Some lovely cards for Christmas!

I love the holidays and I can't help but make things to give to people.  Usually we do a holiday letter and card to friends and family but this year I wanted to make some hand made cards and then just mail a pic. with the card.  Each one unique (& documented here) and no leftovers that we can't use next year.  I don't send out too many because of twitter and facebook so it's usually nothing new to those people I stay in touch with but I do have a number of friends that prefer their cards by snail mail instead of internet.  Understandable.  So here are my cards... oh and i used scraps because my scrap stash is now bigger than my paper stash... so I don't know exactly where all of the individual pieces come from.  I also used Stampin' Up! pens, colored pencils, Stampin' Up! ink pads and wooden block stamps as well as a 1 1/2" hexagon punch from creative memories, "Give thanks" stamp from the crafts meow, and die cuts from silhouette.  and the tutorial for the easle box is on Scor-pal.blogspot.com. okay... here are my cards and a layout:

This one is probably my favorite card today.  it's so simple and fun.  I based it off the sketch of the week from retrosketches.  I'm entering this in there: http://retrosketches.blogspot.com/

This one I stamped and colored with colored pencils. the hedgehogs add a bit of whimsy to an otherwise very serious wreath, i think.  this one is based off of the stuck on U sketch: http://stuckonusketches.blogspot.com/2012/10/2nd-card-sketch-for-october.html

I used a swirl embossing folder and my cuttlebug for this.  the ribbon is from studio G; the sketch is from ispy sketches~ ISSC39: http://ispysketches.blogspot.com/

My little easle box here is found on the scor-pal blog found Here and is for the Stuck on U sketches die cut challenge~pumpkin or vegetable: http://stuckonusketches.blogspot.com/2012/10/die-cut-challenge-oct-19-2012.html

And to go along with my 12 days of Christmas pages I made the 4th day to go along with the stuck on U sketch: http://stuckonusketches.blogspot.com/.  I used birds and mistletoe circle from silhouette, Hexagon journaling pattern from Patterns 'N Pens (creative memories), and the tags are dry embossed with branches and  birds with my cuttlebug.

I'll have more for everyone as I go.  I'm a stay at home mom, & in classes right now & knitting Christmas gifts so my time is a little short.  Please forgive me.  Love you all & hope you have a spook-tacular Halloween on Wednesday!  Happy Crafting Everyone!

Challenge entries...

5th page of my Christmas book this year.

isn't this cutie wild?!

Today is a sick day for me...again...but I have been hard at work creating some cards to share with you all.  For those of you who posted on the altered journal blog hop thanks so much.  your comments meant the world to me.   Let me just tell you about the products I used and get that out of the way...  for the layout I had some candy stamps from my MIL that I've been dying to use.  once I saw the theme for the red carpet studio challenge this week I knew just what I wanted to do with it.  I really want to make a 12 days of Christmas project for my husband this year and this time document it.  Rings was perfect for one of the pages so i found these gold rings on the silhouette store and cut them out on my silhouette. I used Gold & clear embossing powder on them and my white ZIG marker on the leaves and berries and presto... cute right?

I also found the cute little deer on the silhouette store & following Silhouette america's sketch I created this cutie.  to me this says wild (yet sweet). I used washi tape from downtown tape and Basic's rhinestones. For this birthday card that looks like it's been run over... let me explain.  So the brown background was dry embossed using my cuttlebug & wood grain folder then distressed it with some sand paper to show some of the white.  the green was cut with some decorative scissors to add a border and the gold was dry embossed with a leaf folder in my cuttlebug.  I made the happy birthday banner and but it all together to go along with the Mojo Monday sketch for the week.  then the inside looked bald so I wanted to run the sentiment area through the cuttlebug with the wood grain folder but accidentally put the front through again... oops.  it looks very distressed now & I think that's kinda what I was going for in a men's birthday card anyway so I let it be.  And probably one of my favorites is this snow scene.  I saw an instructional video on Operation Write Home & copied it completely...I used the swiss dots embossing folder, a house from silhouette, a stamp of a tree from my MIL and lots of glitter glue.  All of these cards are using my scraps.  Hope you like them.

