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

Oh 'deer' it's almost new years...

Hello! Once again, time has slipped away and the post I intended for Christmas day didn't happen.  So even if I didn't post, know that I was wishing everyone a very happy Christmas season!  I even had a card to share...

I always try to make some Christmas themed thank you cards to give to friends and family.  This year I went with a very simple idea-a reindeer face.  DH didn't think everyone would immediately see the deer, so I added a mouth.  Of course, the inside sentiment gave it away anyway!

The card was so easy to replicate. The hardest part was using the corner rounder on the top where it was two layers... I created the inside using MDS and a variety of stamps and text I had on the program.

I hope you have a wonderful, healthy, and peace filled new year! Thanks so much for visiting and have a fantastic day!

Card Recipe: Paper-soft suede, basic black, real red, Accessories-3/4 and 1 3/8 circle punches, MDS software program

Still using the Speedy Style...

Hello and welcome!  At the risk of boring you to death with more of the same, I'm sharing a few more cards I made using the Speedy approach.  It seems like I'm always needing birthday cards and I don't have a lot of thank you type cards either, so I quickly added a few cards to my stash using the 12x12 into 4x4 method.

I'm not going to go into detail again, but if you need the directions, they can be found here.  I used Well Worn DSP for a bit of a masculine touch, and Sunshine & Sprinkles worked perfectly for something a bit more girly!

Sentiment from Number of Years

Sentiment from Stampabilities (really old stamp!)

Sentiment from Apothecary Art

I love how these basic cards really showcase the fantastic prints of the papers and I've managed to eliminate a few pages from my paper supply (not that you could tell by looking...).

While I still absolutely LOVE Stampin' UP, I just couldn't justify attempting to keep my consultant status during everything I was juggling last year.  I am sure I will eventually go back because I love my Stamp Clubs and Classes and would love to do them again in the future.  Since I'm no longer pressured (yeah, that's the excuse word I'll use) into having all new product, I am making a resolution to make a massive dent in my paper stash this year.  Our church does a greeting card/note outreach program and I am planning on making several note cards to donate, and I'm considering doing something online to sell my cards and creations as well. 

During our move, I had an intervention type moment with my ribbon stash as well!  You really don't know how much you have in boxes and containers until you try to put everything in a new space... So I'm thinking there will be a lot of card making and scrapbooking that involves the use of ribbon as well!  Wish me luck!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a marvelous day!

Card Recipe: Paper-Well Worn, Sunshine & Sprinkles, crumb cake, river rock, daffodil delight, Ink-cajun craze, not quite navy, melon mambo, Stamp Sets-Number of Years, Apothecary Art

Speedy Delivery!

Hello and HAPPY NEW YEAR! Personally, I'm finding it hard to believe that 2017 is over! We bought our new home a year ago, spent a few months renovating and updating, DH had major surgery with a loooong recovery, DD1 graduated, Dad was diagnosed with colon cancer (had surgery, broke a hip, and is currently receiving chemo), and we still don't have our bathroom or my studio quite finished... I blinked and a year was gone!  I have also done very little in the creative area (other than decorating our home), and am really feeling the effects of not using this stress relieving outlet!

It was so busy that I finished my Christmas cards on Christmas Day and mailed them out a few days after Christmas.  Needless to say, I didn't put a lot of time into the making process.  I found a shortcut on Pinterest (sorry, not sure who it was-didn't pin it!) that made finishing the cards a lot easier.

Cut a 12x12 piece of pattern paper into 4x4 squares (9 squares total).  Then cut the 4x4 square on the diagonal and attach it to a card base.  Stamp a sentiment in the blank space and you're done! SUPER SIMPLE AND QUICK! 

I made two different sets of cards to mail out and then also made a third set into Thank You cards for holiday gifts.

Sentiment from Special Season

Sentiment from Curly Cute

Sentiment from Loving Thoughts

When I was trying to come up with a catchy title for this post I had the words flash, fast, dash, quick running through my brain, but none of the phrases ended up being fun enough. Suddenly, I went back in time to Mr Roger's Neighborhood and 'Speedy Delivery' was the winner.  It was a perfect fit since these did become speedy deliveries for the holidays!

