Thanksgiving

Sorry for the break in posts...I spent the last few days with family and friends and it was wonderful! Not to mention, the food was pretty good too! This year we celebrated Thanksgiving at my house and it was AWESOME to have room in the kitchen to move about. My mom & I were able to each do our own thing! It was so much more enjoyable...I didn't stress at all and that's saying a lot for me!! Here is my Mom - she looks happy doesn't she?!? Probably because she didn't have to do all the cooking this year!


This year we decided to fry the turkey so the guys were in charge of that. I told them I wanted to get a picture of them "working".


That's when I realized that there wasn't much working going on. Here is my Dad and my husband, Jay watching over the turkey carefully!

Where's Abby you ask? She's "helping" everyone! She took a quick break to pose with her daddy!

My sister and her boyfriend were also over for Thanksgiving but I failed to get any pictures of them. I also wanted to take pictures of the food but trust me it looked good and tasted even better!! We took time to remind each other how thankful we are and how blessed our lives are. I know I'm very grateful for all HE has done for me! I hope you and your family had a great Thanksgiving as well!

CAC Sketch #4

Hang on folks cause I think you're going to like this card! I have to tell you that I saw the sketch for the week and instantly thought of a snow globe. Why? I don't know because the sketch shows flowers everywhere but I must have been thinking about snowflakes instead! I decided it was too late to start working on this so went to bed. I then woke up at 3am thinking how I wanted to do this and couldn't sleep! I laid there and laid there thinking about this darn card! I woke up the next morning, made some coffee and got to work. I tried a couple of different ways and didn't like the way they turned out. I kept trying though cause I just had to get this right! Well (drum roll please) here it is...

Now I don't know if you can tell but I punched a circle out of embossed cardstock (white with snowflakes). Then I cut a pink circle with my Coluzzle. I took one of my TAC stamps (it's retired) and manipulated the image so that it curved and would fit on the pink circle. That's one of the neat things about unmounted stamps. You can bend then and make then into different shapes. This sentiment wasn't very big so it didn't want to stay in the curve position. I just put a little removable Dotto on it and stuck it to my acrylic block. When I was done I just wiped the Dotto adhesive right off. I stamped the snowman on acetate and glued it to the pink circle. Next I stamped the snowman on white cardstock and colored it with my Copics. I then lined up the image on white cardstock to the image on the acetate. I adhered the cardstock with pop dots. Next, I glued the pink circle to the card front.

The stamp is by Penny Black and I was lucky to get it 1/2 off at my Hobby Lobby store. I went there looking for Spellbinder Dies and some how walked out with this stamp, along with a few other things that I got 1/2 off!

Thanks for looking!

Mystery Swap

Warning if you are in the TACTALK Mystery Swap you might not want to read any further because I'm going to share my creation!! I joined a swap on one of my Yahoo groups where I was sent an image and had to make a card out of it. I was sent this penguin image and the star. The only rule was that I had to use TAC papers. A few things I'm not sure you can see - I colored the star yellow and then used Crystal Stickles over it. I colored the penguins hat pink and then covered it with white Fun Flock.

I left the bottom portion open so that the recipients could add the sentiment of their choice. I used my colored pencils and OMS on this because I totally forgot about my Copics. I think the bright markers would have been so pretty with this paper! I've since rearranged my desk top so that my pencils and markers are beside each other. I'm very much a visual person so the more stuff I can see the more likely I am to use it!

Thanks for looking!

Calendars

I'm so excited about sharing these today! I finally finished my cookie sheet calendar AND I made an advent calendar for Abby. Can you believe it TWO projects and I have a week before they start...whohoo!! I spent a lot of time on each of these calendars as I hope they are with our family for MANY years. First up is my cookie sheet calendar.


There were certain stamps that I really wanted to use so I didn't worry about having an image on every square. All supplies are from The Angel Company. I really like the colors in the Reece SWIC collection and knew that I wanted to base the project around that.


This is a close up of the top. I used my Quickutz die for the "25". The glass pebble you see on the first square (with the star) is a magnet. That is actually what we will move each day. I had a hard time deciding how I wanted to do this. I finally decided on "Merry Christmas" because when it's on the 25th day it's Christmas and well that is the whole point of the calendar - to count down to Christmas! I couldn't find a stamp small enough to work with the pebble so that sentiment is actually from Stampendous.


