Have A Holly Jolly One!

Hello friends ~  We just got back from visiting our son and his family in California, and I've slowly been trying to catch up on visiting blogs.  We went out to celebrate our sweet "P"s 3rd birthday. They're also coming home for Christmas, so December is flying by like a leaf in the wind.  Not much time for crafting, but I have a number of cards that I made last year that I never got around to posting so I figured this was a good time to share, as it fits into a couple of current challenges.

 

 

I used some retro style papers and die cuts from Carta Bella.  

Don't you just love his rosy red cheeks?

 

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:

The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Anything Christmas 

Krafty Chicks Challenge ~ Christmas 

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes 
 

Thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Wrappings ~ Double D Challenges

Christmas is just around the corner and the gals at Double D Challenges are here to inspire you with a new challenge, with the theme of Christmas Wrappings.  So pull out your Christmas bows, ribbons, tags, packages and designer paper, and have some fun!

 

I made up some fun tags using dies from Spellbinders.  I made a set in blue.....

 

and a set in pink.

 

The snowmen are just too much fun!

 Come check out the new challenge at Double D Challenges and see what our design team has come up with.  

 

Here's the inspiration tile:

 

And here's what you could win when you play along: 

Thanks for stopping by!

A Year In Review ~ 2024 Favorites

Hello friends!  As we say goodbye to 2024 and prepare to welcome in the new year, I thought it would be fun to join in on the challenge at A Cut Above with "A Year In Review".

 

I'll jump right in with some of my favorite projects from each month, beginning with "A Little Retro Valentine Fun" in January.

 

 

 Original post found here.

Also for January (it was a tie), a Valentine Ornament Box ~ original post found here.

 

 

 There's no question that I love making these ornament boxes.

February ~ Original post found here

March ~ Original post found here

April ~ Original post found here

 

 

May ~  Original post found here

 

 

June ~ Original post found here

 

 

July ~  Original post found here

 

 

August ~ Original post found here

 

September ~  Original post found here

 

 

October ~ Original post found here

 

 

November ~ Original post found here

 

 

December ~    Original post found here 

 

Upon looking back on my favorite posts, I realize I am more than a card maker.  I love making lots of different things using paper.  Which is your favorite, and why??

 

I'll be linking this post up to A Cut Above ~ "Looking Back" 

I wish you all a safe, healthy and prosperous new year!

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Lighted Box Ornaments

Hello crafting friends!  Today's crafty share are these darling box ornaments.

 

 

 

You may recall that I've made several of these in past posts.  They're so fun to make and you don't need any special supplies to make them. 

I used a Spellbinders Label die to make the front and back of the box, cutting the center using an oval die.  I simply covered the inside and front of the box with patterned papers

 

and filled them with printed die cuts from Pretty Little Studio.  I also added some die cuts from Prima Marketing Candy Cane Lane collection.

 

 

This year, to spice them up, I added some fairy lights to the inside of the ornaments by punching a hole in the back of the ornament and adhering the power button onto the back side of the ornaments.  

 

These went to my two little sweeties so they could hang them on their Christmas trees.

 

 

This little elf went to this little elf

 

Our sweet Mr. "C" turned two years old in September. 
 

and this jolly old fella with pink candy canes went to our Sweet "P".

 

She just turned two this month.  Hubby and I flew out to celebrate her special day.

 

Oh how I love being a Mimi to them!  

 I hope you enjoyed today's project. 

I'll be entering one of these into the following challenges:

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge ~ Gifts

Krafty Chicks Challenge ~ Christmas 

The Sisterhood of Crafters ~ Christmas

Christmas Kickstart Challenge ~ If It's Christmassy, Link It Up!

Word Art Wednesday ~ Anything Goes

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Head Start on Holidays ~ Spellbinders

Hello friends!  It's Christmas in July at Spellbinders with the release of their new Handmade Holidays Collection and Home For The Holidays Collection.

Spellbinders so kindly sent me three surprise products to work with.  This St. Nick die set from Home For The Holidays is perfectly charming!  He reminds me of an old world Father Christmas.  

He  comes with many accessories including a Christmas tree, lantern and the beautiful etched star.

I accented St. Nick with the beautiful Poinsettia Spray die set, which you'll see more of below.  If you are a collector of Santa's or you like the old world look, then you'll love this St. Nick.

