What Am I Up To Now?

Well, if you have followed my blog since last year or have read any of my past posts, you know what happens at Thanksgiving time every year!  I know, I know, Thanksgiving isn't until November!  Let me explain myself, for any of you new followers!

On Thanksgiving day, my Mom's family gets together and has a wonderful dinner and a short time of visiting, then it is time to clean up then....the "ladies" share and exchange handmade crafts for each other.  Some are Christmas ornaments, some are baked goods, to jewelry to wreaths...the list goes on.  I am not sure how long we have been doing this, but I know it has been since I have been married.  So I could say it has been at least 15 years.  So I have accumulated a lot of Christmas ornaments to Christmas decor from this.  Well, to make a long story short, I make one for every "Adult" women (Aunt, Cousins...), then whatever is left, then the younger girls can have one.  Either way, I have to make at least 30 of my craft. 

So I found something that I am very delighted how it has already turned out ,and the first two are just my "practice" ones.  So here is a little teaser of just some of the supplies that I am using for my craft.  If I would do one every day for a month, I would get them done so quickly...the only problem is that sometimes I am lucky to even get to sit down at my crafty corner and enjoy it.   Plus I also have cards to work on inbetween all of this and make LOTS of Christmas cards, too.  Anyways, you will just have to wait till Thanksgiving to see what it is!  Enjoy trying to figure it out while you wait.  Till then keep checking my blog out to see what I ended up making.

Teaser #1

Teaser #2

Okay, now that I have given you all some clues, what do you think? 

Also, what are some of your family holiday crafting taditions?

Thanks for taking a peek at what I am doing

and I hope you have a great day!

Triple Time Stamp Birthday Card

This card was made for my hubby's niece.  It is hard to make an all grown up card for her.  When I first met her she was just a little tiny girl, now she is all grown up and has been married for about 4 years.  I can't believe it, where does time go?  I am not getting older, she is!  Right???  Oh well, if you all have not noticed that when I find and do a new technique I try it at least a few more times.  This one I think I will do again for Christmas cards with snowflakes.  Such a simple card and very quick to make too.  I really like how this one turned out, very pretty.

I used:
Sweet Treats Cricut Cartridge for the flower cuts
Pink/white cardstock
Stampin' Up!  Burst into Bloom stamp
Yellow organza ribbon
Sentiment stamp from Hobby Lobby

Thank you so much for looking at what I have been doing!

Anniversary Layered Card

Well, the weather here has been really hot, but today we were over 90 degrees then the sound of the tornado sirens going off and severe thunderstorms repeatedly.  I so cannot wait till the weather calms down a bit.  I am such a big wimp when it comes to severe weather...unless it involves snow!  LOL  
Anyways,I like this technique of a card which is called Triple Time Stamping.  I find it very simple to make and quick.  Yet each one can turn out very different, from cute to elegant to fun.  I made this one for my wonderful sister and brother in law who live very far from us.  I miss them so much and wish they could come "home" and visit more.  It has been about a year ago since I last saw her.  *tears*  Well, this is also a card that is very "mailable" too.  I thought I would give it a go on trying to enter it in a "Card Challenge".  Anyways, I hope you like what you see and are inspired to make one yourself! 

I used: 
Plantain SchoolBook Cricut Cartridge to make the heart "button"
White and brown cardstock
DCWV The Glitzy Glitter Stack (cuts wonderfully in the Cricut)
Darice Brown/white Baker's Twine purchased at Pat Catan's
Stampin' Up! Polka dot Punches stamp set
The flourish stamps I think are from Michael's maybe Flourishes Clear stamps

Well, I hope you like it and have a fantastic kind of day!

A Musical Kind of Birthday

This card was made for another one of my nephews!  Hmmmm!  I just realized that a few of my nephew's birthdays all land around each other.  That can sometimes prove to be a little rough when it comes to inspiration to guys cards.  Anyway, this nephew is very involved in playing his guitar and singing at his church.  He does a pretty great job at it too!  So naturally when I saw a card on Pinterest, it became my inspiration to make this one.  This one was a lot of trial and error before I was happy enough with it to share and give it away.  It may not be perfect but I was pretty pleased with it and I hope he is too!

I used:
Plantain SchoolBook Cricut Cartridge for all the shapes
Gypsy
Gold Gel Pen
Metal stickers
HB Stamp from Hobby Lobby

Thanks again for stopping in and seeing what I have been doing this summer!

I hope you are have a great summer!

