In no particular order....Lol!

Geesh! I sure am jumping all over the place with TGF's 12 Days of Skeches. This one is sketch #8. I was going to just go down the line, but I saw this already stamped Lolli Anya and an idea sprang into my little noggin. ;)

I'm doing absolutely NOTHING for New Year's tonight and I excited!! This is usually the one holiday that I want off, but I just wasn't feeling it this year.....plus I could use the double time and a half! Need to buy the new TGF releases right?! ;) Plus, I hope to put in some serious crafting tonight and catch up on the 12 Days sketches.

Hope you all have a terrific and safe New Year!

Materials
Stamps: TGF-Lolli Anya, CTMH-sentiment
Paper: BG Lemonade, CTMH cs
Other: CTMH inks, Copics, Heidi Swapp chipboard heart, Stickles, CB folder, sparkles, foam tape

12 Days of Sketches #6 & FFF

Wow! This is a LATE post! I love when my Brother comes home, but man! I need some craft time! I wasn't even able to check my e-mail for almost a week with how busy we've been! (is that enough exclamations for you? *wink*) Don't get me wrong....I am glad to be spending time with him and other family members this season though.

So here's my quick scramble to complete this card for The Greeting Farm's 12 Days of Sketches #6, which is also the sketch for their Farm Fresh Friday (that's due today-yikes!). Yet another Bree. Are you bored of seeing her yet? ;)

I was able to use my new apron punch that I got for half off at a craft store in Wenatchee when my family and I went to Leavenworth this last weekend. Everything I got was at LEAST 50% off!! We had fun enjoying the snow and the Bavarian style of Leavenworth. I like to go for their tree lighting ceremony when they light up the whole town for Christmas. It's lots of fun!

Materials

Stamps: TGF-Bree, CTMH-sentiment

Paper: BG Lemonade, CTMH cs

Other: CTMH inks and ribbon, Copics, CB folder, EK punch, Coluzzle, Stickles, foam tape

12 Days of Sketches #5

Here's my shot at TGF's 12 Days of Sketchs #5. This one called for a square card, which I don't make that often, but after today I think you might be seeing more of them. ;) I used another one of my Reeta images I colored a lot of last week. Love her!

Materials

Stamps: TGF--Reeta, CTMH--For All Occasions

Paper: BG Nook & Pantry, CTMH cs,

Other: CTMH inks and window charm, Copics

12 Days of Sketches #4

One more Rockstar Anya image to use up. This one uses the same papers as my other Rockstar cards (with the exception of the BG paper), but with using this sketch from TGF's challenge, it gives it a totally different look. Lots of layers with a nice simple layout.

Go on over to The Greeting Farm and check out their way cool "12 Days of Sketches" challenge. The ENTIRE January release is up for grabs!!

Materials
Stamps: TGF-Rockstar Anya, Any Says

Paper: CTMH cs, BG, Bo Bunny, misc.

Other: Copics, CTMH rhinstones and ink, CB folder, foam tape.

Giving at Christmas

Now that it's the day after Christmas, I can finally share with you what I made my family for Christmas. I always make a handmade gift every year. This season has been really hard for me to get anything done, so I wanted to make something super simple for me. ;)

The first are magnets made from vase marbles, scrap paper (yay!) and stamps. Super easy! Just cut the paper to size, stamp on them, then attach to marble (I used Liquid Glass--the best!), and then attached a magnet on the back. Packaged them in these cute tins I found, then decorated the outside.

For the second part of my gift, I made photo/memo holders using binder clips, scrap paper, and embellishments. Another super easy gift. Just cut the paper to size, glue to binder clip (I used my 3M tape-gun), and embellish. I made two "girl" versions and two "boy" versions. They're really cool mounted with foam tape on top of a computer moniter or anything like that.

Hope you all had a great Christmas yesterday! Spending time with family is so precious to me. Especially with my brother being home. This will be his last time home before he goes back to Afganistan for his forth tour in March. He's in the 101st Airborne of the Army out of Fort Campbell KY and after doing three tours, he's really made us all realize how important it is to spend time with those you love while you still can. Never know what tomorrow will bring.

