...And now for some Holiday Hoop-La!

Today I got to go to a holiday party at my hubby's work. He works for a senior care facility, so the dinner was for employees and the seniors also. It was fun to see everyone all decked out for the holidays, no matter what age. That is one thing I always love about the holidays- that you can get together with friends and family, no matter if you celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or any of the other holidays of other faiths- you all celebrate with a togetherness that I find so comforting in December. It may be cold outside for most of us, but the warmth of friends and family is just wonderful. Ok, enough blah blah sentimental stuff, onto the cards!
So I have been in Christmas card making mode for the past week. On Tuesday I made these 6 cards (I know...taking me FOREVER to get them posted- just so darn busy this month). I also made a ton more yesterday, but I'll post them later, since I'm too pooped out to post all of them too- Also, what's the fun of showing it all to you at one time?! Anyways, I think some of these turned out so cute. So cute in fact, that I am not sure I want to give them away- is that bad? lol. But, I am determined to get them out to everyone by tomorrow or Saturday, so unless I can magically get the energy to make a lot more, I'm going to have to part with some of these cards. lol
My goal this year, was to make as many different variations of Christmas cards- basically, each card unique. I know- that is kinda a pain in the neck, but since I have only been making cards for a little over a year, I wanted to try all the different styles of cards and ideas out there. Some of the cards I made are based on cards by other awesome designers, like my favs- Kristina Werner, Becky Oehlers, and Debbie Olson. Hope ya'll enjoy them!
First I'm going to show you my two FAVs of the bunch. This one was based off a KWerner card she made during her 25 days of Christmas cards. I just LOVED how she cut out the ornaments that were on the paper and popped them up and used the string. It is so simple, but awesome in my book. I used this cute paper from Me and my Big Ideas that had the ornaments on the paper. So adorable, I just HAD to cut them out and use them in a card. This is def. one of my favs of the batch. :)

Next is my other fav. of that night's batch of Christmas cards. (hmm..."batch" makes it sounds like cookies, which makes me really have a hunger for Christmas cookies...I might just have to go get some butter from the store and whip up a batch. hehe!) Anyways, I found these cute mine Santa hats in the Christmas section at AC Moore. I had a coupon for 20% off your ENTIRE order, but only on one night and only from 7-10pm. Me being the dunce I am, got over there and got a ton of adhesive (because I was completely out) along with Christmas presents for my stepdad and my mother, and realized when I got in the gigantically long line, that I had lost the coupon..eek! Luckily, my hubby was home, so I begged him to re-print another coupon and bring it up to me. What a doll he was. :)
Gosh, I'm getting on long-winded blabber tonight (sorry about that), anyways- I knew the perfect way to use these mini Santa hats- on top of the head of this adorable penguin stamp I had. It actually is one of the first stamps I got ever in my stamping life, so I was soooooo happy to use it again in this card. I think it turned out so cute! I also have been using the "punch out mini circles and adhere to the back of your big circle to make your own fake scallop" on this card and a few other of my Christmas cards. I just LOVE how you can make a scallop on any sized shape using that method. LOVE it!

 

Moving on...This one is based on a card that Becky Oehlers made here. I used chipboard instead of a stamp, different colors, and added a stickle sparkle snow drift, but you get the general idea.

 

 

This next one I made my own patterned ornaments by punching out circles of different patterns and making my own toppers. This was a very simple card to make, that I might even make more in a similar fashion if I find that I need a lot more Christmas cards. :)

 

Now these last 2 are my least favs. Not saying I HATE them, but rather, I don't adore how they turned out. If I absolutely hate how something turns out, I probably won't even bother showing ya'll.

