Tuesday, December 31, 2013

2013 - It's in the Book!

A few days ago I posted my holiday card album which you can revisit here if you'd like.  Today I pulled all my 2013 cards and photos together and put them into the album, and I wanted to share the finished product with you. 


So here is the cover once the album is full.  I added a tie on the binding, as the album was a little bulky.  I was going to try to go "tie-less" but I decided that it really does perform a function of condensing the album and keeping the loose cards in the pockets from falling out (although mine were a pretty tight fit).
 
I noticed this year that many of the photo cards are double-sided.  I wanted to mount my photo cards without losing the back side which had additional photos or messages.  So I created some hinges using cardstock that were super easy.  I just cut 3/4" strips that were scored at 3/8".  I glued one side of the fold to the card and the other to the page.  I also attached a small piece of ribbon to the cards with the hinges that will remind me of the hinge.  I absolutely LOVE that I didn't lose the backs of these photo cards.

Below are some of pages showcasing some gorgeous homemade cards and photo cards from friends and family.  

Love that vellum poinsettia . . . and a hinged photo showcasing a friends brand new house!

Another hinged photo card and a handmade card which I trimmed the edges from so it would fit vertically . . . I thought those sledding children silhouetted in black were perfect under Santa's sleigh silhouetted above in white on the page. 

You can clearly see the hinge on this one.  I thought about putting additional cards under the hinge, but decided against it.  another gorgeous handmade card on the right. 

This photo card was adhered straight down, and another handmade card on the right.  Handmade A2 cards fit perfect on the pages, while the larger cards are better in the pockets. 


Photo card on the left, adhered straight down, and a handmade card that my mom made on the right (she went to a Stampin' Up workshop!)

And here is a shot of one of those pockets.  The larger cards fit in nicely, and you can "tag" them with a ribbon pull. 

Christmas of 2013 is literally "in the book."  These albums make great gifts.  I made a few for gifts this year.  They're always fun to make, but the true effect shows once they are filled up with your holiday greeting cards. 

Happy New Year! 


Saturday, December 28, 2013

The Gifting Ball

I belong to this really awesome stamp group called StampNation.  I've been a part of different online communities before, but this one is super special. They recently started a new fun thing called The Gifting Ball, where a ball makes its way around to different members filled with goodies.  I was lucky enough to get the ball, which included some awesome little trinkets . . . sequins in varying shapes, colors and sizes and some adorable metal charms.  LOVE! 

So I made a few creations today using sequins.  This first one uses sequins in place of balloons in this cute little stamp.  This one will be a great winter birthday card. 


And check out that adorable little key.  I used a fray from my abundance of burlap to create the tie on the key. 


The card below is Christmas Card #4 for 2014 (getting that early start).  I had paper and embellishments from October Afternoon's Make It Merry collection. 


I used one of the snowflake sequins that was gifted to me in the lower left corner of the card.  

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The collection also came with little post cards, which are really cute, but something I normally would not use.  So I decided to come up with a design where I would really use the postcard.  I created a pocket inside the card for the post card, and my plan is to write my message on the post card.  

Some fun cards to create, and more will likely be on the way using my sequins and charms.  But the job at hand was for me to fill the ball with some gifts for another member and send it along.  Mission accomplished.

Now back to creating!

Supplies Used - Card 1
Cardstock:  Neenah
Paper:  Stampin' Up
Stamps: Stampin' Up
Ink: Stampin' Up and Ranger Archival
Other:  Sequins, charm and burlap string

Supplies Used - Card 2
Cardstock:  Neenah
Paper:  October Afternoon
Embellishments:  October Afternoon
Other:  Snowflake sequin and ribbon from May Arts

Freshly Made Sketches - Big Holiday Wishes

I played along with this week's Freshly Made Sketch . . .


I used paper from Simon Says Stamps Monthly Card kit to create this design, and added some elements that I had hanging around. 


