2017

Wishing you all a happy and healthy New Year!  I hope 2017 brings you much joy and happiness.  Enjoy the celebration and have a great weekend!

Little Mailboxes

It is time to think about Valentine's Day projects now that Christmas craft items are put away.  I saw these cute little mailboxes on the internet and as cute as they are, I spent way too much time making these two!  Even though I cut everything as was stated, the pieces just didn't line up perfectly.  So, don't look too close!  I made these two and they are the last two!  The little plastic boxes filled with Valentine Hugs and Kisses and decorated with pretty ribbons are looking really good---lol! Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Special Reason Flowers

We had a great Christmas weekend.  And then yesterday, it was "after the parties cleaning day"! I actually got quite a bit accomplished although that might be because the older I get the less fussy I am!  I even had time to make a quick card using Stampin' Up products which are in the new Occasions Mini.  The flowers were created by using Flirty Flamingo and Peekaboo Peach inks and an aqua painter.  After the watercolored paper dried, I used  framelits from the  new Stylish Stems framelits set to die cut the flowers and the outline of the flowers from coordinating cardstock.  I stamped the leaves (Special Reason stamp set), die cut and adhered them to the white cardstock layer, placing the flowers over the leaves.  The sentiment is from the Wetlands stamp set, stamped on a die cut using another framelit from the same set.  Before adding the Enamel Shapes, the white layer was too plain.  I used my scoring tool to make  an embossed frame around the outer edge of the white cardstock.   Have a great day!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you a  very Merry Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends. We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and look forward to more love and laughter today as we continue to celebrate the birth of Jesus.   

My Christmas Favors

 Not sure where the time has gone, but Christmas is only a few days

away and I still have to bake cookies!  Sydney is coming over on Friday and she will be baking and helping me get ready for Christmas Eve.  Today I am posting my favors for the Christmas Eve dinner table.  They are quite simple, but very pretty~~in my opinion~~lol.  I used the clear 2" x 2" boxes I purchased at Clearbags.com a couple of months ago.  They are filled with Christmas Hugs and Kisses and the cute little Santa Hat Kisses purchased at Target.  Sometimes all you need is pretty ribbon to make pretty favors.  I did not even make tags for the favors this year!  Have a great day!

Kathy Z's Favor

Today's favor was made by my friend, Kathy Z.  She did not use a die or framelit, just her paper trimmer and scoreboard.  She used Crumb Cake cardstock for the box, Candy Cane Lane DSP and a sentiment from the Candy Cane Christmas stamp set.  The little deer face was stamped with the Jolly Friends stamp set and then cut out with the Cookie Cutter builder punch.  Inside each box is a Santa shaped Hershey bar which Kathy purchased at Walgreens.  I am amazed at the favors Kathy makes.  But what truly amazes me is that she makes 80 of these for the teachers at her daughter's school!  (Her daughter is an elementary school principal.)  Thanks for sharing, Kathy.  Have a great day and stay warm!

A Card For Sydney

Today's post is that of the fun card I created for Sydney.  The little bird is from the Penny Black stamp set Winter Wonderland while the North Pole image is from Stampin' Up's Christmas Magic.   I used Spetrum Noir markers to color the North Pole sign and the little bird in Nipper's colors.  The sentiment is from the retired Endless Wishes stamp set.  The addition of glittery snowflakes finished off the card.  Needless to say, Sydney was thrilled with the Nipper Christmas card!  Have a great day and stay warm. 

Christmas Thank Yous

Yesterday afternoon I made some Christmas thank you cards.  The "thank you" and the little

additional phrases are from an upcoming Sale-a-bration set, So Very Much.  I used the Wonky Frames from Avery Elle to cut out the white layer on all of the cards.  The images are from a variety of stamp sets.  The Santa hat was made using the Stampin'  Up Jolly Hat builder punch.  Sale-a-bration begins on January 4th and if you are a customer of mine, your SAB and Occasions Mini brochures will be arriving soon~~I hope!  Have a great weekend, keep warm and stay safe!

Christmas Magic

I finally finished my Christmas cards and they should be in the mail later today or tomorrow!  Today's card was created using the Christmas Magic stamp set, Candy Cane Lane DSP and Spectrum Noir markers.  Once I figured out the pieces and their measurements, the stamping and coloring was quite easy.  Of course, when I am coloring in images, I do a much better job when I stamp the image in black Versafine ink and then heat emboss using clear embossing powder.  It is easier to stay in the lines when it is embossed.  Bundle up and have a great day!

Mediterranean Moments

Taking a little break from Christmas to post a card created with a stamp set that will be in the new Occasions Mini, Mediterranean  Moments.  I started out using the new watercolor pencils, but those didn't turn out so great.  So, I stamped the image on Shimmery White, heat embossed it and then used my ink pads, water and a paint brush. Using the water and paint brush worked much better for me.  I will need to spend a little more time with the new watercolor pencils.  The images in this set are very pretty and can be colored in using markers, watercolor pencils, colored pencils, watercolor inks, etc.  I know that once my Christmas cards are finished, I will be playing with this set a lot more.  Have a great day and keep safe and warm!

