Christmas Tradition Gingerbread House - Scrappy Saturday

 

 A quick layout with a cute title cut from Silhouette and mirror cardstock.  It goes all around the page.  I did fussy cut some cookies from patterned paper and die cut a house and doodle it to look like gingerbread.  Once the layout was down I doodled in white around the edge.  Super happy I could use all 4 full size photos.

 

We are getting ready to go crop next weekend super excited I have some fun layouts planned as well as other projects.  I will try to take photos of our adventures better than the last crop over the summer.

   

Santa Was Here - Scrappy Saturnday

 

This double page layout is of our Christmas tree on Christmas Eve after Santa came and delivered presents and ate his cookies.  The kids put out carrots for the reindeer as well.   I do love the glow of the tree it's my favorite part of Christmas.

 

I die cut trees and stars out of all the different types of gold mirror card I had in my stash.  The title was cut with my Silhouette and I used an older Carta Bella paper line that was vintage colors to put behind the papers. 

Christmas Tree Decorating - Scrappy Saturday

 

We had a challenge to use background cut files to create layouts.  I have a ton of these SVGs for my Silhouette so I cut a bunch that with with the various themes I have to scrap.  This one has more modern trees.  The snowflakes are wooden stickers from the Dollar Tree.  The title is also cut with the Silhouette.

 

As always I do not scrap in order of anything I just do pictures I want to create with.  This one is from when Emily was little when our family room was still in the back of the house and we had a small tree back there with the colorful ornaments and a big tree in the front room with all gold and silver ornaments.  Thankfully we only do one tree now PHEW.

Glad you could stop by and have a look see.  Have a wonderful weekend.  Hope you're having a great start to the new year.

Scrappy Saturday - Ballerina

 Emily outside the theater preparing for her audition.  The girls are looking forward to their Auditions for the Nutcracker.  Hard to believe we are thinking about the Holidays when it is so beautiful outside.

 

Quick layout using some Ballerina papers and this Jolies set as well as a Heidi Swapp parenthesis.  I cut the title out using my Silhouette and added pink pearls all around.

Thank you for stopping by hope your having a lovely weekend.

Puppy Pancakes - Scrappy Saturday

A Friend and I challenged ourselves to use a larger cut file from Silhouette.    I used the Picture Mood Board cut file by Paige Evans.  I love how the paper and die cuts behind each frame look.  Absolutely adorable.  So happy how it turned out.

 

Documenting making puppy pancakes, which now happens every time I make pancakes.  They sit at my feet waiting for their little pancakes, which I still have to cut them into smaller pieces for them.  As soon as the griddle comes out they get excited!  But you know, whatever makes them happy and they are way to cute to resist anyway.  

Thanks for stopping by to take a look.  Hope all is well with you.

Virtual Crop - Mixed Media Madness - Friday/Saturday/Sunday Recap 6 Layouts

 

 Once again doing the Victoria Maria virtual crop Mixed Media Madness.  I love these even though this the weekend it was held this month there were other things going on and I had to leave the house a couple of times for events.  This of course made it so I got less completed during the crop but 6 layouts is still not to shabby.  

 

My first layout above is of my Grandmother, my Mom, Aunt and Uncle.  I love this photo and the mixed media on this one is Distress Oxide Ink with a lace stencil to create the floral background.  The paper and die cuts are Pretty Little Studios Miss Sadie Rose from my March Scraproom kit.  and I used an old border die as the border strip.  Love how this turned out.

 

 This Valentine layout is of the gifts for my family for Valentines this year.  A friend of mine makes these beautiful cookies(and their yummy).  I was so excited to give them to everyone.  Cookies are always a hit.  The challenge was watercolor.  I cheated I have a watercolor paper pad and used that since the colors were ideal.

 

Emily with her first set of mouse ears she was really little.  Lots of stamping on this one which was the challenge the background is all stamped with Echo Park Stamps the cameras are also stamped and Magic Starts Here as well.  The title I created on the Silhouette along with the Mini heads and bows.  Paper is by Basic Grey(I use it sometimes when I'm not saving it).  

 

 

 Longdogs, always together.  Much to Vienna's dismay I think sometimes.  I altered the chipboard title and the heart strips are cut from watercolor paper I painted.  Paper MME, vellum hearts are Studio Calico.

