June Pages

I hope you had a lovely Thanksgiving weekend, and survived all the travel and sales and storms! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving day, did a little shopping after the big, crazy hours, and traveled again to a family event on Sunday. It was a really nice weekend, even tho I am still kind of exhausted from it, haha... And then all the catch up on Monday and other big projects on Tuesday and I'm only getting around to crafting today!

I was trying to post these pages each Monday morning, but I've been in a fight with the long retired software so it took most of today to get three pages recreated a third time, sigh. I only have two pages left to make and then they'll be completely done! Considering it isn't even yet December, I am extremely excited about this! Hoping for no more stubborn battles with the software.......!

So first my inlaws June page...

And then my parents June page! These pictures were from all over the year, tho the one of my own little family was taken in June, haha!

What kind of crafting are you doing for Christmas? Have you ever made a photo calendar? They're kind of a hit....!

Birthday for a girl

I have a good friend who I have known for 30 years now (seriously, that is a freaky thing to realize...!). She was my best friend all our growing up years. She now has four children, two are special needs and one of those two is medically fragile. So nevermind the 90 min drive between us, it is incredibly difficult to ever get together. I do mail her cards maybe once a month or so, hoping that getting something that isn't a bill in the mail helps the hard days.

Recently she mentioned that her little girl loves my cards, is amazed that I can make them, and even "borrows" the cards, keeping them in her room because she loves them so much. That melted my heart! Later she mentioned her daughter's birthday was coming up, so I thought I would make her very own birthday card to keep! The only hint her mom had was that I did ask what her favorite color is...

Then I tried to think of the most little-girly set I owned! The stamps, DP and ribbon I used are all retired, but the colors are current! I used the TGIF sketch from last week, and this might be the busiest card I have ever made, but. I think she's going to love it! It should arrive today.

Supplies:
Stamps: Magical Day (retired)
Ink: Bermuda Bay, Berry Burst, Coastal Cabana, Powder Pink, Stazon
Paper: Coastal Cabana, Powder Pink, Whisper White card stocks, Myths & Magic DP (retired)
Accessories: Wink of Stella, Blender Pens, Circle Dies, Big Shot, White Glitter Ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

The paper was printed with glitter all over the unicorns bodies. I added Wink of Stella to the mermaid's tail and scales, and hair, and then to the sparkles on the pink circle, and to the bubbles on the blue circles. And the ribbon, that is almost hidden, is glittery too. Maybe you can see some glitter in this picture?

Anyway, I think these are the best kinds of surprises. I've been mailing out a number of cards lately and I hope each of them were a fun little surprise in the mail box full of bills!

Last from my Class

I'm all done with card classes for 2018- I decided I'd better try to spend the month of Christmas with my family. So today I'm showing off the last card for my classes this year.

The Farmhouse Christmas bundle is so wonderful. The die-cut fence is a huge hit, the house is perfect for coloring (and the truck is too), and the paper it coordinates with is trying to be my favorite pack! haha! So that's what I used for the class.

Supplies:
Stamps: Farmhouse Christmas
Ink: Memento Black, Mossy Meadow, Stampin' Blends: Dark Cherry Cobbler, Dark Daffodil Delight, Bronze
Paper: Whisper White card stock, Festive Farmhouse DP, Wood Textures DP
Accessories: Cherry Cobbler stitched ribbon, Big Shot, Farmhouse Framelits Dies, Dimensionals 

How are your Christmas cards coming along? I've made 12 so far this season, but I have a little box holding several more. More crafting to get done...! haha!

May Pages

Happy Monday to you!
I finally got started on the second calendar, and am nine pages in! And it's not quite Thanksgiving yet! Our photo cards have been printed and I have a good stack of stamped Christmas cards to mail out as well. I'm excited to be a little ahead of myself this year instead of cramming it all at the last second. Hooray!!! Very little shopping done, but this is a good start!

So here's the first May page...

And here's the second May page.

If you've been here before, you know that my mom likes me to include as many of us as possible on every page. The adults are harder to show every time- I take more pics of kids, haha. But that's okay, the grandkids are the priority for sure. Who doesn't want to see themselves repeatedly on Grandma's wall??
*Bonus- since the calendar features my parents entire family, my siblings get a copy of the calendar for their gift too. Five gifts for the effort of one! bam!

How are your holiday plans going? Are you making any gifts this year?

Christmas Wreath Options!

Really, it's all the same card, I just tried out three different plaids to see what I liked best, and then had to get an opinion before offering it to my class!
It looks an awful lot like the last time I used this set, but this time I picked a sketch off Splitcoaststampers.com.

Supplies:
Stamps: Buffalo Check, Wishing You Well
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizazz
Paper: Whisper White, Pear Pizazz & Real Red card stocks
Accessories: Circle Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Stamps: Buffalo Check, Wishing You Well
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizazz, Mossy Meadow
Paper: Whisper White, Pear Pizazz & Cherry Cobbler card stocks
Accessories: Circle Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals

Supplies:
Stamps: Buffalo Check, Wishing You Well
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Pear Pizazz
Paper: Whisper White, Pear Pizazz & Cherry Cobbler card stocks
Accessories: Circle Dies, Big Shot, Dimensionals

Do you have a favorite of these?

April Page 1

And now it's mid-November, so yesterday we woke up to an unexpected (for me...) sight:

and I have my in-laws calendar completely done! Hooray!!

Here's the April page if you're looking for some scrapping inspiration.

Supplies:
MDS- long retired!

I've got a big stack of actual photographs coming in the mail and can't wait to scrap an actual page soon...! Of course the second calendar is first on the list but really, I've got to finish prepping for my Christmas Card Class tomorrow! Are you coming?

