Christmas Treats!

I've been busy working on treats for teachers and co-workers.
(Sorry about the photo here.... I was having camera issues.) I love these Aladdin mugs! They are so much fun to decorate and personalize! These went to Carl's co-horts at West Elk along with a few goodies packed in around those mugs. My only problem was I couldn't close the bags!









The mugs here went to most of my co-workers. The candy bar was a special gift to my Jewish co-worker.

Normally, I am NOT a big fan of Martha Stewart. However, she certainly knows how to employ an excellent creative staff. The treat bags she put out this year were actually very helpful to me in putting together these little goodies with a few decorating details of my own. Those darling silver bells had a very sweet tone and I got nine (yes, count them 9) all for a buck!






These cute little goodies were another great find and easy to decorate and of course, fill with yummy biscotti. (According to Mr. Jensen, I make the best biscotti, apparently, even better than what he could get in Italy.) Dominic took the pillow boxes for his classmates with a couple Kit-Kats tucked inside. That sums up my treat making extravaganza for Christmas 2010.
Enjoy your Holidays and I wish all of you all the best for 2011!

Theo... for Christmas!

Any of you who are familiar with TAC's new Theo the cat stamps know they are not really Christmas stamps but that does not mean they can not be used for your Christmas cards!

For example, add a Santa Hat with a bit of fluff and bling (aka fun flock with glitter) and.... WhaCha!! Christmas card! Now, I am not the "Bah Humbug" type, but really, who could be after seeing this card! It just makes me laugh. My cat, Simba, was the inspiration for this particular card. He is little "Mr. Snarky" and has had to endure the Santa hat every season, especially with Megan around!

The inside of the card reads, " merry Christmas.... when do we open presents?" which is exactly what my snarkums would say, in cat language, of course.

Deets:

Stamps: T-3430 Just a Cat, TAC-2863 Merry Words, T-1253 Christmas Fun

CS: Kraft, Dk Brn, Bazzill Red, White

Color: Copics: R81, R29, YG11, E70, E74, YR23, YR21

Ink: Momemto Black Tuxedo, Pallette Burnt Umber

Other: Fun flock mixed with Glitter, Tacky glue pen, mounting foam, adhesive

December 2010

Merry Christmas!
I hope you all enjoy your holiday festivities!




DETAILS
Stamps: T-2708 For all Seasons T-1186 Tag Tidbits (The Angel Company)
Paper: Sam's Club double sided, red Bazzill
Supplies: 4" coaster & calendar from Stamp On This, SU tag punches, Ribbon from Wal-Mart, 1" BIA

WhaCha!! The NEW CRAFT Room! ...and a sneak

TA DAH!!!

Here is the entrance to my new Craft Cave!!
When we moved in last April, this room sort of became a collection point while we unpacked kids rooms and decided what to do with 2 whole households worth of stuff. (No, I'm still not done unpacking, just in case you wondered.)

Over in that corner on the left I have a microwave and a coffee pot, of course. I will be getting a little fridge for the corner. Eventually
DH has offered to turn this corner into a butler pantry of sorts which will include a little sink. (Awesome!!! But I imagine that one is a few years away.)
Anyway, I still have my bookshelves, full of craft books and supplies. My DH put up some shelves for me for additional storage. Good thing too! I just never seem to have enough space to put stuff.

Here's a view of the rest of the room as you enter the cave! Don't you just LOVE those Ikea 9 drawer units! and Look!! Plenty of room for crafter's to join in the fun. I have two tables set up all the time, but still have room to add one more when needed.

Around the corner from those filing cabinet is the die-cutting area. How FABULOUS does that sound? A whole area just for die cutting??

Can you see Simba's ears poking out of the basket? That cat thought he would sit in some of the card baskets I have prepared for the Stamp-a-Stack this weekend. I had to compromise and give him his own temporary basket.

Those of you who attend will get to make the kitty Christmas card inspired by Simba.






My punches are built on the corner and wall around from the "die-cutting area". I've posted pics of this before, but still, doesn't it look SPECTACULAR?

Now, my little sewing table with the serger is a bit in the way, but, until Rachel graduates and moves out, it will have to stay there.
My sewing stuff and Nordic track that you could see in the first photo will be moving into Ra's room when she moves out. (Don't tell her, okay?)

Ahhhh! My desk! Everything right there and handy at my fingertips, or at least relatively close anyway. I have room for a buddy at my desk too! All the current TAC stamps are in the CD cases on the right side there.

