Favorites from 2011

I love seeing my friends posts celebrating there favorite cards of 2011 so I thought I would do the same!  I am deciding this as I write this post so I am looking forward to hunting through my cards to find my favorites!  (BTW New challenge post for Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday challenge underneath..)

2011 was a great crafting year for me!  I was beyond blessed and so happy to have been asked to be a Hero Arts Hostess!  I was part of an amazing group of 5 talented ladies from February through April!  It was a great three months.  One of my favorite cards is actually the one that they introduced me as one of the apron ladies on the Hero Arts blog here.  I wanted a fun card using one of my favorite color combos.  You don't know how much thought I put into this card I made several versions and emailed my local crafty friends for advice!

This is another favorite card of mine, not only do I love the stamp but it's my first time trying stamp kissing technique and I loved doing it!

It may be odd to have a sympathy card as a favorite from 2011 but it is!

This card uses my favorite twine by the Twinery!  I not only made one of these butterflies I made 2 since Ariel took the first one and I couldn't find it!  :>  (Later on I found it in her crafty bag!)

This has to be one of my favorite cards because I made it on my first video ever, and for Hero Arts!  You can see the video here.  About a week after the video going up I went to look at it and almost fell off my chair when I saw that it had 5,500 hits! I couldn't believe it!  Talk about shocked!

With that said when I made my next video for Hero Arts I was beyond nervous!  Could you tell?  I did three cards in that video and this one is my favorite of them, you can see the video here.

This card for sure is one of my favorites, I made it as my last card saying thank you being a hostess and it was shared on the HA blog.  I think this stamp set nd Basic Grey papers is my favorite that they released in 2011!!

This is my favorite Mother's Day card that I made:

This is a card that is very me which is why it's one of my favorites:

 

It's getting harder and harder to choose!  I so love this one:

In July I was a guest designer for Market Street Stamps!  I love there stamps!  This isn't one of the cards that I made for that but one I made later with there stamps that I love!

I was also a guest designer for GCD Studios in November!  I love there products and this was my favorite card I made for them:

The invites that I made for Ariel's birthday are so my favorite not because I slaved away on them of anything:

This is one of my favorite Christmas cards that I made this year, I made it for my first class that I taught this past November!

And this is another one of my favorite holiday cards from this year:

And there you have it!  My favorite cards from 2011!  It's been a great year for me crafty wise and I can't wait to see what 2012 holds in store!!!  I better run, the kids are gone and were heading out to party with a bunch of friends!

Love and Laughter!

Hello!  Happy New Years Eve!!  I am so excited that it's New Years!  I am beyond excited and hopeful for what 2012 will bring!  Tonight Chad and I are going out without kids, our first New Years Eve with no kids!  We usually get together with friends with the kids but this year my parents are babysitting and were getting together with a bunch of couple friends!  And seeing as last year Ariel had Scarlet Fever and we had to stay home I am even more excited to go out!  :>

I am here with a new Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday Challenge!  We have such a great fitting challenge!  Our challenge is New!  Something new like a new to you technique, new stamps, new papers, a new baby card or whatever new you can come up with!  I am so excited for what Wee Memories has in store for you for 2012, wait till you see the challenges we have in store for you!

I made a card with some new papers from Authentique.  Well there sorta new, I did buy them a bit ago but with Christmas cards and Christmas didn't have a chance to play with them.  

I embossed in white the flower and leaves from Blossom Art by Hero Arts and cut it out.  Stamped the sentiment onto coordinating paper.  Added tons of rhinestones and done!  :>

On Thursday night Chad's parents took the kids on a sleepover with some of there cousins!  So Chad and I went on a double date with his brother and his wife!  We went for some pizza that's cooked over coals and than saw a movie!

It was a great movie we all really enjoyed it, so funny!  We had a great night out and were happy to sleep in! :>  I hope and plan in 2012 to try to get out on dates more!

I hope that you have a fantastic New Years Eve ringing in 2012! Wishing you a joyful, prosperous, happy, peaceful New Year!  I hope that you will join us this week for this challenge!  Please check out the Wee Memories blog for more details!

Holiday Photos and more Wreaths!

Hello!  I hope that you had an amazing Christmas!  We sure did!  We had a great time celebrating with family the birth of our savior!  It was busy but great and I won't lie, I am glad that it's over!  We have been enjoying time at home now recuperating after such a busy time.  I know that I may have overdone it before with wrapping gifts, baking, and all the gifts that I made.  I am trying to take it easy today but other projects that I have in mind are calling my name!