Challenges:

Red Carpet Studio~Ring: http://redcarpetstudiochallenge.blogspot.com/

HIMCR~die cuts: http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/2012/10/himcr-68-die-cuts.html

SCC~Candy: http://staceyscreativecorner.blogspot.com/

D.LA~ Holiday: http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/

Silhouetteamerica~sketch: http://blog.silhouetteamerica.com/

CASology~Wild: http://casology.blogspot.com/

MojoMonday: http://mojomonday.blogspot.com/

Thanks for stopping by & Happy Crafting Everyone!

Altered Journal Blog Hop!!

Welcome to our  Altered Journal Blog Hop! If you came here from Lucy then you are on the right track! If you happen to stumble upon this hop you can begin hopping with our host Melissa!

Zannie Berry is giving away 2 Cuttlebug folders!

Here is what I started with... A composition notebook from dollar tree, a spiral notebook from Walmart $0.25 & a mini spiral notebook from a 3 pack at Walmart (3 pack was $2.00). Honestly I like the look of the mini with the green and pink dots however I want to bling it up a bit! I really wanted to alter these other two completely because they're a little bit blah!  

I also wanted to do 3 different types of journals simply because the spirals add a bit of challenge and I prefer those types of journals anyway. But if you prefer composition books as your journals then I wanted to add one of those in as well.

I was so excited to be a part of this blog hop! this is actually my first one. So I could use a little love. I really hope you all like my projects!

 Here is the notebook that started out with cars on the front.  I used teal & pink card stock from the DCWV The Gilded Orchard card stock stack, chip board accents from Blue Hill chip board, washi tape from downtown tape, the craft's meow stamps in Lovely Oval & Good Times, Studio G stamps, Recolections foam adhesive mini circles, Basics by Kaisercraft rhinestones, Martha Stewart craft glue, Crayola colored pencils, Classic Stampin' pad by Stampin' Up! in pink passion & basic black, Marvy Matchables ink pad in blue, & paper ribbon from paperedcottage.blogspot.com.  I also have a video of how I made these in detail if you're interested.  It is rather long and unorganized as it was my first video so if you're interested in seeing it let me know in a comment & i'll post it... otherwise I think i'll keep the embarrassment to myself.


I keep a mini in my purse always so that when an idea strikes such as... "Holy Crap! I forgot to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer 2 days ago!" I have a place where I can write it down and remember.  or if I see something inspiring I've got a sketch pad in there also.

I left some room to keep it all clean & simple as well as having space to add to it as I find pictures etc. of things I really like!  

I really want to share some journal entries I just ran across from a couple of years ago.  enjoy...

"May 9, 2010 (mother's day)

Last mother's day Gwenna's gift to me was learning to crawl.  This mother's day she said, 'Oh CRAP!' at the top of her lungs when the sacrament was being passed in church... over & over again.  it made me laugh but was also a tad embarrassing... good thing we don't swear."

"July 5, 2010 

We found out today that our friend Isaiah, who was Jared's age, passed away.  Here is what happened.  He was praying to know what to do for the day & really felt that instead of going to his classes he really needed to spend the day showing his family he loved them.  He took the day off & spend the day with Holly & Lucy (his wife & infant daughter).  He wrote in his journal that it was the best day of his life.  That night Holly woke up to find Isaiah blue & not breathing.  She ran to the neighbors for help and they helped her get him to the hospital.  He had no brain waves & they found out his chances of ever recovering were nil.  He had had an aneurysm in his sleep.  We went to his funeral & couldn't stop crying.  Holly is such a sweet woman & I cant imagine what she's going through.  She & her daughter will constantly be in our prayers."

(and they have been)

"Thursday, Nov. 18, 2010

Well at about 4 AM I was counting contractions at about 4 min. apart.  I woke Jared up to let him know that nothing was working to slow down the contractions.  He, in a sleep state (He really doesn't remember any of it) asked if i'd done summer-saults & then fell back asleep.  so i tried to get some sleep as well.  At 5 AM i woke up to a sharp pain & a small trickle which I didn't think was anything.  Contractions were about 2-3 min. apart & not slowing down so we called Jess (my sister) to come over at about 7:45 AM or so and we drove to the hospital at about 8 AM.  I was able to handle the contractions even though they were painful by concentration on only one at a time... it also helps that this is our 2nd child.  The Dr. said I should be on PIT since my contractions had slowed down.  when they got me into the delivery room every contraction brought Allison's heart rate really low so they monitored me like crazy & sped things up so that she could get the attention she needed.  They put me on oxygen & everything seemed to go really fast.  we counted to 10 & she was out and screaming.  She was born at about 2PM. One of my friends is in a room down the hall with her son who was born at 4PM.  LOL awesome!"

