Hello again, Stampin' Friends

Hello, Stampin' Friends! So I can see by the date stamp that my last post was in May. It is now October. I'd love to say time flies while your having fun, but I'm not sure that's what I've been doing, lol. In Summer I have been focused on so many things: no school time with the boys, CTMH Convention in Utah, remodeling the second floor of our new house, traveling back and forth to California with the boys and my Dad(!), and then back to school...so basically life. I've been doing life...but in my crafting I've been literally FROZEN, unable to find the time, focus, energy, and drive all at the same time for far too long, because everything around was a bit of a fixer-upper. 

Now that the new second floor is almost unpacked (and my new, bigger craft space is usable!), I am finally able to Let It Go and get my paws inky again. I have missed crafting so, so much. I've managed to squeeze in a bit here and there, but last night I sat at my new desk, made a card for the Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge, and I just felt so happy and at peace. I busted out the Whimsical Holiday stamps from this month's Holiday Cheer special. I paired those holiday images with Craft On papers, which are going to retire soon, but I have missed SO MUCH GOOD STUFF, so I'm gonna use whatever I have and whatever I want until I feel craft-satisfied. I will craft what I want! 

 I paper pieced the little Snow Dude, adding shimmer brush to his body and touches of marker color. The snowflakes were fussy cut and mounted onto glitter paper backgrounds (from an older Tim Holtz die set), but that adorable little swirl is from the Thin Cuts - Crafting Shapes die set which is literally to DIE for if you are any kind of crafter. I can't even with how sad I was that I just opened this set like last night. Lots of shimmer brush, red baker's twine, and bitty sparkles finished off my first card in forever. If you want to build a snowman (card) of your own...or any other theme using this cute sketch, be sure to check out Atlantic Hearts this week. Okay, bye!

Snowflake Peace Card

Hi, Stampin' Friends! I didn't mean to take last month off, lol, but life is what it is. I feel like this year has been a big year of change for me. Without change, there cannot be butterflies, and I sure do love butterflies...I appreciate your patience with me, Stampin' Friends, as I work my way through this cocoon. Getting my paws inky again always feels so good!

This week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge sketch is a cute one! I love working with sketches - it's like coloring with your supplies. Today I combined the new Boutique papers with the Winter Flurries Thin Cuts. I did the snowflake using the Sugarplum Glitter paper and it cut like buttah! Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my Cricut machine, but it sure was nice to just pop out an intricate snowflake with no fuss. I mounted it on a stitched circle cut and topped it with some silver thread, a button from my stash, and a Sugarplum Glitter Gem.

The silver embellishing thread add such a nice subtle touch of sparkle. I used the zip strip to pop a sentiment onto this card, topping it with a single word from the Christmas Bingo stamp set. I added just a couple dots of glitter gel to finish off the design and balance that large sparkly snowflake. This is a great sketch for using up scraps for sure! I hope you'll pop over to Atlantic Hearts to play along this week!

Snowman Happy Holidays Card

It's the last week of school before Winter Break. Winter. Break. 4 more days and school is over for 2016. Is anyone else wondering how that happened? In any case, I needed cards to go with our holiday gifts for the boys' teachers. 

Luckily it's Monday, so there was a new sketch from Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. I grabbed some of the pieces I'd already diecut from Cozy Christmas and got to work. I have some glitter card bases that have been in my stash for so long I can't even remember where I got them. I layered on some City Sidewalks papers left from finishing my Workshops Your Way Kit. I embossed a white cardstock panel with snowflakes and mounted the diecut stamped images over the snowy background. 

I knew I wanted to add a bit of teacher theme, so I stamped and colored the apple from School Kids for the snowman to hold. I bent the snowman's arms on the block before stamping them so he could better grasp that shiny red apple. I hope you'll pop over to Atlantic Hearts and try out this fun sketch for yourself!

Sending Smiles Snowman Mason Jar Card

I'm starting to transition out of Holiday cards now, but today's card is a bit of a bridge into winter card. I just got my new Flower Market Cricut cartridge and when I found the mason jar my wheels started turning...

