Advent TREE!!

Helllloooooo!
I am still here...if you are interested in my health and my recovery, check the bottom of this entry.
So two years ago I made some pretty awesome advent calendars...(check here for full entry)

and I still haven't made one for my boys...mostly because they love those crappy chocolate ones (because they get chocolate every day, Hello-o! They are getting the Trader Joe's chocolate advent every morning, yup - I send them to school high on chocolate. I am an awesome mom! Duh! ;)

So, I decided that I didn't really want to give them more stuff...I want to lean away from that kind of Christmas. I saw a flat version of this on Pinterest made with envelopes and foam core background. I wanted a paper calendar, one I could make, and useable for my lil' dudes. So I made a list of activities and borrowed some from  All Things Simple.

Here is what I came up with, an Advent Tree:

with important family activities that we can share together. And before some of you wise-guys ask (Leanna)...no, I didn't make the tree...it's from Target. What I did make, are the envelopes and filled them with an activity for each day.

For example:
 day one is: Read "Elf on the Shelf" together
day 2: Make teacher gifts
day 3: Pick mitten from mitten tree for foster kids
day 4: Watch "The Grinch"
day 5: can you believe it...I can't remember!

Luckily, I made a master list, with the dates all assigned and even some alternate days for the outdoor activities. I made each envelope out of a 4" square of scrapbook paper, scored on all 4 corner diagonals, folded in and rounded the upper corner. I then decorated the fronts and put numbers cut from my cricut. I can't fit them all on the little tree..so I'll pop them on as the others come off.

Hope you are enjoying the season of Advent!

and as for my health...
Here I am folks....recovering from my first treatment, which was both not as bad as I expected and much worse.
I didn't get as sick as everyone told me I would...bone aches for 2 days were actually endurable. However, the bone aches were like twinkling Christmas tree lights and would go on and off constantly...for 48 hours straight. And I couldn't sleep with the pain. And the worse part: I know I have to do this two more times. But, it could be worse and I could have to do more than 3 treatments...and there might not be hope for recovery. So I will take the aches and try not to complain about the pain...or groan out loud. Too often.
Thanks for the cards and love! I'll post more as I can...

More cards...and a class!

Hello!

After much thought, I'm feeling pretty happy to be able to do one more class before my chemo treatments start, so here are the two cards and one bag for my final 2011 class.

Both cards are 4.25" x 5.5". The bag is a commercially made 12"x12" sheet that includes 4 tags and the bag to assemble.
I have 12 sets available, $10 for each kit which includes all materials and instructions.

Hope to see you November 15th!

getting back into crafting

I've been gone a while...having a little problem getting healthy. I don't know how many more cards I'll be able to make or post. My medication keeps me from concentrating and feeling creative.

But I felt the need to make a thank you card to the people who have reached out and sent flowers and prayers for me.
I'm weighing the desire for one more class vs. my energy levels and ability to get things together. I certainly have the supplies! :) I'll let you know soon...

I'll try to post as much / often as I can.
Take Care and leave a comment! :)

Fry Box Gift

I made this small treat box...copied from a french fry box.

I bought the green embossed paper from Michael's and printed the pattern right onto the paper. Then I cut out the box and assembled the sides. Next I heat-embossed the owl with a very pretty Kaleidoscope embossing powder and popped that little guy right onto a fall colored medallion and added the "Happy Birthday" flag.

I filled the box with some cookies and left it for my friend to enjoy when she returned home from work.

I'll be making a similar treat box for Christmas and I'll include the pattern in a Pdf format for easy printing. Look for it in about 2 weeks!

-Enjoy your week!

Spooky Fun!

I love this time of year...don't you? The weather here is lovely and the trees haven't lost their leaves, so it's neither messy nor bare. And we have some really great holidays to look forward to! I made 3 fun Halloween cards this week...and I've got a few more festive ideas up my sleeve...so stay turned for more!

This card features fun glitter Halloween paper:

Don't you think this little frog is darling?

Card 2 has a pre-cut window...

and I stuck a fun, glow-in-the-dark ghostie sticker behind it. You can leave off the bling and it would mail flat, easy-peasy.
And finally card 3:

This is definitely NOT a flat card! I have some fantastic Halloween embellishments with skeletons and crows that look super on this medallion. All waiting for you to assemble!
Hope to see you October 11th!

3 All Occasion Cards

Loved the rain this weekend! Isn't crazy to have last Sunday near 100 degrees and just yesterday nearly get to 60? Although I'm not much for sun, I am glad it's coming right back tomorrow. I wasn't quite ready for our usual 5 months of rain and drizzle.

