So Long 2010!

I can't believe how fast the year went by. For me, 2010 was my introduction to the crafting world. Specifically with the purchase of my expression. I have learned so much in the last few months and am amazed at how much I enjoy making cards.

I continue to learn so much from the blogs I read and am amazed at all of the talent that is out there! You are all so inspiring to me and honestly, without your blogs, I would probably be still trying to figure out how to use my expression! LOL. :)

One of my resolutions for 2011 is to start scrapbooking. I have so many pictures of my son that are either sitting in photo boxes or on my computer. He went from this....

(first day of 1st grade)

To this......

...and that was just four years ago!

So that's my crafting goal for the year! Hopefully at this time next year, I'll be able to do a "Favorite Layouts of 2011."

Keep your fingers crossed and wish me luck!

Happy New Year!!

Preserves Notecards

Since my expression is the newest member to our family, I thought it was appropriate to include some handmade items as part of my holiday gifts this year. Because this is my first major "mass" production of various cards, I decided to go fairly simple. I think the Preserves cartridge is perfect for notecards. All the fruits look so cute on small 4 x 4 cards. So that's what I decided to do....

Preserves was actually the first cartridge I ever bought! It pairs perfectly with My Fruits and Veggie Pun stamps from Robyn at My Pink Stamper. I think they make great "Thank You" or "Thinking of You" notecards for a wide variety of people without being too cutesy.

Here's the whole bunch. There's actually one more card that will go with each set and for some reason, I'm not sure why I didn't include it with the picture. It's a "When life hands you lemons..." card. The sets will be boxed or bagged up (haven't decided yet which I'm going to do) and will be given to my son's teachers along with this great idea for Christmas fudge I found on one of the blogs I read called, Allread Design.

She has some great and cute ideas for last minute gifts for neighbors or co-workers. Check it out.

Holiday Cards for Co-Workers

I've been busy trying to get everything done for the holidays and for some reason, there never seem to be enough hours in the day! I did get these little holiday cards done for my co-workers. The cards are 3 1/2 by 3 1/2. You can get three of them out of a regular piece of cardstock.

The base is just simple kraft cardstock. The next layer is cut at 3 1/4 by 3/14 in a patterned holiday paper from DCWV. The ornament is just from Joys of the Season at 3 inches. I then used a Recollections Holiday Stamp set for the Jingle Bells stamp and embossed it with white embossing powder.

The Joy is from Create a Critter. It's the phrase on the reindeer cut. I added white stitching to both, just to give them a little more interest. On the inside I stamped "Merry Christmas." I made 10 of each card, one for each co-worker.

Now on to make cards for my family and friends...maybe this year everyone will be getting Happy New Year cards instead! LOL

My First Blog Award

I received a special Thanksgiving surprise...my first blog award courtesy of Pigtails and Paper Trails. I am very thankful to be recognized and even more so to be considered Stylish. It certainly puts a little spring in my step...so THANK YOU!




The rules for accepting this award are:


1. Thank and link to the person who awarded you this.

2. Share 8 things about yourself.

3. Pay it forward to 8 bloggers you have recently discovered.

4. Contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

8 Things About Me!


1. I am deaf in my left ear and have been since the age of two.

2. I LOVE to cook and get the most pleasure sharing what I cook with others.

3. When I am not crafting, cooking, or spending time with my family, I love to read. My favorite book I have read recently is "Sarah's Key."

4. I dream of one day buying a house at the beach or as people around here like to say...Down the Shore.

5. In college I actually did live at the beach and sold Hawaiin Shave Ice on the boardwalk as one of my summer jobs. Best summer ever!

6. I'm still very much a newbie at crafting and have only had my Expression since July.

7. One year I actually forgot how old I was until my birthday when I realized I was a year younger! LOL

8. One of the biggest perks of my previous job in tv was getting to interview one of my favorite celebrity crushes, Kenny Chesney.

The 8 blogs I am giving this award to are:


1. http:62cards.blogspot.com
2. http://luvscrappingtogether.blogspot.com/
3. http://4craftyangels.blogspot.com/
4. http://tinklovescupid.blogspot.com/
5. http://scrappinwithkimmy.blogspot.com/
6. http://laurenscreative.blogspot.com/
7. http://septemberninth.blogspot.com/
8. http://sweetscrappingwithhoneyb.blogspot.com/

Advent Calendar

I saw this great idea for an Advent calendar in my recent issue of Family Circle and knew I had to make it.

It's actually made from the aluminum favor tins you can get at AC Moore and Michaels. They come in a pack of 25 tins and with a 50% off coupon, they were just $10.

In fact, this could be considered a Cricut-less project. While I did use mine, all you really need is a 1 3/4 inch circle punch and number stickers. I used four different patterns of paper that came in one of the holiday stacks I bought recently. Then, I cut six 1 3/4 inch circles from each pattern of paper.

I cut the number using Plantin Schoolbook and then attached them to the circles and then the circles onto the lid of the favor tin. The only thing left to do was attach a magnet using a hot glue gun.

We filled the tins with M&M's and put them on the refrigerator in the shape of the tree. All in all, it was a pretty simple project and we can use it year after year.

Projects - Altered Notebook

So I haven't had time to post anything recently because I've been working on a few projects. The first one is for our school's upcoming "Santa Workshop." In addition to the normal items you find at these things, our PTO invites local crafters to bring in items to sell. I am going to be selling a couple of items, including these altered notebooks and the bookmarks I made earlier this year.

They are nothing fancy. I bought the notebooks back in August during the Back to School sales and bought all of them for either 10 or 25 cents a piece. The paper I used to wrap is a pack I've had lying around for a couple of months. I don't use it for cards because it is really thin, but it's great for wrapping items. It's a little thicker than wrapping paper, but not much.

I then used my ever growing scraps to make the little critters from my Create a Critter cartridge. The stamps are from My Pink Stamper and Scrappy Moms. Both of which I highly recommend!

The hardest part was actually wrapping the notebooks. At first I used my ATG gun, but it was actually too sticky and if you laid the paper down and it wasn't lined up correctly, there was no chance of getting it off without ripping the paper. I actually ended up using some double sided tape I had in the house and it worked a lot better.

I'm off to start making some of our dishes for tomorrow. I like to get a couple of them done early to free up the oven.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Busy Weekend With Expression, But No Pictures

I had a busy, fun-filled weekend babysitting my BFF's kids. Her youngest and I spent a lot of time playing with my cricut cutting out animals and making cards. The only thing i forgot to do was take pictures of all of our creations...and let me tell you there were a lot!

What's really great is how simple the cricut is to use, even with a 4-year old. She loved it and before I left was already picking out what she wanted to make on my next visit! I'm getting some work done now around the house, but hopefully this afternoon, I'm going to work on either some more Christmas cards or gift tags....decisions, decisions.