{More} Christmas Cards!!

You may have spotted a silver or gold hedgehog over on my Christmas card post a couple of weeks ago. I decided that the best way to showcase all the cards would be to put them into a grid, but here are a few extra cards I have made since then. Obviously, I am loving hedgehogs at the moment. Here is a cute silver one! I made him with silver embossing powder and paired it up with some awesome Hambly overlay action.


And I just love having lime green, magenta, and turquoise on my cards!!




Some images may be (c) Close to My Heart.

{Hedge hog} Love

Have you noticed them everywhere too??


Wool source



rainbow source


braille pillow source



cupcakes source



wallet source

bag source


onesie

Don't worry...I think this is only a mini-obsession...Owl always {heart} my owls....



source

Photo Essay: {Thanksgiving}

My Thanksgiving was gorgeous....Hope yours was too! xoxox


{hugs}

Owlie Card

Sometimes it is fun to make non-Christmas cards. {yay} owls. I made this during crafting night with Abby. I used her stamps...sorry I don't remember the brand. I think the paper is K&Co. Enjoy!!

Hope your post-Thanksgiving weekend is going fantastic. I am busy wrapping presents that I bought yesterday (yes, I did brave black Friday crowds...I sort of enjoy the spectacle, the frenzy...like sharks on chum...), putting up Christmas decor and prepping my Christmas cards for the mail.

{hugs}

Mini-Album December Journaling Prompts

Things have been a bit quiet around the 'ole blog lately. With all the holiday frenzy, I just haven't had much time to sit down and write anything.

First, I would like to show you what I created last week for my Holidays at Hand Class.

After creating a list of my holiday goals, and my list of 'to make' and 'to do' I created a mini book to hold all of the awesome journaling prompts for December. (Sort of in reverse...the homework suggested making a place to hold the prompts first...but I just didn't have time!)



Jessica Sprague created prompts for every day in December. On each page, there is something to Write, Photograph, Do, Make and Remember.

I printed the prompts onto cardstock, cut them out and then mounted them onto patterned paper. I had tons of paper left from my December Daily so the two will sort of match.



I plan to use the mini-book as inspiration for my December Daily. I may add a few little embellishments to the mini, but I won't be putting any of the journaling or pictures in the book. It will simply be something to refer to if I am stumped on what to write for each day in December for my daily album.

Paper in the album includes Martha Stewart and Making Memories. Also, the covers are Close to My Heart Mini Album. I used the corner rounder a lot in this book. A lot of the papers are glittered, felted, flocked, or embossed so there are a lot of textures going on in the book. I am really happy with how it turned out.

Only 36 Days until Christmas

Dear Weekend,

For all of these reasons, you totally rocked.

1. Had a fantastic workshop at Christy's Friday night. I got to play with two sweet kiddos as an added bonus.

2. Had the pleasure of taking a whole bunch of baby pictures for Jill on Saturday.




3. Got crafty with Abby. We have an annual night of movies and crafting every fall...It is a seasonal MUST for finishing my Christmas cards. THANKS ABBY for the giant cupcake pan!! You are such a great friend...(p.s. I need to make you a delicious cupcake and a matching card as a great big thanks...coming soon!)
4. Had a fantastic lunch with mom Sunday.
5. Took two naps.
6. Spent Sunday afternoon editing photos.



7. Saw New Moon. Jacob's abs. Wow.
8. Made hummus....(to go with some homemade pita and falafel...Abby's Ryan is a good cook!)

Okay, so I couldn't find 10 reasons why this weekend rocked, but I think 8 is plenty. :-)

How was your weekend?

