Home For Christmas

I can't believe it's been days since my last post. Between Thanksgiving, Black Friday-not that I got up at unheard of hours to shop-I hit the 10am sales :) and decorating for Christmas I just haven't had the time to post. Unfortunately it means I also haven't had the time to stamp either. I have been working on the SU Build a House though. They are so cute!! I just love them! It's been a work in progress for a while now. The entire house was covered in DSP and assembled but the window and smoke and lights and glitter have been added a little at a time. But I think it's super cute! I can't promise that it's done now I still might find little things that I need to 'add' but so far so good!

Isn't it cute. I used some of those battery operated tea light candles to light up the inside of the house. The window are covered with vellum on the inside.

I used the circle punch from the Itty Bitty Punch set to make the wreath, then added some glitter 'berries' to it.

I added some Glass Glitter to the roof and shredded and curled some cardstock for the smoke. I used my scallop border punch to make the roof look like it has shingles on it. If I would have thought about it while making the roof, I would have sponged the cardstock along the scallops, I think it would have given it a little more dimension-oh well-next time!

It's really cute and was surprising easy to put together! I bought 2 and Megan and I made one (more me than Megan) and Dan and Logan will make the next one. I'll make sure to post the boy's house when they're done. Though I should have hid mine so they don't copy my ideas :) I think they're house will be cute when it's done. Dan's just has to find the time to sit down with Logan and make it.

I'm hoping to spend a good portion of today stamping and crafting :) Weather guys say we'll get a little snow---BOOO (I'm not a fan of the snow-I would prefer year round 80 degree weather). We actually had a light dusting of snow on Thanksgiving, didn't last long at all but it was kind of surprising to wake up to snow on Thanksgiving! But since there's supposed to be snow today it seems like the perfect day to stay indoors with a cup of hot cocoa and stamp, stamp, stamp! We'll see if that actually happens though :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Joy of Christmas

Well I got a new fridge on Monday. It won't be delivered until Saturday though, but that's actually better because Dan can be here when it get delivered and I can make sure Megan and Logan stay out of the way. So I'm super excited for Saturday-it'll be like Christmas but a month early! It pretty much is our Christmas gift. Not much else under the tree for Dan and I. But that's ok we needed a new fridge so it all works out.

I did alot of scrapbooking on Monday, I actually finished the album of Megan for Dan. I don't have the album to put the pages in yet, but the pages are done. I probably won't post them on here. The pages are really simple and pretty much exactly like the MDS ones that I showed you here. I didn't get anything else done but got the album done and that was important so I'm still running on schedule, maybe even a head of schedule, hard to believe! I have a couple more gifts to make and then I think I'll actually be done-well with the handmade gifts anyway :)

This is the second card I made for the silent auction, isn't it cute?!

I love any color when paired with browns and whites. I think it gives it such a pretty look. I just love it!

This card is super simple too. I just ran the white piece through the big shot with the Petals a Plenty folder and stamped and punched out the greeting. What could be easier than that!?! Finish it off with a pearl and some ribbon-what a great card!!!

Thanksgiving is tomorrow, so I probably won't be posting but maybe I'll be able to get lots of projects made :)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my USA blog viewers!!! Happy Thursday to everyone else!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Perfect Punches

Cardstock: Whisper White, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Bashful Blue, Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Big Shot, Petals a Plenty folder, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8 inch Circle Punch, Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon (retired), Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Very Merry Dasher

Did you see all the fantastic things on sale for the online spectacular sale!?! If you haven't had a chance to look make sure you do. These are only on sale until November 30 so you need to act fast! To see more about it, you can scroll down to my last post or click here.

