2012 Year in Review

So 2012 was my first complete year of blogging. I decided that I would pick my top 12 cards from the blog (one from each month). I must admit that some months were a toss up because I sometimes had 2 or 3 that I really loved. Here they are:

 

 

January 

 

 

 February

 

March

 

April

 

May

 

June

 

July

 

August

 

 

September

 

October

 

November

 

December

 

 

This was a fun trip down memory lane. It's been good to see my own style develop over the year. That is what blogging has done for me. As long as we create, I think we will continue to discover things about ourselves. Thanks for stopping by. Can't wait for 2013!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Pages with Papertrey, sketch #8

Don't worry, you are in the right place. I know that it has been a while since I have posted a layout. The last time was back at the end of July to be exact. Let's just say that a little 17 month old boy that is full of energy and personality is the reason. No lie.

But to be honest, this page started out probably back in October. No matter what I did, I wasn't pleased. I changed out the patterned papers multiple times, I had different ideas to labels some of the pictures individually, etc. Sigh. I finally decided to stick these pictures down, add some stars and just be done with it.

The sketch for this challenge was created by the fabulous Leigh. This girl has amazing talent to not only scrapbook layouts at amazing speeds but create awesome sketches, too.

I am still working on my son's baby album and using the Becky Higgins Sweet Baby kit. This page is the second part of his 3 month layout. The 12x12 cardstock is Bazzill and the stars are PTI's Star Prints that I stamped and fussy cut. The remaining items are from the kit. Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey Ink December Blog Hop

 

It's that time of the month again. It's time for Papertrey Ink's monthly blog hop. There is always so much fun and inspiration. Here is our inspirational photo. Our challenge is to create a card using mostly white.

 

 

Where I work, one of my co-workers is moving and therefore leaving. So I thought I would take the opportunity to make her a thank you card. I stamped part of a sentiment from Big Bold Wishes in Soft Stone and a butterfly from Butterfly Wishes. The center diecut I made using my Cameo from this Silouette store (Design #35516). I also ran the cardbase through my cuttlebug with my Linen/canvas impression plate for some added texture.

 

 

We will miss you, Kathy! You have been a joy to work with.

 



Brown paper packages

I hope you enjoyed your weekend. Christmas is just around the corner and I promised I would be back to share some more holiday goodies. Today I am sharing a tag that I had made previously for CASology Cue Card: Gifts. It was selected as the winner. I now have the opportunity to be the first guest designer in the new year. I can't wait to share what I have created!

 

 

 

So here is this CAS little tag adorning it's gift. This gift is from my hubs and me to our daughter. She's too smart and would know that this tag, no doubt, is not from the man dressed in red and white. The two reasons this gift has not made it's way under the tree yet is it's obvious shape and my 17 month old would have found his way with it.

DeNami Celebrations and 10 Minute Craft Dash

I am popping in with 2 quick cards today. Actually these cards were designed and created by my daughter, Leah, for DeNami's Celebration challenge and 10 Minute Craft Dash.

For the DeNami Design challenge, I told her the theme was celebrations, so I offererd her my Congratulations stamp as a start. She wanted to use pink and blue, and so this card was born.

 

She used Polka Dot Elephant, Small Congratulations, Fairy Princess Chickie, Girl Chickie, and Ballerina Chickie. She colored them in with her Crayola Twistable colored pencils. Not a bad job staying within the lines for a 5 year old if I must say so myself. She did not even use my stamp-a-ma-jig. She said that she needed an even number of pink and blue elephants so that her card would have balance. I nearly fell over with laughter. She also told me that she wanted to stamp the inside of the card, so she chose a heart from petite fours Heart Stamp set.

Here is the second card that she made for 10 Minute Craft Dash which is also teaming up with CAS-ual Fridays. Although I have a bunch of CAS-ual Fridays holiday stamps, she stuck with DeNami stamps since the wood mounted stamps are much easier for her little hands to use. She still had a bit of trouble with the cling and acrylic block, but she managed to the best of her ability. I showed her all of the holiday stamps I had and she made her choice. When I told her that she was going to make a holiday card, she said that it must have baby Jesus and a present since Jesus is a present to us. Oh how I love my little girl!

She decided which stamps would have red, green, yellow and black ink and positioned them by their ink pads. I hit the stopwatch on my phone and she went crazy stamping. I gave her little updates on how much time she had left to complete her card. You can tell which Berry Vines she had left when I told her she only had 2 minutes left. Her strategy to color outside the lines to leave no vine incomplete made me laugh. She completed her card in 9 minutes and 32 seconds. Whew!

Although this card is not technically CAS, we decided to link it up to CAS-ual Fridays any way. Maybe she'll try a little harder to make it CAS next time.
 

