First try at a Shaker Card

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving holiday and a super Black Friday experience! I actually succeed at getting my husband out and about on Black Friday. I admit it wasn't at the crack of dawn but we did manage to make it out by 8AM. He went to Lowes and dropped me off at Micheal's (that was rather reckless of him don't you think?). I was pretty proud of myself tho. I only spent $51.00 and the majority of that was in Christmas decorations. LOVED that 30% off your entire order coupon. That was FUN!!
I haven't had much tme to craft this week but I did manage to sneek in a project I have wanted to do for sometime. I have never made a shaker card so I tried my hand at one using the window from  the Christmas

Cartridge. I used to much tinsel glitter in the window I think, I always tend to over-do! Aside from that I was pretty happy with the outcome and can't wait to try it again.Maybe next time a snow globe.


I had my "step" Granddaughter, Arielle, over for a crafty sleep over this weekend. She saw the video of my new craft-room and couldn't wait to get her hands on all the goodies. She had a very productive day and made this great Fall card:















She also made a real sweet birthday card for her twin brother. We will post that next time. She loved working with the "frosting" technique!
Would love to hear about all of the bargains you all found on Friday. I wonder what great things will be found on Cyber Monday??
Until next time...Happy Crafting!

Happy Thanksgiving,What are you thankful for?

As Thanksgiving approaches we all know that Christmas is close behind and the close of 2010 is near.
I always get a bit nostalgic around the holidays. I live a ways from my hometown and only have my husbands family around me so I tend to get a little homesick this time of year. I often think of my childhood days and how family was always together for Thanksgiving . I can almost smell the turkey roasting and see those pumpkin pies sitting proudly on the counter waiting for their grand entrance after the dinner ritual. Today so many of us are far from home. Families no longer live around the block, or even in the same town or state. Families are now scattered across the country, some across the world. Some of us have sons, daughters, husbands or wives fighting wars in Iraq or Afghanistan. As I think of this I remember how thankful I am for my family. For the parents who worked so hard to put food on the table, clothing on our backs, medicine when we needed it. I am thankful that, even though they are 350 miles away, I still have them, I can still pick up the phone and speak with them. I am thankful for my siblings. I don't see them often but I know they are there for me should I ever need them.I am thankful for my children, all three of them. I am so thankful that they are healthy, safe and successful and are living comfortable lives. I am thankful for my beautiful grandchildren,, all 5 of them.I don't see them often but they are always in my heart and thoughts, I am thankful for my wonderful husband of 18 months. I spend most of my child rearing days divorced and alone, submerged in my children and trying to survive. That mission accomplished I have found the most loving man in the world who I plan to spend the remainder of my days with. I am thankful to the new family that I have inherited with him, 3 children and 8 grandchildren, I am thankful that I have remained cancer free for almost 5 years. I learned of my diagnosis 5 years ago this Black Friday and I never expected to be here, healthy and blogging 5 years later. I am thankful for my friends and the love and support they have given me. Here is to the holidays...my favorite time of the year. May you all enjoy your family and friends, both near and far, this holiday season and remember how very lucky we really are, Have a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving surrounded by those who love you.

Winter Woodland Step Card

I am currently out of town and away from my studio however I have an oldie that I made last year to share with you. I love this technique. It is more a scene than a card and it is very fun to create.  It is sure to thrill both adult and child alike. It looks very complicated but in all reality the hardest part is measuring and scoring and then deciding what type of scene you wish to create. I chose a Christmas village scene with all of the cuts coming from the Winter Woodland Cartridge. I love this cartridge and the font is beautiful.(Like the "snow" effect?)

It is difficult to see in this picture however right in front of the church is a skater, coming off from the left side is a Cardinal sitting on a limb. Ummmm..lets try a look without the snow: That's a little better!

From the side you can see how the cuts were all attached, giving it a 3 dimensional effect.As soon as  I arrive home again I will include all the measurements required to make this card and will even try to make a pdf file with the pattern but I warn you-I've never done it before so I make no promises!
I am visiting my family in my home town,Niagara Falls, NY while my DH is away in the mountains bonding with his guy friends, Oh no wait....I think he calls it "hunting". I'll be up bright and early and head for Goat Island for a walk. It should be a nice  crisp walk this time of year. Hopefully I can get some good pictures to post!
Have a wonderful weekend!

Preview

Blessings...

Playing with my Cricut kind of day.....

Blustery and gray but very warm today for mid-November in New York. Such strange weather this Fall. The stores none the less are busy decorating and preparing for that big shopping day, Black Friday. Have you noticed many stores,local and online have jumped ahead of schedule with the sales this year? Well Santa heard my pleas and ordered a Gypsy! So excited. Sure hope it doesn't take as long to learn it as I did with my Cricut! But..once I started I never stopped.
Had problems sleeping last night so I jumped out of bed and went into my brand new studio and started a card. I'm not one of these" creative by nature" crafty people, I have to really work at it so naturally I didn't finish it until this morning but its done! I tried a few different things. I've never made a circle card, and I did something totally different with my ribbon.

I absolutely love that ribbon however as much as I played with it I could not make a decent bow. I was at a loss until it occurred to me that it would make a cute banner. I just had to figure out how to stiffen the satin ribbon enough so it would not fall flat. I don't have fabric stiffener on hand, so I covered it with Glossy Accents, shaped it and used my heat gun. It worked well!
Recipe:
Scalloped Circle: Winter Woodland
2 Layers of Circles:George
Snowflake: Winter Lace (cut from white paper,run through my Xyron and basted in Martha Steward Tinsel Glitter)
Snow Man: Snow Friends
I used a white pom-pom rolled in blue glitter for the top of the hat.
Every other scallop has a blue "pearl" alternating with snowflakes I had left from last year.
I'm still having fun playing in my new room. So much fun and makes crafting so much easier. So back to my room to create! Have a great day!
Blessings....