Hope you had a good laugh at the last entry there.  

If I were to write on the first page of my altered Journal it would say...

"Friday, October 27, 2012

I made this... me... I did it."

What would you write? if you have trouble coming up with ideas here is a link to 258 journal entry ideas: http://mseffie.com/handouts/258journal.html

Thanks for stopping by we hope you're enjoying yourself & get a lot of inspiration from all our projects.

Hope you all are enjoying the hop! Your next stop is the very talented Rachelle!

Here is the lineup just in case you get lost on your way!

Melissa -http://pinkpolkadotscrapping.blogspot.com
Ashley W - http://marinewifesscrappinlife.blogspot.com
Jenn J - http://scraphappensembellishit.blogspot.com/
Robin C - http://cutonedesignsbyrobin.blogspot.com/
Connie - http://conniecancrop.blogspot.com
Robin S. - http://scrapandchat.blogspot.com/
Dena - http://missdjones.blogspot.com/
Maria Matter - http://JoyfulStamper.blogspot.com
Lucy ~ http://love2createitall.com
Sandra ~ http://merritt-vergaray-connection.blogspot.com/ 
Rachelle~http://creationsbyrachelle.blogspot.com
Sharon ~ http://faithhopecherrytea.blogspot.com 
Shawnee ~http://quiverofangels.blogspot.com
Pam L. ~ http://mzlavr2.blogspot.com/
Suzanne - http://www.zannieberry.blogspot.com
Cathie~ -http://cathiescafe-scraphappy.blogspot.com/

What i've been up to...

I finally finished lining my black purse.  Once I switched to my old machine it went really fast although I didn't  take out the mistakes made on my newer machine... to many tears & cries of frustration went into those.  Here is the main pocket and I added an extra pocket that has come in pretty handy.

extra pocket lined with different fabric.

sorry about the halo around the book

 this is a sweater that I knit last year, using the book shown, for my husband.  They always seem to have the AC on at Melaleuca & he needed something really thick and warm so I bought some brown Bernat Softee Chunky yarn & knit up this baby in a few days with my wrist braces on (carpel tunnel is a pain...lol). I had to frog it a few times and I was constantly having him try it on but it was worth it for a sweater that fit him properly and kept him warm.  This is actually my first knit sweater ever... where I checked gauge & fitting.






Here is part of Allison's (Alice's) Halloween costume this year.  We found the dragon outfit at D.I. for $3.00 and I purchased the purple and black fabric at Walmart from the scraps bin so they were $3.00 together & the boa is from Dollar Tree ($1.00).  total costume= $7.00 + 6% sales tax.  She was running around like crazy so I couldn't get a better picture with the whole costume.

Better view of the hat strait on

My oldest seemed a little left out since I was sewing for her sister & for myself, & knitting socks for her daddy so I let her choose out a cute print and some lace that she liked (Under $10 total) and sewed her a cute little dress.  She was so excited when she saw how much I'd gotten done in one day she exclaimed, "I have clothes again!" LOL; I swear we don't let her run around naked!  I still need to finish the arm holes (they're raw edges right now) and add some buttons (I didn't want to use a zipper).  And I wanted to add some black lace to the bottom as well as some ribbon ties to the waist but I just had to share what i'd done so far! :D I forgot how much fun I have sewing & knitting.  Although I think I'll have to make better use of my time cause the resulting apple sauce on my walls yesterday (from hiding in my crafting room) wasn't worth it.

Anyway, I'll try to post more projects as I finish them up.  Happy Crafting everyone!