Those shelve behind my desk have all the rest of my stamps. Yes, I do have too many! I guess that's what happens in 14 years of stamping.
They make nice display shelves too, and of course, MORE convenienty storage.

WAIT! What's this? Cards for the Stamp-a-Stack? Lookey!!! OOooooo!!!

Don't forget to call me!!

November 2010

It's always time to be thankful, but isn't it nice we have an American Holiday to celebrate it?

DETAILS

Stamps: T-2708 For all Seasons, T-1186 Tag Tidbits (The Angel Company)

Paper: Sams's club double sided, orange, red, brown scraps of Bazzill

Supplies: 4" coaster & calendar from Stamp on This, 1" BIA

Happy Halloween 2010

I'm still busy getting my craft room in order... but the good news is, I'm finally almost there!!

Haven't been doing much crafty stuff lately although I did manage to get treats for Dom's class and some teacher treats for the girl's done.

Mark your calendar for Saturday, November 20.

Yes, the annual Christmas Stamp-a-Stack and the official Grand Re-Opening of the Craft Cave!

More detail to follow.... or watch for your postcard.

October 2010

Time to pick your pumpkin from the patch!

DETAILS

Stamps: T-2708 For all Seasons (The Angel Company)

Paper: Sams's club double sided, scraps of Bazzill green & orange

Supplies: Green Scrapper's floss, 4" coaster & calendar from Stamp On This, 1" BIA, EK Success scroll edge punch

September 2010

The traditional "Back-to-School" month. Don't forget your apple for the teacher!


DETAILS:
Stamps: T-2708 For all Seasons (The Angel Company)
Paper: Sam's Club double sided, Bazzil
Supplies: 4" coaster & calendar from Stamp on This, Ribbon from Michaels, 1" BIA

August 2010

August! Grab up the last few scraps of summer!

DETAILS:

Stamps: The Angel Company T-2708 For all Seasons

Paper: Sam's Club double sided, scraps of white, pink, and lime green

Supplies: 4" coaster & calendar from Stamp On This, BIA 1" rings

Boots...

The favorite card at the sorority get-away was this...

Do you like the bandana fabric? I think it makes the whole card.

You can't really tell in the photo, but the boot on top is cut out and popped up with mounting foam.

Of course, you make make a variety of similar cards by changing the boots, the sayings, the cardstock or carstock treatment, adding knots to the fabric, all kinds of things...

what would you change?

Punch Storage in the New Cave

I'm afraid I can't do pictures of the whole studio just yet. I'm still getting settled, picking up, organizing...
But, since I promised a photo or two of the new punch storage my DH made for me and that little corner of the room is pretty well done...

Believe it or not, we used grounding rods and eye screws. The wall is about 6 feet long and then it bends around the corner another 18" or so.

It's all very functional and sturdy. I only have one problem...

there's not a lot of room for growth!
'Course, after 14 or so years of stamping, I'm hoping I won't need too many more supplies. Is anyone else as much of a hoarder as I am?

July 2010

Now that it's the middle of the month....

I thought maybe I should probably post the July calendar. DUH!

Geez! Summer is half over already and I hope you're all soaking up the rays and havin' some fun!

March 2010, April 2010, May 2010, June 2010

Well, dang it! I could have at least sceduled posts for the calendars for the month in my moving absentia, huh?

Just a little update.... the new and improved Craft Cave is almost done! Gadzooks!! You know, I was beginning to think it might never happen. I'm hoping to post some pics by the weekend. I have to show off my fabulous punch bars! AWESOME!! And I do actually have a few new cards to post after my weekend away with the Sorority girls.

Well, here are the calendars... just to catch up.

Moving....

The Craft Cave will be relocating at the end of the month. Not the internet location, but the physical location. Classes will resume when we are settled back in sometime in April so watch for class postings coming as soon as MAY!! I'm hoping to plan an All Occasion Stamp-a-Stack!!
Right now all the supplies are getting boxed up so... can't do much crafty stuff for a while!!

A day late...

...for you to see all the goodies I made for Valentine's Day. The good news, however, is that they were done in time for all the festivities.

I do hope that all of you had a Valntine's Day with all the trimmings that you all so greatly deserve!

Normally I would have to say that I am NOT a fan of the clear acrylic stamps. I'm just a real rubber kind of gal. Having said that, I have to admit I am very impressed with the Papertrey Inks sets that I ordered specifically for Valentine's Day! I just could not resist the images! They are very well thought out and both the Tiny Treats Valentine's and the Simple Valentine sets work fabulously together.