So I flipped over that mason jar and filled it with the Cozy Christmas snowman. I used the matching Thin Cut dies to do his hat and the holly sprig. I loved being able to shape his arms into a friendly wave with the flexibility of a clear stamp. After I stamped his body I masked it off with a post-it and stamped on the "snow" texture using one of the stamps that came with my Flower Market Cartridge. I mounted my mason jar snow globe over two kinds of embossed white cardstock (stripes and snowflakes). White on white textured backgrounds make me so happy! I used the Mojo Monday sketch as inspiration for this card design.

I cut two of these flowers from the Flower Market cartridge. I loved how the layered flower was so easy to make since the layers are automatically sized so you don't have to figure out all the measurements. I cut one at 2" plus one at 1.5" and the cartridge resized all the layers automatically - so easy! My SENDING SMILES sentiment came from another of the stamp sets that are part of the Flower Market bundle. The mixed fonts are just so pretty. I didn't mean to make more holiday cards at this point, but I'm snow glad I did!

October SOTM Blog Hop

Welcome to the October SOTM Blog Hop! This month we have over 30 talented consultants sharing their creations with October's Stamp of the Month, Yuletide Joy, a festive set of 7 images. you might be arriving here from MICHELLE'S BLOG. Let's hop!

I wanted to make a simple and easy to mass produce holiday card using this set. I cut some strips from the City Sidewalks papers. I embossed white daisy cardstock at the top of the card using the new Snowflakes embossing folder. Then I added a banner stamped with one of the sweetly fonted sentiments from the October SOTM.

I topped off my card with a Sea Glass glitter paper snowflake, cut with the new Snowflakes Thin Cuts die set. I added a navy button tied with baker's twine to complete my quick and easy holiday card!

Next up on the hop is KATHY'S BLOG. Be sure to hop all the way around to catch all the holiday goodness - and remember to grab your October SOTM before it's gone!

Scrap Much? Let It Snow Simple Stories Layout

Happy Friday, Stampin' Friends! Today is the release of another fabulous sketch over at Scrap Much?!

I have been hoarding this Simple Stories Snow Patrol line until I could get these particular pictures of my boys printed. I tried and tried to take good sledding pics of them, but everything was blurry or (of course) they weren't looking at me. Then I got clever, and had them each pose by flinging themselves onto the huge snowdrift next to the front porch where we piled all the snow as we shoveled the driveway. Ready? Action! Eye contact!!

Seriously, how can you not love this adorable snowman motif? Next time we build a snowman, he's going to be saying "YAY!" like this guy. I added a bit of Doodlebug doily and a Glacier Fundamentals wooden sign. I finished off the cluster with a combo of glitter dots ('cause I love glitter) and pewter stick on studs ('cause occasionally I gotta admit I'm scrapping boys). I stitched down my layout with four strands of metallic red embroidery thread mixed with a single strand of my favorite silver sewing thread for some extra sparkle. Make sure you poke the stitch holes really well with a foam mat if you try that - I super love how the thick stitch looks, but it's murder on the fingertips of you haven't pierced the holes big enough. I wanted to continue it around the layout edge like the sketch shows, but I couldn't bring myself to stitch over that lovely snowflake border...for now...

I trimmed another size of the adorable snowman out of one of the pocket scrapbooking cards included in my Snow Patrol pack. I wish he were a stamp! I actually had trimmed up another card to add a title when I realized I'd overlooked this beautiful scripty sticker title on the coordinating sticker sheet. 

 Don't you just love this sketch? If it inspires you too, make a page and hop over to Scrap Much? to link up your creation! 

Day 356: Scrap Much Doodlebug Winter Layout

Have you seen this new Doodlebug Polar Pals line? These stacked up penguins are just so adorable!

My middle son is totally obsessed with penguins. So I knew just the picture I wanted to scrap with these little dudes for the new Scrap Much? sketch challenge. I ran lines of the coordinating washi tape across the tiny grey polka dot print paper. I layered that onto some Bazzill cardstock, along with some of the coordinating plaid. 

I fussy cut the penguins and popped them up onto thin foam tape. Then I topped them off with some glitter gel on their winter wear and wiggly eyes. I added a bunch of the coordinating snowflake stickers and lots of the pretty Glitter Sprinkles. Can you see the glitter embedded in those enamel dots? Swoon!

