Calendars, Calendars, Calendars

Hi!  So I guess the theme this year was calendars!  I made a whole bunch.  Last year I made a whole bunch of little notepads and note cards for Christmas gifts.  This took me a while to do.  I made some for teachers, friends and family.  Above is the CD insert using the PTI Calendar Basics set.

The teachers' ones looked like the one above.  I used PTI's Teacher's Apple stamp set.  The calendar pages are die cut with their calendar die and all the individual calendar pages are from PTI also.  A lot of cranking of the Big Shot.

This was the first teacher calendar I made.  It was also the last one to use patterned paper cause after doing all this I couldn't fit it into the CD case!  It was too thick.  So only a few pages will fit at a time in the CD case if you embellish too much.  That's why I decided to just stamp on the cardstock instead.

I made a couple of sets using PTI's All About You stamp set with fresh snow ink.  Some of my pages got globby with the white ink.  And the ink showed up much nicer are the darker paper of course.  I tried not to put too much ink on the stamp and to wipe off the excess with a paper towel every so often.  That helped a lot to just leave clean stamped lines.  Live and learn, I suppose.  But this was inspired from Nicole Heady's calendar.  If only I had the entire Year of Flowers collection with matching cardstock and ink too . . .

Isn't this one of the cutest papers ever??  This line of papers and the paper pad from Imaginisce is so cute.  I had to make a calendar with the papers.

You can click on the photo to see the papers closer.

This paper pad set is from Wild Rose Studio.  The papers were thin so much easier to fit into the CD cases plus I didn't need to do anything to decorate the pages.  Just cut and slide in the calendar pages.  And after so much cutting, I really wanted something simple.

Lastly, I made one using pictures of my kids.  I didn't die cut the pictures.  I just trimmed some 5 x 7 photos to fit into the CD cases and taped the individual calendar pages to each one.  I taped some patterned paper behind some of the photos that were too short.  If the calendar page was too big in some cases, I just trimmed it to fit better on the photo.  I wanted to try something like this after I had seen Heather Nichols' post.  But I didn't have much time to search for pictures that had enough space for me to die cut in the right area for the calendar page to slide into.  So I thought this would save me time and frustration.

The spine of some of the CD calendars I made. In total, I think I made about 15 CD calendars and a couple of easel calendars. 

Thanks for reading this long post about calendars!  Have a great day!

Happy 40!

I needed a card, so I borrowed the Club Anya sketch for this week. Although I didn't use a TGF stamp so I'm not posting it to the gallery.I pretty much used just PTI cardstock and paper. The stamped number was from 7 gypsies, it came out a little crooked and spotty, but oh well. I mostly wanted to play with my new Sizzix edger dies, although most of it is covered up. Again, sentiment from PTI's birthday basics. I don't know how people stamp nicely using the white ink, sometimes it looks like I put too much ink, or if I press too hard when stamping, the letters look a little smooshed too.

I tried some diamond glaze on the circles to make them look raised and/or epoxy like. Problem was there were air bubbles so it's not completely smooth. Maybe I was shaking it around too much beforehand because the tip always gets clogged and I have to stick a pin in it.

Eva, I don't know how your kids don't get into your craft things and mess stuff up. This is my son's version of the birthday card. He basically went around gathering all my scraps while I was working on my card (some were big scraps that I didn't even realize he was using!). The number 40 was even stamped on a piece of scratch paper - I was trying to test the color of the ink - then I adjusted the "0" because it looked higher than the "4," and then it ended up crooked on mine :(

So before we made the cards, I asked my son, how old does he think Daddy is? He goes, "63." Ha ha! Then he said "no, wait, 53." Ha ha ha! Maybe I shouldn't laugh so hard until I ask him how old does he think Mommy is.

OK, I have one more birthday card to make, not sure if I can make it on time. At least I think I wrapped all my Christmas presents...

A Little Birdie

If you're familiar with PTI, then this card might look familiar also.  Debbie Olson of Thinking Inking had made the sweetest card so I had to case it too.   The little birdie comes in the Tiny Treats Christmas set.

A little close up of the birdie.  I added some stickles to his cap.

I think I am finally done with my Xmas list and with wrapping presents.  My problem is that when I see a cute idea or project I try to think of every single person I can make that for which explains why I mass produce so much.  Like the little hats, I have to make it for almost every little girl on our list.  I have to tell myself that I can give it next year too.  So I was going to make some little school scrapbooks too this Xmas but just don't have the time or energy to mass produce those.  So I'll save that for next year.  I haven't even made our Xmas photo card this year!  I'll send out New Year's cards and start a new trend.

Well, I wanted to share a couple pictures of my crafting area.  When I get busy I tend to just throw everything onto my table.  Then I wonder where I put everything.

So there are stamps, papers, felt, tools, glue, etc. and my kids' toys too on my table.  There's also my sad sewing machine sitting under the table.  I really have to learn how to use that thing.

