home for the holiday

It's been almost a year since my last post.  2017 was not my most favourite year.  In fact, I would classify it as challenging - extremely challenging - and not the fun kind of challenging.  Just challenging.  

I decided pretty early on in the year that the blog was not getting as much traffic as my Instagram account and, at this time, Instagram is a better fit for me.

The issue: entering craft challenges.

I don't mind breathing life back into the blog to use it as a platform for craft challenges.  It is fun to look around the corner to see what I have done over the years.  Kind of like a digital journal but a lot less messy.  In a fun way.

I am entering this home for the holiday card in Emerald Creek's Happy Holidays Anything Goes Challenge.

Keep getting messy!

holiday cards 2015

2015 was a very interesting and challenging year in my personal life and I'm not sorry to see it all end.  Have I been able to learn from the challenges?  Mostly, yes.  I think I've changed a great deal this year; mainly for the better.

I haven't really given 2016 a lot of thought yet, however, I do have some exciting new projects coming up in the first part of the year that I will share and I have decided that crafting needs to be more of  a marathon than a sprint.  Crafting in 2015 came and went in huge bursts of energy and frenzy.  I'm still a member of the stamping club and creating for 40-something members had been a bit of an endeavor with long bouts of rest and breaks from crafting in between.  It has been just like a swimmer coming to the end of the race, for which she was unprepared, and gulping for air until the next race.

Here are the card templates for the 2015 holiday season.  There are two versions of the light garlands; one without any additions and a second with stickles and glossy accents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Happy New Year fellow blogospere friends.  I wish you and your families and your friends all the very best in 2016.  And have a very crafty new year.

tea and friends: bestest things in the world

I decided to enter this little gorjuss teacup and warm wishes holiday card in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold challenge and the Sweet Stampin Food and Drink Challenge.

Isn't staying warm with a ginormous pot of tea and enjoying time with someone special the absolute bestest?

make new friends, but keep the old; those are silver, these are gold - joseph parry

This snowfall and village card was one of the many card templates I crafted for the 2015 holiday season.  I am posting this one separately because I have entered it in The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #19: Silver and Gold.

The snowfall background is an indigoblu stamp (snowflake lace) embossed with stampendous aged embossing enamel. 

winter is a season of recovery and preparation - paul theroux

I designed and crafted this birthday card for my amazing aunt who is very much enamoured with everything winter.  I have to admit, I don't really get it.  Sure snow is pretty when you're inside and you're not expected to travel anywhere and you're in the mountains, however, winter when you're heading out to work and it's minus a bazillion and there's ice and the mush covers the back of the work pants you just washed and ironed is pretty darn crappy.

Regardless, this little gorjuss foxgirl and her adorable companions make my winter-grinch heart warm and happy.

a little holiday cheer: santa and his caribou

I know. I know. It's been a long time.  Six months?  Reason for MIA: nothing exciting.  I took a mini break from crafting which turned into a much longer break from blogging.  But the bug is back and I have a whole bunch of crafts to share with you before the end of the year (can it be done? I'll try my bestest).

I created the Santa and Caribou card for the current holiday season (there's a Halloween tag in the cue).  Distress ink background, garland die cut out of silver foil coloured in with permanent ink markers and Santa and his caribou stamped, coloured and cut out.

 

 

I'm entering this card in a few challenges:

 

1.  DL.ART December Linky Challenge: Anything Goes

2.  Sweet Stampin' Christmas Challenge

 

 



happy new year! resolutions and rememberlutions for 2015 and january dt project

Resolutions have never been my strength.  They tend to be monster-sized goals that seize your attention for a few weeks until your best friend says to you, as you're carrying your gym bag out to the car with the greenest of green smoothies, there is a super sale at (you fill in the blank) and we will need humungous lattes to survive the rush.  Resolutions can be behemoths if you let them.  

But resolutions really are simply goals; we just tend to make them at a critical time when the world is bellowing sentiment of new beginnings and fresh starts.  Therefore we often take a reasonable, probably meaningful, goal and turn the little critter into a mountain of an accomplishment.

