Its Beginning to look a lot like Christmas !

Well Christmas in the form of a Secret Santa Swap I was in on the Circle MB that is !

We have done this every year in the Circle...get matched up with another member, share a wish list with the host that sends to your secret santa pal.  We have to include a stocking of course, make 1 hand made item and do some shopping for the person and package it all up pretty to send. It is so fun doing this !!!

Well this year...I was lucky enough to be matched up with Eva aka ScrappyKats.
She is so talented and spoiled me rotten with all the things she did for me.

First off, Eva was super sneaky ! 

The return address said some where in PA but the

postage label said St Charles Missouri. Ha, ha !

And I don't know where she found this adorable and appropriate

NO PEEKING paper with Santas and Penguins on it but it was

perfect for me !  I collect Santas and Penguins too :)

Oh wow..look at all those goodies in there !

  

And the lovely stocking Eva handmade just for me was stuffed full of gifts !

Just look at the detail on that stocking...I was so impressed and

thankful Eva made it herself for me.

And this truly lovely easel card she made....

sorry the pic isn't that great but the card sure was !

 

And this package cracked me up...the note says

"My husband is responsible for this package. Enjoy"

I had no idea what could be inside, it was heavy and lumpy and

I just couldn't even guess what could be in there

but aren't those lollipops on the outside super cute !

Yes, that is 3 lbs...count them...3 lbs of my favorite snack ever...Haribo Gold Gummy Bears !!!.

In comparison on the right is the little puny 8 oz bag I hoard and treat myself too every blue moon !

Now I can have Gummi Bears whenever I want !! 

Eva, Please tell your DH thank you thank you thank you!

And inside the stocking were some of the items I asked for on my wish list...

Washi tape, cricut replacement blades and a refill for my Create A Sticker

Yipeee !!!!

But there was more in that cute No PEEKING PAPER I found the lovely Vintage Finds Collection and more washi tape by Teresa Collins....be still my heart !!  I love this line so much :)

 

Now you would think this would be more than enough for anyone right??? It sure was for me...but then there was more the very generous Eva sent.

Yes, that is a brand new Cricut Pirates and Mermaids cartridge that I had been searching everywhere to get....thank you thank you thank you !! I will be sure to put this to good use very soon !

 

But no, that was not all ...can you belive that?  There were some more handmade items too!

 

This absolutely stunning handmade ornament !

It is so lovely.  And Eva better share how she made it too!

It is like one of those ships in a bottle thing...how did she get that

image to float in the center ?!?!  Inquiring minds want to know !

 

 

And last but not least was this incredibly super adorable little

hen she had sewn for me.  I just love love love her. 

She has got to be the cutest thing I have ever found

in a holiday stocking ! I am going to name her Eva and she will

have a place of honor in my craft studio so I will always remember

my wonderful Secret Santa Swap Partner, Eva...aka ScrappyKats !  

Turkey Anyone ?

With Thanksgiving fast approaching, many of us have Turkey on the brains.  Where to buy one, how big, how many days to defrost, how to prep it, how to cook it, how to carve it, what to do with all those leftovers? ???

 

Well I just have one more question for you.....Which Turkey to WEAR on Thanksgiving Day?

Turkey Prior to Cooking

 

OR

Turkey After Cooking

 

All right, I will let you in a little secret...I bought these adorable Turkey hats at Target for only $2.50.  But shhhh....don't tell the family.  I can hardly wait to surprise the family on Thanksgiving Day.  I think I can wear one when I arrive (Turkey Prior to Cooking) and while we are eating switch hats  (Turkey after Cooking).  What do you think of that idea?!?!

 

Happy Pre-Turkey Day everyone....may your gobble contribute to a wonderful wobble afterwards !

So Very Thankful

With Thanksgiving 2012 only two short weeks away, many of us are already beginning to reflect on what we are thankful for this past year.  And you will see various post on Facebook or Twitter or personal blogs or message boards where people are listing day by day what they are thankful to have in their lives.

 

I am participating in 30 Days of Thankfulness on my Facebook wall.  Every morning since November 1st I have been reflecting on what I am thankful for in my life and posting that thought there for everyone to see...it is nice to take a moment each day and do this. 

