Floral Wreath

I was checking out my favorite blogs about a month ago and found a beautiful floral wreath on Patty Gorka’s blog,  LaLatty Stamp ‘N Stuff. You can check out her post here.

Anyway, I decided I had to make one. Mine didn’t turn out quite the same, I decided to use a pre-cut wreath instead of making my own, like Patty did and as a result I had to buy a 18″ instead of a 16″. I think I would have liked the 16″ better, but it doesn’t matter. I still like the way it turned out.

Patty gives a detailed tutorial on her website on how to make the flowers. One is made from the scalloped circle punch, another with the five petal flower punch and the third with the blossom punch. I made about 95 flowers. Started with Patty’s recommended 80 blossoms and then had a few spaces to fill given my larger wreath.

Here’s a close up of some of the flowers:

It was a great project, but what a lot of work! After finishing it, I decided I didn’t have the greatest space for it here (especially where Claire couldn’t touch it), so I gave it to my Mom for her house.

I’m Finished!! Baby Gift

I know I haven’t been posting as much lately. My crafty mojo appears to have taken a hike. One of the reasons is that I’ve been trying and trying to get this baby gift done.

When the wonderful ladies on SplitCoast Stampers threw me a “Virtual Baby Shower” last February for Claire, I got a number of fabulous gifts. One of my favorites was a scrapbook album that had pages for a picture of Claire at each month. I allows me to go back later and see the incredible changes in her from month to month, which sometimes go unnoticed.

So, when a friend of mine announced she was pregnant, I wanted to make one for her. I’m almost on time. She was due end of August, but baby arrived 3 weeks early!! So, I’ve been working extra quickly to try to get it done. Here are some pictures of the completed album.

I made each page basically the same, just changing the cricut shape on each page. It was just way to much work with a young baby in the house to try to make each page different.

The front page of the book says “It’s a Girl” and has a place to add the baby’s name, date and time of birth, weight, and length. Isn’t it cute?  (I don’t know why those two pictures are so grainy!)

Here’s the album front. I just picked up an album from Micheals with a place to add a picture in the front.

This project was a ton of work, so I am including it in my 100 Card/100 Days challenge. The book is made up of 12 double page layouts and 1 single page layout, so I’m counting it as 13 projects. The nice thing is, that brings me much closer to making my 100 card goal. I don’t think I’m going to finish the 100 cards in time, but I’ll be pretty close!!

100 Card Count: 70 – 83/100

Father’s Day

Yesterday was Father’s Day and it was an extra special day in our house, being my husband’s first Father’s day and, since his father was here to celebrate with us too!

I posted my Father’s Day card for my husband previously as part of the Use It Tuesday All About Dad challenge (you can still play along, if you want), but I had only given you a sneak peek of the gift Claire and I created.

Now that my husband has had the opportunity to see it, I thought I’d share it with you too.

I got out the tempura paints one morning and we made a mess of the kitchen floor. I originally wanted to do hand and foot prints, but have you ever tried to get a 3 month old to keep her feet and hands still?!? Yeah, didn’t work. So, we modified the project and did some feet painting instead.

I’m not counting this as part of the 100 Cards/100 Days. This is, after all, Claire’s project! But, I’ll be back soon. Thanks to VSN, I’m ahead a few days. But with company being here right now, it will take me a few days to get back to the craft room and finish the last two steps in my Card Kit addiction.

Use It Tuesday #31 – All About Mom

What a great theme this week! Here at Use It Tuesday, we want you to take a few minutes to celebrate Mom….your Mom, you “the Mom”, any mom, all moms!

This week, I have a mini scrapbook to share with you…of me! How does that celebrate Mom? Well, let me tell you…

I’ve been a terribly neglectful daughter. Christmas 2010, I made an album of my wedding for my grandmother, my husband’s grandmothers and my mother-in-law. I meant to make one for my mom too, but didn’t get to it. I meant to do one after Christmas and didn’t get to it. Along comes Christmas 2011 and I’m totally going to make my mom an album!! Even bought the paper and printed the pictures. AND, my mom even put “wedding pictures” on her Christmas Wish List. Did she get the album? Nope. Didn’t get to it. Whoops.

So Mom, here is your long awaited, much (much) overdue wedding scrapbook. Happy Mother’s Day!

Hoarded items used this week, of course, are the papers and pictures. The paper is one of my favorite SU patterns, Elegant Soiree, which retired last year (I believe). And, the pictures were selected, sized, and printed back in December and I’m not sure I even opened the envelope to check them after I picked them up (surprised I even remembered to do that!). My biggest “hoard” find is the original monograms we used for our wedding invites. I had a “miscellaneous” bag with a half sheet of them left, so I used one on the front of the book.

