Merry Christmas

Wow...where has the time gone?  As I scurry about getting things ready for Christmas time is just flying by.  Here are a couple projects I've been working on.  The Santa idea I got from my Stampin Up upline Linda along with the drawer project.  I will show you her design and then my own take on the projects.  Thanks to Linda for sharing these great ideas!

First up is my "Merry Christmas" stocking banner.  This is my design but it's not finished yet as I need to add some details to it.  Hopefully I will get that done today.  I used the Stampin Up! Big Shot machine, L Holiday Stocking die,  Alphabet Simple Letters die. 

Linda's matchbox drawers. Too cute!! Perfect for giving jewelry or small gift items to that someone special!

Here are the matchbox gift boxes I made based on Linda's design.  I used glimmer brads, fabric and scalloped polka dot ribbon. Colors used are "Old Olive" and "Real Red" Thank you to Linda for letting me use her matchbox die!

Linda's Santa gift box.  I fell in love with this little project so decided to make several for my nieces and nephews that I will be seeing at Christmas.

My take on Linda's design. I don't have the sparkly glitter paper Linda used for the belt buckle so I went with a flower punch.  I also used googly eyes instead of drawing them in with a marker.  I had the googly eyes on hand and they were just begging to be used for something. I made 10 of these boxes and what a task that was! I hope the kids like them. I think I need to add a bit more "fluff" to the brim of Santa's hat.

I was going to post my Christmas card here as well but seeing as how I just mailed them yesterday I better wait until after Christmas.  My hubby actually sat down and helped me make them this year! We spent pretty much all of Saturday making cards, addressing envelopes and stuffing them. 

Now for a little Christmas cat story...every year we put up a fake tree with unbreakable ornaments because of the cats.  Well this year our newest addition Kittens Wittens has claimed the tree for her own and is often seen climbing up the middle of the tree only to leap out from midway up.  The other day I heard a racket from the living room and thought for sure the cats had managed to bring down the tree.  When I went out to see what was going on all the cats were looking quite innocent and no where near the tree, which was still standing (YAY!). Kittens Wittens was sitting on the window sill looking out.  When I walked into the room she turned her head to look at me as if to say "What? I didn't do anything." with a small piece of tinsel hanging out of her mouth...I wish I could have gotten a photo but I felt it was more important to get the tinsel before she ate it, so I did the responsible thing and grabbed her out of the window and proceeded to struggle with her to nab the tinsel...Well I managed to get the tinsel from her and all is well.  

Now I'm just waiting for my boy to get home and it will feel a lot more like Christmas.  He told me he would be done today which I took to mean he would be home as well, but turns out he had other plans and will be home tomorrow instead.  I really can't wait and am looking forward to having him home.

I wish you and yours a blessed Christmas and a most happy New Year.  Peace and joy!
Lisa

Wine Bottle Gift Tag

We have been invited to my son's GF's parents house for Thanksgiving.  So I thought we would take a nice bottle of wine as a hostess gift.  My upline Linda suggested making a "tag" for the bottle.  So this is what I came up with.  I had never made one before so it went through a couple of changes. I will start with what it first looked like and end with the final tag:

This was the first design.  While I think it's really cute I was not happy with it. I think it got too busy as I kept adding stuff trying to find something that I was happy with.  I didn't like the way the "roof" was hanging over the edge of the card and the front panel opened to a sentiment on the inside but it would not stay closed.  I also had issues with the rounded corners as they were cut by hand and not symmetrical.

Here is the final design.  I salvaged the turkey from the front panel and removed the panel.  I trimmed down the "roof" so it did not hang over.  I like this design much better. It looks like the turkey is bringing the scroll with the sentiment...or perhaps just sitting on top of it. 

Here is the poem on the tag. I found it online and pasted it into MS Publisher using a text box and the paper scroll auto shape.  I printed it on card stock then cut it out and adhered it to the tag:


Thank You For Inviting Us Thank you for inviting us
To your Thanksgiving dinner.
A day spent in your company
Is invariably a winner. Thank you for the time you spent
Preparing all the food;
For making us feel welcome,
You have our gratitude! By Joanna Fuchs
It was a fun project and I think I will make some more as I would like try some different designs including  an elegant one perhaps for New Year. 

I hope you all have a wonderful and blessed Thanksgiving. 

Peace and Joy!

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

Here is today's card.  I made this for a Stampin Up meeting where we had a "shoebox swap".  Everybody designs a card and brings enough parts and pieces for everybody to make one. 

   

I Promised Cats...

Tigger.  He was originally named Tiger Lily...then we learned better. One of our two male cats.  He's quite needy and can be oooh so annoying sometimes.  But he's really just a lover and a snuggle kitty. However... one time (at band camp) while being pestered relentless by a toddler he did jump up and box the kid in the head a few times with his paws, but to his credit he kept his claws in...

Tri Fold Shutter Card

Today is cold and rainy and windy...a lot of the leaves that were on the trees yesterday have fallen to the ground.  Look quick or you'll miss it! I've spent the morning working on a birthday card for one of my sisters. I'm taking a slight risk and hoping that she has not subscribed to my blog (yet)...otherwise it won't be much of a surprise! OH and I just REALIZED I need to mail this card like TODAY!! Ha! How did it get to be Nov. 9th already??

If you are interested in making your own just google "tri fold shutter" and you will find many links to choose from.  I used the template found here... however other sites use slightly different dimensions that make better sense if you're using 12x12 paper for the base.  I was using 8.5x11 so this template worked well.

Closed (Sorry it's blurry!)

Opened. Isn't it festive and happy?

Here are a couple other tri-fold Shutter cards I have made as well:

Get well card for a sister from another mother...

Below is the first tri-fold shutter card I made. I was really happy with it, but now that I've done a few...well it's not my favorite but I know my sister really likes it so that's all that really matters!

Birthday Card for another sister

I have yet another one I made for yet another sister, but her birthday is not until Dec. so I better not post it here yet.  I will try to remember to post it in Dec.

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed today's cards.  As ever I wish you much peace and joy!

The Reds Have Shown Up!

 

This autumn has been lacking in the usual brilliant reds that I have come to love about autumn in NE Ohio.  Well they have finally shown up!  I don't know if it's because it has been so wet or because of the lack of sunny days in October, but either way I'm am so thankful for the reds finally showing up.  It's like autumn's last hurrah before winter sets in.

On a side note I got a text from my son this afternoon saying "I saw you got a blog :P never thought that'd happen..."  Well that makes two of us!  I then asked if he subscribed to it to which he replied he had tried but the site was being wonky and he would try again later...

I don't have a card/project to share today as I have been feeling a bit wonky myself.  Instead you get Autumn REDS! I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! 

 

 

I wish you peace and Joy

Lisa Marie

Swap for KY SU! Regional

This was my "swap" I made for the Stampin Up! regional con in Louisville, KY.  It was my first SU con and I had a great time and learned some new tricks and techniques.  I had 40 swaps and wish I had made/taken more to swap.  So many cool and neat card ideas were to be had. 

Is There Anybody Out There?

Every clever name I came up with was taken...Crazy Card Lady, Euphoric Serenity, 110 in the Shade, Crafts, cards and cats...Misplaced Texan...I don't remember what all else I tried...but here I am and I'm gettinrountuit...I'm planning on using this blog to post my creations, cards and other 3D paper projects with a few cats thrown in every now and again.  I hope you will enjoy the projects along with the cats. I am an independent Stampin Up! demonstrator so if you happen to live in NE Ohio and want to host a Stampin Up! party let me know!