 

I made the above card to send to a friend from some items I had laying around on my craft table yesterday.  I am very thankful for my friends and how we help inspire and support each other through good times and bad !

 

So, what are you thankful for today?  For this past year? For the future?   

SYMPATHY for Hurricane Sandy Victims

The tragedy unfolding regarding the east coast Hurricane Sandy victims has been hard to watch. Luckily a lot of my friends along the east coast only received mild damage and their homes are fine and life is returning to somewhat of a normal state for them.

 

However, I do have friends who have significant storm damage to their homes. Their way of life is destroyed.  It breaks my heart to hear and see this through their eyes.  Those of us along the Gulf Coast have seen our share of devastation over the years from Hurricances and felt our own heartaches and sense of loss.

 

I wish there was a way to bring comfort and peace to those going through the disaster recovery efforts now.  I pray that their spirits will continue to be lifted as little by little they will see things returned to normal.

 

One of my Circle friends had 6 ft of water in her own in New York state. She and her family were home during the storm. Thank goodness they live in a two story house and could seek refuge upstairs out of the way of the water and had laid in supplies to help themselves.   Her quaint little town is in bad shape.  Little by little, the power companies are getting the electricity back up.  She is so thankful to have survived the storm and that her family is safe.  While her personal possessions are destroyed, she knows the most important things are safe.  What an inspiration to us all !

 

The one thing she asked from her friends was just to send her a card so she would be comforted knowing we were all thinking of her during the ups and downs she has and will face.

 

I put together this card for her...striving for a cheerful, fallish look to inspire her.

I made it using the Cricut Cuttlebug Geometric Rings embossing folder on Coordinations cardstock. Inking the edges and cutting some images from SS Fall Harvest Line to decorate the front.

 

Thinking of you my friend and all the others affected by the storm.  Stay positive and take care.

 

Happy Halloween to all of you ! 

Hope you have a Spooktacular and Safe time tonight !

 

 

I made both of these cards to send friends. 

So fun ! I bet you can spot the washi tape and twine I used.

SpOOktacular Retreat Treats Anyone?

I am so excited to be leaving at the end of the week to go on a four day scrappin retreat out of town that I am hostessing for 10 of my friends. I know I can use the break and just have some "girl time".  We plan a get away once or twice a year...so glad this one is finally here as we have been looking forward to it for months!

 

And since I just LOVE to spoil my friends, I decided to make them each a personalized Retreat Treat Bag to put at their croppin' space when they arrive.

 

I LOVE the colors of Halloween so I have quite the stash of Halloween paper I have collected over the years.  All of these bags were made from the awesome Midnight Spell pad by DCWV that I already had in my stash from last year, I think.  Their paper weight is perfect for making the treat bags. And the designs in this pad were awesome ! Lots of glittery prints and silver foil on them.

All the bags and SPOOKY black glittery images on them were cut from Teresa Collins Chic and Scary cartridge.  This cartridge has some of the most amazing Halloween images on it. If you don't already own it, you should get it for sure !

 

Project Directions:

The bag was cut out of (1) single sheet of 12"x12" paper with the settings on FIT TO PAGE.  That created a perfect 5" tall X 3"wide little gift bag.  The great thing is there are score lines that let you easily fold the bag shape and you only need a small strip of double sided tape to keep the bag held together.  The various Halloween images I used were cut at about 2" and there then adhered using a foam pop dot.

 

The Trick or Treat tag was made using Tags Bags Boxes and More and cutting the tag out at 2 1/2". 

The stamp is from "Ghouls & Goblins" by Inkadoo.  I used embossing ink and Tim Holtz Distress Powder and then heat set the image. I intentionally "splashed" a little extra embossing ink and powder on the tag to give it a more distressed look.  I inked the edges of the tag using black ink pad taking care to shade the edges. I used some black and Halloween colored Tulle to tie each tag to the bag.

Each bag is different which makes it more fun for each of the receivers.  I filled each with some newspaper print tissue in the bottom, three treat size candy bars and personalized pocket tissues with each ladies initial on hers.

