Sweet!

Happy New Year's Eve, everyone!

Mom left early early this morning, so since Hal and I were up early, we've been tired and kind of lazy all day. This morning when I woke up, I pretty much couldn't move my neck in one direction (I have some kind of shoulder knot that keeps popping in and out of my life at the worst times!), so I suggested we go get massages. And we did. My masseuse worked on my darn shoulder for 90 minutes, and I can still barely move my neck! Oh well, ice is my friend, so I'll just keep doing what I do! ;)

In between napping and icing, I managed to get a couple cards done. The first one was for this week's sketch challenge over at SCS. I have been wanting to make a card with this DoodleFactory Lollipop for a long time now. I finally got inspired this morning and put together a card featuring a new ribbon I picked up while my mom was in town.




Supplies:
Stamps: DoodleFactory "Santa's Sweet Shoppe"
Paper: Papertrey Ink White, DP by Scenic Route
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: Buttons by Scenic Route, Computer-generated sentiment, Pop Dots, Copics, Striped Ribbon, White Gel Pen

Since I finished that card pretty early in the day, I decided to participate in another challenge over at SCS. They were hosting a new challenge for every hour leading up to New Years. The challenge I decided to participate in was to use glitz and glitter. Basically all the embellishments used had to glitter or shine. I took it one step further and made sure my entire card shined! Since time was short, I made a tiny card that measured about 3x3". The perfect size for a little love note, no? ;)



Supplies:
Stamps: Sentiment by CHF (Kim Hughes Collection)
Paper: Bazzill Tiara, Pink Mica
Ink: Stayz-On Black
Accessories: Buttons by Scenic Route, Glitter for Buttons, Shimmery Grey Cord, Shimmery Pink Organza Ribbon, Edge Distresser, Pop Dots, Copics

Can you tell I have Valentines on the brain? ;)

Have a nice evening! Hal and I will probably be asleep before New Years (We almost always are!).

Clearly Cool...

I woke up early this morning to find my mom playing around in my craft room. Since she was already down there, I decided I'd join her for a bit. I decided to try to participate in the "clearly cool" challenge that Starving Artistamps is putting on. The challenge was to make a card using acetate or transparency. My mom and I both agree on one thing -- clear cards are nearly impossible to do! The whole hiding the adhesive aspect to them is so hard! But anyhow, after much work, here's what I came up with:





Supplies:
Stamps: DoodleFactory Polar Bear (From Santa's Sweet Shoppe)
Papers: DP by Scenic Route and Deja Views
Inks: Memento "Tuxedo Black"
Accessories: Glittery Letters (Thickers by American Crafts), Thin Blue and White Ribbon for Buttons, Orange Ribbon by American Crafts (I think), Patterned Buttons by Making Memories and Sonburn Designs, Flowers by Heidi Swapp, Buttons by Scenic Route, Copic Markers

The DoodleFactory Polar Bear usually holds a cute cup of cocoa, but since I'm steering away from wintery cards this week, I thought I'd replace the cocoa with a cute button heart. Instant Valentine's Day :)

Hope you enjoy. My mom's leaving tomorrow :( so I'm off to spend some time with her! Have a good evening and thanks for stopping by! Wish me luck in the challenge!

Smooch!

I am exhausted. My mother and I have been literally shopping 'til we drop (I have to show her all the cool stores we have here, right?!!), and my mind and (especially) my body are ready to give up! :)

I have to admit that I'm a little glad Christmas is over. It means I can finally dedicate some time to some other kinds of cards! Like I said before, next up is Valentine's day, and here's a card I put together with yet another adorable October Stamps image that I just had to have (in fact, this was the stamp that started my obsession with the company!):




Supplies:
Stamps: by October Stamps
Papers: Papertrey Ink White and Assorted Scraps!
Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black
Accessories: Felt Heart by Oriental Trading Co., Chipboard Glitter Letters, Copic Markers, Glossy Accents, Pop Dots

Off to relax a little! Have a good evening!

Merry Christmas! :)

Good morning :) It is a windy day in Salt Lake City! It's the kind of wind that rattles the house from the outside in. I've got a couple minutes before everyone wakes up and we open presents, so I thought I'd come on and share a couple of last
minute gifts I put together for friends this year.

