Christmas Tree Card

This card was another that was a bit out of the box for me.  

Another Silhouette library image I've had for a while.  

I was really excited to see how it turned out.  

I wanted it to look a little aged which is why i chose the colors and patterns that are on the card.

This ended up being another card my husband used to pass out to a client at work and she absolutely loved it, she ranted and raved about it for a few minutes and then showed it to everyone in the office.  It's moments like those that I really enjoy about this hobby.  I like making things that people get excited over and make them smile.

total pieces:

6 paper cut outs

6 gems

Polar Bear Greeting Card

This one was sooooo much fun to make.  

I love how it turned out and it was really hard not to keep it for myself.

My husband has the privilege of working at the WSU Grizzly Bear facility not too far out of town.  He wanted to have a Christmas card created for them.  

Now, I know it's not a grizzly bear but I just couldn't pass up this cutie.  

Shape cards are always so much fun and I truly like them even better when all the pieces go together as planned.  haha.

Who's Birthday is it now?

Owl's have been a big hit this year.  

This little guy was an image I'd been hanging onto in my library and came across the perfect occasion to cut him out.

This one was a lot of fun, another one I really wanted to keep for my collection :)

Total pieces:

20 paper pieces

3 pieces of twine

Hey Cupcake

Here's a fun card I made. Simple yet, there's enough detail to make parts stand out.

My guidelines for this were: Birthday card and any shade of teal.

hmmmm.....

Cupcakes are always a winner for birthdays so I used a light teal color and stamped the cupcake on it.   i drew over the top of the stamped image with glitter pens to add sparkle. Then I just started stacking colors on colors.  haha.  

I did add some pink very lightly around the edges of the white to break up the solid colors and to make the gem on the top of the cupcake stand out a bit more.  

I ran the background paper through my cuttlebug using the herringbone folder.  

Got lots of compliments on this one.  I liked it!

Total pieces:

9 paper pieces (1 inside)

1 gem

Very Simple Retirement Card

A co-worker retired from the office and our team wanted to pass around a card to sign for her.

I wanted to keep the card simple so that the sentiments inside stood out more than the outside of the card.

Total pieces:

5 paper pieces (one hiding inside)

1 twine piece

I made some things for myself

I have been wanting to make a few things for myself but get caught up in what everyone else wants me to make them, I haven't had time.

This year before my craft fairs season started, I decided I wanted to get organized and make a file folder that included all of my craft fair show detail.  And there's no way I could have stood for just a plain black box sitting by my window. haha.

While I was at it, I made myself a cup too :)

Bottle Opener

Ok, I was really impressed with my husband and myself for this one.  

The board came off of an old hospital here in town that our grandma used to work at.  When they remolded it, she really liked the designs on the trim and took the boards home with her.  We have since acquired them and I was excited to use them for this creation.

When we have parties at the house, I always think it would be nice to have somewhere other than a bucket on the ground for people to put their bottle caps.  We used one of the boards and cut it to size, screwed the bottle opener to the top and then attached the metal band for the mason jar. 

I think we may have to throw a party just so we have an excuse to use it now.  

Happy Bird-Day Card

During my down time from craft fairs and getting fed up with the snow on the ground, I try and experiment with different images and ideas that I don't typically use.  I like to expand my knowledge.  Sometimes they work out and I love them and that's the only thing I make for months at a time, other times, they never even make it to a final product because I get frustrated and throw the whole project away.  hahah

This card was something out of my norm.  The bird is a cut out with many different pieces. I used different types of paper as well plus the twine for the balloons.  

I do see a few things on this one I would have done differently had I known but all in all, I kinda like this little birdie.

total pieces:

13 paper pieces

1 gem

2 twine pieces

Simple Silhouette Birthday Card

I've had this cut out saved in my silhouette library for quite some time and I've liked it but I guess because it's not just a standard card, I was a little intimated by it.

After I got everything cut out, I was excited to see how easy it was to put together and see the final outcome.

I thought it would be fun to start including how many pieces are on each card.  This one has 10 pieces that were put together to make one image.

Of course I added some hand stitching and glitter pens to add fun to it.

cups cups and more cups

This order was fun.  I got a request from a gal at work asking if I could make her some cups to give out as gifts.  She gave me a list of initials she wanted and asked that only her's had purple polka dots and the others could be bright colors.

I really liked how they turned out and everyone she gave them too enjoyed them as well.

