Christmas Cuties

I cannot think of many things more adorable at Christmastime than either a baby or a kitten opening gifts. Both seem to be more interested in the packaging than what is inside. This page shows my 1 1/2 year old great-nephew opening one of his presents and my Mom's kitten playing inside an opened box.

I used some of last years beautiful Winter Frost Specialty Paper...it is hard to capture, but there is silver metallic in a couple of the sheets that really add to the shimmer & sparkle. I stamped and embossed various Festive Flurry snowflakes and easily cut them out using the coordinating framelits. While the DSP used here is now retired, the Festive Flurry stamp set & the Festive Flurry Framelits are still available on the Holiday Carryover List...until August 27th. (when the 2014 Holiday Catalog goes live on 8-28, they will be retired) so make sure to check out the list to see what is still available!

Isn't this little snowman adorable? He is a Sizzix Bigz Die that has a coordinating Embossing Folder. I bought him a while back at a scrapbook convention and never used him. I used some Silver Dazzling Details to highlight one of his embossed snowflakes. With the addition of Project Life into SU!'s product line I've been supplementing my album with some PL pages along with traditional 12x12. So the above page is the left page and this PL page will come next...

This really frees me up to make some really quick pages using lots of photos and journaling yet still be more creative with some coordinating pages. You may notice that I used the stamp set Endless Wishes on my titles for these pages. This was a super popular photopolymer set that was available last year over the holidays. It was so popular that it sold out very quickly! Well, I'm happy to say that this set will be available in the upcoming Holiday Catalog...so if you missed out last time you'll be able to get it soon.

Back in early December, I shared these two pages. They were all ready to add my Christmas photos & a little journaling. Here's what they look like now that I completed them...

and the right...

and the full two pages...

When I originally created these pages, I used temporary adhesive for the photo mats and a few of the embellishments in case I wanted to move them. Good thing, as I ended up adding an extra photo.

Cheers to 2014!

Hello! I'm a little late, but wanted to wish you a very happy, healthy & creative New Year! New Years Day marks the anniversary of my blog...with I started on January 1st 2007. I cannot believe I've been blogging regularly for a full seven years! WOW! Where has the time gone? With that said...I've been pretty much MIA since before Christmas as far as my blog is concerned. We were without power here for several days right before Christmas so that made finishing up all the last minute Christmas details a real challenge!

I was in the middle of painting a dozen wine glasses for some wine themed gifts and was limited to painting near a window during daylight hours, same goes for wrapping gifts. Hopefully I learned my lesson as far as waiting until the last minute! (but I kinda doubt it!) I had purchased all the supplies I needed to paint the wine glasses way back in October, but I just had to wait until December 21st to get started!

We also had family from out of state staying with us for this past week after Christmas. (thankfully we had power by then!) We had a lot of fun, but no time for stamping.

Despite the challenges I faced, my first attempt at painting wine glasses turned out fairly well, and everyone who received them liked them.

This was the first design I painted...and I learned real quick that I was going to need SEVERAL coats of paint to make the design even remotely opaque. Red is always one of the hardest colors to work with, and the glass paints were no exception.

I paired the "all lit up" glasses with the "gettin' blitzened" glasses which had this cute reindeer with the lights tangled in his antlers. If I were to do these again, I would have written the "all lit up" phrase on the base like I did on the "gettin' blitzened" glasses, and I would have only painted one reindeer on the front of the glass instead of front & back...because they took so long to paint and I could have finished double the glasses in the same time...duh! Here's what i mean...

I only ended up making 2 each of the above glasses...those went to my nieces and their hubbys along with a good bottle of wine and homemade candies wrapped inside of each glass. I didn't get a photo of these finished with the candy. :-( All these photos are not that great, BUT...they were taken during the power outage with only the light of a sunless Michigan winters day...so I guess I should be happy I managed to get any photos at all.

 I did get some final shots with the snowmen glasses showing the candy wrapped inside.

The snowmen turned out to be fairly quick and easy to paint, so I made a lot more of them than the first two designs. I painted the snowman faces all around and the full snowman just on the front (see...I learned from the reindeer glasses!) and then filled in with snowflakes.

They turned out pretty cute I think...maybe someday I'll paint some for myself.

I didn't do as much baking as I planned since no power means no oven! But prior to the outage I went to my annual cookie exchange. I had cute gift bags in which to put my cookies, but first they had to go into ziplocks to keep fresh. Plain old naked ziplocks are kind of boring right? So, I got out my White Stazon and my Festive Flurry stamp set and fixed that problem.

That was a quick and easy fix and they look much more festive!

With our power back on, our house guests back in North Carolina, and my hubby back at work after a week long vacation I finally have time to get into my stamp room and play with some new stuff!!!

Thanks for visiting me today, especially to those who have been visiting me since 2007! Lets make 2014 a GREAT year!

Tree Full of Festive Flurries

This is such a busy time of year! I spent most of the day at my Mom's house making Christmas candy together...that was fun (and delicious!) I thought I'd take a few minutes to share my special, little table top tree that I decorated with some pretty Festive Flurry ornaments.