I have so much fun when I am crafting with her. It amazes me that she can create cards so quickly.

 

Butter Crunch

Over the last year, my blogging friend Leigh over at  To the Full has shared this Butter crunch recipe.  I was so excited this year to finally make a batch (or two) for my daughter and son to give away to their teachers. This recipe is awesome and so easy to make. I enlisted the help of my 5 year old to layer the crackers while I boiled the butter and sugar. Before we knew it, we had one batch done.

 

Now with my poor planning, I did not have any cello bags on hand to package this treat. However, I did have some glassine bags which did the trick. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to fill them up very much, but I guess that just means more butter crunch for us *wink*. I used Papertrey Ink's 2008 Holiday tags and some leftover tulle from another project. I used this technique that Nicole shared here to add my tag topper.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas pillow boxes

Hello friends! If you happen to catch Thursday's post, then you would've noticed that I am now an owner of the Silhouette Cameo. Several of my blogging friends own this little baby and I have loved seeing their creations with it. Thank you hubby for my early Christmas present.

A while back, the Silhouette store had images for 50% off, so although my Cameo still hadn't arrived yet, I was able to pick up a bunch of images. This pillow box was one of them. The beauty of these digital images is the ability to resize them to fit your needs. Two of our family members will received gift cards and one of them was not the standard size. No problem.

 

I used some patterned paper from Papertrey Ink, a few stamps and washi tape from Target. This fall marks the third year that I started stamping, so it is tradition for me to share a creation with the first clear stamp set I bought from Papertrey Ink, 2008 Holiday Gift Tags.

This box uses Fillable frames #4, Turning a New Leaf and Signature Christmas.

 

I will have a few more treats to share on the blog before Christmas arrives. If you haven't finished your holiday shopping and wrapping, I hope this weekend gives you some much needed time to catch up. Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays and Craft Dash

Hello friends! You may be a bit confused when you see this post, but today CAS-ual Fridays is teaming up with Craft Dash to create a holiday inspired card in less than 10 minutes. You've got that right. Paulina has some fabulous tips to help you create your card within the time limit.

 

 

and

 

As you can see by the intricate cut of this snowflake (Design ID #36161), curtesy of my new Silhouette Cameo, this embellishment was already precut since the cardstock requires a double cut. I also used it to cut out this window. I inked up CAS-ual Fridays Snowflake Greetings for my sentiment around the cutout and added some Spring Moss cardstock behind the window. Then I ran it through my cuttlebug with PTI's linen/canvas impression plate. The snowflake was adhered using a 2 way glue pen. Clean and simple. The time to complete this card was 5 minutes and 6 seconds. I think I stared at it a bit to make sure I was happy with the results.



I also thought I would try this challenge including the cutting time. This time I hit the timer, fed my paper and ran across the house to my craftroom to start some stamping. Let's just say it was quite a scene. I used the same stamp set. I inked and stamped off the snowflakes onto some white cardstock. When my polaroid image was done cutting, I trimmed my stamped snowflakes to fit underneath. Stamped my sentiment and adhered it to the card. This time it took 7 minutes exactly. The polaroid cutout was a free download from Daniela Dobson. She has some fabulous stuff that you should go check out.

 

 

This challenge runs through Thursday, January 3, 2013 until noon. This gives you plenty of time during the busy holidays to carve out a little time and create a quick, clean and simple project. Thanks for stopping by and Happy Holidays!



CAS-ual Fridays, 8 Happy Nights

Hello friends! Tonight I have some cards to share with you showcasing the fabulous 8 Happy Nights CAS-ual Fridays stamps created by Michele Gross. This stamp set is the first Hanukkah set I own, and I couldn't be happier. My mother's side of the family is Jewish and I created several cards to send out to my family. Here are a few.

 

 

 

My last card I CASED myself from the second card you see here. I am still experimenting with splatter, so I am positive you will see more of this from me.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

CAS-ual Fridays, Even the Score

Hello friends! I hope you had a wonderful week. The weekend is here so it's time to celebrate! Today's card is for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge. This week's sponsor is Scor-Pal. 

 

I created my card from this inspirational photo. Unfortunately I do not know the source. I used the sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays stamps: Countdown. Remember that you have until noon on Thursday to link up and play. Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

CASology Gifts

Just popping in with a super quick post. This week's challenge over at CASology is gifts.

 

 

I created these little tags a couple of days ago, but haven't had the chance to share them on the blog yet. I inked up CAS-ual Friday Stamps: Snowflake Greetings and Merry-Kissmas. I paper pieced the gifts. The tag is PTI's Tag sale #3, one of my most used dies. These tags will adorn the presents for my niece and nephew which will be attached with some simple baker's twine. Thanks for stopping by!