Merry Christmas!!!

....from me and my cat Simon! I made this card to showcase why I original bought Reeta: to color her and her cat like me and my cat. So fun and cute!

Materials

Stamps: Reeta-TGF, Say It In Style-CTMH

Paper: Eskimo Kisses-BG, CTMH cs

Other: Copics, CTMH ribbon and inks, foam tape

Hope you all have a truly joyful holiday full of love and fantastic memories with those that you love. I worked this morning, but now I'm off with the Fam down to Auburn to have Christmas at our friends house. They usually come to our holidays since they don't have family here, but they wanted to host Christmas this year. Can't wait for Grandma's sweet potato puffs! YUM!!

Can't stop rockin'

I decided to use up these Rockstar Anya images I colored quite a while ago when I first ever played with Copics. Explains the not-so-great coloring job. Amazing how much I've learned just practicing with my Copics as far as layering color and blending.

Another reason for these cards.....I got my *new* CTMH stamps from the next Idea Book releasing January 1st! One of the "must haves" when I first looked through the catalog was this houndstooth background stamp. I was sooooo excited that it was in there! I {heart} houndstooth!! And of course I had to pair it with my houndstooth CB folder!

Materials

Stamps: Rockstar Anya, Anya Says-TGF

Paper: Bo Bunny, CTMH cs

Other: Copics, CB folder, CTMH inks and corner rounder, Prima flowers, sparkles.

12 Days of Sketches #3

Yeah, I know.....what happened to sketch #2? Well I wasn't feeling it yet, so I moved onto the third one first. Something about the ovals. Never been a big fan. Must be why I don't own any.

Bree is so cute and fun! I stamped and colored four different Brees the other night, so you'll be seeing more of her soon.

Materials

Stamps: Bree-TGF, Say It In Style-CTMH

Papers: Indian Summer-BG, CTMH cs

Other: Copics; CTMH inks, edge distresser embossing stylus and brads

My brother came home on Monday, and I've been trying to sneek in crafting time while he's here. ;) I think my cold is finally going away too. Trying to work 11 days in a row with a cold, during the holidays, has not been fun. Can't wait for January!

12 Days of Sketches/FFF

Over at The Greeting Farm blog, they're having "12 Days of Sketches" and the first one is also an entry for this week's Farm Fresh Friday. Now, the original sketch uses an oval for the main image, but I don't have any oval die-cuts. Reeta is one of my favorite TGF stamps. Guess since I'm a cat person. I'll have another Reeta to share this week too, so stay tuned.

Materials

Stamps: Reeta--TGF

Paper: Basic Grey Indian Summer, CTMH cs

Other: Copics; argyle CB folder; Nesties; CTMH ink, ribbon, button, edge distresser, sanding kit

Yay!! Nota won The Sing Off!! All the three finalists were great last night, but I was torn between Nota and the Bubs. Now my only show-choir fix will be a Glee 2 hour rerun this Wednesday...that is until their DVD comes out.

Using scrap 3

Here's the last of my cards using up my Evensong paper. This one is nice and simple, but I love it. Used up another MyStickease too with the sticker flower.

It's Survivor Finale tonight!! Can't believe it's here already! What am I going to do after ALL my shows are done for the season?! Guess I'll put that Netflix subscription to great use. ;)

Materials: All CTMH. Evensong L2pp and MyStickease, Evergreen ss, olive ink.

Other: Misc. ribbon, foam tape.

Using scrap 2

Using my favorite layout by Amy again while using up that Evensong paper. When I first finished this card, I loved the ribbon on the trees, but now I don't know......

Another house warming party tonight. This time it's Josie, and she has a very quaint place by herself--no men! ;) A house warming at a chef's home can't be bad right? Yum!

Materials: All CTMH. Evensong L2pp, Evergreen ss, Say It In Style ss, olive ink, white daisy grosgrain ribbon, corner rounder.