 

Here is a few more of the bags.  I loved how there was a scary woods theme paper with little crows on it...matched the Crow die cut image perfectly ! And of course, Spiders are a MUST for Halloween decor !

 

And since I willl be traveling with these...I lucked out and they all fit in my 12X12 scrapbook case I bought a while back at JoAnn's perfectly.  

 

I do plan on getting quite a few holiday gifts made while I am gone as well as some projects for Scrap Me Quick Designs website to sell so be on the lookout for those soon too !

 

Enjoy your weekend...I know I will !

Ride for the Roses in Austin

 This past weekend was the Livestrong "Ride for the Roses" bicylce ride in Austin Texas.  My very athletic husband did the 65 mile ride in about 4 hours through some tough hills and wind gusting up to 25 miles an hour. Yeah for you honey !  

It was all for a worthy cause as this event raises funds to help do cancer research and help people who are going through cancer treatment.  Hubby rides in honor of our family members who have had cancer and survived ... his mom, his dad, my dad and myself. But more importantly for those that have passed away from it...his granny and his only brother.  And of course, to also honor our numerous friends and their families that have been affected by cancer as well.  

 

One of the most touching tributes I saw this weekend are the wall honorariums they set up. Here riders and others can post their messages of support and in memory of cards for all to see. It's a huge stretch of these cards front and back of the display. Just humbling to see all the support for family and friends.

Hubby always writes out some cards for the family and puts them up here which I think is just great ! And this year I was along to capture a picture of him with some of the cards he wrote.

And since I attended the event for the first time this year, I was able to add a few personal messages for some of my own friends fighting and winning against breast cancer.  A dear high school friend going through treatment right now. And for some of my Circle Message Board friends who are  fighting cancer now as well or won their battle against breast cancer over the past few years.

 

I was talking to someone while standing in line and he said something that really struck home to me about cancer..."the majority of us know more people who have died of cancer or had cancer than those people who have died in car accidents".   WOW....unfortunately this is so true ! 

 

 Let's ALL keep on fighting and finding cures to prevent more loved ones from enduring these horrible diseases.

 

 

It's Official...Scrap Me Quick is Open for Business!

After several months of planning, designing and setting up a new website....my new scrappy venture is finally open !  I will be uploading more projects throughout the week since I finally figured out how to get all the links to all work properly but it is time consuming.  Sorry there are only a few projects listed as of this moment but that will change over the next few days. 

 

I do want to take a moment to thank everyone who has encouraged me to start this new business and I am truly blessed to have so many cheerleaders in my corner ! Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.  

Come check out Scrap Me Quick Designs where we are offering Full Color, Detailed Project Instructions for making beautiful professional looking designs using your own Cricut Machine and the designated Cricut Cartridge listed. You use supplies you already have on hand or can easily get at a local craft store or online.

We provide an easy to read format that gives you the exact supply list you need to complete each project, full color Design Example of the project to use as a guideline but allowing you to select the papers and colors you prefer from your own supplies. We include detailed cut directions and how to assembly instructions with close up photos so it is easy and quick to put a project together. And there are even OPTIONAL instructions for enhancing your images further to give them that “little extra” touch.

Scrap Me Quick Project PDF’s are perfect for:

• Getting a project done in a hurry…for yourself or a gift
• When you are stumped for a design to use
• You want to try something new
• Taking to a crop to ACTUALLY get something done (ha, ha…you can tell we are actually scrappers ourselves saying this)

What Kind of Projects Will We Offer :

• Double Page 12X12 Layouts
• Card Sets
• Home Decor
• Gifts
• Party Decor

We will be covering a wide variety of themes and design styles to suit different needs our customers may have. Remember, the great thing is you can take our project instructions and make them totally your own by using whatever papers you prefer and embellishments so it looks more like your style OR you can find papers and embellishments similar to what we used to get the same look .

 

AND WAIT...IT WOULDN'T BE A GRAND OPENING WITH OUT A PRIZE, RIGHT?

Visit the site, leave a comment on the Grand Opening post and subscribe to our site for a chance to win a $25 gift certificate to either Michael's , Hobby Lobby or JoAnns (your choice).