The only thing that bothers me about this next one is that I really wanted to use these mini bows I picked up, but my present I paper pieced just was too small. However I didn't realize this till after I put the bow on and it was stuck for good. *sigh*

And here we have my least fav. I had this great idea in my head, however it just didn't turn out as cute on paper. Ever have that happen to you? It looks awesome in your head, then you try to make it, and it just doesn't work how you want it to. So I had this cute paper that had houses on it. I also had cute chipboard that were houses, so I thought..."Hey, why don't I make a holiday home card. That would be cute!" However, they are two types styles of homes (the paper and chipboard),  and the chipboard ones are a little too big I think. I also think the tree I added and the ribbon matched the paper, but not the chipboard. hmmm...I guess I'll just give this card to someone who can't see very well or is color blind. lol

And there you have it all. I apologize for my long-winded-ness today. It is 1:30am and I'm all hyped on caffeine as my hubby is already asleep because he has to get up for work at 6:30am. Luckily, he is driving himself in the morning because the extra car's been fixed and is running, so I don't have to take him to work anymore...yay! Okeys all, time to force myself to go to bed.

Leave me some comment love people- so I don't feel so lonely in blogger land. Which is your fav?

Hugs all and have a great Friday! Friday FUNDAY! woo!

Laters.

-M

It's circle time!

For some reason I was in a circle cutting type mood- My new Cricut cuts so many variations of circles I felt I needed to put them all to good use. :) So I made 2 circle cards and 2 circle-type holiday banners.
I'll start with showing you the circle cards. Since I was photographing the banners in my living room, I decided to photograph my circle cards in there too...and I might actually shoot them more often in there- good lighting! I found they didn't stand up good on their own, being circle and all, so I just leaned them against my cool end table lamp. (the actual end table/mini coffee table I made all by myself in a wood furniture class in college, but you probably can't see much of it in the picture. hehe)
Anyways, one card is all blinged-out, as my mom likes to say. The other card I tried to make look like an ornament. I wouldn't have used blue on it at all, but I was trying to use the blue cardstock I had already cut out on my Cricut in that shape for the card base, so I tried to tie it all together. I still think it probably would look better without any blue, but I think I'll just leave it be for now.

 (Bling! I am loving how this card sparkles!)

 (It's a card, it's an ornament...it multi-tasks!)

 (Like I said...I'm still torn on the blue...but I'll let it be for now. )

Today I also decided I would make a banner for our mantel in our living room for the Christmas season and one for above our stockings. I have been seeing a LOT of cool banners made by other crafty bloggers out there and decided to try my hand at making some. Ok, so it didn't turn out nearly how I wanted it to be because: 1) I don't have all the nifty supplies that some people have, 2) surprisingly enough I didn't have very many Large chipboard letters....I know,  Me, Mrs. Chipboard letter herself doesn't have large chipboard letters!? I had one large set, that was blue, and "Winter" was all I could spell with what I had left of the letters. 3) Halfways through making my other smaller banner, I ran out of adhesive...TOTALLY ran out!! I ended up trying to put it together with doublesided tape, since all the craft stores were closed by that time (a few hours ago)...sadly it already is falling apart (like right after I photographed it)....I think the only letters still up there  from what I can see right now that haven't fallen off of it is the "M," "R" in merry and the "H" "T" and "A" in Christmas. lol *sigh* tomorrow I hope to make a trip up to get me some adhesive. I guess we used a LOT of adhesive at the crop...Like more than I go through in making cards in a few months! Wow....
Anyways, These are the best pictures I could take of the banners. The "winter" banner luckily I had adhesive when I made that one, so it is still sticking together strong and I think it turned out cute. Since I was going for the "ornament" look, the strips holding the banner are not nearly as cool as some people out there. But I started getting WAY tired of making the darn banner by the end of it- mostly all cutouts from my new Cricut. That is the one thing I hate about the Cricut- I can only do one thing at a time. Is there a way to fit more than one shape on my cutting mat and have it cut it all out for me in one run? Just wondering...

 (our cluttered mantel...and lack of fireplace- the previous owners or our landlord...somebody, blocked it off. 

Sorry for the washed out picture...my camera hates me)

 (it's hard to photograph a banner that is very light colored...my camera wouldn't photograph it with a flash properly at all! So I tried to manually take it, but if I do that on my camera, it has no focus...ugh...this was the best I do to photograph it)

Anyways, The "Merry Christmas" mini banner is above our stockings...Mine, our cat- C.J., and my Hubby's stockings are shown below with the banner. The "winter' banner is hanging off of our mantel in the living room. Banners everywhere!