Other: Foam tape

Using scrap

I used the LAST of a paper pack this week making these cards for co-workers. This Evensong paper was fun, but I was really sick of it when I was all done. ;) I even used up the last of the matching MyStickease! Case in point: The red/green strip across is actually the negative space left behind from two border stickers that I put to good use. Go Green!

Materials: All CTMH. Evensong L2pp and MyStickease, Evergreen ss, Thoughtful Seasons ss, olive ink.

Felicity CASE

On the 15th, a cool promotion started with Close To My Heart for January's National Paper Crafting Month. This kit comes with awesome double-sided designer paper, large die-cut paper, and a super cute D-size stamp set that even includes a FULL alphabet! This kit is so fun. It's what I used when I created this card last week.

Hopefully I'll have time soon to play with it some more and show you how versitile this kit is. I did make this Layout below. It was super easy! If you want to know how to get your hands on it, let me know!

Christmas Card Class part 2

Sorry I'm late getting this post up. I'm starting to get in that phase this time of year where I just want to come home after work and veg. Working retail during the holidays really takes it's toll on me; which also equals no day off until AFTER Christmas. Grrrr!



This first card is a continuation from yesterday's post of my cards from this month's card class. The image is stamped in Bamboo ink and then colored over with colored pencils. I got this idea from Close To My Heart's website where they have cool video tutorials. I also wanted to show them how to make a "square" bow. This card was the favorite of the group.


This second card was inspired by my blogging friend, Michelle. She's an awesome artist and her version is definitely better than mine. ;) The class was a little confused when they were only given two pieces of paper for this card, but they were also amazed at what it created.


I'm just going to set up a stretch of auto-posts for a while so I don't neglect my blogging friends. On a brighter note....I found somewhat of a surrogate for my Glee vacancy. "The Sing Off" on NBC is kinda like if Glee and American Idol had a baby. It showcases a Capella groups that compete to be the best. So fun! Too bad it only last a week. It'll work until Glee comes out on DVD. ;)

Materials: All CTMH. Jingle L2pp, Heartfelt ss, Snow Flurries ss, Evergreen ss, Holiday Commentary ss. Juniper, bamboo, and crystal blue inks, cranberry brads, white daisy and juniper grosgrain ribbon, sponge.
Other: Foam tape.

December card class

Here are two of the items we made at card class this last Thursday. I'll share the other two tomorrow.....gotta extend the posts as far as possible, right? ;)

This first one is one of the 3 cards I designed for the class. "Snow Friends" was one of the favorites of those in the class, so I decided to have one of the cards to use an image from that set. Isn't he cute?! The juniper cardstock is stamped with white ink (which I found out CTMH discontiued the die-based white. BOO!) and the image is colored in with colored pencils.

This cool gift card holder is a super cool idea from Nona. She also has a video tutorial on how to make them. Super easy and fun to personalize! It was totally a hit at the class and I even had one member making more on her own at home. I love when they retain what they learn! ;)

Materials: All CTMH. Jingle L2pp, white daisy and juniper cs, Snow Friends ss, Snow Flurries ss, Just For The Holidays ss, Juniper, tulip, black and white daisy inks, juniper grosgrain ribbon, sponge, corner rounder.

Other: Crayola colored pencils, foam tape, staples.

Club Anya Blog Hop!!

Welcome to my contribution to the Club Anya Blog Hop! For the complete list of all the lovely ladies playing along the hop today, visit the Club Anya blog here. You can also follow along with all the excitement on their Paper Craft Planet page here.

So for my card, of course I had to use Miss Snow Anya. She goes perfect with my BG Eskimo Kisses paper. For the metal snowflake, I inked it with white pigment ink and heat-setted it, then inked it again with CTMH Juniper ink.

This is also my entry for this weeks Farm Fresh Friday over at The Greeting Farm. This week's challenge is K.I.S.S.--Keep It Simply Shaped. Only straight lines, no Nesties or other cut-outs and simple embellishments. Hope you enjoy my creation for this hop!

