Merry Christmas

Wow! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks.  I wound up work and headed home.  Hosted a family holiday get-together then prepared for Christmas Eve and another family celebration for Christmas Day! Now that the presents have been handed out, I can post the pictures of some of the things I made for gifts.

The first picture is a chapstick holder you make for your key chain. They are super easy to make and a little fabric goes a long way.  I purchased a 1/2 yard of coordinating fabric and made 10 holders and still have enough fabric to make an additional 10-15 holders.  

My sisters and I gave my mother cash for Christmas, she's celebrating New Years' at a casino so hopefully she can double her present. :) Anyway, since we gave her cash for her birthday in July I needed to make a different presentation for the money and my sister saw this idea on the internet.  It's quite easy to do but the directions aren't exact so if you google it, be aware.    I took a cinnamon stick and green floral wire. After folding the bills accordion style I secured the a 36" piece of wire around the base of the stick and attached the money by criss-crossing the wire in the front and continuing up the stick.

 And finally, below are the necklaces I referred to back in October.  I found a link on Pinterest to a website called Sun and Moon crafts. I was able to get all the supplies and instruction to make these cute necklaces.  Everyone really liked them.  They take a while to make because the glaze has to completely dry before you can finish it.

Creative couple of weeks

I have been busy creating but not in the paper sense.  I decorated three trees in my home last week.  The first, on Monday is a little 4-foot tree that I hang on the wall and decorate with glass ornaments.  The second tree, I didn't "put-up" (thank you hubby and boyfriend of daughter #2) our 12' tree in the family room but I did decorate it. The third tree was a 7' tree that my sister helped me put up and decorate in our front room.  As much work as it was to put them up, it's even more work taking them down and I am not looking forward to that.

I've have also been busy baking. I made 6 different kinds of cookies: (chocolate krinkles, chocolate surprise, chocolate thumbprints w/peppermint frosting, fruit thumbprints, cranberry/orange sugar cookies, butterscotch noodle cookies and coconut macaroons), I also decorated some nutter butter cookies to look like snowmen. PLUS - I made buckeyes, potato candy and chocolate covered cherries. There are actually a few kinds that I still want to make but OMG I am over baking right now.  

It's hard to tell from the picture but this is my deep freeze with several of the cookies in it.

I also spent yesterday afternoon out in the scrapbook room and made a variety of Christmas cards. Can you believe it?? I actually made Christmas cards this year! :)

It's been a joke in my family for the past several years because the cards always get pushed to the back burner and never get made. I'm quite proud of myself and if I hadn't had to get up at 4:00 a.m. to get hubby to the airport, I might very well go back out there tonight but, I don't know if I have the energy.

Quick note to end November

I am in the process of uploading my iPhone pics to my Shutterfly account so I can clear them off. Took this picture the other night.  Husband came home and asked for a card for a co-worker that had a baby. I said sure no problem; asked him what she had…he couldn't remember.  So, I made two cards - one of each, told him to take them both to work and return the one he didn't use…such a man. Anyway, here they are:

Oh, it was a boy born at 26 weeks. His name is Gage and weighs 2.5 lbs so prayers would be appreciated.

Crafting the month away

I've managed to keep myself busy for the past month doing crafting, decorating, cooking etc. I have a lot of pictures to post so I'll jump right in.

The first two pictures are from my home. I decorated the entryway to our home and the mantle from our family room for the fall.

Also had Thanksgiving cards to finish up and mail.

Daughter #1 and I went to a Make-and-Take a few weeks ago and here are the Christmas cards  I made.

Then during Thanksgiving Break, daughter #3 and I made chocolate covered cherries. Here she is getting ready to roll a cherry.

