I hope you all had very blessed time with your families and loved ones this Christmas!

Today, we are just relaxing and getting some cleaning done. I decided to join in on Papertrey Ink’s challenge to use some Christmas scraps/leftovers on a project! Here is my simple card, made with someone special in mind! Her birthday is in January! The leftovers that I used were some strands of green ribbon that my husband used on one of my gift boxes. Unlike most people who try to save every piece of tissue paper, I grab up everyone’s ribbons!

And just for fun (and the fact that I love my husband and want to show off this special gift!), here is a shot of my extra special, lovely gift from my man. It is so beautiful and I was completely surprised by it! I am going to miss Christmas time — it is my favorite time of year — so in honor of the end of Christmas, I also have included a pretty little photo of our Christmas tree! Just one more short week with this beauty in my home…

Enjoy the rest of this Christmas weekend!

Share/Save

Don’t you just love Christmas time!

So far, my hubs and I have gone to two Christmas parties and this week it all goes a little crazy! Each day is filled with something fun and Christmasy! I have FINALLY found some time to make some Christmas cards — aside from the personal orders through Etsy, I have not made anything for Christmas yet! So here is one of the fun cards I made using Papertrey Ink’s Banner Builder stamp set! This set is going to be used…. A LOT!

I used Versamark Ink to stamp the polka dot background on the Kraft cardstock and popped up the little lettering up with some pop dots for a little added dimension. Sometimes the traditional Christmas colors are just sweet to work with; I always TRY to use untraditional Christmas colors but I just can’t do it… just too much for me! I love Red, Green and White so so much.

Challenges Used:

• Belli Challenge: Christmas Embellishments/Paper
• Creative Stamp Friends: Traditional Christmas Colors
• A Spoonful of Sugar: Christmas Cards

Another favorite part of Christmas time is trying out a new recipe or two! This year I couldn’t resist this Butter Toffee recipe from the Pioneer Women! It is easy, melt in your mouth delicious and looks pretty darn good too! Try it out, using this recipe!

Enjoy! …and don’t forget to come back tomorrow for WW Wednesday! I have a great new recipe to share!

Share/Save

One of my long time, most amazing friends is due to have a little baby girl in December. This last weekend was her baby shower and of course it was loads of fun and happiness. Her mom threw her a Dr. Seuss themed shower and did a fantastic job! I wanted to share the cutie card that I created to match her gift bag (in the background of the card). Enjoy!

This is a 4×4″ card using Papertrey Ink’s Baby Button Bits (the cupcake image) and Background Basics: Petal Power. I had a little fun with glitter on the cupcake and threw in some teal to match the gift bag. Simple, cute and to the point! Love baby stuff!!

And just for the fun of it, a photo of the lovely mama, Jackie, me, and our two long time friends, Suzy and Kristen.

Share/Save

Merry Christmas! … soon, very, very soon!

So here they are!

Christmas 2010 Card Collection! I have created 3 simply sweet Christmas cards for my upcoming workshops and classes! {Full-Size Images Below}

There are several options for those of you who are in need of Christmas cards:

1. Host a Gathering at your home: Simply invite your friends over for a special gathering where they will make 10 cards with envelopes for just $6.00*
2. Host a Workshop at your home: Invite those friends of yours over for a day of card making — 10 of each card (total of 30 cards with envelopes) for just $16.00*
3. Order them from my Etsy Shop! Don’t feel like hosting or creating? I can make them for you! For just $15.00 per set of 15 cards & envelopes, I will put them together and ship* them off to you just in time for your cards to get to your loved ones before Christmas! Choose one card for sets of 15 OR choose 2 to all 3 of these cards for larger quantities.

*Gathering Price will be only $3.00 when a purchase of $25.00 (before tax and shipping) is made at the Gathering!
*Workshop Price will be only $12.00 if a purchase of $25.00 (before tax and shipping) is made at the Gathering!
*SHIPPING costs are not included in the price — this will be determined on your location and size of the package. Locals are welcome to schedule a pick up time for free.

CONTACT ME TODAY!

For Gatherings & Workshops, please schedule with me as soon as possible, before available dates are all filled! Weeknights and Weekend times are available — 2 hours for Gatherings and about 3-4 hours for Workshops. Please head over to my Etsy Shop to purchase your cards! If you need more than a set of 15, please email me at the email address above to let me know and I will invoice you for payment. Orders will not be taken after December 5th. Please allow 5 to 7 business days for orders to be fulfilled. Looking forward to being creative with you!

I am a big fan of creativity and letting each individual let their own creative side reign free! All card supplies will be supplied and papers will be cut beforehand; however all acrylic stamps used have additional options for images and sentiments for those of you who feel you see something more exciting or that may fit your faith better!

Share/Save

HAPPY FALL!

There, I said it! It is fall and yes, I took some time out of my schedule (and early excitement for Christmas) to celebrate fall. We aren’t too  familiar with fall here in Southern California; perhaps it would be more exciting if we had more of a change. Fall usually consists of the Santa Ana winds (hot, dry winds), fire season and brown leaves. See? not so much to look forward to.

But this year has been extraordinarily different for each season so far! The summer was beyond beautiful and not much hot weather — we are talkin’ 75 to 85 degrees with lovely breezes all day long. Now for fall, we have actually had quite a bit of rainy, cool weather with some gorgeous lightning and thunder! That is pretty exciting for us! Looking forward to what else God has in store for us the remainder of 2010.

My cards for today were inspired by Embellishment Magazine’s color challenge. Green, Yellow and Rust with a Vintage twist — how could I pass this up!?

I used the 2 Sketches 4 You sketch and played around with my new stamp set from Close To My Heart — Many Thanks D1371 — which features lovely fall leaves as well as the thin swirl border stamp that I used for my center strip. I took a small 4″ doily and sponged it with Goldrush and Paper Bag (CTMH) until I got the rusty look that I wanted… I also used Paper Bag to sponge the edges of the card and the sentiment to keep with the rusty theme. Aren’t doilies fun? You can’t tell so well from the photo but I also embossed the card base (except where my strip down the center is) with the Swiss Dots embossing folder.

My second card uses Papertrey Ink’s Damask Designs, one of my favorite stamp sets! Using Paper Bag ink (CTMH) I again sponged over the doily, but very lightly for a speckled distressed look and around the edge of the card base. I wish I had a die to use for this damask but I had to cut it out by hand. It takes some patience but is so worth being able to pop it up off of the Garden Green circle for dimension. Topped this beauty off with a tan pearl from Close To My Heart’s new pearl set (mocha set).

Thanks for visiting and I hope that you are enjoying your Fall time, wherever you may be!

Share/Save