2010 Favorites

In looking back on my posted creations I have a few that stand out...click on the links to see the individual post.

This card was a fun one to design:

I love how this class was so coordinated:

I really like the colors of this card:

But my favorite by far was this wonderful gift that was both a joy to create and give:

Thanks for following my little blog; I hope you enjoyed the posted projects. I hope to have even more to show you in 2011!

I hope you have a safe and Happy New Year!

"...A Bright Red and Green..."

Here it is...my last class of 2010. I did it up a little over-the-top with the Christmas colors, but they look spectacular!
This class has 2 cards and 4 tags (2 each of 2 different designs.) All materials are prepared and provided along with colorful, easy-to-read directions. In-person instruction is Tuesday December 14th, but kits are available for delivery/mailing. Kit cost $10; 14 kits available at this time.

Card one has a stamped image of a Christmas tree dotted with glitter ornaments, framed with shining ribbon and poinsettia paper: Card two has a multi-colored stamped image, dazzling gems and glittery paper: The two tag designs are simple but fun, with glittery paper ornaments and stamped sentiments. I hope to see you Tuesday...enjoy!

Revisiting my Advent Calendars

I am going green and going to recycle and re-post the advent calendars I made last year. Such lovely calendars...too bad I didn't make one for my boys. I have the shell made but I haven't decorated my boxes. Maybe I can get it done by the 6th, but there are so many crafty things to get done this weekend! We'll see.
Enjoy the recycled post!

Christmas Advent Calendar

Happy first day of Advent! I have been gone a'craftin me some Advent Calendars and I have two more to make this week. These take me about 8 hours to make but they are fun to do. The biggest challenge is lining up all the boxes and figuring out which paper goes with which decoration better. That seriously takes about an hour and a half of my time, because if you know me, then you know how serious the details are to me. And they are even more important when making a gift.

This first calendar is made for my "phamily" for part of their Christmas gift. It turned out really well.

I made some of the decorations, added some wooden numbers but most came from the "Mistletoe" and "Fa La La"collection by Making Memories. I really like the paper and chipboard colors. Then, when I was bragging on it to another friend, she casually asked if I would mind making her one...or two. So I made one up for her and I'll be trying my hardest to make the other this week. This one is similar but I made a few different decorations like a glitter star and a big poinsettia flower.

Drop me a line and let me know what you think!

I'm linking to:

Snow....Snow...Snow!

Brrrr! It's cold and only going to get colder! A high of 34 forecasted for Tuesday and the low a bone-chilling 24. Yes, it's colder elsewhere, but it's Portland and it doesn't get this cold in November!

Here are my 3 snow inspired holiday cards...without using Christmas or red and green combos (it was challenging!)

My first card uses that trendy turquoise/aqua color that has been popping up lately. I layered a chipboard glittery adhesive snowflake with a glittered button and silver thread. I like this card, but it is bulky...not so great for mailing. A good card to tuck inside a gift basket for your neighbor or friend.

This card has green, I admit, but it is olive and I paired it with brown for a more rustic feel. The snowflakes have a little light olive "bling" in the centers, but I bought a pack of red gems, for those that *need* to add red. ;)

And finally, the last card has stamped snowflakes and a punched snowflake raised with foam tape. Inside there is white paper with a decorative border and another snowflake, just for fun!

Cost for the the Snow Card Kit is $10. The kit comes with color instructions and all materials prepared for you to make 3 cards. FREE silver ink pad for each student. In-person Portland class is Nov 30th noon-1 PM.

**Added Nov. 22: Only ONE kit left! Wow, they're going fast!**

Enjoy...and stay warm!

Fall-Occassion Cards

This is my favorite season and my favorite stretch of the year....I love Halloween and all the fun crafts, but the anticipation from here through the end of the Christmas season is my favorite part of the year. And I absolutely love the sunny, windy fall days before the wet and cold starts to chill my bones.

This class has something for everyone. A great little "Hello" card:

perfect for a little coffee giftcard inside.

A lovely thanksgiving card:

I love the rustic twine!

And finally, a simply elegant card that I designed for a sympathy card:

but in these fall colors it really can be perfect for almost anyone or any occassion...a fall-occasion!

I hope you're enjoying the fall season!

