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November 25, 2009

I can't believe we're one month away from Christmas already! This past week I've been home from work and I've been using just about every waking moment to do something creative.

My sister recently asked me to make a card for her boss who just bought a house. I wasn't really sure what to do at first. All I knew was that it had to look nice and home-y.

I wanted to experiment with a new pack of paper I had gotten and I've been meaning to try making a longer card so this was a great opportunity.


This card ended up looking kind of like a sign. I kind of like it.

If it were mine to keep, I might leave it on my entrance table, or even on my piano. Hmmm.. maybe I will go and make myself one.

Christmas Cards 2009

November 23, 2009

Handmade Christmas cards have a special place in my craft-heart because that's really when it all started for me. Last Christmas, I invited my cousin over to make some cards for our friends. We barely had any supplies, but we made it work and it was a really rewarding experience. I was hooked.

Last year, I was into the blue-silver colour combo for my tree.

This year, I'm leaning more towards the red-white-silver combo. Red was my grandmother's favourite colour and I'm really learning to love the rich tones. It brings such warmth into the picture.


I've also been seeing a lot of embossed vellums so I wanted to give that a try as well. It was a little messier than I anticipated, but I think that's just because I need to get better embossing powder. Oh well!

And this year, instead of making the exact same card for everyone, I want to try to take one idea/theme and use it in different ways to make a bunch of different cards that look similar! Everyone needs a little variety every now and then!



(Whoops, sorry this picture is a little crooked!) You can't see it through the vellum in this picture, but inside the card, I have a sentiment from the Snow Swirled set stamped inside.

Advent Conspiracy Project - Sneak Peek #3

November 19, 2009

I'm all stitched out. Last night, I sat down at my desk with the intention of just trying out a new Christmas card design based on a card I had seen recently.

I only really wanted to make one card. But then I figured I could make a second one and try to alter something for a different design. I didn't end up altering anything.

A few hours (and 298314 faux stitch lines) later, I had made 10 cards, and 15 decorated card bases - quite the accomplishment for me!

Here's a peak at some of that faux-stitched goodness.


You'll be seeing a lot of the same colours in these sneak peeks. One way I'm saving money with this project is using the same materials, so that scraps and leftovers for one design can be used with another.

Advent Conspiracy Project - Sneak Peek #2

November 17, 2009

A little while ago, I mentioned that my sister asked me to make a bunch of Christmas cards for a project she is heading up at her church. These cards were to be given as token of thanks to donors to this project, The Advent Conspiracy.

My supplies arrived late last week so we could finally get started on the project. The challenge was to make as many cards as possible on as small a budget as possible. Originally, the numbers were $60 for 200 cards!

Sneak Peek - Card #1


The cards also had to be as simple as possible, without looking too cheap, so we could make them quickly. This project is all about being super efficient.

My sister came over to help with making and assembling the pieces. It was nice to have someone so eager to do all the work! And for someone who was trying out new techniques, she did a great job.

Sneak Peek - Card #2



So far we're about a quarter of the way there. I'll be back with more updates and sneak peeks!

Corner Rounder

November 13, 2009

It gets a little lonely without someone to craft with sometimes. Luckily, I have my son who's always into whatever I'm doing.

I usually don't let him do too much on his own (with my stuff, that is). I let him help me adhere things, stamp on some scrap papers, but he's not allowed to do any cutting.

Then tonight as I was getting him to help put my punches away (oh yeah, he's allowed to help clean as well), he discovered my corner rounder. I showed him what it did and he decided to give it a try.



And then he was hooked. For the next 15 minutes or so, he punched corners off of my scrap paper, then got me to cut the rounded corners off so he could rinse and repeat.

It's a great way to get rid of scraps and keep a kid happy and occupied, in case anyone's wondering.


He said, "I love machines!" Now, if only I could get his father to see things the same way!

Ladies of the crafting world, I present to you my son - corner rounder extraordinaire. Happily leaving a trail of little triangles wherever he goes.

Dry Spell

November 10, 2009

Don't you hate it when you have a crafty dry spell?

There have been multiple times where I sit at my desk with an idea, cut out some pieces.. and just never end up putting anything together because things just don't seem right.

So the other day, I sat myself down and told myself I had to adhere a few pieces of paper together, stamp a few things and put something together, even if it didn't seem right.



This is what I came up with. It's nothing spectacular. Really simple and took virtually no time to put together. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it but at least it helped me put an end to my dry spell!

The juices of creativity are flowing once again. Yippee!

Paper Crafts Connection

November 6, 2009

This morning, I started off my mornings as I usually do (when I have a little extra time) going through my Google Reader to see what kind of inspiration I can start my day off with.

To my great surprise, I found out that I was a winner of a copy of Paper Crafting with Photos from Paper Crafts Connections.

What a fantastic way to start a morning? I mean, who doesn't love to win some free stuff every now and then?

I was super excited and I was checking my email day to see when they'd email me.

Turns out, they can't send their awesome prizes outside of the US, which is a bit of a bummer, but they gave me the option of getting a free 1-year subscription to Paper Crafts magazine!

I can't wait to get those. I really need to get my creative juices flowing again!

{Thank you sooooo much, PCC!}