2012- A look back

As 2012 winds down, I thought I'd jump on the reflection bandwagon. :)  Here are the creations I am most proud of from each month from 2012...

January- Snowy/Chewy Valentine

February- Rolled Roses Part 1

March- Calorie Free & Calorie Full

April- Need a Little Christmas Now

May- Easy Breezy

June- Lil' Liberty Lady

July- Paper Flowers Wreath Tutorial

August- Gone Away is the Bluebird

September- Seasons and Seafood

October- Tee-riffic!

November- Thankful

December- Taking a Moment

It's always interesting to look back at the year and see all the projects you forgot you made.  Lately I have been thinking that I was a slacker in the creativity department this year.  I hang out on Pinterest and at fellow bloggers blogs and think- oh I'm not creative or talented.  It may not be very humble to say, but after looking back at all the stuff I made- I'm really inspired by my own posts! 

I encourage all of you to look back at your amazing posts from 2012.  Trust me, you rocked it! :) 

Wanna see more 2012 reflections from other great bloggers?  Check it out here:

 

Happy Birthday

Happy Sunday!  In an effort to find my studio under all the papers, stamps, and ink, I made a couple of birthday cards. :)

I'm also trying to create using all those embellishments that I HAD TO HAVE long enough ago that I can't remember having to have them! LOL!  A couple friends had asked if I would have some birthday cards for sale when we get back from vacation, so the scraps and embellies made their way to birthday cards. 

Well the other reason that I ended up making birthday cards was that I figured that if I were to show any Christmas cards you'd all groan so load I'd here it all the way to my house. :)  Have no fear.  I have begun making Christmas cards for next year.  Yup, you read that right.  This year was such a success in reducing stress and I had such a nice variety of cards that I will again be making a few each month so by November there'll be a nice stash to pull from.  Will they be pulled before Dec 16th (predicted busiest mail day in 2013)? Well, that's another story. ;D

Stop by tomorrow for my "year in review" post reflecting on all the projects that made 2012.  Have you looked back at your successfully creative year yet?

Hugs All!

Christmas Thanks Peek-a-boo

All things Downton are getting chic again, like sending handwritten thank you cards...

Were your friends and family good to you this Christmas?  Have you sent your note of thanks?  The Dowager would be speechless were she to see your beautiful thank you card (and wouldn't that be a coup!).

Here to the rescue!  I've got a tutorial over at The Hen's Den that'll have you making an easy 'n elegant Christmas Thank You card in no time flat.You'll have thank you's done with buckets of time left to enjoy the last season 2 recap episode this Sunday night.

Christmas Cozy

Merry Christmas!!! Hope you all had a merry day and that Santa left you just what you wanted.  We haven't eaten our Christmas dinner yet so while it is cooking I thought I'd share my Christmas centerpiece. It's a spin on one from a couple years ago that I tweaked with different ornaments and a wicked fun wooden tool box I got for a steal at an antique flea market.  The change in ornaments was a good excuse to buy some "vintage" ornaments at a pop up antique fair I went to in NH at the start of the month. :)

The mason jars are half-pint, pint, quart, and half-gallon ones that I've collected over the years.  They come in handy as vases or for "cake-in-a-jar/ pie-in-a-jar" treats.

Speaking of jar treats, this was last years Thanksgiving dessert basket.  The half-pint jars had single serve pecan pie and the pint jars had scratch cakes with homemade frosting.  The pie and frosting turned out great, the cake needed work.  Bless their hearts the family ate all of the jar sweets regardless any need to revisit the recipes. :)  I'd love to say that I came up with the idea for this on my own, but I saw it on Pinterest and added it to my mason jar board. Sadly, when I went to find it again I had repinned from someone who didn't link directly to the post.  Now I'll have to search through the whole blog to find it again. :(

Here's another view. It's kinda tricky to take pics of this centerpiece cause the toolbox hides some of the effect on camera.  Oh well.  Picture it in your mind. :)  See the tree in the back?  That's the snow tree.  My friend's middle daughter Lily got to decorate that tree this year.  We saw them last night and apparently letting that little gal have free reign to decorate the whole tree was like letting me loose in a craft store. Glad she was so happy, 'cause I love how the tree looks!