The sketch called for spritz, but I actually used a glue pen to add swirls of iridescent glitter to the background. I'm sorry for the dark pic - I was trying to get the glitter to capture the light. My Shotbox got here just as I was packing my studio for the big move, so hopefully in the future my scrap layout shots will be perfectly lit! In any case, I love the shimmery effect these glitter swirls add to my snowy layout.

Here's the new sketch - hop on over to Scrap Much? to share your creation!

Day 301: Merriest Christmas Holiday Card

Got a quick and easy card tonight, with a little twist on the wood veneer snowflakes I've been loving lately!

I started off with this week's sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch. I stamped some Kraft cardstock with snowflakes from various sets in Colonial White pigment ink. I inked the flakes unevenly on purpose to get a distressed look to the background. I swiped the edges of the cardstock with the same ink and quickly heat set it because I'm too impatient to wait for it to dry. Then I sprayed the kraft cardstock with glitter spray for some excellent shimmer.

I stamped the sentiment in brown Memento ink, the again in Ruby ink onto some Colonial White cardstock so I could make a banner out of the MERRIEST word. I popped that banner up on foam tape, then broke off a couple of the prongs of a wood veneer snowflake (American Crafts - I tossed a few into the first photo including the one I snapped). I tucked these behind the banner with some Liquid Glass. Finally I went over the MERRIEST banner with shimmer gel pen, and also added it on the centers of the stamped snowflakes. I think this will be the last of my holiday cards this year!

Day 292: Mojo Snowflake Kisses Holiday Card

I am loving these American Crafts wood veneer snowflakes! I added them to this card which was inspired by this week's Mojo Monday Card Challenge.

I used the scraps of Moxie Seasons Greetings papers left from my Holly Jolly layout.

I added some clear acrylic White Pines embellishments for the sentiment. Then I added some clear glitter gel to the wood veneer snowflakes. I finished up with a bit of stitch penwork.

Day 284: Peace and Joy Holiday Card

Tonight I've been designing simple (almost) one layer cards for my annual Stamp-a-Stack!

For this tranquil card I went back to a retired stamp set from last year. I masked and sponged layers of snow (and that moon), then overstamped with the tree and snowflake texture images.

 I added the sentiment on a clean white banner to help it pop out from the background. You can also see where I added Wink of Stella, which made some unexpected but pretty brushstrokes as I added the sparkles. I'll be sharing the last Stamp a Stack card tomorrow, and taking orders for just one week!

Day 277: Snowman Candle Snowflake Ornament Craft

Today was a busy Thanksgiving prep day. I made a dozen each of tiny pumpkin cheese cakes and pumpkin pies, plus a couple dozen banana pumpkin grain free muffins. We finished the ridiculously messy tissue paper snowflake cutting activity, bought new sleds, and froze our toes off in the ice/snow. Stamping wasn't on the agenda, but the boys and I did make these adorable snowflake ornaments for our tree, using some of the battery operated tea lights from our Spokane windstorm power outage experience.  

The boys added googly eyes and sharpie mouths to the tea lights. We cut some hat shapes from an old shipping box and they colored them black. Then Mom (that's me) used E6000 to glue the lights onto some inexpensive glitter stars we scored at Target. so no one would be burned by the hot glue gun, with lots of advice from the peanut gallery. We added some resin glitter holly bits from my stash - I think I got them at Michaels.  Every boy was pleased as punch.

I know they won't glow forever, but I did use some scissors to trim out a segment of the snowflake so we can turn them on and off until the batteries die. I think these will be a good conversation starter when we trim the tree each year, reminding us how lucky we are, and how we sometimes take things for granted. Like power, or heat.  Sometimes the bad things can open your eyes to the good things you weren't really paying attention to before...

So tomorrow as I roast that turkey I've got dry-brining in the fridge that actually keeps things cold, I'll be grateful for my safe and healthy family gathered around me, for having enough food to feed us all, and for every little thing that I'm lucky enough to experience. 

Day 276: 3-D Snowflake Kid Craft

So yesterday I was telling y'all how I was so happy to have our power back. I went out and re-grocery shopped and bought a turkey for Thanksgiving...and this morning, good bye power. It had snowed last night, and someone slid off the road and took out the power for our neighborhood. Luckily everyone was ok, but I was positive that we were once again powerless along with 18,000 other households. I spent the morning stocking up on easy to cook gluten free foods and googling how to cook a turkey on the stove top instead of in the oven. 