Materials

Stamps: TGF Miss Snow Anya, CTMH Simple Stitches and Snow Flurries

Paper: BG Eskimo Kisses, CTMH cs

Other: CTMH inks and rhinestone, Copics, MM snoflake, Sakura Gellyroll stardust pen, sponge, foam tape

Special request; baby girl

So, I made yesterday's card, only to find out later that Josie also needed a baby girl card. Who am I to deny a friend? Plus, it gave me a chance to use this fun paper and stamp set that is CTMH's exclusive kit for National Papercrafting Month. Made for a super cute card I think!

It's my friend Becky's house-warming/ugly sweater party tonight. She's the one I made these invites for. Can't wait to wear this totally horrid sweater I found at a garage sale this summer complete with shoulder pads. Gotta love sweaters with shoulder pads and stitched on embellishments! Lol!

Materials: All CTMH. Felicity paper/stamp kit. Cocoa, sorbet, and barn red inks. Sentiment uses 3 different stamp sets (need to find this sentiment somewhere). Colonial white cs, sorbet ribbon.

Other: Coluzzle, foam tape.

Special request; baby boy

My good friend Josie called me the other day and asked me to make a card for here cousin who just had a 10lb, yes 10lb, baby boy. Thank goodness for c-section! Animal Cookies always makes for a fun and vibrant card.

Materials: All CTMH. Animal Cookies L2pp, Jingle L2 pp, Nursery Bash ss, Sweet Baby ss, outdoor denim ink.

Other: Copics, Memento ink, foam tape.

Unscripted sketch w/ FFF

This is my first take on an Unscripted Sketches challenge #34. I didn't follow it to the "T", but oh well. Not one of my best cards either. It also ties in last Friday's Farm Fresh Friday color challenge of "chocolate chip, kiwi kiss, baja breeze, and whisper white". What?! SU! colors?! Someone needs to talk to Marie and Jessica! ;)

I've had this old, old DCWV paper sitting around and wanted to use it up. If you look closely, you can tell this was one of the images I inked with CTMH ink before I learned about Copics and inks. Thanks Nona for this cute image though! And thank goodness TGF gallery is the one that hosts the images for the challenges so I can post this a day later than the due date! Hee hee!

Survivor and Bones tonight! Too bad I have my monthly card class tonight and won't be able to watch them. :( The trick is to watch them online before I go to work in the morning and my co-workers try to tell me all the details. I swear they do it on purpose!

Materials

Stamps: TGF HG Snuggle, CTMH sentiment

Paper: DCWV dp, CTMH cs

Other: CTMH bitty brads and inks, misc. ribbon, Copics, foam tape

Not so Eskimo...

I love how vesitile Basic Grey papers can be. This card for instance, uses Eskimo Kisses dp as the background, but it doesn't look "Christmas-y" at all. Fun fun!

Can't believe it's the LAST episode of Glee tonight!! WWAAAHH!!! D: *crying silent tears*

Hope it's everything this great season has built it up to be. April is soooo far away. Hope it comes out on DVD fast so I can get my fix whenever!

Materials

Stamps: TGF Birthday Anya, CTMH sentiment

Paper: BG Eskimo kisses, CTMH cs and pink dot dp

Other: Memento ink, CTMH ink, Copics, Nesties, Prima flowers, PTI button, foam tape

Ahhhh...

Hee hee! Isn't this Me Time Anya cute? I thought this would work well with my pearlized paper and my leftover BG paper.

I'm so ready to take a long HOT bath myself. I'm already tired of it being cold. It was 17 degrees when I left for work this morning. I love the sunshine during the day, but man! So cold! At least it's not snowing.