I was utterly behind in Christmas preparations this year. I managed to get the house decorated, but the shopping part...well, not so much. I was like the men who go out the night before and hit the malls :)

Anyhow, I ended up getting a lot of gift cards. Here's a tin I altered to hold one:



That was the first time I got to pull out that adorable Kim Hughes set. I love it!!!

Then, since I couldn't bear the thought of braving Toys R' Us the day before Christmas, I decided I'd finally get around to finishing this project, which I actually started way back in July!!!



A Snowman-making kit!




The kit contained buttons (rocks spray-painted black to look like coal), eyes and mouth pieces (more rocks spray-painted black), A plastic carrot, a scarf (a piece of fleece with the ends cut in a fringe), a homemade pipe and two arms (made of sticks and bark-covered wire). It seemed to be well-received, so I guess my lack of preparation this year didn't affect things too much! :)

Hope you all had a good Christmas!
Now, on to Valentine's Day!!! ;)

'Tis the Season...

My mom is getting here today (she's spending Christmas with us this year), so I have to be quick. But I did want to hop on and show you the card I made her for Christmas this year.

She is always commenting on my bright color use, so I decided to go non-traditional for her. Here's what I came up with (can you tell that I cannot get enough of these adorable October Stamps?!!!)

I also decided to try out Swedish collage style again... getting any closer? :)




OK...gotta run. Have a great Christmas Eve! :)

A Wonderful Monkey...

Back with more flowers and more October Stamps!

This will be a short post because I'm beat! I put together 16 arrangements today (some for Hal's admin at work, a couple for Hal's work friends, and a few for our house so it's nice and festive for the holidays).

They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so hopefully this group will speak what I'm too tired to write. :)

First some flowers:







And then another card with another fabulous stamp from October Stamps!




Have a good evening :)

Bah Humbug!

Three posts in one day?!! That has to be some kind of a record.

I had to pop back on and show you a card I just finished up. This is not just any card, mind you. This one is special. I finally made a card to sum up my feelings for the holidays this year! ;) What do you think?!





Besides summing up my feelings, this card is special for a couple of other reasons.

First of all, it is made using my newest stamps, by October Stamps (drawn by Nina Aslund -- and that is definitely a blog you want to add to your favorites. Nina's style is AMAZING.). This is a swedish company, and I can't confirm, but I think I may very well be the first American using them (at least I haven't seen any on the blog circuit yet!). Are these stamps not TO DIE FOR?!! The moment I found them, I immediately emailed the illustrator (who emailed the company on my behalf -- thank you Nina!), and basically begged and pleaded to get them. After much back and forth with the owner to help me with translations and check-out instructions, I finally placed my order. The shipping was so super fast, and I was so excited to have the stamps in hand by Christmas. YAY! This is my new favorite stamp company, HANDS DOWN.

Another reason this card is so special, is because it was my first time attempting "swedish collage style." Now, I do not claim to have done this style justice at all, but it was my first try, so that's worth something, right? ;)

I'll be back with a supplies list a little later. I have to get to the grocery store before the crowds get there :) The "newspaper" is from the little newspapers Starbucks is now giving out at the counter. As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to incorporate it into a card.

See ya :)

Neighbor Gifts...

I usually make jam and breads for neighbor gifts. But this year, partially because I have been on a crusade against sugar for a lot of the year, and partially just because I was bored with jam and bread, I decided to put together a couple quick little pots for people...




And for the neighbor who ALWAYS watches our cats when we go out of town (A LOT this year!), and who saves our lives on occasion...like when I spill polyurethane on the carpet and they lend me their shop vac...




Aren't those black magic roses to die for? SO velvety!

Just thought I'd share...

Joy.

