Christmas Cards Galore!

Well, I am sorry that I have not posted as of lately but you can tell by this post that I have been very busy making lots and lots of Christmas cards!  I obviously gave up on the idea that I was making just a couple of patterens and sticking to them.  I just cannot seem to do that!  Oh well, I have had alot of fun making lots of different cards and then doing something a little different to each one!  Weather that be just changing the ribbon or the paper or whatever!  I think I am finally done though...I think!  I had to of made around 60 cards.  I lost track after a while, so I am not really sure!  Eitherway, I am very pleased how they all turned out.  It was fun while it lasted.  Now to get back to making birthday cards and such.  Oh yes, my hubby and I just decided that we are going to make handmade gifts for some of our family members!  I will share those when they are completed and if they turn out like they are supposed to! LOL  I can't wait to get started on those next!   

 

Well, thank you so much for taking a look at where I have been hiding these days...in my crafting corner!

I hope you all have a wonderful day!

My Parents Birthdays

 Hello everyone!  My parents birthdays are only a few days apart, and we usually just celebrate them both on one day.  So that is what we did!  We had them over for dinner and sang Happy Birthday to them and had Dairy Queen ice cream cake and gifts. Yummy! Really, we spoiled them for an evening and made them feel special,

(at least I think we did). 

Well, my youngest, who is 9 years old wanted to make her grandparents an exploding box, but on a much smaller scale.  So with a little help from her Momma (Me) on the cutting of the boxes and the lids, she made her own rendition of what she thought an exploding box should be like.  I loved hers!  Much more simple and less work!  But weather it is simple or very detailed, they are all done as a labor of love.  I thought that it was so sweet of her that she wanted to put money inside of their boxes...her own money from her own wallet, $.20 to be exact!  It was all in pennies, too!  Then she put a small Milky Way candy bar in it too!  So cute, and they both loved it!

Then after that, my oldest daughter gave my Mom, handmade earrings, with red glass beads!  She loved them so much that she put them on right away and wore them the rest of the evening.  My Mom loves having a granddaughter who is her own custom jewelery maker!  LOL  My dad was a little jealous that she did not make him a pair of earrings or something!  LOL  Of course he was just teasing her.

Next, it was my turn to give my gifts/cards to my parents! First I gave my Mom her napkin fold card, (which I posted earlier this past month).  She loved the front very much and then when she opened it there was a lot of Oohhhhh's and Ahhhhhh's coming from both my parents!  She thought it was so beautiful!  And yes, she saw how it reminded me of a quilt and the quilt squares.  She even started to cry a little, on us. 

Then I gave my Dad his exploding box/barn.  He was to funny with it!  He acted like he didn't know quite what to do with it.  He almost seemed afraid to open it up!  His expression in the picture says it all!  He loved it...I think!  Later as he looked at it and read all the quotes and birthday messages, he said to me, "this had to of taken you a really long time."  He didn't believe that I made the straw bales myself.  I love the box because there is so much to look at and see.  And then I explained that when I grew up we had cows and chickens and a horse and cats and an apple tree and laundry was always hanging out on the line.  Then my Mom saw the clothes line and was a little flustered about the undergarments hanging on it!  That gave us all a good laugh! Each picture has some kind of sweet memory for me as I grew up and they helped make those memories for me. 

Anyways, I just wanted to share with you all, their response to their cards and the fun we had celebrating them and who they are.  I am so blessed to have such great, Godly, loving parents.

Well, thanks for taking a look at this and I hope that you have a blessed day!

Barn Exploding Box and Tutorial!

Well, my Dad's 68th birthday is coming up and I wanted to do something really fun yet special.  So I went all out for this!  I made him and exploding box that looks like a barn!  I love how this turned out!  My Dad was raised on a dairy farm and so when I was growing up we had a small farm.  No it was not a dairy farm...but we had cows, chickens, dogs, a horse, rabbits and of course what is a farm without a bunch of cats and kittens.  My Dad loves his animals and so do I, he has a tractor similar to the one inside the box.  He is very proud of it and his dog!  So naturally, I had to incorporate some of those things into his box.  And being raised in the country, means that you have clothes that get hung out on the line...  Such fond memories!  Also, I had to get him a gift card to our local Tractor Supply Store!  Well, I really enjoyed making this for him and I really cannot wait to give it to him! Hopefully you can figure out my instructions, and I hope they are not to confusing to you.  If they are, please don't hesitate to ask me questions.