 



DeNami Design, Medium Pine

Today is Product Spotlight over at DeNami Design. The design team is showcasing Medium Pine. You can add this fabulous stamp to your shopping cart and save 10%, one week only!

For my card, I inked up Medium Pine with some Papertrey Ink's Enchanted Evening ink and layered that panel onto matching cardstock. I tied some denim twine from the Twinery around the panel and tied a bow. Lastly, I heat embossed Classis Season's Greetings in white.

 

Thanks for stopping by!

DeNami blog hop, Pretty packaging

I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. Today I have a project to share for this month's DeNami blog hop. 

  

You should've arrived to my blog from Greta's blog. Just in case you didn't, you can head here to start at the beginning.
 

 

 

 

For my project, I used the small square gift box to create a little note card holder. I used white cardstock that was trimmed to 2.5x5 and then scored in half. I stamped Small bold hibiscus in pink, green and aqua onto the front of the notecard and the inside. I also stamped A little message for you onto the front of the notecard as well. To hold the box together, I used some Pink grosgrain ribbon, tied into a bow.

 

 

Your next stop along the hop is the talented  Lisa. Don't forget about the THREE $20 gift certificates that will be given away! One gift certificate will go to a random participant and TWO gift certificates to TWO people who comment along the hop! You have until December 10, 2012 11:59pm PST to comment and be eligible.

Thanks for stopping by!
 



CAS-ual Fridays, Knotty or Nice

Happy Friday, friends! Today I have a card to share with you for this week's CAS-ual Fridays challenge. The challenge is to create a clean and simple project using knots. The winner of this week's challenge will not only win a gift certificate from SimonSaysStamp but will also earn the spot as our guest designer next month. 

 

 I inked up Three People by Hero Arts. I chose to use these images for my card since the happy couple has "tied the knot". Now, although I do not know of any couples that are engaged, I do have my fingers crossed for two certain people. Could a proposal be just around the corner? We shall see.

 

I hope you can find some time to play. Remember that you have until noon on Thursday to link up and play! Thanks for stopping by!

DeNami Challenge, Celebrations

Hello friends! I apologize for the tardiness of this post. I realized that I did not have it published. Today over at DeNami Design the girls and I are sharing our Celebration inspired projects.

 

 

This card is actually already in the hands of the recepient, my sister. She and her husband recently closed on their house, just before the Thanksgiving holiday. Since we reside in Florida and they live quite close to the beach, I thought I would make them a beach inspired house warming card. I inked up Three Houses and colored it in with my copics. Then I stamped Palm Tree Silhouettes on each side of the houses. I used Small Congratulations for my sentiment and finished off the card with some aquamarine and melon twine from the Summer pack.

Head on over to the DeNami blog to see all of the details for the challenge. Can't wait to see what you create. Thanks for stopping by

Super heros

***Warning, this post is very picture heavy***

Okay, so I realize that we are now into December, but I did promise a while back that I would share photos of my kiddos from Halloween. I semi made Leah's costume. When I asked her what she wanted to be she told me, "Wonder Woman!" So I perused the web and saw some cute costumes made with tulle skirts, so I tried my hand at making one. For someone who loves fabric, I am quite surpised that it took me this long to even make one.

I used Papertrey Ink's Star dies and some left over felt from a previous Halloween and Christmas. I designed my own headband and wristbands from ones that I had seen on the internet. I have a funny story to tell about that. Since I worked on the felt part of her costume after she had gone to bed at night, I would slip into her room and slide the pieces around her wrists to check for size. I did the same with the headband. I couldn't believe she slept through it all. To her surprise,  she would wake up the next day with a new piece of costume. She couldn't believe it!

Showing us her super powers.

Because Leah chose to be Wonder Woman, I decided that Joshua would be Spiderman. He wore a store bought costume. There really wasn't anything in his size that I could make. Most costume patterns are for babies or children and the selection for toddlers is very limited. Maybe next year.

I tried to take some photos of the kids while it was still daylight. We can see how much Joshua enjoyed this.

Although he didn't start walking until 14 1/2 months, he chose to be carried. So Leah took on the responsibility of collecting candy for him. She toted around his bag and made sure that everyone knew there was a bag for each of them.

Hanging out with papa.

Her red glitter shoes curtesy of Target.

Her ruffle pants were not part of her costume, but the Florida weather proved to be cold that evening. It was rather quite chilly, but she refused to wear a jacket.

As the evening went on, Joshua finally got in on some of the action. Leah still helped him by carrying his bag of candy, which was rather heavy by this point.

We didn't trick or treat very long so that we could return home and be available to pass out candy. Leah decided that would be her job and she did it rather well. We actually had a grown up return to our door because she had heard how adorable she was at passing out candy and had to see for herself.

We are still eating Halloween candy! Thanks for stopping by!