Well, I have to admit that there has not been a whole lot of that around here lately. I have been mopey, depressed and just downright STRESSED (a) because it's Christmas and everyone gets stressed at Christmas (except men!), and (b) because keeping busy keeps my mind off things I don't want to be thinking about right now, and keeping busy = STRESS! :)

BUT. I did have a kind of major break-through in my pain management last week, so I am at least feeling hopeful today. I am in more pain than I have been in a long time, but I think we are finally headed in the right direction. For 7 months, we have been targeting the wrong muscle! My physical therapist and I both thought that I had a muscle that runs from your back to your hip (the piriformis) causing me trouble. But after much work on that muscle, it wasn't going anywhere. So she decided to do a deep tissue massage last week (because I was in a major flare-up), and she just happened to be feeling around in other areas to see if there were any other tender spots. She got to the side of my hip, and I quite literally SCREAMED in pain. She found the muscle, all right! It reproduced my normal pain (which has never happened before. Normally when they push on or inject my (wrong) muscle, I just feel the pain right where they are pushing on). This time I felt it all in my leg, hip, butt, FOOT, joint...the whole shebang. So now we just need to launch an all-out attack on a little muscle called the tensor fascia latae. You're going down, TFL! ;)

(Needless to say, the pushing on the offending muscle has had me flared up all darn week, AND I have been super busy, so I haven't been creating much).

But. I do have a quick card to share. And by quick, I mean QUICK. I don't completely love it, but did I mention it was quick? ;)



Supplies:
Papers: DP by Bo Bunny and My Mind's Eye
Accessories: Scallop Scissors, Letters by K&Co., Red Twill Ribbon, Button by American Crafts, Snowflake by SU.

So if you are behind the eight ball and don't have all your cards done yet (like me!), here's one that will work. :)

Hope you're all having a good week. I've got cookie-making, menu-planning and grocery shopping, and a bit of tidying up in today's forecast. And maybe some crafting. We'll just have to see. ;)

That Darn Cat!

I love cats, but you know what? Cat's are a pain in the A** to have around during the holidays. They are always getting in to something. Or peeing somewhere right after you've cleaned...

I made a card today inspired by the annoyance that is cats at the holidays. This image from The Cat's Pajamas SO reminds me of my little cat, Nicodemus. The first year we got him, we had a fake tree. He was about 2 or 3 months old at the point that I put up the tree. Wouldn't you know it...within 5 minutes of me finishing assembling the tree, I look over, and little Nicodemus is literally sitting on one of the branches at the top peering out at me. That darn cat had climbed the Christmas tree!

Last night he got into the wrapping paper and ribbon. No one's gifts are safe in this house. I hope everyone gets a kick out of all the chewed ribbon.



Supplies:
Stamps: by The Cat's Pajamas
Papers: DP by KI Memories, Red Cardstock, PTI's White
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: Copic Markers, Tag Punches, Pop Dots, Thin White Ribbon, Chalks

And yes, Nicodemus, it IS too late to be good. You get coal! ;)

I have a bunch of appointments today (grrrr I HATE appointments) but am hoping to get some time to myself, too. We'll see how that goes :)

Hope everyone's having a good week!

Howdy! (and the Easiest Holiday Craft EVER)

Hey there! I have had the idea to use the very fun cowgirl MFT stamp set to make a card for my MIL for a long time now. My MIL is very into riding horses -- a true cowgirl. I thought this set was perfect for her.

A while back I saw a card in the MFT gallery at SCS (that I can't find now for the life of me!) that had the cowgirl holding a wreath instead of her normal rope. I thought it was an adorable idea, so I copied it :)

The layout was based on a card by America, who was this week's featured stamper at SCS. I CASED the layout and decided to use the same set as her, but changed a lot of the other details. Her card can be seen here. I have to thank her for the fabulous inspiration!

And here's my take:


The card weighs about 8 pounds. I've decided I'm going to give it to my MIL in person instead of paying $100 to mail it ;) The "ribbon" is the seams cut off of some jeans that were so holey, they couldn't even go to goodwill (the hubby's, of course). I added a snowflake and some western looking bling to bring it all together.

Supplies:
Stamps: Wreath stamp by The Catt's Pajamas, All other stamps by MFT
Papers: Scraps, PTI's White
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Denim "ribbon" (the seams cut off an old pair of jeans), Bazzill Snowflake, Brass button, Large silver eyelet button, Glitter, Puff Paint, about 100 rolls of pop-dots (LOL), word window punch, red rhinestones, copic markers

I also wanted to share the easiest holiday craft in the entire world. I put together 3 of these babies in a matter of minutes last night (and they didn't cost me a penny!):



All you have to do is:
1. Cut off some branches from the bottom of your Christmas tree -- they usually need to be trimmed down there a little anyhow. Or just buy pine bunches from the floral department of your grocery store (mine has them out this time of year). My friend also had luck just going to a tree lot and asking if they had any cuttings left over that she could just have.