WINNERS OF TRENDS MAKE N TAKE KITS

Happy Monday Everyone !  It is gorgeous in Houston today ...coolish (60 degrees) and beautiful skies...makes you want to play outside for sure ! I took a long walk and enjoyed the fresh air and the Halloween decor popping up all over our neighborhood already.  Planning on getting my decor out later today.

I offered to send out some of my Trends Make N Take Card Kits to people who could NOT attend Circle Mania recently.  I started by offering 10, then I changed it to 25 after so many people wanted to try the make n take...and I ended up picking 32 winners !   If you won, send me a PM on the Circle MB with your mailing address so I can get your card kit out in the mail to you. 

So the 32 lucky winners of a Make N Take card kit are:

ArcadiaFLNative
Bulldog Mommy
California Rose
Chellabella
CindyLooScrappinWho
Cowgirl1hh
COWstamper
Crafty San San
Cricut Addicted
DBCMC
DianeD
Emerald
Go-go
goCricutgo
Grannyemjay
Lilygirl
LoriSjogren
Maile Lei
Mousebaby
MultiCrafterAmy
Penny
Rhondah
RockinRobin1
Scrapbook Sue
ScrapCat
ScrapperBecka
Seisa
Sherri Kay
Swiagal
Terriski
Threadbear
Winzer Castle

Enjoy your week everyone !

Falling for Halloween Blog Hop Project

Welcome to the Falling for Halloween Blog Hop. Thanks for joining us for some crafty Fall or Halloween inspiration.  You should have arrived here from  Renee's i came i saw i created blog . If you missed the beginning of the hop, please go to Maria's blog to start so you don't miss any of the projects.

I am a BIG lover of the fall holidays but HALLOWEEN  is my favorite ! Maybe it is just the thought of the air finally turning cooler or the cute little kids dressed in their Halloween costumes that bring a smile to everyone's face ?  But I really think I have a passion for all the spooky images ...when at other times of the year I don't really like scary things.  And I sure can't seem to resist the traditional Halloween colors of orange, black, lime green, purple together  !

Every year I change up the Halloween decor on our entry hall table that greets people when they arrive in our home.  This year I decided to make a Halloween Table Frame to put along with some other items I bought for Halloween this year.

Using one of my favorite Halloween Cricut Cartridges ever, "Happy Hauntings", I made the frame on page 68 cut at 6".  I did make a chipboard backing and stand first so it is more substantial by using a deep cut blade on my Cricut machine.  Then I did the cuts again using cardstock to cover the chipboard.  The perfect Halloween colored glittery and shiny cardstock is from DCWV Bewitched stack.  The "Happy Haunting" phrase is on page 46 and cut at 1 1/4" and the Ghost at 2" on page 47 in shiny lime green cardstock.  The Ghost also has a black glittery backing that I offset slightly  (hard to see that in the picture).  The Orange Typeset paper is from MME Haunted 6X6 paper pad I bought at Michael's craft store recently. I used the left over chipboard cut out to put it on and added a little bit of Orange Marmalade Distress Ink on the edges. I tied some fun ribbon from my stash and added a few dangling gems for some more sparkle.  A girl can't have too much sparkle in her home, right?  LOL

Hopefully in this view you can see that the frame is made in layers using

pop foam dots to give it more dimension.

 

One of the images for the frame on the cartridge is the stand.

As I mentioned before, I not only used chipboard to the make the frame and

stand but I then covered both with black cardstock to give the frame a more finished look.

I bent the chipboard stand slightly at the score marks so that it sits correctly

on the back of the frame and adhered with double sided score tape.

 

And here is the final Halloween vignette on my hall table now. 

The great glittery lime green skull head was only $2.50 at Target

and so was the glittery trick or treat flameless candle that I put on a

crystal candle holder base for some added height.  

 

Now I just need to decorate the rest of the house so stay tuned for more Halloween Decor !

 

Thanks so much for hopping along with us.  Please be sure to check out all the participant's wonderful projects and leave a comment.  We love to know you stopped by.  I've posted the list below in case you've missed anyone. The next blog you will be visiting belongs to the very talented Khrista at Creative and Crafty Teacher Blog.

