you brighten my day

How about a little sunshine for a cloudy and cold winter day? :)

Did you have a nice Christmas? I hope that it was everything you planned for and then some! Ours was wonderful, all thanks to my husband. We got hit with a giant blizzard on Christmas Eve, which continued into Christmas Day. He plowed us out and then plowed the rest of my family out around town, and drove them to our house, so that we could be together. Yes, 25 inches of snow and a 40 mph wind won’t stop us! LOL! :) He also made the BEST Chinese food for dinner. He is amazing. SO amazing!!

We are heading north to my in laws for the rest of the week tomorrow. It will be a nice time of food, games, and fun! The little man is excited for another Christmas, and who can blame him? There is one more post scheduled for New Years, so see you then! Happy New Year!!! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Scattered Showers), Patterned paper (Fancy Pants, Crate), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), Ink (Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown) (Palette Noir), Pearls (Hero Arts), Ribbon (Offray), Border punch (Fiskars Upper Crest), Spellbinders (Inverted Scalloped Circles Small, Classic Circles Small)

A Christmas Story

As you hold these candies in your hand and turn them you will see, the M becomes a W, an E, and then a 3. They tell the Christmas story. Its one I’m sure you know. It took place in a stable. A long, long time ago.

The E is for the East, where the star shone so bright.

The M is for the Manger, where Baby Jesus slept that night.

The 3 is for the Wise men, bearing gifts they came.

W is for Worship, Hallelujah! Praise His Name!

So as you eat these candies, or share them with a friend. Remember the meaning of Christmas. Its a love story that never ends!

Merry Christmas my friends!

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish you a very Merry Christmas! Enjoy the time with family and friends and rejoice in the birth of our Savior!

Supplies: Stamps-(Pink Persimmon-Little Red Wagon, Holly Wreath), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Kraft, Rustic White), Patterned paper (Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses), Ink (Palette Landscape, Paris Lights, Dark Chocolate), (Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown), Button (Papertrey Ink New Leaf), Twine (May Arts), Felt rick rack (Making Memories), Punch (Fiskars Border Punch Apron Lace), Spellbinders die template (Classic Rectangles Large)

sending holiday cheer

I picked up a new border punch (shocking, I know). Its from Martha Stewart. What I liked about it was the fact that I can use the stars for Christmas, New Years, birthdays, Halloween, baby, and on and on. Gotta love that! Other than that, this card just evolved.

hope this does send you some holiday cheer! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies-Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Everyday Button Bits), Cardstock (Pure Poppy, Spring Moss, Rustic White), Patterned paper (October Afternoon-Farm Fresh), Ink (Palette-Landscape, Noir) (Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown), Ribbon (Offray), Button (Papertrey Ink-Pure Poppy), Twine (May Arts), Punch (Martha Stewart)

Merry Christmas sled

Having an almost 4 year old overly-excited about Christmas, I have been reading “T’was the Night Before Christmas” a lot. A LOT. This project makes me smile just thinking about his anticipation.

I stamped, colored with Copics, and cut out Santa and his reindeer. The great image is from Pink Persimmon. The sled was covered with patterned paper, after some ink distressing. I stamped the sentiment, but decided it would be fun to cut it into smaller pieces and place it around Santa.

This little sled came from Michael’s and what I liked about it was the fact that covering with paper would be relatively easy. Sometimes wooden objects have too many little places to reach, but this one worked fabulously!

Tonight is the little man’s Christmas program for pre-school. He is pumped, and I have to admit, I am pretty excited too! :) I will be arming everyone with cameras and video cameras. Yes, I am one of those moms. :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps-(Pink Persimmon-Santa’s Sleigh), Patterned paper-(Making Memories), Ink (Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown), (Memento Tuxedo Black), Cardstock (Flourishes Classic White), (Papertrey Ink Vintage Cream), Copics

Hey there

I giggle at this card. It came together via my scratch paper and scrap pile. :)

The flower was made from layering all three Nested Poinsettia flowers together. One of my favorite techniques with my Spellbinders™ die templates and Impressabilities™ is to start by first cutting the shape, then embossing the shape (still in the die) on an Impressabilities™. It keeps the gorgeous embossed edge AND gives you the amazing embossed texture. I added a glazed brad to the center. I threw it down on my desk and walked away. I came back to my desk and looked down and thought, cool! There is a card! I had stamped the leaves to try the color on my scratch paper and the same thing with the sentiment. Needing to balance the card out, instead of ribbon, I went for a line of sentiments.