2. Strip the needles off the top 4 inches or so of each brach.

3. Bundle several branches together and fan them out a little to get a pretty little display.

4. Rubberband them together.

5. Tie ribbon around the rubberband and tie a bow.

6. Embellish as desired. I strung some large bells on raffia and bundled them with the branches before I rubberbanded them, but you could also just hot glue berries or pinecones directly to the branches.

7. If you're hanging it, make a loop out of wire and thread it through your ribbon on the back of your swag.

Ta dah!


As an aside, Hal and I both found out last night that we're allergic to pine. How we never realized this in the past, I have no idea. I always get a headache when we bring the tree in, but I always thought it was just from the strong smell. But today we are both fighting allergies big time! Oh well...only 3 weeks or so to go until we take it to the curb! ;)

Enjoy your day.

A Bright and Poppin' Christmas

Today has been pretty nice. I have been taking it easy but have still managed to get a fair amount done. I'm not as stressed as I've been, so that feels kinda nice too :) Now if only I could get my brain to shut off, so I feel this way all the time! ;)

I put together a bunch of cards last night, and here's one that I came up with. I like making non-traditional Christmas cards. I think it helps me to not get as bored with them when I can mix up the colors and layouts and such. This one came together in a snap!



Supplies:
Stamps: by Studio G ($1 stamp)
Papers: DP by My Mind's Eye and Bo Bunny, Red Cardstock
Inks: Memento Black
Accessories: Felt Tree by Oriental Trading Co., Glittery Orange Dots, Red Twill Ribbon

My hubby should be back from his trip and walking in the door any minute. It was good to have him gone for a while (grin) -- it's nice to get to do my own thing for a few days every now and then. But it will be really good to have him home. Looking forward to a relaxing evening. Hope you have one too!

A Snowy Saturday

The news report last night said that we were (and I quote) "about to be walloped." LOL I woke up this morning wondering what happened to the walloping we were supposed to have gotten, because there were only a few flakes in the sky. Within minutes, it started coming down hard. We must have gotten 4 inches in only a matter of a couple hours. Bizarre. I guess those news people know what they're talking about!

Sorry I've been away for a few days...my life has been out of control. I had kind of a crummy week. First I was trying to get Hal ready to leave for a week-long conference (it's always stressful when he leaves for this conference, which is this time every year, because the timing with the holidays is so bad), then I was fighting with doctors and being generally irritated with the quality of health care I've been getting (and getting all worked up over it), and then...well, and then yesterday happened.

The week was finally starting to look up a little. I haven't been sleeping well (stress, I think), but I've at least been managing to accomplish little things here and there. I thought I would stain the banisters for the hallway, and well...this story could get very long, so I'll cut to the chase. I spilled an entire quart of oak-colored polyurethane stain on our cream berber carpet. Yeah. It happened in slow motion, and I am still trying to process that it even happened. I totally had one of those "I can't believe that really happened" kind of denial reactions. Anyhow, someone is coming to fix it (patch a new piece in the 4'x4'(!!!) area it splattered in) on Monday, so it should all be a distant memory, soon. My mother and I agreed this morning that we cannot wait for it to be 2009 and to be able to say good-bye to what has been a very bad year.

But before that can happen, I have to send out my Christmas cards! So I should have a couple things to share this week (that is, if I actually get them done).

First up is one I did for this week's Taylored Expressions Cupcake Challenge #46, using a new set I recently got from The Cat's Pajamas:



Supplies:
Stamps: TCP's "Sledding"
Papers: LI's teal dots, Red Cardstock, DP by K&Co., Aqua Bazzill Cardstock
Ink: Memento Black
Accessories: Ribbon by American Crafts, Button by American Crafts, Snowflake by SU, Copic Markers, Glitter, Pop Dots, Puffy Paint

I am going to go try to make a couple more cards tonight. We'll see how that goes :)
Have a good night, and stay warm!

"Rockin' Wine Bottle Gift-tags"

Last Saturday I received this mysterious email message...

--------------------------
Subject: Request for Pretty in Ink
Message:

Hello there, crafter I am pretending not to be affiliated with.