Materials

Stamps: Me Time Anya-TGF

Paper: BG Eskimo Kisses, CTMH cs, misc. pearl paper

Other: CTMH Ribbon and buttons, Memento ink, Copics

Overdue thank you

My friend Kate that's in Ladies Oriental Shrine with me was very gracious last month and gave me a 4' greeting card rack from her old store she used to have. I was late getting this thank you card to her mostly because I was waiting for this water lily stamp I ordered from TGF to arrive. The water lily is the emblem of LOS and I knew she would appreciate it.

Materials
Stamps: Me Time Anya-TGF, sentiment-CTMH
Paper: MME dp, CTMH cs, pearlized cardstock
Other: Scallop Nesties, liquid pearls, Stazon ink, Copics, Memento ink, EK scallop border punch, foam tape.

A little inspiration...

I was looking at all of my daily blog reads the other day and came across this layout on Teresa Kline's blog by the Verve gals. It looked like it'd be fun to try out, so here's my take:

I did about four different things for the main image. I kept making something, not liking it, and throwing it out. I finally settled on this final image. The background paper is just stamped cs.

Going to a cool fundraiser in downtown Seattle tonight with my friend Josie. It's put on my Lara at The Sweet Spot to benifit local charities. There's going to be local music, good food, and drinks. I love doing things that help others. Tonight's going to be rad!

Materials: All CTMH. "Just for the holidays" ss, "Snow Flurries" ss, NE ivy and white daisy cs, Evensong and Jingle L2pps, cranberry and olive inks,EK corner rounder, sponge.

Other: Liquid pearls, EK scallop border and circle punches, foam tape.

Visions of sugarplums...

Lolli Anya, take two. I thought using her for a Christmas card would be fun. Same layout and stamp as yesterdays post, but a totally different look. You can't really tell from the picture, but the sentiment says "sweet" holidays.

Another great night of shows lined up tonight. Can't wait to see what shenanigans Russel stirs up tonight on Survivor. Love to hate him.

Materials:

Stamps--Lolli Anya and "sweet" sentiment-TGF, "holidays" sentiment and stitches-CTMH

Paper--Eskimo Kisses-BG, dotted paper and cs-CTMH

Other--Copics, Nesties, Memento ink, twinkle brads and inks-CTMH

Lollipop, Lollipop, oh Lolli, Lolli, Lolli...

Hee hee! Isn't she soooo cute?! I totally had that song in my head as I was coloring her. When I first saw Lolli Anya at TGF, I had to have her. So fun! Totally perfect for making cards for The Sweet Spot too!

You know what else is sweet? That Glee is on tonight! I can't wait! I'm also sad though since this is one of the last two episodes of the season. :( Hopefully it's popular enough to come back!

Materials:

Stamps-Lolli Anya-TGF, sentiment-Makng Memories

Paper--Basic Grey Lemonade, CTMH cardstock and dotted dp

Other--CTMH inks, brads, and glitter; Copics; Nestie Labels 1; Unibal white gel pen; foam tape

I {heart} kraft paper....

....can you tell? ;) Still loving the white ink on kraft. I like how this card turned out. Easy and fun. Aren't those apoxy stickers cool?!

Materials: Sweet November stamp; kraft paper; CTMH sentiment and inks; copics; apoxy stickers; foam tape.

Happy Birthday Nona!!

It's Nona's birthday today! I actually gave her this card on Saturday when a couple of us got together for sushi and some crafty time. It was a very fun day and an early birthday celebration for Nona. Hope you had a fun day Nona!

I made this card using my fun Birthday Anya stamp. This was one of the first images I colored with my Copics, and as you can tell....I didn't have very many colors my first shipment. Can you say monochromatic? ;) I made it work though with lots of color layering and adding sparkle and some fun liquid applique. I forgot how fun that applique could be!

Materials: Birthday Anya-TGF; Basic Grey Indian Summer dp; CTMH cs, edge distresser, sanding kit and inks; Nesties; Coluzzle; liquid applique; sentiment-Amuse; Primas; Sakura "clear star" pen; misc. buttons; foam tape.

Yay to applique!

See how fun it is?! When I saw this Miss Anya, I knew I had to use it for the fur accents. This was just an easy layout with a few button accents.