Here we go…..show us your mom-inspired creation! Link your work of art to the Use It Tuesday website using Inlinkz by Friday, May 18, 2012. No blog? No problem! Just use keyword USE031 when uploading to an online gallery and leave us a direct link so we can find your creation.

Please remember that we ask your blog post/gallery post to mention that you’re playing along with us here at Use It Tuesday and tell us what forgotten gem from your stash you used on your project.

Every challenge, one lucky crafter is randomly chosen to be a featured guest designer in an upcoming Use It Tuesday challenge.

Here’s a few pictures of the inside pages of the book:

Now, Mother’s Day is still 5 days away and my wonderful Mother reads my blog. So, I better get over to her house and give her an early Mother’s Day gift!! Catch you later, Crafters!

Use It Tuesday #23 – All About Winter!

I mentioned in my post last Friday that I was invited to continue as a Design Team member with the Use It Tuesday Challenge Blog. I had a great six months with this group last year and I look forward to another six months with a new team of talented Design Team members.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with Use It Tuesday, let me tell you a bit about them. Use It Tuesday makes two Tuesdays every month extra fun and exciting by reminding you of all the things in your craft stash you have, but totally forgot about. The whole point is to stop hoarding it and USE IT!!!

The favorite paper at the bottom of your stack? That new, un-inked stamp….from 2007? Those beautiful flowers that need the perfect project? Yes, those…now go get them and let’s get creating.

This week’s challenge is….All About Winter! Christmas may be over, but Winter intends to bring you it’s love for another few months yet. So let’s celebrate that and show everyone how beautiful winter really can be (really).

My creation, which I think is beautiful, is a gift box and a mini card set. I think it’s ultra adorable!

Okay….confession time. A few of these items might not QUITE be in the “hoarded” category (thank you, boxing day sales). BUT they COULD have been in that category very quickly, if I didn’t use them on this project, right? What is hoarded is the beautiful flower bling, the ribbon and the envelopes. When I decided to make the card set for this challenge, I was going to make 3×3 cards until I remembered I had these other envelopes unused on my shelf.

Now, I’m so happy with this project that I am going to show you some more pictures, but let me finish up with the Use It Tuesday stuff before I do.

This challenge closes on January 20, 2012. Before that date,you can link your creation to the Use It Tuesday blog using Inlinkz. No blog? We’re cool with that! Just use keyword USE023 when uploading to an online gallery and leave us a direct link so we can find your creation.

In your post/gallery entry, please make sure to mention you are playing along with a Use It Tuesday challenge and tell us what lovingly hoarded items you sacrificed for our great challenge.

One lucky participant’s beautiful wintery project will be randomly chosen to be a featured guest designer in an upcoming challenge!

Here’s a few more project pictures for those who are interested….

The box on it's own...

...and the card set!

Both projects are modified tutorials from SplitCoast Stampers. The box is a basic A2 Card Box, which I frequently resize for my own purpose. The card set is a Card Purse tutorial that was originally for regular A2 cards. Again, I tend to not follow instructions exactly as suggested!

A close up of my new Kiki Latte and the cards inside the kit.

The box top (my favorite!) and a close-up of the weaved ribbon around the lower edge.

Virtual Baby Shower

I fell upon a cool thread on SplitCoast Stampers a couple months back. Some of the ladies there were hosting a “virtual” baby shower for a fellow SCS member. The shower recipient is due in early February with her first baby, similar to me (although I’m due at the end of February). So, as a result, I decided to join the shower.

The idea of the shower was to make something for the recipient and her baby. You mail off the item to her before a specified day and then on the designated day of the shower we’ll all “gather” on the SCS boards again, let the guest of honor open her gifts and post picture for the other thread participants to see to.

I decided to share my gift here on my blog, in addition to the SCS thread.

I made another one of those 6×6 mini albums I love to do. This one was in a gender neutral baby theme, as the shower recipient doesn’t know what she’s having.

Here’s the front of the album:

And here’s a picture of some of the inside pages:

I love the colors in this book and hope the recipient does too!

New Tutorial: Gift Card Holder

I had a request for instructions for my gift card holders, posted for the Use It Tuesday challenge on December 12th.

I put a quick tutorial together, with pictures, and hope it helps you pretty up those last minute Christmas gifts! I can’t take credit for the whole idea (I saw it somewhere on this big wide web), but these particular instructions are my very own, as I often modify and customize my projects based on what suits my needs. For that reason, I’ve included some tips on customizing the holder to your particular needs.