 

 

 I don't do a lot of masculine pages but I was excited to get to use Simple Stories Bro. & Co. from a Scraproom kit last summer.  The background is done with a Memory Box stencil and embossing paste.  Some little letters from Jenni Bowlin and a tag and some stickers from my stash.

 

 Lastly for this crop I did a layout of some birthday pictures of my brother.  I used Doodlebug paper and embellishments.  Stenciled the dots background with Distress Oxide ink and cut the title with my Silhouette.  Some of the 70's and 80's pictures I have are damaged by light but they are all that I have so they will all be documented eventually.

I know I didn't get a lot done this crop and Victoria Marie gives you a couple of weeks after to complete them.  I just find I'm so much more motivated during the crop weekend.  After it's over I tend to move on to different projects.  Maybe I'll come back and finish something half done but that's about it.  Still I think 6 layouts on a weekend I had other things going on is Awesome!    And it's always fun!

Hope someone is inspired by this.  Thanks for stopping by

Virtual Crop Weekend - The Scraperbowl - Sunday Pages

Today I didn't get as much done as yesterday but still better than nothing.   The first layout is of Emily at the Strawberry patch when she was little I think she ate more than she picked of course.  I created the title with the Silhouette and some red paper with black dots and strawberry seeds.  The strawberry paper is Imaginiece it's an older line.  I did find a wood veneer strawberry which was really exciting.

For the this layout I used American Crafts papers and some various dies to create this layout.  The bunnies and carrots are Spellbinders, the swing is memory box, the suns are IO and the title is Scrapbook.com.  The pictures are of the kids and their cousin playing in the back yard on one of  the first nice days we had. 

So that's 7 layouts complete this weekend.  Not too bad usually one of Victoria Marie's crops offer you challenges for up to 9 or 10 layouts/projects.  Sometimes I get them all done sometimes I get a few done it just depends on what else is  going on, on a daily basis.  The only bad part of cropping at home is that I still have to cook and take care of other things while I'm cropping.  But it's still so productive.  At a crop I would be talking and shopping and getting about the same amount of pages complete so I'm happy.

Hope you had a great weekend.  I can't wait for the next crop weekend.

Scrappy Saturday - The Scraperbowl - Virtual Crop 4 layouts Complete

 

Day 2 is here of the Scraperbowl over at Victoria Marie.  We've been enjoying online zoom chats while working and a great list of challenges.  Today I was able to finish 4 layouts.  The first one Precious Girl is Abbi all dressed in her fancy Holiday dress and posing on her new bunk beds.  She loves them.  I used  Simple Stories North Pole from my Scraproom Kit, Memory Box dies(alpha, poinsettia and holly), Scrapbook.com stamps, and Thickers.  There is also some gold dots and gold glitter paper to mat the photo.

 

  

This layout is of my Dad in high school.  The devil and winged shoes I created and cut with my silhouette as well as the title.  The black and white papers came out of my scraps.  Then I just added a black and red photo mat.

 

 Teddy was Emily's boyfriend at the times new puppy,  he came to visit us a couple of time and was just the sweetest.  Not sure Vienna and Gracie agreed.  I used a base page I created last year with K&co paper ten added Thickers and felt flowers from my stash.  Super quick page.

Lastly is the Halloween Mermaid page.  The picture is from a Halloween party my brother had and it's hard to see but I used all kinds of Halloween punches on the background.  I punched them in black and created a layered background paper with them.  The black and white paper came out of my scrap bin.  I also added Thickers.

YAY 4 more layouts created!  Getting closer to my goal of 25 projects I'm a little behind but catching up.  Thank you for taking a look. 

 

Virtual Crop Weekend -The Scraperbowl - Friday Let the Fun Begin

 

YAY cropping along with a friend and Victoria Marie in the Scrapper Bowl Virtual Crop.  I love Victoria Marie's crops each month.   They are super organized inspiring and laid out so I am able to plan and get lots done during them.  

 

Tonight's challenge was to use something we haven't or don't really know how to use.  I chose to finally get out and use my Silhouette Foil Quill pens.  You know I had to have them when they first came out, ummmmm in 2019... (insert guilty look) And there they sat in my craft room collecting dust because I was intimidated by them.  Anyhoo go them out figured out how to use them and created this layout.  The We Wish You A Merry Christmas tree and the presents are all created using the foil quill and gold foil.  I do like how they turned out and I only had to do the tree twice mostly because of placement on my paper.  I am grateful for these challenges if it was left up to me I would probably never have used the foil quill which is much easier than I made it out to be in my mind!  10 points Victoria Marie.