I want to share my Christmas card with you.  I did photo cards but also gave handmade cards to family.  I even ran out of handmade cards and made some last minute!

I'll share some favorites from the photo session later.  I wanted to share two wreaths that I made for friends who asked me to make them one, the first is a paper flower wreath much like the one that I made for me and shared here.  She asked me to make it in white to match her decor and I think it turned out so beautiful:

I won't lie it took a long time to make, I won't tell you the total time but gluing on the flowers and making a few extra to fit took over 3 hours!  But when you enjoy what your doing it's worth it!  I've considered that if I make more to get a rolled flower die but most of the flowers I make for these wreaths are around 5 inches around and the dies are much smaller. I made a yarn and felt flower wreath for a friend that she was giving her mom:

I also made my mom one almost the same as it would work well with her home.  She loved it! 

Here are some photos from the past few days, on Friday the 23rd we made sugar cookies Ariel and Carter loved them.  I think you can sorta see what Ariel will look like as a teenager in this photo:

Here are a few opening present photos. Carter always stops and smiles really nice for photos when he is opening presents!  I think that next year's family photo may be of us holding presents or something!

At Chad's parents:

See that cookie monster?  It's all Carter talked about!  All day long he kept mentioning it!  It took me a week of listening to him asking me for cookie monster to figure out what he was talking about!  I thought he meant he wanted to eat cookies like cookies monster, or read his cookie monster book!  Ariel finally told us that he wanted this toy!  LOL  Trust me there were days that he asked so much I was close to giving it to him early!  :>

Well that's it from me today!  Hope your enjoying this time off!  It's slow time for Chad so were enjoying family time at home!

Lots of Crafty Stuff and Santa Photo!

Hello!  Merry Christmas Eve Eve!  Apparently today is the busiest shopping day of the year!  Sadly we do have to go out for a few things but not to the mall!  I hope your enjoying this season!  I am!  Today I am stopping in with quite a few projects, first a Christmas card:

I did some paper piecing and embossing on this card, my color scheme came from the pattern paper!

Yesterday was Ariel's last day of school before Christmas Holidays!  I made her teacher photo coasters of her grandchildren, I happen to be friends with her daughter and daughter-in-law so I asked them on facebook to send me some photos a bit ago and didn't tell them what I was making!  I forgot to take photos of them but I am making the same for my MIL so I will show those one later.  Ariel ended up being sick so we went in and dropped everything off.  Her teacher later emailed me telling me how much she loved the coasters! Yay!  I made the chocolate covered marshamallow snowman like last year again, but had to change them a bit to make them peanut free.  (M&M's are not!)  So I used smarties and gel for the eyes and nose!

This year I didn't package them up as the gel was wet but I was glad I didn't as when I dropped them off I didn't see any other baking for the kids mostly chips.  Sad that Ariel wasn't there when the kids got to eat them but she did get to hear there oooos and ahhhs!  :>  

So for the other teachers (music, gym, and her teacher who teachers every friday) I gave them handmade gift tags and a pretzel stick dipped in chocolate:

 Doesn't the pretzels look good:? They are!  I made a whole bunch more last night for the neighbors and when I went to package them up I can't find the pretzel bags!  I have looked everywhere!  I am wondering if because I finished the teacher gifts at midnight if I accidently threw them away?  And I refuse to go back to Michaels and buy more because I have been there everyday this week if not twice!  (To buy stuff for the wreaths mostly!)  Chad told me not to worry about it as he wants us to keep it for ourselves!  

I decorated some gift bags for the teachers went with the first idea that came to mind:

I don't know if you can tell in the photo but the banner says for which teacher!  When we dropped them off I also handed out some chocolate covered pretzels to the secretary and the librarian!  :>

On Tuesday I took the kids to see Santa!  They did amazing!  It was a long line and Carter behaved so well! (Worth waiting the line this Santa is free!) I think telling Carter that if he didn't sit in his lap and smile he wouldn't bring him presents worked!  They took 3 great photos, this is my favorite:

Well I am off have a lot of crafty things to do today but first baking some roll out cookies with the kids!  In case I am not back I want to wish you and your family a Merry Christmas!

Sparkly Bird in a Tree and Another Wreath!