Here is the list of Blogs if you lost your way.

Maria stampcutcreate.blogspot.com  START OF HOP
Michele scrap-n-dance.blogspot.com

Paulette http://scrapalette.blogspot.com/

Cindy http://www.inlovewithpaper.blogspot.com/

Beth http://seaswancreations.blogspot.com/

Renee icameisawicreated.blogspot.com

Debbie @ www.debseclecticthoughts.blogspot.com   YOU ARE HERE

Khrista @ http://creativeandcraftyteacher.blogspot.com/

Angela @ Angie's Paper Passion

Nadia @ http://www.withglitteringeyes.com/

Donna @ http://CarolinasCreativeCropper.blogspot.com/

Diane @ http://dianesdribble.blogspot.com/

Sara @ sarawandrews.com

Michele @ www.michelegreen.com

Fall Swap Opening Day - yeah !

Sherry, aka OctoberBeauty, on the Circle MB host the most amazing swaps throughout the year that I have participated in before.  She recently hosted a Fall Swap and I was lucky enough to get her as my swap partner !  It was fun getting to know her more and shop for her too :)   We had very very similiar taste in fall things we love...we even exchanged our Pinterest boards to see what we like and again, we could have swapped the pins and been identical.

Sherry sent me this amazing assortment of items and I just LOVED everything she sent !

Stamps, two paper pads, washi tape, punches, brads, rub ons, alphas, ribbons, treats...

oh my !

 

She made me this adorable card too !

And this bag of homemade treat popcorn...OMG!  It is soooooo good !!!

 

And her handmade fall craft item was this

fantastic Haunted House she made and then filled

with all these fall goodies !

sides of house

back of house

 

As you can see, she totally spoiled me with all she sent !  Thanks so much girl, you know I LOVED it all ! 

My Circle Mania TRENDS Make N Take

Anytime a group of crafters get together we always love to share tips and techniques with each other.  At Circle Mania a few of the Circlets volunteered to do Make N Takes for everyone.  I love to teach others new crafty things so I thought hard about what I could offer my fellow Circle crafters that might be more unique so that had me pondering what was hot trends right now. And what could be used on a variety of projects...cards, layouts, home decor, party decor, etc.

Washi Tape is all the rage right now in the crafting world.  Many of the scrapbook companies such as My Minds Eye, Teresa Collins and others are making it to match their scrapbook lines.  You can even find Washi Tape at Michael's craft store, Target, Archivers. And of course you can find single rolls of it or pre-cut sets of it on Etsy and Ebay too. It can say either Washi Tape or Decorative Tape on it.  Washi tape is more translucent so you see a bit of the background to which you apply it.  It is easy to tear or cut and apply to your projects. It can even be pulled up easily if you need to reapply. 

And another BIG trend is using decorative Twine in a variety of colors on your projects.  Again, many of the scrapbook companies also offer packets of matching Twine to their scrapbook lines.
I have bought many different sets of Twine...two of my favorite Twine companies are Divine Twine and The Twinery.  They both offer gorgeous colors of twine.  Again, you can buy entire rolls of it or a variety pack.  One of the our Circlets, Mary Cork, even did a Twine share where you could get a variety pack of lots of the different colors in smaller portions.  I have also bought it that way on Etsy.

And a third trend is making projects using Kraft cardstock.  Colors really pop when use Kraft as your base.

Many have bought these products and have no idea what to do with them. So I jumped on the chance to do a TRENDS Make N Take using Kraft cardstock, Washi Tape & Twine along with my Cricut.

TRENDS MAKE N TAKE TUTORIAL - I had a choice of two cards for the Circlets to make.

 

Trends Make N Take Card #1

Step 1: Start with a blank Kraft card base.

These are A2 size Kraft cards and envelop sets I bought a

Michael's craft store but you could easily make your own.

 

Step 2: Decide which Washi Tapes you want to use.

Here I selected a variety of 6 patterns but you could easily do this

with only two or three and repeat on the card

 

Step 3: Tear off various lengths of Washi Tape. See how easy Washi tape is to tear with your fingers.

See how it is slightly translucent.