I used:
Country Life Cartridge
Everyday Paper Dolls Cartridge
Paper Dolls Dress Up Cartridge
Gypsy
Core'dinations Super Assortments Sandable Card stock
Sand paper
Martha Stewart Pine Punch (for the straw bales)
Pop Dots for the tractor and Cow inside the barn/box
JoAnn Craft Essentials Metallic Dots
Gift Card to Tractor Supply Store

The box it self is from a 12"x12" sheet scored at 4" all the way around making what looks like a tick tac toe design.

Cut out the 4 corners and you will end up with what looks like a plus sign.

The lid is cut at 6 1/8"x 6 1/8" making a square.  Score at 1" on all four sides.  Next, start at one corner and only cut up to the intersection of one side of the corner.  (DO NOT CUT, the corner out).  Rotate your lid and do the exact same cut as the last one.  Do that with all 4  corners.  You will have little tabs for your lid.  Then fold all the score lines.  Glue the "tabs" to the inside of the lid.  Make sure your corners are good and square.  Your box and lid should fit together easily.  Embellish as you please before adding the roof. 

The roof of the box is cut at 10"x4 1/4" and scored at 2", 4", 5", 6" and at 8". Fold and crease all the score lines with your "bone folder".  Go ahead and attach this to the box lid by only attaching it to two sides of the lid.  Now you cut and attach the gray side pieces for the overhangs of the roof and they are cut at 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" and scored at 1 1/2".  The gray top center part of the roof, is cut at 2" x 4 1/4" and then scored at 1".
Now to make the gray strips that go around the outside of the lid and under you roof, cut 2 strips of gray at 1"x 6" and score them at 1" to make the tabs. Also, cut 2 more strips of gray at 1" x 4" to fill in under the top "flaps" that wrap around the box front and back. First, attach the roof to the box then put your strips of gray 1" paper around to help hold and cover the roof.  Next, attach your gray roof pieces to the sides of your

roof and the top. 

Embellish as you please! 

The barn door, is actually a piece of black card stock laid over one of the outside tabs with another piece of red laid over top of that.  But the actual red door part is cut from a square of about 4" x 4".  Then I marked at  the bottom at 1", 2" and 3" for the folded parts of the doors and the 2" inch mark is for the opening of the doors.  Then I scored up the 1", and the 3"marks stopping at about 2 1/2".  Then I cut up on the 2" mark, again stopping at about 2 1/2".  Next I cut across the top of the score and cut lines, cutting across about 2", starting at 1' and stopping at 3".  Fold back your doors and then attach and embellish your doors and the outside or your box as you wish.  Then embellish the inside as you wish but have fun.  I know I did!

I hope you enjoy looking at this as much as I do!  I hope you have a wonderful day, too!

Taking Another Look!

Well as promised a while ago, I said I would post pictures of my "Thanksgiving craft".  For those of you that have only recently begun to follow my blog or even if you are just dropping in to check it out...my mother's family every year gets together for Thanksgiving, and all the ladies exchange some kind of handmade gift to eachother.  Ranging from baked goods to Christmas ornaments.  What ever your heart desires.  Mostly we give ornaments, though.  Well, I love glass and Christmas lights and how it all sparkles together.  So I came up with this idea from an old magazine. So here is the results of what this all came to be!

I used:
Inkssentials 2x2 Memory Glass
Inkssentials Memory COPPER foil tape
Copper jump rings
Soldering Iron, and solder and flux
Stampin' Up! Snowflakes, Recollections, Close To My Heart, stamps
Gold and Silver Embossing ink and powder
StazOn Ink
Ribbon from Michael's

Here is the picture I shared with you all way back in September! 

I made about 30 of these and only broke one, not to bad, knowing how thin the glass is.

I am fairly pleased at how these turned out.  They were pretty easy to do, too.

Well, thanks for stopping by and being patient and waiting for my "reveal".  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Birthday Napkin Fold

Shhhhh, my Mom's birthday isn't until the 28th and I couldn't wait to share her card with you all.  And since she doesn't have Internet she will not know unless one of you squeal!  LOL  So don't spoil the surprise!  I have never made a napkin fold card and this was my first one.  It kinda reminds me of a quilt which my mother loves making quilts.  So naturally I figured that she would love this card, plus she loves flowers and birds.  So I guess that I got a few of her favorite things all wrapped up in this card.  Trial and error is what this card is!  It may not be perfect but...I had a hard time getting the "Punch around the Edge" to work properly. Either way, I am pleased with how it turned out. 

