A Little Christmas Cheer to End the Year

Hi Everyone! Yes, yes, I know Christmas is over. Thing is, I have had these pics on my camera for a few weeks and haven't had time to post. So here it all is!

As I have been saying and saying, I want to make a Christmas village. So I made another house to go into it. It doesn't fit the same theme of papers as my house from last year, but I figured it was how all the houses will end up being anyway. As much as I love the one I made the one I made last year, I LOVE this one even more!

Here are the pics:

I am totally in love with picnik. It's so easy to use, it's free and it's tons of fun. As you can tell from the pictures, I was playing around with adding the words to my photos. Not to mention this paper from Crate Paper makes me want to use the 1960s photo edit to every picture of projects made with it! 

Here are all the supplies used to make the house:

Deco Podge House - Hobby Lobby {mid size}

Patterned Paper - Crate Paper

Cardstock - Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip {used for reindeer}

Mini Ornaments, Bells and Lights - Michael's Crafts

Mini Jingle Bells - Stampin' Up!

Baker's Twine - my stash

Ribbon - Stampin' Up, Michael's

Cricut Cartridges - Cindy Loo {reindeer reins, flourish below roof}, Christmas Cheer {sleigh, reindeer, wreath}, Forever Young {flower on Santa's sleigh}

Pre-made Cutouts - Crate Paper {Santa and Tree}

Jewels and Half Pearls - Stampin' Up!, Reflections; Doodlebug Designs

Border Punches - Stampin' Up!, Martha Stewart

Punch - EK Success {corner rounder to make large scallop trim below roof}

Glues - Mod Podge, Crystal Effects, glue gun

Well, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! We sure did. I asked Peyton what her favorite present was and she said, "Everything Mom. I love everything!" It made my Christmas for sure.

Happy New Year!

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Thank You Cards Bundle

Hi Everyone! I made these thank you cards a while back. They were a requested order. I think they turned out pretty cute. I love small cards, as I have said many times before. These cards are all made by Stampin' Up! And they have coordinating envelopes for each that fit perfectly. They are all retired cards, so you can't order these particular ones anymore. But they still do have some currently in their catalog.

Here are the ones I made:

Stampin' Up!; Cricut, Baker's Twine, October Afternoon

Stampin' Up!

Stampin' Up, Cricut, May Arts, Target $1 Spot

Stampin' Up!; October Afternoon; My Mind's Eye; Cricut

These cards were all really simple and fun to make. My favorite turned out to be the button one. But I actually loved all of them.

I have Friday off this week, so 4 more working days, then 4 days off!!!

Packaging and Sugar Cookies - What Could Be Better

Hi Everyone! Are you all ready for Christmas? I'm getting close. A few loose ends to tie up. But lots and lots of presents to wrap.

Last night, my mom had me wrap a present for her work Christmas party. What's inside is pretty cute, but I think the packaging turned out pretty cute too!!!!

Thanks to Amber, I am obsessed with making these bows on anything I can. And then I have been having more fun adding mini ornaments or regular size ornaments to them! I like to add some of the tinsel ribbon and silver elastic cord too. Or even baker's twine. I add as much ribbon and tulle as I want and always a little bit of type style paper, or a book page. Sometimes I will distress the paper with ink. A lot of times, I have just left it plain. The last touch is usually a little tag of some kind. And walah! There you have it! A fun and festive package just ready to be given away!

So this week, Peyton and I made sugar cookies. It was a lot of fun and very messy!! She wasn't crazy about frosting the cookies, but she loved the cookie cutter part, playing in the flour and topping the cookies with sprinkles! Okay, love is an understatement! She went crazy and went through a whole bottle of sprinkles. It was pretty funny.

It started off calm. Peyton didn't like the sour cream frosting, so I frosted some with chocolate frosting just for her. 

She decided on the pink and purple Barbie sprinkles that we still had. And then she wanted to mix it up with the Christmas sprinkles too :).

