Joy to the World

Hello friends! Today I am popping in to share a little gift bag that I created using my Silhouette Cameo and a few stamps and dies. To make this a quick project, I made an almost duplicate of a previous project found here. 

 

This little gift bag holds an ornament for a gift exchange at work. I used the cut file Design ID #45733 from the Silhouette store. Then I inked up Casual Fridays Christmas Carols stamp set. I used the Funky Round tag die to die cut the tag. The green cardstock was embossed with diagonal lines from DeNami design to add a bit of texture. And it was all tied together using some New Leaf stitched ribbon from Papertrey Ink.

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Happy Birthday Jancy!

Hello my dear blog friends.

  

Today I am sharing a fun birthday card. I created my card by inking up Teeny Star Background using this technique that I shared on the DeNami Design blog back in February 2014. I just had to use this sentiment from CAS-ual Fridays WTF stamp set because my sweet friend Jancy turned 40 recently!

  

 

Her sweet husband, Adrian, planned a surprise party for her and pulled it off. It was so fun to see the look of surprise on her face. We had such a great time visiting her and her family. Since they are only an hour away, we definitely have to visit more often. The last time I saw her was 18 years ago!

 

Speaking of more often, I do hope to post more on my blog. Many of my sweet followers have been with me from the beginning. As many of you know, last summer I developed some heart problems which have almost completely resolved with medication and exercise. My cardiologist told me that it would help my symptoms, so I was eager to start. Since exercising, I have really developed a passion for fitness and eating healthy. I guess that's what happened when I stared 40 in the face. I realized that I better start taking better care of me and my family.

 

I have still been crafting, albeit a lot less than before. Whether, I am going in to work early or late, I am up at 4:30am to work or for working out. So that means little time is left in the evenings to craft since I value my sleep. I have been scrapbooking and working on Joshua's school album. I have completed 5 pages, so I will have to share them on the blog soon.

 

If you follow me on Instagram too, you might know that I have also embraced the minimalist lifestyle. Despite working full time, it has allowed me to have a cleaner house without the work, more time to spend with the kids and family, more time to exercise, time to craft and more time to spend doing the things that are important to me.

 

So for now, I am learning how to balance it all. Hugs to you all!

 



Hello friends!

I hope everyone is doing well. I wanted to pop in today to share a few projects that I created this past month that I shared over at the DeNami Desigh blog. Even though the blog has been quiet, my craftroom has been busy. Busy crafting and decluttering!

 

Most of my projects had a Valentine's Day theme to them. To see the products I used, I will link each project to the DeNami Design post.

 

I created this card for Leah. My little girl loves animals, especially cats and dogs. When I first saw this image, I knew it was made for her.

 

 

My next project  shows how I used the same stamps, but different colors. By changing the colors you can easily make the card for a boy or girl.

 

 

 

Next up are the treats that I made for my kiddos to give to their classmates and teachers. For the ones that they actually gave to their classmates, I did not emboss them. That's because I made 40 of them!

 



The last set of cards I created using a sketch that I created. I love being able to use a sketch over and over again!

 

 

As tradition has it, I took photos of the kids for Valentine's Day. Those photos will be included my next crafty endeavor as I work on their traditional Valentine's Day albums. I am certain that you will see many images and sentiments from the latest DeNami release.

Thanks for stopping by!

2014 Year in Review

 Hello friends! Today I am sharing some of my favorite cards from the past year. Some months I had some difficulty choosing between two cards and towards the end of the year *gulp* I didn't have many to choose from!

This year, I did accomplish a major crafting goal before my son turned 3. I finished his baby album! I am a very slow crafter, especially when it comes to scrapbooking. It was really monumental. I had planned to start his school album next. But, if you follow my blog then you will know that I developed my heart issues in the middle of the summer. That forced me to take a good hard look at my health and start making better decisions for me and ultimately for my family. It has been a great change for all of us.

I hope you enjoy your trip down memory lane!

