Back in the Swing of things

Ok the kids are back to school, Hubby is back at work and I am back to a routine (well almost).  We have been eating out a little less (but still too much) and I have gotten rid of all of the junk food in my house so it is time to keep busy too keep myself from wanting to eat crap and just watch TV all day.  I am reading 1984 right now but it is slow going, I am trying to clean my house and organize toys and clothes but my heart is not in it so it is also going slow!  One thing that I have been doing lots of is crafting!  Somehow all the nagging housework and self-improvement crap just seems to fade away when I am in here!

Ok so I have been playing with some of the new products I got for Christmas and I have been working on some new cards.  Hope you like them.

I found this tutorial on Splitcoast Stampers for a Spring Card (as in "Boing" not the Season).  I really do love the DSP from the new Sale-a-bration mini and I find I am using it for everything these days.  Maybe I just really want some flowers and butterflies around!  The tutorial is here if you want to give it a try it is really easy.

The next card I made was a Birthday Card, because you can never have enough of those!  I love the color combo and the Perfectly Penned Stamp set is such a beautiful font.  But the really yummy thing about this card is what you cannot convey over the internet, it smells delicious!  The new Occasions Mini has scented embossing powders and one of them is cherry!  I embossed this card with the cherry powder and it smells wonderful. 

The final card I have for today was more of an experiment than anything else. I was playing with a new Die for my Big Shot call "Large Paper Doily" and at the same time I was playing with the Simply Scored Tool that SU brought out last fall. I made a large lolly to go under the doily just to see what the effect would be.  I added some of the new Baja Breeze Stitched Ribbon from the mini and a label from the new Labels Framelits die and a stamp from the Apothecary Art set.  I like the Lolly but I feel it looks like I just tacked in on a card front and that was that (which is in fact what I did!).

Thanks for visiting my blog,  feel free to leave a comment below.

In with the New...

Well it is almost 2012 and I do not have big plans for New Years but I never really liked going out on the most insane night of the year anyway!  I do have a few Resolutions for the upcoming year; mainly to cook more homemade meals and eat out/order less.  I also want to (as always) loss weight.  I have a few new ideas on how to do it this year so hopefully I am successful.  Curves is a big part of it as are the previously mentioned home cooked meals.  I wanted to make a couple other changes too, I am going to try to cut out pop (even the diet kind) for 3 months and order tea at Starbucks instead of Hot Chocolate.

Well we will see how I do but in the meantime I have a little Sneek Peek for you ... The Sale-a-bration and Occasions Mini will be hitting the mailboxes soon (if they have not already) and I have a few cards to show you that I made while playing around with my new goodies. 

The new Framelits Dies are to-Die-for (haha) and this Labels Die is great for adding layers and dimension to any project.  Of course there is a Stamp set to go with it so there are literally hundreds of great ideas with this one.  There are also a super cute suite of products from the Sale-a-bration mini that co-ordinate wonderfully!

There are so many wonderful new products to enjoy coming up soon I it will be as hard for you to decide as it was for me.  A great new flower punch and some really fun stamp sets.  I am loving how the new In colors coordinate with the old and the DSP is really delicious!





Well I hope you like the cards and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

Add a comment letting me know what your resolutions are I would love you hear from you.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas ...

I hope everyone is ready for Christmas; I am almost totally done and ready to go.  School got out today at 1245 and Jillian is off for 2 weeks;  Megan still has one more day but tomorrow is her school's Christmas concert so we are excited to see that.   Every year one of my biggest Christmas Challenges is what to give all of the wonderful Teachers in my Childrens lives.  I always give gift cards to Starbucks or Chapters so somewhere like that but it's all in the presentation is it not?

This year I found this wonderful video tutorial for this great gift card/chocolate holder and I really enjoyed making these.   For the tutorial by Glenda Calkins click here.

On the Left is the front and on the right is how it looks when it is open.  As you can see there is a space for chocolates and for the gift card.

I made this one for my daughters grade 2 Teacher and also for the Teacher's aid I gave a little something too...

On these I used the Holly Berry DSP and made a lolly and put a punch art pine cone and needles.  I filled the Milk carton box with goodies.   Below you can see the others I made for my younger daughter's pre-school teachers.

The fronts of these are similar to the card I posted on Nov. 26. I loved the look so much I used it on these little boxes too.  

The final Teacher's gift was for Jillian's Piano Teacher.  She has many allergies so I did not want to give her chocolates.  I few months ago I made some of these post-it note holders for the office staff at Jillian's school so I thought it would be a wonderful way to present her with a gift card.  I really had fun making this one as I got to use that Holly Berry DSP again and I love it!
The front side holds the gift card and a pen and the other side holds the post-its.  A tutorial is available from Jill Hillard's Blog Click Here to access it.









Thanks for Looking.   I hope you have a wonderful, safe and happy Holiday Season.
  Take Care

NOEL

I started this project at the Fall Retreat in October but could not finish until we had that special visit with Santa.  Every year we visit the Big Guy in Red and I wanted to make a special frame where I could put the picture.  My goal is to scrapbook the old photos and showcase the new (although I am way behind on scrapbooking).  So when I saw these frames I thought I could have some fun with it.  The photo and the year are put in with 3M removable tape (I really hope it works!).  I used SU products with the exception of the frame and these cute little Christmas buttons I found at Michaels.

The Year was made on MDS (My Digital Studio) and every year I can create a new one and use the old one in my scrapbooking (I know, such lofty aspirations!!).

I have seen so many great fireplace cards this Christmas so I wanted to incorporate that in my frame.  I love the way it turned out.  I used the Bird punch for the flames and of course I used the new stocking punch!

Another great card trend this year is the Door card with a writhe.  I incorporated that too and added some Mica flakes to make it look snowy.  The felt accents in the mini are so cute and I had to add them to my project!

The felt Mittens are adorable!  I used the new silver glitter paper to add sparkle to the JOY! All the background paper is from the Holly Berry Bouquet Suite in the Holiday Mini.  I love it!

The NOEL is done with Chipboard and an old retired DSP from Stampin Up that my friend Melanie had on hand.  I added the buttons and some bling and I really like how it turned out.

Hope you like it!

Merry Christmas.

 

O' Christmas Tree ...

To continue with my crafting craze from last week I have a couple more cards to show you.  The first is a variation from one I saw at the SU Convention in July.  I love the new Frames Textured Impressions Embossing folder (keep an eye out for Sale-a-bration cause it might just make an appearance!)  it adds great texture to any project.

I used Cherry Cobbler, Always Artichoke, Whisper White and Chocolate Chip. I just love the ribbon from this year's mini too.  So pretty!

















These cards are my go to simple and fast Christmas cards.  I still love my Snowflake Spot stamp but any snowflake stamp will work.  This year I used the in colors and I love the combination;  Wisteria Wonder, Island Indigo and Pool Party.  (I realized after I downloaded the pictures I should have used a darker background!)

I have one more card to post but this on is "not" Stampin Up!!!  I actually bought a great Tim Holtz die/embossing folder combo from Scrapbookers on a whim (no my usual M.O.) and I love how fast and simple this card was plus you could easily us this for scrapbooking (if I ever actually got to my scrapbooking)

I did use SU paper as always, Whisper White, Garden Green and Cherry Cobbler.  I kind of wish I would have blinged it up a bit but maybe next time. 




Hope you like it!