Megan's Teacher Gift

I saw this adorable idea on My Mix of Six (I can not find it now to link directly to it!) and was going to make it for Megan's teacher last year and it never happened. This year I am ahead of the game and just need to sharpen the pencils and make a cute gift card holder/tag  (I am also including a Wal-Mart gift card) to add to it. I hope that she likes it! I figure that any 1st grade teacher could always use sharpened pencils.

Another Birthday Calendar

I made another birthday calendar for a Christmas Gift yesterday! I also used some new Papertrey Ink stamps/ dies that I just got in my last order. I have always loved the In Bloom set from Papertrey Ink, but did not have Copics and really do not like cutting things out. Eric got me Tombow watercolor markers for my birthday last month, and Papertrey Ink released a coordinating die for the stamps so I had to get them! I added score lines to the Orange Zest CS layer, and ran the Harvest Gold layer through my Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder.

The Birthday Calendar images are stamped on the Lemon Tart layer using Summer Sunrise ink (i think...)

Gingerbread Joy Card

Don't you just hate it when you work all weekend on a project, it turns out great... and you cant post it on your blog because it is a gift? Yep.. I just finished my sister Amanda's Christmas gift, and am pretty proud of it. But since she reads my blog I can not post it until after Christmas! I need to take pictures and get the post all ready to go so that I can show everyone after Christmas though.

I did make a quick card last night while playing with my new stamps. I used PTI's Framed and Holiday Button Bits with Fine Linen, Scarlet Jewel and Vintage Cream cardstock. I used a tip that a fellow PTI Post-Its blogger Emily posted about misting the cardstock before embossing it. WOW... It really made a difference! I used Pearl Glimmer Mist on the Scarlet Jewel cardstock before embossing with PTIs linen texture plate. After adding the Scarlet Jewel buttons to the gingerbread man I thought it needed one more button, so I covered the "o" in Joy with another button! I think that it turned out super cute, and it did not take long at all!

This picture shows the misting and embossing that I mentioned.

Fall photo shoot

On Saturday April and I took our girls out to the University of Saint Mary campus to play with April's "husband." It is not as dirty as it sounds... April is not married, and that is what she calls her new camera ;)
We took some amazing pictures. The colors were gorgeous and the weather was just a little chilly, but not too cold. Here are a couple of my favorites. We took over 300 pictures, and there are more on my November Picasa page (though not all of them!)

 

Thank you April!!!

Birthday Calendar

I finished up a Christmas gift last week. I am not sure if the recipient looks at my blog, so I have to leave out a few pictures so that I do not give it away.
All of the supplies are from Papertrey Ink, with the exception of some brads, a Heidi Swapp flower and a Maya Road stickpin. I started with the PTI Kraft Binder and decorated the front and spine with the Calendar Basics and Background Basics: Text Style stamps and Blueberry Sky cardstock, ribbon and felt. The ink is actually from one of my Tombow markers

Here is  a peek at the inside pages. Each page forms a pocket and I put a handmade card in each pocket.

Indoor Tent - Layout

I have challenged myself to use up some of my older embellishments, and here is a layout that I made last week with this in mind. I used the American Crafts Dear Lizzy Spring Collection and some old alphabet stickers from my stash, and some PTI ink around the edges of the layout. The "FUN" element is actually a flocked rubon that I have had for a couple of years in my stash.

So far behind!!!

I am so far behind in posting my projects! In the last post (from Halloween) you can see some trick-or-treat bags that I made for the girls.
I started with some little canvas totes from Hobby Lobby and using some Heidi Swapp masks and Glimmer Mist I added some color and the girl's names to each tote. Then I pulled out the trusty glue gun and added a tulle ruffle and a rosette also made out of tulle with a PTI button in the middle. Then I filled in the names with some glow-in-the-dark puff paint from WalMart. So cute and the perfect size!

We actually added another shade of blue to Sira's after the pictures were taken. These pictures were taken before the addition of the puff paint.

 

We also make one for Maike (before we found out that Hannah and Neila would be trick-or-treating with the girls)

Trick or Treating

We live in the best neighborhood for trick or treating! Neila, Maike and Hannah came over to trick-or-treat with Sira and the girls and they all had a good time. Megan and Lauren loved that the big girls went with them! Unfortunately Sira was our photographer of the evening and we do not have any pictures of her!

 

Pumpkin Carving

Thursday evening the girls (and Eric) got busy carving their pumpkins. This was Sira's first time carving a pumpkin and it was fun to watch!

Making the outline:

Removing the guts:

 

 

Carving the faces:

 And the final results! Lauren's is on the Top, then Sira's and Megan's:

 

They turned out so cute!!!