Happy New Years!!

Hello Everyone!!

I hope you're all having a wonderful new years. I know I am! Lots of good things are happening and I'm very excited. I can honestly say I've been waiting for January 2012 since...December 2010!! lol

Sorry I've been MIA. School and work last semester kept me very busy!! I'm hoping I can manage my time better this semester. I started a new job just after Thanksgiving, and have already been promoted!! And I LOVE my new job. It's much better than my previous job which left me unhappy and often depressed. But things are looking much better !!

Other good news, my brother, whom I haven't seen or heard from in five years, came home and surprised me at the beginning of November. He's moved back home, and I've been spending lots of time with him. I truly feel like the little sister again. :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and a Super Happy New Years!!!

Throwback Thursday

Good Morning!! This week's Throwback Thursday is a sport theme

Here are the rules:

Here are the details for this challenge:

*** This challenge is a SPORTS CHALLENGE! Use any sports cartridge you have & if you don't own any sports theme carts, just use anything you have & just make sure it has something to do w/sports!:)

***Make a card, layout or anything you want!!!
*** Link your project up to Mr. Linky, then leave a comment!

*** Deadline for this challenge will be on Wed, Jan 18th @ midnight!

*** ONE project per person please!

Here's my project. I made an 8 x 8 layout using one of my all time favorites, K & Co's Poppyseed stack. I also used Emma's curly label die and Anyday Bingo and Crossword stamp set. My mit and ball came from the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge. The stamps are supposed to be crooked and messy, part of my 'distressing'. lol

And yes, we're still best friends 15 years later. :)

Busy Busy Busy...

I've been super busy the last few weeks! What with tests to study for, work, and the other homework, it seems like Saturday is the only crafting time I get. So for the past 2 weekends, this is what I've been doing.

My sister and I are sharing a table at a local bazaar in a few weeks and I'm making cards.

I went through all my Christmas scrapbook papers and cut them in 4" x 4" squares. I think I have enough to make 750 ish cards!!! And none of that is from the K & Co stack behind it!!

The white is Georgia-Pacific white cardstock. I cut them into 8.5 x 8.5 squares, and then cut them in half, so the cards once folded are 4.25 x 4.25. Getting to this point only took me a few hours.

My messy work space. Stack on the right aren't started. Stack on the left has ribbon. Ribbon is taking the longest time!!!

My dollar box full of almost completed cards! They still need little tags.

This is how they will look completed. They're little presents!! I'm going to leave them blank inside, so they can be Christmas, Thanksgiving, Thank You, Birthday, or whatever else cards. The tag is from My Creative Time's Build a Banner Kit set.

I'm taking this is steps. I'm going to finish the ribbon for all of them, attach to the card bases, Then tie the knots and attach the tags.

Santa Gnomes!!

Have a great week!! Mine started out pretty good. My brother whom I haven't heard from in 5 years finally came home and surprised me yesterday!! :D

My Creative Time Design Team Call

Emma at My Creative Time is having a design team call!!!

For my 8x8 layout about my mom, I used Emma's sets "Mom you ROCK" for all the sentiments and the "Build a banner Kit" for the banner. The paper and embellishments were from K&Co Poppyseed. I also used some bling, purple twine from the Twinery, pop dots, and a white gel pen.

Good Luck to all the applicants!!!

Scroll down for more projects featuring Emma's stamps: Build a Banner Kit & Race for a Cure

My birthday present to myself

I was adopted six years ago October 14. Because this was a huge event in my life, I celebrate it as a second birthday with my parents. This year, I got my first tattoo on my back. It's Petrie from The Land Before Time. The purple daisy represents my mom and the feather represents my dad.

Here's how I surprised them on Facebook:

Six years ago in June, a couple said I Do to each other. Six years ago today, he said I do again. This time to a judge.

He was making a promise. A promise to legally take in Her daughter as his own. To love and care for her as though he was there with them they day she was born, and every day since.

That girl was me. 17 years old, and finally getting my dad, whom I had to patiently wait for.

I couldn't be more proud to say that today, I turn six. :)

I love you both! And I may not say it every day, but I appreciate everything you both have given me and the lessons you helped me to learn: Patience. Independence. Work Hard. To not settle for anything less than I deserve. Everything happens for a reason. So Thanks, for giving me...

...wings to fly!!!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

Here's a set of girly monster cards who all support breast cancer, as it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. My grandpa passed from breast cancer earlier this year, but one of my former teachers from grade school has been cancer free for 9 years!

I used My Creative Time's stamp set Race for a Cure.

My Creative Time Build a Banner Kit

Last Month Emma, from My Creative Time released her TENTH stamp release! I immediately snatched up her amazing Build a Banner Kit. (Scroll down to kits) It includes 4 background stamps and 4 dies.