I am working on my holiday to-do list for Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand Class:
1. Make a way to display journaling prompts (mini book?)
2. Set up Christmas Tree
3. Buy gifts
4. Wrap gifts
5. Send out Christmas cards
6. Order handmade gifts from Etsy
7. Have photo books made for Mom and Cris (and Kaley?)
8. Plan treat night
9. Plan December crop with "A Christmas Story" theme (advertise, make up the games, etc.)
10. Buy ornaments for gift exchange at school
11. Plan 'Mrs. Mitchell's Holiday Extravaganza' at school
12. Go see Christmas lights
13. Find a good Christmas CD as a soundtrack for the month (taking recommendations!)
14. Buy a white elephant gift
15. Plan my holiday party

To Make
1. Card Keepsake box for mom
2. Holiday banner for my fireplace
3. Work on December Daily
4. A few ornaments
5. My Christmas apron to wear at school
6. I am hoping for a sewing machine for Christmas so I am sure the 'to make' will actually be post-December...

iPhone Love

Ever since I saw it over on Etsy, I have had a little icon of a plush iPhone case on my desktop. I kept clicking on it. My brain went back to that image of little felt iPhone applications over and over again. In my head, it was the coolest thing I had seen....ever....So I had to finally order one. But I decided that a little felt iPhone cover wouldn't be enough. I wouldn't let myself use it as a phone cover because it would get totally torn up, dirty and ruined in my purse...But if I didn't use it for a phone case, what the heck would I do with it? Frame it?

That is exactly what I am going to do. I ordered an 8X10, custom iPhone felt wall hanging. It is on its way....I am soooo excited!! Happy early Christmas to me. ;-)

Thank you, Nico...I can hardly wait to get it!!

Go check out plushism, I am sure you will find something really cool to drool over...who knows, you might find something you can't live without. Next for me, camera case....maybe in wall hanging form as well.

Yahoooo!!

My ticket has been pre-purchased by a friend....10:40 pm....late, but I don't care.

Christmas Cards 2009

I've been very, very busy.....and still more to make! I love Christmas!!


Stamped images (c) Close to My Heart.

Last Year....

It was Twilight....tomorrow: New Moon. I am excited for the movie. (don't know when I will have time to go see it....I have a busy weekend coming up)

Looks like I will need to add on to my Twilight Mini Album!
I am excited to add a page for Team Jacob...and I have some friends who have recently become addicts...they deserve a page as well!

Are you going to see it?

Holiday Goals 2009

{inspired by} Jessica Sprague Holidays at Hand class.

Goal #1
Relax. Try not to feel rushed from house to house on Christmas. It is hard to feel relaxed when there are so many people to visit. It is difficult to appreciate the company of my family when I thinking about the time on the clock and the fact that I need to be somewhere else for dinner or the gift exchange by 'such and such' time.

Goal #2
Make time for games. Some of my favorite memories with my family include playing games.

Goal #3
Take better photos. I don't want to be the crabby camera woman, the Christmas Camera Wench, the good Shot Scrooge, forcing everyone to smile and 'look at me,' but the majority of my Christmas pictures are just rubbish as I don't get any posed shots....I have 35 million pictures of my subjects looking down at wrapping paper....This year, I want to try to get some posed and some natural shots of Christmas magic.


Goal #4
Give back. This year I am planning to host "Mrs. Mitchell's Art Club Extravaganza" at my school. I will be supplying art supplies and donating my time for the students at my school to make Christmas Ornaments, Cards, and Gifts for their family. I know it will be very successful...way better than that 'shop with a cop' program. :-)

Goal #5
Maintain Traditions.
1. Make my own Christmas cards
2. Host a Holiday party for friends and family
3. Make Christmas candy and treats with family
4. Christmas PJs
5. Handmade gifts
6. Christmas Morning
7. Tristmas
8. Christmas Eve ~ Breakfast

I will be utilizing the Holidays at Hand class as I work through my December Daily....Yahoo, it is going to be a very fun challenge! I can't wait for December. I want to put my tree up right now!

xoxo

The 5 Senses Fall 2009

This post is brought to you by the 5 Senses.