November trio of Birthday Cards

Wonderful Mr. Dude gave me some much needed time to get a few things completed over the weekend. I didn't get the Halloween decoration completed that I wanted to finish and give to a friend...nor the yummy oreo truffles I want to make (that's probably for the better!) but I did get a chance to work on these three cards and design the next class, too. My list is too long and available time is too short.

These cards were all made with the Making Memories "Spring" series of paper.

The last Birthday class of 2010 is scheduled for November 2, from 12 - 1 pm. Cost is $10 for 3 cards. All materials and illustrated instructions included.

Enjoy!

Spook-a-licious!

Hello my friends,

I have my lone fall card here - extra blank to fit whatever your needs:

And here is my cute little spooky card:

And a treat bag (with treats inside!):

Class is October 19th, noon to one o'clock. We'll make 2 cards and one treat bag, including treats! Cost is $10, all materials, tools and fun included!

Enjoy!

Fall Cards...just a little halloweenie

Just when we're actually ready for those crisp cool mornings, we wake up and find the Portland area in the mid eighties and 90% humidity. It's a little joke the weather likes to play...sweatshirt in the morning and shorts in the afternoon. We're up to our ears in laundry 'cuz we're changing our clothes a few times each day!

I'm a little late in posting these cards...and not because of the laundry. I finally have two days a week to get things done, and I've overbooked my time two weeks in a row. Hopefully, I'll get my schedule under control. ;)

There are 2 fall themed cards and one Halloween card. I have a second fall class planned for October 19, so we'll make another Halloween card with a mummy or bat...and don't forget the yummy treats!

Class includes all materials to make 3 cards shown here.

Enjoy!

September Class

And the final card to be added to this mix is:

The 2nd card is a bit more simple, but still colorful:

Sometimes I get asked why some cards in a class are more "simple" than others. It really depends on how long it takes for me to assemble a card, then I add 5 minutes on for everyone else, since there are so many great conversations going on, and to allow for questions or help. The first card takes a little more time to put together so the other two will be slightly more basic. Here is card one:

Class is Tuesday, September 21, 12:00 - 1:00 cost is $10 for 3 cards. Hope to see you there!

Enjoy!

Last-minute teacher gifts

What a great summer we've had! Lots of sunshine, but not too hot and lots of good fun with my 3 boys. I had thought I'd have some time to craft while the little one napped, but that plan flew out the window and I spent most nap times cleaning in-between homework and acting the referee.

We also received our class assignments a bit late this year, so I made a non-gender specific gift of pencils in a homemade paper box.

It was looking fairly plain and I thought I'd have to scrap (ha-ha) the entire project, but then I remembered I had this cute owl punch from Stampin' up to use, and it turned out stinkin' cute, IMHO. I replaced the paper eyes with googlie eyes. the tag reads: "Hope your first day is a Hoot!"

I can't wait for tomorrow...first day for my 4th grader, 1st grader and preschooler. And I get 2.5 hours of alone time. What ever am I going to do with myself??

I'm Linking to "New-Friend-Friday" at Trendy Treehouse

Friendly Card

I finally got a chance to get a card completed. I've been busy shopping and cleaning and designing, but not actually crafting.



I used American Crafts paper, 2 different designs; the floral is called "Romaine" and the fun swirls, "Pumpernickel".

I found the self-adhesive ribbon in the clearance bin at JoAnn and knew it would match almost perfectly. I love it when crafty things come together like that, don't you

I'm linking to Trendy Tree House

New Summer Cards...now with Flip-flops!

We are almost at the half-way point of summer break. Of course, here in Oregon our summer lasts through the first few weeks of October before those dreaded rains and gray skies move in (for 6 months!!)

Today my boys finally realized that when I say "I've got a class" or "I'm working" that I mean for my company. My middle guy actually thought that I was attending card classes, not teaching them. Hah! Now they want to design cards for people to make. I think maybe we'll give that a shot for their friends! And maybe I'll get a chance to post their creations, too.

On to the last of my summer cards. I'll be taking a break and vacationing with family, cleaning out old papers and making a stack of donatable craft items (here's where I donate.) And of course, designing fall and winter classes, too. Here's what I made this weekend:

This 3" x 6" card has an embossed label that reads "Summer Fun"

This card is a little bohemian in style and has a 3-D paper ribbon and gemstones

This card is just too cute with little flip-flops on the front with retro paper and a layered flower.