This next card shows the other two surprise sets they sent for me to work with.  The Emerald Cut Labels and Tag dies from Home For The Holidays Collection are fabulous in both design and detail.  There are three large rectangular Emerald cut shapes, each with an insert to cut detailed edges. The smallest die in this set of seven thin metal cutting dies is a tag with a detailed accent at the bottom. A wonderful basic set to have in your die-cutting stash!

The Poinsettia Spray die set from Home For The Holidays is equally beautiful.  When used with the greenery die that is included in the set, it creates a lovely spray of poinsettia blooms as well as other flowers and berries.  

The sentiment banner you see is from the Handmade Sentiments set from the Handmade Holidays collection.  You'll see more of that below. 

Spellbinders generously allowed me to pick two items of my choosing to play with.  I chose this delightful Delivery Joy Sleigh as well as the Handmade Sentiments die set, both from the Handmade Holidays collection.

This finely detailed set of dies makes a stunning sleigh full of gifts! So many details from gift-wrapped presents with bows and gift tags to Poinsettia, greens and more!

I couldn't be more delighted with these beautiful dies from Spellbinders!  I have a healthy head start on my holiday card making.  You can find all these dies and more at Spellbinders.

Here is a list of products I used that can be found at Spellbinders:

St. Nick ~ Home For The Holidays Collection

Emerald Cut Labels and Tag Etched Dies ~ Home For The Holidays

Poinsettia Spray ~ Home For The Holidays Collection

Delivering Joy ~ Handmade Holidays

Handmade Sentiments ~ Handmade Holidays

Home For The Holidays Collection

Handmade Holidays Collection

Thanks for stopping by!

Candy Cane Lane Accordion Flip Album

Hi friends!  You're in for a treat today!  I made this fun accordion flip album using a tutorial I found on YouTube, HERE.  I used the adorable Candy Cane Lane collection from Prima to decorate it.   This is a fairly picture heavy post, so I hope you have something yummy to drink and that you're sitting in a comfy chair.  And don't miss the best part at the end of this post!

This is the front cover of the album.  The album measures about the same size as an A2 size card, so it felt very familiar decorating each of the pages.  I used the same techniques on each section, creating pockets and fold outs, as you'll see as we move along.

This picture gives you and idea of the depth of the album and all the wonderful texture that the front cover has.  I adore this Santa image with his rosy red cheeks.  All the die cuts are from the Candy Cane Lane Ephemera packs.

   

Here's what the album looks like when you open the cover.  The half page on the left flips open and the page covered in bows flips open to the right.

Here is the photo of the same section, with both pages flipped open.  The page on the left and right, both have pockets where I've tucked in all kinds of retro Christmas goodies from the collection.

Moving on to the next section, you can see some of the items I have tucked into the pockets peeking out.

And here they are all pulled out for the recipient to enjoy.  I made this for a dear friend who loves vintage as much as I do. She can enjoy adding her family Christmas photo's and journaling on the many journaling cards I tucked into each pocket.

This is the last section...

Now let's open the flaps to find more sweet embellishments and journaling cards.

I seriously had so much fun making this little album, that I ended up making three more using different collections to give as gifts to each of my friends in my crafty group.

I also wanted to give you an update on my sweet little grandson.  

He came home from the hospital but still has a feeding tube that they need to use when he doesn't take his full bottles.

  He just turned three months old and now weighs 6 pounds, 9 ounces.  

Royce, their golden retriever keeps a very close eye on sweet little Mr. C.

And my son and daughter in love just gave birth on Dec. 3rd to a beautiful, healthy baby girl!

Please meet our little sweet "P".  At birth, she's already bigger than her cousin.  She weighed 7 pounds 8 ounces and was 21" long.

My heart is so full, it could burst with joy and love.  I'm overjoyed to join the ranks of grandparenthood after several years of heartache and loss.  Truly, my cup runneth over.

ETA:  I just discovered this wonderful, uplifting challenge blog called Path of Positivity Challenge and it is a breath of fresh air!  I'll be entering this project and post into this challenge to help spread hope and positivity.  With God all things are possible!  I do hope you'll check out their blog.  

I'll also be adding this project to the Paper a la mode challenge where the theme is "Add Snow".

Thanks for stopping by!