Can't wait for The Amazing Race tonight! I still don't know who I want to win since I was cheering for the father/son duo, Gary & Matt. Maybe the brothers, but I like the Globetrotters too. Definately NOT Brian & Erika. Her prissy attitude annoys me.

Materials: Miss Anya-TGF; BG Eskimo Kisses dp; CTMH sentiment, inks, buttons, liquid applique; foam tape.

Snow Flurries

When I won this Snow Flurries stamp set at convention, I already had an idea of how to use them. Kraft paper+white ink. I'm in love! Add yet another Sweet November fairy, and tah-dah! Super cute card!

Materials: Sweet November stamp; kraft paper; CTMH Snow Flurries, inks, twinkle brads; BG Eskimo Kisses dp; sentiment by sassy stamps; foam tape.

Fun with felt

I found this fun snowflake felt ribbon at my local craft store. Isn't it cute?! I'm still loving my Sweet November stamps. You'll be seeing a lot of them, sorry...and to bad! Lol! ;)

Materials: Sweet November stamps; kraft paper; BG Eskimo Kisses dp; CTMH cs, ink, twinkle brads, corner rounder and sentiment; copics; signo white pen.

"Sweet" Christmas

Quick post. I made these using Amy's fun Sweet November stamps. I LOVE these and can't wait for the next release on Dec. 7th! These use a super simple layout and just a little embellishment. There going for sale at The Sweet Spot.

***BLOG CANDY ALERT!!*** Amy is giving a prize pack including one of her as-yet-unreleased Sweet November stamp! Stop by her blog here to check it out!

Materials: Sweet November stamps; Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses dp; copic markers; CTMH cs, inks, sentiments; pearls-Michael's; misc. ribbon; sponge.

Housewarming invitations

My good friend Becky bought her first house this month. Yea!! It took a long time, and some seller issues, before she finally found "The One". And let me tell you....it's gorgeous! In honor of her new life step, her and her boyfriend are having a housewarming/Ugly Sweater party next month and she asked me to make some invites.

Yet again, Amy's layout is used. I also had the perfect stamp set to create these. Becky loved how I tied the house with the Christmas paper to tie the two themes of her party together. I love how I used liquid glass in the windows to make them look like window glass. ;)

Materials: All CTMH. Jingle L2pp; Neighborhood ss; Sans Alpha ss; olive, crystal blue, and tulip inks; liquid glass; corner rounder.

Other: Coluzzle.

Christmas Card Workshop examples

Here are examples of the cards customers made for my 2nd annual Christmas Card Workshop. They made eight of each design. It was a lot of fun watching some new customers find the joy of card making and learn how easy Close To My Heart products are to use.

Materials: All CTMH. Jingle L2pp; crystal blue cs; Heartfelt Christmas ss; Christmas Melodies ss; Holiday Commentary ss; juniper, olive, black, tulip, and crystal blue inks; cranberry brads; sparkles; liquid glass; paper piercer; edge distresser.

Other: Coluzzle.

Yea!! Sweet November!

So my Sweet November stamps arrived a while ago and I've FINALLY had time to play! I'm soooo happy that Amy was able to get her awesome drawings into rubber! Congrats Amy! I also used one of my favorite card layouts that Amy does. So easy, and a great way to use up scraps.

This was also my first go at using some of my new Copic markers. It'll take awhile to get use to blending and shading, but I love them! Can't believe I waited so long!

I also bought a $120 Ott-lite for only $30 at my local Tuesday Mornings! I love how much better it is to work under this light and also how well my photos turn out. This will help a lot since whatever daylight we get here in the rainy Pacific NW is already gone shortly after I get home. :( So dreary out, but I love the rain.

Materials: All CTMH. Jingle L2pp, Evensong L2pp, white daisy cs, Say it in Style ss, olive and crystal blue inks, cranberry ribbon, corner punch.

Other: SWEET NOVEMBER STAMPS!! Copics, $1 bin sparkles, Coluzzle, foam tape.