So this is what I made this weekend:

This card is bright..almost spring-like, but the colors complemented the other two cards so well...and I really wanted to use it. So I did!

The three images are stamped and embossed with clear embossing powder.

This card is RSVP sized (5 x 3.5) and has the cutest little clip!

Next up: Halloween and fall cards...and maybe a little Christmas treat!

Enjoy your week!

Back-2-School!

It's time for freshly sharpened pencils and clean, new spiral notebooks...and boxes of unused crayons and bottles of glossy white Elmer's glue!
While we adjust, here are the few items I put together for the next class:

"Hell-Owl" Card

Owl Coffee gift

Owl coffee gift: side view

Medallion Card

Hope you are enjoying our last few weeks of summer. I'm glad it waited for the 90s until September!

4 cards...2 designs

PLEASE NOTE: For some reason, people are having a hard time leaving comments...I'm not sure why, but a very brief troubleshooting session with my husband left us with no problems with Firefox but not able using Internet Explorer. Not sure if this is a Blogger problem...which seems more likely since comments can be left via Firefox. Hope to fix this soon!

A good friend is celebrating her birthday tomorrow, so I made a card for her.

 And I liked it so much I made another! I used Basic Grey paper called "Indian Summer".

 

"Indian Summer"

By the way, Basic Grey just created a blog, and they have a talent call (if you're interested.)

Then...I watched the Portlandia clip: "Put a Bird On It"

...and was inspired to go forth and do so.

I'm not as satisfied with the bird card as I am  with the Basic Grey card, but that might be due to my low expectation of the BG card and the vision in my head not coming out quite as well as I wanted.

The "hello-birdie" has the bird raised up with foam. The "celebrate-birdie" is flat. I scored the heavy linen paper with my Martha Stewart scoring thing. I like that the lines are spaced 1/8 " apart, but the grooves are so deep I have pressed throguh my paper on several occasions. It's good to have both (more toys!)

12 days until school starts!  Not that I'm counting.

Christmas Bag

Hello! I've been makin' plans and lists! I have been making lists of all the items I'm making for a Christmas Bazaar and here's one of the items I'm making. No, it's not too early for Christmas...not 'round here! Only 18 weeks left 'til Christmas!

One of the things I've noticed from the years I've done a Bazaar, is that people will buy paper crafts if they are affordable or if they don't have time to make the item (or they aren't the type to copy).

This is a fairly simple decorated bag, with a glazed clothes pin to close it up. I think it's too sweet, and I've got 10 more ready to be glued/assembled.

I have more crafty-items on deck waiting to be photographed and posted...I can't wait to share!

Hope your day is SUPER!

linking to:

I Heart Naptime

Star Fold Card

I was able to get to some serious crafting this last week. I planned and cleaned and crafted my heart out! Today I am showing you this:

I saw this interesting card on a blog...I can't find the site, but I have it....somewhere. Will update with site ASAP.

This star-shaped card folds up and forms a star.

And YES... we will be making it in a class...most likely in December with lovely holiday colors.

This card is for a friend going through Chemo...I hope it brightens her day.

Ok! More for you very soon...I actually made some CHRISTMAS things. COOOL! :)

Butterflies, Glitter and a BIG thank you!

Howdy, folks! It was a wet, wet weekend here in Portland...so I was able to get quite a bit done in my craft room! How about you? What did you do this last weekend? I was able to pull out some great purple paper and match it up with these treat boxes made by Basic Grey. They have a different pattern on the inside, so feel free to fold 'em the other way if you'd like.

These boxes are super easy to assemble and are the size of a large take-out box. Also included in this class is a small matching 3" gift card with a 3-D butterfly and lots of glitter:

And finally, a matching 3.5" x 6" card with glitter paper and felt daisy with gems:

 I'll also have a small thank you appreciation gift for everyone in class for being the best glue-stick therapy class around. Hope to see you Tuesday!

Summer Cards

It's finally summer here (this week) and I was inspired by all the outdoor activities we did, to make up these cards. I chose a variety of coordinated papers that to me, represent summer colors.
The first card is Made with Scenic Route - "Sentimental Diamonds" and Quick Quotes paper "Joker's Wild" and "My Michelle":

The second card reminds me of water. It's made with Gin-X "Scientifically Weird" and "Desperately Seeking Summer"; Scenic Route's "Hampton-Turner Street" and "Bellville Snow Drift". There are 19 different sentiment squares that I will bring to class:
And finally the 3rd card is a silly little summer beach card. I loved the bikini on the front so much I didn't cover it up with the blue water strips I have. It's made with Imaginisce "A Shore Thing" and Flair Design's "Summer Daze":Enjoy!