As a reader of your blog, I would like to make a request for content. I would like a tutorial on how to make some rockin’ wine bottle gift-tags for the holidays. You of course don’t know this because you have never met me in your life, but my husband and I like to indulge in $12.00/bottles of grape juice from a winery in Northern California. We are planning on giving these away as neighbor gifts this year for Christmas, and I would like some ideas on how to make a cute-modern tag to hang from the bottle. I would appreciate your creative expertise in this matter.

Thank you for your time.
---------------------------

Now, I have not been known to take requests in the past, but I like a good bottle of grape juice, so I decided to oblige.

Here, dear reader, is what I came up with. I hope this helps you to add a little pizazz to your holidays.

Rockin' Wine Bottle Gift-tags Tutorial:



Here's what you'll need:
* Two contrasting heavy-weight papers (for the tutorial, I used a wood veneer paper and a red cardstock)
* Adhesive of some sort (I like to use a glue-gun for precision)
* Various-sized circle punches (any sizes will do, as long as you have a variety)
* Paper cutter
* Embellishments
* Corner-rounder (if desired)

Instructions:

1. Cut one of your papers (the one that you would like to go on top) to 3" x 8 1/2".


2. Score this piece of paper 2 1/2" from the top (measuring from the short side) and fold.


3. You'll have a scored off area that is 3" x 2 1/2". Find a punch that is slightly larger than the neck of your wine bottle, and punch it near the middle/top of this scored area. You can also round all 4 corners of the paper at this time with a corner-rounder punch (I like the effect). You couldn't quite tell where the paper was scored in my pic, so I approximated it with a black line to help you out. Don't draw a black line on yours. :)


4. Now you are ready for your "design" work. Randomly punch holes in your paper. I like to start with my biggest punch first, and then work my way down to the smallest one, filling in empty areas as I go. Punch above and below the score line, but do not punch directly over the score line (i.e. so that half of your circle is above the line and half is below it).




Don't try to copy my pattern! Just punch randomly! There's no way to mess this up!

5. Cut your contrasting paper to 3" x 8". If you rounded your corners of your first piece, go ahead and round the bottom two corners of your contrasting paper, too.


6. Apply glue to the bottom portion (the 3"x 6" portion) on the back of your punched piece of paper, applying glue only where there aren't any holes. I like to use a glue gun, because I can get the glue exactly where I want it. But a thin tape runner would work well, too. Adhere your contrasting paper over the glue, lining up the bottom edges.


Your design should look something like this when you turn it over:


7. Embellish, as desired. I like to use something circular (to mimick the look of the punches). I also like to "pop up" the embellishment with some pop dots, so the tag has some added dimension.


8. Pop your tag on your wine bottle (write a note on the back first, if desired), and you're all set!


I know the first question everyone is going to ask... "where do you get the wood paper?". :) It is real wood veneer and can be purchased online at Cards of Wood. I use the 1-ply cherry with paper back, because it's super easy to punch.

And, hey, mysterious tutorial-requester...you might have a friend who might have used this paper for her wedding invitations and who might have a ton of scraps of it already cut to 3" wide who might be willing to share some with you :)

But, of course, if you don't like the wood you can use other paper (I just thought the wood looked kinda funk-dafied.) :) Here's the prototype I made with white and green cardstock:

The sizing was a bit "off" because I was just messing around, but you get the jist.

Enjoy! I won't be back until at least Sunday. I've got a busy weekend planned!

P.S. If you really like tags and are looking for some cool ones, have you checked out Tim Holtz's site lately? He's doing a 12 Tags of Christmas countdown, and they are way cool!

'Tis the Season...

I didn't make anything all day, so while my hubby was throwing together dinner, I decided to participate in this week's Sketch Challenge over at SCS. The sketch looked easy enough, so I decided to play along, but I am not thrilled with the results. It just looks... I dunno... strangely plain to me. I could have added some ribbon or something, but I really didn't want to deviate from the sketch. Oh well, I share my hits, and I share my misses, too :)



I think I'll sign my mom's name on the back of this one and send it to a relative, so she can take the blame for it LOL. Think that'll work?

If all goes as planned, I should be back tomorrow with a quick tutorial (although every time I say "I'll be back tomorrow" with something, I seem to jinx myself into being gone for several days) :P I had someone make a request for a certain tutorial, so I'll see if I can help her out... ;)

Until then...