And this is the bottom half. I REALLY like how it turned out! (can you FEEL my excitement???).

Next up is the advent calendar I made for Abby. I used a Karen Foster Advent Calendar and added paper from My Mind's Eye. I just LOVE this paper!! I bought a package of it and some extra sheets of my favorites! I have to tell you that you'll probably see this paper again in a later post (wink, wink!). I went shopping last night, and picked up a few goodies for this calendar. I'm going to fill it with candy, toys & trinkets, scriptures & journaling prompts. I want Abby to know more about the holiday than just Santa & toys!

I'm sure you can do a lot more to the calendar but I realized that you'll be opening each drawer so putting too much bulk isn't smart. I found that my punches were very close in size to the template that the calendar came with so decided to use that. I thought the scallops jazzed it up a bit.

So what do you think? I would love to know! Have I mention that I really REALLY like these :) Thanks so much for looking!

A few projects

I had a FUNShop! on Sunday and I did a card using the Dryer sheet Technique as well as a gift card. The gift card idea came from a video by Jennifer McGuire that was posted on one of my Yahoo Groups. Gotta love those groups for awesome ideas!

Here is the gift card. I used the Willoughby Collection from The Angel Company. I'm so loving this paper! I seem to be using it on many different creations lately. The colors are just beautiful and perfect for male or female recipients.


And here is the inside of the card:

I left everything blank on the inside so I can add a special note/letter or photo to it. It's a 4x4 size so a photo would look really good on the inside or back cover. Wouldn't this be great for birthdays too! It's very easy especially using my Scor-Pal. That is one of the best tools EV-ER! I use it all the time. Not just for cards but tons of other projects as well!

Here is the Christmas Card using the dryer sheet technique. It's kind of hard to tell but there is a dryer sheet adhered over the penguin image and glitter is rubbed in. It has a huge sparkle effect! On the inside we stamped Happy Holidays using L'Amore Red Palette Pad.

I colored the penguin with markers (I found the brighter the image the better!). The ladies were really pleased and can't wait for our next get together in 3 weeks.

Thanks for looking! If you have any questions, just ask!

All supplies used were from The Angel Company. Interested in purchasing? Just contact me.

where does the time go...

I can't believe it's Wednesday already! Not sure why I haven't posted except that I haven't been feeling the best and I just can't seem to get going! I'm still working on stuff but it's taking me way to long to complete my projects. This isn't good with Christmas fast approaching and I have orders to fill and gifts to make! I think part of the problem is that my head is filled with all these ideas I want to do but I just don't know where to start. That part stresses me out and then I find I don't do much. Ever have that problem?

Yesterday was another CAC Sketch day. I needed an anniversary card for an order and thought the sketch was perfect for it! Here's the sketch:

It's a Becky Fleck aka Page Maps sketch. I just LOVE her sketches!! And here's my card:

I realized with this sketch that the SU! Scalloped Border punch would have been perfect so I guess that baby is going on my wish list! Since I didn't have that, I just used a piece of Bazzill Scalloped Cardstock to trace & cut the scallops.

Thanks for looking!

Dress Up Girl Card

This card is for a challenge that was posted on one of my yahoo groups. The card had to consist of an image that someone sent me (thanks Danni), have at least 2 buttons, and have the colors brown, yellow and orange on it. Here's my card. I used some of my scrap pattern paper for the card. I cut out the felt flower with my Sizzix and I used scrapper's floss in my buttons. I colored the image with pencils & OMS. The stamp set is a retired set from The Angel Company. I think it turned out really cute. My daughter was elated with the results and kept asking if it was for her so at least I know my biggest fan likes it :)

I have a FUNShop! today with a great bunch of ladies where we'll be doing a technique card and a gift card. So be looking for those creations here soon!

Kreativ Award

Imagine my surprise when I received a comment that my friend and awesome blogger buddy, Danni, had awarded me the Kreativ Award. Of course with any award there are rules! Although I'm very much a rule follower, I'm not going to follow the rules this time. I'm supposed to nominate 5 blogs for the award. Well I'm a new blogger and there are TONS of blogs that I look at for inspiration! It would be way too hard to pick just 5!! I have some of my favorite blogs listed to the side and a folder full of new ones that I've found to still add!