Today I'm going to go get a new refrigerator. The one we have is the one that came with our house when we moved a couple years ago. We're not sure how old it is, pretty old though, it's not very energy efficient and we've had so many problems with it. The ice maker broke shortly after we moved in, that's not a big problem so we lived without an ice maker. Then we realized that stuff wasn't staying frozen in the freezer unless we had the temp turned waaayyyyy down-like negative degrees, a little bit of a problem but we still lived with it. It made our fridge work a little harder but it was still working. Then a few weeks ago it started leaking from the water line on the bottom-BIG problem. We decided that instead of even trying to fix it, we just need to get a new fridge. So we've been shopping for one for a couple weeks, I've been comparing prices, features and all that fun stuff. And we found one that we really like. Yesterday I took Dan to the store so he could see it in person (he had only seen it online), and I wanted him to see it in person just in case they had it on sale after Thanksgiving I didn't want to get it if he didn't like it in person. But while we were at the store we found another one-a better one that's on sale now for almost $500 off-it ended up being cheaper than the first one we were looking at and it has more features. So we're really happy with this one. So I'm going to get it today and hope they can deliver it on Wednesday or Friday. Tomorrow Chase will be neutered so I don't want it coming tomorrow :) So that's the plan for today and maybe by Thanksgiving I'll have a brand new fridge-one that actually works! I'm really excited about though. I've been wanting a new fridge for a while and this one is a bottom freezer one. So I'm really excited!!! Next appliance on my list is a new stove (Dan says the next one will be a water heater, but I'm hoping for a new stove first). Both still work fine so hopefully neither will need to be purchased in the near future.

But I do have a project for you today, I made a stack of Christmas cards for Logan's school's silent auction in a little over a week. Here's one of the cards I made. I really love it.

I'm really loving doing simple cards. They're just as amazing as more elaborate cards but with my life right now, they fit in much better. And this card may look simple but there's lots on this card to jazz it up! The snowflakes are embossed in clear embossing powder, I added a rhinestone to Dasher's nose and that glittery Candy Cane DSP is so pretty!!

A little ribbon would jazz it up even more but I didn't really have time. I decided to make the cards kind of last minute for the auction so I wanted them simple and easily made. I made 10 of these and 10 of another card (you'll see soon), and all 20 cards were completed in under an hour. Which was perfect for me!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Dasher, Short and Sweet, Serene Snowflakes

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Real Red, Whisper White, Candy Cane DSP

Ink: Versa Mark, Real Red, Baja Breeze

Accessories: Heat Tool, Clear Embossing Powder, Scallop Border Punch, Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!

Online Spectacular

It's a SPECTACULAR sale!! Items from 20-50% off. FREE shipping on order over $150 (before tax and shipping). Tons of stuff on sale, from ribbons to brads, to dies and MDS! Don't miss this sale!! Hurry you have until November 30. You can order online at my website or contact me to order!!

I'm hoping to be back later with a project :)

Simply Adorned Dasher

I found a few minutes to paper craft this morning! I have to make this post super quick, we're on our way out the door to Megan's 4 week check up today. I'm meeting with a new doctor because Megan's doctor had a family emergency and they're not sure when she'll be back. I hope this new doctor is good. We love our regular doctor, she's great with Logan and Megan. But this morning when I was getting ready I decided that my SU Simply Adorned necklace needed a new Christmas insert. So I ran to my stamp room pulled out my Dasher and Serene Snowflake stamp sets and got to work!
It's so super simple and was done in seconds. I used Crumb Cake for Dasher and Baja Breeze for the snowflakes. Then I attached some of the adhesive pearls in the center of the snowflakes, sponged it in Baja Breeze and Ta-Da that's it! It's so pretty!! This only the second insert I've made for it. Truth be told, I haven't worn my charm much. I was hesitant to get the chains that SU sells for them and could never find the right chain to hang it on so I didn't wear it much. So finally I got a SU one and it's so nice, I'm not sure why I was so hesitant to get it. I thought it would be really heavy and bulky but it's not at all, it's very pretty and goes perfect with the charms!!

Well gotta go now. It takes me so much longer just to get out the door, by the time Logan gets shoes on and Megan is in her car seat snuggles under blankets it seems that 10 minutes has gone by. I used to just throw a jacket and some shoes on and off we went, not anymore :)

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Thank Goodness for DSP

I have had zero, zilch, no time to stamp lately. I'm going into a little stir crazy here. It's not like I haven't been working on anything, I've been spending all my free time playing with My Digital Studio! It's so much fun. I've started a calender that is so amazing, I want to print 100 of them and give them to everyone I know. That isn't likely to happen but it's so awesome!! Right now is the BEST BEST BEST time to get MDS. Right now you can get the Digital Starter Kit for only $87.50!! In the catalog MDS sells for $79.95, so literally for only an extra $7.50 you get over $300 worth of paper and digital crafting supplies!! Is that not the BEST deal in the world!!!??! BUT you have to act fast this deal is only available until November 30. You can sign up on my website too! Just contact me for more details. I'm going to have a lot of MDS samples up in the next few days to show you how amazing it is...so stay tuned.

