New Year's Eve

Hello!  Can you believe 2011 is coming to an end?  This year went by so fast!!  One year ago today, my sweetie proposed to me, so New Year's Eve will always have a special meaning from here on.  We are getting married in just a couple of weeks and are both very excited.  The past week or so, I've been counting the days and reminding him how close we're getting.  He smiles and pretends to start hyperventilating and asks if anyone has a paper bag he can breathe into.  Well, I've decided to take that little joke of his and turn it into a card.  At the grocery store I got a long brown bag that they usually put bottles of wine into.  I folded it into thirds and it ended up just a little smaller than a standard A2 card.  I left space for me to write him a message - and the best part is he'll have the paper bag handy just in case he needs it!  LOL!!

Have a safe and fun New Year's Eve!!

Recipe:
Brown wine bag
Solid cardstock from Recollections and DCWV
Patterned cardstock from DCWV
Champagne bottles and glasses from Celebrate with Flourish cut at 3.5 inches
2012 from Lyrical Letters cut at 2.25 inches
Swirls Embossing folder
Ribbon from American Crafts
Glossy Accents

Final Holiday Card

Good evening everyone!  I have one more day off tomorrow before I have to head back to work and I'm trying to enjoy every minute of it.  I hope you've all had a wonderful time around Christmas with family and friends and hopefully you're able to enjoy some time off from your usual stresses of work, etc.

The project I have to share tonight is a gift card holder that I made for part of a gift to my mom from my sister-in-law and me.  I think the images from Three Birds on Parade are so cute and just had to use the one of the bird in the Santa costume.  The inside of the card is made to hold a gift card just like I did inside the card HERE.  Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:

Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections

Patterned cardstock from DCWV

Bird from Three Birds on Parade cut at 3.5 inches

Sentiment from Hero Arts Holiday Sayings set

Twine from My Craft Spot

Glitter and google eyes

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas everyone!  Did you all have a great day??  My day started with a nice long run along a new route so I was able to enjoy some new scenery.  That was followed by a wonderful breakfast, Christmas dinner and some good quality time with family.

The project I'm sharing this evening is the Christmas card I made to send out to family and friends this year. It was a bit more time consuming than I was expecting when I planned the card out in my head, but I was happy with the way it turned out and definitely think it was worth it.

The card base is a multi panel card that I got the instructions for HERE.  The card base itself was very easy to make, but the cutting and gluing of the strips and squares of paper took longer than I was expecting.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Pattern cardstock from Heidi Grace Designs and DCWV
Snowman from Jolly Holidays cut at 3.5 inches
Face from Wide Eyed Kids Face Assortment
Sentiment from Pink by Design's Christmas Wishes set
Glossy Accents

MCS Challenge #38

Happy Friday!  Only 2 days til Christmas!!  Are you ready??  I finally have all the presents wrapped and under the tree.  I think I'm ready!

This week over at My Craft Spot, the challenge is Tag....You're It and we're asked to create tags for our Christmas gifts.  This worked perfectly for me as I had a few more tags I needed to make.  Thanks for stopping by to check them out!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill, Recollections and DCWV
Round tag from Tags Bags Boxes and More cut at 4 inches
Rectangle tag from Tags Bags Boxes and More cut at 4.2 inches
Santa from Doodlecharms cut at 2.2 inches
Bell from Jolly Holidays cut at 3 inches
Reindeer from Doodlecharms cut at 2.25 inches
Ornament from Jolly Holidays cut at 2.75 inches
To and From sentiments from Pink by Design's Christmas Wishes set
Google eyes, Glossy Accents and Stickles
Ribbon from my stash

MPS Challenge #5

Good evening everyone!  Over at My Pink Stamper, there is a big 12 Days of Christmas celebration going on.  The project that I have to share tonight fits perfectly for her day 5 challenge.  The challenge is to make a gift card or money holder.

I got the idea for this gift card holder HERE and modified it so that it would fit into a standard A2 card.  After getting my A2 card base, I took a piece of 5 1/2 x 11 cardstock and scored it at 4, 5 1/2 and 7 inches.  I then zigzag folded  that piece of cardstock so that the middle section would stick out into the center of my card.  To make the slot for the gift card, I simply took an exacto knife and made a slit along the fold just a little larger than the height of the gift card.  I adhered this folded piece of cardstock into my card base and decorated the front.  Pretty simple!

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to join in the 12 Days of Christmas fun over at My Pink Stamper!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill
Snowflake from Christmas cut at 3 3/4 inches
Snowflake embossing folder
Ribbon from my stash
Sentiment from Hero Arts Holiday Sayings set

Cupcakes!

Hello everyone!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend!!  Mine was busy, but a lot of what kept me busy today was crafting so I can't complain!  Only one more week til Christmas - are you ready yet?!?

My sweetie's father hosts a Christmas caroling party every year, which we attended yesterday.  Family and friends get together, then we drive to a couple of nursing homes in the area and a couple of homes of older friends of the family to sing Christmas carols.  I am in no way a singer, but I enjoy this event every year.  It's nice to see the joy on the faces of the people in the homes and they are always very thankful that we came to visit.

After we make our caroling stops, we all head back to my sweetie's father's house to eat and spend time together.  This year I decided to make chocolate cupcakes with peppermint icing and I sprinkled crushed up candy canes on top.  I found the recipe for these by searching on the internet and of course now don't remember where I found them.  I apologize for not being able to give anyone the credit they are due - and they deserve it because the cupcakes were a hit!  Here's the recipe for anyone who's interested.  Thanks for coming by!

