Happy New Year!

Just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY NEW YEAR! Thank you for visiting my blog. I am truly thankful for all the new friendships I have made out here in blogland. You have all been so sweet! Take care and have a safe new year...

The Last of the Christmas RAKS...

Look at all these Christmas goodies that I received from Kris. She had all of this stuffed into that little pink bag. Thank you Kris for being so thoughtful! Please visit her blog to see more of her creations.



These are the goodies that I received from Beth. You can't see it that well in the picture, but she gave me a roll of HK ribbon! I can't wait to use it! And look at the HK that she created with the Sweet Treat cups. Thank you Beth!

More Christmas RAKS...

Look at what I received from 1LuvnMama! Isn't this the cutest? It will surely come in handy. Please don't forget to check out her blog. She has some great stuff to share and will definitely inspire you! Thanks again 1LuvnMama!



This is the box of goodies that I received from Michelle. Look at how much goodies could fit into this little box! I just need to get me one of these dies. Just think of all the possibilities! Please check out Michelle's blog to see more of her creations!



This is a picture of the outside of the box. I know, I should have put this picture first... but I guess I'm just a little backwards. Anyways, thanks for stopping by...

Christmas RAKS...

This is the Christmas surprise that I received from Shirley. Inside is a long notepad. I love the image she put on the cover. And look at the little tree charm she gave me too! It is so cute. She is very talented so please hop over to her blog and check out her creations. Thank you Shirley for my goodies!



This is something that Michele made for me this Christmas. I love the box and all the details on the outside. Please check out her blog to see more of her cute projects.



This is what was inside the box. Thank you Michele for the goodies... can't wait to use them! I have more RAKS to share with you over the next couple of days. Hope you all had a good Christmas.

Build-A-Bear Cards & Holder...

I created this little box to hold some Build-A-Bear cards to give away as my handmade grab bag. Sorry, I was in such a rush (making this the night before) that I forgot to write down the dimensions. These Build-A-Bear dies are so much fun to create with. There are endless ways to create with them!

Merry Christmas...

Just wanted to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! May you all be blessed during this holiday season!

Hello Kitty Box...

I made these cute little boxes to hold images that I wanted to pass on to some friends. I actually got this idea from Joni H. when she gave me a similar box for my birthday. Thanks Joni for the idea. And to those who received these, I hope you liked them.

Sewing Kit...

I decided to make these sewing kits to give away for Christmas. I didn't care for the bag it originally came in so I created this box to hold the sewing kit in. I hope the recipients will like them and put them to good use.

Another BRAK & Thank You Card...

This BRAK was given to me by my good friend Joni. She knew that I didn't own any copic markers so she decided to get me some as a belated birthday gift. I can proudly say that I am now addicted to them. Thanks Joni!



This is the thank you card that I made for Joni to thank her for my birthday goodies. I just had to use those markers...

Holly Punch Art Instructions...

I think this is the last of my punch art for Christmas. I hope you all enjoyed seeing them. I don't know if you can see it, but on the green small tag punch outs, used the 1/4" and 1/2" circles on the edges to form the leaves. Thanks for stopping by... have a great weekend!

Christmas Tree Punch Art Instructions...

There are so many ways to create a Christmas tree using your punches. This is the way that I like to make my tree...

My December OCS...

This is the card I made for my December OCS partner... Sherri. I used the body of the build-a-bear and attached a 1 3/8" circle for the head. I used white embossing powder, versamark pen, real red ribbon, and rhinestone brads to decorate my gingerbread man. I also used the scallop edge punch, frame/oval scallop die, and petals-a-plenty textured impressions folder. Don't forget to visit Sherri's blog!

Look What I Won...

This was the blog candy I won last month from 1LuvnMama! Isn't the accordian tag really cute? It is kind of long so I had to lay it on the floor to take the picture. I have it sitting on my shelf (next to my gingerbread house) so that I can be reminded of all the wonderful people I've met through my blog. If you haven't checked out her blog yet, please do so because she has some great stuff to share with you! Thanks again 1LuvnMama!

Holiday Get Together...

This past weekend was our holiday get together at Jacque's for our Pacific Stampers Group. There were lots of laughs, good food, and fun games that night. This is the handmade grab bag that I got. It was made with the My Digital Studio!



These are the goodies that I received from my talented fellow stampers! Hope everyone had a great weekend. It was another busy weekend for me and I wanted to post these yesterday, but I was just too tired! Have a great week!

Snowman Punch Art Instructions...

Here's another punch art to get you in the holiday mood. I haven't had time to create anything new with the punch art I've been posting, but thought I would share them with you anyways. Enjoy...

GIngerbread Man Punch Art Favor...

This is the favor that I made to give away to everyone at our Holiday Potluck for our SU group. I made a different version of the gingerbread man than the one I used on the gingerbread house. For this one I use the following punches: 1" circle, word window, and 1 1/4" circle. It was really quick to put him together. For the sides, I just cut 1" strips of cardstock and ran it through my crimper. I also used the Short & Sweet stamp set to stamp the sentiment... have a safe weekend everyone!

PTO Tags...

Being part of the Teacher Appreciation Committee over at my daughter's school, I volunteered to make tags again for the teacher's Christmas gifts. Actually, I volunteered to make all the tags for the entire school year. For the Christmas tags, I needed to make 170! Of course, I kept it simple since I was making so much... and didn't want to get bored. I had a little help from my little elves... oops, I mean daughters...hehehe! For these tags I used the scallop envelope die; punches: scallop circle, 1 3/8 circle, 1 1/4 circle; and the reindeer from the Sparkly & Bright set. I also added some glitter to Rudolph's nose. Thank you to all the teachers over at my daughter's school... you know who you are! We really appreciate all the hard work you put in to teaching our children!