But for today I did do a little bit of stamping. But it wasn't easy....Every time I have a free moment and think I can stamp, I walk into my stamp room and see piles of baby clothes on the desk. And I love them, they're all gifts that have been given to us by family and friends they just haven't made their way to Megan's room. But yesterday I was determined to find my desk so I took all the clothes to her room, pulled out the 3-6 month clothes (YEP at 4 weeks old Megan is already in 3-6 month clothes)! She's very long and will probably be pretty tall. So then I thought, well as long as I have a free minute I might as well organize my basket(s) of cards, this is the basket I take to workshops and classes for people to have example of. I hadn't gone through it in almost a year, my basket still had Sale-a-Bration samples from last year! So that's all organized now. My desk is somewhat clean-I can at least stamp on it anyway :) But after all that cleaning I only had about 2 minutes to get a card done. Designer Series Paper to the rescue!!! SU has the BEST DSP!! I LOVE all of them!!!

Look at how amazing and simple this card is and because of our awesome DSP it literally only took me a minute or two to make. The thing that took the longest was tying that bow with the seam binding.

You could add some rhinestones or pearls to jazz it up a bit too. So what on earth have I been doing with my time. Well here it is....

Logan's been a great big brother and has been playing with Megan alot. He loves to talk to her. He reads her books at night and will just watch her in her crib when she's sleeping. So cute!

And here's little Megan at 4 weeks old.

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!!

Megan in MDS

My wonderful upline, Amber, took some pictures of Megan when she was 2 weeks old. She took some of Logan when he was about the same age and I made a 6x6 scrapbook with them and we love it. It's one of the best albums we have. So this year Dan told me the only thing he wants for Christmas is a book like Logan's of Megan. So Amber took the pictures, they're fantastic and I'll have an album to finish before Christmas now. I asked Dan if he wanted it done in My Digital Studio (MDS) or on cardstock and he wants the cardstock in a linen album, just like Logan's. But I've been working with the pictures in MDS anyway :) I think I may print a small 5x5 album in MDS that I can take to workshops. Logan's album is very simple. There's not a lot of writing or accessories, and the pages all have literally the same layout, we just let the pictures speak for themselves so I wanted this album to do the same. So the pages are super simple, there's not alot to them, which also means I should be able to finish it quickly right?? :) So until I get my supplies in to work on the scrapbook I'm going to make up all the pages in MDS and then I can just copy them. How easy is that!? Plus then my MDS album will be done too!

So here's a couple of pages I've already done. These 2 are my absolute favorite pictures, and once I get the whole thing done I'll post it to show you.




So they're super simple but the pictures are still the focal point and stand out for themselves. I just love them!!

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Blushing Birds

Now don't get too excited but I have a really quick tutorial for you! Yay! Now it's nothing super impressive but it's perfect for this time of year when you're out getting gift cards for Christmas. This is a gift card holder similar to the one we did at stamp camp but this one is made for a full size card (4 1/4x5 1/2). I made 2 of these for my friends Nancy and Jamie, who gave me a lovely diaper shower last weekend. But you could easily add a Christmas card front instead of a Thank You one and have a great Christmas gift.

Ok they're super easy, you'll need a piece of cardstock that is 5 1/2 x 12. Score it at 4 1/4, 6 and 7 3/4. Fold on the score lines to make a W.

Flip it over and add sticky strip to one side. Make sure you get it as close to the outside score lines as possible. If you put it along the 6 inch score line your gift card holder will not work.

Glue that together, I used my 1 1/4 circle punch and word window punches and punched the center score lines to make the holder for the gift card.

Then the gift card just slides right in. Isn't that just the cutest!?!

So do you want to see what the front of the card looks like now? Well here it is...

I made a card really similar to this except in blue a loooonnnng time ago. I still have it hanging in my room though. I love it, so I decided to make this card again but in pink and I love this one too!!

The ribbon is a new addition to this card though, and yes I'm sorry that's retired Chocolate Chip taffeta. But we still have a wonderful selection of taffeta ribbon, just not in Chocolate Chip :(

I love this card and it's super easy, so if you have lots of gift cards to give this year, this is the perfect card!