I also grabbed this Snowflake kit (and some other craft items) to help with another round of no power with three energetic boys. It looked a bit complicated, but I figured that might help keep Gabe's interest while I helped Ben and Max.  

The boys didn't need my help at all. It was such a fun little craft kit, and everyone easily and happily completed a snowflake while singing a few holiday songs plus their current favorite Snape, Snape, Severus Snape. Max kept adding more and more of the pretty "Sequence" to his snowflake (we've been playing a LOT of board games). Once we had completed the crafting kit, we cut out a few more tissue paper snowflakes. My dining room floor is covered with bits of tissue paper, but it was the calmest evening we've had since last Tuesday.

Thankfully, the power came back on about five hours after it went out this time. I'm not sure why, since there are still so many without, but I'm very grateful that we aren't camping in the living room again. I'm also glad that instead of working on a new stamping project today that we did these snowflakes. Ben usually hates crafting, but he is digging our snowflake project. He told me he loves crafting with me, which I never thought he'd ever say, since he basically does anything to get out of drawing, coloring, and painting. Then he asked if I wanted him to scrapbook with me, so I see an Instalife book coming soon in his future! 

Day 227: Holiday Expressions Blog Hop

Welcome to the Holiday Expressions Blog Hop. We are featuring festive new products from the new Holiday Expressions idea book. You may be arriving here from DARLYS'S BLOG. Let's hop!

I decided to focus on the new Picture My Life White Pines cards. Working with the new Paper Issues Sketchy Saturday sketch, I filled the spaces with the snowflake themed cards. I added a strip of another card along the top of the large snowflake card.

I slid a White Pines Complements sticker behind the small leaf card and added the photo date. I used the Fundamentals Enchantment stickers for the first part of the title. Then I stamped and cut out the SNOWMAN letters using the Hopscotch alphabet stamp set.

I added a scattering of snowflake stickers from the White Pines Complements, and topped them with red enamel gems and bitty sparkles. It was a lot of fun to make a "traditional" scrapbook page with pocket scrapbooking cards!

Next up on the hop is JENNIFER'S BLOG. Be sure to hop all around to see all thirty consultant's fabulous Holiday Expressions creations!

Some of my other Holiday Expressions product projects:

White Pines Christmas Love Card 

Joy Twinkle Wreath Card

Merry Everything White Pines Card

White Pines Just Believe Scrapbook Page

Nevermore Watercolor Card

Nevermore Watercolor Layout

Day 151: Let It Snow card

I had stamped a circle with this sentiment a few days ago...but it didn't fit my card, so into the scrap bin it went. The sentiment is from the Be Jolly set, part of the $5 Hostess Reward stamp set special going on for just a few more days this month. 

I saw the new "Off the Edge" challenge over at ABC Christmas Challenges, and I thought of that sentiment. Luckily I had a doily just the right size for my sentiment. I added a little Doodled Designs circle in second generation Thistle ink around the sentiment. I literally have had this stamp set sitting on my desk for months now. Why bother putting it away when I'm just gonna need it tomorrow? The blue dot paper is from Wanderful.

I colored in the hearts with a Peony Purple Shin Han marker and added touches of glitter gel pen to the leaves of the wreath. Then I stamped the tiny simple snowflake from Best Christmas around the card in blue ink overlaid with more glitter gel pen and topped with medium sparkles.

Come back tomorrow for the Scrapping Our Stash Hop and lots of scrapbooking eye candy!

Day 128: AHSC Snowflake Joy Card

I seem to be on a Stash Busting mission lately. While tidying up my Sparkles bin I found a bunch of these Top Coats Icings overlays. These were clear acrylic overlays printed in blues, purples, and silver foil embossing - so pretty! 

Rather than put them back in the box, I had to use a couple. So I chose a few that fit this week's Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge. I embossed a panel of White Daisy Cardstock, then trimmed it apart and adhered the pieces to another White Daisy Cardstock panel. I added strips of washi tape and Purple Shimmer Trim. Then I adhered the clear overlays using Liquid Glass behind the designs.

I applied Sparkles over the adhesive marks, and mounted the panel onto Timberline Woodgrain paper. I'm linking up to the Heart 2 Heart Warm vs Cool Challenge. Hope you'll hop over to Atlantic Hearts and play along this week!