It is so hard to get a picture of Peyton looking at the camera. She just doesn't do it usually. All of our tricks to get her to, usually fail. So she sort of has scary eyes in this picture, but she is actually looking at the camera!

There ended up being more sprinkles on the plate than there were on the cookies!!!! It was pretty funny. And really pretty cute.

We are making cookies this week for the neighbors, so wish me luck that I don't run completely out of sprinkles before we get them all done! This time around I am making gingerbread cookies! Yum, yum!

Hope you all have a great last week before Christmas! 

Christmas Banner

Hi Everyone!

Hope you are all having a crafty and wonderful holiday season. Last night we took Peyton to see Christmas lights at Temple Square. It was cold, but we bundled up warmly and had a lot of fun. It has been a while since we had ventured downtown Salt Lake so it was great to see all the changes that have been going on there. It's going to be really nice when it's all finished. Hopefully it will help bring back small businesses when it's all finished too. All the construction didn't stop there from being Christmas decorations everywhere!!!

So for my sister's baby shower, I borrowed my friend, Marci's standard Cricut. She also let me use some of her lettering cartridges. They came in super handy. And I admit, I totally fell in love with it! So I started talking to my mom about it, and sure enough, that's the very thing she got me for Christmas! I got the standard Cricut too, thinking of price and portability as the key factors. After I had it, I started looking more and more into the Cricut, and found a brand new one they came out with recently called the Cricut Mini. So I have decided to list mine for sale - along with a few other things - on the local classified listing site, ksl.com. And then I am going to get the Mini. I am pretty excited either way though.

But enough about that...

I have been a busy little beaver making all sorts of fun things with my Cricut. Thanks to being trampled on Black Friday, for $10 cartridges, borrower some from Marci, and my hubby's cousin's Bea and Thia, I have been able to do quite a lot. I went down to the American Crafts Warehouse Sale that is going on this entire month and picked up really cute paper by Crate Paper super cheap. I brought it home, and made a darling banner with it!!!

What I love most about the Cricut is how much you can do with just one cartridge.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics Textured, Stampin' Up!
Patterned Paper - Crate Paper
Die Cut Machine - Cricut
Cartridges - Christmas Cheer,
Ribbon - Mostly my stash, May Arts, Stampin' Up!, Offray, tulle, American Crafts, baker's twine, stretchy silver elastic cord is from Stampin' Up!
Little Somethings - bells Stampin' Up!; Red Jewels Reflections; button Autumn Leaves
Adhesives - 3M glue stick, glue gun, foam adhesive, Crystal Effects from Stampin' Up!

Cutest Tree Hugger Ever!

Peyton loved all the lights, but she was slightly disappointed by the lack of blue lights! I know, she is pretty silly. So when we found some blue trees though, she was pretty excited. She ran right up to one so we could take her picture in it.

The Reason for the Season

Part of the road was converted into this garden at the side of Temple Square. It was sort of a big controversy here when it all happened. Literally, the road was torn out and a garden was put in, so traffic has to go around now to get down the road, instead of being able to go through like they used to. I have to admit, it is rather beautiful though. And right now, with it being Christmas and all, they have the big tree, you can see in the distance, plus animals, shepherds, Mary, Joseph, baby Jesus and lights everywhere. I love the little bubble lights on top of the water. Those were my favorite. I was really happy, that despite all the people around, I was able to actually get this photo. It's so peaceful and it's such a great reminder what all the fuss around this time of year is actually all about.

Hope you are all enjoying your holidays this year!! Merry Christmas!

P.S. All the photo editing was done using picnik.com. Check it out! It's a great site and it's free!

It's Your Day Card - Made From Scraps

Hi Everyone! How was your Halloween? We had a lot of fun! Last Saturday we went to Thanksgiving Point for a little Halloween fun. They do something fun for the toddlers called Barnyard Boo. They transform the little petting zoo into fun little games and activities. We had a great time!

