Mom's 2009 Christmas Cards

These are the cards that I helped Mom make this year. She just fell in love with the Wandering Words set in the holiday mini and we came up with this scene. The card is Night of Navy with a Basic Black mat. The image panel is done on Whisper White card stock.

We used post it notes to mask the moon and snow area and sponged in four layers with Bashful Blue, Pacific Point, Night of Navy, and a Basic Black pad that badly needs re-inked (because it looks like a dark purple instead of black). It worked well on this scene and now that they are done I will re-ink my pad and return it to a black color.
The masks were then removed and the trees from Lovely As A Tree (one of my absolute favorites) were stamped in Basic Black. The image from Wandering Words was colored in with a Basic Black marker, to only get the sleigh and not the snow or the greeting, and this was stamped in the sky. We then used the Sandy Speckles roller with Whisper White craft ink and embossed this with a mixture of white embossing powder and iridescent ice embossing powder. Now it looks like Santa is flying through falling snow. The only difference between Mom’s cards and the one pictured below is that she didn’t add the punched snowflake and brad. But she had the most amazing idea for the inside panel. On the inside we added a piece of Whisper White CS so that a sentiment could be stamped and a message written. She had the idea of punching the snowflake in the panel before adhering it to the inside so you see a reverse image. How perfect! Thankfully she only wanted 20 because there was a lot of sponging. But they did turn out beautifully!

2009 Christmas Cards

This year I wanted to keep it pretty simple for my Christmas cards. I tend to lean more towards the difficult cards for some reason. I also wanted to use some traditional colors. The last several years I have done blue/snowflake cards and this year I wanted something different.

I used Basic Black cs for the back and mat, and two pieces of Whisper White. For the background piece of Whisper White I stamped the snowflakes from Snow Swirled in Real Red ink. I then embossed the greeting from the same stamp set in gold embossing powder at the bottom. On the small piece of Whisper White I stamped the tree in Certainly Celery and used the smallest snowflake to emboss the gold star at the top of the tree. I then used a Versamarker, heat and stick powder, and dazzling diamonds glitter to add some sparkly swirls. On the inside I stamped a snowflake in Certainly Celery and then the sentiment in Real Red. I really love how these look and they were pretty simple. I love making Christmas cards so now I’m already thinking what am I going to do for next years cards? LOL. Maybe next year I’ll be able to get my cards finished before the second week of December.

Purse Class

Tonight I am hosting a Purse Class at my home with just a few guests. I finished the sample and instructions late last night and thought I would share it with you because it is such a fun project to do!
Check it out...

The tutorial for the purse can be found on Becky Roberts' blog for purchase and it is well worth the price if you ask me. The wallet is of my own creation and I may put together a tutorial on it soon. All supples are Stampin' Up except for the three flowers on the front of the wallet and purse, the die used to make the buckles, and the embossing folder used for the texture on the wallet. The color combination used here is Thoroughly Modern DSP, Bermuda Bay, and Soft Suede.

This is such a wonderful gift box. The first one I made for my upline Eddie. I filled it with hershey's kisses and in the wallet I put the payment for my last order under her. I think I will also make one to put a stamp and ink pad in for the hostess gift of my very first workshop that will be taking place next week. I'll post the photos of those cards next week sometime.

I just love how this turned out and I can't wait to see what my guests come up with!

Thanks for looking!

Blog Candy!!!!

Check out the awesome blog candy that Debbie is giving away at her Passion For Crafts blog!

Girl Fun with Paper

Last weekend my neice Gabrielle stayed the night with us. I promised her that we would be crafty and make a couple of cards. I pulled up my favorites list and let her choose two cards to case. Of course I told her that they wouldn't be exactly like the cards she found, but similar. The first one she picked can be found here. Here is my version:

I really like the different layers of white with different textures and the pop of pink in the center. The card base is Whisper White card stock. I embossed the lines at 1/2" from the top and bottom with my scorepal, then centered the embossing folder between my lines. The two ovals in the center were cut and embossed with Nestabilites ovals.

I stamped the flowers and stems from Fifth Avenue Floral in Black Stazon. Then I colored in the flowers with Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, and Rose Red. The centers were colored with Blush Blossom and Summer Sun. The stem was colored with Garden Green and Handsome Hunter. The ribbon was from my stash. To finish it off I stamped "Wonderful" from Warm Words in Rose Red ink at the bottom.

The second card that Gabrielle chose to recreate can be found here. Here is my version:

I really love fall and all of the brown, yellow, gold, and red colors. This card really fits all of those colors into it. The card base is Very Vanilla with a Chocolate Chip mat under some misc photo paper with leaves on it. The next layer is Chocolate Chip and some Halloween Large Stripe (non SU) paper. The third layer, which is popped out, is from Chocolate Chip, Tangerine Tango, and Very Vanilla.

The small rectangle of Very Vanilla had the leaves from Lovely As A Tree stamped in Black Stazon and colored in with Creamy Caramel, Close to Cocoa, and Chocoltae Chip markers. I sponged So Saffron, Close to Cocoa, and Tangerine Tango on the corners of this piece. I added some brown with white polka dot ribbon from my stash, stamped "Cherish" from Baroque Motifs in Chocolate Chip, and added five dots of Copper Stickles to the corner of the Creamy Caramel card stock. I absolutely love this one! I would like to apologize for the dark photos. By the time I got around to taking pictures of the cards I made it was late and dark outside.

