Coffee Chick!

I love coffee.  Just gotta have one, two, three four cups each morning.  OK, so I drink lite coffee so really it's just like drinking 2 cups. Just explaining myself!

For my card today I used the Simon Says Stamp Card Kit for October which included a really cute coffee/tea themed stamp set which is called "Friendship Has Its Perks". 

I got inspiration from Stephanie Klauck's card HERE.  I made a few changes to make it my own, of course, although I am not above totally copying people either! LOL!

Here is my version:

I made this card with my friend, Cyndi, in mind.  She loves coffee and  lattes from Starbucks even more than I! She is the original Coffee Chick! 
I colored the coffee mug with Copics.  And see that little shadow below the mug?  Well, that's from a stamp set which is über cool from Paper Smooches called "Shadows" which you can see below:

I think it is a very cool set!
Here is a little closer up of the cute mug:

Time to finish that second cup of coffee...or is it my third???!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To all my American friends I wish you a wonderful Thanksgiving! So much to be grateful for!

I love Thanksgiving...it was always a big holiday in my household growing up.  My mother, a fantastic cook, would get up really early to get the "bird" in the oven. I would awaken to the wonderful smells of a stuffed turkey roasting in the oven. We would watch the Macy's Day parade in the morning....eat in the afternoon and watch football. Such good memories.

And even though time has passed since I was a little girl it's fun creating memories with my children and their children.  So, today I will be heading to my daughter's for fun with family...especially the grandkids!

Here is a simple card I made with DCWV papers and a fabulous cut file from the Silhouette store.  It cut beautifully out of glitter paper and I just backed it with a printed paper.

Easy and I like the way it turned out. No additional embellishments needed, right?

I haven't cut much glitter paper on my Silhouette so I wasn't sure how it would do.  Sometimes I will cut glitter papers face down and flip my image but on this one I tried it face up and with a new mat to help me out...well, it cut wonderfully, as you can see!

Enjoy your meals...and if you aren't in the US I bet you have things to be thankful for today, too!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

PS. I'm entering this in the Anything Goes Challenge at Simon Says Stamp HERE.

Thanksgiving Box Card

These little box cards have become quite popular....my friend, Christine, has made several adorable ones with cut files from the Silhouette Store. I was searching for Thanksgiving cards in the Silhouette Store and this little Lori Whitlock file popped up.  I just thought is was really cute and decided to make it for my son and his new bride (whom I may not see on Thanksgiving. *sniff!)  My daughter in law likes all things crafty so she will like this, I'm sure.  My son probably won't 'get it'! LOL!!!

Here it is:

I used paper from DCWV...love the colors and prints!

Gobble, gobble...isn't he cute?

And here is the sentiment stamped with a Close to My Heart stamp.

And another look at my little turkey...

All pieces cut out beautifully on my Silhouette Cameo.  I had no paper tears or booboos...even with the little teensy tiny beak!

It was very easy to assemble and it folds up for easy mailing.  I did make a custom envelope to go with it with some coordinating paper.  Stuck a little Washi Tape on it and had a cute "packet" to send my card in.

I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, my friends!

Happy Crafting!

P.S. I am entering this in the Simon Says Thanks/Thanksgiving challenge which you can find HERE.

Sympathy card

I seem to be in need of so many sympathy cards these days.  So very sad to lose loved ones, isn't it?  I always hope that my cards bring some comfort during times of loss.

This seems to be my sort of "go to" card for condolence sending...with a few variations along the way.  I love this daisy memory box die and it always works up so beautifully. 

The dotted line is from the Paper Smooches Dots and Dash dies.  A cool set to have on hand.
The cardstock is Papertrey Ink cardstock....a nice thick cardstock.

And the sympathy sentiment is one I got at a stamp show many years ago.  It stamps a nice clean image every time.


Well, today it is a "Rainy Day in Georgia"...a great day to craft or clean out closets.  Which should I do? I've already cleaned out a closet this morning so maybe I will treat myself with a little crafting time!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 22 Birthday Party!

Week 22 which covered the last week of May for me posed another one of those scrapbooking dilemmas! I had too many photos for just a simple two page spread. We had a big event that week...Taylor's 3rd birthday party! I just had to do a 2 page layout totally devoted to that...so that's exactly what I did.

I used Party Pop by Melissa Bennett which has been retired. I've had it in my digital stash...don't even remember if I've used it before.

But I thought this kit with the bright neon type colors were perfect for the photos I had.

Taylor's party was at Chuck E. Cheese. My kids loved Chuck E. Cheese when they were small and now my grandchildren are continuing the tradition.  I hadn't been in many years and was quite impressed with it. Very clean, very efficient, and the staff members were all wonderful with the kids. Plus...they have COOL stuff to do! LOL! I never did get a chance to play Whack a Mole! HA!

Here is my two page spread:

 Get a load of her silly face!