Those friends we saw last night?  Well their youngest daughter's birthday is Christmas Eve.  We got together to have dinner and wish the half-pint a happy birthday.  We had a fabulous time together and enjoyed losts of tasty goodies.  We brought birthday cake cookies- also spotted on Pinterest (direct link to the recipe here).  I'm going to have to start a board where I pin the stuff I've actually made from Pinterest. :) These were uber easy and uber delicious! Sally gives great tips so the cookies are nicely shaped & soft/chewy. 

Have a merry rest of your night- good luck if you are shopping tomorrow!

Taking a moment

Teachers at every school in America think about what they would do for their students should something like the tragedy in Littleton, Bath, West Paducah, Winnetka, Newtown, or any of the countless towns in America that have suffered such an unthinkable loss.  We practice drills for a vast number of emergencies and talk with each other about "what if" or "what could".  There is no doubt in my mind that every adult at that school (and all schools around the country) was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the children in their charge, and 6 of them did just that.  The safety of students is paramount to teachers.  We love them all like they were our own family.

Last Friday has weighed heavy in all our hearts.  Folks at my school felt particularly bereft because our building houses only Kindergarten and first grade. For the last 13 years I have worked with these youngest babes and can not adequately express the heartbreak I feel for the families and extreme pride I have for the bravery of my colleagues. 

The teachers in my building wanted to do something to let our fellow teachers in Newtown know that they are in our thoughts and our prayers.  A friend and I are each making 4 cards for folks to sign/leave messages tomorrow.  I have an address to send notes of caring.  I know many of you might want to express your thoughts of love to the teachers of Newtown.  Please feel free to email me and I will pass along the information. 

In the meantime, hug the ones you love and tell them "I love you".

 

Gift Set Tutorial

I have a fun and easy tutorial just in time for the weekend.  Hop over to The Hen's Den to learn how to make this fun gift set.  You'll be all set for those last minute gifts. :)

This set is going to my gram as part of her Christmas pile.  I have a couple other things, but gosh I am stumped for others.  She spoils all of us rotten and I want to spoil her back!  Anyone have any suggestions for a feisty fashionable computer savvy 80-something who is a social butterfly that can usually only be reached on her cell phone 'cause she's out with friends????  I know, I know.  We should all be blessed to have such tricky folks to buy gifts for. :)  I can only hope to have her energy now, nevermind when I am her age!

Happy Friday!

Inspiration Anyone?

Open publication - Free publishing - More cards

We've got a great newsletter ready for you this month! Lots of new products listed and some great layout ideas (perfect for "guy" themed needs). Check out page 7 for a tutorial from you-know-who. :)

A Quartet

Last week really got away from me!  I am happy to be done with craft fairs, classes, and parties until Christmas (as far as I know right now anywho).  Hanukkah began on Saturday, so I made a few cards for friends. 

Traditionally Hanukkah cards are blue.  I'm hoping that the light & dark aqua are an okay spin.  Loving the shabby chicness of these cards!

That's all for now.  I'm off to get ready for school.  Hope you all have a better than usual Monday! :) 

Awesome Alternate Trees

Happy Monday everyone! I've chatted and chatted about the Metheun Festival of Trees to all of you- and anyone I have run into the last month or so. :) I took tons of pictures. It's just soooo much fun to look at sooooo many beautiful trees!

This is a peek at halfway down one aisle (there are 3).  I get giddy when we walk in because this show truly makes you feel like a kid at Christmas again. :)

Today's theme is "Outside the Box".  I picked a smattering of the more non-traditional trees to share with all of you. Enjoy!

