Gift set

I love making gift sets. I only wish I had more time to make them. Then I could make one for each friend and family member. This particular one is for my mother-in-law. She hasn't received it yet but thankfully she doesn't know about my blog yet so I can post it here. I used some retired designer paper that my hubby recommended. It's amazing how far you can make a pack of dp last. I still have plenty of this left even after making a post-it note holder, a checkbook cover, four cards, and a box to put it all in. Plus getting a pack takes the guess work out, no scavenging for a piece of dp to match the one you have. Anyway, it turned out great, I think she'll love it!


The box turned out so elegant, to find a tutorial on the post-it note holder click here.


The quote on the check book holder says "'Joy is not in things it is in us.' -Richard Wagner". Now truthfully, would you like something like that on the front of your checkbook or would it start to annoy you? Hmmmm. Or maybe you'd be grateful for the reminder. Me? It would depend on what the check was for...if it were stamping/crafting stuff ...well in that case the statement doesn't apply, right :). Here's card number 1. The flower is from the pretties kit and colored with my watercolor wonder crayons. Pretty fantastic huh. That's what I love about the pretties kit flowers, I can color them to coordinate with any project. And it's so easy too, a little messy but so fun.

A happy birthday card. The many musical notes are due to the recipients love of music. And are a cuttlebug die.
This next card was inspired by a very talented stamper, you can see here card here.And last of all a thank you card. I really liked the look of not matting the different patterns. Normally I do to break them up and draw attention to them but this time I was going for more of a quilt look.
So that's it, hope you liked it and thanks for stopping by!

busy, busy, busy

It's been so long since I've posted. My excuse? We've been looking at houses, because we're feeling a little cramped in our current 1500 square feet. We're also trying to get our house ready to put on the market, and on top of that everybody in my home has been sick at least once in the last month, some twice! So with that I've got to get back to work but before I do here is some of what I've been doing at my stamp table:

Human...

So, I made this ages ago. Or at least it feels like it. See this was made before there were two, two adorable little girls. Back when I had hours to stamp and craft I made this gorgeous journal. Don't you love it?! I do. This is a special journal. A journal to acknowledge the things the Lord has done for me. It should be full and bursting forth,...should, should, should should! But of course I've procrastinated writing, forgotten to write, and undoubtedly never noticed some things I ought to have written about. I'm terribly human that way. Which in this particular instance, is very fortunate. You know why? Because there's absolutely no time to make another journal! And there's still plenty of room for me to write in it, thankfully. So I guess being human has its perks.

Here is a link to an article that inspired this lovely journal. I obviously need to re-read it so I will better use my journal, hee hee.

Totally me

The last few cards and such that I've uploaded have not been really with in my comfort zone. This one is, aaahhhhh, sigh of relief. Masculine stuff is a challenge. And this one is totally girly, I love it! And it fits to upload it today since it's my birthday, Yeah!!!

Isn't it gorgeous!!! Sorry for all the exclamations but I love it. Coloring was a fun learning experience on this one. Anyway I gotta go blow out some candles so ta ta for now!

DH's birthday present

DH and I recently tried something different for our birthdays. See we're trying to save a little dough so instead of buying presents we have to be super creative. And this is the kind of thing I have wanted to do for quite some time. But because of all the time shopping takes, I haven't, until now. And it turned out awesome!

Here's a picture of just the card:

And here's all four sides of the tissue box:





It was so fun making it. The hardest part was taking a plain pine wood box from michaels and prepping is for the fun part, the photos and paper. It took lots of paint, lots of modge podge, but mostly tons and tons of sanding. In the end, it was worth it. It has a smooth sleek finish that coordinates nicely with all the embellishments, exactly what I was going for. And even better, he loved it!

Speaking of Fathers,

Isn't he cute! This is my DH (dear husband), and he is an excellent father. To demonstrate, I have another picture:
and another, hee hee hee:




See even when he's exhausted he knows how to entertain them with the least amount of energy :). LOL! Those three (people, not photos) are so precious! It was recently his birthday and for at least one more day he's an old man! That's because in one more day I'll be as old as him, bummer. Then he is no longer old, because that would make me old. And that we cannot have! So in case you're wondering, I'm turning 29........again. :(

DAD!!! Don't look!

"Why?," you ask. Because this next card may or may not look like the one I will be sending for Father's Day. So skip this post and know that I love you! Now leave, I mean it!

Okay, now that he's gone I can talk about this card. Truthfully I really struggle with masculine cards. If it were up to me everything would have flowers, and ribbon, some pink. Now can you see a father's day card like that?!? Me neither so here are some guidelines I use when crafting masculine cards.

1. Keep it simple! It is so fun to get carried away with all the great papers and embellishments, but don't.

2. Be careful in your color choice. (like no pink, unless your guy is a little more metropolitan and can handle it) But truthfully I don't know any like that.

3. I try to stay away from ribbon, not that it couldn't work, it's just trickier. If you do use ribbon, don't tie it in a bow. You probably knew that, but the more tips I post, the smarter I feel. And yes, this blog is supposed to make me feel good. Why not, right?

4. Use hardware, it gives your card a tough guy feel.

5. Be careful with buttons. They're also tricky.

Okay, was that helpful? Maybe. I hope so. And here's the fabulous, and manly card:


For the recipe and details click here.

Take care, and happy stamping!