The patterned paper is My Minds Eye Christmas on Market Street and the picture is of the girls at my in-laws before my MIL's tree turned into a Cubs tree.  I added some gold dots and journaling which still needs a date I meant to look that up?

I will post my completed layouts tomorrow and Sunday.   Can't wait to spend the next 2 days cropping.

Online Crop - Victoria Marie It's Fall Y'all

This weekend we are participating in Victoria Marie's Online Crop It's Fall Y'all.  It's a great way to spend a long weekend.

 

The first challenge was a bonus challenge with ingredients we must use. Die Cuts, A large title, 2-3photos, Patterned Paper, Chipboard, a border  and enamel dots.  

Here is my layout this is from a set of scraps I pulled for a mini kit.  The new things here are the title and the clouds done on my Silhouette and the border a Memory Box die.   The enamel dots are from a Hero Arts kit.  The scallop piece is a Bazzill piece and the chipboard is Heidi Swapp.

I'll be back with more layouts from this weekend.  Have a Great Labor Day Holiday.

Graduation Cards - Etsy Shop

Here comes the end of another school year.  May...the second busiest time of the year.  I know with the snow coming every weekend still it doesn't seem like it's that time.  It's creeping up on us...

With only one child in school with events throughout April and May I've had some time to create some cards and gift card holders for my shop which is exciting as usually I'm just hanging out at the school and doing the taxi thing.

These cards are beautifully layered with a congratulatory embossed background with the year and the hats layered with foam tape on top of it. 

I tried to cover the most common school colors in our area or at least one of them but I can do these in any color or combination of colors.

Are you ready for Graduation Season?

The inside has a die cut Congratulations and plenty of room to write your message to the Graduate.

Thank you for taking a look today hope your enjoying the week!

C.A.R.S. May 2019 Swap - Masculine

It's that time again.  The second Thursday of each month the Chicago Area Rubber Stampers meet and swap.  This month's theme was Masculine Cards.   I got a chance to use my new Buffalo Check background stamp from Stampin Up.  I did pull out an old retired Stampin Up set for the bear image.  The background behind the bear is stenciled and the fishy and greeting are from the Silhouette.  Looking back I probably shouldn't have tied a bow in Jute for a masculine card but I wasn't thinking of that.   So there you go another 18 cards down in the books.  I did take the month of April off as it was right before the craft fair and we were still prepping.

This month's meeting was bittersweet.  An original member of over 20 years is moving away so everyone was given the chance to say goodbye and we had a little celebration for her at the end of the meeting.

Thank you for stopping by to take a look hope your having a wonderful day!

Revisiting some Christmas Projects

 This past holiday season I taught myself how to do vinyl with the Silhouette.  I've been putting this off for years.  Again the unknown totally freaks me out(why?).  Really once I started I couldn't stop!  I will say glitter vinyl requires a bit more patience and has a bit of a learning curve to it compared to the adhesive vinyl but really noting scary here!

 This is a super large jar about 10 inches tall.  I got it to hold 5 lbs of Fire Ball Candy as a gift.  It did not hold 5 lbs of candy BTW.  It only held about 3 lbs the rest I had to put in the gift bag around the jar.  I had this discussion with myself over and over but a jar or container that actually held 5 lbs of the candy would not be useful to anyone later it would just be too big.  So I opted for a more reasonable size.

My entire craft room smelled of cinnamon for days after creating this.  It was the perfect holiday project!  I hope recipient loves it and enjoys it.  I had a great time creating it.

Hope your all having a great day!

Holiday Gifts In The Making

Another Silhouette Vinyl project for Christmas Gifts!  These I created for each of my coworkers.  There are 2 more.  They turned out really cute.  On the back I put "Donations Welcome"

I'm excited about the Vinyl it's so much fun to learn something new!

Hope your having a wonderful day!

Fun Guy Birthday Gift - Beer Themed

For us it is not just the Holiday gift making and giving it is also my Hubby's birthday.  He loves craft beer and beer themed items so it's easy for us sometimes.  For his 50th I got him 50 bottles of beer which was a lot of fun.  This year I found some beer flavored jelly bellies and did some vinyl on a mug then filled it with the jelly beans.  I topped it off with marshmallows for the foam and that made the centerpiece for his gift.