My room is well under way!

It has been a very busy weekend. Between blog hops and moving into my new room I didn't know if I was coming or going! My DH made so much progress this weekend with my new workspace. We had a few bumps in the road (original plan for desk space didn't work, drawer for the storage cupboard didn't fit) but thank goodness I have a very talented man, for nothing, and I do mean nothing, stops him! We aren't finished but we are well under way. I am still moving and still organizing but I expect to do that for awhile. Take a peek and let me know what you think. We are good with all the technical stuff, now I have to come up with some crafty designer ideas for the walls and such.
Well I'm off to the mighty Dollar Store to look for some storage containers. I'll be back with a new card this week. Until then have a great day!

Holiday card making with the Cricut & Black Friday Sales Updates

Good morning all! Can you even believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner? You know what that means....Black Friday sales. I am really watching this year because I am really trying to put a little hint in Santa's ear regarding the Gypsy and how very badly I need one! I will keep everyone posted on any great sales I find and I hope you will do the same! I completed a project this week that I've wanted to try for over a year. I absolutely love the way it turned out.  Tell me what you think. The window,wreath and Christmas Tree was cut from the Cricut Christmas Solutions Cart.The window is covered with a acetate sheet and adhered to the back with foam tape making it 3- dimensional. I used Stickles on the inside of the window as I discovered it really doesn't adhere well to the acetate. I added extra on the outside windowsill. The sign was also from the Christmas Solutions Cart however it was customized by welding two together using Design Studio (Santa, I REALLY do need a Gypsy). I used flocking "snow" and also used the Stickles for the icicles however you really can't see them in the picture. I enjoyed making this one and think I may experiment a little with it!
Now for the sales. I got an e-mail from Cricutmachine.com yesterday that claims to have the sales of all Black Friday sales. More information is to follow Wednesday so I will keep you posted. I have done quite a bit of business with this company and have received great deals and super customer service.
May you have a great Inspirational Day and don't forget....please leave me a comment!

Another Victorian Christmas with a Birthday Card thrown in!

It sure is a damp and dreary day in my neck of the woods. Great excuse to kick back and create. My creativity is a bit off these days with the studio in progress and my guest room looking like..........well quite frankly like an episode of Hoarders! I can't find a thing-it is pure chaos! Many of my projects have made major detours because I can't find what I am looking for. Oh well..........sometimes detours are good!
I have another Victorian card for you today. I love that era & if I did believe in reincarnation that is the time period I would choose for my last life (like one isn't hard enough?). I love the architecture, the clothing, furniture and the romanticism. Ribbons, lace....horse drawn carriages over the cobblestone streets....well anyhow here is my take on it:
Very simple card. The hardest part was tying that darn bow. It only took me 2 nights to do it, Yes,,,you read correctly. I changed ribbon until I finally found one that would cooperate with me. I used my Cricut George Cart to cut the circle and my Cuttlebug to emboss. You can't see it in the photo however the muff and the brim of the bonnet are done in white and silver flocking to get it dimension and shimmer. The vine below the picture was taken from a gold glittered vine I found in Micheal's.
I have been playing around with flowers and Christmas cards way too long and left little time for a birthday card for my grandson in Jacksonville, Fla. So I worked quickly and this is what I came up with:

For this I used my favorite cartridge: Sweet Treats. It is such a fun cartridge to use and I just love using this "frosting" or in this case "ice cream" technique. Makes a great card I think! So.......excuse me as I run to the post office!
{{{Hugz}}}

From Christmas to Flowers

 It's a gorgeous autumn morning and I'm really gearing up for the Christmas season but somehow how side tracked into trying my hand at homemade flowers for cards and layouts. I did "okay" for a first attempt however now that I've done them once I know what modifications I will make my next attempt. I found some fantastic tutorials at Swirlydoos.com and decided to try them. As I told you before I am frugal so I don't have many fancy supplies but enough to get by until I am once again employed! So tried their Paper Bag Flower tutorial. I didn't have the punches or templates so I set out on the internet to find them. Sure enough I found a free template for poinsettia petals on a Sunday school crafts website. I also found a paper bag and off to work I went. My next attempt I will use smaller petals which will give it a more compact appearance. I used Gold Glimmer Mist and it did give the petals a nice glow but I think I would try a second color next time around to give it a deeper, richer look. I used a smaller Cricut flower cut from Walk in My Garden for the center .

The jeweled center is actually a bead cap with a small pearl glued in the middle-it's all about improvising! I am anxious to try this one again and am confident with smaller petals I would be very happy wth it. Down side of it....I had to use scissors  to cut the petals. I'd much rather push my Cricuts' little button and be done with it!  I did just that with the flower below. This is a cut from Walk in my Garden. It was 6 cuts, 2 of each size-misted with Gold Glimmer Mist and the petals molded while damp. Again there are things I would do differently such as use a smaller brad.Hind sight is such a great creative tool! {{{Hugz}}}.........have a fantastic day!

If you have a passion for markers then this a "MUST READ"

Enfy from Going Buggy has a marvelous giveaway  going on right NOW until November 15th. For the next two weeks she will be having tutorials on how to color using Promarkers. The giveaway.....and entire set, that's 148 beautiful Promarkers. What a bonus,aye? So run over and visit Enfy and leave a comment for a chance to win! Good luck & tell her Kathie sent ya!