Christmas Star

I've had so many different ideas with this set and I haven't gotten to use it nearly enough! So, even tho we used this at my Christmas in July card class, we're using it again at my November Christmas Card Class!
This time we're using it in red. I am not a gold person, but I love the red and gold for Christmas.

Supplies:
Stamps: Star of Light
Ink: Real Red
Paper: Real Red & Whisper White card stocks, Gold Foil DP
Accessories: Real Red ribbon, Metallic Sequins, Starlight Thinlits, Big Shot, Take Your Pick tool, Glue Dots

Mail those cards!

Since I intend to mail out a lot of cards in the next few weeks, I figure I'll need to add to my stash.  Also, I wanted to break up all the Christmas cards since it is still early November... you're welcome? So I picked these stamp sets (looove this combo!) and thought I'd go for autumn. Um, I missed the fall part, haha, but, I still love the card, so here you go.
The card is based off the Fab Friday sketch, but I used my new circle dies instead of squares...

Supplies:
Stamps: Buffalo Check, Wishing You Well
Ink: Mint Macaron, Flirty Flamingo
Paper: Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo & Mint Macaron card stocks
Accessories: White Bakers Twine, Circle Dies, Big Shot

However, this card isn't going in my stash, it has a home to go to. Are you mailing any thank you cards this month? How much would it brighten someone's day?

Shiny Christmas!

Today I have a card that looks impressive, but is really simple to put together. This card is totally inspired by THIS stunning card, but really not all that much like it, haha.... The whole thing works because of beautiful paper.

Supplies:
Stamps: Making Christmas Bright
Ink: Shaded Spruce
Paper: Whisper White card stock, All is Bright DP, Gold Glimmer DP, Gold Foil DP
Accessories: Christmas Bulb Punches, Gold Thread, Dimensionals

And another angle so you can see the gold foil isn't just blah brown.

Do you love this card as much as I do? Well, you're in luck- it's part of my classes next week! haha!

Limited Time Snowflake Sets!

Every once in a while, Stampin' Up! offers something for a very limited time, and this is a fun one!
I got to pre-order the velveteen paper and this is the first project I used it on:

Supplies:
Stamps: Winter Woods
Ink: Tranquil Tide, Crumb Cake
Paper: Mint Macaron, Tranquil Tide & Whisper White card stocks, White Velveteen Paper
Accessories: In The Woods framelits, Big Shot, Dimensionals

So the snowbank is velvet! Can you see the texture in this second picture? And! YOU can make this same card at my upcoming Christmas Card Class!

Check out the video to see how everything works together, then let me know which ones you want to order!

 

Snow is Glistening photopolymer stamp set: $21.00

Happiness Surrounds photopolymer stamp set: $17.00

Snowfall Thinlit Dies: $39.00

Snowflake Trinkets: $8.00

White Velveteen DP: $5.00

You can check out THIS blog hop and see lots of projects using these supplies! This is a great little selection you won't want to miss out on!

Beautiful Mess.

Ha. I have been putting together ideas for my November card class and with this card I may have just been trying TOO hard. haha... It is not good for a class as it is, that's for sure. I need to keep playing to make it work. But in the meantime, the layout works and I'll still use this card.

The roof, shutters, windows and door are colored with Watercolor Pencils. Only the roof has Blender Pens used on it, because I used Memento ink and that bleeds with Blender Pens. The lights are colored with regular Stampin' Markers. I do love the fence, and the greeting was first done with two colors of marker and didn't work at all - see?

Anyway- here's the card for today, in spite of all the things. haha! Oh, I also used the Fall To Layout 95 which I like too, even tho I swapped the image and the words.

Supplies:
Stamps: Farmhouse Christmas
Ink: Memento Black, Mossy Meadow, Poppy Parade marker, Coastal Cabana marker, Crushed Curry marker
Paper: Whisper White & Poppy Parade card stocks, Wood Textures DP
Accessories: Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pens, Farmhouse Framelits Dies, Big Shot

We Create Gratitude Blog Hop

Welcome to another fun Blog Hop!

November already!!! Once again, October seemed to fly by- I had no idea Halloween was only a week away when my friend posted with the same panic! Our costumes were not super well planned, but teenagers are a little tricky that way anyway.

Calvin (& Hobbes), Kitty & Greaser

There was a lot we didn't manage to do this October, but, now it's November and a month of gratitude is coming up! Do you do anything like that? We have a can of slips of paper with suggestions for showing gratitude for specific people in our lives, and I've also done years where I post things I am grateful for. I think maybe my favorite was the year I die cut tons of leaves and each day we wrote on a leaf something we were thankful for and stuck it on the inside of the front door. I have a lofty goal to send out thank you cards this month...ideally a different person each day, but we'll see how much I can do. Tho really, any card mailed out to brighten someone's day is a good thing.

Anyway, this month we're doing a Gratitude themed blog hop. For my card, I used the Inky Friends sketch and this beautiful Winter Woods stamp set. I love autumn leaves so that seemed a perfect fit. I sponged Crushed Curry ink on to the doily, but it doesn't show up well. And I'm just going to have to keep doing the thread bits until I get it looking right! ha!

Supplies:

Stamps: Winter Woods, At Home With You

Ink: Early Espresso, Crushed Curry

Paper: Crushed Curry, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla card stocks

Accessories: Pearlized Doilies, Gold Thread, Metallic Sequins, Sponge, Glue Dots

Now hop on over to see what Cheryl has created. Then hop on thru to everyone's blog, and leave us your thoughts! 

And have a peaceful November!