Do you remember when we used to call "flip-flops" thongs? It took a while to get into the hang of calling them flip-flops....many embarrassing moments ;)

I am having a lovely summer...how about you?

Sprinkler Fun!

With the temps in the mid to high 90s this last week, we beat the heat by playing in our own walk-through sprinkler.

You can read more on my family blog: My 3 Bugs.

Hope you are enjoying your summer!

Fruits of Summer

I hope you had a fun and relaxing Fourth of July Holiday!

We were able to get a few things done around the house, spend lots of time together BBq'ing and playing and I was even granted a few hours of creativity time to make a few cards I had sketched out a few weeks ago. All of these cards have a central theme of both fruit as well as glass-bead stickers. The last card has the sticker on the inside and it reads "Sweet Thing".

This card has a velum lemonade "glass" paper straw and sticker lemon garnish.

The Strawberry card is very sweet.

The orange and green card has the sweet sticker inside, if you choose. The remaining stickers in the pack are yours to keep!

The temperatures will be creeping up into the high 90s this week...I can't wait to show you what Mr. Dude made today, to help the boys stay cool. Come back and see it on Wednesday!

Birthday card with candle

I was able to get a second card done today and made a matching battery candle. The paper was so pretty I couldn't cover it up with very much so I used a gorgeous satin ribbon and decorative pin then popped a little stamped greeting to give it some direction. I finished it all by adding the little metal buttons on the paper for more visual interest.

A Simple Birthday Card

I made a similar card for my father's birthday and it turned out so well that I had to make it for class next week. I made this a bit less time consuming than the original, since we only have about 15 minutes to spend on each card. This card looks great and is perfect for any age.

Footloose and Fancy, Foil Cards

I hope you are enjoying your Memorial Day weekend.
Despite our local, terrible non-picnic weather, an extra no-school day and a persistent cough, I was able to not only get most of my crafting items reorganized, sorted and repositioned, but I was able to get 3 cards completed and photographed and now, posted on the blog (phew, that was a long sentence!) This card has a very subtle foil finish in white flowers-on-white paper. I used a metallic red paper for both the mat paper and the frame.

Card 2 has silver foil flowers and a contrasting yellow paper. I actually tore the paper for dimension! And this card has turquoise foil ferns on a white background. I used a silver finish paper to punch out labels and made a border with the layered labels. Adhesive gems were added to the label tips.
So, regardless of the state of our weedscaping landscaping, I still feel like I was able to get a few things done this weekend.
Enjoy, and can you believe it's JUNE???!

Star Wars!

I made my nephew a birthday count-down calendar in a Star Wars theme. I took 2 photos of it. You can see the other photo here, and check out the Darth Vader video I posted. I have 3 more calendars to make this year and then I think I'll take a break.

Dancing Robot

Ok...here's the last card. I had a lotta fun making this one.

I made a card with similar paper (same paper line) a while back. I had all this paper I hadn't used so I thought I make another really cute little kid -or someone who really is into retro toys- card.

Enjoy!

Monkey Business

My, oh, my. Busy day celebrating my *ahem* 36th (again) birthday with my boys. They treat me so well!

So, I'll get better photos tomorrow. Off to dinner with the men....

Enjoy!

Youthful cards

I was able to get two cards completed but I'll wait until tomorrow to drag out the photo equipment and get the 2 cards photographed in better light. Here is one card I took photos tonight on my craft table, and it''l do until tomorrow.

I don't know what the underlying theme with this card is...but loved the piggy and had to give him a crown.

Enjoy!

Good Golly!

I spent most of the weekend outside enjoying our wonderful weather. I have a list of things to-do longer than my leg, but I didn't get much done. I was able to garden some and read in the shade of the umbrella- very relaxing. At night, I spent some time crafting and made this Birthday Countdown Calendar for my favorite little lady, Miss Jolly Molly.
I make these for all the little dudes and dudesses in my life. See this post on how they work.

It's very pink and glittery.
She likes pink, so that's o.k. I hope she likes gold glitter.
Happy Birthday, Miss Molly!

I'm linking this to:

All-together-now

Here is card 3...

It is missing one little part, the sentiment strip that I want to wrap around the striped band, but the new printer Mr Dude got for my Mother's day present isn't being seen on the network, so I can't send print jobs. But card 3 still looks nice.

And to follow-up in this post, I'll include card 1 and 2: