Warmest Birthday Wishes

*This is my second post for today. To see the pennant banner tutorial, please scroll down.*



This has to be one of my favorite cards I have ever made. I love all things felt and those fuzzy mittens turned out really cute, didn't they?   I made sure to save the pattern I drew so I can make more of these cheery little mittens later on. The red felt is glittered - hence the little speckles in the photo.



I made the card for my stepmom's birthday a couple of years ago. When I saw the latest Moxie Fab World Challenge: Fabulous Felt, I knew I wanted to repost it.



Another one of my favorite cards with felt is this happy little tree.  (Anyone else remember watching Bob Ross?)



The tree was a ready-made creation by Basic Grey, but I still think it's adorable, especially all dressed up with these papers and ribbon.

Supplies - Warmest Birthday Wishes Card (felt mittens)
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Bashful Blue), Bazzil Basics (white).
Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy).
Button: Papertrey Ink (Spring Rain).
Other: Stampin' Up! (linen thread), red and light blue felt, white embroidery floss, computer fonts (Honey Script, Times New Roman).

Supplies - Sending Birthday Wishes Card (felt tree)
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Bravo Burgundy, Chocolate Chip, Autumn Vine DSP, Naturals Ivory), Basic Grey (Indian Summer - Acorn.
Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Everyday Button Bits).
Ink: Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip).
Ribbon: Stampin' Up! (Chocolate Chip), rick rack.
Felt Tree: Basic Grey (Indian Summer Woolies).

Homemade Christmas

The Christmas trimmings have been packed away for weeks, but I'm finally making time to post all the sweet, handmade gifts we received this year. Up first, the snowman family my mom crocheted. The middle snowball represents the new baby due to join our family in May. It's wrapped up in a Christmas sock/blanket.


Love the little charm on my scarf. :)


The boys upgraded their snowmen from decorations to playthings.


We had a few weeks of playing Find the Snowman before bedtime every night because I was so afraid that if I went too long without knowing where each snowman was, we'd lose one for good.


My mom also made this game for the boys. It's a two-player game. Each player rolls the dice, then based on what they rolled, puts a star on the board beside the appropriate symbol. The first player to fill up his or her side of the game board wins.


Both boys loved it, especially my three-year-old, who packed the game to take to all his playdates last month. That's my mom on the left side of the picture. Hi Mom!


Next up is this cheery wall hanging quilted by my stepmother. My stepmom actually made this a year ago, but since I didn't post pictures at the time, late is better than never.


Look at the detail in her stitching. Giving the tree trunk and branches texture...


Outlining the berries...and also adding sparkly paint to make the snowflakes extra shimmery.


My friend Jacquie cross-stitched this sweet little ornament for us. When Jacquie came to visit a few months ago, she taught Brighton how to cross stitch. Bless that woman! Brighton may be a quick study, but she has the patience of a saint.


Last but not least, the most quintessential Christmas craft of them all: the gingerbread house.


The boys got good and sugared up decorating these little beauties. My mom bought the supplies when she came to visit and took this as her project with the boys. I was glad for the help. And for the opportunity to snitch all the spearmint gummies while no one was looking.

Neighbor Gift: Spiced Apple Cider

I hate baking. "Hate" is a strong word, I know. But it's true. Last year I got out of baking neighbor gifts by making these. This year I brainstormed all sorts of ideas from bath fizzies to felt ornaments to homemade granola (I don't count that as baking), when my husband suggested we give jars of spiced apricot-apple cider. (Click HERE for the recipe.) Mmmm...I love the way my house smells when I make a batch of cider. Deal!

I found these cute 1 liter bottles at my local Kitchen Kaboodle. I bought out the store's entire inventory - all three. So most of my gifts looked more like this...

quart canning jars.


Top the jar with some patterned paper, add a ribbon and tag, and voila! Still cute.


I designed the tags to pair together and lay well, but they still swing free of each other easily enough to see that the bottom tag has its own note and refrigeration instructions.


The assembly line.


My little helper. :) Since we make gifts for our neighbors and my boys' teachers (school, piano, church), I really like involving my boys in the gift-making process. Plus any time I start a project, my boys want to jump in - like it or not. So it works out well.

Because I poured the cider into the jars while it was hot, the lids sealed tight. After the jars cooled, Brighton added circles of decorative paper to the top and reattached the rings.


Lincoln helped make the cider by pouring ingredients and stirring. But since he's three and needs constant supervision in the kitchen, I didn't dare step away to snap photos.


Keep the box the jars come in so you'll have a way to pack them in your car for delivery day. Here's one case ready to spread Christmas cheer.

Hope you and your family are enjoying the holidays!

Supplies for the tags.
Punches: (apple punch) Martha Stewart, (tag corner punch) Stampin' Up!, Coluzzle circle cutter, (1/8" round hole punch) Fiskars.
Paper: (kraft) Stampin' Up!. I think the red is Bazzill, but it's really close to Stampin' Up!'s Riding Hood Red.
Ribbon: (Riding Hood Red wide striped ribbon, linen thread) Stampin' Up!, tan ribbon bought by the yard at JoAnn.
Font: Honey Script.

Christmas Ribbon Card

I made this many moons ago and thought I'd post it here on the blog-o. I adhered the ribbons with monoadhesive, but if I were to make the card again, I'd stitch a border to keep everything in place more securely.

Supplies
Stamps: (Cute & Curly) Stampin' Up!.
Ink: (Chocolate Chip) Stampin' Up!.
Paper: (Chocolate Chip textured, Naturals Ivory, Always Artichoke) Stampin' Up!.
Punch: (Curly Label Punch) Stampin' Up!.
Accessories: LOTS of ribbon - all from Stampin' Up!, holly from Making Memories.

I'm Published!

This is one of the three cards published in Holiday Cards & More, a publication of Paper Crafts magazine. A 3 for 3 publication record is unheard of, so I count myself both blessed and lucky.


Hey Mom and Dad, you can pick up a copy of the magazine at places like JoAnn's and Barnes & Noble. My cards are on pages 12, 13, and 21.

In other happy news, I have a project accepted by Simply Handmade for their upcoming December/January issue.

Now I'm Ready

The decorations may be put away and all the treats eaten, but until the thank you notes are written, I'm not ready to close the Christmas chapter and move on to the new year.

Here is this year's thank you note. Kraft, like my Christmas cards.



The sentiment is my knock-off of a stamp from Papertrey Ink's Signature Christmas, designed by Dawn McVey. I drafted it up on my computer and printed an entire stack of cards in minutes. I love stamping, but I love being thrifty, too. :)

I think the holly adds just enough umph to dress things up a bit, yet this is still such a simple card.

Hope you all enjoyed your Christmas! And hope you've recovered from all the good times.

Supplies
Paper: Stampin' Up! (kraft).
Brad and leaves: Making Memories.
Other: Stampin' Up! (corner rounder), sentiment printed on my home computer.

The Christmas Spirit

Children's crafts are the best. Merry Christmas!

Note: If the screen settings don't allow the video to play at its intended width, please click here to see it as it should be.

Christmas Notepads and Pencils

Here are the Christmas gifts for our neighbors. We covered notepads with Christmas-y paper, personalized them with each child's name or initials (if the name didn't fit), and added fun jingle bell pencils, made by my boys. We made notepads in red...



and in blue.

Our family receives so many wonderful sweets this time of year, I wanted to make something sugar-free and zero-calorie. I also wanted to involve my children in the gift making process. The bells came as ornaments, with strings for hanging, so Lincoln was in charge of ripping off the strings. We play to our strengths around here - if ripping things apart is your forte, that's your job!



Brighton wrapped pipe cleaners around pencils to make the pencil toppers. My boys LOVE the jingly pencils!



For the babies who are too young for pointy pencils, we bought plush snowmen and added a tag personalized with the baby's initial. Here you see a big brother, little brother gift combo.

We ran out of notepads, so we're giving some families bouquets of jingle pencils and jars of homemade apple cider.

I think my boys' favorite part is delivering the presents. They have to take turns ringing doorbells, deciding who hops out of the car first - all of that. I'm glad they're joyful givers. :)

Hope you're enjoying your holidays! I know we're ready to wind down and start focusing on family time. Take care and merry Christmas!

Fill This Day with Joy

The Christmas cards and done and in the mail. Hooray! Here's what we made this year. It's an oh-so-close knock-off of this beautiful card by Lisa Johnson. Didn't Brighton do a great job with all those red ribbons? He started to fizzle out after about 2/3 of the stack, but he pushed through and boy is he proud of himself!

We're working on neighbor gifts right now. Here's a hint - LOTS of bells jingling in our house today. :) I bet the neighbors are going to LOVE us for giving their children noisy presents - lol.

Supplies
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Kraft, Always Artichoke, Whisper White).
Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Rustic Branches, Everyday Button Bits), Stampin' Up! (Polka Dot).
Ink: Stampin' Up! (Real Red, White Craft, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss).
Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy).
Other: silver brads, hemp twine.

Peace and Joy

We're still making piles of Christmas cards around here, but I took a break from mass-production to make some clean and simple cards with these fuzzy flocked stickers. Some days you just need a change of pace, you know? Hope you enjoyed a peacful Sunday in your neck of the woods. :)

Supplies
Paper: Bazzil Basics (caramel and green), not sure where I got the ivory.
Stickers: K&Company (BW Evergreen Flocked Stickers).
Punch: Stampin' Up! (scallop border, corner rounder).
Ribbon: Offray (cream 3).