To me this tree is extra special because it belonged to my Grandma. After she passed, nobody else in the family wanted this this poor little tree, and it was headed to the Salvation Army. That made me feel sad, so even though it was old and in kind of rough shape I took it home. This is now the 11th Christmas in our home, and I think my Grandma would like that.

I chose the colors of Wisteria Wonder & Pool Party for my Festive Flurry ornaments to coordinate with the tree skirt and glass bulbs I already had.

The Silver Glimmer layer, rhinestones and silver embossing really sparkle by tree light. The gorgeous Frosted Finishes Embellishments really finish each of these off...I just love those things!

I even made one for the top of the tree...

Here's a look at the whole tree, as it sits in the corner of our living room. There's probably only about twenty branches on the whole tree and they are extra fat branches ...which kind of makes decorating it a challenge...but I love it just the same!

My Mom made the pretty quilted tree skirt for me several years ago. Under the tree I have a framed photo of my Grandma & Grandpa...

I think they would love their little tree all decked out in the Snow Flurry ornaments.

Enjoy your evening...stay warm!
Supply List:

• Festive Flurry Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Festive Flurry Framelits Dies
• Wisteria Wonder 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Whisper White 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Silver Glimmer Paper
• Versamark Pad
• Silver Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Heat Tool
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• Frosted Finishes Embellishments
• Silver 1/8" Ribbon

Celebrate the Season

Here I am again...using my favorite goodies from the Holiday Catalog! I cannot get enough of these beautiful layered snowflakes...and luckily they are easy to create using the Festive Flurry Bundle.

Here's a closer look at the title that was created using the Morning Post Alphabet & Endless Wishes. This photo also shows the truer colors of the page...didn't realize how washed out my other photos were until I got these side by side...oh well.

Here's a look at the right side of the layout.

This 2 page layout would be perfect for Christmas photos or any photos taken during the Winter season. I plan to use my layout for my Christmas photos, but just in case I change my mind, the little flagged piece with the date stamped on it using the Remember Rotary Stamp, is placed using temporary adhesive. Speaking of remembering...I need to remember to use this stamp more! It's perfect for adding the date or small phrase to a page. Here's a look at the full 2 page layout.

After I have my photos in place I'll add another flagged strip of white next to the bottom right photo to do a little journaling and balance out the two pages.

Don't forget...today is the last day of the Holiday Sale...there are even a few more products added at 30% off for Cyber Monday...Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by today!
Supply List:

• Festive Flurry Clear-Mount Bundle
• Morning Post Alphabet Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set
• Remember This And That Rotary Stamp
• Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Regals 12" X 12" Cardstock
• Pool Party 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Island Indigo 8-1/2 X 11 Card Stock
• Silver Glimmer Paper
• Island Indigo Classic Stampin' Pad
• Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• Stamp-A-Ma-Jig

Santa Baby

Last year about this time, my niece came over with her sweet little baby boy and we had fun doing a photo shoot marking his first Christmas. My great nephew is such a cutie and is so good that I was able to capture several good shots before he decided he was done. The Festive Flurry Stamp Set and coordinating Festive Flurry Framelits (say that three times fast!) are the perfect choice for scrapbooking these photos.

The overalls he was wearing were Basic Gray with a Pool Party striped shirt, so the the Winter Frost Specialty Paper went well. Since the background in the photos is black I decided it would be fun to create accents on the page using the chalk board technique. So I stamped these images onto Basic Black Card stock using White Craft Ink and sponged the edges in white as well. I hand lettered his name & date using the White Stampin' Chalk Marker and then filled in with various stamps (some retired) with the aid of my Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Here's a closer look at my favorite photo I took.

I stamped all the snowflakes in VersaMark and then embossed them in white on Real Red, Basic Gray and even Basic Black. Then for some added sparkle I die cut some flakes out of Silver Glimmer Paper and of course added Basic Rhinestone Jewels to the center of each snowflake.

The Merry Little Christmas stamp made a cute little chalkboard embellishment as did the word collage from retired set, Season of Joy. Here's a look at the two page layout.

Thanks for visiting today.
Supply List:

• Festive Flurry Clear-Mount Bundle
• Merry Little Christmas Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Morning Post Alphabet Clear-Mount Stamp Set
• Winter Frost Specialty Designer Series Paper
• Basic Black 12 X 12 Smooth Card Stock
• Real Red 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Basic Gray 8-1/2X11 Card Stock
• Silver Glimmer Paper
• White Stampin' Emboss Powder
• Versamark Pad
• Whisper White Craft Stampin' Pad
• Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents
• White Stampin Chalk Marker
• Stamp-A-Ma-Jig
• Heat Tool

Flippin' Fridays- Festive Flurry Flip

It's Friday again...that means it's time to share another fun flip card! After playing with the Label Thinlit Die and seeing how easy it is to create such quick & fun cards...I had to get the Circle Thinlit Die as well! Here's my first creation using the Circle Thinlit Die...