 (this is before it all started to fall apart. *tears*)

 (For all the letters with a white main color, I made a scallop border- 

by punching a bunch of mini circles and adhering them to the back of the main circle)

I already have who the cards are going to figured out, and all the Christmas decor is up...now I just need to make more Christmas cards- I believe I have 12 left needed def. and possible 4 more additionally if I have time to, not to mention the rest of the Christmas presents to get/make. *sigh* I have a love/hate relationship with this holiday!
Before I leave you all, here is a photo of our fake Christmas tree I put up a few days ago. I wish we could have a real one, but for the time being- us being tight on money and living in an apartment with not a whole lot of room, I'll settle for the uber-skinny tree. haha!

It doesn't have any presents under it yet...I'm working on it people...that's what the rest of this weekend is all about. lol. So have a good weekend everyone and happy holiday fun!
-M

Results of a Black Friday crop

So my mom and I decided to spend Black Friday at a Scrapbook crop over at Scraptacular.
From 10am to 10pm we cropped till we dropped...literally. Haha. I created 3 single layouts, 3 double layouts, and 1 card. My mom did a LOT more than I did, but I'm a slow scrapper. lol.
I'm holding off from showing you one of the layouts and one of the cards, since I decided I would enter them for a call at Paper Crafts magazine and at Scrapbook Trends Magazine. I've never had anything published, but I decided to try it out. How have any of you gotten things published? Any tips? Just wondering...
Anyways, I had a blast. Before I went to the crop, I sketched out some layout ideas mixed with layout sketches from others, so I wouldn't get a brain block at the crop. The ladies were awesome to hang out with, and I would gladly do another crop some other time! I wish I could have more time to do more crops. I feel I always get so much more done at them, then at home, where all the distractions are. :)
So, here is the layouts! Enjoy!

(This is from this past year's Fourth of July fun. We all went out for margarita at the shore and it was awesome! That's me on the left bottom...my chunkier time of the year. ugh)

(I still need to do my journaling. I forgot my journaling pens at home...hehe)

 (This is a Christmas party layout, from my college years. My senior year, a few friends all got together for a Christmas martini party. Fun stuff!)

(I used these hocus pocus chipboard for this. Even though they are made for halloween, white sparkle is good for winter too!)

(This if from our 1st wedding anniversary at the beach. Fun in the Sun!)

(I am in love with these foamy thickers. So cute!)

(I did this layout for my kitty, C.J. He's my other love of my life. hehe)

(The large chipboard shape I got from Oriental Trading Co. 

The little one and the gels are from the set that came with the paper. )

(This layout is for a baseball game we went to with a few friends, I think last year sometime. 

I just didn't know which way I liked it better. The above or below. What do you think?)

(Which do you think? This one or the other one?)

(Chipboard fun!)

I had a blast at this crop. I can't wait to do another. Since I don't do scrapbook pages often- my attention span gets the best of me usually, I am so happy to have gotten so many done! yay!

Now I'm off to get ready for work (night shift tonight) then tomorrow we plan to start putting all the Christmas decor together and around the house.

Have a good Monday/Cyber Monday. :)

-M

Jingle Bells...Batman smells...lol

"Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg"...lol

I'll spare you from my totally wrong version of Jingle Bells. hehe. Anyways, today I"m gonna share with you a little project I did a few days ago, and am just now getting around to sharing it with you all. This little project happened totally by accident. You see, I have a box, that is just for containers, etc. to alter and decorate for gifts and such. I had saved a few of these lemonade packet tube/containers:

They hold large lemonade packets to make pitchers of lemonade. I believe we originally got them at Rite Aid. Anyways, I saved these knowing that SOMEDAY I'd figure out something to put in them and alter. So, I had stopped at Michael's ages ago, and in their dollar bin they had these lovely beauties...Jingle Bells!

They might still have them there, since I know I picked a few more up a couple weeks ago. I love the $1 area! Anyways, I had brought them home wanting something to do with them, and nonchalantly threw the jingle bells into the "box of alterable items" and they happened to fall into the Lemonade tube container. They just so happened to fit PERFECTLY inside! I could fit two jingle bells inside the tube and be able to close the tube right up totally. I knew right there that this was a project idea I had to do! So, I decided, why not do this like a mini tutorial in case anyone else wants to try their hand at altered fun!? Enjoy the rest of this post/tutorial. You never know what items will work together, until mini accidents happen. :)

Ok. So you have your Jingle bells and your tube container, now what? First I took the label off the container. They I cut out paper to fit around the tube. I used Making Memories FaLaLa scrapbook project pad paper for this. In this paper pack it has borders too, so I used the striped one also.

