Thank You So Much

October 30, 2010

Today, a couple of our good friends hosted a baby shower/farewell party for us. It was such a thoughtful gesture on their part and I really wanted to thank them right away so I whipped together a couple of thank you cards to go with their thank you gifts.

The trees were a little tedious to stamp, cut out and adhere but compared to the amount of work they put into our party, it was nothing.

First Christmas Card of 2010

October 29, 2010

Christmas cards are my favourite type of cards to make.

I recently bought a whole stack of new Christmas stamps so naturally, I was very excited to get started on Christmas cards early this year.

To get some ideas flowing, I watched the entire playlist of KWerner's Holiday Card Series from last year. (I can't wait until this year's series starts!)

When I first started this card, I was going to base it on her card from Day 12. I loved how she had stamped snowflakes on only the bottom portion of the card base and added another layer on top.

But when I sat down to actually make the card, I wanted to make it even simpler. Why not just keep it a single layer but add dimension with some embossing? So that's what I did.

Paper Stash

October 28, 2010

One of my 101 goals is to reduce my paper stash by half.

In order to accurately achieve my goal, I have to know how much paper I have to begin with! So last weekend, I cleared up some space on my crafting desk and piled my paper on top. This is what I ended up with, not including a few piles of scraps I have lying around on my shelves.


When I first started papercrafting, I used to go on people's blogs and obsess over pictures of their craft rooms. I was envious of their supply and thought that having too many supplies would be a nice "problem" to have.

But now that I face the same problem, I know otherwise.

In the next couple of weeks before baby comes, I'm hoping to make a few more cards and tags*. Maybe if I'm adventurous enough, I might even make my very first scrapbook layout!


*The only thing with making lots of cards and tags is that I likely won't be able to use them before we move to Australia which means it's another thing to pack! Oh the joys of moving overseas!

Christmas Tags

October 21, 2010

Ever since my last Stampin' Up! order came in, I was meaning to make some Christmas tags. I know it's still a couple months away, but Christmas is going to be bittersweet for us this year. So I'm taking every opportunity to make it last longer than it possibly can, starting off with Christmas shopping and Christmas crafting!

Apparently, when it comes to projects like this, what I really need is a kick in the bum. Last year, I got my Christmas cards started early because I was helping out with my sister's Advent Conspiracy project.

This year, my friend called on me to help her make some gift tags. She will be using them to help the youth group at our church fundraise money so they can each fill a shoebox for Operation Christmas Child without emptying their own wallets too much.

Of course, since I told someone else I'd get it done, I had to get them done! So here's a couple ideas for you early birds out there.

Baby Bundle

October 12, 2010

This past weekend, my mom threw a baby shower for our Baby #2. I know that traditionally, most people don't get a shower for the second baby, but considering the circumstances*, I think my mom really wanted to do something for us to celebrate this baby.

After church, we made a mad dash to my parents' place. We played games, had some yummy food and I got to chat with a lot of people I haven't seen in a long time.

And after enough experience with these types of events - bridal showers, weddings, baby showers, etc., I know enough to plan ahead for thank you cards.

When I first found out my mom was going to throw me a shower, I immediately sat down and planned out what the thank you cards would look like. I needed them to be quick, simple, and easy to make.


I had stamped and punched out the pieces weeks ago, but I couldn't decide how I wanted the ribbon on, so I left them sitting around for a while until this weekend.


Then, I woke up early on Thanksgiving Monday and got right to work putting the cards together and personalizing them with messages of thanks. What a suitable way to spend Thanksgiving, eh?


I made quite a few of these cards and intentionally left the sentiments off so that I could use any extras as other types of baby cards. For these ones though, I stamped "thank you" on the inside.


*About a month after baby #2 is born, we will be moving to the other side of the world. That means the time she gets to spend with Baby #2 will be the complete opposite of what it was like with Nathan - we lived with my parents for about 2 years before we moved to our condo!

Jasmine's Gift

September 21, 2010

This project was probably my most ambitious yet. I had originally intended to make a book, but seeing as how I had only really solidified the idea the morning I was supposed to give it to her, I was really pressed for time. So it turned out to be like a set of (post)cards.

My set of cards began with a "title page"


Had one card for each of the letter in her name with a little memory that was related to that letter.














And ended with a little birthday message.


I slipped them all into a clear envelope to make a nice, neat little package. (I LOVE those envelopes. You have got to check them out if you haven't already! They're so cute for packaging!)

I got all the harder parts (i.e., cutting the paper, stamping, some gluing) done at home and the rest of it (i.e., the rest of the gluing, most of the writing) was done in the car ride in to Waterloo! Talk about a rush job!

One good thing about a time crunch is that it forces you to use things without thinking twice. I didn't have time to be stingy with my supplies which pushed me to use more of it - a great way to use up some of your stash and any scraps you may have sitting around!

This is especially good for me right now since I'm slowly sifting through all my stuff, trying to get rid of as much as I can! I'd love to make more of those little cards if I had a reason to - they were so fun!

Butterfly Kisses

September 18, 2010

Today, we'll be attending our final wedding for the year before we move to Australia. It's hard to believe the summer's over. I think this year, we've attended about 5 weddings, 2 of which were out on the west coast, and this is after we had to decline a couple of invites. It's been a crazy busy summer to say the least.



I didn't want to rush another card in the morning so I stayed up late last night putting this one together. When I bought this ribbon, I had the idea that it would like nice on a wedding card. It's so feminine and ruffly! So I just used it to add a little something to the bottom of the card.