Christmas Eve.....

Shopping completed, presents wrapped, food prepared.......we are ready (I am ready) to begin celebrating Christmas with my family. This is the time of year that I truly count my blessings.  And they are quite abundant. I am a very lucky gal. 

I have a card today using this beautiful vintage image of St. Nick. It is from Crafty Secrets and is part of their digital Creating with Vintage Christmas CD.  

The image was cut into a circle using a Spellbinder's die.  I backed it with a doily cut from Papertrey Ink.  The flower is Provo Craft's quilling kit.  It makes a gorgeous poinsettia! I added lots of glitter to it.....because I like to be consistent! ;)

I also added a bit of ribbon and rustic twine to pull it all together. 

I just wanted to share with you my kitchen tree.  I just love it!  It brightens up the corner by my sink and makes washing dishes just a bit less painful! 

From my family to yours....... 

Sketch Challenge!

Would you like a chance to be Paper Loft's Guest Designer for May? 

To participate, make a project (card, scrap layout, or any project that works with the sketch below). Upload it to your blog or online gallery.  Leave a link HERE to your project using the link widget.  The Paper Loft products are not required to participate, but the winner will be chosen from a participant that uses the Paper Loft products somewhere on their project. 

You may enter as many times as you want. 

Easy right? ;)

Here is my card.  I deviated from the sketch a bit, but loved the element of horizontal stripes.  Each piece was inked and then adhered to the base piece. 

I found these sentiments and loved them together.  So this created my two vertical boxes in the sketch. I couldn't resist adding a bit of seam binding and a quilled flower.  I also added a few coordinating rhinestones. 

Off to school I go!  Have a great day my friends!

XOXO

Happy Colors!

I don't often use bright colors, but lately, I have been drawn to them.  Maybe because they invoke a feeling of energy, spirit, and happiness.  I found this adorable spool cut over at the Silhouette store and knew I had to purchase it.  I have another version of this card coming on Wednesday.  Completely opposite of today's bright color scheme. 

I had this bright yarn in my stash and used it as my "thread."  The quilled flower is by Provo Craft.  I added a fun polka dot ribbon and a bit of lace. 

Cortney had her Hawaiian Luau this past Friday night with her BFF, Patty.  They met up with lots of kids from their school.  It is such a great event hosted by her school.  They assign 

one-on-one aides to the students who need it.  (Like Cort): )

The kids dance and enjoy being together.  

Cort talked about it for days before and couldn't wait to go.  It makes me happy when she has opportunities like this.   

And of course I couldn't resist taking a few photos of her before the party. 

We also purchased her prom dress this weekend.  I am hoping to share some pics with you soon!

Have a great day my friends!

XOXO

Live Your Dream....

Do you ever have weeks where you feel you are just trying to keep your head above water? That has been me for the last few.....trying to help my son get ready for his finals....working on projects around the house, wrapping up end of year things at school, doctor's appointments, etc.  In a nutshell....life.  It is difficult for me to give up my craft time....it is my happy place.  But right now, my kids need me more and with the arrival of spring, and the end of another school year, there are a million and one things to do.  But I know I am preaching to the choir here.... ; )

With graduations approaching, I thought I would make a card that isn't the usual graduation cap, but instead  a suitcase.  A symbol of the new graduate's journey. It was cut with my Cricut and the Best Images of 2007 cartridge.  I stamped it with a new background stamp from JustRite called, Vintage Travel in Hawaiian Shores ink.  I love the sentiment, Live Your Dream, from JustRite.  It is part of the Summer Words set.  I cut it out with a circle Spellbinder's die and inked the edges in avocado ink.  

I added flowers, leaves, ribbon, rhinestones, and a bit of lace to finish off the top.  The flowers were created from Provo Craft's Daisy Quilling kit. 

I know I'm a bit late, but I wanted to share a few photos I took on Mother's Day.  This first one is my mom with her four grandchildren.  

My nephew and niece, Alex and Katie. : )

Alex and Katie with their Mama.......my sister.

My family and I.....

My sister, my mom, and I.

We stopped to see my husband's Gram and mom.......This is Kyle with his gram....

Brian's Gram (92) and his mom........

We are blessed to have these amazing women in our lives........

I hope your Mother's Day was just as blessed!

Have a wonderful Thursday!

Love is in the Air....

Valentine's Day is right around the corner......and I have a few projects to share with you before then! Today's card is one I created awhile back for the Circle Blog. It uses papers I printed off my Imagine using the Vintage Papers cartridge.  I love all of the papers on this cartridge, and the best part is, you can scale the pattern to any size you like! I love that for card making!  After my papers were printed I ran them through my Cricut Expression and cut the hearts using the George and Basic Shapes Cartridge.  The Flowers were cut using the Rose/Carnation quilling kit.

I added a bit of seam binding, a vintage button, and some rose trim in the background.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for a special post! Have a great day!  (Albeit a bit soggy here in Chicago! From snow to LOTS of rain! )

Starburst Medallions!

Good morning! I have another JustRite card to share with you today!  It is a brand new set called, Starburst Medallion Labels.  It has a bit of country charm to it, but I decided to go with that bright color scheme I've been attached to lately! ; ) I stamped the background medallion in turquoise and embossed it with clear embossing powder.  I added a little rolled flower nestled in a vellum flower.  I added a bit of tulle and a few acrylic pieces from Prima.

The sentiment was stamped in an avocado color and the banner was hand cut. The main image was cut out using Spellbinder's new Nested Medallions Die. I backed it with another piece of cream cardstock to break up the busy background.

Be sure to visit the other designer's blogs for more creative inspiration! And I apologize if my post today is a bit wonky.  Blogger has changed their format and I was like a fish out of water trying to post! ; )
JustRite Inspiration
Becca Feeken
Debbie Olson
*Michele Kovack*
Kellie Fortin
Sankari Wegman
Eva Dobilas
Kazan Clark
Angela Barkhouse
Heidi Blankenship