We had a great Christmas with family and enjoyed a bit of 'down time' to actually enjoy the decorations and goodies in our own home. I am always reflective this time of year, but especially this year it has been so clear that it is so important to have our priorities in the proper order.  As much as I love my blog and creating, these weren't at the top of the list this year.  Instead, I've enjoyed time with my parents,  husband and children.  We've accomplished  a lot and are near the time of kicking back to enjoy the fruits of our labor without adding more to the work list.  I hope you found something inspiring here and that your new year is a time of renewed hope and filled with peace!

Card Recipe: Paper-Season of Cheer, whisper white, soft sky, Ink-Night of Navy, Cherry Cobbler, Stamp Sets-Loving Thoughts, Curly Cute, Special Season

Happy New Year from the Time Bandits and me!

Oh my goodness, where did December go?  I had so many wonderful creative ideas that never quite made it to reality this month and for the first time in I don't know how long, I BOUGHT Christmas cards... Scary stuff!!  I did manage to squeeze in a Cookie Day with my mom and sister, and we managed to do our shopping and wrapping without being too rushed, but there was quite a bit that I would have liked to accomplish.  I have an entire pinterest board full of treats and candies that I wanted to make, and of course all of the cards that I really wanted to create, but somehow they were moved to the back burner while I did everything else.  So today, New Years eve, I found myself with a little free time and decided to make some cards-18 to be exact!

I needed some thank you cards for the gifts I received from school, and really wanted to make them, so I decided to try out a design I had pinned earlier this month.  Unfortunately, the video link with directions was no longer available.  I did manage to create a good guess of how it was done.  The 'big idea' behind these cards is to use a 12x12 piece of pattern paper, some ribbon, a stamp, and cardstock to create some super quick cards.  I didn't have the original dimensions, but quickly figured out that if I cut my paper into 4" strips vertically, and then cut 3" strips horizontally, I could make it work.Three of my 3x4 squares were then cut to 1x4.  I hope the instructions make sense when you look at the cards.  If not, please feel free to message me for a better tutorial.

The green strip is the reverse of the bottom paper and I 

used the ribbon to hide the seams of the papers.

Same idea for this one, only I didn't add the 1 1/4"

cardstock for the sentiment. I simply stamped on the base.

Now, not only are my thank you notes finished, but I also have 9 Christmas cards added to the box for next year.  Did I mention that it really bummed me out to use store bought cards this year???

Those of you who visit my blog frequently know that I am not a fan of new years resolutions, so instead of a list of resolutions I will leave you with a quote and wishes for a peace filled new year!

Life should be a continual celebration,

a festival of lights, the whole year around.

Only then you can grow up, you can blossom.

Transform small things into celebration.

-Osho

Card Recipes: Paper-Holiday Treasures and Holly Berry Bouquet DSPs, very vanilla, kraft, Ink-chocolate chip, Accessories-old olive scallop dots and chocolate chip grosgrain ribbon

February is for Friends!

Yeah...yeah... I know Valentines is all about sweethearts and love, but what about the other 27 days?!  That is why Anything But a Card Challenges picked 'Friendship' as our challenge theme for this month!  I won't be sharing my creation until the third week, but I am really looking forward to seeing what everyone shares with us!  We would love it if you would join us!

In keeping with the challenge theme (but not the no card rule), I am sharing two cards that I could not have made had it not been for a wonderful example of friendship! A while back I was very pleasantly surprised to find a package in my mailbox.  It was quite a mystery as I had not ordered anything and it wasn't my birthday or anything like that.  I opened the box to find a treasure trove of crafting supplies-everything from ink to stamps to dies!  Seems that  the ever fabulous, Audrey aka Hippie Aud, felt the need to send some happiness out into the world, and I was lucky enough to receive it!  I am feeling more than a little guilty that it has taken me this long to create a proper thank you card using the wonderful supplies!  I am also hoping that it has arrived before my post goes live!!

  

The adorable patchwork bunny and the thank you word bubble were both part of this wonderful happy mail!  I also used some of my new SU paper on this.  The pretty background dsp is from All Abloom (a mini paper pack that is perfect for cards!).

While I was playing with my new goodies, I went ahead and made a birthday card for DD1.  She went crazy over the adorable skunk stamp when I pulled it out of the box!