I used the Big Holiday Wishes and the Merry Trees sets.  The sentiment is white embossed, and for the snow dots, I used a white pigment ink.  The inside border is Decorunner from Hampton Art.



Card #3 for 2014 is complete. 

Supplies Used
Neena Cardstock
Doodlebug Paper (from Simon Says Card Kit)
Simon Says Stamps
Versamark
Color Box Ink
Stampin' Up Embossing Powder
Offray Ribbon
Decorunner (Hampton Art)

Friday, December 27, 2013

Paper Smooches - Designer Draft - Nice List

This week's challenge at Paper Smooches was a Designer Draft challenge, and I loved the sketch.  Here is my design . . .


I paper-pieced Santa's coat with one of the background papers, and I used Flower Soft for the fur.


Here is the sketch . . .
 
 
Card #2 for Christmas 2014 is done. 
 
Supplies Used
Bazzill Cardstock
Doodlebug Pattern Paper
Paper Smooches Stamps
Ranger Archival Ink
Copic Marker (Santa's face)
Flower Soft

Thursday, December 26, 2013

First Holiday Card - 2014 - for Mojo Monday

I decided to play along with this weeks' Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge


Armed with some leftovers from my stash that I worked with over the holidays, I created a little something . . .


The pattern paper is from Doodlebug, and the stamps are from Simon Says Stamp, which was a recent discovery of mine.  I am loving their stamps, as they are super adorable. 



So this would be Card #1 for Christmas 2014. I'm off to any early start! 

Supply List
Bazzill Cardstock
Doodlebug Paper
Simon Says Stamps (Merry Trees)
Fiskars Circle Punch
CTMH Ink


Holiday Cards Will Sparkle & Shine

Sparkle and Shine was the goal of the third Heart 2 Heart Challenge in December.  The challenge was to use the Sparkle and Shine paper or color palette, and to add some sparkle as well.  So I set out to create an album to house our holiday Christmas cards.  I had made this type of album before, but I didn't have instructions so it took some "deciphering" on my part. 

These little albums are FABULOUS for housing holiday cards and the photos that are either sent with the cards or that are taken throughout the holiday season. 


So the album is made from five 9 x 12" envelopes that are folded in half, and then bound together with ribbon.  I used the color ready seam binding for this particular version.  For added sparkle, I used some of the glitter paper and some rhinestones. 


The pages throughout are embellished with embellishments from Sparkle & Shine, so it all came together very nicely. 


One of the nice things about these albums is you can adhere photo cards to the pages as well as adhere some of your favorite cards.  But then there are also pockets in five of the pages where you can store the rest of your holiday cards. 


I altered the color combinations between all the awesome patterns in the Sparkle & Shine paper pack . . . ruby, juniper and slate!


And there are a few stamped images throughout, as well as the opportunity to add more once I have my holiday cards sorted out and am ready to fill the book. 


Amazing that five 9 x 12" envelopes can festively organize photos (with a little help from some awesome paper and embellishments). 

I'll be sure to post some photos once the book is filled, so stay tuned. 

All product used is Close To My Heart. 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Heart 2 Heart - Moving On

Several weeks back I had gotten the Santa Claus set, and specifically catching my eye was the little Santa who looked like he was in the formation of doing a cartwheel or making a snow angel.  I just thought he was adorable.  I just new I wanted to do something cute with that little guy.

I just love challenges, because they push you to do what you set out to do (versus tucking the stamp set away until you have time).  So Heart 2 Heart's The Moving On challenge was the perfect kick in the pants I needed.  I set to work to get my little Santa moving.


Santa doing a cartwheel!


I do seriously have a problem photographing red.  Note to self . . . work on that!

All product is Close To My Heart with the exception of the Flower Soft on Santa's suit. 

Heart 2 Heart - All Framed Up

I've been absent from my blog the last week or two, as I've been working hard on filling the gaps in my tree (if you read my last post, you know what I mean).  In reality, I've been creating some items that I can't share on my blog, because it would spoil the secret of gift giving.