Hello!  Happy Monday!  I made it through the weekend alive!  :>  Wow what a busy weekend.  It's hard for me to even remember all the gatherings and such!  I am so loving having a more handmade Christmas but the work needed to have one and keep up with everything else....  Oh well I made it and I finished my projects that I needed for yesterday in time! 

I am here late with the current Wee Memories Scrappy Saturday challenge.  Note to self when you start writing a blog post just finish it so that your not late!  Opps!  This week our challenge is running for two weeks which is perfect since the upcoming weekend in Christmas!  And our challenge is easy it's ANYTHING GOES!  So if your crafting last minute for the holidays or after just to relax please share with us!

Today I have to share with you one of my favorite Christmas cards! 

I stamped and embossed with gliterry powder by Ranger the Merriest Wishes stamp.  I love this silhouette image all glittery!  I went with a clean look with the rest of the card by mating it with a silver paper, and stamping the magical background with pumice stone distress ink by TH.  I loved making this card so much I am working on 8  more of them!  Almost done!

This weekend I also worked on two wreaths, the first one I'll share tomorrow but today I'll share the yarn and felt flower one that I made as gift for Chad's grandmother.  She loved the one that I made for Chad's mom.  And we had a big extended family gathering with her last night so I need to have it done for than!  Here it is:

Chad's grandma lives in a condo and has a white door so I wanted the base to have color rather than cream like my other. First I had a hard time picking the colors (didn't help that Michaels sells out of felt pronto, and didn't feel like driving to fabric land!) I wanted colored that would work all winter. Than I had a hard time deciding on flowers which ones to make, I had a certain one that I wanted to make took me a long time of searching to find a tutorial finally did and when I made one it was a flop!  Finally settled on these and am happy with how it turned out!  And on time too!  She loved it!  These wreaths are pretty simple to make so if your looking for a handmade gift idea I totally recommend them!  I think I may make my mom one too!  Now to actually find a wreathform it seems like Michaels is the only place but they are cleared out!

Well I better be off and do some cleaning around here!  I am happily spending the day at home!  I may start on a few other projects!  I hope you check out the Wee Memories Blog and check out the challenge and the fellow talented DT's creations!

Yarn and Felt Flower Wreath and a winner!

Hello!  Happy past the middle of December Christmas is coming closer!  I hope that you aren't suffering from the hustle and bustle of the season but instead are enjoying it!  I know that it can be hard though!  I am just about done my shopping.  I know what I am going to buy (well mostly Ariel is harder) and just have to go get it!  It's the going to buy it that I dread!  :>

I am making a few gifts this year though!  And I have to say that I absolutely love it!  I enjoy it so much more than shopping, and I really like shopping!  We celebrate Chad's mother's birthday this past weekend and I made her gift!  I saw on Pintrest wreaths made from yarn and felt flowers.  I looked at LOTS of them and came up with my own!  It was so fun to make!  

I lucked out because on my way to buying the supplies at Michaels I stopped in at our dollarama and they had great chenille yarn in this off white color!  For $1!  :>  I went with a jewel red, light grey and charcoal grey because my MIL's door is brown so it will stand out, and because it's winter colors so that it can be displayed all winter not just Christmas!  :>  The big red flower took the longest to make, about an hour!  And while I made it I couldn't in vision it and really thought it was not going to turn out.  I was so happy when it did!  The pearls are leftover from a few months ago when I tried to make a ribbon and pearl necklace.  So glad I remembered them because I feel that it's the perfect touch for the wreath!  Chad's grandmother really liked the wreath too so I am working on one for her as a Christmas gift!  I have to have it done by Sunday as we celebrate with her than!

I want to say thank you so much for all your sweet Birthday wishes last week!  I had such a great day with friends and family! I used random.org to figure out who the winner of the giveaway was but can't figure out how to post it!  The winner of the Hero Arts set Big Ticket is:

CinnamonSally said...

Happy Birthday Anita. I hope you had a fabulous day!! WOW WOW WOW I love your wreath it was definately worth all the hard work. It looks stunning in your hall!!!!!!

Congrats Sally!  I am pretty sure that I have you address already but maybe send it again!  :>

I did want to share a cute photo Chad captured of the kids and me on my Birthday.  We were out to eat at a new restaurant that served intresting pizza cooked over coals! 

I am SO blessed, boy do I ever love them!  Oh and here is a photo of me at my birthday dinner with friends:

Well I better go!  Carter is napping and I am so enjoying a quiet house!  Gotta get my craft on!