Who's Birthday is it...

This fun card was a special request.

my guidelines were, lavender, mint, and owls.... hmmmm.

It took some creating a special card base and finding an image I can make cartoon-y with out of the box colors.  I added some gems of course. 

and bamo - it was a hit!!!

Superwoman Birthday Card

I had fun putting this one together.  

Very simple and easy to create and it stood out really well too.

The image is from The greeting farm

Circle dies are spellbinders

Sentiment die is Jaded Blossom

Sentiment is Jaded Blossom

Go Hawks

This was a fun card to make.  

I make the birthday cards for our team at work and we have one guy out of all 15 of us women.  Poor guy!!! haha.

Of course you can't add glitter and gems to a man's birthday card so it leaves me a little out of my zone.

Luckily, he is a HUGE Seahawks fan.  I did a reverse cut on the happy Birthday letters and cut out the Seahawks logo.

all of it was applied using pop dots to make the head and the happy birthday stand off of the card, you can see a bit of that in the second image.

Made me laugh when he sent an e-mail out to our team saying he got a kick a** card for his birthday. 

Custom Cutting Boards

I wanted to share the variety of different boards I've been doing.  Some are super plain and others have quite a bit of detail.  Each and everyone has a different meaning to the person who receives it which makes it so much more fun to create these.

~ Enjoy!~

Happy Birthday Card

I had fun with this image.  

I created this card for a friend at work using, you guessed it, Jaded Blossom stamps and die cuts.

The glittery polka dot paper added a nice accent to the cupcake girl.

Each cupcake was topped off with a pink gem and the girl adhered with pop dots to make her stand off the card.

I'm baaack!!! (Warning: very picture heavy post)

Hi All.....

I'm going to start by apologizing to you about the 6 month delay in posting anything.  I've been out enjoying life.  Oh, believe me, I've been making projects too so no need to worry, I'm back on the posting bandwagon.

I don't usually share much about my personal life but I feel like since it's been 6 months since I've shared anything, I'll let you know what I've been doing.

We enjoyed a little snow up here in North Idaho and got to watch some of the wildlife cruise around.

My husband and I drove around a lake to go eagle watching and came across a group of guys who created an ice hockey rink out on the lake and were playing a game.   I thought this was note worthy for sure!

After about 3-4 months of snow and cold and cold and snow, I kept shouting:

and then I remembered - I bought a new headband at a craft show!!! I'm good to go!

OH, I had a birthday in the last 6 months and got this really awesome, unique vase as a gift from my grandparents.

In May I went to California for my Aunt Kim's wedding and to spend some much needed time with family.  I got to catch up with my beautiful cousin Amelia. 

 My grandparents who hold a place very close to my heart.  We laugh like no other every time we are together.

 I spent some priceless time with my wonderful nieces.  I miss these girls like no other!

This is the beautiful chaos of fun and laughter that is my parent's home.  There is so much going on in this picture and every time I see it I can't help but laugh.

Look, they can be still - only for a short time while eating. 

After my trip to Northern CA to see my family and celebrate my aunt's union with her amazing husband, I only had to wait a short time before my best friend in the world came up to visit us.  We went to a Luke Bryan concert and had a blast!  Another friend of mine came with and we all ended up getting pit passes to be right in front of the stage.  Such a great concert.

In June I was honored to witness my sister-in-law marry her best friend.  I first met Shaina when she was just 11 years old.  I cannot express how proud I am of the woman she has become and her husband compliments her so very well.  I can't possibly say enough positive and happy things about these two!

 Almost all of the cousins, now scattered through the US were able to get together for a picture.  

 Yep, lots of silliness and laughter was had by all.

In July we had yet another grand occasion happen.  Grandma turned a young 70.  We snuck family in from out of state to surprise her along with a nice dinner boat cruise on Lake Pend Orielle in North Idaho.  It was a perfect evening and yet another great time with family, making memories.

Well, that just about sums up what I've been busy doing - spending lots of time with family and laughing more than it should be legal to do!  

We've done some pretty normal things too... fishing at one of our many breathtaking lakes in the area or painting our craigslist steal shed.

Well, that about sums up my past 6 months.  I have had so much fun with family and friends.  A lot of memories were made, and I'm looking forward to many many more.  Who knows, maybe I'll do this once a year or so to let you know who the face is behind the crafts you see.

~Enjoy!~