Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, crafty friends!  There are lots of good reasons for my being MIA.  One is just being busy IRL, but the one I didn't like the most was when my hard drive broke and my planet was disconnected from the world for quite some time.  However, I have been crafting whenever I get the chance, really.  But just couldn't find time to update my blog.  One of my New Year's resolutions is to be more diligent with that.

Well, I hope everybody's holidays were filled with love, joy, peace and surprises.  And that you spent it with those you love and hold dear.  That's what always makes it perfect.

For this holiday season, I'd like to share with you my Christmas projects.  See, I have been crafting.

Let's start off with this Christmas ornament I made using staples. Yes.  I've been saving staples at work, putting them in a little glass vase.  I was able to make three:

For the second year now, I have been buying wreaths from a fundraiser at a nearby school.  I like to decorate them also (click here to see last year's).  But this year, I'm only able to play with one.

And finally, I made Christmas cards... of course!

I got these at the dollar section at Joann's early December.  And with my 20% coupon, it was a really good deal.

Limiting myself to these materials, I was able to make these cards:

Well, I hope you had a great holiday.  Here's to another year filled with love, peace, happiness and craftiness!

'Til next blog!

It's a Show!

It's been a loooong time since I sold my cards in a craft show. In the last couple of years, I would sign up for a spot but end up cancelling because of busy schedules. But this year, after several invitations, I made sure to make it to at least one.

And that's today.

I'm so glad to showcase my cards in their true form, where people can actually check them out. I always appreciate the compliments, meeting fellow crafters and seeing a lot of other original creations.  And then those moments click (again) which makes you say (again) "Why didn't I think of that?!?!".  Or you want to also say "I wish I can do that..." (again).

See, I like to go to craft shows as a customer. It's fun to go shopping and getting one of a kind goodies.  But it's another kind of fun to be the vendor as well.  It's nice to be on the other end of the table and have a different perspective of the craft show world.  Instead of looking at craft items, I enjoy seeing people and actually getting pointers on style, makeup and accessories. Yeah. Right now, I have added items on my non-craft wish list.

Well that's it for now as I go back to concentrating on my table. I'm having a blast right now.

Retake: The Most High

Sooo... we're starting to have weather in the 40s.  Not too thrilled about it, but I sure miss my fall/winter clothes.  September was unexpectedly warm in Northern Michigan.  In fact, DH mowed the lawn more last month than all of the summer months combined.  I think.

And I'm using the same old excuses.  Work.  Band.  But wait.  I didn't stop from crafting though.  Well, yeah.  My visits to my planet were less than normal.  After work, I'd stay in the couch and be lazy until I fall asleep.  Sometimes.  I know.  However, I had more visits to the craft stores.  Yeah.  I've been bad.  But I have sooo much to blog about though.  And so much more projects to do.  But I can't start with those until I fix this:

And that's just showing one corner of my planet.  Wanna play I-Spy?  I really need to clean and organize.  My muse goes awol when my planet is in chaos.  I really have to work on this because I signed up for a craft show at the end of this month.  Not funny!

While this was all going on, a co-worker's DF passed away.  I had to make a sympathy card.  And because I just had one night to do it, I cheated.  I still have "The Most High" card I made three years ago.  

Yeah.  Three.  But this card is special to me, because I made it when I was guest designer for Our Daily Bread Designs Stamping in Time Challenge.  That was back when I was super active in the online crafting scene.  I sure miss having all that time.

Back to my cheating story.  Here's what I did.  The size of the "revamped" card is 5.5 x 8.5 inches.  It had to be that big because all the staff members at work had to sign.

The sentiment inside is by Verve Stamps.  This is actually my favorite part of the card.

     

I'm glad that the card was liked by many, especially by the recipient.

'Til here for now... please think of me while you're having fun crafting.

Another Quick One

In Japan, it is customary to give monetary gifts to children on New Year's Day.  This is called "Otoshidama", which is handed out in small decorated envelopes called "Pochibukuro".  I love these small envelopes and I bought a bunch before leaving Japan.

The "Pochibukuros" are very handy in emergency situations.  Because they are already decorated, I add a little twist when I use them to give monetary gifts.

In this case, I used my stash of alpha die cuts to personalize the Pochibukuros.