Touch:
I also sorted through the mail tonight. While I was organizing the coupons, catalogs, and other junk mail, I noticed an ad in the Bed Bath and Beyond mailer for a giant cupcake cake pan.


Oh my word. Super cool. I googled it and found a bunch of delicious looking giant cupcakes!! It is definitely on my Christmas list, I have to get my hands on one!



Taste:
My favorite tea in the world right now...it is soooo delicious: cup of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride Herbal Tea (wow! soooo yummy!)



Sight:
I am super excited about this movie:


(and New Moon~ Can't wait for Friday!)

Sound:
And I am listening to this soundtrack right now:


Smell:
I bought the most delicious pumpkin spice candle today. The perfect fall scent.


Also encompassing the 5 senses....a newborn baby....the smell, the tiny touch, the sight, the kisses and the sounds of their tiny yawns. I love my little nephew so much!
Something about a newborn baby makes me want to scrapbook everything. I can't wait to get my pictures developed!

Last Saturday...

I visited Prairie State Park...where the deer and the buffalo roam. It was lovely! I got to play around with my zoom lens.




Hope your weekend is lovely too!!

What the what?!?!

A few weeks ago, I participated in a Blogger user study with Google. Basically, I had to write a diary entry every day that I made a post and at the end of the two weeks I had to be on the phone with someone at Google for an hour answering follow-up questions and providing some feedback. Very easy, I made a little extra money, no big deal. I was happy to participate.

I was surprised to find that a few days later, along with my gift checks was a card. A HAND-WRITTEN thank you card from Google! Google is a huge company, yet someone took the time to tell me thank you...and it wasn't a computer generated letter, it was an actual card. As a card crafter, this meant so much to me. It is up on my mantle.


I miss making cards for fun...I don't feel like I have had time to make regular cards lately I am sort of looking for a good color inspiration challenge site...I don't really like sketch challenges but I LOVE color challenges. Does anyone know of a good one?

In other news....
I hope to attend a crop at some point this weekend...I have a lot going on....but I have a list of projects that I would like to revisit in the near future so that they don't get lost in the shuffle before the year ends.
Project 52
One Little Word
December Daily (basic book is put together, YAY!)

Are you attempting to finish any of these same projects? I would love to see what you have going on with your December Daily, One Little Word or Project 52...

Christmas Cards Part 1

When it comes to creating Christmas cards I like to start early in the year. I have been making my own cards for about 4 years. This year I started earlier than ever. I don't like to make every card the same, although sometimes I will make 5 or more of the same style. I intend to make around 100 cards this year. I have most of them bases assembled and now I am working on the stamping and embellishing. Yahoo!

I made these cards a couple of weeks ago. Sorry for the 'spring-ish' background paper...it was just something I grabbed...and then I realized it wasn't super Christmas-y...All well....I wanted to post some simple Christmas cards today. I used Jingle paper, a couple of my favorite stamp sets and I played around with some glitter and rhinestones!

Enjoy!







All images are (c) Close to My Heart.

{team Jacob} Awwww yeah!

Sorry for so much family news lately....I was working on my Christmas cards in the waiting room yesterday so I hope to post some crafty stuff soon!!

Baby was born today, totally healthy and gorgeous!

Here I am with my sisters in the delivery room an hour or so before the baby came. We are sporting our 'Team Jacob' shirts...hehe....Rene's shirt looks like Jacob's body is for her head! Hilarious.

Purple, purple, purple, purple!!

Said one jovial, sweet, blond, enthusiastic, kindergarten girl to another: "What is your faaaavorite co-lor innnn the raaaainbow?"

Second little girl: " Purple, purple, purple, purple!!!!!!!!"

My mom's favorite color is purple, purple, purple, purple too.

Her surgery went really well yesterday. Thank you for all the well wishes.

And today, I will welcome my first nephew into our family...he will be born sometime today! Jacob Lee Trowbridge.....I will be sporting a Team Jacob Shirt....just in time for New Moon ;-)