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Thank You Kindly, Friends 24/7

Cardstock: Crumb Cake, Blushing Bride, Regal Rose, Vanilla

Ink: Blushing Bride and Chocolate Chip pads, Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Chocolate Chip and Early Espresso Markers

Accessories: Dimensionals, Sponges, Chocolate Chip Ribbon, Sticky Strip, 1 1/4 inch Circle Punch, Word Window Punch

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Thankful Trees

This card was supposed to be a Christmas Card but the Christmas greeting didn't look right so the card was taken apart and turned into a thank you card-which you can never have too many of right?! I got this idea from 3 or 4 different cards and meshed them all together into one card, I actually really love it and it was pretty simple too, a great mass production card or make and take at a party.

Isn't it pretty? The trees are stamped on the Baja Breeze in Baja Breeze to give it a subtle tone on tone look. I really love it!

I used my scallop border punch to add some scallops to the top of the Not Quite Navy, they're difficult to see in the picture and if I were to make this card again I think I would make sure to make them easier to see, because they are so cute and it just adds a little something extra to the card. The tag is very lightly sponged in Early Espresso. Very lightly, I didn't want it to be too dark but I wanted it to stand out off the blues. I used my hobby blade to cut slits in both sides of the tag and then fed the ribbon through it.

I'm not sure when I'll get to post again. I'm hoping to put a post up by Friday. Dan's parents are visiting this week so my time is even more limited though. But if all goes well and Megan continues to nap nicely like she's done the past couple of days I may have some free time to stamp and get some projects up for you. I so miss stamping everyday. I'm finding it hard to stamp 3 or 4 times a week when I used to do it everyday. I love stamping so much and I'm missing doing it daily. But I know it's only a temporary thing. Megan will be growing fast enough so if I have to miss some stamping time now that's ok with me.

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: Lovely as a Tree, Occasional Quotes

Cardstock: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Whisper White, Early Espresso

Ink: Baja Breeze, Not Quite Navy, Early Espresso

Accessories: Scallop Border Punch, Early Espresso Satin Ribbon, Decorative Label Punch, Dimensionsals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

In Color Butterflies

I have quick posts this week. It seems my time management skills aren't as good as they used to be. I think adding another member to the family has really messed it up :) That's ok. Fortunately I got tons of stuff done before she came along so I'm not running too far behind. But I am finding it hard to find time to stamp :( We're still working on getting a schedule set up but the nights always mess us up. Oh well, we'll get there eventually.

On my last post I showed you some thank you cards that I made and today I have more butterfly thank you cards! These cards were also inspired by Jen Sannes. I just love this butterfly embosslit!! I changed the cards a little. I added some cardstock behind the DSP and I left off the pearls-though now I can't remember why I did that?! I think I just wanted to keep them super simple. I made a bunch of these for people who have given us gifts and for those that were coming to my diaper shower over the weekend.

I used all of the in colors, I just love the DSP hostess pack!! So they're all a little different but it was still super fast to put them all together.

I think the Poppy Parade one is my favorite!!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Thank You Kindly

Cardstock: Whisper White, In Color DSP Hostess Pack, Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride

Ink: Poppy Parade, Concord Crush, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz, Blushing Bride

Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Rectangle Clearlit, Dimensionals

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Butterfly Thanks!

Well things have been going pretty well. I'm back to doing everything I used to do before the baby. We are having a little trouble getting her on a feeding schedule, only because it seems we're too busy. With Logan, I was able to stay home, run the occasional errand and so a feeding schedule was simple. Every __ hours he ate and then had his play time, then nap time. With Megan though, it seems like either we're not home to feed at the right time or we're doing something else. Logan has school twice a week and the time that I'm in the car taking him to school isn't matching up with we need to feed her. So it's been a little challenging. Right now she's eating about every 3 hours but as much as we try to stay on a schedule the nights always seem to mess us up. And she wakes up a different time every morning and throws the whole day off :) So we'll keep trying. We may have to wait until she can go longer periods between eating to get on a solid schedule for her. Maybe we're just too busy :) I know I will be today, I'm having a diaper shower tomorrow at my house and so I'll be spending a little bit of time cleaning. Nothing major, vacuuming, bathrooms, just the high traffic areas :) Though the whole house could use a major clean.

But fortunately I have found some time to stamp. Mostly quick and easy projects but still it's stamping. I have been working on a project that I can't show you just yet. It's coming out great but it's also taking a little longer than I thought. Once I finish it I'll make sure to post it. BUT I may save it until December. It's so cool that I may make it for our demo Christmas party in December. If not I'll post it sooner.