Busy Little Elves

Our household is in Christmas card mode right now. I say "household" because (a) it overtakes half the kitchen, and (b) everybody pitches in. Ben cuts paper. I stamp and tie ribbons and all of those things. Brighton helped this year by threading ribbon and adhering the dimensionals (foam adhesive). Even my friend Heather came over last night to lend emotional support while we worked. :)

We're making almost six dozen cards this year. Phew! But I guess we're blessed to say we count that many families among our friends and loved ones.

Coal Again?

For my slightly-snarky, cat-loving mother-in-law. :) I'm sure she'd love any card with the ever-mischievous Fluffles on it.



ETA - the newest Moxie Fab challenge is up. This challenge theme is all creatures great and small. I have a few Christmas cardinals waiting around begging to get used! However the timing of posting this Fluffles card worked out so well, he's getting entered too. :)



Here's a picture of our own furry friend and his first bought of mischief. Believe me, there have been many! We have the vet bills to prove it. My husband and I had just had a new house built. We hadn't lived there a full week when our pug, Chester, chewed open a ball point pen. Argh! Because he held the pen with his paws while chewing on it, Chester got black ink all over himself. As soon as he got caught, he knew he was in trouble and took off running! Those little paws hold a lot of ink! We had black paw prints stamped all down our hallway and into our living room. Our brand new carpet. *sigh* We now love ChemDry - LOL.

What about you? Any funny or mischievous pet stories to share? I'd love to hear about them. :)

Supplies
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Creamy Caramel, Naturals Ivory). Making Memories (FA LA LA collection). Bazzil Basics (olive and deep red cardstock).
Stamp: Fluffles the Cat Stocking
Ink: Black StazOn, watercolor pencils .
Other: Stampin' Up! (linen thread). Making Memories (holly berry brad and leaves).

Leftover Rub-ons

What do you do with all those leftover rub-ons? Group them together to make a focal image. Clever, eh?

See that supply list? Can't get much shorter than that!

Supplies
Paper: Bazzil Basics (white).
Rub-ons: KI Memories (Good Tidings).
Other: Stampin' Up! (corner rounder).

Christmas Tree

I love this sweet little Christmas tree. It's one of the reasons I bought the pack of rob-ons in the first place.

If you look closely in the bottom corner of the photo, you'll see I finally learned how to add my name and blog address. Yes, I have stepped into the 21st century. :) It makes me realize, though, I really need a better (shorter) blog address. Hmmm...what to do about that?

Supplies
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss). I don't know where I got that yellow - sorry.
Rub-on: KI Memories (Good Tidings).
Other: ribbon, corner rounder.

Old Country Snowflakes

I love the clean, simple, cheery look of this card. The snowflakes have the slightest touch of glitter on them, as if the colors and sweet patterns weren't enough to catch my eye.

This card is also my entry for the latest Moxie Fab World challenge. Cath has the best inpiration photos, so even if you're not a die hard paper crafter, stop on by!

Supplies
Paper: Bazzil Basics.
Rub-ons: KI Memories (Good Tidings).
Ribbon: Stampin' Up! (Old Olive).
Punch: Stampin' Up! (3/16 corner rounder).

Under the Mistletoe

I got to play with the first of my freebies from the Helen Dardick collection. I think these kissing reindeer are too cute! And shaping the card into a circle reminds me of a Christmas ornament. (Though it does tend to roll sideways.)

We're visiting family for Thanksgiving and celebrating an early Christmas while we're there. Between the shopping and preparations, I'm soaking up all things Christmas right now. Enjoy your day!

Supplies
Paper: Bazzill Basics (white). Background paper by KI Memories (Good Tidings - quilt).
Ribbon: Papertrey Ink (Pure Poppy).
Chipboard: Helen Dardik (Dear Santa layered glitter CB sticker).

Christmas Time is {almost} Here

In CraftLand, this is the peak of the Christmas season. I have gifts to make for each of my boys, plus it's time to start whipping up the family Christmas card.

If you're looking for ideas to make your own cards, I love this paper from Making Memories. I think of it as a Christmas damask, and the poinsettias are flocked in such a rich red. Plus if you're looking to mass-produce cards, it doesn't get much easier than this!

The total cost for the papers works out to about 35 cents per card. Add the ribbon and brad, and the card tops a dollar. But you could certainly tie the ribbon into an elegant bow instead of using a brad. (Though that brad is cute, isn't it?)



Have any of you started on your Christmas crafts? I'd love to hear about them. :)

Supplies
Paper: Stampin' Up! (Old Olive, Kiwi Kiss), Making Memories (Poinsettia Flocked Mistletoe).
Ribbon: Stampin' Up! (Kiwi Kiss double-sided satin).
Brad: Making Memories (Brad Combo Mistletoe).
Punch: Stampin' Up! (corner rounder).