And finally, we started decorating for Christmas this past week.  We purchased the tree last week, but haven't brought it in the house yet (it's about 11' tall).  We always put it in the same spot in our family room where a bookcase sits, so this year, I went and replaced all the "family" pictures that are usually there with "family Christmas" pictures. I also saw a frame at Hobby Lobby that was entitled Santa and me (and you were to place pictures of your children with Santa) but, the frame was tacky so I purchased a frame from Garden Ridge and put a picture of each of my children sitting on Santa's lap when they were a baby. I also pinned a craft on Pinterest a couple of weeks ago that I thought would look good in our family room so I recreated it myself and hung it yesterday.


There is still alot of decorating and baking to do, we'll be busy for the next week or so.

Pinterest

I'm sure by now, everyone is aware of this tiny little time waster called Pinterest. Speaking for my family of females -- that's a resounding YES!

I have been going through board after board, pinning like crazy for not only Fall/Halloween but now Christmas, and am thinking of hundreds of different things I want to do to my home for the holiday season.

One thing I am trying to learn is how to "pin" something that doesn't have the "Pin It" icon.  I am actually using this blog space as a tester because I found this picture on a website that did not have a pin it option on this picture and I want to recreate this for my home. So this is actually going to be a test. If successful the picture below of Oh Christmas Tree will soon be residing (cyberly) on my Christmas Pin it Board. :) Wish me luck.

Oh and one other cool thing. I actually found something I created pinned on someone's board. How weird was that?  I cruising along in Pinterest and found something I actually created.  Wow!

Post Weekend

Well, I did spend some time out in the scrapbook room like I planned on, and yes I did clean like daughter #1 wanted me to (well kinda, I cleaned and straightened a couple of shelves) but none the less, it was cleaner than before, for about an hour! Then I decided to finish my tulle wreath, which is pictured below. I don't think it turned out too bad. From the street though, the brown doesn't show up as well because of my brown door. Too bad! I'm not changing the color of the door.

I also gathered all the cards I have been making and organized them in a box. I have a lot! I think maybe I should back off of making general cards and maybe focus on Thanksgiving and Christmas cards. I'm pretty covered in all other matters.

Daughter #1 and I did go the the Make-and-Take at Scrapbook Art this past Sunday. They have a variety to choose from so, I made a birthday card, a Halloween card, a Thanksgiving card, a Christmas card, and a card that I will probably use for Independence Day (although Daughter #1 thought it would make a cute baby card for a boy).

Quick card

Below is a little card I created for a friend of mine that is retiring.  I'm going to try and get out to the scrapbook room this weekend, daughter #1 says I left it a mess, so I will probably spend some time cleaning and straightening up.  Also, there is the make-and-take card class this Sunday at Scrapbook Art so I am going to try and make that. So, hopefully, I'll have some more pictures to post next week.

Crafty Weekend

Spent Friday night in the scrapbook room and finally, put together the rosette pumpkin I made last fall. Got the instructions from Archiver's and used the Martha Stewart scoring board.

I also started a wreath for my front door with orange tulle. I haven't finished it yet, need to run to Joanne's and get some brown tulle for the top then, I'll take a picture of it to post.

We were really busy on Saturday doing some end of the summer chores and then we attended a birthday party for my niece's one-year old, Dominic. I quickly threw a card together using my 3 Birds Cricut cartridge.

Sorry about the fuzziness of both pictures, I used my iPhone and I have trouble keeping the camera still.

So disappointed

It was never my intention to be a once a month blogger. I am disappointed that it has turned out this way. Even when I have been creating.  I will have to try harder to at the very least post twice a month.

A couple of weeks ago, I went to Scrapbook Art and did their make-and-take cards.  Below are the ones I made there. I also purchased two kits from the cards offered last month.  I made one of them but was disappointed when I went to make the second card, they didn't give me an appropriate piece of printed card stock. It's suppose to show birds flying over flowers but it looks like I got the flip side of birds, flower and other things. It doesn't look right at the top so I need to find something appropriate to place there.

I also started Christmas gifts last week went daughter #1 was on vacation.  The project needed to sit for a few hours and I had to wait until she was gone to start it.