I was happy to find that the circle on the Thinlit base is a little bigger than the circle punched using the 2- 1/2" Circle Punch, so it layers nicely...leaving about an 1/8" border. See what I mean below...the DSP circle is punched out using the 2 -1/2" circle punch...that makes it so easy!

The Silver Shimmer Paper looks just beautiful die cut with the Festive Flurry Framelits! They also look beautiful embossed...I especially love them  in Silver EP, as shown here. They also look beautiful stamped on Whisper White card stock with Island Indigo ink, or on Pool Party card stock with Pool Party ink...are you starting to notice a pattern? LOL...OK, I admit it....I LOVE snowflakes and I especially love this set since it has the matching framelits!

Right now I am working on several scrapbook pages using them. I cannot wait to share them with you once they are completed. Maybe this weekend?

Thanks for visiting today...have a great weekend!

Festive Mojo

Wow...here I am two days in a row!  I'm feeling much better after being sick most of the week, so I finally felt up to stamping. I saw this sketch on the Mojo Monday site earlier this week and this card popped into my mind almost immediately...I love it when that happens! (and then actually works out as planned!)

The photo is kind of washed out...but I'm far too lazy this afternoon to drag my behind back downstairs to try it again. (sorry!) The background is embossed with the Northern Flurry Embossing Folder and the two smallest snowflakes near the die cut one have a Basic Rhinestone in the center...it looks kind of abstract in the photo because it's hard to see the embossed snowflakes...but trust me, they are there!

Most everything I used here can be found in the Holiday Catalog...such as the Festive Flurry Bundle (my absolute favorite from this Holiday Catalog!) Merry Little Christmas stamp set, the Silver 1/8" Ribbon and the Winter Frost Specialty Paper...which is just gorgeous paper!

Here's this weeks Mojo Monday sketch in case you want to play along too.

I hope you are enjoying the weekend and find some time to stamp too!

Sparkling Festive Flurry Ornaments

I couldn't wait to make some of the beautiful snowflake ornaments/tags like the ones in the Holiday Catalog using the Festive Flurry Bundle! I actually made these right away after receiving my goodies and then made more of them at my Christmas in July Class, but I forgot to share them here...

The largest snowflake is made of 3 layers...I cut a light weight chipboard piece from a cereal box and then sandwiched it in between two Pool Party card stock snowflakes. This makes it a lot sturdier and I figure it will hold up as a pretty tree ornament for many years. I adhered the 3 layers together with Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue (my favorite adhesive!) with the Silver 1/8" Ribbon sandwiched in there as well. If you leave a large enough loop at the top it makes a pretty bottle tag for a bottle of wine. Who wouldn't like to receive this as a hostess gift during the holidays?

Each stamped layer is embossed in Silver Embossing Powder. The beautiful Frosted Finishes Embellishments, extra Basic Rhinestone Embellishments along with the layer of Silver Glimmer Paper really makes these snowflakes sparkle & shine. I'm sure I will be making many more of these to adorn my Christmas packages this year.

Merry Little Christmas Gift

Lets see if the rule "three times the charm" works for this blog posting. On Monday morning I was in the middle of creating this post and the power went out. We were without power for several hours. Yesterday I thought I would try again...but then the cable went out for several hours. What the heck? Monday it was raining and yesterday it was unseasonably cold, but not the type of weather you would expect to lose power?? Oh well, here I am trying a third time...hopefully it works!

I've been trying to share this little set we made at my Christmas in July class...so here goes...

I think the little Tag a Bag Gift Bags are so cute with their printed chevron design. I dressed up this bag with the Season of Style DSP and a tag created using the Merry Little Christmas stamp set. The decorated acrylic frame fits easily in the bag.

One of my favorite new accessories has got to be washi tape...I can't stop using it! Here I used the Season of Style Washi Tape on both the frame and the tag. With that being said, my absolute favorite new accessory has got to be the gorgeous new Frosted Finishes Embellishments...they are absolutely gorgeous! One is used here as the finishing touch in the center of the silver embossed snowflake created using the Snow Flurry Bundle.

Well...here I am on the home stretch of this post. So far so good...still have power and cable service. So it looks as if three times is the charm! Thanks for visiting me today.

First Festive Flurry

Summer is just flying by! It's hard to believe that it's already August and that we can now order goodies from the the Holiday Catalog! My absolute favorite item from the Holiday catalog is the Festive Flurry Bundle! Here is a card we made at my Christmas in July class a few days ago.

Each snowflake is embossed with Silver EP and then cut with the coordinating Festive Flurry Framelits (say that 3 times fast!) I used a strip of Winter Frost Specialty Paper that is accented with a foil stripe and pretty new metallic 1/8" Silver Ribbon. The sentiment is from a cute little set called Merry Little Christmas.

Here's a closer look at some of these beautiful new products...aren't the papers gorgeous?

Check back in the coming week for more posts featuring projects we created with these new products at my Christmas in July class.

With the strange weather we've been having in Michigan this past week or so it wouldn't surprise me too much to see some real snowflakes! I hope it warms up a bit so we can enjoy some pool time soon. Have a great weekend!