Chocolate Cupcakes
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar (not packed)
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup boiling water

Sift dry ingredients into a mixing bowl.  Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla.  Beat with a mixer for about 2 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula.  Add the boiling water and beat, just until blended.  Don't be alarmed - the batter appears watery.  Pour the batter into lined cupcake pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees, until the center of the cupcakes spring back when lightly touched.

Peppermint Icing
1 cup (2 sticks) butter of margarine, room temperature
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp peppermint extract
4 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp to 2 tbsp milk

Beat the butter until pale and fluffy.  Add the vanilla and the peppermint extract and mix well.  Add the powdered sugar 1 cup at a time, making sure the icing is smooth before adding the next cup.  After all of the powdered sugar is incorporated, beat in the milk one teaspoon at a time until the desired consistency is reached (I used about 3 tsp).

Shower Thank Yous

Happy Friday!  Last weekend, one of my best friends threw a bridal shower/bachelorette party for me.  She did a fantastic job on everything, from the invitations, decorations, favors.... she even made the cake and made me a book for all the pictures and cards.  Click HERE to see her posts from some of the things she did for the party.  She knew the colors we're using for our reception and matched everything perfectly.  It was a great party - everything I wanted and more!

These are the thank you cards that I made to send to everyone.  I used the same colors that were used for the invitations and favors.  I decided to do some simple variations on the same design to make it a little easier on my part.  Thanks for stopping by!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill
Swiss Dots and Spots & Dots embossing folders
American Crafts ribbon in Pool and Leaf
Thank You stamp and white embossing powder
Glossy Accents

Christmas Tags

Can you believe that Christmas is only 10 days away??  I sure can't!  I'm pretty sure I'm finished shopping, but I haven't wrapped anything and still haven't finished my Christmas cards.  Needless to say, I know what I'll be doing this weekend!!

Even though I feel like I still have a mountain of things to do before Christmas, I have managed to get a few things crossed off my list.  One of those things is some gift tags.  Here are four tags I created to add to packages..... when I finally get them wrapped that is! LOL!

Recipe:
Cardstock from Bazzill, Recollections and DCWV
Round tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cut at 4 inches
Rectangle tag from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More cut at 4.2 inches
Stocking from Jolly Holidays cut at 2 inches
Ornament from Jolly Holidays cut at 2.25 inches
Tree from Celebrate with Flourish cut at 2.75 inches
Wreath from Celebrate with Flourish cut at 4 inches
To and From sentiments from Pink by Design's Christmas Wishes set
Glitter, Glossy Accents, gems and ribbon from my stash

Lake Trip LO

Good evening everyone!  I'm trying very hard to get caught up on my layouts before the year is over.  I'm getting married in January, so with the wedding, reception and everything else that goes along with those I know I will be very busy for quite a while - and I have a lot of wedding-related crafting projects on the to-do list as well.  So, I'd like to be caught up on my scrapbook layouts for the year (if at all possible!) before the wedding.

Which brings me to tonight's project.....  My sweetie and I spent Fourth of July weekend at the Lake of the Ozarks with some of his aunts, uncles and cousins.  We spent time out on the lake and in the pool, and managed to get a round of golf in as well.  We had a great time - it's always fun to get away for a long weekend!  I borrowed some die cuts from my great friend Melissa to cut out the pictures and mats, so I'm sorry but I don't know the name of them.  The empty blue mat is for my journaling.  Thanks for stopping by to take a look!!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from The Paper Studio
Title and date from Lyrical Letters cut at 1 1/2 inches
Golf ball and boat from Father's Day cut at 2 1/2 inches
Glossy accents on golf ball and red stripe on boat

MCS Monday Challenge #35

Hello everyone and happy Friday!!  I'm really looking forward to this weekend.  Work was stressful this week, so I'm definitely ready for a break for a couple of days.  I also have a scrap night planned with one of my best friends, which is always great - crafting and girl time....gotta love it!

The project I have to share tonight is a Christmas card that I created for 2 reasons.  One was so that I could send another card to Madison's I Feel the Love Project.  Click HERE for more information on that.  The second reason I created this card is for the Monday Challenge over at My Craft Spot.  The challenge this week is 'Christmas Through the Window' - to create a Christmas card or project with a window.  Christmas cards are always fun for me, but adding a window.....that's something I don't do very often.  What a great challenge!  Thanks for stopping by to take a look!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from Heidi Grace Designs
5x5 card base
Scallop square from Slumber Party cut at 3.75 inches
4.75x4.75 frame layer with same scallop square cut at 4 inches
Presents from Jolly Holidays cut at 1.5 inches
Santa from Jolly Holidays cut at 3 inches
Sentiment from Pink by Design's Christmas Wishes set
Glossy Accents on Santa's belt and boots
Stickles

I Feel the Love - November/December

Good evening!  Can you believe it's already December?!?  I sure can't!  Where has the year gone??

The project I have to share tonight is a Christmas card I made for the I Feel the Love project for November and December.  Madison is collecting Christmas cards that will be taken to the Pediatric Oncology Unit at Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, CA, where they will be delivered to children who are spending this Christmas in the hospital.  Please visit Madison's blog HERE for more information about the project.  I think Madison's project is so touching and inspirational and hope that all of you can find some time to participate.  Thanks for coming by!

Recipe:
Solid cardstock from Bazzill and Recollections
Patterned cardstock from The Paper Studio
Reindeer from Winter Frolic cut at 3.25 inches
String of lights from Create a Critter cut at 1.8 inches
Sentiment from Pink by Design's Christmas Wishes set
Google eye and Stickles