Audrey's kindness has also inspired me.  While I can't afford to send out boxes of goodies at the moment, I can do a better job of sending a little happiness to others.  So my plan for the month of February is to do a little something everyday to brighten someone else's day.  I also want to be a little more active with my blog and visiting others' blogs as well.  I know I appreciate all of the wonderful comments and ideas people share with me on my blog and I really love seeing what everyone else is making too!

Thank you so much for visiting today and I hope your February is filled with both love and friendship!

Card Recipes: Paper-All ABloom DSP, pistachio pudding, whisper white, daffodil delight, strawberry slush, Ink-daffodil delight, pistachio pudding, mossy meadow, strawberry slush, blushing bride, memento tuxedo black, Stamp Sets- bunny and skunk from Hippie Aud, retired Happy Birthday from SU, Accessories-pastels, pink stickles, word bubbles die from Hippie Aud, pearls, melon mambo buttons, white bakers twine

Dusting off the cobwebs...

Good grief!  Did you think I disappeared?!  I had to dust the virtual cobwebs off of my blog last weekend when I posted my project for ABAC, and honestly hadn't realized it had been THAT long since I posted anything, and here I am a week later, finally posting again!

My new job is going great and both girls are adjusting well to their new schools, and DH is being incredibly patient with my complete lack of organization at the moment-hence the neglected blog.  I have been doing a few (hundred) crafty things for my nephew's upcoming wedding, but I didn't want to post those yet.  Other than that, my life has been one big battle to keep the laundry from suffocating family members in an avalanche, and wrangling the girls into keeping enough clean dishes for our meals.  It has been so busy that when I did finally sit down on the couch, Shadow took the opportunity to play lap dog and tried to keep me there.  Some nights I did let him win! :)

I thought the last weekend would offer me a complete day without any obligations, and while DH slept (worked nights) and the girls vegged out in front of the tv, I could manage to squeeze in some much needed crafting time.  Instead, my Mom called me at 9 am and asked if I still wanted the volunteer trees that were growing in their landscaping.  My brother was there doing some yard work and was going to get rid of them, so instead of crafting, I played arborist and dug up 5 trees and about 15 bushes.  This was followed by an afternoon of replanting them, and since I was already sweaty and very dirty, I mowed the lawn.  This weekend was a local festival and we spent most of the weekend enjoying the food, games, visiting, parade, and even a 5K (I walked it...).

Sunday, after the parade, the clouds decided they were holding all the water they could stand and it started raining.  This put an end to our last trip through the booths and watching the closing events.  Instead, we came back home and I spent the afternoon getting crafty!

I am so far behind on my Christmas card goal, and really needed to make a few cards, and we won't even talk about my scrapbooking...did I do any of that?? No...  I spent over an hour just organizing and clearing off my table, and then I finished up some cards that were all but done.  I decided to work on two different Paper Pumpkin kits and I think the simplicity of the kits was just what I needed to get my mojo going.  Today I came home from work and made a scrapbook page that will be posted later on.

But I'm sure you didn't just come here to read about my very interesting time :)  So here is one of the PP kit cards that I made.

The four cards from this kit came together so quickly and I even did a little stamping on the envelope to make it all matchy!

Well, I am still doing battle with the laundry and the family would really like to have clean clothes to wear tomorrow, so I will leave you with a thank you for sticking with me and a wish that you are finding plenty of time to play and be inky!

Not really a Flashback Friday, but I'm calling it that anyway!

In case you didn't know, IT'S FRIDAY!!! Not only is it Friday, but it is the first Friday of our return to school after Christmas Break, which makes it even more precious!!!  I missed my 'kids' and I think they missed me, but WOW! The overabundance of energy and temporary amnesia of all classroom rules and routines really wore me out!  I am so glad that I have a two day break to recover and recharge!  Plus, I am taking a little time this weekend to get some much needed scrapbooking done.  But that's not why I'm here today!