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Thanks for stopping by!



Silent Night, Holy Night

Hello friends! I hope you are all well and not too busy preparing for the Christmas holiday. These past few weeks have been very busy, but I have made the time to take care of myself by exercising and getting plenty of sleep. So unfortunately, my crafty time has taken a hit. This past weekend we had no obligations other than using some movie tickets before they expired. You mean, the hubs and I were "forced" to go on a date. If we must. Lol! I spent the rest of my time wrapping gifts and getting crafty.

 

So today I have a super quick, one layer card to share with you. I used only two stamps: Silent Night, Holy Night and Baby Jesus using Kraft ink and Rich Cocoa Memento Ink. It's perfect for mass production or to crank out a few cards if you have left card making to the last minute. Lol!

 

 

That's all that I have for you today. Take care and have a great week!

 

Merry Christmas

Hello friends! I hope you are all well and enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast. We certainly enjoyed ours. This last month has been busy for me. I started another per diem job. With two per diem jobs, I am now working full time. My new job has longer hours which means I don't get home until after dinner. That means I have been busy searching/making crock pot meals and frozen meals so my family can start dinner without me or my help. After a month of these new changes, we are slowly developing our new normal. Thanks so much to my in-laws who have been tremendously helpful in this process. Without them, we would not be able to adjust to this change.

Last weekend, Leah and I spent a little time in my craftroom. We managed to finish up our cards today to play along with the DeNami sketch challenge. There has been some technical difficulties with the challenge, so it is extended one more week. I am so excited to have made my first Christmas card for this season. Yay! Unfortunately, I have a long way to go until they are done. I kept it pretty CAS, just like I did for the last card that I made.

  

I inked up Elegant Holly (cling) and fussy cut the images and I used Merry Christmas for my sentiment. I used my Circle Interlock embossing folder on the center panel to add some texture.

 

Leah also made a Christmas card (for me). She used the same sentiment and inked up Hearts Stamp set. For her side panel, she wanted to create a candy cane feeling using score tap and some Ruby Red glitter. She laid down the adhesive, trimmed it up and added her glitter. So proud of her. The only thing I helped her with was cutting out her panels. She adhered everything down.

Here is the awesome sketch. It was so fun to work with.



Well, this is a short post since I've got to get back to meal prep for tomorrow. Have a great week!

 



Happy Halloween!

Hello friends and Happy Halloween! Do you have any fun trick-or-treating plans? My kiddos will be dawning some super hero costumes this year. It seems like the super hero theme from their birthday party this summer has not let up. I have high hopes that I will be able to put a post together to share our festivities from this evening at some point this weekend. Fingers crossed.

 

I have also been rather busy this past week as I start a new job. I will continue to work at my old job as well since both jobs are per diem. There will be lots of adjustments in our family routine but it is all good. I am still learning more about fitness and finding new recipes to feed my family. Thank you pinterest for helping me! I have had a lot more energy (not that I was feeling run down before) and my heart is doing really well. I am so thankful for that. I have a follow up with my cardiologist in December. I think she will be pleased to know what I have been doing to improve my health.

 

This year I made Leah her costume again. It was nothing fancy, but I can't wait to share this weekend. I also made little mummy treats for the kids to give to their classmates and teachers. I wrapped mini chocolate bars with crepe paper, glued on some googley eyes and tied on a tag onto 38 bars! I would've normally enlisted Leah's help in the assembly, but this week was super busy so I worked on them late at night. Since I had today off, I squeaked in some time to finally create a card. Love this sketch from CAS(E) this sketch!

 



 

The CAS girl in me kept the panels white. I think I had that stamped orange striped paper for two years! So glad to use it on this card. I made those stripes using Three Line Border from DeNami Design. I love that stamp!!! The sentiment is also from DeNami. The sequins are from a bulk bag that I picked up from Michaels a while back. If you look closely, the raised panels were impressed with my PTI Linen/canvas impression plate.

 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!