I did find some time to play with the All Framed Up Challenge at Heart 2 Heart.  I've had one of those awesome wired frames hanging out in my stash, intending to make a countdown calendar.  Now let's be honest . . . had the challenge not come up, my countdown calendar would have been done next year.

BEFORE WE MOVE ON . . . my walls are not as red as what's in the picture.  These photos make the wall look "glaring red".  This is actually an accent wall in my stairway, and it's a dark red, but not glaring.  I promise.

So here is my countdown calendar, and in this view it's showing all the tags hanging at the bottom.  I hung them there for the photo, but don't intend to keep them there all the time (I have a little box for them).  I decorated both sides of most of the tags . . . except for the tags that say "Christmas".
 



Here are the tags.


   

 And once you've done your countdown, you can reverse the top row of tags to just say Merry Christmas for the remainder of the season. 



This was a lot of fun to make, and I love that I can now remove the tags and design something else perhaps with family photos or another seasonal item.

Loving the frame . . . my one wish would be another wire closer to the top . . . yes?!?!

Happy Holidays! 

All product is Close To My Heart except the embossing powder used on #25, which is American Crafts. 

Sunday, December 8, 2013

2013 Tree - Mistakes and Memories Made



I was on vacation when I had the idea to decorate my tree completely different from the last several years.  I was at Disney, where the holiday decorations are stunning.  I decided to give up my colored lights for white and to move from metallic garland to burlap ribbon and berries.   
Assignments were doled out!  My husband was to take the tree and the lights.  I was to work on finding the perfect burlap and berry garland. 

The tree assignment had two options . . . 1) a real tree, complete with a box of tissues and some cold and sinus medication to get us through the season (allergies) or 2) a new artificial tree without lights (we’ll put those on ourselves) that looks as real as possible. 

The light assignment . . . we’ve been married for 32 years.  He should know what I like at this point.  Plentiful lights . . . and not those new weird ones.   

The burlap assignment . . . wide unfinished burlap ribbon (with all the fray) that can wind and twist around the tree.

The berries . . . strings of berries that look fairly real, and that will get us through a few years.  Nothing that looks cheap or fake, and something that will "wear" well. 

Mistakes were made.  Where do I begin.  Apparently the choices for artificial trees without lights are very slim.  Let me tell you, it’s not just the choices that are slim.  Once this tree was set up and the branches fanned out, I asked my husband how much he paid.  I realized I should have given him a minimum price to pay.  He paid $80.00.  Another $40.00 could have filled some of these gaps!  But you know, that’s o.k. because lights, burlap and ornaments will fill these gaps.  Right? 

Wrong.  We've been married for 32 years (32 years, 5 months, 11 days, 21 hours as of this writing).  Efficiency of lights means nothing to me.  I do not like LED lights on my tree.  He remembers that I like a lot of lights, but he forgets that I do not like LED.  When he turns the lights on I hear Manfred Mann's Earth Band . . . Blinded by the Light.   

"Look away! Don't look directly at the tree." I can picture it now, Christmas eve we'll be sitting round the living room with our sun glasses.  And, what's worse, the lights are so bright they are illuminating the inside of the tree so you can clearly see this is an artificial tree (and not a good one either). 
The berries were the one clear win (3 out of 4 is not too bad).  I placed an order for a wood strand.  They were a little more than I wanted to pay, but they would withstand a few years if I liked this theme.  Plastic ones looked a little . . . what’s the word I’m looking for . . . plastic!  So I went with wood.  I got four strands (could have used five or six, but I made do).   

So let’s talk about that burlap, shall we.  I searched on Amazon trying to find the cheapest roll of burlap in a wide unfinished ribbon-like roll.  I wanted rustic looking with fray.  I compared and compared . . . did math and more math . . . and then I placed an order for what seemed to be the best deal. It is 4 inch wide burlap at $10 a roll not including shipping, which I usually get free, but because it seemed like a great deal, I paid the shipping.  (Remember . . . I did the math.)  And to be sure I would not run short, I ordered two rolls, which barely increased the shipping.   