I've been decorating the house for fall too.  Gathering things here and there.  I picked up a pretty good sized glass candle holder at Michaels for $3 but didn't like the color so I spray painted it last night. That and a frame I picked up in clearance from Hobby Lobby now reside on my mantle. I also found a pumpkin on Pinterest that I liked and since I have an over abundance of fake pumpkins (from my sons wedding last fall), I spray painted it an almond color and it will soon reside next to my fireplace. I'm also toying with making a banner of some sort to string along the mantle. I don't know….

Husband, sister and I went to Amish country last week-end and I saw this cute little 4-block set that spelled FALL, I want to recreate it but am having trouble locating the paper mache boxes. I'll have to look on the internet and see what I can come up with.

Also, on the calendar for October, I am going to make my chocolate covered cherries. I always wait too late into the season to make these and their usually not ready until Christmas. I figure by starting them in October, they will be ready by Thanksgiving.

Wow...

Wow, I can't believe how quickly the summer disappeared. I usually have lots of downtime but this year, two great job opportunities kept me working up to last Tuesday. Then headed out of town for a little R&R and now, I'm officially back to work with school starting next Monday. Wow!

In late July, my mother celebrated her 70th birthday and we 3 girls got her a "money tree" for her birthday. I actually threw this whole thing together in under an hour when we 3 talked and realized we were all getting her money.  

Even though you can't tell by her picture, she really was happy. My mother does not really "smile" for pictures. My girls often yell at me because they don't think I do either.

 I also signed up to go to a Make a Bunch card class at Archivers but was out of town and not able to make it so daughter #1, who works at Archivers brought the materials home and I completed the cards at home. I've actually already sent out a couple of them.

And, after making the cards, I turned a too small t-shirt into a cute little pillow for daughter #3 for her dorm room and I finally got around to making myself a pillow from one of my dad's flannel shirts (see January).

Like I said in an earlier post, I had hoped to get my Christmas cards made this summer, but alas, that did not happen.  I did find a couple cute little stamps at a scrapbook store in Corning, NY while on vacation last week that I will be using for Thanksgiving cards.  More of that to come.

Lots and lots of Bithdays

July is a really heavy month for birthdays.  I have several friends and family that all celebrate a birthday in July so the first Sunday of the month, I locked myself in my scrapbook room and worked. What makes it so unusual, we were in the midst of a 6 day power outage. We had the generator up and running for our two refrigerators and freezer so, with a plug still unclaimed, I used it to power two fans and my Cricut machine Hey it's priorities in a time of emergency right?! So I created several new cards to mail out. Remember, I'm a one woman "Save the Postal Service" campaign.  Below are the cards I made during the "outage".

I was really pleased to find a new paper, My Minds Eye - India Chic (2 cards on the left). I really liked the colors and patterns.  I have been having trouble finding the new lines of Authentique paper. The two stores /i frequent have not carried any of the  new lines. I did purchase a couple of sheets from a previous line (upper right) but even it is several months old.

July is almost up and I still haven't started my Christmas cards, this was something I wanted to do. But, to be honest, I wanted to get them done during the summer because it's not too busy. This summer, I have been running like crazy!

In about five months,  the girls will be moving back to school (whoop, whoop!). Maybe I can find some time this weekend to sit and figure out everything I want to finish this summer and what I want to work on this fall when the house quiets down.

Make and Take and a new little one

Daughter #1 and I attended a Make-and-Take this past weekend.  At this event, we had the opportunity to make two different birthday cards, one thinking of you card, two different 4th of July cards and a wedding/anniversary card.  I ended up making 2 wedding cards because I have a wedding to go to next week and wanted to keep one "just in case".

A young neighborhood couple had a baby a few weeks ago. Finally saw them a couple of days ago and found out that they had a boy! They named him Eli and are having the usual ups and downs new borns can bring to a household.  Daughter #2 and I went shopping and got him 3 cute little outfits and socks to match.  When I got home, I made a card for them.  This is the first baby card I have made.