I used:
Martha Stewart Around the Edge Punch
Stampin' Up! Stamps

My Hubby's Birthday!

My wonderful hubby had his birthday this past week.  He turned 30 something almost 40!  I won't tell...not yet!  He is such a great man, and God knew what He was doing when He put us together.  But I can't believe that we both are nearing that 40 mark...and that we have teenage children and they will all be in the double digit numbers next year...where does time go???  Well, as the saying goes, "Time flies, when your having fun!"  I guess that is what is happening.  Any who, here is his card.  This one had lots of little tiny details to it, but it was very simple. 

I used:
Stand and Salute Cartridge for the banner
Plantin SchoolBook for the letters
Then I just cut a bunch of squares and rectangles and put ribbon from my stash around them to make them look like presents

Well, thanks for looking and have a great day! 

Birthday Cupcake!

My wonderful neighbor had a birthday last week...and so naturally I made her a birthday card.  She is a fun loving lady and so I decided to make her a fun card!  I used lots of sparkly paper and lots of brads as sprinkles to make it look yummy! 

I used:
Sweet Treats and my gypsy to make all the layers and the shaped card
DCWV The Glitter Card Stock Stack

Brads and ribbon from my stash
The sentiment was computer generated

Thanks for taking a peek and have a terrific day!

Time Ticks By So Fast

On October 23rd was my 18th wedding Anniversary!  Whoohoo!  I wanted to make my wonderful hubby a simple card that didn't have a whole lot of fancy stuff on it...that was really hard for me not to go overboard!  So I came up with the clock idea and designed it on my gypsy.  Then came up with a little quote that went along with it for the front and then completed it on the inside.  He liked the clock and its "movable" hands.  I just did a simple gate fold card and used the clock on the front and then two hearts on the inside.  My wonderfully talented daughter made the beaded center for the heart.  I really struggled not putting some kind of fancy ribbon or lace on this but I just had to be happy with the glittery paper.  He liked it and that is what matters!

I used:
Plantin SchoolBook Cartridge for the making of the clock and the hearts
Fiskars Border Punch
DCWV The Glitter Card stock Stack

Another Autumn Tree Card/Shaker

Sorry my dear friends, that it has been a while since I have posted anything.  I have been very busy lately but I still had time to make some cards but just not the time to post them all.  So look out, here come a bunch of posts!  LOL 
Any who, this card is alot like the last one but, it is a shaker!  I was digging through my scrap drawer and found a baggie with a bunch of these leaves that I had cut out about a year ago.  Then I got this idea to use them for a shaker card.  So this is what I did.  I made this for my BIL's Birthday!  I hope he liked it!  I know I really enjoyed looking at it and shaking it to make the leaves move around! 

I Used:
Stretch Your Imagination Cartridge for the Tree and Leaves
DCWV The Glitter Card stock Stack for the leaves and background and frame
Brown Card Stock
Ribbon from my stash
Stamp is from my stash from Dollar stores

Well, thanks for checking out what I have been up to lately!  I hope you have a blessed day, today!

Autumn Get Well

Good Morning my friends! You know that dream state that we have right before we wake up...?  Well, when I fall a sleep thinking about cards, in that dream state is where some of my best cards come from.  You could kinda say that I make/design my cards in my sleep!  LOL  Well, this is one of those dreamed up cards.  Yes, if you look back through my cards, I have made one of these alot like this one...but when you are making a card for someone you don't really know alot about and it is a GUY, you kinda don't have a  whole lot of choices.  Well, this is for a man in our church, who he and his family are new to our church...he just recently had major shoulder surgery and is in alot of pain.  So I wanted to be an encouragement to him and his family, so naturally I had to make a card, because that is one of my best ways to be an encouragement.  I hope and pray that he has a complete and quicker recovery than he is told.  Overall, this was a quick and simple card to make.

I Used:
Stretch Your Imagination Cartridge for the Tree and Leaves
Martha Stewart Classic woodland Paper Pad for the background paper
DCWV The Glitter Card stock Stack for the leaves
Brown Card Stock
Brown Ribbon from Michael's Dollar bin
Stampin Up! For the sentiment

Thank for stopping by and I hope your day is filled with many blessing!