That's all I did really, and it worked!  I've done this with Christmas gifts last year, and the personalization really counts.

'Til next blog!

Graduation Card

One of our nephews graduated from high school, so I made him a card to put a monetary gift.  This one is a quick card, which involves simple stamping and embossing.

When I make a quick card, I like to use a lot of layers.  Layers, when done right, make your card look "complicated."

Hope you're having a blast this summer.  We have a few more weeks of nice warm weather.

'Til next blog!

I'm back!

Hello crafty friends!  It's been over a month, I know.  Well, it's summertime and we're making the most of this short fine weather.  It's been on and off warm and cool, actually.  And some rain.  I can't remember the last time it was actually hot.  Other than that, I've been busy with all sorts of work.  But that didn't stop me from crafting though.  In fact, my planet is in chaos mode again - too chaotic to even share a photo.  Well, I just might.  But not today.

What I want to share with you today is my latest card, fresh from last night.  It is made with some of the latest addition to my stash:  the Anna Griffin Lace Trimmings Cuttlebug Set bought from HSN a week or so ago.  

This wedding card was made by special request with the theme LACE, PEARLS and MINT.

Materials used:

cardstock/dp - Martha Stewart, Recollections, vellum

stamp - Stampin' Up

ink - Stampin' Up, Kodomo No Kao

tools -  Anna Griffin, Spellbinders, heat gun, Big Shot

embellishments - pearls (Stampin' Up, The Paper Studio), lace

misc. - embossing powder

adhesive - Scotch, Glue Dots, mounting tape

  

I also embossed the sentiment inside.

Then, I added this element on the envelope.

I'm so glad I got the Anna Griffin Lace Trimmings Cuttlebug Set.  I've been trying really hard not to make any craft purchases (and I've been really good!), but when I saw the Anna Griffin embossing folder sets on HSN, I knew I had to get them.  Definitely no regrets!

'Til next blog!

Congratulations

It's that time of the year again... a new batch of Seniors graduated from high school.  And that means graduation parties as well. And that means time to make graduation cards.  And I'm sooo behind on this.

So first thing today, I made sure to make one for a graduate who's having his party this afternoon.  This is what I came up with:

 

- Materials used -

cardstock/dp:  Stampin' Up

image/sentment:  Tim Holtz, Stampin Up

tools:  embossing folders (Tim Holtz, Cuttlebug), EK Success edge punch

ink:  Tsukineko

misc.:  Recollections embossing powder

adhesive:  Scotch

This is not my typical graduation card.  I usually put a flap on the inside to put the monetary gift.  I do like this new approach.

Have a great weekend, crafty friends!  'Til next blog...

Remember Moments

The good news is, my desk is clear.  Well sorta.  But what's important is that it looks much better.  During the process, I couldn't help but make a quick card.  With this card, I gave the Tim Holtz Embossing Diffusers another try.  

My first try on this tool wasn't a success.  Because I didn't read the instructions carefully, this is what happened:

I haven't touched them since.  But this weekend, I gave it another shot.  And I was happy with the result.

I bought a similar diffuser set, this time by Darice some time last year.  Now I'm not hesitant to use them anymore.

'Til next blog!

Golden

A co-worker asked me to make a card for her parents' 50th wedding anniversary.  That was a perfect chance for me to use my latest Our Daily Bread Designs purchase "Anniversary Blessings".

For cards like this, I always turn to Martha Stewart dp.  This one is from the Elegant Paper Pad.  The embossing folder is from Cuttlebug.

The sentiment inside is from "Bookmarks Scripture" by Our Daily Bread Designs.  Below that is a mix of sentiment stamps by Verve (Happy Anniversary) and Technique Tuesday (Mom and Dad).

Hope you had a wonderful Saturday... 'til next blog!

Everything Recycled P4

Last month, I started a series of Everything Recycled cards made from leftover Unity stamp packaging:

Listed below are the links to the first three sets:

• Part 1 - everything is explained in this post
• Part 2
• Part 3

And here's another glimpse of the box that I made for these cards, all made from recycled materials:

And finally, the last of the bunch of the 24 cards, again using a different but similar style DP.

 TGIF crafty friends... 'til next blog!