Captain America Shield Card

Okay, this easel card went to my nephew.  This card was so very easy and fun to make, especially when you have your own boy who is a fan of the movie Captain America!  My son even brought me a hand drawn example of how the shield should look.  When the card was completed, my son even informed me that he would love it if I made something like that for him, so that he would have a more "real " and better picture of it.  I love my boy, he is so much fun and brings such a different light of things into our mostly girls life.  You see I never had a brother, so having a boy, besides my wonderful hubby, brings out the tomboy in me! 

I used:
Plantain SchoolBook Cricut Cartridge for the circle layers and the star
Sweet Treats Cricut Cartridge for the Card shape
Red, White and blue cardstock
Stickles
Star Brad

Thanks for taking a peek at my card and I hope you have a fantastic kind of day!

Birthday Balloon Fun

Oh my is it hot here in Ohio.  Our high is supposed to be 97* today, but it has already reached 95* at 11:30am.  I know we will reach the 100* mark instead.  This is crazy HOT for Ohio!  Thank God for AC!  Anyways, as I said in my previous post I would probably make more of these fun pop-up cards.  These cards are so easy and fun and interactive.  I love how this one turned out too!  I love the balloons!  This one is for my niece who is not at home to receive it right now.  She is on the other side of the world in Africa.  We really miss her but she seems to be having a great time though.  She is staying with some missionary friends and has been there for over a month and will be staying for another month.  I know her momma is missing her terribly.  Just praying that God will continue to keep her safe and bring her back home safely. 

I used:
Sweet Treats Cricut Cartridge the cup cake with candle
Potpourri Basket Cricut Cartridge for the balloons
Plantin SchoolBook Cricut Cartridge for the Grass Cut inside
DCWV The Glitter Sweet Stack
DCWV The Glitzy Glitter Stack (can't say it enough, I LOVE this paper)
Purple, Light Blue, and pink Cardstock
Paper flower
Ribbon from the Dollar bin at Michael's
Yellow and Orange Stickles
White gel Pen
Pink stamp pad for the edging

I hope this inspires you! 

Have a wonderful day and try to stay cool!

Happy Anniversary Fun

Well, my wonderful in-laws Anniversary was just this weekend. I could not have asked for better in-laws.  They are such a great example of God's love and gentleness.  Besides, they are my favorite in-laws!  LOL  That is a joke between all of us, especially since I am their only daughter-in-law.  They like to tell me and others that I am their "favorite Daughter in law", because they can!  We have a lot of fun together and I love them very much.
Anyways,I knew I wanted to make this kind of card for someone, and they got to be one of the luck ones. This technique is sometimes called a Pleated Center Pop Up card.  It is a really simple card to make and a lot of fun, too.  There are a lot of possibilites with what you can put in the center of one of these.  Here is a link to where I got my inspiration and the tutorial from:  Valita's Designs & Fresh Folds  I have a feeling that I will be making more of these fun interactive cards!

I used:
Plantain SchoolBook Cricut cartridge
K&Company Life's Journey Designer Paper For some of the hearts and the background paper
DCWV The Glitzy Glitter Stack for the sparkley hearts and Background paper (LOVE this paper, it is so smooth and cuts wonderfully on my Cricut Expression)
Olive Green Cardstock for the scalloped edge under the floating hearts
Martha Stewart Lattice Punch (trimed down and put under the floating hearts)
I-rock gems
Ribbon from Hobby Lobby
Acetate sheets, cut down to small strips for the "floating" hearts
Brown gel pen
Sentiment is a stamp I got a looonnngg time ago and I can't remember where

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your day is great!

Welcome Home

I am a homeschool mom so I very rarely get away from my kids, and they very rarely get away from me. Well, my oldest was gone for about 5 days. That is the longest she has ever been away from home. Her younger siblings have missed her so much and are waiting impatiently for her to arrive home. Anyways, to welcome her home we made a pennant banner and hung it across her dresser mirror for when she gets home! This is my first time ever making one of these, so it is not the greatest but I don't think I did to bad. Also, it was my first time to make a crepe paper/party streamer rosette, not to bad on those either. I think with those, the more I did them the better I got. The funny thing was she did not see it as soon as she came into her room.  We must have looked odd standing there waiting for her to notice.  She said later that she noticed we were just standing in her room with an odd look on our faces and so she started looking around to see what we did!  LOL   To funny!  Glad we didn't have to wait to long!  She loved it and it is still hanging there.  We all really missed her and her joyful personality that she brings into our home.  I am so glad she made it home safely and yet had a great time while she was away.