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Birthday card #2

Hello.  I made another card for the TGF Farm Fresh Challenge Monday Fun-Day #12 which was to use kraft cardstock, buttons and twine.  And I used the Deconstructed Sketch #31, although I turned it sideways and moved the center rectangle over.

Anyhow, here is the birthday card using Later Skater Ian.  Maybe he's still too young for a 41 year old's birthday card, but oh well.  (Maybe I should have added some gray to his hair).  Used some Tim Holtz paper (I always seem to use this paper pad for boy cards but everything matches so well); Papertrey ink kraft, rustic cream, and enchanted evening cardstock, buttons and sentiment.  The 41 is cut from some sizzix dies.  Tried to make his skin tone a little darker with E13 for some shadows at his hairline, but still can't quite get the hang of blending without going too crazy and coloring out of the lines either.

Well, hopefully I can make 2 more Christmas cards before Christmas.  Eva gave me some cute stamps that I have colored, but haven't stuck them onto cards yet.  In case I don't have time to post anything else before Christmas, have a Merry Christmas!

Happy Birthday

Hello, I'm squeezing my Farm Fresh Friday Spy Day #11 in here before Eva's TGF blog hop post tomorrow.  This is actually a non-holiday card as we're going to be celebrating 3 birthdays over 4 days this year.  I'm thinking I will buy a bunch of cupcakes so at least each birthday person will have their own individual cake to blow candles for but yet we won't all be stuck eating 3 cakes for weeks on end.

I used Birthday Anya 2 that I won from a previous challenge.  I wanted to thank Marie and Jessica for their generosity in sending this to me as there was initially some confusion regarding the stamp I requested.

Anyhow, colored the skin with copics, the rest with colored pencils.  Added stickles to the cupcake frosting.  The patterned paper is from Echo Park, Victoria Gardens, used Papertrey ink green cardstocks and Bazzill gray cardstock.  The flower is a Beautiful Blooms die.

Bye!  Off to make another card, hopefully I can get the other 2 done in time!

Mitten Tag/Ornaments

Hi!  Here are some mitten tags I made from Spellbinders mitten dies.  One side has the red felt and the other some PTI cardstock so we could write the names on.  I used Liquid Stitch to glue the mittens together and the snowflake.   

The red felt I just bought at Ben Franklin.  It cut pretty well.  The snowflake is the medium sized one from My Favorite Things Die-namics dies.  I used PTI felt for the snowflakes.  I tried using less expensive felt but it just wouldn't cut cleanly even when I tried to fatten up the layering recipe on the Big Shot.  Even with the PTI felt I used a sheet of cardstock to cut the snowflake out nicely.  I used some ribbon for the trim and red baker's twine.  I colored some clear bling with my red copic pen for the center of the snowflake.

On the reverse side of the mitten, I used PTI's Tiny Treats Xmas set (I use this set a lot!).  I thought the mittens matched so nicely.  I added some stickles.  That's the extent of my glitter use--it's not as messy.  The year is stamped with PTI's Simple Alphabet.  

Tied the mittens onto some teachers' gifts that I wrapped up last night.  And after unwrapping the gifts, these tags can also be used as ornaments. 

Will be entering these in a couple of challenges too.  ACLP's Tag It! challenge and Lollipop Crafts Christmas Tags challenge.

Can't believe it's almost Christmas!  Still have a lot to do.  Thanks for reading!

An Angry Bird Christmas

Hi!  What do Angry Birds have to do with Christmas??  I have no idea but they are everywhere, aren't they?  Just stick a Santa hat on them and they are perfect for the holiday season.  My kids and lots of other kids seem to like them a lot so I decided to make tons of Angry Birds!  I had first seen this post HERE on Jenny's blog about some Angry Birds she had made and she provides the link to the original source.  I just had to find my own way of making them with the dies/punches that I have.

So here's a photo of 47 Angry Birds made from just thin cardstock.  I chose thin cardstock so I could cut more than one sheet at a time and so it would move faster.  I used Spellbinders circle nestabilities for the bodies.  The beak is a cat/bat ear from PTI's Halloween sweet treats dies set.  The feathers on the head is from My Favorite Things daisy die.  The eyes are punches and the eyebrows are hand cut.  Yes, that was the most painful part.  Hand cutting all those eyebrows!  But without them, they wouldn't be Angry Birds!

So my 2 older kids and I decided that bookmarks would be the best to give away since they are older now.  And if I had just stuck these on a package with candy it would surely have been tossed away.  My daughter gave her class instructions not to throw them away.  Hahaha.  She also helped me with stringing on the twine and sticking the labels on.

A little close up photo.  The bookmark die is from PTI.

We tied on some candy canes with more twine and they were set to go.

I made Angry Birds for my youngest too.  He's too young to read so I decided to make ornaments for them instead.  And these are made from FUN FOAM!!  These came out so fun!  The green tag is PTI's Tag Sale #4 die.  We tied on some ribbon and bells, and added candy canes in the bags too.  My youngest kid's teacher dressed up as an Angry Bird for Halloween too!