Now, I am NOT on their design team and do not receive any $$ from them for my opinion. So, having said all that, I have to tell you I am impressed with Papertrey Ink. First, they released this set in December I believe. Plenty of time for me to plan for the next holiday. Also, when they released the images for this set, it came with a blog hop showing a bunch of fabulous ideas of how to use these sets. Then, when I decided I wanted these, and I had enough time to save and budget for these. (Let's face it, we are all having budget issues!)

I ordered them online about mid-January and they arrived in just a couple days!! AND when I opened the box I was very pleased with their packaging!! First of all, no nasty environmentally UNfriendly styrofoam peanuts!! BLEH!

Of course there was packaging paper, that I promptly added to the fire box. Here is the cool part though! Each set was in an adorable clear box, that can easily be repurposed later as a fabulous creation. (These boxes were nicely wrapped in tissue, btw.) Then included inside the box was a CD case to store the stamps, indexing sheets for the CD case, along with a label for the spine to make them easy to locate. The stamps were on some clear acetate, which can be reused in another project, of course. It also included an instruction sheet with care recommendations and tips for usings your stamps. Plus it also referenced their website where all the blog hop ideas can be found easily. Cool, huh?

And just look at how amazingly cute the images look! And they all have sayings that totally compliment the images. This set is perfect for the kiddo's valentines and I think I have been searching for a set just like this for 13 years!

These are the treats we sent to school with Megan and Dom for their classmates. I used the Shadowbox BigzXL plate from Sizzix to create the boxes. Cute, huh? And, as you can see the Tiny Treats Valentine set was PERFECT!!

So, there I was on Thursday night, realizing I didn't have anything special for the teachers. Instead of instant panic, I quickly went to Julie's Blog and quickly found the perfect idea! Gotta love Jewels! She always exemplifies SIMPLE, SMART, SOPHISTICATED!!! How easy to compliment this idea easily with the Papertrey Ink sets along with my JustRite What's Cookin' Borders & Centers. Love it!!

I know these adorable petal card treats have made the rounds, but you know, I've actually discovered that a great idea just never gets old. These were fantastically popular with my sorority sisters. Let's face it, we ALL love to get treats!!

Happy Heart Month!

Here's the calendar for February!



Just so you all know...
I'm not sure how often I will be posting for a few months. I have a few things I'm working on in life in general... simplify and declutter... and also some major family stuff I'm hoping will be in the works very soon.
Now, about the stamping stuff. I'm still reevaluating and trying to make a decision about which direction it will all be going. I haven't been content for a while with the current direction, and my MOJO has suffereed tremedously because of my inner turmoil. I still plan on doing crafting classes, but may be heading in a more all encompassing direction with that rather than just stampin' & papercrafts. We'll, see...
'Nuff said there... for now!
For those of you interested in classes.... I'll let you know, if you let me know what kinds of classes you would like to see or what classes you want to continue!! Do you want more cards? More techniques? More mini-books? 4x6 scrapping? Specialty cards? What else would you like to do?
Thanks!!


P.S. I will also attempt to do better at giving you the info on the items I post. So....
Calendar page "deets":
Stamps: TAC: T-2708 For All Seasons
Calendar: Just Stamp It
Paper: Sam's Club special, basic black & white CS
Ink: Noir Palette
Coloring: Prismacolor & OPT, glitter pen
Other: 1" BIA rings

Simple & Easy gifts...

...are not just for Christmas. But that does seem to be the time when we all post that kind of stuff.

Here are a couple of items that never seem to get old for quick cute gifts. Just change out the paper and stamps and.... presto, bango! Ready for a different Holiday or Special Occasion!

These are, I admit, the Christmas versions, so.... use your own creativity and see what YOU can come up with!!

Board book calendar

Every year my hubby brings home a calendar from work. The problem is... it's just HUGE. Too big to hang on my cupboard doors. Before we needed this montrousity because he was doing crazy shift work. Now it's a much easier schedule too keep track of... 2 weeks days, 2 weeks swing. I don't need a gigantic calendar to tell me that.

So, I came up with a solution.

I used a board book and carefully cut it apart, two pages at a time, then glued the seam together to get one long piece.

I used the calendar download from Heather and printed it on portrait paper rather than landscape. Perfect size!

The blue background at the top is perfect for a 4x6 photo which can be changed out whenever.

January 2010

Happy New Year!

Wishing all of you a properous, happy, and healthy new year to come.

This calendar uses the For All Seasons set in the TAC catalog. I'll post a page at the beginning of the month for the coming year.