Back in business!

After begrudgingly dropping some cash on a replacement camera charger, I am back in business. At the end of the day I decided the pictures I missed out on taking (including CHRISTMAS! Grr..) were worth more than the charger costs.

- - -

Since my family members aren't craft-obsessed like I am, some of them decided to give me gift cards and so on to purchase my own craft gifts this Christmas. They know how happy it makes me - so sweet. I used them to get supplies for my next project: December Daily. Woo hoo!

I'm currently working on Christmas thank-you notes. So fun! I began by making a batch of identicals for the students in my class - they presented me with such sweet things the day before break. The excitement in children that young, about giving a gift to someone else, really shows the spirit of Christmas. What a gift in itself. I wanted to make them some really cute thank-you's that would be appropriate for both the little ones as well as their parents! I've had a lot of fun! In doing these, I was able to utilize the cartridges I got for Christmas. :-D

* kraft, pink, black cardstocks by the paper studio

* stickles
* border punch (Sorry, I do not know the name!)

* Mary Engelbreit snowflake stamps, white embossed.
* Simple Sentiments by Hero Arts, Archival Ink

This one is for someone else:

* kraft, brown, red, and cream cardstocks by the paper studio

* ric rac stamp by stampendous, white embossed

* glossy accents

* seeing spots embossing folder

* Simple Sentiments by Hero Arts
* scrap from my stash

* Inkssentials white opaque pen (this did not show up well on the cream CS - not sure what I was thinking)

- - -

And also..

These don't have an exact location yet, but my boyfriend got me a scoring tool for Christmas - sooo excited - and I have been popping these out like crazy. Love their pretty, sophisticated finished look!

I'd love to go on, now that I'm back with all my photos - but it's REALLY late! Thanks for sticking with me through the absence of my camera! :) Hope you're all having a lovely Thursday!

xoxo

No photos!

I hope everyone had a nice holiday! My family had a beautiful, quite Christmas. We're very lucky. <3

Bad news - my camera charger is, and has been, MIA for some time now. This means no pictures of my projects until I can find a replacement. >=O

Thanks for sticking with me while I hunt. :)

xoxo

Christmastime

Well, here it is creeping up on 3 a.m., and I'm wide awake working on some hand-made gifts. In addition to my regular Christmas shopping for my family members, I decided to make a gift for each person this year (there will be loads of photos!). Life has gotten busy, as it seems to for everyone this time of year, and I am up all night trying to get them done. Ah, the life of a crafter... But I wanted to say...

I have some new subscribers that recently joined me on my journey - this means a lot to me. Thanks to all of you - I can't wait to know you better. :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS to each of you, and all of yours.

May the true meaning of this season be with you on the Christmas Eve and Day - along with lots of love, smiles, and warmth.

With love,

Emily

Personal Stamp & Business Card!

I can't believe how quickly these got here, and how nice they are for such an affordable cost. I designed them pretty qucikly (pre-set template), and I'm really happy with the results. I don't have a "business", at least not yet, so right now these are just for my family & friends, and when I do future craft shows.

The stamp, is to put on the back of my work. I love them both!

Sorry for the sideways upload. That is a kink I can't seem to fix. If you would like information on how and where I purchased these, please leave a comment and I will be happy to share that with you!

- - -

Finished some Christmas shopping up last night at Target (yes, FINISHED my Christmas shopping! Just waiting for a few items in the mail. YAY!) and also made a pit stop at Michael's. LOADS of good steals going on there. The most exciting? I got an ATG!! I am getting used to it, but am very pleased with the results so far. Runner-up for exciting purchases? Over-sized Stickles 3 pack, (1 oz vs. .5 oz).

Thank you for reading!!

xoxo

Emily

Bon Voyage cards

As this school semester comes to an end, our school will say "see you soon" to 2 sweetheart students and their mom - they will be living in another country next term. They are special to me, and I'm making them cards before they go.

* This is a white 4x4 (fits A2 envelope!), with a grey 3 3/4" x 3 3/4" mat.