I just made this Saturday. I saw the houndstooth paper in my stash and remembered the houndstooth stamp in this kit. The pine tree is embossed with the houndstooth folder, but it doesn't show up well. I might have gotten carried away with houndstooth...and I don't even really like houndstooth! lol

The stripes are another stamp in this kit. The thank you is from another of her sets, So Grateful for You.
This was fun! It was my first time making my own 'patterned paper' from a stamp. The snowflakes were from a punch, and the twine is from the Twinery.

This was another one I stamped the background. This was for my sister for taking a road trip with me last month. The leaf wasn't in the set, but the thatch/weave on the banner pieces is.

This is how I store my My Creative Time packets. I store the stamps in cd cases, but I can never remember the names of the set, so I keep them together like this.

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Throwback Thursday!!!

Emma at My Creative Time is having another Throwback Thursday!!! :D

This week's challenge is:

*** This challenge is to use an older cartridge with a "Card Feature" on it!

***Your card MUST BE A HALLOWEEN THEME!!!

*** Deadline for this challenge will be on Wed, Oct 19th @ midnight!

I used A Child's Year for everything: card base, scalloped oval, and pumpkin. The ribbon and bling were in my stash. By using the 'hide contour' feature on my Gypsy I was able to make a non-layer image into a layered image. I just love expanding my image options!

tree painting in my new bathroom

I took a road trip with my sister a few weeks ago. And we went shopping...a lot! I was able to get a new shower curtain and towels. :)

And then I realized I needed some new wall decor to match!

Sorry it's sideways. I painted the canvas board with acrylic paints. And then I applied a soft medium with my finger to make swirls.

After it dried, it looked like this. Yes I know, I need to work on painting trees. But for my first, it looks pretty cool!

Halloween Paper Wreath

Found this Christmas Wreath made of paper on Little Birdie Secrets, and thought I needed a Halloween one for my front door. Been meaning to make something for it anyways. :)

Here's how I designed it in my Gypsy. On page one I designed the reef form. I used 2" circles to form a large circle and welded them together. I cut this out twice so the form would be stronger.

On the second page, I used 3" stars to overlap around the form. I needed to cut 16 stars to fit around my form. The papers I used were from K & Co Spootacular and a designer page stack.

I scored all the stars down the middle, and folded them to make them 3D.

I also cut 8 black stars at 3.5", to help some of the smaller stars pop from the wreath form. Then I used pop dots to attach all the stars to the base.

Here's all the stars attached.

Here's the completed wreath hanging on my door. The hook is a 3M Command Hook. Love those things! I also added old Halloween buttons. I just cut off the pieces on the back so they were flat sided.

Birthday Cards

Since next week is my birthday, I thought I'd share more birthday cards with you. Here's the ones from last year's Birthday Bash week. You can see the posts here.

My Kraft Korner

I finally found some time to add more pictures. School started, and it's been keeping me busy.

Here's the Kraft Korner of my apartment.

9-cube Bookshelf. Top baskets hold random supplies and extra projects I'm in the middle of. Extra spaces hold books and magazines

Photo boxes hold pictures/embellishments/memorabilia for different things. Shown here are: Holidays, Events, Elementary school, & High School.
Boxes of old pictures not sorted, envelopes, and cards I've made. Silk flowers stored in the small container.
Washington DC and Hawaii boxes, Alaska/college and cards given to me.

On the floor is my paper packs and cardstock. Each colored envelope has a different stack and it's scraps. Cardstock is sorted by color.

Stack of my parent's pictures I confiscated. ;)
Storage under my desk. :S This includes my rolling tote, a tote of fabric/sewing stuff, a tote of random craft stuff, paints, beads, and anything else that needed a place to be stashed. lol

Paper scrap storage, separated by color.
I use blue, green, and purple the most.
random embellishments sorted by color. Red/pink/orange/yellow in top, blue/green/purple in middle, and whites/blacks/metalics in bottom.

Cricut booklets stored in my green basket.

Cartridges stored in these mini crates from Walmart.

Mini 6-cube shelf. Baskets hold punches, tags, small random embellishments.Small paper stacks, letters, bling
On top are my paper flowers, separated of course by color.
8x8" paper packs
Tools. pens, stickles, buttons, etc.
top of large shelf
Paper Cube, separated by color.
Drawer holds ribbon...

...and stamps!

Close up of paper.

Lose ribbon sorted by color. Seasonal also separated.

Clear Stamps
Clear stamp blocks

I hope you enjoyed! Feel free to ask for more details/explanations/pictures. Have a good weekend!