My (first job) summer time employment is winding down soon and I really want to get out to the scrapbook room.  I would love to get my Christmas cards done this summer so I can finally send them out. I've had the idea now for 3 years.....

I also need to use the month of July to learn a new publishing package from Adobe. I'm working for a new office in August and I have to know how to use a package by Adobe call InDesign. Sure hope it goes well or the first two weeks of August are going to be a bear.

USA

I can't believe it has been over a month since I last blogged but the truth is, it's been over a month since I created anything.  Life got really busy with the end of school and then I was asked to help out in another office during summer break so, I have been swamped and too tired at night to create.

I did get inspired yesterday, I overhead a co-worker talking about decorating for Memorial Day and it got me thinking about the 4th of July.  I ran to Hobby Lobby and Target last night and threw the following together:

I made 4 of these for my co-workers to place on their desks.  I found these cute aluminum buckets and lots of red, white and blue decorations. I purchased wooden unpainted letters from Hobby Lobby and with a little paint, mod podge and glitter came up with the USA.

After making these, I'm going to make a few changes before I make them for my tables for the 4th of July.  I need something a little larger to standout over the food.  The buckets are nice, but they are on the small side. I might have to use clay pots painted in red, white and blue.  Also, I want to make my own pinwheels and rosettes out of patriotic paper. I'd like to add some silver stars and maybe something representing fireworks. Also, I thought the "stuffing" was a bit too much, I think I will try crinkled paper instead it should be more manageable than the shiny stuff. Over all, I don't think it was too bad for a first try.

Easter Cards

Well Easter has come and gone and I actually got my Easter cards out on time! Whoo hoo! I made several different styles and sent out a total of 10 Easter cards.  I also have a friend who has a birthday this coming Saturday, so I made a card for her.  My next project "might" be Cinco de Mayo cards.  I want to have a few people over on May 5 for margaritas! We'll see if I can come up with something.

Above is some of the Easter cards I made.

And here is the birthday card I made for my friend. I used the Uncommon paper line from Authentique Paper again, I really love most of the designs.

So Simple Workshop

Attended the So Simple 6x6 album workshop at Archivers this past week.  We used papers from My Minds Eye which, aren't really a favorite of mine but I needed to put together a book for a friend of my grandmothers.  The workshop really consisted of an hour of nothing but cutting! Brought everything home to finish and add picture to.  Final product is below, it will serve its purpose but again, I'm not really a fan of the papers and colors for the project.

I also forgot to post a birthday card I made for my sister for her birthday in early March. It's posted below. I am currently sitting in my craft room preparing to start on Easter cards so I need to quit procrastinating and get them done. They need to be in the mail by Wednesday!

Don't wanna miss it

I didn't want March to pass me by without a post, so here is a quick one.  I actually made several cards this month, they were all St. Patrick's Day cards and the original was posted on this blog several months ago so I didn't want to repost the same design. I also created a birthday card for an Aunt of mine, it's pictured below.

I also updated a few pages in my Smash Book but that was just memorabilia that I didn't want to lose.

Daughter #3 and I went on spring break to Houston a few weeks ago so I have plenty from that trip to scrapbook, it's just finding time to do it.

I did spend several hours in my craft room yesterday, but that was mostly cleaning and organizing.

Daughter #1 and I went to Memories Scrapbooking Expo on Friday 3/23. We were both a little disappointed in the show.  There just didn't seem to be a lot of make-and-takes and what was there wasn't what we were interested in.  There seemed to be 2 different types of make-and-takes, one involving glitter and glitz and the other cards that quite honestly, didn't seem as nice as what I make (and mine are not all that). We were thinking maybe because we went on a Friday and not Saturday, like last year. We'll have to go back to Saturday next year, but go early.