The striped border is for the seam, since the paper was ever so slightly too short. I also used the border for the top lid. Next I adhered the red paper to the tube, then the stripe border to cover up the part that is showing. I then took some green and gold ribbon and adhered it to the sides of the tube, since once it is all done, I'm going to tie a bow at the top to hold it all together.

 

Next I moved on to the lid. I first painted it red. Now you don't necessarily need to paint your lid if you're covering it all up, but I wanted to be certain none of the original blue showed through.

 

While the paint was still wet I sprinkled green/gold glitter on top. While the lid was drying I moved on to work on the Jingle Bells. Now they are cute in themselves so I didn't want to do too much to them. Also, I wanted to make sure they still fit in the container. I tied some of the green/gold ribbon around each.

I then took these adorable sticker glitter stars from Michael's that I got last year, and put them over the top part where the knot was.

 

Now that the bells are done and after the top is dry, I used some popups to raise up a circle I punched out of the same red paper as what is around the tube. I also adhered the border around the edge of the tube top.

I then stamped a Poinsettia stamp, from Verve stamps "Poinsettia Christmas" set with Color Box ink.

I then colored it in (once the ink was dry) with Le Plume II markers. I decided it needed something, so I stamped the image again over top of the already colored image, and while the ink wasstill wet I put some K & Company glitter on top.

I then punched the flower and adhered it to the already popped up top part. (now you can adhere it first, then pop it up if you like, I just wasn't sure how I wanted it all to go first, so I did it that way).

I then poked a hole in the side of the  tube and stuck the large Poinsettia to the side of the tube, by putting the little nub through the hole and using clear packing tape to hold it in place on the inside of the tube. I then decorated the large poinsettia (which you can do first, before adhering it) since I realized I wanted it to be glittered too. It already was glittery when I got it (it was taken off an old Christmas Wine cover a friend gave me ages ago) but some of the glitter was falling off on the inside part, so I used Stickles over each inside petal and left the chunky glitter on the outside part of the flower. I then put the jingle bells inside the tube, put the lid on, then tied the ribbon in a bow on the top.

To make the tag, I used a tag cut out of green paper on my brand new Cricut. (it was the first thing I used it for!) I got it at A.C. Moore's pre-Black Friday Sale. I got the Cricut (personal cutter, the original one) a cutting mat, blade, and a cartridge for $98 only! I got the 2nd to last one they had at that store. :) I used some Christmas money given to me by my in-laws, who basically said, buy what you want for your own Christmas present. So I did just that. Now all I have to do is save up for the "Sure Cuts A Lot" software so I can do fun stuff like KWerner does (I <3 her stuff!). Anyways, back to this project. So I cut out the tag, then used a scrap of the border on the edge of the tag. I then stamped using a stamp from the Making Memories FaLaLa set.

I then used some string and attached to the top bow. And there you have it! A Jingle Bell Gift! Isn't it cute! I am so happy how it turned out!

 

Now everyone be quiet and don't tell anyone about it. You never know who might be getting one for Christmas. hehe. I'm in an Altered swap, so I'm considering making something similar to this for it, since it turned out so cute! I am so happy it turned out well, considering the whole idea came about TOTALLY by ACCIDENT! hehe

Anyways, I'm off to clean up the house, since my parents are coming in from Michigan tomorrow. During the day, Hubby and I are going to his work to spend Thanksgiving with some of the residents at his job. He works for a Senior care facility, so we thought it would be nice to spend time with some of the people there whose family can't visit them, or they can't visit their families, since my parents are coming in till the night time and we are officially celebrating Thanksgiving on Sunday instead to get everyone together. :) It's all about giving thanks everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and enjoy you time with people who care for you. If you can't spend it with your family and friends, I send my personal Hugs to each and every one of you, from me to you. Hugs and Happy Thanksgiving!