Santa Birds

The idea for today's post came right off Penny Black's Flicker page.  The cute little birds are images from Penny Black's Winter Wonderland stamp set.  I colored all of the little birds with my Spectrum Noir markers and brushed clear Wink of Stella glitter on the white sections of the hats.  I ended up lining the backs of the tags as the alcohol ink bleeds thru the Whisper White cardstock and it looks much neater.  The sentiments are from a variety of stamp sets.  And of course, I had to make a Nipper Santa for someone special's present!  Have a great day!

Elf Tags & A Tree

A few of my friends were here on Saturday for a little crafting/socializing.  As always, we had a great time and did a lot of sharing.  Cherie brought a tag for each of us to make using MFT Stamps' Santa's Elves stamp set and coordinating dies.  We used a tag from MFT's Tag Builders Blueprints Set 5 (green and red rectangle tag) on which to adhere the little elf.  He was so cute that I stamped a few more of him.  Yesterday I colored the elf images and. made two more tags.  For these tags I  used SU dies, Delicate Ornaments and Layering Squares.  On Saturday, we also made the cute little Christmas Tree box.  The trees  are actually cake slice boxes Cherie created using her Cricut.   Have a great day and keep warm!

Feathers

I was browsing Pinterest yesterday and there were many cards with feathers.  There were many pretty ones, but I do not have one single feather stamp.  So I used what I did have~~feathers that Nipper loses~~to make today's card.  I used Gorgeous Grunge and Timeless Textures stamp sets for the background and Gray and Indigo Blue inks.  The retired corner stamp, silver thread and some pretty sequins completed the card. Have a great weekend and be safe if out and about in the snow!

Nipper Colors

I did not have anything ready to post today.  So, you get
to see a couple photos of Nipper when his drinking water plate became a bird bath one morning.  He has many different colors of blues and grays.  And when he is all fluffed up he looks even cuter than always!  Have a great day and stay warm.    

Christmas Bear

I have used this bear image for baby cards and when I saw the bear used for a Christmas card, I had to try it.  The bear is a three step stamp, but I stopped after two steps so I didn't mess up another one~~lol!!  The sentiment is from the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and is the perfect sentiment for this card for John's Mom.  She lives in Arizona and we will be thinking of her at Christmas, as we do always.  I used the Layering Square Framelits collection for the red and white scalloped squares.  After die cutting "Mom" and adhering the letters to the card, I brushed Wink of Stella clear glitter over the letters, the bow and his cute little nose! Keep warm and have a great day!

Circle Ornaments

Last year, I made Christmas cards using the Embellished Ornaments stamp set and the coordinating dies, Delicate Ornaments.   They were very pretty.  While playing in my scrap room yesterday,  I decided to make ornament cards using circle framelits for the ornaments together with the ornament hanger/top from the Delicate Ornaments Thinlets.  .First I made the larger ornaments card and thought maybe the ornaments were a little too big.  So I used a smaller circle for the second card.  I think they are a little too small.  Next time, I will use a circle die in between!  Either way, they are both pretty cards and the glittery ornament tops add much to the card.  Have a great day and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Christmas Nuggets

Yesterday was Cricut Sunday and I made these favors for the girls.  These are the easiest to make and dress up with any paper, twine, ribbon, netting, etc.  I wrapped Hershey Nuggets in Candy Cane Lane DSP, made a little red cardstock tray to put them on and slipped them into the 2" x 8" cellophane bags.  I closed the bag using sparkly twine and ribbon and added a little tag.  The top of the cello bag was trimmed down  and I had this festive treat to give my friends.  Have a great day!

Merry & Bright Penguin

I had it in my mind to create a penguin card using the owl builder punch.  So when  I went down to my scrap room yesterday to clean, instead I created (again)! The hat is from Lawn Fawn's Hats Off To You dies.  The hat is a little big, so I will have to research how people are making hats on Pinterest cards. The sentiment is from a My Paper Pumpkin from last year.  The Designer Series Paper is Candy Cane Lane and is in the current Holiday Mini. Today I will get around to cleaning my scrap room!  Have a great weekend and find yourself a little stampin' time!

Little Owl

How long has the owl punch been part of Stampin' Up?  However long it has been, I finally broke down and purchased it!  I am blaming it on the ladies who come here for Cricut each month.  I saw a cute little penguin and then Sheryl showed me a photo of all the different little critters you can make with the punch.  Today I am posting the first owl card I made with the punch.  In the future you will be seeing penguins and who knows what other little critters! 

I just thought this was cute:  Sydney is teaching Dexter how to open presents for Christmas.  She is wrapping his old toys for him to practice! As you can see, he has unwrapping down pat!  Have a great day!