A little Christmas Cocoa on a Merry Monday

Hello!  I have been diligently working on using up that pack of Christmas Cocoa paper and adding cards to my Christmas box at the same time.  Today's cards use some of the smaller pieces of pattern paper.

used the postage stamp punch on the card on the left

1" squares on the card on the right

 

made a little background using four strips of 

different patterns-there's a 5th piece behind the 'merry' cutout

this used up a larger piece topped with a thinner strip.

I used a bit of ricrac to make the bow.

I hope you found some inspiration in my cards for today.  I am getting pretty creative with the different ways to use up scraps and I'm happy that all of those little pieces are finding good homes!!

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a marvelous day!

A little crafty break!

Hi!  I finally managed to squeeze a few minutes from my week to get something posted!  Our spring has been so much more busy than I had ever imagined!

DD1 decided this year that she wanted to go back to playing softball and found herself as the starting right fielder of the varsity softball team.  She is so committed to keeping that position and has not missed a practice, and they practice 6 days a week! DD2 started playing tennis this spring and has been doing really well for her first year.  She has practices 5 days a week.  Add to this DD1's weekly voice lesson and my job, and there is very little free time for Mama...  I am really looking forward to summer vacation!

Earlier this month, I did manage to sneak away from my responsibilities to attend a Relay for Life sponsored crop.  It was so nice to have a morning and afternoon to create and visit with other crafty people and OH MY WORD-the FOOD!!!  They even came around with snacks every so often so we didn't have to leave our spots!!  I felt very spoiled!

I was in desperate need of birthday cards so I managed to get quite a few made.  Since I was at a crop, I only had a few different designs so I wouldn't have to bring all of my goodies along.  I made 8 of this design...

  

Unfortunately, I did not list my supplies and didn't have time to pull things back out and look so I don't have the name of the sentiment stamp.  The cardstock is pool party and everything else is retired product.

I also took along a Paper Pumpkin kit I kept meaning to put together.  I made four of these...

While I am really enjoying watching my girls (they will be gone before I know it...), I am a little sad that I'm not able to visit all of my wonderful blog friends.  I am looking forward to summer vacation when I can stay up til the wee hours of the morning catching up on everything!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope to see you (or at least your blog) soon!!

Day 8-Cozy Christmas Card

Hi!  I am so glad you stopped by today!  I have been stuck in my cozy home for the past two days due to the snow and ice.  So what is a crafty girl to do?  Why, make things of course!  And since it's so frigid outside, I decided to make a warm and cozy Christmas card.  I saw a card on Pinterest that used the postage stamp punch and it reminded me of a quilt.  So I pulled out some of my retired Christmas paper and got busy making my own version of a Christmas quilt card.

This came together fairly quickly once I decided which patterns to place where!  I ended up with four of these to add to my pile.  So I'm a little closer to crossing another thing off of my list!

As you know, we had quite a winter storm starting Thursday night that continued through Friday.  I'm beginning to wonder if we will have school tomorrow... The roads are still really slick and I know many of the rural roads haven't been cleared yet.  I might have another day to play...

Thanks so much for visiting and I hope you have a most wonderful week!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, soft suede, whisper white, Christmas Cocoa (ret), Ink-soft suede, Stamp Set- from a Paper Pumpkin kit, Accessories-postage stamp punch

The last of the mini album

Hello again! As promised, I'm sharing the last of my mini Christmas Traditions album.  I did manage to keep the washi obsession to only one page today!

an old glimmer brad & using up some retired paper too...

finally using some stickles I've had for ages

-a green and red mixture

pulled out the silver glass glitter too!

I managed to pull out some neglected supplies for this project.  I hadn't used the glass glitter in ages and almost forgot how awesome it looks.  I HAD to have this bottle of red and green stickles a few years ago and this is the first time I've used it...  I also used a little more of Be of Good Cheer DSP left over from last year.  I was amazed at how many things I pulled out for this album.  Usually I try to keep everything really simple and don't pull out the fancy stuff, but it was a lot of fun playing with the pretties and not really all that time consuming either.  Once you've brought something out, you might as well keep using it! Maybe that's what happened with the washi... yeah... let's go with that!

We only have a week of carefree days left before school resumes and my girls are determined to fill them with lots of fun activities.  We went to one of the free movies at a local theater this morning and they really want to go to the pool tomorrow.  I'm hoping I can convince them to be crafty on Friday so I can have some playtime too! Wish me luck and happy crafting!!

Project Recipe: Paper-Be of Good Cheer (ret), Ink-black stamp and write marker, cherry cobbler, Stamp Sets-Tags til Christmas, Joyous Celebrations, Accessories- Season of Style washi, silver glass glitter, silver glimmer brad, postage stamp punch, extra large tag punch, circle framelits, very old stickles

Happy Anniversary- Saleabrate!!

Well, hello there! I am so glad you popped in for a visit today!  Things have been quite uneventful this week, which is perfect for spring break!  I even managed to get a few scrapbooking pages finished using MDS!!  But today is not about my current projects. Nope, today is all about my wonderful ability to procrastinate and then realize that I goofed again...   In February, my stamp club made a card using the beautiful paper that was available for free during Saleabration...key word being WAS available...as in 'not available now that I'm getting around to posting this'... Sheesh! Have I mentioned lately how crazy things have been for me lately?!

So, today I am sharing the card we made at club that features the lovely, but no longer available, Sycamore Street DSP!  It also has a very pretty ribbon that was also a free item during  SAB... not that this helps you if you don't already have it...