-M

Scared turkey

Today I'm sharing with you another card for a co-worker (it's beginning to be a weekly think, I know!...all these custom card orders, I need to make myself a business card or something, haha!) and what I decided to make my placecards look like for this year's Thanksgiving here at the house of Mo. :)
 To start, the card is for my co-worker's son, a middle schooler, so I decided to make it a little funny. Hence, alive and scared turkey out front, and then cooked turkey inside...hehe. I finally found a card idea to use one of the awesome Recollections felty embellishments, and I think it matched perfect with the paper. The funny part about that paper (also by Recollections) I had actually adhered the two pieces of paper together, then realized I like the combo of what was on the other side (double sided paper), so I flipped it over, and added a ribbon around it, and started my card from that choice! Don't you just love it when things like that happen? Anyways, here's the card!

(I wouldn't have thought teal would look so pretty with the rest of the fall colors, but I dig it!)

(scared turkey, buttons, and felties! All the best things in life...hehe)

(cooked turkey!)

I also worked on my placecards for our Thanksgiving dinner. This year, since my 'rents are coming to visit, but coming in from Michigan on Thanksgiving itself, we decided to celebrate on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. That way, the 'rents can relax a little beforehand, and my hubby's famiy can all make it too! However, I'm a scared turkey myself, since this is the first time we have ever hosted Thanksgiving at our house. Eek! So, the table cloth chosen looks like this:

So I decided to pick the colors from there the best I could, and made these placecards using my new Nesti I got 50% off at Micheal's over a month ago (That was my big purchase of the month, lol!) and I also used an adorable Thanksgiving stamp set I got on sale also at Micheal's (that same day), since the day after Halloween they were ushering in all the Christmas stuff, and had all the Halloween and harvest/Thanksgiving stuff 50-75% off. I love sales...I think these days I only shop in the sale racks anymore. :)

(this one is mine- the first one I did, so if I screwed it up, it was ok. hehe)

(I <3 buttons!- These are from Papertrey Inks!)

 

(here's the whole slew of placecards, 7 adults and 2 kiddos)

I think it has the feel of some of the PTI designers, like Nichole, Mish and Pine, but I think it works, and should match the tablecloth. I now have the centerpiece and rest of the placesettings to figure out. This year I want to go all Martha Stewart on Thanksgiving, so I have to have everything match. :)
Hope everyone is having a great Friday. I'm off to go do some cleaning around the house. It's amazing how quickly your home becomes a reck when live with a messy man! haha
Have a Friday Funday!
Hugs all!
-M

A shoulder to cry on

So I was requested of a co-worker, like I have been a lot recently, to create a card to give to his friend who is need. I had many similar sentiments, however none did the trick totally. My co-worker wrote up basically what he wanted to say, and I thought, "Hey, why don't I just make a digital stamp version of this to use." I whipped it up in a jiffy in Photoshop, printed it on cardstock, then cut it out with my very first Nesti I got a few months ago- with a discount coupon for Micheal's. He also gave me her name, which I decided to make the main focus for the front of the card, while the sentiment was for inside.
Here it is.

 (I decided to go for the "pretty in pink" look)

 (These chipboard letters actually had little purple flowers on them, but they didn't match, so I covered them with other flowers of the right match)

(the inside sentiment)

I also created another baby shower card, this one for a co-worker's daughter who is also having a baby boy. He liked what I did with the baby shower card I made for our one co-worker, and wanted a similar card. Well, 1) I didn't have the same chipboard letters left, 2) I didn't have the same ribbon or paper left either 3) I  realized after I stamped the image and already adhered the back to the main image paper, that damn, there seems to be a decent amount of space at the top, compared to the original card I made, so I added another sentiment. "Sweet" to the top. Here it is, a very similar resemblance to that of my previous baby shower card, but slightly different. Yay for Stickles making non-sparkle chipboard letters Sparkle! Enjoy.

(oh baby! hehe)

Have a great day/night all!
-M

Digiments November Release!

