Merry Christmas!

Before signing off for 2010 I wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to thank you for all of your kindness and support.

Looking forward to sharing more of my creative side with you in 2011!

Last Christmas Card

This has got to be my favorite Christmas card this year. Truth be told, it almost didn't get made. I thought I had made enough, got them all stamped and mailed and then got a card and realized I hadn't sent one in return.

I colored the image with copics and added some highlights with spica glitter pens and a white gel pen.

I layered the image on a snowflake embossed piece of cardstock and then added a layer of pink to tie it all together.

Thanks for looking!

Gift card holders

I needed some gift card holders for my nieces and nephew. I came across this beautiful blog. She has some of the cutest ideas! Using her template I was able to whip up five of these in about half an hour, with supplies I had on hand.

This one is for my niece who will be celebrating her seventh birthday on Christmas day.

Thanks for looking!

Frosty Friend

This frozen fellow is from Sassy Cheryl's. I love his hat
and coat. I colored him with copics and then cut the image out with Nestabilities. I added a base of patterned paper and red and pink cardstock. The pink snowflake is cut from a Nestabilities die and layered with a couple of buttons. I added some sparkle to his buttons and the snow with Spica glitter pens and Stickles.
This has to be one of my favorite Christmas cards of the year. Hope you enjoy it as well. Thanks for looking!

Another PTI Christmas Card

This is another super simple Christmas card I made using PTI stamps. The patterned paper is another sheet from the Memory Box Mistletoe collection. I added red rhinestones to the mistletoe and layered a strip of velvet red ribbon under the image to add some Pop! Thanks for looking!

Another simple Christmas card

One last simple Christmas card. I promise a couple of different stamped images soon. I just love being able to sit down and get five or six cards done. Sometimes it can take me a couple of hours (or more) to get one card, but this time of year I just don't have that kind of time. Wish I could say I was this super organized Martha Stewart type but in reality I am more of a last minute Lucy.
Anyways, the stamp is another PTI stamp and the paper is yet another gorgeous paper from Memory Box. Hope your holiday plans are coming together and that you are enjoying the holiday spirit. Thanks for looking!

Christmas cards

This is one of the simpler Christmas cards that I made this year. I used a stamp from Paper Trey Ink. I stamped the image and then cut it out with a Nestabilitie die, layered in onto a scalloped circle and then used foam dots to mount it. The paper is a gorgeous pad from Memory Box called Mistletoe. Not a single sheet in the entire pad that isn't beautiful. I think the ribbon is a great finishing touch!
Thanks for stopping by!

Advent Boxes

Seems like every year my daughter has some type of Advent calendar. The past couple of years she has enjoyed pulling a drawer from a tree shaped calendar from Starbucks. This year I decided I would make Advent boxes for her. I used a box template from Angie at Chic' n Scratch. I made up twenty four of the boxes, all red and then punched holes on each side to attach a wire handle.

I used my Cricut to cut all the numbers and then set about decorating them. Each one is a little different and the best part is not only are the boxes a great way to count down to Christmas but they also make really cute decorations.

Card Club

I was recently invited to join a very small card club. There are only six members including myself, which is really nice. It is a small enough group that I am not overwhelmed trying to keep up, but I still received a very nice variety of cards. This month's suggested theme was either fall or Thanksgiving. I used a stamp from Unity (my Unity stamps have been getting a real work out lately!). The solid cardstock and image were both cut with a Nestabilities die. The patterned paper and ribbon are both from my stash.

Thanks for looking!

Denami Christmas Blog Hop!

Hard to believe but Christmas is right around the corner. To help everyone get in the Christmas spirit Denami Designs is hosting a Christmas Blog Hop today. I hope that you are checking out everyone's blog along the way and if that is indeed the case you should have come here from Virginia Larsen's blog

You might not recognize the name yet, but I am sure that you recognize the little chick. I just love them. Sweet, simple and ready for any occasion! This little cutie is ready for a day of ice skating. I colored the image with copics, layered onto a couple of Nestablities scalloped circles. I made my own patterned paper with a snowflake stamp quickly heat embossed. The ribbon and red bon bons are from my stash.

Denami Designs is giving away two gift certificates to two lucky commenters along the way, so be sure not to skip a step! Maybe some chicks will be on the way to your house in time for the holidays! Sue Lelli's is next on your list. Thanks for looking!

Floral Thanksgiving

This is another Thanksgiving card I made. The image
is from Unity Stamps.
I don't know about you but I kind of tend to go through spurts where I use a lot of stamps from one company and then move on to another. Lately I seem to be using a lot of Unity images. This image wasn't even part of a fall or Thanksgiving set but I think it fits the occasion perfectly.
I am hoping to finish up my Thanksgiving cards soon because I have a ton of Christmas projects to finish and I don't want to be rushing at the last minute to finish.
Thanks for looking.

Thankful...

Another Thanksgiving card to show you today. This one is about as simple as it gets. The patterned paper and ribbon are from my October Key Ingredients kit from TE. There is so much stuff in these kits, I just love them. I used a Quickutz embossing folder for the main image and then topped it off with a big bow.

The inside of the card is stamped with a Unity stamp. To add some color I ran an ink pad along the edge.