With that said, I have made two "resolutions" this year (I have many goals but two of which I really want to be mindful): (1) Organize better so that I may (2) spend more time with family and friends.  The first resolution may surprise those of you who know me.  I am quite the organized person.  Everything has a home and events and activities are always well planned and prepared.  What I need is a schedule.  

I read this article (Here’s What You Should Do Instead Of Making New Year’s Resolutions It’s called a “rememberlutions” jar and it’ll make you feel good all year) posted by Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine and decided to, in addition to my two resolutions, celebrate the smaller resolution successes as they come as well as all of the magnificent things, memories and accomplishments over the next twelve months by creating my own rememberlutions jar.

That coupled with our design team inspiration, I was off to the races.

I created a pendant for each of the four seasons of the year so that I have something to look forward to at the end of each season as the jar turns.

winter:

spring:

summer: 

autumn:

And here they are all together and assembled:

Whether you create resolutions this year or a rememberlutions jar, do what makes you feel good, makes you giggle and smile and let's you celebrate you all year long.

I'm entering my rememberlutions jar in the Sweet Stampin Challenge: New, Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #8: Something New for the New Year and Anything But A Card Challenge New Beginnings.  The rememberlutions jar is a new project created for the new year.

holiday cards: wrapping up 2014

Now that the gifts (almost all) have been given and the cards (nearly all) have been sent it's time to wrap up 2014 with a holiday card post that will inspire, if not for this season, than possibly for next year.  Here are my holiday card templates for 2014. 

I have also included the card Alex made for his teacher this year.  The design was provided by Dawn (The Inked Stamper), the details and layout were all Alex's ideas and I tied the bow.  Come on.  It's a very nicely tied bow.

Enjoy, my blogosphere peeps and I will see you in the new year.

I am entering happy winter in Simon Says Wednesday Anything Goes Challenge.

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts bonus

So you know I couldn't just choose 12 projects, right?  Here's the overflow bonus selection:

3.  you should celebrate the end of a love affair as they celebrate death in new orleans, with songs, laughter, dancing and a lot of wine - francoise sagan (November)

2.  inked stamper design team december project: all you need is love but a little (hot) chocolate now and then doesn't hurt - charles schulz (December)

1.  the lights will guide you home: arctic sky winter wonderland tag
(December)

12 favourite 2014 projects over 2 posts part 2

As promised here's post two of two of twelve of my favourite 2014 projects.  Countdown continuing with number five.

5.  never trust people who promise to make you rich in a day. they are generally crazy swindlers ― carlo collodi, pinocchio (May)

4.  you can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf - jon kabat-zinn (May)

3.  it is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness - lucius annaeus seneca (September).  September was my debut to the Gorjuss girls collection.  I fell in love and haven't looked back.  Santoro has produced some of the most stunning stamps and materials I have seen.  And this card hits the top five list for 2014.

2.  inked stamper design team november project: gorjuss presence (November).  Given my feelings about Santoro it's not surprising that this card makes the list.  I have had more amazing comments about this card than for any other project I have made to-date.  It wasn't hard putting it together after I found On Top of the World.  This card also hits the top five list for 2014.

1.  genius without education is like silver in the mine - benjamin franklin (November).  This was my second memory book this past summer and what an incredible experience putting it together for someone who I admired and enjoyed working with tremendously.  It will always have a soft spot in my crafting heart.

Thank you for joining me in 2014 and your continued kind words and support.  All the best to you, my blogosphere and crafting friends, this holiday season and in the new year xx

the lights will guide you home: arctic sky winter wonderland tag

I participated in an alphabetical winter wonderland tag swap this holiday season with my stamp club.  My letter: "A".  Designing a winter-themed tag with the letter "A" is both a blessing and a curse.  "A" can almost be transformed into anything: a holiday song, a snowman, angel, antique sled, abominable snowman.  You get the idea.  And sometimes that amount of craft freedom can drive a girl nuts.

I decided to go with arctic sky.  I had been playing with my gelli plate and I loved the shine and flow I was getting from my shimmer paints and Izinks.

Using stampin' up's white christmas stamp set, my marvy snow marker and champagne stickles I created this sweet little winter wonderland and sky-filled northern lights.