So thank you, Danni, for awarding me this honor, for being my friend, and for making me feel so blessed! I'd also like to thank everyone who stops by and reads my blog. I hope I do provide some Kreativ enjoyment to you all!

Holiday Planner

If you know me at all I love to feel as though I'm organized! I'm a planner kind of girl - always have one and always use it. Now this doesn't mean that I'm always organized as you have to read it and actually write out what needs to be done. If you forget to do that, well then there's problems! I've seen holiday planners made out of file folders and knew I wanted to do something similar. I started with one of those super cheap folders you can get in abundance at the beginning of the school year. Please forgive me, but I'm thinking I got the idea to use this folder from Connie on one of my yahoo groups (I'm on a lot of groups and sometimes I lose track of where I got what!)


I cut the folder down (to help save paper) and then folded the folder accordion style. Next, I inked all the edges with brown and then decorated with paper. This is the front of the planner. I used Stickles to add a little sparkle to the swirls. The "holiday planner" is printed off my computer.

And this is the inside of the pages. The way I assembled my ribbon makes the folder only open with two pockets showing at one time. I wanted this as most of the time I'll be using it on the run (in a car, at a store, etc.) and so I wanted a little more stability.

I printed the pages at Organized Christmas . If you've never been to this site, you should really check it out. They have a lot of neat printable stuff. My sections are Gift ideas, Shopping lists, Christmas Cards and calendars with to do lists.

All supplies used were from The Angel Company. Trying to do this for the first time took me a little longer than I thought it would but each additional ones I make will go really fast now that I know what I'm doing, lol!

I am a TAC Demonstrator so feel free to contact me if you'd like to purchase any of the supplies used or you have any questions. I'd also be willing to sell this as a kit. Contact me if you're interested in purchasing one!

Sketch Challenge

I was blog surfing and ran across Amy R.'s blog . She posted a Friday Sketch #36 challenge and I decided to play along. Here is the sketch:

and here is my card.


I used Heidi Grace paper and Prima flowers. The stamp is cuppacakeabella from Stamping Bella and the sentiment is from Amuse. I wanted the cupcake to look delicious so I added some JudiKins Diamond Glaze. Here is a close up:

DEE-LISH, right! Love how it turned out! I wasn't sure if I liked the flowers so I did another one with just ribbon.

Remember that to-do list from yesterday? Well these cards help me cross off two items from that list. I hope the recipient enjoys the cards as much as I do!!

Quick Share

Happy Wednesday! Today I'm posting a card I made for a customer. She asked for it to contain a cat image and for it to be country colors.

This is what I came up with. Recognize the layout??? The original one is from here . I told you I was going to use it again :) The stamp is one I picked up at Michael's one day and had never used it. I enjoyed coloring it in...coloring is so relaxing and therapeutic for me! I had a little bit of the paper left over so decided to make a quick card using the scraps.

These two stamps are new ones from Michael's dollar bin. I used small pearls to cover the dots and to mimic snow.

Well Abby is at preschool all day today so I'm hoping to accomplish some stuff on my to-do list, like laundry, swaps (4 of them), projects, Christmas cards and a birthday card. Wish me luck!

Like what you see? Contact me about purchasing my creations!

CAC Sketch #3

Happy Tuesday! It's rainy and cold here the perfect weather to get some stamping done! Today is another Create-A-Card Sketch Tuesday. I decided to make a Christmas Card and I also made it a 4x9 card...whohoo changed it up a bit :)

I liked the swirls and thought they'd look good on the inside as well. Sorry about the yucky pictures...New camera is on my wish list for Christmas so let's hope that Santa grants that wish!

So have you made your Christmas Cards yet? I've made one here and there but I have a LOT more to go!! Thanks for looking!

It's beginning to look...

a lot like Christmas! I can't believe it's right around the corner. Every store I went to this weekend had all their Christmas stuff out! I have a lot to do and a short amount of time to do it in!! I've been working on this baby...I've seen lots of different versions out there but here is mine.