How are all your holiday things coming? My baking is almost done and today I will be finishing the shopping. Everything is wrapped, aside from what I pick up today. Let’s say it has been a busy weekend! :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Stamps (Papertrey Ink-Around and About Sentiments, Big and Bold Wishes, Turning a New Leaf), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink-Rustic White), Ink (Palette-Landscape, Dark Chocolate), Brad (Basic Grey Sultry), Spellbinders (Nested Poinsettia, Floral and Stone Impressabilities)

Wall Art

See the vinyl quote above our entry door? I LOVE them. I cannot get enough of them. They are all over my house. So, playing around with my Spellbinders™ dies one day, I wondered if I could create my own. I bought some basic, white shelf liner from Target. And as you can see, it worked wonderfully!!

To create the butterflies, I used Nested Butterflies. To get the black color, I used my Copics and airbrushed the color. It did take a few layers of black to get the deeper color.

I added little snowflakes to my wall of frames.

You can see how great they cut and they remove easily from the wall. Nothing permanent.

For this one, I die cut a circle and a label shape. I stamped the image with Palette ink and colored the flowers in with Copics. The sentiment was also stamped in Palette ink. If you try this, and I hope you do, make sure that you put the liner with the backing DOWN into the die. That makes the cutting work better for some reason.

Hope this inspired you to try out some fun and seasonal decorations around your house! Easy, cheap, and moveable! :) thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders (Nested Butterflies, Label Trio, Standard Circles Large, Create a Flake 1 and 2), Copics, Stamps (Hero Arts)

friendship warms the heart

So, I was bad for two reasons. One, I bought new stamps, and two I made this instead of other things… :) But, when you look at how absolutely darling this image is, can you really blame me? She is from the new line from My Favorite Things called, Pure Innocence. I am in trouble, or I should say, my wallet is.

I had a lot of fun coloring this and wanted to point out a couple of things. I added the stripes to the snowman’s hat and to her leggings. I also went in with a couple of Spica pens and added glitter dots to each of their scarves. Isn’t it great when a card matches the picture in your mind?! Yay! thanks for stopping by!

(sorry for the short post...anyone else no where near ready for the holidays? :))

Supplies: Stamps-My Favorite Things (Merry Kissmas), Patterned paper-Basic Grey (Eskimo Kisses), Cardstock-Neenah (Solar White), Papertrey Ink (Kraft, Hibiscus), Ink-Palette (Vintage Cream), Memento (Tuxedo Black), Punch-Martha Stewart, Buttons-Papertrey Ink (Aqua Mist), Copics (YG11, YG13, YG17, R81, R83, R85, BG000, BG10, BG13, E00, E11, Rv11, E57, E59), Spellbinders die templates (Label Trio, Classic Rectangles Large, Classic Scalloped Rectangles Large)

congratulations card

And yet another Spellbinders™ project. :) Did you know that you can check out tons of projects at their gallery here at Inspiration Alley? Pop on over and see all the amazing projects by all the team!

You know, I have no idea where this card idea came from. I just started cutting pieces and this is what happened. I thought using the same sentiment on each Label trio shape would be fun. I guess what I do have to say is I LOVE those My Mind’s Eye papers. Its the Oh La La For Him line. Yummy!

hope you had a super weekend! thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders™ (Label Trio, Stars Five, Labels 8), Patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye Oh La La For Him), Stamps (Hero Arts Everyday Sayings), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink Kraft), Twine (Martha Stewart), Buttons (Papertrey Ink Aqua Mist, Orange Zest), Ink (Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black)

Snowbunny Tin

Its another Spellbinders™ project. For this one, I decorated a little metal tin that I had in my stash. The project started with this cute little bunny stamp from MFT. I LOVE those ears! The tin seemed like the perfect place to put some hot chocolate and give as a gift.

