Xmas "Be Merry" Banner

Here's the Christmas banner I made for my auntie on Christmas morning...yes, down to the wire, but better late than never. I hope she likes it. I used the following Cricut cartridges: Doodlecharms, Simple Charmed, Basic Cakes, Pooh Font.

Here's the whole banner. Sorry the lighting is so bad. I'm getting an Ottlite for Christmas, so hopefully that will help some.











I hope everyone is having a wonder Christmas filled with family and friends.

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful Christmas! I hope yours is filled with friends and family. Sorry for the lack of posts this past months, new job and all. I did make a fair number of holiday cards and projects, so I promise to show a few of them in the coming weeks. Today, the plan is to make Christmas pancakes for breakfast, then head over to my auntie's for presents. Later, a friend's coming over for dinner.

Our family tradition is to decorate the tree on Christmas eve, then leave it up till New Year's. In Hawaii, that actually works with the heat. My auntie and I decorated last night while my husband was kept occupied with the computer. I got him to help in 2006, just before we were married, but that's about it. I'll try to remember to take and post pictures.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards Sneak Peak

Today I began working on my holiday cards. I got one finished and a bunch more designed. Hopefully I will be able to knock the rest out this week and get them in the mail early next. Since tomorrow is my first day of my new job, here's just a sneak peak of the card I finished today.



This card was made using my new Holiday Cakes cartridge.

Happy Thanksgiving

cross-posted

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I know this post comes a little late in the day, but I'm back in Hawaii. While this is the third or fourth consecutive Thanksgiving that I've spent in Hawaii since heading off to college in 1997, this is the first year that I didn't have to do mad plane-dash to make it on time. A couple years ago, I carried 4 pies in my carry-on on the plane that I'd made in Baltimore so that we could eat soon after my plane landed. I'm thankful for being able to do my own grocery shopping, my own prep work, and cook a good portion of the meal myself this Thanksgiving.

Other things I'm thankful for:

1. My family, especially my husband and auntie. While the move back was extremely chaotic and scary at time, family helped it run smoothly and worth the trouble. I'm also excited that I am finally living with my husband after nearly 4 years of marriage, mostly apart.

2. My friends, past and present. Each has added something meaningful to my life. My extended family. I am also thankful that I survived, thus far, this visit and that it ends before I start my new job.

3. My cute and thus-far comfortable new home, even with the wildlife.

4. My health and my nifty new gym just down the street. I am also thankful for the good health of my family and friends.

5. My new job and past work experiences, all have benefited and shaped me in different ways.

6. The educational opportunities I've had and the numerous further learning experiences to come.

7. My hobbies that give me an outlet for my creativity, and the ability to share my passions with others through blogging, paper crafts, cooking, and crochet.

And finally....

I am thankful that Thanksgiving is here and dinner will be soon, and that Black Friday shopping starts online in less than 5 hours!

Thanks for visiting.

Thanksgiving Banner

WARNING: Lots of pictures.

Happy Tuesday before Thanksgiving! I almost didn't make it, but here's my Thanksgiving Banner, which will likely be gifted away later today. I was inspired by the Banner Blog Hop hosted by Ruthie a couple weeks ago and really wanted to make both a Thanksgiving and a Christmas banner. Originally, I was going to make the banner do double duty and have a Christmas greeting on the other side. That idea had to be abandoned once I decided to use eyelets, which are only pretty on one side. I've been working on expanding my selection of fall colors from just browns, oranges, and reds, which is why I chose the peachy/coral shade, along with the burgundy. Hope you like it.

It reads, "Give Thanks"








Materials:
- Paper: Papertrey Ink colored cardstock and Recollections kraft cardstock. Each tile is 5.5" tall.
- Cartridge(s): Create a Critter (turkey, pumpkin, maple leaf), Celebrate with Flourish (hat), Paper Doll Dress Up (pilgrims), Doodlecharms (leaves), B is for Boy (banner) - Most are cut at 2-3".
- Embellishments: large eyelets and ribbon - Michaels or Joann's store brand
- Adhesives: Pink ATG gun, Zig two-way glue pen, Xyron
- Special Tools: Corner Chomper, Crop-A-Dile


Here is a close up of each letter:

Thanksgiving treats

I had another occasion to bake this weekend and decided to send more treats with my auntie's friends at her Sunday cooking class. View the recipe for Cranberry Shortbread Cookies on my other blog. I found the treat bags at my local Party City and trimmed them down to fit the number of cookies to be given to each lady.