So I am finally finished with the kids' stuff.  But I still have teacher gifts for my younger son's teachers to wrap.  Thank goodness I still have the weekend to finish up.  But I hate waiting til the last minute.

I have to share this photo of the pictures/cards my youngest made for his teachers.  He keeps requesting that I post his projects on my blog too.  Future blogger, I suppose.

Oh and if you haven't checked it out yet, I have been "spied" on TGF!  See HERE.  It's my first time ever being spied.  So if you've got time, play along please!

Thanks so much for reading and hope you're enjoying the holiday season!

A Million Pairs of Mittens (part 1)

Hi!  So I  haven't blogged in a bit cause I've been busy making all these mittens.  And this is just for my son's kindergarten class.  I have yet to finish up my daughter's class.  I made 22 pairs of mittens for my son's class.  I first saw this on a Splitcoast Stampers tutorial.  I had some leftover inexpensive felt and lots of white yarn.  I did end up buying more felt, yarn needles, and something called Liquid Stitch from Walmart cause I don't yet know how to use my sewing machine.  So all the mittens were first glued around the edges (wait 24 hours to dry with something heavy on top) then hand sewn.  My daughter helped sew too! 

The Spellbinders mitten dies are super cute.  There are small ones too like the ones I used above to stamp the child's first initial and the year using Just Rite Stampers.  I crocheted the handles too, just a simple chain stitch and tied them on so it can be hung like an ornament.  The rickrack die is from PTI. 

We placed large candy canes in these mittens. 

We assembled all the goody bags tonight.  My younger son helped too.  We also added a small paddle ball toy that I bought again at Walmart when they were having their Halloween sale.  I bought a pack of 6 for just a quarter.  The colors are all Halloween colors like purple, orange and green but hey, it's so cheap!  My older son colored all the tags for the bags and wrote his friends' names on them.  I used PTI's Tiny Treats again.  The Tiny Treats series of stamps are so cute and fun for the kids to color.

The Trevor stamp is still up for grabs if anyone wants it.  Just leave me a comment saying you want it and will give it a good home.

Thanks for reading and hope you're having a great week!

TGF Heart Journaling--week 20

Hi!  It's week 20 now of TGF's Heart Journaling.  The assignment is to create a page based on a dream, goal or wish.  I created a page based on my son's dream of a white Christmas.  He has been telling me a lot lately that he wants to see snow and build a snowman so hopefully one year we will go on vacation to do just that.  Though I don't know if I would really enjoy the freezing weather.  We're too spoiled here with nice weather all year long.

I used PTI's tree die and cut some fun foam with it.  I used the fun foam tree like a stamp and stamped a bunch of trees together.  I really like how the trees turned out.  I added some flower soft for the snow on the trees and added some stickles too.  The rest are stickers from Echo Park's Everybody Loves Christmas set.  I think this scene fits perfectly with what my son would like to see one day. 

Wow, I can't believe I've been keeping up with this journal!  It seems the days are going by super fast.  I can't keep up with all the activities!  It doesn't help too that I can't seem to stay awake past 11 anymore.  I just need to sleep. 

Thanks for reading!

Have a Joyous Holiday!

I actually made another holiday card! Kind of the same idea as the other one, pretty much using the same things. I used the same snowflake stamp set from Hero Arts. However, this time I used white embossing powder on PTI Pure Poppy cardstock. Again, it was a little messy, hopefully the little specks of white, aren't too obvious in the photo. Again, same Sizzlit die cut set for the sentiment. This is the one I initially tried to emboss in black but it came out way too spotty with black embossing powder all over the place so I just stamped it in black ink. The sentiment also came in the Hero Arts prize package.
I just noticed Jennifer McGuire's blog entry about a powder tool that she said she uses prior to embossing. Maybe I'll just try more baby powder next time.

The snowflake is a chipboard piece from Maya Road that I pressed into the versamark ink then sprinkled with white embossing powder. I think the embossed layer wasn't thick enough, but I covered the whole thing up with some Stickles. Then there's a button from PTI and some sheer white ribbon tied on. I guess the whole snowflake looks a little white, but oh well, I didn't have any red buttons and I didn't look too hard for red ribbon since the white one looked easy to thread through the button.

Gee, where has November gone? Now I have to remember to buy our Christmas tree at some point soon since Eva reminded me with her already nicely decorated tree!

Apple Notecards for Teachers

Hi!  Made some notecards for my kids' teachers for Xmas.  Same idea as last year!  But the teachers receiving them are different.  I used each of the apple designs from PTI's Teacher's Apple stamp set on cream cardstock and envelopes.

Wrapped up 12 notecards and envelopes for each of the teachers. 

I stamped their names beneath the apples using Just Rite stampers tiny alphabet set.

I've had the above stamp for a few months now and I haven't used it yet so I'd like to give it away.  I don't think we have that many readers so I'll send this stamp to the first person that leaves a comment on this post (not including Cheryl, of course).  Sorry, but I think I have to limit this to the US only.  Hope someone can put this stamp to good use.

Thanks for reading and have a great week!