I was clearly confused. I thought I did the math.  I must have mixed up some comparisons and missed some details.  This past week a large very long box arrives. I'm trying to figure out what I ordered that could be in this box, and the return address label didn’t help (because remember, it wasn’t an Amazon Prime item, so it shipped from someone else).  This is what greets me when I open the box . . . 

Please note the pencil and ruler for comparison.

Folks . . . I have two of those! TWO. What was I thinking?  I know I was comparing yardage and price, so what went wrong.  I went back and read the description on the order. They are 100 yards each. YARDS. I have 200 YARDS of 4 inch wide burlap. I thought about returning one, but the cost to return would be higher than just keeping my second $10.00 roll. 
My motto on Christmas trees . . . What you set up each year is a memory.  Anyone who knows the Bonczek family and the story of "the wonky" tree, knows that we stick with what we have for that year.  Push forward and pray your burlap covers some of that bright light.  

Well, no . . . the light comes right through the burlap (how convenient).



I took this last night . . . pre-ornament. I would have loved to have taken a full picture, but because of the bright lights, I could not get anything that didn't have glare in about a dozen places. Those lights are so bright, they illuminate the inside of the tree so you can clearly see it is artificial. 
I will say, I’m not a fan of metallic garland in daylight on trees.  I love it at night when the lights are on, but I’ve never liked the look in daylight.  The burlap and the berries look awesome in daylight.  I am loving the look, and I surely got a bargain on burlap for years to come.


It's one year . . . one tree.  There's always next year.  
Hoping your tree trimming memories are good ones. 





 


Saturday, November 30, 2013

Flip-it Card for Mojo Monday



This week's sketch at Mojo Monday was a circle or square challenge.  Here is the sketch . . .


When I saw the sketch, it reminded me of one of my Flip-it Dies from Sizzix.  So I decided to see what I could do using that die and the sketch above.  It was a bit of the challenge, as I basically "flipped" the layers of the sketch.  My outer mats are side-by-side instead of up and down, and my inner layers are as shown in the sketch. 


It was a bit of a challenge to get the ribbon where I wanted it.  It all came together nicely in the end, and I love the "bling" in this card . . . the chunky glitter and the rhinestones.  Girls love their bling!  



Supplies Used
Bazzill Cardstock
Pattern Paper from my scrap bin
Color Box Ink
Stamps of Life Stamps and Dies
Queen & Co. Rhinestones
Stampin' Up Ribbon 
Sprinkles Glitter (Stamps of Life)


Blessed

This is the one that almost got away.  I created it, took the picture and forgot to post it for the Heart 2 Heart Challenge.  Packing for vacation must have had me off my game. 

The challenge was all about gratitude, and this is what I came up with . . .


I used the Count Your Blessings stamp set and the coordinating product in the Huntington Workshop kit.  I used my Copics to color the images. 

This was a perfect Thanksgiving card to send! 

Supplies Used were all CTMH and Copic Markers.  

Vellum Reflection for SPARKS Challenge

This week's Paper Smooches SPARKS Challenge was a photo inspiration.

 

Now, I'm not normally so literal when I look at the photos.  I usually will pick an element or two, and sometimes I will just go for the color combinations.  But for some reason I felt challenged to recreate this scene as much as possible using vellum to get that mirror image.  It was quite challenging, as things weren't working as planned.  But here is my end result . . .


I used a piece of bold yellow vellum for the bottom and stamped on the back side using Ranger Archival Ink.  I then flipped the vellum and stamped the mirror image on the cardstock above.  I inked the top in yellow and the bottom in black.  I colored the balloons with Copic Markers and added rhine stones on the corners of the vellum to hide the glue dots.    


Fun, but challenging.

