Wrapping Up the Year

Hello! I'm so glad you stopped by for the last post of 2019!  I always feel a bit emotional on New Year's Eve-the ending of another year and the exciting promise of the new year.  This year was a rough one with a lot of personal struggle and the loss of my Dad.  I'm hoping 2020 will bring happier days and new opportunities.

I'm also excited to share some new creations and a peek at one of my Christmas gifts.  My husband must have told Santa I was extra good this year because I got a set of blending brushes in my stocking this year!!  I am so excited about getting to play with these, but first they needed a proper home.  I had an old baking powder can in my 'things to alter' crate, and I thought it would make a good holder for these beauties!  Of course, something this special needed not only a proper, but also an attractive home!  I thought since the brushes will one day be all inky, a grungy theme was in order.  I had a pattern paper from Paper Studio that I have been holding on to for just the right project, and this was it.  A little linen ribbon, a metal flower and I was finished!

Of course, I couldn't let the rest of that paper go to waste, so I used every scrap of it to make 4 thank you cards!  They were super quick and look a little more masculine, so they were a great addition to my card stash!

I think the card is also a great way to end my year of blogging.  Being thankful for the blessings of 2019 and looking forward to even more in the new year. And to my loyal visitors, Thanks a Million!

Thankful Holidays!

Hello! I had every intention of posting one more time before Christmas to share the last of my Christmas card designs, but then life happened. I got busy and ended up sending off my last cards without taking a picture. Sigh...  I kept thinking I would make more and could photograph the new ones, but with all of the festivities, that didn't happen!  Instead, I embraced the moment and enjoyed Christmas with my family.  I even squeezed in a lunch date with my co-workers.  We never eat at the same time at work, and this was a wonderful opportunity to get together and visit outside of work.

I actually didn't even go in my craft room until today.  I've really missed the creative process, but the time with my family has been so special.  After a quick tidy up, I was ready to make my thank you cards for my students and co-workers.  I went with a simple design this year, and I really like the wintry color combo.  The pattern paper was from a pack I bought at Wal-Mart long, long, ago.

I am now finished with all my thank yous and can relax, and enjoy the rest of my Christmas break.  Tomorrow is going to kick off my return to scrapbooking. I haven't done any of that for a few weeks!  I'm looking forward to getting a lot of pages added to albums.  Wish me luck!

Although Christmas Day has passed, I would like to wish everyone a blessed holiday season and may your new year be filled with peace, love, and happiness!  

Card Recipe:  Paper-whisper white, wisteria wonder, paper from stash, Ink-wisteria wonder, Stamp Set-Simply Wonderful

Glittery Greetings!

Hi! Today I'm here with something a bit new!  I've been putting a lot of effort into using my older supplies for Christmas cards, but I just had to play a little with a new stencil and new color of glitter gel I bought at our LSS.  I used a border stencil, with a tilt to create that glittery green tree. It was a bit tricky to get the placement right and not get glitter where it didn't go, but I thought it made a great tree.  What I wasn't counting on was all the white space left on the layer.  A quick change in plans led to the gifts made of DSP.  A Christmas tree should have gifts, right?!

I heat embossed the sentiment to make it stand out a bit and then ran some cherry cobbler dazzling details around the edge to frame the card in glittery goodness!  A lot more time then I usually spend on Christmas cards, but it was a lot of fun!

I will  have a few more posts with Christmas cards and then I'll be back in scrapbooking mode after the holidays.  Thanks so much for visiting today!

Card Recipe: Paper-whisper white, real red, Dashing Along DSP, Stamp Set-Star Studded Season, Ink-real red, versamark, Accessories-Gina K Autumn Wishes stencil, holiday pine glitz glitter gel, silver twine, clear embossing powder, cherry cobbler dazzling details

O Christmas Tree

Now that I've put that song in your head, I'm ready to share my cards for today, both feature trees, so this seemed like the perfect title!  The first has more of a wintry feel, while the second is quite traditional for Christmas.  I really like both of them!

I used the oval framelits on both because they seemed to frame the focal points perfectly.  I also dug a bit of satin ribbon out of my stash as well. (I really need to use more ribbon...there is so much in my crafty space!)

I managed to find a purpose for a lot of narrow strips of real red paper on the second card. I still have a lot of this size scrap left, but every little bit helps, right?

Well, we are neck deep in finals, but I can see Friday in near future, so there's that to look forward to!  I am so glad you came to visit and hope you have a great day!

Card Recipes: Paper-Home For Christmas DSP, Season of Cheer DSP, real red, very vanilla, soft sky, whisper white, Stamp Sets-Reason for the Season, Evergreen, Ink-mossy meadow, river rock, Accessories-oval framelits, whisper white satin ribbon

Merry Monday- More scrappy cards

Hello! I am back to share more of my holiday cards, and once again, I challenged myself to use scraps!  I am proud to share that I have finished my cards and will be posting them in the days leading up to Christmas. 

I'm also pretty excited that in one week, I won't have to get dressed for work and can enjoy my coffee in my jammies!  Christmas Break can't come soon enough!  I really love my job, but DD1 is home from college and I am enjoying every minute we have together (when she's not running off with her boyfriend and friends).  It will be nice to have a whole day to hang out and make some memories.

