Merry Christmas!

Sorry, pictures were removed for publishing ...

This is our family's Christmas card this year.  It was really hard to get a good shot of all my kids in one picture so I decided to do a photo booth style picture card.  I had it developed in black & white in wallet size and just taped it together.

Supplies:

• PAPER: PTI Pure Poppy and  Simply Chartreuse, Brenda Walton's Peppermint Twist, Bazzil 
• STAMP: PTI Signature Christmas, Hero Arts Dot background stamp, personalized stamp from Staples
• INK: Stampin Up Real Red, Versamark ink
• OTHER: Photos, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, red ribbon, PTI Mat Stack, red buttons, twine, bling

Clone Trooper

My first born turned 9 and he likes Star Wars legos.  I created a very simple clone trooper head in my gypsy using welded basic shapes.

27 Days 'til Christmas

We got the tree up and hung the stockings ... Christmas is almost here!  So many things I want to do but so little time.

PTI November Blog Hop

This month's PTI Blog Hop are holiday tags.  I can't resist making a Mrs. Claus suit for the dress form and I just love vintage ornaments.

It's Thanksgiving today so I wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Supplies:

• PAPER: PTI's Kraft, True Black, Pure Poppy, Berry Sorbet, Plum Pudding, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores
• STAMP: PTI's Embellishment, Background Basics, Tin Types
• INK: Versamark
• OTHER: PTI's Tag Sale 2, Dress form & Ornaments dies, Stickles, twine and bling

Another Ornament

Another ornament using SEI's Winter Song paper.

Paper Ornaments

Aren't these pretty? ... and surprisingly easy to make and cheap! This is inspired from a double ornament tutorial at Splitcoaststampers.  I changed it a little to make a bigger one and I used a big paper clip (I used a long nose pliers to close the ends) instead of a hat pin.  I think a double sided paper will be better too since there are gaps between the paper strips.  I plan to make a few of these with different variations for our tree this year ... can't wait to put it up next week after Thanksgiving!

Supplies:

• PAPER: Anna Griffin's Holiday Traditions
• OTHER: beads, pearl, ribbon, paper clip

What I've been up to ...

Our Christmas cards!  Yey!  This is early considering for the past few years I don't start cramming 'til the 1st of December (and about half of these are being mailed internationally so I hope this year they'll get it on time =D).

I got a bit ambitious this year incorporating quite a few elements (I used to just order photo cards and mail them as is).  My friend thinks I'm crazy since I'm making quite a few ... maybe I am =D.  I got all the pieces prepped just waiting to be assembled.

I'll share the completed project soon!

Supplies:

• PAPER: PTI Pure Poppy and  Simply Chartreuse, Brenda Walton's Peppermint Twist, Bazzil 
• STAMP: PTI Signature Christmas, Hero Arts Dot background stamp, personalized stamp from Staples
• INK: Stampin Up Real Red, Versamark ink
• OTHER: Photos, Martha Stewart snowflake punch, red ribbon, red buttons, twine, bling

Birthday Bear

This is what I did for my little girl's 6th Birthday.  She wanted white bears as the theme, I thought it would be so dull so I added pink and purple ... the little boys thought the colors were "boring".  Bears were from Create a Critter cartridge and fonts are from Don Juan.  BTW, the middle box is a home made pinata (an old cereal box covered with crepe paper), I'm happy this one dropped all the candies when the strings were pulled.  My first attempt was a disaster, my husband had to rip open the box for the goodies to come out ... I secured it too much.  

In a little over a month my oldest son wants a star wars birthday. How on earth can I make a clone trooper from Cricut?  Wish me luck =D.

Lombardi Ranch

This is not craft related but I just wanted to share ... sort of an inspiration for crafting.  We visited Lombardi Ranch, a small family owned farm that holds a Pumpkin Festival every fall season.  Here are some shots I took (I only had a 50mm lens with me so my shots were very limited).

Christmas Stockings

I'm still trying to get into the Christmas mood and created this card.  For the stockings, I used PTI's stockings die and dots background stamp then added glossy accent on the dots.  The white paper on the stockings is a  Doodlebug crushed velvet paper.  The base card, kraft card and sentiment stamp are also PTI.  Excuse my picture too, I'm trying to learn to use a dslr camera but I'm having trouble focusing ... Weng (my expert friend) help! =D.

Christmas Wreaths

Sorry for the long absence, we went out of town for 2 consecutive weekends so there was no time to craft.  Anyhow,  I finally had a chance to break-in my new set of stamps, PTI's Wreath for All Seasons.  Hopefully, this will set my mood for the holidays so I won't have to cram this year ... hopefully =D

Hello Kitty

My little girl's birthday is getting closer.  Last year she wanted a Hello Kitty theme so I made these invitaion, explosion box and banner.  This year she wants a teddy bear theme with pink and purple.  I have not started anything yet and it's less than a month away!

Cards Blog Challenge - Accordion Flowers

Here's my take on this week's Cards Blog Challenge - Accordion Flowers.  In lieu of the upcoming holiday, I decided to make another Halloween card.  I used K& Co Spooktacular paper line and a Cricut Paper Doll Dress Up ghost.

Matilda Matilda Matilda

It was love at first site with Cosmo Cricket's Matilda from the moment I first saw it at the company's blog.  When I finally got my hands on it, it was way more beautiful than the pictures.  Who won't love that ghost, moon and pumpkin? I really wish it was a full line ... maybe someday.

With the Matilda line I created a simple accordion picture holder with pockets.  All the patterns come together so I created tags that will hold pictures that can be interchanged.  Instead of ribbons I used black tulle to give it a different interest and finished it off with a button and some twine.

I also made a card using Matilda's line Mummy pattern and matched it up with a stamp from M's $1 bin. 

Spooktacular!

A couple of Halloween projects I did using K & Co Spooktacular paper line.  I used a house mini chipboard album from M's and covered it with paper then painted the edges with black acrylic paint.  For the card I used the scraps from the mini album and added the "Boo" sentiment from Cricut's Happy Hauntings cartridge.  To make the sentiment stand out from the busy background I covered it with glossy accents.

Older Halloween Cards

I'm trying to get into Halloween mood so I unearth a few older cards.

More Dahlias

A few more dahlia cards.  I tried playing with copics on the first 3 (still needs a lot of practice! ... the lighter colors are more forgiving =D).  I'm getting my money's worth on this stamp set from PTI which I originally bought because of the leaves now I love the whole set!

Doilies and Dahlias

Doilies are everywhere in the crafting world so I decided to try my hand on one and I'm loving it.  It gives the card a different dimension.  Since the doily is bright white I inked it a little to make it blend.  For the flower I used PTI's Delightful Dahlia stamp and dies with a couple of buttons with twine. 

 

On this card I used the same Dahlia dies but tried it on felt.  I layered scalloped strips of paper to create a ruffle effect.  All paper used is from PTI.