Today I was inspired by Jen Sannes's blog. She had the prettiest butterfly cards on her blog and I had to make them. I thought they would be super cute thank you's for people who have brought us dinners or gifts. I'm really enjoying her blog. Her cards are always stunning but also simple and can be created fast which I need right now!

I changed mine up a little and to be honest, I'm not a fan of the greeting. I should have either stamped it before I embossed it, or I should have put it in another spot. So I only made one of these. The next one I'll *fix*. But I just love this idea! I LOVE that embosslit!

Those colors are so pretty together, Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizazz.

Well that's all for me now. I currently don't have any more pictures saved on my computer to post but I have a couple projects that I need to photograph so once I get those done, I'll be blogging about them. Until then have a great week!

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Short and Sweet

Cardstock: Whisper White, Pretty in Pink, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizazz

Ink: Pear Pizazz

Accessories: Big Shot, Beautiful Wings Embosslit, Scallop Rectangle Clearlits, Perfect Polka Dots Embossing Folder, Dimensionals, Word Window Punch, Rhinestones

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

M is for Megan

My title for this post was either going to be M is for Megan or This Post Brought To You By The Letter M. I went with the shorter one obviously :) Plus I liked it better. This is a super quick post, gotta go feed Megan :)

On the kids doors they each have their initial on the door. Logan has had his same one since he was born. The DSP is so old. But I decoupaged over it so the DSP would last but I keep wanting to update it with our much cooler newer DSP. His is a wooden letter L that I got at a craft/hobby store years ago when he was born. And it's covered with 2 different DSP's. We thought about doing that same thing for Megan but I wanted something a little different and a little more girly, so here's what I did...

Isn't is cute! I used my big shot and cut a large scallop circle and letter M out of chipboard. TIP: Make sure you cover your chipboard with your cardstock before cutting it. Just makes it 1000 times easier for you. I cut a butterfly our of a thick window sheets then put it through the polka dot folder. I added little pearls to the butterfly and all around the edges of the scallop circle.

It's difficult to tell in the pictures but the letter M is sprayed with our smooch spray so it's nice and sparkly. It's so cute on her door.

Supplies:

Cardstock: Blushing Bride CS and DSP, Regal Rose, Whisper White

Accessories: Big Shot, Scallop Circle Die, Beautiful Butterflies Die, Simple Letters Alphabet Die, Scallop Border Punch, Pearls, Chipboard, Tombo Multi Glue, Blushing Bride Ribbon

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!

Baby Announcements-The Non Chocolate Version

I finally have the non chocolate baby announcements done and ready to show you. They're ready to be mailed too, just gotta somehow find my way to the post office to get stamps. I hate going to the post office--ugghh! Maybe I'll pick up the stamps for our Christmas cards too while I'm there. I wonder if they have the Christmas designs out yet? Dan would know, I'll check with him. Anyway, that's just me thinking out loud-or in writing as it turns out. Here's the announcements.

I did them super simple, they're actually just a card front and the belly band slides off to reveal the birth info.

It occurred to me after I had assembled them all that I forgot to put the year on there. But I think that's ok. Everyone that's getting them should know what year anyway. I had everything done except the birth info and I just plugged that in after she was born. I love them and they were really easy to make. I got the idea for this kind of card from one of Heather Summers online classes months ago. I loved the design and thought it would be perfect for baby announcements.

Megan is 2 weeks old today. We're still working on a sleep schedule. She does really good until about 2am then decides, I'm done sleeping let's just sit here awake. So we're working on keeping her awake more during the day so she'll want to sleep more at night. I think once we achieve that we'll be on a really good schedule. But we're still getting sleep, just not as much as I would like but isn't that the cry of all parents with newborns? And anyway, I'll take the sleepless nights any day over the constant nausea and being sick. So I'm not complaining....too much :)

Supplies:

Stamp Set: Teddy and Train

Cardstock: Pretty in Pink, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Subtles DSP Pack

Ink: Staz On, Chocolate Chip, Pretty in Pink

Accessories: 1 3/4 Circle Punch, XL Scallop Circle Punch, Paper Piercer, Dimensionals, Big Shot, Elegant Lines Embossing Folder, Blender Pen

Thanks for looking, see you soon!!!