My cards today have a rather nontraditional color scheme, but since I love blue, I'm loving these colors together!

This one is a bit more traditional, and I actually used a whole piece of DSP to make six of this style.  I also played a bit with punches and layers on the focal sentiment.

Thanks so much for visiting and have a wonderful day!

Card Recipes: Paper-Snow Festival DSP, baja breeze, cherry cobbler, whisper white, gumball green, Stamp Sets-Joyous Celebration, Crazy for Christmas, Timeless Tidings, Ink-soft suede, gumball green, tuxedo black (memento), assorted markers, Accessories-small oval punch, 2 x 1 3/8 oval punch, decorative label punch, cherry cobbler scallop dot ribbon

Scrapbook Saturday- Christmas Past

 Hello! I'm changing things up a bit and sharing a scrapbook page I made a few days ago when I was on my scrap using mission.  I have almost used up the whole pack of paper and I'm thinking by next Christmas, I may have most of my older Christmas paper used up.  I have several packs that only have one or two full sheets, and I'm doing my best to use up the baggies of scraps as well, so who knows!

The photo is an old one as well, taken by our church historian on Christmas Eve at the Children's Mass.  She is great about sharing photos, which I appreciate since I'm usually helping at the Children's Masses and can't take my own photos.

A dig through my Christmas accessories turned up the glittery branch cut outs that fit the background paper so well.  I also added a tree shaped tag that came from a gift many moons ago.  It was too pretty to toss and now it has a permanent home.  I also used a vellum quote that fit this page perfectly.

I have one more week of school before my two week break, and I am really looking forward to some down time to refocus on scrapbooking.  DD2 graduates in May and I have lots of pages that need to be done before then! Wish me luck!!

Thanks again for stopping by and I hope you find some time this winter season to slow down and enjoy the creative process!  Have a fabulous day!

Page Recipe: Paper-Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, bits and pieces from my stash of goodies

Flashback Friday-Christmas Stickers and Paper

Hello! I've been digging through my Christmas papers again and found some older DSP and as luck would have it, I had a partial sheet of stickers that coordinated perfectly! SCORE!!

I also went with a tri-fold card base which I haven't used in quite a while! It gave the perfect place for me to add those stickers!!

I'm slowly filling my box with cards and using up all that old paper at the same time!  I just might finish before Christmas after all!

I hope to share the last of my Christmas cards next week! Until then, thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe:  Paper-Holiday Treasures DSP, old olive, very vanilla, Accessories-Samantha Walker stickers, pearls, 1 3/4 circle punch

Scrappy Christmas!

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  I have more Christmas cards to share today and am proud to say that I used up a lot of scraps on these!  I am so bad at keeping bits and pieces of paper and then not using them. This time I was determined to see how many cards I could make with a pile of scraps. I ended up with one of each pictured, except the Season's Greetings in the second photo- I made four of those!!  It felt great to make a little dent in the baggie of smaller pieces!

I don't really have a lot of explaining for these. I just played around with the pieces until they looked right.  

Thanks so much for visiting and have a fabulous day!!

Card Recipes: Paper-Holly Berry Bouquet DSP, real red, very vanilla, Stamp Sets-Miracle of Christmas, Curly Cute, Sidekick Sayings (all SU), Blessed Christmas (Stampabilities), Ink-chocolate chip, real red, wild wasabi, so saffron, Accessories-ovals framelits collection, chocolate chip ribbon

Merry Monday- Santa's Coming!

Well, hello there! I am so glad you stopped in and if you read the title, you know I have another Christmas card to share.  I'm in a bit of a panic because I am still not finished with my Christmas cards and Christmas will soon be here!

I've been carving some time out to work on them, but between work and all of the other holiday prep, it has been slow going.  Today's card helped me add a few more completed cards to my box and I love how pretty Santa's beard looks on this!  I was worried about how the thinlit would work because I couldn't find the mat that I usually use with my detailed dies, but it cut like a champ.  My real issue ended up dealing with attaching the die cut to the card base.  I used my precision glue, but it was still a bit messy.  I could use the adhesive sheets, but I hate the idea of wasting all of the pieces that are cut away... yes, I know, too frugal for my own good...

Although I wasn't crazy about the shine from the dried glue, I still think these turned out pretty well, and I love the red, black, and white combo.

I will be back Wednesday with more cards, and I'll even have a Flashback Friday for you too!  Thanks so much for visiting and have a great day!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, whisper white, Stamp Set-Timeless Tidings, Ink-Memento Tuxedo Black, Accessories-Detailed Santa Thinlits

Small Things with Great Love

Hello! Today I'm sharing a beautiful card made by a dear blogging friend, Heather.  She really is the sweetest person and always sends the prettiest cards!

I received this beauty for Thanksgiving and it included a very thoughtful note inside.  It really made my day, and reminded me that while we enjoy creating things, the cards we share and send with others really can make a difference. It also reminded me of a quote, "We can do no great things, but we can do small things with great love."

So today I leave you with a challenge to not only make things, but share them with others!  Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful day!