.  So, I am hoping to gain more balance and be more productive in my life.  I know people who don't like "new year's resolutions," but I always like to take the time at the new year to reflect on where I am and where I want to go.  The reality of this past year is that I am actually no further this year, with the exception of my promotion, than I was last year.  I am trying to structure my life to help me get where I want to go.

I will start with my crafting goals because this is my crafting blog.  Although, I am thinking about making it my "everything" blog and talking about my crafts, fitness, personal stuff blog.  Crafting has always been my stress outlet.  It is something I do to unleash some creativity and use a different part of my brain.  I want to do something crafty at least once per week.  However, I want to post on my blog more often.  I have lots of projects that I haven't posted that I need to.  Maybe I have enough to kind of get my started while I do some of these things.  My paper pumpkin subscription will help out with this too.  Everything is pre done and I just have to put it together. 

I also have a plan to take a picture everyday this year.  I saw this go around last year, and I thought it was a cool idea so I remembered it... for a whole year.  Every week I'm going to upload these pictures to shutter fly, put together a book, and then order it at the end of the year.  My spouse does not think I am going to last, but I have faith.  I think this is a really cool concept.... and I'm excited to try it. 

I want to read at least 20 books.  These can be personal or leadership related (but the CARF manual won't count).  I think this one may be hard because I have so much of a learning curve at work that I will have to take stuff home to read and work on.  But, I also need to make time for me so we are going to try it.  Once I get into a book, I can usually finish it pretty quickly (if I like it).  Then, I can write my book reviews on my blog.

I also want to get healthy.  This includes working out and eating right.  I'm going to do body revolution, make meal plans, track my calories, and do all of those things I know I am supposed to do.  I really need to do this.  More details about my fitness goals will be on my fitness blog, and I don't want to make this post hella long. 

I also want to do well in my new position.  I am going to have a plan and really work on developing my leadership skills.  That is where a lot of my focus and attention is going.  I know I am going to be consumed with this in the next year, so I am going to do my best while remaining balanced. 

To do all of these things, I need to start finding my motivation because I lost it somewhere along the way.  I think I'm going through a funk because of some stuff going on throughout my life.  I think the above is what is going to get me out of the funk, it is just a matter of getting started. 

Happy New Year!!!  Thank you for reading my blog and following me.  I appreciate everyone and look forward to the new year!!