This tree had an Avengers theme.  I thought about entering to win this tree to give to my nephews if I won, but really how could I have ever topped that gift (and the fear of my SIL killing me prevented my entering LOL!)  It was a wicked cool tree covered in toys and a huge variety of Avenger ornaments. 

I really wanted to win this mini-ish tree.  It was covered in art!  A ton of mini paintings from an art co-op.  What an awesome way to display paintings!

Dress form or tree?  Can't you see this tree in your favorite style diva's bedroom?  I think this would make for a cool window tree at a dress shop. :)

I thought this was such a cool idea.  It's a bookstand/Christmas tree!  How awesome of a gift would this tree be for your teen book lover?!?!?

They even had ornaments hanging off the display. :)

Since the trees are no-touch (rightfully so!) the family that donated this tree included a book list so you would know what books were "on the tree".  Awesome selection!!!

 There were a couple other book themed trees in the festival.  This one is the Jolly Christmas Postman and it was adorable.  There was one done up as There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Bell, but I had a wicked hard time getting pictures of that tree. :(

This one was done up by the local fire station (of course!) and was titled Merry TRUCKmas.  So cute!  The tree topper is an emergency light.  I love when the theme is knocked outta the park like this.  The base is the garage that holds the trucks.  Someone got lucky when they won this truck filled  tree yesterday!

It's hard to tell from my picture, but this is the Frankenweenie tree.  It won a prize for creative tree topper- and well deserved too!

I could get a good shot of the topper.  This was the best one.  Remember those plasma balls that were so popular in the 80's?  That's what was used as the topper.  LOVE IT!  Not sure where the tree would go, but I admire the creativity.

So is your tree up?  Do you do a theme?  Are there special traditions in your family for your tree?

Which Holiday?

Well my house is all decorated for Christmas- thanks to 15 friends 'n family who came/stayed for our annual Black Friday festivities.  I have to say everyone did a beautiful job!!!  We had so much help this year that all I did was assemble the trees and assign jobs. LOL!  Am I ready for Christmas cards, no not like I thought I would be last January.  Humph!

Am I busy making Christmas cards to send out?  Heck no!  Chalk it up to extended exposure to 5, 6, and 7 year-olds.  Charlie at The Hen's Den sent me this luscious Bo Bunny paper and it was begging to be made into a valentine.  I have a tutorial posted at The Hen's Den today and if you hop over there you can get all the deets.  Also, today is THE LAST DAY TO ENTER the linky party at The Hen's Den.  It is an anything goes, so long as you posted it this month.  Also, you can ENTER AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE.  Seriously, what are you waiting for????

Thankful

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone! It was a wonderful day yesterday spent with family and not shopping. Now that it is Black Friday... well here is a quick peek at a tutorial I have over at The Hen's Den this weekend.  There are deets and links here.

Thanksgiving is a big holiday weekend in my husband’s family.  We have lots of birthdays that fall around now and I have a big Black Friday Tree Trimming Blowout at our house.  Needless to say, we have lots to be thankful for each year we are together.  Every year we write what we are thankful for, pose for pictures (silly and traditional), and everything is added to a thankful album my husband (yup he worked on it too!) and I made for his mom years ago.   

This Thanksgiving Day we saw family in Maine too.  There are a lot of food allergies in the family we visited, so rather than causing a potential disaster by cooking, here was my contribution.  Place cards! :)

All the place cards are made from envelopes that have paper tucked into them for each person to write what they are thankful for and then all the envies will be tied together with ribbon for a family keepsake.  Don’t stress if you like this idea but didn't have it in time for this Thanksgiving.  You could spin this idea in time for Christmas or any other celebration coming up.  Folks could write favorite memories of the year, wishes for the upcoming year, or even what they love about whatever holiday you may be celebrating at the time.  Well, I have babbled on long enough.  Pop over here for all the deets AND pop over here to add any creation of yours to the gallery.  You could win $10 to the store (which would get you a couple free albums to load with all sorts of memories!!!!)  Hurry cause you only have until Friday!!!!!!!!