Catching up

Hello friends! I hope you are all doing well. We enjoyed a relaxing Labor Day weekend: cooking on the grill and enjoying the pool.

With back to school, I know lots of people are creating for the Fall. I, however, am playing catch up on some projects that I never got around to working on from last February. You may recall that I shared Joshua's Valentine's album this past summer on this post. After the kiddos big super hero party, which was 3 weeks ago, I spent some time helping a friend create some projects for her wedding. So this past weekend I spent some time playing catch up.

 

I repeated some of the designs from the first album. I hate to lack in the creativity department, but the truth is, I really want to finish up these little projects so I can begin working on some other bigger projects. I used products from DeNami Design, PaperTrey Ink, and Altenew. I also used my Silhouette Cameo for the title. Yes, I stamped the hearts upside down or glued the "S" on upside down. Either way, I am okay with it. The ring clips are temporary just to hold the project together. I have a bunch of sliver ones that won't open, grrrr.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Every year I make these albums, I have the kids help make some of the embellishments for the album. Then, of course, I snap some photos of them being crafty. He scribbled lightly with the colored pencils. Leah punched out the hearts and painted them. He did glue everything on including placing the washi tape. Here is some of his artwork and hand prints which I always do for these albums as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pause in crafting because he was mesmerized by what ever was playing on my phone at the time. I love that face!

 

Well, that is all for me today. I hope you have a great rest of the week! Thanks for stopping by!

 

CAS-ual Fridays, Happy B-Day

Hello friends! I am popping in with a quick card for the current CAS-ual Fridays challenge. It is the last challenge for this year. As you can see by the challenge graphic, it is tic-tac-toe. The previous card I submitted, you can find here. My girlfriend delivered her precious little girl yesterday and I am so happy for her and her family. Blessings to you all!

 

 

For my card, I chose to play along with the top row: chevrons, black and sequins. The stars are from Altenew Faux Veener and the chevrons are from DeNami Design. I used a speech bubble cut file (Design ID #50306.) I simply deleted the text and added my own. Unfortunately the font escapes me at this time. The clear sequins are Pretty Pink Posh. They seem to be picking up all kinds of reflection in my craft room, but they are clear. This card will make it into the hands of my precious soon-to-be 7 year old, Leah, on Thursday. Somebody pinch me. Where did the time go?

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!



Happy 4th (part 3)

I am back to share Leah's card for One Layer Simplicity. Grrr for not being able to link up multiple cards from one post.

 

She desparately wanted to make white stars. I had to tell her that it would be hard to add red to her card if she used a dark cardbase and kept it one layer. Since she saw me playing with my sponging and masking, we came up with an idea. We used post it tape to mask off an area so she could create an area to stamp her white stars on. She is such a quick learner and I think she did fabulous sponging on the ink. She used Teeny Star from DeNami in Snow White. Then she inked up Long Solid Rectangle in Pure Poppy to create her flag pole

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy 4th! (part 2)

Hello friends. I am back as promised, but a little sooner that I expected. My daughter Leah was with me in my craftroom and saw me creating my card and wanted to play along.

 

My card plays along with two challenges: One Layer Simplicity and PTI's MIM: Masking with Dies (insert gasp). It's been quite a while since I have played along with MIM, so I was excited to try out this technique.

To create my diagonal stripes, I used a stencil that I created with my Silhouette Cameo. I created this stencil waaay back using PTIs Stampers Select white. It is quite sturdy and has been used several times and is in great shape even though it is cardstock. I die cut the medium star from Star Prints and adhered it to my cardstock first, then layered my striped stencil on top using my zig 2 way pen. I sponged on some Enchanted Evening pigment ink. My pad is quite dry so I think it's great to create a subtle effect. I used Pure Poppy for my star image and added my sentiment in Memento Tuxedo black in.

 

Next up is Leah's card.