Here is the left side up a bit closer for you to see:

We had lots of cutie pie kids at the party!
Here is the right side:

And that, my friends, is it for today!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 21

I was so excited to be notified by Jaimee Kaiser of Just Jaimee that I won a one year subscription to her shop at Sweet Shoppe Designs!  Those digital kits can add up to a lot of $$$, too, so this was a wonderful win for me!

I quickly went to the store and downloaded the May, 2013 Storyteller kit.  I love the colors of this kit...so wonderfully "spring-like"!

So I did another 2 page layout for a week in May and here it is:

This was a typical week for us...nothing huge going on but is a great little snippet into my grandchildren's lives.

Here is the left:

See that cutie pie on the bottom left ... he is my friend's grandson, Logan.  Such a sweet little boy!

Here is the right side:

I love the silly selfie on the top left.  :) 

They have lots of fun just being kids but they learn a lot during their fun times, as well.  Look at the snakeskin we found at the park one day!

It is so cold here in Georgia...well, it is pretty cold nationwide, isn't it?  Just doesn't seem right to have below freezing temperatures and we are still officially in AUTUMN! I wonder what winter will actually be like!!!

So for today...keep warm and Happy Crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 20 Baseball

I decided to do an extra two page spread of my grandson's last spring T-Ball game.  I actually came across these photos after pretty much finishing the regular 2 weeks spread and I just didn't have the energy to redo what I'd already done.  Solution? Make 2 more pages!

I used a kit from Traci Reed called True Story. I searched online for some baseball kits but none that I saw were what I thought I needed so I went with Traci's kit.  I loved that the main colors were red, white and blue.  That worked perfectly I thought!

Here is the 2 page spread:

This was a very simple and quick set of pages to do.  No complicated templates to work with!

Here is a closeup of the left side:

It was just so darned cute seeing these little guys in their baseball uniforms.  American as apple pie!

Here is the right side:

So sweet...I love it!

And that's it for today.  Short, sweet, and to the point!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 20

As I work on these pages I am reminded how full my life is...as well as my grandkids.  We are all so very blessed!

Here is the 2 page layout...I always like showing the pages side by side so my readers can get the effect of how they will look when they are printed. And it helps me, too...to make sure that things look relatively balanced!

I used Traci Reed's May kit. I really love these colors...so spring-like.

Here is the left side:

I used some Ali Edwards brushes or stamps for the "week twenty" and "so love these moments".  I applied a Just Jamie style over it from her March kit to gave it sort of an acrylic or plastic look. I don't use styles often enough. It always seems like so much trouble! LOL!
Here is the right side:

I love the photos of Wade with his daddy (my son in law).  He's such a good and involved daddy and loves his children so much! He is total hands on and works hard at his job so that my daughter can stay home and raise their children.

Get a load of the icing-less cupcake in the center.  That's Taylor's handiwork! LOL! 

You gotta give that kid a lot of credit! 

And that's it for today!!!

Project Life, 2014: Week 19

Moving right along...getting close to the halfway mark in the Project Life year!

Here is the two page spread of Week 19:

 I used my usual assortment of Tracy Larsen, Lori Whitlock, and Lily Pad templates as well as the big overall page templates by Becky Higgins. I used papers, cards, and elements from Just Jaimee's Storyteller for May.
Here is a closer look at the left side:

Wade turned 7 months and just keeps getting cuter and cuter.  On the 4th of May...his official 7 month birthday he had no teeth...but by the end of the week one had finally broken through the gum! Poor little guy...he's had a tough time getting that tooth through!

I love the pictures of the kids sleeping. So stinkin' cute!

And here is the right side:

I love that my daughter remembered to take pictures of them at their dental visit!

And that is it for today...!

Hope you find some heat in this cold weather!

Happy crafting!

Project Life, 2014: Week 18

Well, after the hoopla of the wedding the week before things got down to nice quiet week of a school program, a visit to the Atlanta Zoo, a baseball game, my birthday (!)  and other fun things!

I used Traci Reed's May kit because...it was May! Silly....

Here is the 2 page layout:

This week went a little easier because I didn't have hundreds of pictures to sort through and edit.  LOL!

Here is a closer look at the left side:

That's my Granddog in the upper left photo. She's a very smart Border Collie and belongs to my son and his wife.  She came and stayed with us for a week or so while they were on their honeymoon. Such a good girl...and she gets along great with our little princess, Isabella.
Here is the right side:

Even though they aren't the greatest pictures I love see the photos of David singing with his classmates. So cute!

Today was such a beautiful day here...we had such gorgeous weather. It was a fun day of tennis.  We had our season beginning matches today and I think my opponents had a particularly good time if you know what I mean! LOL!!!  Oh well...yep we lost but it was fun.

That's it for today...hoping to start on week 19 tonight!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

You're the Best!

Today I am sharing another card I made with the Simon Says Stamp October Card kit. Being a big coffee lover....I just adored the coffee/tea themed set. It came with the cutest little metal die of a cup with the sweetest little heart cut out.
Vickie of Clips N Cuts was my inspiration for this card...she made her cups look like they had a tea bag in one of them but I decided I wanted to cut out the "steam" coming out of the cups instead. But I did use her idea of making the cups into little shakers filled with sequins.
So cute!