Quick update & news

I wanted to share some projects with you all today. I saw this last year & really wanted to start it in my neighborhood this year. I got the flier from www.TheTomKatStudio.com printed it out and pasted the two sides together to consolidate the flier. I bought this spider web door hanger from the silhouette online store. Once i saw it i knew I wanted to use it for this! And i can always add a new design simply by separating all the parts of the pattern & adding a cut file on top. So come Christmas, Easter etc. i have a handy door hanger for the neighbors.  These would also make great treats for a party.   I also wanted to share this cute perpetual, spinning calendar. I'm always on the lookout for a great calendar that's easy to use & change. This one i found on the silhouette online store for $.99 so i bought it and used some ribbon i found at walmart along with some snowflake brads and my white ZIG pen. Enjoy

You've Been Booed!

Calendar

I really wanted to let everyone know how my dish went last night.  I didn't make it exactly right but I improvised and it turned out great. My husband, who hates squash in any form actually said he liked it... since he couldn't really taste the squash.  Here's the recipe in case anyone else wants to try it: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/country-squash-casserole/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=country%20squash%20caserole&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Recipe%20Search%20Results

I forgot to add in the squash while cooking all the veges early in the recipe so I boiled the sliced squash, added it in when i was soft and then added the stuffing. it was delicious... also if you like meat (and I do...) you can always add some cooked chicken.  I don't have a picture of this dish sorry.  oh also, our local grocery store didn't have zucchini but they had a yellow looking thing that is basically the same as zucchini and it turned out really delish.  My pickiest eater, Gwenna, didn't even touch her dinner but she also didn't complain so she put herself to bed hungry.  Allison is not as picky as her sister but still kinda picky & she ate it all up... except the squash.  The shell needed to be cut off though so I don't blame her.

challenges i'm entering: 
Halloween party 2: http://decoratetocelebrate.blogspot.com/
My Crafting Channel: http://www.mycraftingchannel.com/2012/10/mcc-challenge-1-ghoul-times-dt_15.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MyCraftingChannel+%28My+Crafting+Channel%29

Crochet hook & Yarn Giveaway going on:
http://www.allfreecrochetafghanpatterns.com/sweeps/Red-Heart-Super-Saver-Yarn-Susan-Bates-Crochet-Hook#

follow the above link to enter!!

Here are all the details straight from the link above:

"Red Heart Super Saver Yarn and Susan Bates Crochet Hook

Patons Divine Yarn
Gifted By: Red Heart Yarns
Reviewed by: Nicola Trumbull, Editor for AllFreeCrochetAfghanPatterns.com

The winner of this giveaway will receive 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Amazon and 1 Susan Bates Crochet Hook. The Red Heart Super Saver yarn is a go-to yarn for most crocheters. It's 100% Acrylic and is a durable yarn. This particular hook is a size J-10/6mm with a Bamboo handle. The handle is expertly crafted and has a lightweight quality that is good for crocheting for long periods of time.

Read the full review.

Win Red Heart Super Saver Yarn + a Susan Bates Crochet Hook!

We are giving away 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver Yarn in Amazon and 1 Susan Bates Crochet Hook. The deadline to enter is October 30, 2012 at 11:59:59 p.m. Eastern Time. We’ll send an email to the winner, so please check to make sure your email address is entered correctly. You’ll get an extra entry for EACH of the following (that's FOUR free extra entries):

1. If you blog about this giveaway at your blog or add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Send us the link to your blog post.
    
2. If you tweet about this giveaway, you’ll get an extra entry. Please see below to easily share this contest on Twitter and earn an extra contest entry.
    
3. If you add a link to us on your blogroll or website, we’ll give you an extra entry. Again, please show us that link!
    
4. If you post a link to this contest on your Facebook page on your wall, we'll give you an extra entry. Please see below to easily share this contest on Facebook and earn an extra contest entry.

Contest ends October 30, 2012. You can enter once daily, so return often to improve your chances of winning!"

Homemade Gifts Made Easy is having a contest:

http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/homemade-christmas-presents.html

"Share your homemade Christmas present ideas for a chance to win a $100 cash prize, with runner up prizes of $50 and $25!