 

 

 She desparately wanted to make white stars. I had to tell her that it would be hard to add red to her card if she used a dark cardbase and kept it one layer. Since she saw me playing with my sponging and masking, we came up with an idea. We used post it tape to mask off an area so she could create an area to stamp her white stars on. She is such a quick learner and I think she did fabulous sponging on the ink. She used Teeny Star from DeNami in Snow White. Then she inked up Long Solid Rectangle in Pure Poppy to create her flag pole.

 

Thanks for stopping by!



Happy Independence Day!

To all of my American blog readers, Happy Independence day! I hope you day is filled with fun, relaxation, family, friends and lots of yummy food. Oh, and let's not forget fireworks! Yay!

Today I have a card to share with you that plays along with the challenge over at One Layer Simplicity: create a card inspired by your country's flag.

  

 

Not only did I used red, white and blue, but I also incorporated stars and stripes. I used only DeNami Design products for my card. I inked up Three Line Border in Pure Poppy. Since the stamp is just slightly smaller than the length of my card, I masked off one end and then did the same on the other end. Unfortunately after inking up all of my stripes, I realized that there was some sort of blob on my stamp. Grrr. After all of that work, I did not want to start over.

Then I inked up Teeny Star in Heid Swapp Navy. I was a little "off:" in my stamping, but I had already put in too much effort to stop now. I also added a score line between the stars and stripes.

 

That's all for now. I have another idea to play along with this challenge, so I am back to my craftroom before all of our festivities get under way today. Have an awesome day!

Happy Birthday

Hello friends! Boring title. I know. But...

 

...things have not been boring around here. Yesterday I had to leave work around lunch time to go to the ER for palpitations. Ugh! That's right. For no reason at all my heart rate was elevated, I was short of breath and having extra beats. One of the doctors that I work with recommended I go to the ER because she was concerned for me. Fortunately after a couple of hours, they gave me the option to spend the night or go home. Um, I will take my comfy bed, thank you. So by this morning, all of my symptoms have gone away and I am taking it easy. Thankfully I already had today off. So what better way to relax than head to my craftroom. 

 

Leah and I spent some time crafty time together which I love so much. She made a card completely out of washi tape. Yep, totally her idea. I created this card for a sweet little girl that will turn 3 years old just one day after my Joshua.

 

 

This card plays along with three challenges: CAS-ual Fridays, CAS on Sunday and Curtain Call Challenge. My first intention was to use small heart circle from DeNami Design for the CAS-ual Fridays challenge: use hearts in a summer palette. So when I saw the gorgeous photo over at Curtain Call, I knew exactly what colors to choose. The sentiment is from CAS-ual Fridays: CAS-ual Elegance.  And lastly, the challenge over at CAS on Sunday is to create a birthday card. I can't remember the last time I created one card to play along with 3 challenges.

 

 

Thanks for stopping by!

 

DeNami Product Spotlight, Balloon Trio

 Today is product spotlight over at DeNami Design. The design team is showcasing Balloon Trio by having a DeNami blog hop. You should've arrived at my blog from Lisa Petrella's blog. If you visit each design team members blog and leave a comment along the way, you will be eligible to win this stamp! You can also add this fabulous stamp to your shopping cart and save 10%, one week only.

 

 

This stamp is so much fun and can really be used to create a variety of cards. This time I chose to  create a mini birthday card. Perfect to tuck in with any present.

 



 

I used some PTI cardstock and chose my balloon colors based on what copics I had to blend. I just realized that they are almost the same as the product spotlight image. lol. I inked up Balloon Trio and Happy Monster w/Balloons and colored them in. I inked up Happy Birthday from Thoughtful Greetings petite four. To finish off my card, I added some clear sequins from Pretty Pink Posh using crystal lacquer.

 

 

Well that is all from me today. Thanks for stopping by!

 

Wendy is your next stop!

DeNami blog

Lisa Petrella

Deb <------that's me

Wendy Elliot

Emily Keaton

Lisa Elton

Patti Goldman

Tammy Hobbs