 I used:
Plantain Schoolbook Cricut cartridge for the circles
Simply Sweet Cricut cartridge For the flower cuts
Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge  for the Pennant shapes
K&Company Life's Journey Designer Paper
K&Company Amy butler Designer paper
DCWV The Glitzy Glitter Stack  (LOVE this paper)
Blue and bright green carstock
Pre cut letter from my stash
Crepe paper/party streamers

Thank you so much for stopping in!

I hope you have a great day!

Father's Day Cards

Okay, by now I would hope that all of my brother in laws would have gotten their cards in the mail...at the very latest, today.  I know, I know, yes they were late, as I said in the previous post, life has been very hectic for us as of lately.  As they say, better late then never/it is the thought that counts...Right?  Anyways, here they are!  Nothing to fancy but more like fun cards.  I hope they liked them and had a great Father's Day with their families. 

Card #1
I used:
Plantain Schoolbook Cricut Cartridge for the grill and wheels
DCWV The Sweet Stack paper for the background paper
Stampendous! Father's Day stamp from Hobby Lobby
Silver embossing in and powder
silver metalic Recollections stickers on the wheels and grill lid 

Card #2

I used:

Free Printable Mustaches on line (there are plenty to choose from) and then hand cut out

DCWV The All Dressed Up Stack paper for Background paper

The Sentiment was computer generated

Dimentional tape under the mustaches

Thank you very much for stopping in and checking out my cards and what I have been doing. 

I hope you have a fantastic day!

Father's Day Fun!

OK, I have been extremely busy as of lately...I thought that once summer came things would slow down just a bit.  Right???  Well, we have gone on a quick vacation to Michigan to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford Museum.  AWESOME and a lot of fun and walking!  Great hotel too!  Then 2 weeks later we went on another trip to my sister's to see my nephew graduate and enjoy his open house.  Then we all got sick and now it is Father's Day.  Whew, that is just exhausting, just typing this and thinking about it.  YAWN, I think I need a LONG nap. 

Anyways, I hope you all are having a wonderful Father's Day with family and friends or even just reflecting on how blessed you were or are to have a  great dad in your life.  I know my dad was not perfect but he sure was and is alot of fun to have around.  I am truly blessed that he loves the Lord, too. 

My father in law is alot of fun too. And again I am so glad that he loves the Lord and took the time to teach  my wonderful hubby about Him. 

And now my children are so blessed to have a great Daddy who is passing the love for Jesus down to them.  His is a big kid at heart and is almost always ready to play with them or share something funny with them.  I am the most blessed wife and mother on this earth!

Okay, moving on to my purpose for my post.  My hubby received his gifts first thing this morning before church.  Then later today after church, we had both of our Dad's over to our house for lunch along with some family too.  We had a great time playing some corn hole and just visiting.  Then I gave the Dad's their gifts.  I did not make them cards this year or any boxes or...this time I went a little crazy.  You know the old saying, "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach"  Well, not that I needed to steal their hearts at all but I just wanted to do something fun and more "Guy like".  I have seen this idea many times through the years and have always wanted to do something like this but never got around to it.  You know how that is don't you?  Well, I rediscovered it on Pinterest this year.  And decided that this was the year.  So I made all the Dads that could be at our house today, a candy bouquet!  MMMM!  I didn't just do all candy, I added some peanuts, and crackers, and cookies too.  Some candy was chocolate and some was fruity.  I love how they all turned out and they were so easy to do.  Just a little hot glue and some small wooden sticks and a container to put it all into on a piece of styrofoam and a bow, with a few decorations and next thing you know you have a candy bouquet! 

I think they liked them.  I know my hubby loved his.  So here is some pictures of them!

 This is my hubby's bouquet and him with it!

 My Father in Law's bouquet!

 My Dad's bouquet!

 This one was smaller and for a dear friend who lives to far away from his child. 

 This one is also smaller for my sister in laws boyfriend.

 My wonderful hubby and Father in law having fun with the mustaches that were in their bouquets.

 This one is just to funny of my father in law!

 My dad having fun with the mustache and a bow tie! 

 My Father in law with his candy bouquet!

I think these were a big hit with all of the Dad's.  We all had a great time and they really enjoyed playing with them too.

Well, thanks for taking a look and seeing what I have been doing as of lately.  I will share my Father's day cards that I sent out in the mail,  later once I know they have all received them.  Better late then never, right!

Take care and have a wonderful day!