12 Months of Christmas March Challenge

Hello there! I made it! I blinked and March almost disappeared without me seeing it. If you remember from my last post, we are busy with a kitchen remodel project, but I did get to spend some time at my desk working with paper and ink and not just wood and paint. Here's one of the cards we made at my last Stamp-A-Stack Class.

This is a single layer card using the Lotus Blossom Stamp Set you can get FREE through the end of March 2015 with any $50 purchase. It's a beautiful stamp set. Here I stamped in Whisper White on Crumb Cake Cardstock and then allowed that to dry before stamping the detail stamps with Calypso Coral. I tied a simple knot around the card using the FREE Calypso Coral ribbon in the Best Year Ever Accessory Pack.

What do you think? I like that it uses just one layer of cardstock, yet is so pretty.

OK, so back to the challenge. My challenge for March is to get my menu fine-tuned and transfer the recipes into my Notebook along with a grocery list. The menu will be pretty easy since we pretty much have the same thing every year, but I do try to incorporate one or two new recipes, especially for cookies and treats to give away. Plus, it will be really nice to have all the recipes in one place rather than digging out multiple different cook books this year.

I think, while I'm at it, I may put together tabs in the Notebook for both Resurrection Day and Thanksgiving menus as well. Why not have everything together?

Since I didn't make my goal for last month, I will continue to look for gift ideas to make and get that part of my Notebook organized. I will also make an additional 10-12 cards.

I guess that's about it:

1. Organize Menu Tabs
2. Look for gift ideas
3. Make 10-12 cards

Since it's already the middle of the month, I think I better set some time aside to work on these! 

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Till next time...
God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas February Challenge Update

Hello there! I know...I know. I'm late with my update on February's challenge. But, I'm not super late (only 2 days), and I do have a really good excuse. Really. See:

Handsome Hubby had a week off of work so we decided to tackle one of the major home improvement projects on our list...opening up a window from the kitchen to the living room. Needless to say, I didn't spend much time this last week at my desk. We're probably about 75% done with the project and I hope to post an update on the family blog soon.

Anyway, here I am, and I'm sad to say that I didn't make my goal for this month. That's OK, though. I'm closer than I would have been had I not challenged myself. I did get 12 cards made for the month, and I did do a bit of perusing Pinterest for gift ideas, I just didn't see much that sparked my interest there. That may or may not have been due to the fact that most of my perusing involved paint colors rather than gift ideas. ;o)

So, here are the cards I made for February:

I used our Wondrous Wreath stamp set, and after adhering the white cardstock to the card front, I used the center die to cut a "window" out. This allows you to see the "Joy" stamped on the inside of the card. I think it might be cute with a family photo peaking out as well. What do you think?

Here's a list of supplies I used to make these cards. LOVE the glimmer paper bows. :o)

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I will be back with the challenge for March along with a card we did at my Stamp-A-Stack last week.

till next time...
God's love and blessings!

I hope you are enjoying my projects. Please use the hostess code when you place an order. (The current code will be in the upper right corner). However, if your order is over $150, please do NOT use the code, as you become the Hostess and receive the rewards! 

Technique Tuesday-Thank You box

Hello there! I'm here to share a little gift box with you. It's the perfect size to fit a chocolate bar, which is a perfect gift, don't you think? The confetti punch makes fun a peek-a-boo effect for the accent color to peak through.

I explain in the video that I have a been hoarding a collection of paper boxes I bought many years ago in Japan. I decided it was time to make templates out of them so I could actually use the boxes. This is the first one I chose to do. I love how it opens and the fact that it doesn't use any adhesive to hold it closed. Pretty cool.

I hope you enjoy it.

Here's the dimensions for the box:
Paper 8 1/2 x 7
Score on 7" side @ 2, 2 1/4, 4 3/4, 5
Score on 8 1/2" side @ 1 1/4 and 7 1/4
2 side flaps have an additional score of 1/4 inch.

tams# 2574

Product List

• Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [100730]
• Blushing Bride 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock [131198]
• Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [131172]
• Blushing Bride 1/4" Cotton Ribbon [134558]
• Confetti Hearts Border Punch [137415]
• Celebrate Baby Clear-Mount Stamp Set [135368]

Technique Tuesday-Valentine Box

Hello there! I'm here with a quick tutorial for a Valentine's box made from our Curvy Keepsakes Thinlit. This was one of the items that carried over from the holiday Occasions Catalog and I'm so glad it did. The box itself is super easy to put together, but I thought it needed a window to show off the cute candy inside.

Start by cutting the box piece in two different colors to help add some contrast.

Fold the bottom of the white piece up like this and slide both layers into your Sweetheart punch.

Center in the punch side to side and make sure the bottom of the handle is right at the edge of your punch.

Now you have a heart on the side and a surprise heart on the inside of the box. I didn't think about it before, but it would be super cute to stamp something sweet on the inside heart.  Cut a piece of window sheet to fit over the outside heart and glue down with Fast Fuse. I find it helps to close the box if you run the pieces over the edge of the table to help them curve a bit before folding it up.