You can find the tutorial under the “Tutorials” link in my main menu bar. Or, just click this direct link to the Gift Card Holder tutorial.

Let me know if you run into problems. I’d be happy to help!

I’ll also get a tutorial for the boxes done in the next little while. The two boxes are based off of the A2 Card Box Tutorial and Mini Pizza Box Tutorial, both on SplitCoast Stampers. But again, I have a habit of changing the sizing to suit my needs, so I’ll give you a quick tutorial on how I accomplish that.

Happy Christmas preparations, Stampers!!

Use It Tuesday Challenge #21 – Holiday Projects

Welcome to another Use It Tuesday challenge! Are you ready for the holidays? Have no fear, we’re here to help!

Challenge #21 is “Holidays”, so show us your beautiful creations. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or even New Year’s. Hey, if you’re super organized and working on your Easter cards, show us those too!!! (or behind and still making Halloween cards?)

Today, I created for you a selection of gift boxes and gift certificate holders that I’ve been working on for the holidays.

All of these projects use different items from my stash. The box on the upper left uses some retired cardstock, the gift certificate holders feature SU’s Jolly Holiday DSP from a couple of years ago and the other box uses an even older SU holiday paper pack whose name I don’t even know!

Here’s a closer look at the projects…

I love to make custom boxes when I can and am getting quite proficient at it. Perhaps one of these days I might have to make a tutorial on how I measure an item to make a custom home for it.

Now here’s the part where you share your work! Make your masterpiece, blog it and then link your creation to the Use it Tuesday blog. No blog? No problem! Just use keyword USE021 when uploading to an online gallery and leave us a direct link so we can find your creation. Deadline for this challenge is December 23rd, 2011.

Make sure to mention in your blog or gallery upload that you are playing along with a Use It Tuesday challenge (a link is great too!) and tell us what item from your stash you used for this weeks challenge.

One lucky participant will receive the special holiday gift of being a featured guest designer in an upcoming challenge.

Thanks for visiting, crafters!!

The Problem With So Many Great Ideas…

My crafty to-do list is overflowing right now. And, instead of diligently working on it, I seem to be generating new ideas and making my list longer. Whoops! It’s hard to focus on one thing for an extended period of time before I’m trying to work on the next item on the list.

Tonight I headed into my craft room to work on some card challenges and what’s sitting on my desk?!? A half finished mini-album that I was working on last night.

Oh yeah, forgot about that.

I don’t WANT to make a mini album tonight!! I want to make cards! <pout>

But, this mini album really needs to get done, so I best get my butt in my crafty chair and get it over with.

Before I do that, where do you get your layout ideas for mini-albums? Are there any great sites out there? Because sometimes I get a little bit stuck! Leave me a comment and share your secrets, please! Back a little later, crafters….

(1 day later….)

Okay, so I procrastinated a bit on that mini album. I actually got the bulk of it done yesterday, but then didn’t feel like taking pictures. Tonight I finally took photos of the completed project and post them here for your enjoyment.

I made this baby themed album for some good friends of ours who had their sweet baby boy a couple of weeks ago. I’m hoping we’ll be able to see them soon and this is supposed to be part of their baby gift.

The Front

The Inside Page...ready for his name and birthdate

An Inside Page...one of my favorites!

Halloween is Coming!

decided a couple of weeks ago to make some Halloween treat boxes for my co-workers. I did this last year and made the Top Note Treat Boxes that are listed on my tutorial page (link is at the top of my blog). This year, I choose a slightly different design (still using my beloved Top Note Die) from a tutorial off of SplitCoast Stampers that I’ve used before. I did modify the box a bit to my preferred size, but the idea is basically the same.

Anyway, I started out wanting about six boxes. Then I thought of another couple people who might like one and then another and the number quickly grew. In the end, I’m pretty sure I went craft crazy, as I’ve currently got 16 pretty boxes sitting on my floor. I had plans for a 17th box, but I think I might be out of Halloween steam. Time to move on to another project.

Here is the pile of boxes on my floor:

I decorated the boxes with dimensional stickers from Micheal’s and the Dollar Store. No two boxes are exactly alike. I’ve used some stickers twice, but the paper or pattern or colors I’ve used with them are all different. The boxes close with the ribbon that goes along the middle and the backs are also decorated with a stamped image and a Halloween greeting. I didn’t put any raised stickers or embellishments on the back to make sure that they’ll lie nice and flat on the desk. Inside, each box fits about three snack size chocolate bars.

Here’s a couple of my favorites from the pile, just to show you a close-up.