Dark Blue Swarovski Pearl and Crystal Necklace

I made this necklace and earrings set specifically to wear with my formal dress on our vacation. It is the same design I used for my mother's set, but with a different color of pearls and a different pendant. The 8mm dark blue pearls were individually strung on eye pins and joined to make a chain. For the pendant and earrings I used a baroque teardop of AB clear crystal. All of the beads and findings were from Fire Mountain Gems. Below you can see different views of the necklace and earrings. This set went perfectly with my formal dress and crochet shawl as you can see in the last picture of my previous post.

I think I will be making one in the same design with different colors to put in my etsy store. I've had the store set up for a while, but now I think I'll actually have to list something on it. Humm...maybe after christmas presents are done.

Broomstick Lace Crochet Shawl - Finished!!!

A project finished and checked of the In-Process Project List! Yay! I found this fabulous pattern for a shawl in the Summer 2009 issue of Interweave Crochet. I got the yarn, beads, and a very large knitting needle that the instructions listed.

The yarn is from WEBS and the color is called Whipple Blue. One cone was more than enough for my fabulous shawl.

Then the beads were from Fire Mountain Gems. It was interesting getting used to crocheting around the very large knitting needle, not to mention holding the knitting needle while using the crochet hook. But it was well worth it. After finishing the edging and blocking it this is what I came up with and I absolutely love it! In the pictures below you can see different views of the completed shawl. At the end you can see a picture of my and my husband from the formal night of our cruise. I am wearing both this shawl and the jewelry that I will post about later. I am so pleased with how this project turned out!

A Magical Vacation

We returned Saturday night September 19th from our absolutely fantastic Disney Cruise Line vacation. We had such a wonderful time being spoiled rotten all week with wonderful food, good fruity drinks, entertainment, and relaxation. The three course dinners were amazing and had a large variety at the three restaurants on board. The broadway style plays were spectacular with lighting and fireworks special effects. I would recommend anyone who wants to experience a truly magical vacation to look into the Disney Cruise Line vacations. Beleive it or not there were more families or couples without children then there were families with children. Even though you see the characters wandering around we never felt like this cruise was just for kids. We had so much fun that before we left the ship we booked another cruise for next year in October, which is why you see that the counter has been restarted.

The photo above is of the Disney Magic which is the ship we were on for the week. There are endless activities and places to just relax. The ports we stopped at are Tortola, St. Thomas, and Disney's private island Castaway Cay. In Tortola we went on a scenic bus tour where I was able to get some beautiful photos of the islands. In St. Thomas we enjoyed snorkeling with wild sea turtles and schools of tropical fish. In Castaway Cay we enjoyed snorkeling again. The first photo you see is me with the statue of Mickey Mouse, and the second is with my husband posing with Minnie Mouse.

Disney Cruise Vacation!!!!

You can see that my counter for the Disney Cruise Vacation is slowly but surely getting down to the last few hours. Early tomorrow morning I will be heading off to the airport for a wonderful 7 day cruise through the Eastern Caribbean. I will not be making any new posts until at least the 20th which is the day after my husband and I return home. This vacation has been two years in planning and almost my whole family is going (Mom and dad; sister, her husband and kids; brother in-law's dad and girlfriend, and my husband and I). I will also get to celebrate my birthday on the cruise. I will be sure to post some pictures upon my return and shortly after I will be able to work more on craftng. Have a wonderful week everyone!

Swarovski pearl and crystal necklace

I made this set of jewelry for my mother as a thank you for helping me sew a dress for our very quickly upcoming cruise vacation. Yes... I of all people actually sewed a dress that is very close to being finished and actually turned out well. The necklace was made with light blue and light grey 8mm Swarovski crystal pearls that are each individually strung on an eye pin. They were then linked together in an alternating color pattern to form the two chains.

Here you can see the necklace with the matching earrings. For the pendant I used a Bermuda Blue teardrop that is a gorgeous dark blue green color. Below are close ups of the earrings and the pendant.

I am really pleased with ow this set turned out and made a similar one for myself that I will have to post later. Mom of course loved it because she picked out the pearl colors and the pendant to match the dress that she made (which look gorgeous) for the formal dinner night on our cruise. I will make sure to post a picture of both of us wearing our hand made dresses. What do you think?

New Stampin' Up Demonstrator

I have recently signed up to be a new Stampin' Up demonstrator. I am looking forward to showing you how some of these great products and stamps can be used. There are links on the side of the page so you can view the curret catalogs, or travel to my Stampin' Up website where you can purchase some of these fantastic supplies. I have used stampin up since 2005 and have fallen in love with the stamp sets they offer and the color coordinating supplies like ink, paper, ribbon, and more. I hope you take a few minutes, if you haven't before, too look at the items they offer. There is something for everyone and their quality and service is impeccable!

A worthwhile cause

If you like to help others than here is a great cause that would take only a little of your time. On Jess's blog you will find a post requesting sympathy cards to be given to the spouses of soldiers that have passed away. Not to mention you could also wind some blog candy. This is a really great cause to support. I have begun digging through my boxes of cards that I have made in the past and pulled out all of my sympathy cards, and I plan on making more. Any little contribution helps. You can send as many or as few as you wish, but please check out Jess's blog.