My second favorite part of this, is the background behind the bunny. I placed a sheet of adhesive over a piece of blue patterned paper. I peeled the backing off and then applied a layer of glitter. The bunny just needed to sit on some sparkling snow. :)

Here is a look at the top of the tin. Isn’t that saying adorable? All the snowflakes are from the Create a Flake 1 and 2 Shapeabilities® set. I inked each part and added glitter to the centers.

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders™ (Create a Flake 1 and 2, Classic Scalloped Squares Large, Classic Rectangles Large, Labels 8, Eyelet Borderabilities®), Stamps (My Favorite Things Snowbunny Flopsey), Ink (Clearsnap Colorbox Chalk Creamy Brown, Stewart Superior Palette Burnt Umber, Tsukineko Memento Tuxedo Black), Patterned paper (My Mind’s Eye), Glitter (Sparkle and Sprinkle), Ribbon (Papertrey Ink Satin Blush), Copics

my buddies

Here is a Spellbinders™ project featuring the fantastic Standard Tags dies. The set comes with three different sized dies. SO versatile. I made pockets for each of the die cut tags to fit into. I thought it would be a good place for more photos to hide or special journaling.

I took these photos of my son one afternoon while he was being goofy. He always seems to have a group of what he likes to call, “buddies,” that go everywhere with him. For a few months this summer, it consisted of all these Curious George stuffed animals. I love taking photos like this. Random, but at the time, it was a big deal. Someday we will look back and laugh. It catches a glimpse of daily life, something that will be forgotten in the hustle and bustle of life. Have you caught an everyday moment on film lately? I hope so!

thanks for stopping by!

Supplies: Spellbinders™ (Standard Tags), Patterned paper, Rub Ons, Ribbon (Cosmo Cricket Lil Man), Letter stickers (American Crafts), Buttons (Papertrey Ink, Basic Grey, Autumn Leaves)

The Scrap Review: MiMi DSLR Camera Bag

Oh ladies! You have to run over to The Scrap Review and read my article about the MiMi DSLR camera bag!! I ADORE this bag! Pop on over and see all the photos of the inside of the bag and how my equipment fits. AND the best part, enter a comment by noon EST on Tuesday (TODAY) and you will be entered to win your own Oasis Mimi DSLR camera bag!

I took my very first photo with my grandpa. I remember being so very little. It had snowed and the entire world was covered in white, all but the pine trees and the shed in the backyard. He let me take a photo. And I remember being completely thrilled that I could take a picture of how I saw the world. I still have that photo, tucked away in a very special place.

My grandpa gave me my first SLR camera at about age 12. It was an East German made Voigtlander. Oh, how I felt special using that camera! My dad taught media at his high school, so I got to roll real black and white film and have the students develop my photos. When could afford it, I bought a Canon Rebel IIG. And then my husband bought me a Canon Digital Rebel XT. (mostly because he couldn’t take all the film anymore :)). When my grandfather passed away in 1998, I got his camera (the photo above). I can still see him wearing it around his neck. Even looking at it, I can still feel him and his love for us.

I thought I would share a few of my favorite photos.

The canal with floating ice in March. Duluth, MN.

The pier from the shore line in March. Duluth, MN.

The Arial Lift Bridge over the canal in July. Duluth, MN.

Ice on a branch in April.

Butterflies on Lilacs at sunset in May.

American flags reflecting on the Washington Monument. Washington D.C.

thanks for letting me share and thanks for stopping by!

Paper Crafts Book: A Card a Day

The latest book from Paper Crafts magazine is called A Card A Day. What a beautiful publication! The whole book is full of inspiration and eye candy! I got my copy the other day and I am so honored to be included in this project. This book is a resource that I know you will grab over and over again.

Here is one of my cards that appears in the summer months. It was great to finally have a card that the American Crafts orange slice Flair I had been hoarding for months could work with!! LOL! :)

Hope the holiday craziness is going well for you! We are not even close to anything being finished, but, that is ok. :) We did take in the fabulous holiday light display called, Bentleyville, here in town last night. Amazing display and I will have some photos for you this week. If you live anywhere in Minnesota or northern Wisconsin, it is worth the drive!! thanks for stopping by!

Happy Birthday to my aunt Karen!! ((HUGS))