* The grey mat is stamped with Hero Arts Friend Definition in Milled Lavender, and the edges are ink blended with the same.

* The pearls in the upper corners are self-adhesive & lavender, from Recollections.

* The ribbon was sheer white, but I inked it with Dusty Concord. I hadn't yet done this with ribbon - love it!

* And last but not least, this chandelier, which I am in love with, is cut at 3" from the Summer in Paris cartridge. Cut out of DCWV paper from Pocket full of Posies stack.

^ Close-up of ribbon detail. I love this - I bet I will rarely use ribbon now, without inking it!

- - -

2 of these -- one for each girl:

* This is a white 4x4. The bottom is punched with a fiskars border punch (sorry, I don't know the name).

* The rainbow heart and all its layers are cut from the Create a Critter cartridge, at 2.5" (+ shadow). Glitter paper is DCWV.

* Coordinating eyelets are The Paper Studio and I love them.

* Purple scrap inside card to emphasize border punch, and edges are blended with Tumbled Glass.

- - -

I'd like to take a sec to talk about the cartridges I used for these cards, because they're 2 of my favorites.

First, Summer in Paris is one I bought back before I really got into using my Cricut. I think it was my third cart. ever - found it on sale at Archiver's. This cartridge is SO GORGEOUS, and semi- hard to find. All of the images are VERY intricate (so I wouldn't advise very small cuts). There are options for several 3d projects as well - this chandelier is one of them. The images are actually pretty versatile - there is a phone, hot air balloon, male & female silhouettes, bike, car, perfume, phrases, several Parisian landmarks, and more. It's not everyone's style, but if it's yours, I'd get it while you can. I love mine! You can read more and see the images here.

Second, how about that Create a Critter? This is BY FAR my favorite cart of my collection. It is filled with adorable animals, phrases, accesories and more. The card I've made here shows that there is a lot more than just critter layers on it. In fact, I love this cartridge so much, I'm tempted to write Provo Craft and suggest/ask if they have thought of coming out with a second one. I'm just sayin', if they can make a second Paper Dolls, there are tons more critters they could give us to create...You know it would sell like hot cakes.

- - -

I want to give a big friendly THANK YOU to Sammye Jo at 62 Cards. She put a link of my blog on hers to get some followers for me. :) She does the most beautiful work - and right now she's doing 12 Days of Giveaways! You've gotta see her. :)

Gotta get to work now. Many thanks for reading!!

xoxo

:-)

I just ordered business cards and a personal stamp! I'm so excited! :)

mini!

Hello!

I made this mini card last night for Josh. :) His semester is winding up - finals next week - and who can't use a little encouragement during finals week?! Sheesh.

My favorite thing about this, strangely enough, is the envelope. I was SO excited to find these mini envelopes! Not sure why. Probably because they're small, which gives me a whole new excuse to make small cards...I love all things mini. :)

Create a Critter Cricut Cartridge - my fave (provo craft)

Kraft & assorted colors cardstock (paper studio)

Stickles (ranger)

Sharpies

Seeing Spots Embossing Folder (provo craft)

. . .

Time for me to get back to reading Breaking Dawn. Yes, that's right. I, too, have been sucked into the Twilight world for awhile now (no pun intended). G'night. :)

Fun Tuesday Things.

Check out this fun birdcage I made! I love the shabby look it turned out with (shocking, I know).

- Basic cream, lt. blue, teal, and kraft cardstocks.
- Aqua and Silver paint (I used a very light hand!)
- Rock Candy <3>
I made this with my new Cricut cartridge, Straight from the Nest – this was one of my Black Friday gifts to myself. :) It was one I hadn’t heard of before; I think once upon a time it was an HSN exclusive. It’s one of those that at first glance, looks pretty basic, but if you take a closer look it’s got lots of fun functions on the dedicated buttons. Ribbon Sliders, Corners, and more. I’ve been having fun experimenting with it. I also used it to make these Christmas accents for my December Daily album I’m working on:

Speaking of December Daily – what a fun idea! I first read about this in BHG Scrapbooks Etc. The whole idea of it is a low-stress way to create a keepsake album that displays all your holiday traditions for the year. The key to the low stress, as I understand it, is the fact that you are supposed to create the album pre-December 1st, so that you’re not all caught up in the pressure of coordinating everything. Haha, well…I didn’t discover the wonderful idea of December Daily until after Thanksgiving, so, I am just recording my thoughts each day, and I’ll make them into a project later. It’s not really my style to dive into something without a plan, so this is working out. I am making some embellishments as I go. Fun. :)

Amazing sale right now at CRICUT MACHINE. Free shipping on all orders, and amazing prices. I got Everyday Paperdolls (for a Christmas gift) for $21.95 total. Gadzooks!

Things I’m Loving:
* Tim Holtz’ 12 Tags of Christmas. I’ve never seen so much inspiration packed into such a short amount of time! Tons of fun ideas there to try. :)
* The DCWV package I got from HSN today. Umm - $45 worth of gorgeous paper for 10 bucks. Yes.
* My cricut Tool Kit. At first glance I thought it was another ploy for money – but as it turns out, those gadgets all really do serve a purpose!
* My recent Hero Arts clings!!...

GLEE Thoughts:
Well, I love Christmas, and I love Glee. It’s no surprise that the combination of the 2 left me giddy. I have no complaints – although I’m still not happy with the Finchel storyline. A smirk in her direction at the very end, while they’re huddled around the Christmas tree? That doesn’t cut it! However, love the Brittany/Santa plot, and in keeping with tradition, Artie’s Christmas gift and Becky’s “Christmas came anyway” made me burst into tears.

And just so everyone knows...it's seven degrees outside right now. Seven.

xoxoxxoo

Cinderella, you're as lovely as your name...

So, among the many things that absolutely define me, are my 2 favorite movies of all time. One is Breakfast at Tiffany's, and the other...the other is Cinderella. <3

Several years ago, knowing how much I love the fairy tale, my mom got me a keepsake ornament for Christmas - of Cinderella's glass slipper on a pillow. I worked at Hallmark for a number of years (2004-2009), and my Keepsake ornament collection has grown into something quite special to me. At any rate, I now have my very own purple (favorite color) Cinderella Christmas tree. I'm quite the fan of traditional red-and-green Christmas themes, so this purple business sounds silly until you see it. My room, a light lavender and lace, is the perfect home for my treasured tree for now.

Anyone reading this for crafting purposes might wonder what the heck I'm rambling on about. Well last month in all my Cricut frenzy (still ongoing, might I add...) it dawned upon me that there were a couple of priceless ornament opportunities waiting for my in my Nursery Rhymes cartridge.

These are:

- basic cream and blue cardstocks

- pearl mist

- tim holtz jump rings

- rock candy

- translucent ribbon

- silver embossing

- blended ink

And the tree...

xoxo

Amazing giveaway!

So listen up!

Roberts Crafts is hosting this AMAZING DCWV giveaway - if you read it, you won't believe your eyes!

Click here to visit the ROBERTS CRAFTS blog, and enter for a chance to win this Beautiful DCWV paper stash!

I am currently in the midst of working on a DCWV editorial, talking about all their wonderfulness. This giveaway was such perfect timing. :)

xoxo

End of November

I am busy, busy crafting for the holidays. I am doing several handmade gifts this year and I can hardly believe tomorrow is December 1st!

I wonder if anyone else went a-craft-shopping during all the Black Friday sales? I know it's a time to be shopping for others - but- I tried to get a lot of that done early this year. The sales on the day after Thanksgiving are irresistible for crafters, no? I scored some cricut goodies. :) And TONIGHT! I ordered the cutest mat stacks EVER, at seriously a steal of a price ($44 worth for 10 bucks). omgeez!

Happy December tomorrow. Snow is in the forecast (gross), and I hope to get our tree up (yay).

On a side [GLEE-SPOILER] note: Finnchel, you broke my heart tonight. Ryan Murphy promised that they would get together, and STAY together this season. Boo.