I also hand stamped these kitchen towels with various types of beer in his favorite color to wrap them in.  With some actual beer in the fridge it made a cute gift.

I have to go and make a cheesecake(his very favorite).  Then put the finishing touches on his birthday card and we will be ready to go.

Thank you for stopping by hope your having a great week. 

May Swap Card - Candles/Cake/Cupcake

For the May Chicago Area Rubber Stampers Swap of Candles/Cake/Cupcakes I got brave and carved my own little stamp.  Nothing to exciting for my first carving just some stripes, which I then turned into little candles on my card using acrylic paint.  

 Once my candles were ready I cut the rest of the word WISH from my Silhouette with some candle flames.  I love how the greeting turned out.  The card itself was cut with a Crafters Companion border die, as well as the BoBunny double dots on top of it.  I found coordinating ribbon out of my ribbon stash for each color. 

 These individual pictures were taken outside which is why they are so washed out, Sorry.

 (note:  This greyish blue BoBunny is one of the very first colors of Double Dots I ever bought when they first came out.  The weight and color saturation has changed  a lot over time when you compare.)

I had fun creating these cards I hope you like them as much as I do.  Thank you so much for stopping by today.

Scrapbook Layout - On To Fort Sumter

A lot of our Family time is spent traveling with Daddy to his various Cival War events.  He loves doing Living Histories in places like Fort Sumter South Carolina.  We were on our way there and got a chance to stop by this amazing battle ship only a few miles from there.  The girls have learned our history very early on and continue to do so every chance we get.

The papers here are Simple Stories there are some Studio Calico wood veneers and the alphabet is Heidi Swapp and I cut my title with my Silhouette.  I generally take way too many pictures so I love it when I can do a layout incorporating a ton of them.

Sometimes you just have to do 2 pages and since this is both girls and Daddy it will go into the Family Album.

Thank you as always for Stopping by to Visit!  Hope your having a Great Day Hugs!

Tropical Card Series - Tiki Guys and a Bonus Box

 I fell in love with these Tiki Guys from the Tim Holtz Tropical die set.  As I was making this all I could think about was the Tiki Curse from the Brady Bunch episode that totally sucked me in as a kid(did I just date myself like that?).   I do love how these dies cut watercolor paper.  I washed the paper with browns and then inked up the dies after I cut them for more texture.

The tropical leaves are cut out of Echo Park Paper from the 6x6 pad A Perfect Summer.  The blue background is from the same pad.

So to give these cards as a gift I created a Gift Box for them.  I have a tutorial on this box from 2013 which you can find HERE.  I used one of my new 12 x 12 paper pads from Michael's for the patterned paper for the lid and cardstock for the base.  The flamingo is cut with my silhouette and the stamp is from MFT stamps.

This made a lovely Hostess Gift for a Dear Dear Friend from High School that hosted all of our friends for a BBQ this Summer.  It was a wonderful evening with Friends supporting Friends.  

So this is the end of this Series.  I feel like cards are getting a bit boring to me I've made some others for my Etsy shop I will share later but I have an itch to Scrapbook so I think layouts are in my near future!  Not that cards are gone for good but I have to go back and forth to keep the mojo alive!

Thank you for joining me for this Series and I hope you return for everything coming up in the future!  Have a Great Weekend!

Tropical Card Series - Pineapples and more Pineapples

 Had so much fun using my Distress Oxide and Distress Ink to make the pretty background for this card.  The stamped greeting is from MFT Clear Stamps Written in Watercolor it is stamped in Versamark and embossed in black.  The Pineapple comes from Silhouette and is cut out of Mirracard Gold.  I've added some mini sequins in various pinks as well.

  

I love how the watercolor turned out I just need to work on the warping.

 Here we have the same Pineapple as above and a greeting from Hero Arts.  The patterned paper is Echo Park A Perfect Summer.  I've used one of my Daniel Smith watercolors in  yellow for the drops on the white.

Those pink stripes are from some scraps sitting out on my desk.  It definitely needed more color!  Especially with the Kraft card base.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Summer now that we are right in the middle.  My kids are busy with their summer activities but starting to look forward to school again!  Have a wonderful day!  Thank you for stopping by.