Christmas Lights Punch Art Instructions...

This weekend went by so quickly since we were busy with my oldest daughter's party. I'm glad that's now over and can focus more on Christmas preparations... at least I hope. This punch art is pretty simple to replicate. Have fun with it...

Pencil Holders...

This is a sample of something I made for my oldest daughter's birthday party. I bought some pencils and pens to go along with these. I also monogramed notebooks for their goodie bags too! I hope the girls will like them. A similar one was made at one of our stamp camps. I just used different ribbon and DSP to decorate these. I used the Thoroughly Modern DSP, Bermuda Bay polka-dot ribbons, and some decor elements vinyl sheets. I'm hoping that the rain will hold out for tonight since the party will be at the pool... keep your fingers crossed! Thanks Naoko for the great idea and for the jars!

Bells Punch Art Instructions...

Here is another Christmas punch art for you to enjoy... hope you're not getting bored with these! Have a great weekend!

Ornament Punch Art Instructions...

This is another Christmas punch art... it's an ornament! Hope you like it... Sorry for the quick post, but I've got a busy day ahead of me today. I'm going to make a gingerbread house with my 6 year old daughter at her school. Wish me luck cause I've never made one before...

Santa Punch Art Instructions...

Here is a Christmas punch art for you to enjoy! The holidays are fast approaching... can you believe that it's already December? Just a few more weeks and then we'll be ringing in a new year! Hope you enjoy this punch art... I'll be posting more Christmas punch art throughout the month... so stay tuned!

note: I usually cut out santa's mustache freehand, but for those of you who would rather do less cutting, I simplified it by using a punch.

RAKS From Denise's Craft Gathering...

Yesterday was our fun-filled craft gathering over at Denise's house. It was so much fun getting to know everyone and being that this was the first time meeting most of them, they made me feel so comfortable... kind of like seeing long, lost friends! I'm glad they enjoyed their make 'n take project that I did and Jenny also did a great make 'n take using embossing paste. Now I think we all need to go out and buy some of that paste... LOL! Sorry, I don't have a picture of the finished card that Jenny had us make (or should I say that Taelyn made for me... hehehe). I still need to put it together, but maybe someone will post a picture of their finished card.



This was in the grab bag that I pulled. Isn't it so fitting to get a punch? I know I will definitely put it to good use. Thank you to whoever brought this grab bag!



And these are all the goodies that I came home with! These ladies are so generous and CREATIVE! I have so much ideas floating in my head right now, I just don't know where to start! Thanks again ladies... looking forward to our next craft gathering!

OCS From Kris...

My OCS partner for November was Kris. She makes great cards just like the one she sent me! I love the image, I love the colors, I pretty much love everything about it! Sorry, I cut off the card cause I didn't want to post the message that she wrote. Thank you Kris for this beautiful card and thanks to Teri for organizing the OCS!

Make 'n Take For Denise's House...

Today is the day for our crafting get together at Denise's house. She asked for volunteers to do a make 'n take project and I volunteered! What was I thinking? I have never met most of these ladies before and I volunteered! Oh well, at least I know, or should I say I hope, that they will greet me with open arms... hehehe! Anyways, it was a tough decision on what to do for a project since they are all so creative. This is what I came up with... another recipe book. I decided to use these circle coasters that I bought a while back (but just never knew what to do with them). I think the hardest part of this project was trying to get the recipe to fit on the coaster, but at the same time be big enough to read... LOL! Anyways, I'm crossing my fingers that they will like my project... wish me luck!

One More Hello Kitty...

I just had to use my HK embosslits one more time... hehehe! These are some baby food containers that I decorated to give away at a get together that I'm going to this weekend. I tried to used a red and green color combo and filled them with some peppermint candy! My mom saw these and thought I was making them for my baby's 1st birthday favors. Sorry mom, I don't think I want to make 200+ of these containers.

Here Comes Hello Kitty...

I finally dug out my HK embosslits and decided to start making some things for Christmas since we all know that it will come really quick! If you haven't noticed by now, I try to keep my things "simple" especially when I'm making lots of them. Hope you get inspired to dig out your HK dies...

Thanksgiving Tags...

These are some tags that I made to go along with some handmade gifts for the teachers up at my daughter's school. They work so hard each day and I wanted them to know that we are thankful for having them in our lives! Happy Thanksgiving...

Happy Thanksgiving...

Just wanted to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING! I am so blessed to have wonderful family and friends. To those of you who visit my blog... thank you for all your kind words! It has been a great journey in blogland and I am looking forward to finally meeting some of you this weekend... yay! Until then, eat lots of turkey and be thankful for what you have...

Birthday Surprise From Shirley...

Shirley surprised me with this beautiful birthday card, some stamped images, and a stamp too! I love the way she gives attention to details. You can't see it in this picture, but she layered the shirt and bag in the image... too cute! She even added a little butterfly pin to it. Shirley, thank you for being so thoughtful! I can definitely say that I've met some wonderful people through my blog! Please check out her site to see more of her wonderful cards!

Card for Shirley...

This card was created for Shirley, my birthday blog candy winner. I used the masking technique to create the clouds and the sun. I actually colored the shirt lavender, but when I added the crystal effects it turned a little "pinkish." Oh well, the colors still worked. Thanks to everyone who participated in my birthday blog candy giveaway!