Halloween is also Thong's birthday, so it's double duty for us. This year though we just concentrated on trick-or-treating. A LOT OF TRICK-OR-TREATING! Thong took Peyton to the mall, then we went around our little neighborhood, so Pey could go to her little friends houses. And then finally we ended up at my brothers house and went around with a big group of people that usually come out for the festivities. His neighborhood has a small handful of houses that go all out for Halloween decorating. The kids get totally freaked out and it's really entertaining to see all the spooky decorations people get out.  I LOVE Halloween!

Before I show you my card, here are a few of my favorite fall photo's of Peyton:


This is taken at a local pumpkin patch. They have a bunch of tractors, pumpkins, corn stalks, an old truck, this old trailor and other fun things that work as great photo props. I liked how the sun came into this photo.



Same trailer as above, but from the open end. She looks thoughtful, but really she is just thinking "Why are you making me stand up here mom!"

 

Isn't this old truck so cool! It's hard to tell, but the whole bed is filled with Pumpkins!

 

Probably my favorite picture from this whole day - and we took over 300 pics! I love the lighting on Peyton's face, and I love her expression. Even though I know she looks so much like Thong, I see this picture and it feels like I am looking at one of myself taken when I was her age. She has a lot of her mama in her too.

 

My parents took Peyton and my nephew to Disneyland. This was our pre-trip goodbye. She was all ready to go, wearing her Mickey and Minnie t-shirt and her princess mouse ears, so I just had to take some pictures. Of course, all silliness broke loose!

 

This is taken at Thanksgiving Point. There was this little mini western town with just a dance hall or jail. Since Peyton is obsessed with all things girl and princesses and dancing, she was most excited about the dance hall. This is 100% my favorite picture taken that Saturday!



As you can tell from the red nose and cheeks, it was getting cold! This is on the tractor ride.



Right before trick-or-treating. Peyton, Malia and Avery. 3 pretty cute girls! Notice how 2 out of the 3 are princesses! Malia, the one in the middle, She is just as much a princess as the other 2 girls!

I really do love fall. I know I have said it before, but it's true!

Alright, and now to my card made all from scraps! Love it when that works out!

Don't you love when you make something and it becomes your favorite thing ever that you have made! That would be this card! And guess what!! Everything, including the card base itself, is made from scraps! I have really been working hard lately on not just making the decorations for my sister's baby shower coming up in just under 2 weeks, but also on getting my craft room clean and organized. So I went through all of my scraps! Yep, all of them! I have them all separated by patterned paper and cardstock now, and it's so much easier to find what I am looking for! It made putting this card together a much simpler process!

I wish I could remember where I saw the pattern for this card, over the weekend, but it has totally escaped me!  But I couldn't stop thinking about it, and when I was cleaning, I cam across the perfect paper for the card in my head! Don't you love it when that works out!

Here is a quick rundown of the supplies:

Cardstock: Stampin' Up

Patterned Paper: October Afternoon, Fancy Pants {clouds and oval}

Ribbon: my stash {brown and baker's twine}

Punches: scallop border, scallop oval, large oval, small heart, itty bitty flower Stampin' Up!

Button: My Mind's Eye

Glitter Glue: Stickles

Adhesives: 3M glue stick, Pop Dots, foam adhesive and Crystal Effects from Stampin' Up!

Yep, I totally love it :). Now I don't want to give it away to anyone, okay, maybe just not quite yet, anyway.

As a footnote, do you see the jar off to the right side, with my name on it? Amber made it! It was for a little party at her house. She had it filled with M&M's! So I knew I had to put some of my misc. buttons in it when she gave it to me! It's so cute, isn't it!

Alright, everyone! I am off! Enjoy fall while it lasts! Winter is just around the corner!!!!

P.S. I almost forgot to mention, I won the Halloween desk decorating competition! I got a $25 Visa gift card! I was so excited!

Decorating My Desk For Work

Hi Everyone! Are you all as excited for Halloween as I am! {as a side note I am almost finished Christmas shopping for Peyton! Woot Woot!!!} So I thought I would finally show you all my desk at work! We are having a Halloween Desk Decorating Contest, and I finally have everything up that I wanted to get! Well, almost. My ideas are always grand!