The paper is Basic Grey....I loved those little foxes.  I heat embossed the sentiment with some white embossing powder and used a sentiment from the stamp set that came with the kit: "What's Brewing".  I stamped the "steam with" some dark brown ink and the put some clear embossing powder over it to give it a little more gloss.
Here is a bit of a closeup:

 

Aren't those cups adorable?

I am off to a friend's house today for a crafty play-date.  I am thinking I will just take my laptop and work on digital crafting, though.  Less to pack, you know?  Then again it might be fun to cut, paste and get a bit inky.  Decisions...decisions!!!

But first....another cup of coffee!!!

Happy Crafting and Keep Creating!

 

Project Life, 2014: Week 17

Week 17 was a big week in our family as my son married his bride. The entire week was spent preparing for and then hosting the rehearsal dinner so I decided to use some of the dozens and dozens of photos taken during the event and use those for my week.  I mean...we seriously did little else this week!

It was most difficult to go through the photos to narrow down those to be used.  I probably could have done a couple of layouts on the rehearsal and then the dinner but forced myself to limit my photos and choose some that represented the occasion. And I tried to include photos of all the "key players". For the most part, anyway.  I can still do a photo book of the entire evening and use more photos of the day but for my Project Life album I decided to limit it to two pages.  And. It. Was. Difficult!

I also used the Donna Gibson method and this week it worked much better for me.  After I had spent some time editing my photos and deciding which to use I went ahead and placed them on my templates.  I moved a few things around...did a few collages and then went back in and added my papers and elements. I think it really did streamline the process for me....that is to add in my photos and then slide my papers behind.   I would say it only took me about 2 hours to plop the photos in...and then another 2 hours to add the other stuff so that is a step in the right direction!  LOL!!!

But, I will say that mostly I love, love, love doing it and I love the way my book is looking!

Here is the 2 page spread:

I used Traci Reed's April kit once again....the colors worked well for this springtime layout, I thought.
Here is the left side:

And here is the right:

It was such a fun evening...I think everyone had a wonderful time and the next day was even better!

And now my progress report.  I have done about 25 weeks worth of layouts.  I didn't start working on my weekly layouts until late August so I am proud how much I've gotten done.  I may finish this by the end of the year.  Or. Not.

Next year I will NOT dilly dally!  I will keep up with it better.  Yeah. Right.  LOL!

Happy Crafting and keep creating!

Project Life, 2014: Week 43

I have been looking at ways to become more time efficient (READ: DO IT FASTER) approach to Project Life. I doubt many people other than Donna Gibson and myself spend 12 hours doing a layout! Donna says it takes almost that much time to just pick her photos out! Ok, I made that up but I bet I'm not far off!

Donna is an über talented digital scrapbooker...and so GOOD at her Project Life layouts.  She was on the 2013 Becky Higgins Project Life creative team and rocked her pages week after week.  You can check all of her stuff out HERE. She has a great writing style, too...so much fun to read her blog so if you haven't headed over there before I say you need to give it a whirl!

So...she has been tutoring me in ways to do PL to speed things up.  I misunderstood, of course...and went from spending about 6 hours doing a two page layout to basically doubling that.  But that was my fault... 1. I didn't fully get what she was saying...and then the lightbulb came on.  and 2. I insisted on cramming 26 photos into this week's layout which is nearly impossible.  But I did it! LOL!

Here is the two pager:

 I used Traci Reed's October kit and I love the colors of it...perfect for Fall!

Here is a closer look at the left side:

 

I got some cute photos of little Wade this week...was so happy about that.  Such a sweet little boy.  I love that kid!

And I used the same old template selections for my photos I have in previous weeks.  And some I tweaked the way I wanted.

Here is the right side:

 

There are 17 photos there...count 'em! 

I'm worn out doing this faster approach!  LOL! I know it will be easier the next time, though, as Donna gave me some great tips.

Happy Crafting! I'm taking a break!

Project Life, 2014 Week 44

What a fun week last week was with all the Halloween festivities for the little ones! We love Halloween in our family...the children have such a good time playing dress up.

I went ahead and did my Project Life layouts for last week.  LOL...I've done weeks 1-16...a few in the 20-30 area and now week 44.  It's getting done...just not in consecutive order which drives the OCD in me just a bit crazy.  But I'm still living and haven't chewed my fingernails off so I guess I'll manage!

Here is the spread.  besides the usual assortment of templates from Becky Higgins, Tracy Larsen, Lori Whitlock and the Lily Pad I used the That Old Black Magic digital kit by Design by Dani.  It was perfect!

Here is a closer look at the left side and my little Halloween munchkins!

And here is the right side:

I used Becky Higgins Template F for the layout above but tweaked it to fit my needs a bit and made two 4x6 cards. 

And that is another benefit of doing it digitally...you can adjust just about anything...resize...move...and this digital kit cost me a whopping $1.00!  And I can use it again and again! :)

And that is it for week 44!

Happy Crafting!