I have been gathering materials for Easter cards and with the hubby in Canada this week, I am hoping to get them done.

So, that's my update for March hopefully I will be back soon.

Catching up

Been a few weeks since I posted, can't believe that February is already gone. Where did the time go?  The first thing I want to post is a picture of the little felt hearts I made for each one of my girls valentine bags.  I like to get them a heart of some sort (last year was heart shaped paperweights) this year, I handmade these cute little felt pillows.

The second picture is actually a picture of the present I made for my grandmother for Christmas. I made her a box of assorted cards for her to send out. Unfortunately, my grandmother passed away last week and sadly, I got the gift back. I know she liked the cards, she was just not able to use them.

I also went to the local (an hour away) scrapbook store for their monthly make-and-take card event. This month was general greeting cards. I made a couple of birthday cards and thinking of you cards.

I've already used the "quilt" looking card as a birthday card for my aunt.  The stores next make-and-take will be spring/Easter cards. It will be right after I return from spring break so not sure if I will be able to make that so, I better get busy making my own cards at home.

Going to Houston for spring break in a few weeks. My husband will be there on business so #3 daughter and I will be joining him. Hoping to get a trip to the Alamo. We'll have to see.

Finished just in time

Well, I did get out to the craft room Friday night, and knocked out the valentine cards for my 2 nephews and niece. Here they are:

I still have a birthday card to make for the month but that's not for another week.

Not such a successful weekend

Well, I started out the weekend quite ambitious but did not complete all the tasks. I did make the 2 Hope Your Feeling Better cards. I am really loving the paper from Authentique and would love to find a shop that carried the whole line.  The two scrapbook stores I do go to, carry just a few of them. For these two cards, I used the Uncommon line. I did make a card from the Loyal line but haven't decided what sentiment to make as the card is slightly masculine.

And when it came to my grandmother, I made her more of a project rather than a card. She loves when I attach the McGill flowers to her cards so, I took out my McGill punches and an aluminum mailbox I bought from Target years ago and created this.

The card reads, Sending you lots of love on your birthday.

And, here are the 4 valentine cards that daughter #1 and I made at the make-and-take at Scrapbook Art a couple of weeks ago.

I absolutely have to make my valentines for my nephews and niece tonight, but am thinking a couple of cards from above would do just fine.  I also need to make a card for an Aunt that will be having a birthday before the end of the month.

A Creative List

Daughter #1 and I went to a Make-and-Take at a local scrapbook store on Sunday, we each made 4 really cute Valentine cards. I'll have to post pictures tonight or tomorrow. I seriously cleaned my scrapbook room (Really need to start calling it the craft room, don't know the last time I did a scrapbook layout.) I even threw away a school project (3 years old) from daughter #2 that was taking up room. Now, however I need to get creating.  My youngest sister emailed yesterday with the subject line of Bringing back snail mail.  She then asked for the mailing addresses of my children and she is going to mail them a valentines (daughter #1 ignore that last line!). I thought that was a pretty nifty idea, so I am also going to make a valentine card for each of my nephews and niece and send it to them. So my creative list for the weekend needs to include:

• 2 Valentine cards for nephews
• 1 Valentine card for niece
• 1 Birthday card for daughter #3
• 1 Birthday card for grandmother
• 1 Hope You're Feeling Better card for co-worker
• 1 Hope You're Feeling Better for aunt

I found some really pretty Authentique paper at the scrapbook store on Sunday so maybe I will use that to make the birthday and feeling better cards.

Couple of other projects

I forgot when I posted the other day, that I also made a wreath for our front door.  My husband said he wanted something shiny and bright for the front door so, when he headed out of town on business a few weeks back, I hit the craft store and bought a 12" wire frame, glue sticks and shiny christmas bulbs in red, gold and green.  Several glue sticks later, I had a new wreath for the front door. The husband really liked it.

I also had a friend lose her mother-in-law to cancer last week and I made a card to send to her and her family.