I took my BOO letters and girly skull to work, but I made some other things, just for work. I made a few goblets, a spooky tree, and a haunted house {my favorite!}.

Here are the pics:


I fell in love with the new line from Tim Holtz with all these fun Halloween cutouts. This one uses the black skeleton body.  I used the boney hand on the scrapbook page frame that I posted last.

 

Here is the fun bow on the goblet. Get ready to see more of these bows!



This tree is from Michaels. I added the garland, like the same as my tree at home, but this time I added the little bats to it. I am having a hard time finding a small enough light set for it. Maybe next year.



Close-up of the tag on the tree.

I love these fun spiders and the web all over everything! As you can tell, I got pretty crazy over the spiderweb and used it over everything!!!!!! It is too much fun!

Goblet #2. This one has a lollie, scallop circle and another fun label from Authentique. The spider is from last year used on my SPOOKY banner.

 

And her is the tag on the side of the goblet.

My favorite is this little Halloween House! I have been wanting to make one for the longest time, finally, I just made myself do it last night. It was staring at me, and said "Make me into a Halloween house!" So I said "Okay!" You can't tell in the picture, but there is black spider web all over the house.

Here is the top of the house. Another bow! And I love these spiders!

Hi Skully! Ooh, like from X-Files! I just admitted some of my geekiness that I have been hiding! I was a total X-Files nerd! I love a good conspiracy theory, what can I say.

Here are the BOO letters again.



And then everything, including my HALLOWEEN banner and then a felt bat banner from Martha Stewart.

So cross your fingers for me that I win the contest! It's Thursday morning, so I will keep you all posted!

Since there are so many different projects, here are the supplies for everything. If you want more specifics, just leave a comment or email me :).

Patterned Paper: Authentique, Fancy Pants, My Mind's Eye, Stampin' Up!
Cardstock: Bazzil Basics, Stampin' Up!
Ribbon: twine my stash, Offray, Stampin' Up!, May Arts, TriMar, tulle my stash
Die Cut-Outs: Tim Holtz, my stash
Stamps: Imaginisce, Stampin' Up!
Ink: Stampin' Up!, Stazon
Punches: 3/4" circle, 1" circle, Itty Bitty Flower, Small and Large Scallop Circles Stampin' Up
Jewels: Doodlebug Designs
Stickers: Tim Holtz
Buttons: Stampin' Up!
Dies: Stampin' Up for Bigshot
Glitter Glue: Martha Stewart
Glue Mediums: Mod Podge, 3M Gluestick, Elmers Gluestick
Die Cut Letters: Cricut {cut by Amber}
Decopodge Items: Skull Michaels; House Hobby Lobby
Tree: Michaels
Goblets: my stash and Target

I am off! Hope your Halloween is Spook-tacular!

When Witches Go Riding

Hi crafty friends! Hope you are all having a spooky Halloween season! My house has been really quiet this week. My parents took Peyton down to their house in Saint George last Sunday. I have been able to clean my craft room, get some crafting done, and watch some TV that I was behind on! Thong has watched sports non stop - it's his favorite time of year for sure! But boy do we miss our little girl! She is still gone too this whole next week, as well! But Friday, my parents took Peyton and my nephew, O.J., down to Disneyland! I am so jealous!! But I am so excited for her to go and have fun! They went yesterday, and then are going back tomorrow and Tuesday!

Yesterday, I got a call in the afternoon. Peyton was so excited to tell me that she saw Cinderella! When we went earlier this year, we didn't get to see her the whole time, so she could hardly stand it that she got to see her this time! She did say that she didn't get to see Ariel yet, so maybe tomorrow she will get to. Here's hoping!

At work we have been  having a Halloween Desk Decorating competition, so I have been making lots of fun decorations to show off. So far, only some people have been decorating. I did get a few people though to finally decorate theirs later this week. On my next post, I will show you all my desk.

In the mean time, I made one more thing to hang up at home with my Halloween decorations. I had some fun tags made from Fancy Pants left over, along with the rest of the Halloween paper I got this year.