Submit Today - Deadline Christmas Eve 2012"

I've been busy making Christmas presents for my family this year since we're both in school and going to be traveling 13 hrs. to get to a cabin in the woods with my whole family and their spouses & kids... :)  eeep! So I really wanted to share my creations for this year.  Last year I lost all my photos of the scarves etc. that I made for my family and was so bummed I couldn't show them off.  But this year I don't expect my siblings and other family members to read this blog so i'll post what I'm giving them for you all to see. & hopefully you all join in on the fun!

home made gift tags

 These tags are for my siblings & my mom & dad... basically the ones with spouses.  I used paper, stamps & ink from my stash.

The "suitcases" of cards are for my youngest sister and hopefully my soon to be sis-in-law.  (fingers crossed)  I got the patterns for both projects on www.splitcoaststampers.com.  I highly recommend you all check them out if you haven't before.  Great ideas, tutorials, instructions etc.

Cards

I got the idea for this calendar from the lawn fawn blog & the stamp is from The Crafts Meow.  I printed off the calendar pages from a free downloadable template from Microsoft and since I didn't have binding rings I used mutilated paper clips.  this one is going to my baby sister, Lorraina, for her desk... it's actually really small so hopefully she'll be able to use it.  I'm making a bigger version (& more masculine) for my dad for christmas but I really want to use those binding rings this time... my fingers were hurting from all that bending.

Oh and today I made some witch hat cookies but they didn't turn out right... I couldn't find any of the fudge shortbread cookies that the recipe called for so I just substituted the only shortbread cookies I could find so my first attempts look a little like thumb print cookies... so I added some chocolate body fondue (don't judge me; i did't want to make frosting) and then the Hershey kisses but then the kisses slid around too much... oh well they were yummy! Spent a half hour giving the kids a bath afterward but it was worth it.  also, some of the kisses look old and gross only because the bag got left on the stove when it was hot.  Here are my pictures:

My first attempt

Body Fondue attempt

I'd like to give a shout out to my followers & Blog friends who always leave me some love no matter what.  I really appreciate it.  I've been thinking of giving away something simple to a few of you (the way nana does over at My Crafting Channel) just as a thank you.  I'd love to know what you guys think of this idea and any suggestions you may have as to what to give away.  I want to make it myself so if you guys have any ideas i'd welcome them.  sorry though i'm not going to be re-lining any more purses... these two are going to be it for me.  I might be up for sewing some in the future but for now I think not. ;)

Anyway,  All my love & happy crafting everyone!

Sorry I've been MIA lately

I've been noticing that my 2 favorite purses are falling apart.  They were walmart purses anyway so I kinda expected it but I was hoping it would last a bit longer.  I guess a year is average for a poorly made purse to hold up.   Anyway, I really love these purses and I really wanted to keep using them... they go with everything I wear no matter what... okay a chicken suit would probably look weird with a purse (unless I put bird feed in it) but anyway I looked everywhere to find a tutorial on relining purses and I found a few.  Using all of them I took what I thought would be best with my limited knowledge of sewing and convinced my Hubby that this would be the cheaper way to go than me buying a purse... and the few days of me not having a purse convinced him that he benefits from it too... I can carry both our Ipads to church while pushing the stroller and helping our oldest get her tricycle unstuck when crossing the street a lot faster with a purse than without. (cause the purse carries the bulky items we need & hangs from a handle or my arm keeping my hands free)  also he appreciates the little candies and tissues I happen to always have inside.  Anyway... so I used this tutorial the most: http://www.craftstylish.com/item/39243/its-time-to-do-something-about-the-black-hole

My favorite silver purse

My favorite black purse

the pockets started tearing...

inside of the black one.

I chose to line the black bag with teal and the silver one with a patterned blue fabric.  since neither had any other type of lining besides the silky fabric of the pockets I bought 2 yards of interfacing and scrap fabric from walmart (lol) but it only covers one purse (at least for me it did).

re-lined pocket... it was not easy!

here is one pocket of the black purse re-lined with the teal... I practically had to take the purse apart to sew this back in.  And this was my first attempt at making anything slightly purse like without a pattern.  I'm not finished because my new sewing machine is the bare basic singer machine we found (so I could learn just basics) and it doesn't have much in the way of a tension gauge... my machine keeps jamming no matter what I do, check, etc. so i'm switching back to my old, wobbly, Brother machine that never failed me ever.  At least until I find the manual for my new machine... I know i have it somewhere!  Anyway; I love this color with the black and hopefully I don't end up resorting to hand stitching the whole darn thing back together again.