Make sure you check out Digiments today for the official November release! It is a Christmas special happening over there, 24 Digiments for only $8! And if you buy one full set, you get another set for 1/2 off (So that's only $4) to give to a friend that Digiments will send to them on your behalf. It's great to give for Christmas to all those swapping sisters or fellow papercrafting buddies! Check it out today over at Digiments!
Here is a card I made with one of the new releases! This release was one of my favorites, since there are plenty of Christmas (and non-Christmas) sayings...perfect for all those Christmas cards you want to make!

(There's snowflakes galore in this card!)

(I think the elegance of this Digiment worked well with the wintery sparkle. don't you?)

Okeys ladies and gentalmen, Enjoy the card, check out Digiment's release today and have a wonderful Saturday! I'll be helping out with the hubby's last showing of "Rope" today, so think of me while you're papercrafting!
-M

Digiments Sneak peek and Day 4 of Christmas cards

Happy Friday all. Christmas cards are still rolling out over here. Today I have a sneak peek for you from the Nov. Digiments Release. Make sure you check out all the other awesome previews over at Digiments today, and get your Digiments tomorrow on the official release! This release is 24 Digiments for $8. And, when you buy 1, you can get another for $4 and Digiments will send it to a friend on your behalf. So one for you and one for your friend for only $12. I think its a good deal, for the holidays! So check it out here!

(this is one of those long cards. I think it turned out better than I thought it would when I was putting it all together.)

(It's hard to tell in the photo, but those are actually dark green (not black) buttons)

(I thought the tree needed some bling. hehe)

I also have Day 4 of my last weekend's Christmas card making. These are the last of the cards I made during my "Christmas Cardmaking" day with my co-worker and new-found convert to papercrafting. :) Enjoy all!

(It's all about the different paper scraps in this one)

("Up on the housetop...click click click...")

(These are the "mini" cards...aka. tags as my friend says)

(and this little square card ended up being more simplistic than I originally planned)

(sparkle!)

(These are all the cards in total done that weekend, so you all can see the size differences)

Well, I'm off to go make the "show sandwiches" for my hubby's play. This is the last weekend of shows. In a way I will be so happy when it is over, so we actually have free time again, but we'll miss hanging out with all the fun people on a regular basis from the show.
Anyways, have a great Friday the 13th! :)
Laters all!
-M

Christmas cards: Day3

It's Day 3 of Christmas card mania! This is gonna be a quick post since it is 3:30 am, I have to take my hubby to work at 7am, then get some sleep during the day so I can work the night shift. Luckily I get Friday/Saturday off to actually have time to DO something other than drive and work. *sigh*
Anyways, here is day 3's worth of Christmas cards. Enjoy!

(I was going for the vintage ornament look, similar to that of Dawn McVey, however I don't own the Papertrey Ink's vintage ornament set, so I tried it with this pop up sticker thing.)

(I wanted to match the pink in this ornament for a "girly" christmas card)

(for ths one I wanted to go for a quilted look. But since I was having trouble getting my sewing machine working for it, it became far more simplified than I originally thought.)

(this little joy popup fit perfect with my all green color scheme)

Also, stay tuned for some Digiments previews! I haven't decided if I'm gonna preview my cards for ya'll tomorrow or Friday. But stay tuned and check out all the other great previews for the November Digiments release over at the Digiments blog! Check it out!
If you haven't yet, check out my two previous day's posts for more Christmas card fun, Here and here.
Later all and leave me some comment love all! I feel like I"m talking to thin air these day.
Night night (or morning for some of you). Laters.
-M

Christmas cards: Day2

Is everyone in the holiday spirit yet? I'm not, but I gotta get into it, since these Christmas cards are only a fraction of what I am planning on making for people this Christmas. How is everyone's Christmas card making going? Do any of you have an tips on how to crank out all your Christmas cards? Just wondering.
So here is Day 2 of some Christmas cards that I created over the weekend.

(This is also for a challenge by KWerner to make my own scallop)

(I'm so proud this turned out well)

(This is a Christmas version of a card I made many moons ago)

(It's all about the squares!)

Here's a quick post, since I have to get some sleep...I'm trying to get over whatever this sickness is that has taken over my throat and head. If you haven't seen it, check out my previous post of more Christmas cards: here.
Night night! Enjoy!
-M