Where were YOU 10 years ago??

10 Years ago, our lives were totally and irreversibly turned upside-down. He has brought so much love and light into our lives... we have been blessed beyond measure.
He's growing into such a strong, honest and loving individual. He is smart and funny and knows exactly what he wants to do when he "grows up." He is a picky eater- has ALWAYS hated noodles and red meat. He loves his momma.

Happy 10th birthday Dawson Boyd!

Last Minute Sub!

Sorry folks! I have to change cards mid-stream....not something I like to do. I went to buy the paper for class and not only was the store out of the floral pattern but the matching cardstock as well! I found this pretty peach and red paper that looked like a summer sunset, so I made the switch. And the flower is still snail-mail flat!
Hope to see you tomorrow!

Birthdays...2 more!

I made two more cards...the red in the polka-dot card is looking a bit more pink than it really is. It is actually a very clean lined, masculine card. What do all three cards have in common (besides being birthday cards)?? They are all flat (or practically) and easy to mail for all you snail-mailers out there!
If you want to see the first card...click on this link.
Tuesday, June 28th. $10 for one kit, color instructions ready to be assembled by YOU!
Enjoy!

A pretty lil' card

Hope you had a fantastic weekend and father's day. While the weather didn't cooperate around here, since I was "forced" to stay inside and craft, I was able to get a few father's day cards made and two birthday cards...one of which I made just for the next class:

the paper is a plain white paper with this floral border. I embossed the sentiment with copper embossing powder...something I don't do too often, but lots of fun. It's too messy to do in class (wish I had a studio for my classes!) so I'll make the labels for you, ready to be added to your card front.

Still waiting for summer to arrive...anything over 70 would be well-received. And no rain.

June Mash-up

I have a hectic June. I'm sure that many of you have a t least one month where it seems everything is happening in that month...and for me it is June.

5 Birthdays, Father's Day, school ending (teacher gifts) and the beginning of summer break!

I know it's coming, but it sneaks up on me every year! Can you believe it??! It's June! How many of you feel like your internal clock is set to April or early May? Ok, put your hands down, I can't see you...but I bet that's how you're feeling!

So my June is filled and I need to get cards done, so I sorta mash those needs together and make my cards for my classes around my celebrations. Believe it or not, I don't usually do this since the cards I make others are done with the scraps from my classes. I like to use up all my extras.
The mash up class is a mix of the thank-yous I wrote for my birthday:

The Father's day card I am planning for my dad: which by-the-way can be changed to a "friend" card

and the 3rd card:

You might recognize this paper...I've used the green before. I really like it!

Hope you're getting sunshine in your neck-of-the-woods!

Sliding in one last class!

That's right...I'm slipping one last class in on the 31st! I tried my best to get the schedule right but those darned holidays get things all wonky!

I decided to design around the idea of "pockets"....so that's the class theme (for now).

Card 1 is made with paper from Crate Paper called "torn".

It is a surfer/masculine paper and I absolutely love the colors.

It closes with baker's twine. And inside is this...


Card 2 is made with My Mind's Eye paper "Good day Sunshine"
and a little strip of Basic Grey's "Eva" The brown tag slips inside the pocket.

And card 3 is made with 3 Bugs in a rug paper called "bandana". The parchment tag slips into the front. The 4 1/2 inch scallop square doesn't open. If you are having trouble reading the sentiment on the front, it reads:
Thinking of You

Phew! That was a good weekend of work. I also planted all my pots on our deck and in the front of the house...it's looking good!

Enjoy your Memorial Day Weekend!

Card 3...Hooray!

That's right...it's card 3! Yes, it's about 4 weeks old (hang head in shame) but it has been sitting on my craft table holding out for a better ribbon, and I never delivered.

I'm still hoping I can find the right ribbon, 'cuz this one just isn't making the grade.

On a more personal note, thanks for the get-well wishes...I am all better and fully recovered from my recent bout of strep.

Hope you're have a good week!

Aunt Chris

To all celebrating moms out there...hope you enjoyed your mother's day! I had a very nice one, spent with my guys and then later my extended family.

Since yesterday was also my aunt's birthday I made her a card out of some extra pieces from a previous class, and wow! I really like the way it turned out. So much so, that I copied the measurements and plan on making this card with different paper for a class later on...or maybe sooner!I have to give a huge shout out to my husband who found my favorite candy bars, (despite the company NOT having a website) and had them shipped from Logan, Utah. A super-yummy THANK YOU! O'Aggie Bars are the yummiest.