That's it. Glue the two bottom pieces together, fold up, fill with goodies and add accents. I used one of the punched hearts and added some Itty Bitty Accents hearts punched from Red Glimmer Paper . The sentiment came from the January Paper Pumpkin kit, but the Groovy Love stamp set has several sentiments that fit on this heart as well. I tied the heart on with Cherry Cobbler Bakers Twine.

What do you think? Quick, easy and cute. Love it! 

Till next time...

God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas February Challenge

It's February. Yep, January is gone and it's time for the next month of the year. Funny how that works isn't it? For those who are new to this series, I'm posting challenges each month to help make life a little easier come Christmas time. Last month we put together a notebook to help in keeping track of all those great ideas and made 10 cards.

This month's challenge is to focus on ideas for home-made gifts. Pinterest is a great place to start, but I also have a HUGE collection of craft books that are collecting dust on my shelves. I think I may dig out one or two and peruse them for some ideas. A couple of things I'm going to keep track of are not only the ideas, but any recipes and supplies needed. This way I can keep an eye out for needed items when they may be on sale.

I will also be making 10 cards again this month. I'll probably end up making 12, just because it's easy to make them in groups of 4, plus, I can use extras for gifts, or possibly sell them at one of the many holiday craft bazaars they have around here. I've always wanted to do something like that, just never planned far enough in advance. Maybe this year, my daughter-in-love and I can do some of the sales together. That would be so much fun!

That's really it for this month's challenge. I hope to gather at least 1 idea per person on my gift list, hopefully more.

Well, I can't leave you without a project of some kind, so I will share this little cutie I made last week.

Isn't he adorable?!? I used this tutorial for the bunny with just a little tweaking.  Of course, he's trying to get inside our new Berry Basket for some treats.

A friend mentioned that he needed some carrots, so I used our Tree Punch for the main shape, cutting off the trunk and used the Corner Rounder to round out the tops of the carrots. The branch from the Builder Bird Punch made the perfect greenery and while I was playing with the Bouquet Bigz Die my daughter said the frilly flower die would make the perfect grass for the bunny. Great idea!

Aack! Bunny booties are just too cute! Can't stand it! I think I'm going to have to play around with this idea and see if I can come up with some Christmas type characters to hang out on the berry basket.

I better get going. My order came in and I still have a lot of new stuff to play with. ;o) Feel free to leave a message and let me know if you're playing along and how you did on last month's challenge.

till next time...
God's love and blessings!

12 Months of Christmas January Update

Hello there! It's the last day of January 2015. I told you I would be back with an update on how I met the January challenge to get ready for Christmas 2015, and here I am. The challenge for January was to Start putting together a notebook, whether it be paper or digital, put together a list of gift recipients, and make 10 cards. 

Let's start with the notebook. As I mentioned in the challenge post, I am using OneNote to organize all my thoughts and ideas for Christmas. It's still in the process, but this is what I have so far:

1. Gift Recipient List
1. Family
2. Friends
2. Emma Ideas (This is our "elf" that helps out around Christmas)
3. Gifts
1. Ornaments (I make ornaments for my niece and nephews every year)
2. Ideas
3. Inventory
4. Recipes
5. Supplies
4. Menu
1. Recipes
2. Ingredients

I filled out what I could for Gift Recipient List and I started adding recipes to the Menu tab. These are things that pretty much stay the same every year, but I hope to add in at least one or two new recipes each year. 

I am really liking the idea of having a notebook like this. I can continue to add to it, and if I'm good at keeping notes, I can see what I sent to who and not repeat myself. I wish I'd thought of this years ago. It would be nice to have a record of the handmade items I've sent people over the years, especially the ornaments. One of the things I like about using OneNote is that I can drag and drop things directly to the pages and it adds links to websites for me automatically. I can also use Pinterest to help me remember ideas, but some of my gift recipients see my Pinterest boards and I don't want to give things away. ;o) Of course, I could probably make a private board that no one can see but me. 

I also made my 10 cards. Actually, I made 12 just because it's usually easier to make cards in groups of 4. Wanna see? 

I even stamped a sentiment on the inside. :o)

That's it for now. I will be back later with the challenge for February, but right now I'm going to go finish up a cake for church fellowship tomorrow, and then play with my new Occasions Catalog and Sale-a-Bration stuff that came in. Yay! Play time!!

till next time...

God's love and blessings!

The Best Things In Life...

Hello there. I'm super busy this week, but I wanted to make a quick post to share this super sweet frame we made at our Team Meeting last weekend.

Isn't it super cute? I love the new Bow Builder Punch, and the Chalkboard Paper, and of course, I love me some sparkly! :o) This Stacked With Love Paper Stack has some really awesome prints in it. We only used some of the black and white prints for this project, but the other side has cute pops of red and pink in them. Hmm, looks like I may need to do a class for this. What do you think?

Here's one of the other projects we got to make.

Yep, gonna have to get the Berry Basket Die too. Just gotta. I can see so many cute gift projects to make with this, and so many fun ways to decorate it. I mean, there's Valentine's Day coming up, and Resurrection Sunday, of course, birthday gifts and Mother's Day. Lots of possibilities with this one.

Well, I need to finish getting ready for a class tonight so I will close here. Hope you have a fun day and get some time to be crafty this week.

till next time...
God's love and blessings!