It's a cookie sheet calendar for Christmas. I (obviously) have lots to do yet and I'm trying to figure out how I want this calendar to be..I'm thinking about making one pebble magnet that we'd move to each day OR do I make each image a magnet and remove them each day. The only thing about that is some images are too big for one square (which represents one day). Any ideas??

Next up are just some ornaments that I made. I used my Scor-Pal and a scallop circle punch to make them. I'm planning on hanging a few on my tree and hanging some off gift bags.

So what projects are you working on for Christmas? You know I'm always looking for ideas so do share! Thanks for looking!

Supplies used: Reece SWIC & Willoughby SWIC from The Angel Company

I am a TAC Demonstrator so feel free to contact me if you'd like to purchase any of the supplies used. I also sell my creations so if you are interested in purchasing anything from my blog, just contact me!

Bird Card

Happy Thursday! Here is a card that I created for a swap. I really like this layout/sketch. I found it in the newest Card Creations book that I recently got. I had to change it up a bit as I wanted to do it on a standard size card. After I created this card, I wrote down all the measurements and put it in my special notebook. That way I can re-create this layout again and again. It will work with so many images! Plus it doesn't take much pattern paper so I was able to use scraps! Gotta love that :)

Supplies: Chatterbox Pattern Paper, SU! and DCWV Cardstock, Inkadinkado (bird) and TAC (hello) Stamps

The Angel Company has some great specials going on for the month of November. First off, we have the Sydney Free for Fall Promotion
Isn't that paper just gorgeous! Next up is the Give Thanks, Get Vintage Promotion featuring two cute stamps that would be perfect for all those Fall creations!

The Double Dips Promotion was so popular it was extended until December 3rd!

And as always there has to be a Stamp of the Month. This set is perfect for all those Christmas projects you are working on!

Don't wait! Contact me today to take advantage of these super great deals!

Polished Stone Technique

I had a FUNShop! that I did last weekend with a bunch of great ladies. It's so much fun to go and make projects and teach things. I love seeing people get excited about the project or technique. One of the cards we made used the Polished Stone Technique. I saw a card on Maria's Stampin Inspiration Blog that I just loved. I then googled for directions which I found here and here . I did a combination of all them to make it work for my supplies. The ladies really liked this technique and I'm glad I tried it as I plan on doing it again.

I didn't want to seal the background paper so I stamped the image on acetate and put it on top of the background. That way I don't have to worry about smudging or smearing. I outlined the background piece with a leafing pen. The colors I used here were pink, purple and metallic silver.

This is the completed card. I also did a background sheet with green, blue and metallic silver which would be perfect for those holiday cards using Christmas trees!

So what do you think? Pretty cool huh?

All supplies used were from The Angel Company. Interested in purchasing? Just contact me.

CAC Sketch #2

It's Tuesday so it must be time for another CAC Sketch Card. This week, I didn't do any stamping on my card (gasp!). Just pattern paper, cardstock, rub-ons and stickers. It was a nice little change.

Supplies: Cloud 9 Paper & Heidi Grace Rub-ons & Stickers

Thanks for looking!

Halloween

Halloween was a big hit for princess Abby! She got lots of candy and had tons of fun. You can see from the picture below that she was so excited to get started (as was I since I was sick of hearing "is it time to go trick or treating yet" 50,000 times!).

I didn't know that Jay was planning on dressing up. He just used his old BDU's from when he was in the Army and old medical supplies to be an Army medic. I'm not sure who was more excited about trick or treating?! Jay has a little bit of a sweet tooth so I know he was looking forward to the candy!

Quick funny..Abby is the type of person who wants to know everything about everything. She's more interested in the how and the why. Well there were quite a few times when something that should have been scary just wasn't to Abby. She'd just ask "what is that", "what does it do" "why does it look like that", etc. I was walking with Abby and a ugly looking creature (for lack of a better word) was coming right towards us. He was carrying a flashlight to accent his ugliness. I kind of step to the side and put my guard up. What does Abby do? She says "ohhh mommy look at that man, I think he's a monster. Why is his face lit up?" The monster stops and says what did she say? He was very shocked (and a little upset) that she wasn't scared. I didn't know what to tell him...that's just how she is! As you can see from the picture below, Abby just thought things were so cool! She definitely didn't get that from me as I'm a little fraidy cat!