So I made this scrapbook page frame to go with a pic of Peyton from Halloween last year. She was the cutest little witch - if I do say so myself :).

So here are the supplies I used:

Frame: Provo Craft

Paint: Cream acrylic

Distressing Ink: Ranger

Die Cuts: Tim Holtz, Cricut, My Mind's Eye, Authentique

Patterned Paper - My Mind's Eye, Authentique, Fancy Pants, Stampin' Up!

Cardstock: Bazzill Basics

Punch: Martha Stewart border, Small Scallop Circle
Jewels: My stash, Stampin' Up!
Stickers: Tim Holtz
Ribbon: Stampin' Up!, Offray, tulle

I love the boney hand!! As you can see, I had to make another bow, thanks to Amber! She got me addicted to making them! And I love the quote in the center of the layout:

"When witches go riding

And black cats are seen,

The moon laughs and whispers,

'Tis near Halloween."

Totally spooky and great for Halloween!

One more thing before I am off to bed.... One of Peyton's favorite books that is perfect for Halloween season is called "Room On A Broom" by Julia Donaldson. It is such a cute story about a witch and her companions and the adventure they encounter together. It's a really cute story told in verse. If you are looking for a fun Halloween story for your younger children, check this out. It will become a classic for future Halloweens to come!

Stay crafty and hope you have a great Halloween!

Boil Boil Toil and Peyton - Oh, I mean Trouble!

Hi Everyone! Ever have those days when you think your kid is the best kid in the whole entire world and that they can do no wrong! And that you couldn't ever be prouder! Then ever have those days where your kid cries about EVERYTHING non stop all day long and you want to pull your own hair out and ground yourself to your room so you can have a break! Oh, today is so one of those days where the crying just doesn't stop. Today is one of those days where I did almost ground myself to my room just to have a moment of piece and quiet. Ahhh! I feel better now. Thanks for listening! :).

Now on to all that is crafty! So I have been working on a banner for Halloween for a few weeks. I got the pennants all cut out and my black cardstock scored to make lollies. And then I had my friend Amber cut out the letters for me, along with the scallop circles. I am so happy with the way it turned out!!!! I am sure those of you that have been visiting for a while know that I have a hard time just leaving things be. I always have to clutter things up. It's my style. It's what I do :). But I got the lollies, scallop circles and letters on, and then strung the whole thing with ribbon and tulle, and I loved it just as it was! I know, something is seriously wrong with me! I got my Halloween decorations up a week before Halloween and I didn't keep adding more stuff to my banner! Ha! What can I say, I loved it just the way it was.

So here are the pic's:


I love all the fun papers!



This spider was on my high counter, but when I put up the spider-web, I knew it would have to be moved over. Peyton and I decided that it is Aragog and the other small spiders are it's kids!

The spider-web was such a pain to hang up! I have tape all over my pretty banister :(. It didn't want to stay. But finally I got it all up. It's literally all hanging on by a thread.

Here are the banner supplies:

Cardstock - Bazzill Basics
Patterned Paper - Fancy Pants, Authentique, Echo Park
Ribbon - May Arts, my stash, Stampin' Up!
Die Cut Letters - Cricut {Thanks Amber!}

Smallest supply list ever!

After I finished my banner, I was going to start working on my paper mache skull that I got the other day, but I guess I am out of mod podge :(, so I made a little circle garland for my little black Halloween tree. I have been wanting to make one of these for the longest time, and so finally, I just did it!!!

Here are the pic's:

After I added on the garland, I added on a small amount of spider-web and then Peyton and I put on a few spiders! I have been trying to figure out for the longest time what to add to this tree, and I am so glad that the garland worked out so well!!!

Here are the supplies for the garland:

Paper - Fancy Pants, Echo Park, Authentique

Twine - my stash

Glue - Crystal Effects from Stampin' Up!

Punches - 3/4" cirlce, 1" circle from Stampin' Up!

Hope you all are enjoying this Halloween Season!



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