A Serene Christmas

A couple of weeks ago, my good friend Lora and I spent a nice Friday afternoon making cards for my Grandma's Bazaar. Thank you Lora; my Grandma will LOVE them all!!

I made a card pack (of 6) for Grandma's sale. It will be the first weekend in November.


Of course, they are all slightly different...that's how us random girls roll!


I also busted out my Patterned Pines stamp set and made these. I just remember how this set totally had me at hello! But then so did the Serene Snowflakes. Perhaps my "hello"s are pretty easy to have. Well, I do talk to strangers!



Oh Merry Christmas in June!!

Happy Birthday Grandma!!

My Grandma's birthday was last week... She was born on Pearl Harbor Day before it was Pearl Harbor Day (I figure if I don't tell the truth about my real age, I shouldn't let hers out of the bag either!).

Anyway, this is my crafty Grandma and the one for which I make the Bazaar stuff.

She wasn't having must to do with me taking pictures; I think she just wanted to dig in her loot!! Yet another thing I get from my Grandma...feeling like a kid in a candy store anytime I am opening a gift.

I cut all these out using my Cricut and one of the Christmas Solution carts from 2009 (I am too tired to walk downstairs and look right now... I will check later and let you know.)

I sprayed the white on Rudolph with Glimmer mist and I added Stickles to the left edges of the Christmas tree...like the snow was really blowing! I also added Stickles to the white on the top of the stocking. I think my favorite is the red background snowflake with the tinsel top! My sister sent me the tinsel

Sugar Crash Blog Hop-- Yeah!!

*Give away closed.* (See post dated 11/8/2010 for winner.)

WELCOME!!!! You are on the CardSwaps Sugar Crash Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Chi Chi Memories and Natalie. If you did not, take a look around here and then head to the first stop... You don't want to miss any of this greatness!! (BTW, there are 17! stops and you won't want to miss a one! There are many prizes to be had and the only way to cash in is by leaving a comment on the posts. Plus, it's just nice to leave a little love don't you think?

Before I get to my project, I would like to invite you over to CardMaker Magazine's Card Swaps! We have a Sugar Crash Crop going on! You must come over and play...plus there are more prizes. (Don't head out quite yet, I have something to show you before you leave...and don't forget to leave a comment for a chance to win... and because you are nice and you want to leave some love for me :)

Ok, here's my project: Stinking Cute Photo Holders!

If you have spent much time around here, you know that I make several things for my Grandma's Church Bazaar. I made several of these for her Bazaar this year.

This one is my favorite! (I think because it's one of my favorite pictures!) I did spray my Hobby Lobby open stock paper with Tattered Angles Glimmer Mist to up its glitter factor but I will admit, it is not very Christmas-y... Don't worry, I am your Christmas girl! Let me show you first how I made these functional little do-dads.

I started with these. (Yes, I purchased them. No Staples did not pay me or ask me to show them off.)

Then, I got out my scrap paper drawer and began cutting pieces 1 1/4" x 2". Some pieces I sprayed with Smooch or Glimmer mist. Next, I creased the paper around the binder clips (mostly to make sure it was going to fit correctly). I used Terrifically Tacky Tape (the red roll) on each side (so three strips of tape total) and stuck down the paper. (Credit: When I couldn't get mine to stand up correctly, I watched this video.)

I selected ribbon to coordinate with the paper. (The pink is from Michaels (below), JJ put it in my stocking last year. The black is fab! satin ribbon from Stampin UP!) I put a little bit of adhesive on the ribbon right where it goes around the silver parts of the binder clips... otherwise, the ribbon rides up and there's no where for the picture to go.

Here's my Christmas sample:

That's paper from the open stock at Hobby Lobby. Those snazzy chicks in the photo are my sister and I in San Fransisco a couple of years ago.

House of Jones Holiday Traditions

Our first Christmas as husband and wife, I decided we needed to start some Christmas traditions! (Now, every since I have had my own Christmas tree (i.e., not living with my parents) I have left the tree lights on all night long on Christmas Eve and slept in the living room... JJ does this with me too. And someday, I will let our children do the same I am sure.) So, that first year, which was just last year in case you are counting, I bought us both fun/cute Christmas PJs to wear to bed on Christmas Eve. My thoughts were that our Christmas morning pictures would be better since we wouldn't be in old sweats but... I don't even think we took any last year. Anyway, that's our thing! And I love it! And JJ plays along with my game!

Now! Leave me some love for a random chance to win my candy.... can't really show it to you... but trust me! I am the last blog on the hop. Head on over to CardMaker and check out the challenges. Have a ball with all the challenges and thanks for stopping by!

In case you are lost... start with Lora and hop on through.

Lora

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Meredith

Ashley

Christy Croll (Tiddly Inks - Guest Designer)

Susie

Diana

Jane

Traci (Guest Cardmaker)

Angelina

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Irina

Ana

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Natalie (Chi Chi Memories - Guest Designer)

Laura <--- You are here!

Card Maker Message board is your last stop from here - http://www.cardmakermagazine.com/cardswap/index.php/board,57.0.html

"O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree"

I love this card. I totally cased it but I have no idea from where... a friend has a giant book of ideas ripped from other magazines... so much fun to look through. I made this for 2 challenges:

*Magical Melodies where you are suppose to use a song of some sorts. I used the background stamp of music (I've had this stamp for awhile and couldn't find the perfect place for it... it goes good).

*ABC Christmas "L is for Lights". The "L is for Lights" challenge had the extra of adding a tree. The pictures don't really show it but the black looking brads are actually silver... for tiny white lights. Then of course, the reds are for Christmas balls.

My Grandma's church has a Bazaar each fall for craft items. Last winter, I made her several card sets to sell. She sold them all before the event even happened! So this year, I am starting early!

Paper: from my stash

Brads: Circle/tree topper (SU), Red (Brazzil Basics Paper), Silver (Recollections)

Stamp: Stampabilities "Composer's Dream"

Oooh-lala

This 6-pack was for a challenge at CardMaker as well; you were to use a bird or a bee on your card. This is what I came up with:I just got this stamp set, Elements of Style, from Stampin UP! last week and I must say... I love it already! After I embossed the background paper, I ran it over my ink pad... turned out well, I think.

It's hard to tell at this point but, I stamped the humming bird on cardstock (the same color as the background) using Versa mark. Then, I rubbed ink over the top, wiped off and cut out. It was a bit labor intensive but well worth it!

Christmas Card

Nope, I'm not this far ahead... yet!

This is a card from a 6-pack I made for my Grandma's Church Bazaar last fall.

Other than the thank you cards for our wedding, this was one of the first cards I had made.

Not too shabby for a beginner if I do say so!

I cut the snowman out with my Cricut, pieced the scarf and hat with random paper from my stash. The eyes are brads from my stash and I embossed the snowflakes from SU's Serene Snowflakes set (I must say... I LOVE that set!!).

Sizzix Snowman from Terrie

*This is snowman is the first thing I cut with my new Big Kick that I got for Christmas (Thank you, MIL)!

*Terrie, over at CardMaker sent me the die- Thank you Terrie! The card is leaning in a 'twig' picture frame; I am still working on a good backdrop for photographing my creations!

*This card is a prototype for some that I will be sending to Grandma's Bazaar this fall.

Cards for Grandma's Bazaar

Here are a couple of cards that I made up (6 pack of each) for my Grandma's Church Bazaar. It's a craft show/fundraiser for her United Methodist Women's Fellowship group. They were a pretty big hit; I am not sure they even made it to the event! I have already started on the cards for next year!