I borrowed this layout from someone, but unfortunately, I do not remember who...  I decided to use the postage stamp punch to make the fish tails on my banners, and really like the interesting edge!

If you are a follower and frequently read my posts, you know that I have been alluding to a very crazy few months.  You also know that my Mom has not been feeling the best and that I also recently relocated my classroom to a new building.  It was during this time of major stress that I realized that I needed to make some drastic changes to my life because I was becoming more unhappy with each passing day.  So I made the HUGE decision to make this my last year of teaching at the preschool.  I have turned in my notice and will officially be unemployed as of May 17th.  While the initial thought of this scared me to no end, I must admit that in the past week I have found an inner peace that has not been present for me in a very long time.  No, I don't know where I will be working next, or even what I will be doing, but I also know that God has a plan for me and He is guiding my steps.  In the meantime, I will be crafting my little heart out and spending some much needed time with my family.  I'm also letting those rusty wheels in my head spin and I have some really fun ideas floating around up there.  Before I finish this post, I want to share something I found on Pinterest...

I hope you allow yourself the same! Happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-pool party, whisper white, tangerine tango, Sycamore Street DSP, Ink-island indigo, Stamp Set-teeny tiny wishes, Accessories-Sycamore Street ribbon/button set, oval punch, scallop oval punch, postage stamp punch

Oh, scrap! It's a Christmas card!!

Well, hello there! Yes, I'm posting on a Wednesday! Shocking!! I've actually had some cards ready to post, but needed to wait until after my club met to share them with everyone.

I am normally a true blue procrastinator.  Why do today what you can put off until tomorrow? Or for all the Gone with the Wind fans... I'll worry about that tomorrow...  But somehow, the most unusual thing happened this year! I decided to use up some of my older Christmas DSP and also found some wonderful Christmas card sketches to use and the next thing I knew, I had quite the stash of cards ready to be mailed!!! As a courtesy to my fellow procrastinators, I will not rub in their faces reveal how many cards are in said stash, but I am quite confident that I just might be finished by Thanksgiving!!  Now, shopping on the other hand is not quite so finished...um...like barely begun... But hey! What would the week before Christmas be without a few panicked shopping trips?!

I designed 3 Christmas cards for this month's club because the ladies love getting some ideas a little earlier so they can order their goodies for their cards.  I went with one incredibly simple card and two that had a little more detail.  This way they could decide how much time they wanted to invest in their card making.  I borrowed the design for this card from Amanda.  Pretty much CASEd it actually... But hey, why change a great thing?!

This card came together so quickly, it was almost ridiculous! Like, 'you could make all your cards in one day', ridiculous!! While I used the new Be of Good Cheer DSP, this would be a fabulous design for using up those scraps! Hence the title of the blog post...

Well, that's it for me today! I am looking forward to our annual Girls Day Out at the Christkindlemarkt (a local arts and crafts festival) this weekend.  Lots of shopping, laughing, eating, and wine tasting! Woo! Hoo!  

Happy crafting!!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-whisper white, gumball green, Be of Good Cheer DSP, Stamp Set-Teeny Tiny Wishes, Ink-cherry cobbler, Accessories-postage stamp punch

Orange you glad it's a sneak peek?!

Apologies for the weak humor in the title, but it popped in my head as I was looking at the picture for this post!  I am not a huge fan of orange.  I don't mind it in small amounts and as an accent, but not usually crazy about it as the primary color of my creations.  So imagine my surprise when I was looking at the different patterns in Summer Smooches (coming soon!) and decided that tangerine tango would be the perfect color to show off these lovely papers!  Guess this is a good thing since orange seems to be the hot color this year! The weather has not been cooperating with my photography, so I apologize for the blurry pic! It is so hard for me to get a decent picture inside...

This was another card from my stamp club.  I tried to keep it neutral so it could be used for male or female, young or not-so-youthful, etc. and this DSP is perfect for just about any type of occasion.  This is really the most simple card to make!  Just a few punches with the postage stamp punch, glue, stamp the sentiment, and TAADAA! you're done!!

I am putting the finishing touches on my school year this week and am hoping to squeeze in some scrapbooking time this weekend! Only one more week til our summer vacation begins! WOO! HOO!  Time to make something new with my incoming shipment of NEW products from the NEW Stampin' UP catalog that comes out in June!!!  Thanks for stopping by and happy crafting to all of you!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-tangerine tango, Summer Smooches, Ink-basic black, Stamp Set-Outlined Occasions (from SAB-ret.), Accessories-postage stamp punch

Fresh Vintage Postage

At the risk of sending my friends and followers into shock, I have yet another post this week!! Astonishing, I know! I wanted to be sure to share a few more of my club creations featuring the sale-a-bration products while they are still available.

I LOVE this stamp set and paper together!  Add the cute ribbon and they make a vintage look so easy to put together! After looking at this card, I think I should have distressed the edges of the 'stamps'.  

On leap day, I took advantage of one of the shutterfly coupons and ordered 130 pictures! Since 101 of them were free, I couldn't pass it up! So I have now ensured Scrapbook Mondays for a very long time!!  Of course, this doesn't even put a dent in the CD, memory card, and hard drive photos that still need to leave cyber and digital land!  Of course, I could take a break from using my camera to catch up... Did I just type that with a straight face?!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe:  Card stock-very vanilla, Everyday Enchantment DSP, Ink-pool party, lucky limeade, Stamp Set-Fresh Vintage, Accessories-postage stamp punch, Everyday Enchantment ribbon & brad pack (lucky limeade)