 

Step 4: Place the Washi tape torn at random lengths across your card starting slightly from the edge on the left of your card base and alternate the patterns working towards your right. I focused more of where the ends of the washi tape ended up on the card base than on the top.  Once I was finished, I just trimmed the tops off the washi tape to give a clean edge to the top of my card.

 

Step 5. I used the new CTMH Artise cartridge and matching stamp sets to make a sentiment for my card base. On this card I used the Quote Bubble pg 65 Accent 2 cut at the appropriate size to the matching stamp.  I love the fact the CTMH stamp set has the dimensions printed on it so I know exactly what size to cut out my base image.

 

Step 6: To finsh off the card, I used a foam pop dot to add the sentiment to the front of the card.  Then I tied a piece of twine at the top of the card into a little bow.  TIP:  To keep the twine from slipping, I cut a small slice on each side of the card with my scissors on each side of the card and threaded my twine through that before tying the bow. 

 

This card went together really fast and easy. 

 

 

Trends Make N Take Card #2

 

Step 1: Start with a Kraft Card base and variety of washi tape of your choice.

Step 2: Use a piece of Twine about twice the width of card base. 

Step 3: Starting in center of twine, begin wrapping washi tape around the twine to form a banner piece. Don't worry about matching the ends just yet.

Step 4:  Alternate your washi tape patterns across the twine creating 5 little banners.

Step 5:  Trim your washi tape banners using scissors into whatever banner shapes you like. Just be sure and alternate the sizes so you have variety to make it more interesting.

Step 6: Make two small slits about 1/8" apart from each other on each side of your card base where you want to place the banner to hang.

Step 7: Place your banner across your card base until you have the banner you created centered across your card.  Now take one end of the twine and wrap around the two slits you made on one side of the card base and tie a bow with the twine ends so your banner is hanging properly across.  Repeat on the other side of the cardstock base and tie a bow.  Cut off the bow tail end to your desired length.

Step 8: Place a piece of Washi Tape all across the bottom of your card about 1/2" up from the bottom of the card to create a border. Trim the edges with your scissors to get a clean edge on your card.

Step 9:  Using the CTHM Artise cartridge, cut the Banner shape on page 58 Accent 3 out of cardstock and stamp with the matching "Oh Happy Day" stamp from the Artise bundle. And adhere on the left side of the card across the top of the washi tape border.

 

This card is a little more complex than the first one but it is fun to make and looks darn cute to give for any festive occassion.

 

I have quite an extensive collection of Washi Tape now.  I am sure you will too once you see how fun and easy it is to use on any of your projects. Before I go, I wanted to show you one more card I made for display using nothing but washi tape to decorate the front of a kraft card base.

 

This card was made by selecting a few fun patterns of washi tape from my stash.

I think most of these were ones I bought a Michael's.  Starting in the center of the card, I angled my washi tape across the entire card.  Then proceeded to alternate other patterns diagonally across my card.  Even that Congrats! pattern is washi tape...how cool is that? When I was finished I went back with my scissors and trimmed off the edges of the washi tape to give my card a clean edge.

 

The card still needed a little something so I decided to make a bow out of washi tape.  I took a long  strip of the rose washi tape and folded it sticky side together to create a doublesided piece. I cut than in half.  I folded the first piece together to form a loop, used a small piece of single sided washi tape across the center of the loop to form the bow top. I took the second doublesided piece and used it a s a base for my bow and trimmed the ends.  Using a glue dot, I adhered the base to center strip on my card, then used another glue dot to adhere the bow on top of the bow base. 

 

As you can see, the bow added some dimension to the card but thanks to the washi tape it is still flexible to placed inside an envelop. 

 

I hope you enjoy the TRENDS Make N Take and try it yourself sometime. 

 

TRENDS MAKE N TAKE GIVEAWAY : I am giving away on the Circle MB a Trends Make N Take goodie bag with supplies to make one of the two cards we made at Circle Mania to 10 lucky winners.  Find the thread on the Circle MB to enter to win by 11:59 pm CST on Saturday 10/6.  Winners announced on Sunday 10/7 here and on the Circle MB.