I've also been working on cleaning up the yard, house, etc and setting more of a cooking schedule for myself now that it's cold out and hot meals sound excellent again.  Saturday I started on some shephards pie until I realized that our mashed potato mix was so old it had dead bugs in it. (barf) so I cooked some macaroni noodles and added some spaghetti sauce and the veges and meat from shephard's pie.  My family loved it.  Monday I made a frozen Lasagna and texas toast garlic bread.  Easy peasy.  Today I'm going to be cooking a squash stew I found on line so i'll post about that after we see how it turns out.  My hubby hates squash so I chose a recipe that had rave reviews from others who don't like squash... we'll see how this goes.  He said he'd try it.

My girls love playing in the leaves every year.

Gwenna helped rake all the leaves so she deserves a brake.

Allison after climbing her way out from under the pile.

This is what we did last Saturday after putting away the pool and before mowing the lawn... my allergies were going haywire but it was worth it.  My monster kids are amazing little people.  the other day I realized how much they've grown & how much they respond to everything around them.  Love these terrors!  Here are some pictures from my yard that I love.  I love all these colors and I think that's part of why this is my fav. time of year.

I also have some cards for you today...

1. I used Washi tape from Downtown tape (yellow stripe and teal chevron); Put them on white card stock and added a white border by cutting around it.  The Crafts Meow stamps (Golden days & Lovely ovals).  Color Box ink, Studio G bakery twine, foam adhesive dots, creative memories pens for the faux stitching around the leaf, and an old brad and gold leaves I had in my stash.  this is for Random Acts of Creativity Sketchbook Saturday challenge #81: http://ipalamountain.blogspot.com/  I uses their sketch.



Card 2



Card 1

2. I used Studio G clear stamps, adhesive dots, paint box by color box ink, creative memories pen (blue), blue polka dot washi tape from Downtown tape.  I used the waltzingmouse sketch I found at random acts of creativity http://ipalamountain.blogspot.com/2012/10/waltzingmouse-sketch-challenge-119.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RandomActsOfCreativity+%28Random+Acts+Of+Creativity%29  and am entering it into the Red Carpet Studio challenge #7 ~Birds: http://redcarpetstudiochallenge.blogspot.com/2012/10/rcs-7-birds.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RedCarpetStudio+%28Red+Carpet+Studio%29
3. I used The Crafts Meow "Fall Blessings" stamps, Color Box "Greenery" ink, Green polka dot & pink flowers Washi tape from Downtown tape, & Memory keepers "Energy" Stamp (light bulbs). This is for Retro Sketches (one of my absolute fav. sites): http://retrosketches.blogspot.com/
4. I used The Crafts Meow "Fall Blessings" stamps, Kaleidacolor ink "Autumn leaves", & Falling leaves card from SVGcuts.com.  This card is for Hiding in my Craft room #67 ~Scraps: http://www.hidinginmycraftroom.com/ & Little Scrap Pieces~ Fall: http://littlescrappieces.blogspot.com/2012/10/fun-friday-thanksgiving-or-fall-colors.html

Card 3

Card 4

"Happy Fall!"

Card 5

5. I used The Craft's Meow Lovely ovals stamps, tombo markers in pink and green, scrap paper, the tag, Green polka dot & pink flower washi tape are from downtown tape, studio G ribbon, stamps from my MIL.  there's a pocket on the front but I put the tag on the inside so it wouldn't get lost in the pocket.  it's also removable to be used as a mini book mark. This is for DL.ART sympathy challenge: http://dianamlarson.blogspot.com/2012/10/dlart-thankful-thursday-challenge.html


I'll have more cards for you later... I love a good challenge & there are plenty out there.




In other news:

Scrappin' With Chris & Lou are having a Thanksgiving  giveaway that ends Nov. 17th: http://chrissandlou.blogspot.com/

exciting! :) good luck everyone!


Happy Crafting & thanks for all your comments, pins etc.  they really are a blessing to me. :D