Supplies Used
Bazzill Cardstock
Graffix Vellum
Paper Smooches Promenade, Metropolis and Sentiment Sampler sets
K I Gems
Ranger Archival Ink
Close To My Heart Honey Ink
Copic Markers

Sweet (and Shiny) CAS-ual Friday Card



The challenge for this week's CAS-ual Friday Challenge was to . . .


Use eight of something on your design.  So I stamped eight pieces of candy onto my card (not counting the piece inside the card), all a little different and full of color.  I used liquid glass so my wrappers would appear shiny.


I was happy to find a sentiment that would fit into the piece of candy inside the card.  Tiny stamps are awesome and handy. They also leave space for a personal note. 



Supplies Used:
Bazzill Cardstock
Neenah Cardstock
Stamps of Life Stamps (candy2share and postmarks2stamp)
Liquid Glass (CTMH)
Color Box Ink
Denami Ribbon



Creating a Scene for H2H Challenge

"Sponging" was the challenge for the 4th Heart 2 Heart Challenge this month. 

I wanted to create a scene using the Christmas Village set, so I started with some Colonial White paper from the Frosted paper set.  I used the smallest snowflake in the Santa Claus set and embossed using a discontinued powder from Close To My Heart that had a bit of a pearl accent to it.  I then sponged the top using Twilight ink, which was perfect.  For the bottom, to give a look of drifting snow, I used Slate ink and tried to go as a light as possible. 


The trees and snowman were stamped directly onto this layer.  I then colored with Copics and used a white pen to highlight the snow on the trees.  I adhered this layer to piece of the pattern paper in the Frosted collection, and then adhered to an A2 card base. 

For the house, I stamped on a scrap of Colonial White and then cut it out.  I colored with my Copics and again used the white pen for the snow.  I used liquid glass on the windows and then adhered 



I have to say this was a tedious, but fun card.  I loved creating that wintery scene. 

Product Used
CTMH Paper from Frosted
CTMH Stamps Santa and Snow Village
CTMH Inks
Copic Markers
Versamark
Liquid Glass
CTMH Embossing Powder

Friday, November 29, 2013

Heart 2 Heart - Game On

I was wandering the Disney parks in Florida when this Heart 2 Heart Challenge was released, and I was stumped to think of what I might have that was game related.  But it occurred to me . . . while on vacation I was missing hockey games.  My husband and I have season tickets.  So what says game on like a skating penguin from the Wintery Wishes set (I was tempted to draw him little stick and puck). 


There are two layers to this card.  A larger layer where I created my own background with the snowflakes.  The smaller layer on top has the penguin stamped on it and I used the Sparkle & Shine Washi tape which is a great accent.  I had a tough time showing the beautify of that silver tape!  I also used scraps of the Sparkle & Shine paper for the hat and scarf. 

Another fun challenge from Heart 2 Heart! 

All product used is CTMH. 

Catching Up w/Heart 2 Heart - Seeing Double

I'm just back from vacation and wanted to catch up with the Heart 2 Heart Challenges this weekend.  Before leaving, I had the Seeing Double challenge in my sights and had put aside some holiday paper and stamps to get started when I returned.  I find it amazing that creativity can change in two week's time.  I completely boycotted my original idea because I just was not in the spirit.  So, no holiday card.  Instead, two little monkeys came into play.


I just had to make a twin card using the little monkeys.  I used the twine for them to hang, and I was originally going to cut them out.  But then I had the idea to punch holes and thread the twine, so I didn't have to worry about fragile monkeys (nothing is worse than fragile monkeys). 



Now, I have been in love with Irresistibles since they came out a few years back.  My biggest problem with them . . . I find it so difficult to use them (mentally, not physically) because I want to hoard them.  They are amazingly adorable because you can color coordinate them to whatever project you're working on and they are so fun.  So I broke open my letter back just for this project. 


And the sentiment that comes with that stamp set is perfect for twins!  Yes - it would get wild. 

All supplies used are Close To My Heart.