Snowflake Birthday!

Hello!  Happy Thursday!  First off I want to say thank you so much for all the lovely birthday wishes!  Had a wonderful day yesterday!  We went to a newish restaurant for some pizza cooked over coals, so yummy!  And why is it that my kids eat so much better in a restaurant?  :>  If you didn't enter already I do have a giveaway with my birthday post it's the post after this one.

I wanted to pop in with a Birthday Card for Virginia Lu!!!  It's her 50th Birthday tomorrow and she is hosting a Virtual Birthday Celebration!

First of all I can't believe that Virginia is turning 50!  She looks SO MUCH younger!  But I admire her for her for embracing it and celebrating it!  I have to say that I think so highly of Virginia!  Not only is she crazy talented but she is such a great person!  She is kind to everyone (especially in the Hero Arts Flickr group!)  Always leaving comments everywhere (how does she do it?)  I so enjoy her blog and how she talks about her family life.  I love that she shares that about herself it really helps you to know her!  I've been blessed and been able to chat with Virginia on the phone from time to time and I always enjoy our conversations!  She is so easy to talk to!  I really hope that one day I have the chance to meet her!  I know that we will truly hit it off in person!  BTW Virginia you are welcome to visit, I'll kick one of my kids out of there bedrooms and it will be yours!  :> (in case your worries the kids have pillowtop mattresses!) So Virginia HAPPY BIRTHDAY!  Happy 50th!  Congrats on your first publication, I hope you only get more and more!  :>

I decided to make her a wintery birthday card.  Having a December birthday I've seen that Hallmark makes them (sadly no one has ever gotten me one!) So I had to make it.  Plus I really like my new sparkly embossing powder and wanted to use it!

I am running out of time so I will write about the card in a bit...

Phew I made it!  I had planned on posting a birthday card for Virgina tomorrow on her birthday but than luckily I checked and saw that her celebration ended today!!!  I worked on this card while my kids with my friends son (took him home from school and watched him for a bit) ran around playing loudly!  I made the snowflake panel three times because I couldn't get it perfect (not sparkly enough) than I couldn't find the Happy Birthday stamp!  But I did finish it in time before daylight left and got a picture!  Go me!  :>  

I hope you like this card Virginia!  And I hope your birthday is as special as you are because you are so special! 

It's My Birthday!

Hello!  Hope your having the greatest day!  Today is MY BIRTHDAY!  I've been enjoying the day today first took Ariel to school and went to stay and play at my church.  Also learned how to do coffee for stay and play as I have volunteered to start doing that every second week (the other weeks I volunteer with set up)  May as well as I am there early dropping Ariel off at school!  Had a lot of fun at Stay and Play chatting with other mom's, a lot who I would call my friends!  And Carter had fun getting out of the house and playing with other kids!  Took my nephew home with me for lunch and he had a nap here while my SIL and BIL went Christmas shopping!  Carter loved playing with him and they went down easily and I joined them and had a nap of my own!  Tonight were going out for dinner as a family and it's a surprise as to where!  :>

I wanted to pop in and share a project that I made!  I had had hinted in my post here about it by showing you some of the flowers I was making for it.  I ran out of hot glue last night so I put the finishing touches on it today and put it up!!!  I so love it:

It's a wreath made out of rolled flowers from an old university text book of mine!  I knew I would get some use out of that thing!  :>  I got the idea off of pinterest.  I have been on pinteret for a while now but only the past two weeks have I really fallen hard for it!  I am proud of myself for seeing something I like and actually making it never mind actually starting to make it the next day!  I think for us cardmakers making rolled flowers is a love, and using text is another love!  It did take A LONG time to make I worked on it in the evenings making 10 flowers or so at a time but I didn't work on it everyday either.  Totally worth it!  Here's how I hung it in my front entrance:

I think I really like this spot for it!  Refreshes my beloved mirror!  I have other crafty home ideas I've seen on pinterest so I hope to make a few more things for my home and gifts!  What do you think of the spot I put it?  To me this is not a Christmas wreath at all so I will keep it up for a bit.  Who knows how long until I come up with another idea?  Could it be a keeper there?

Well it may be my birthday but I want to give something to you, simply leave me a comment on this post until Wednesday December 14th, 2011!  You must be a follower in order to win!  You could win:

Well I am off to get ready for dinner!  Hope you have a fantastic day!