I don't think I am going to have to mass produce any Thanksgiving cards but if the need arises I will probably use this combo.

Thanks for looking.

Thanksgiving cards

I guess with trick or treating last night, today is a good day to start posting some of my Thanksgiving cards.

In the past I have always bought all the supplies to make Thanksgiving cards but have only had limited success actually completing the project. Seems like somewhere between Halloween and the Christmas rush I just can't seem to bring the well thought out cards to fruition. This year I am trying to be more organized, listing projects to be completed in a notebook and keeping better track. For now I have two cards made, and that is two more than last year so it is definitely a step in the right direction. Right?

Anyway, the stamps are actually from my monthly Unity Stamp Club. The papers and ribbon are from my October Key Ingredients kit from Taylored Expressions.

I used a Nestabilities
die for the leaf and the red background. I love the kraft paper for the card but decided the inside was too plain so I added some strips of cardstock to add a pop of color. Please leave a comment and let me know what you think. Thanks for looking!

Christmas Pageant

I fell in love with this image as soon as I saw it. My first thought was of my girls and all the church Christmas pageants they have participated in over the years. One year my oldest daughter and two friends acted as the three wise men. My youngest daughter was Mary one year and as she got older she would sing in the choir. I love seeing all the little kids dressed up and acting out the story of Jesus' birth. Always seems to capture the true spirit of Christmas.

The biggest challenge was to be sure the paper and embellishments didn't overpower the beautiful image. I colored the image with colored pencils using the Gamsol technique, a little time consuming but it produced beautiful, subtle hues of color. I added some Stickles to the angel's wings and Smooch to the wooly lamb. I also added blue chalk to the patterned paper and the flowers.

I added the same blue ribbon to the inside of the card. I think the sentiment finishes it off perfectly. Thanks for looking and please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

A Bunny Christmas

This is another beautiful Christmas image from Lili of the Valley. How cute are the little bunnies, sound asleep under the tree waiting for Santa.

I really enjoyed coloring this with copics and then added some sparkle with a spica glitter pen. The red card stock was die cut with my new Nestabilites scalloped squares set. I added a couple of snowflakes for a finishing touch.

Thanks for looking!

Christmas...

Yep I said Christmas! This is one of my first Christmas cards this year. In years past I have made several sample cards and then picked one to mass produce to send out. This year I just haven't been able to settle on one Christmas stamp, let alone one card so I am making a bunch of different ones. I figure I will either find one that I absolutely love and will decide to mass produce or everyone is going to get a different card this year. Win-win either way, right? This stamp is from Lili of the Valley , and as soon as I saw it I thought of my Mom. She has a bird feeder outside her living room window and loves watching the birds come and go. I used copics and then added some snow to the bird house roof with Liquid Applique and then heated it really quick with a heat gun. Added a little sparkle to the green card stock by embossing a snowflake stamp. Finished it off with a bright red ribbon.

Thanks for looking!

More calendar pages

These are some more of my calendar pages. I love the bright pastel pink alongside the chocolate brown on the ice cream cone. That just says summer to me. The next page is June. I originally planned on giving this to a niece and her birthday is in June so I used a triple chick birthday stamp.

Next week I am going to start posting some of my Christmas cards and hope to even have a few Thanksgiving cards done by then to share as well. Will post the final six calendar pages at a later date.

Thanks for looking.

April Calendar Page

I picked a chef chick for my April calendar page. I stamped the background page with some veggies and added a Cosmo Cricket matching patterned paper. Think it all comes together perfectly, if I do say so myself! Thanks for looking!

Calendar

This is the March page from my calendar. My birthday is in March so I used a lot of pink and added a chick with a purse and pink bow and matching shoes.

Thanks for looking!

Calendar

I have one completed hand made Christmas gift done. I am not sure if it is going to my oldest daughter or my niece, but either way I will have to make a couple more. I used stamps from Denami Designs. I love her line of "chicks". My youngest daughter helped me pick most of the stamps out at a stamp show over the summer. I will post pics of January and February's pages today and will post the rest throughout the week. I hand drew the actual calendar page with the days of the week and numbers, liked the handmade look better and will show pics of that as well. Thanks for looking!

Last Halloween Card

I finally got the house in order and had time to get down to my craft room and finish up my last Halloween card. It seems like every year my card list gets longer and longer. No problem, just means I have to start making them a little earlier to be sure I have time to get them all done.

This is an image from Sassy Cheryl's, you probably recognize her from earlier posts. I think she is so darn cute, and our youngest daughter just loves candy corn so it reminds me of her every time I see it.

Kept it pretty simple this time around, just used some copics, spica glitter pens, die cuts and a little black ribbon to finish it off.

Thanks for looking!

Ice cream for dinner?

Yep, ice cream for dinner if you are at Mimi and Poppy's house. When you are the grandparents you get to do stuff like that, you know all the stuff you wouldn't dare let your own kids do!
My hubby and I had a great time with Ashley and Gracie, can't believe how big Gracie has gotten, and holy cow is she quick. I had forgotten just how busy little ones can be, been a long time since we have had a little one in the house.

Just wanted to share a pic of my two favorite red heads and let you all know I am still here, more craft projects soon, promise.