This adorable hat is found on the Celebrate with Flourish Cricut Lite cartridge and is cut at 3.25. I matted the image on a 3" square mat and a 3.25" square card base. I then used my corner chomper to round the corners. This tag really dwarfed the bag of cookies, but cutting the image any smaller resulted in tearing for me as I think I need to replace the blade in my Cricut.

Here are all the goodie bags ready to go. I hope her friends like them.

Tons of Fun Car Card

A neighbor of my auntie helped me purchase my new (used) car. I wanted to give him a quick thank you as he saved me tons of time. Plus, the car's nice too. Here's what I came up with.



I used a sentiment from My Pink Stamper's More Punnylicious stamp set, Everyday Paper Dolls (car), and Create a Critter (elephant). My Gypsy welded two cars together to form the card base and I used my Xyron to neatly adhere a white lining. I'll get back in the swing of printing the specific card recipe sometime soon, but for now I just wanted to quickly show what I'd made. Thanks for visiting!

New Cricut Lite Cartridges!

I really hope Walmarts in Hawaii have the new releases on Black Friday. There are seven new Cricut Lite Cartridges. See them all here.

These are the three that make my wish list.

Jolly Holidays



Four Legged Friends


Cupcake (font cartridge)

Happy Fall Kid Muffin Bags

Sorry for the long delay in blogging. The move was finally completed last week. However, this is the first bit of crafting I've done since unpacking my craft room a couple days ago. Despite having a craft "room," I share it with my husband's gear and lack my big desk and shelving from Chicago. Still, even though it's cozy, I think it will work nicely. These treat bags were made for my auntie's friends at her Sunday cooking class. The recipe and more pictures of the muffins can be found on my kitchen blog here.











I used the Simply Charmed and Paper Doll Dress Up cartridges for the die cuts, as well as my Corner Chomper. Adhesive included my pink ATG, score tape, Zig two-way glue pen, and Xyron.

External Hard Drive Cozy

Not that I'm procrastinating or anything from all the work I have to do, but I wanted share this little cozy I crocheted for my portable hard drive. Since I'll be putting my desktop into storage for the next two months at least, I wanted to back up my computer. This little pouch whipped up in about 15 minutes and consists of 11 rows of hdc and 10-11 rows of dc starting from the side. I began with a chain of about 20 using a J hook. I then just did a quick sc around the sides. It fits my little hard drive and its connector cord. I'm thinking of adding some sort of closure like a button or ribbon, but really must get back to work!

New Cricut Cartridges Released in October

Yesterday was Hello Thursday, and Provocraft announced six new Cricut cartridges! See all of them at here. These two are the niftiest and will go on my wishlist.

Sesame Street Seasons Cartridge


Wrap it Up


I know that the Sesame cartridge seems like an odd choice for me as I'm pretty much Disney all the way. However, this cartridge offers some neat 3-D items like a snowman, picture frame, and even a backpack that probably could hold a mini-album. It also has cute seasonal images with everyone's favorite, Elmo!

Moving

Cross-posted

There may not be a new post for the next couple weeks. I'm moving back to Hawaii, at least temporarily. I'm excited that my husband's coming home from Afghanistan but quite sad to leave Chicago. Here are a couple pictures of my apartment packed up (mostly packed as I still have a few things left to clear out, including my scrap supplies).





Now all my furniture's gone and I'm sleeping on an air mattress and reclining in a lawn chair! I'll try to take a few more pictures before I leave. I did start a Halloween mini last weekend, but in light of all the real work I have to do, we'll see if that happens.

Fall Paper Bag Mini Album (In Progress)

This weekend was a three day weekend in observance of Columbus Day. Although I should have spent the entire time packing, I naturally had to take a little time to start a new project. This is my first fall mini album and my first album made with paper bags (which were trendy about 6 months ago). I used various K&Co papers from the summer and fall, which I found at Michaels. The cover die cuts are from the Simply Charmed cartridge, along with brads and flowers from my stash. I still have to decorate it with leaves, ribbon, and bling, but I think it's off to a good start. The basic style is from one of Laura Denison's Youtube videos from earlier this year.





A few of the pocket pages.






Last look at the cover.

1st Xmas Mini Albun

Here's my first completed holiday mini album. It's fairly simply, but cute. Plus, it allowed me to use up most of my leftover holiday paper from last year. The die cuts are from the Simply Charmed cartridge, ribbon and all embellishments are from Michaels. Warning, there are a ton of pictures in this post.

Cover


Mr. Penguin


Pages for photos. Each ornament is only adhered half-way so photos may be slipped underneath.










Pocket page for a tag


Big photo tags


These tags open like cards


These tags have photo mats on the reverse. I ran the top layer through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflakes embossing folder.


Tags tucked in






Above view