Over Christmas break, I knew I needed to make some thank you cards for my students and others who had so generously shared the holiday spirit with me.  If you read Tuesday's post, you know that most of my break was a mojo free period, but fortunately, I located it before returning to work and finished the cards on Sunday.  I also had a little help from my blogging friend, Heather.  She had the cutest punch art snowman card and when I saw it, I knew that I wanted to do something like that for my 'kids'.  If my post title was a bit confusing (and drawn out), it is because technically I didn't use up any old stash other than some glitter glue.  But I did use a retired stamp set and a TON of whisper white scraps that had been accumulating in a bag to make 30 of these, so I'm calling it a Flashback!

I spent most of the day making these babies! Fussy cutting 30 hats was a job in itself! It ended up being something of an assembly line production, but for whatever reason, what normally would have been tedious was actually relaxing as I watched my girls 'bust a move' with Just Dance as I colored, cut, punched, stamped, and glued.

I stamped the snowflakes in whisper white craft ink on the background and also sponged a little whisper white to make the snow covered ground under the snowman. It's hard to see in the picture, but I added some silver glitter glue to the hat band and put a dot of pink glitter glue in the center of the flower.  I think you can probably figure out the rest!

Well, that's it for me! I hope you have a wonderful weekend and find lots of time to be crafty!!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-wild wasabi, whisper white, rose red, bashful blue, Stamp Sets- Snow Swirled, Curly Cute, Cold Play (ret), Ink-whisper white, black stazon, Markers-bashful blue, wild wasabi, pumpkin pie, Accessories-3/4", 1", 1 3/8" circle punches, non SU snowflake punch, corner rounder, pink and silver glitter glue from stash, rhinestones

Cleaning and Playing

Well, I'm finally doing it! I'm cleaning out my stamping supplies and trying to make some room for new goodies that I want to get! I decided that until I got rid of some older stamps, I wasn't going to order any more new sets. Quite the incentive!! Anyway...some stamps went straight into the remove pile without a second glance, most went into the maybe pile, and some stayed in the keep pile.  Since there were so many that were 'maybe', I came up with a solution.  I will either stamp a few cards w/ the stamp (set), stamp several images to be used later, or play around with it for a week then decide.  After an evening of playing, I moved several sets to the remove pile and only 1 went to the keep pile (if you know me at all, you know how major that is for me!!).  I am not finished w/ my maybe pile, but at this rate, I should be finished sorting by the end of the week. I have several friends who are just getting started in stamping and I'm giving them 'first look' at my remove pile, then whatever is left will be for sale. OK, I just realized how much I have rambled about what I'm doing (not really what you come here to see...) and not enough of what I made (hopefully, what you came to see :-).  So, here is a card that I made with the one stamp that I decided to keep!

There is not a lot of SU product on this card.  I used some cardstock that was left from a scrapbooking project I created a while back and I honestly have no clue who made it.  Neither the leaf nor the sentiment are SU either. I did however use SU inks (pretty much the only kind I have!) and the twine is also from SU. The pic is a little fuzzy, but you get the idea! I love autumn and knew that the leaf stamp needed to showcase nature's beautiful fall colors.  I used  pumpkin pie, soft suede, cherry cobbler, and crushed curry.  Next time, I will share some cards using a stamp that will be finding a new home.

Birthday Thank You

My youngest daughter had a birthday recently and this is the thank you card that she sent out to her guests.  This is also the most un-Stampin' UP card I've made in a little while...  I did use whisper white and bashful blue cardstock and the ribbon is a retired SU product.  Of course, the Big Shot is my favorite SU item used on this card!  The dry emboss folder was a cuttlebug one that I had and the daisy stamped image is colored w/ Copic markers.  I also used a little stickles in the center of the daisy.

sketch challenge

I've had this stamp set for a little while and didn't quite know what to do with it.  Then I saw the sketch  challenge at the Stamping 411 site!  I also entered this in the SU Only Challenges and Hand Stamped Sentiments for Mother's day cards. Be sure to check out their blogs! The stamp set is Because I Care (a hostess set).  I used whisper white, certainly celery, and bashful blue card stock.  The cert. celery piece was embossed using the square lattice folder & the big shot.  I used bashful blue & certainly celery markers to color the image.  The sentiment is stamped with soft suede.  Accessories used were certainly celery grosgrain ribbon and basic pearl jewels.  The card reminds me of my Mom's hydrangeas, so this will probably be a card for her.  TFL!
*Update:  I just found out that I made the 411 Showcase w/ this card!  Too exciting!!