I am entering my tag in Anything But A Card's Challenge No. 42: Celestial, Simon Says Bling It On Challenge and Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #7 Tic-Tac-Toe (tape-glitter-stamps).

Coming soon: I have designed and created a bunch of holiday cards this season that I would love to share with you and I also plan to share my year's favourite posts with you.  It has been a fantastic year and the holiday season is in full swing.  I cannot wait to hear how you celebrate and plan for the new year.

patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet - jean-jacques rousseau: an advent atc

I participated this year in an advent ATC swap.  Last year a few of the ladies gave me their extra copies to whet my appetite and inspire me to join in this year.  I opened all five of them as soon as I got home.  And I got grief from my bestest enabler/friend and my son (who was four at the time).  This year I promised to open them properly (so many rules) and Alex has monitored my ATC opening behaviour.  I get gold stars so far.

I wanted a monotone card which highlighted my number.  Both the background stamp and the cardinal and birch die cut are by Impression Obsession (I'm obsessed with IO).  They make the most incredible cover-your-card backgrounds.  The picket fence, which I embossed, is by Ellen Hutson.  I emphasized the two cardinals by covering them in glossy accents.

The wrapping is often as important as the thing you're trying to wrap.  I love Stampin' Up's tree embossing folder and the tiny clothespins I found at Michaels.  The stamped #2 is also a Stampin' Up holiday stamp set.  Brilliant.

I'm not sure how we ended up in December.  And, as for most people who celebrate anything in December and January, this week promises to be filled with getting ready for celebration, getting ready for next year and enjoying all of the wonders of the holiday season.

I look forward to seeing all of your creative crafty holiday treasures.  Thank you for sharing!

an owl in the forest holiday tag

I whipped up two of these tags to add to cookie jars filled with pumpkin cookies I had baked for some friends.  Creating is so easy when you have a good foundation or background.  I adore the over-sized Prima tags.  They have great weight, interesting detail and the perfect hue for a non-interfering background.  

Creating is also easy when you have great product to play with.  I pulled out my brand new marvy snow marker pen and Tim Holtz layering Holly Bough stencil both of which really pulled the tag together.  I sponged on peeled paint distress ink and watercolour painted the owl with weathered wood.  The berries were coloured in with red marker and highlighted with picket fence distress marker.

I stained vintage ribbon with festive berries distress ink in part giving it a messy candy cane appearance.

I'm off to have cocoa and marshmallows.  Stay warm fellow crafters (if you're in the northern hemisphere) and keep popping in. 

snowman tag swap

Mr. snowman is a Stampotique favourite of mine.  His long branch-y arms allow for some really fun additions like carrying presents.  The everythingshetouches family celebrates both Chanukah and Christmas in our home; like Ben Stiller says, "any holiday where we get presents is celebrated" and I would add food .. any holiday that offers great holiday dishes is worth celebrating.  Turkey, cranberry sauce and potato latkes are pretty decadent and divine.  Mr. snowman is not as jolly as Santa but he's got a really great toque. 

The complete set:

And the back:

I had a great time entering the tag swap.  There is something relaxing and cathartic in generating the same tag and tag elements over and over again.  Very relaxing.  This was a 10-tag swap.  I just found out yesterday that I have upward of 40 cards/tags to get done for St. Valentine's Day.  Ouch.  I was scolded with affection to get them done and so I will.  Eager to beat the last minute rush I went shopping today for some inspiration and product.  Yes, I realise that we haven't even finished up with Christmas and New Year's yet but I thought I might at least come up with some of the 5 templates (I'm going with 5 different tag templates) if not any of the product.  If you have an idea that you would like to share I would be more than happy to, um, borrow it. 

And now that the temperature has really dropped and the forecast promises a week full of snow (not exaggerating) I'm starting to feel the need to cozy up with a cuppa chai latte, a good book and turn on the holiday lights.  It's time to hunker down for the winter, snuggle up with mr. everythingshetouches (you were right dear, it does sound naughty) and start on some winter layouts.  I have the elements of a great layout.  I can't wait to put it together and show it to you.

Stay warm and happy crafting.