My New Light Box

Don't know if you could tell, but I was using white cardstock propped up with boxes for the backdrop of my pictures.

After enough complaining about my unprofessional pictures, my awesome hubby made me a light box. Look at the difference it made!

LOVE it! He made it from wood and white muslin, and it is rather large, but I still couldn't be any happier.

He used these instructions, but used wood instead of a cardboard box. We are going to add 2 more lights for the sides. We were getting a little bit of a shadow from just the one light on top.

Can't wait to take pictures of my upcoming projects! And, I NEVER thought I would say that!

Thanks for stopping by!

All About 1

One way of keeping my New Year's resolution for being a better blogger is getting more involved with some of the challenges out there. I have done the Papertrey Ink blog hop a few times, which was fun. But, I thought it was time to branch out and try a few more.

While I was checking out a few of my favorite blogs, I came across a challenge to get me going for 2011.

The one and only Ted (pun intended!) over at Happily Ever Crafter and the Papertrey Ink forum (where I met him), is having a challenge this month that celebrates 1-1-11. The rules are:

* ONE (1) base card (of any color)
* ONE (1) matting paper (solid or pattern is fine)
* ONE (1) stamp image (you can choose either image or sentiment, not both)
* ONE (1) ink color (Versamark for embossing can be your ONE choice)
* ONE (1) embellishment (ribbon, button, brad, flower, etc.)

Well, with my clean and simple style, I thought this would be easy. I was wrong! I use more elements on my projects than I thought!

But, here goes my contribution to Ted's challenge.

I used PTI cardstock, Dark Chocolate and Kraft. I used Versa Mark to heat emboss the tree image by Unity, and finished it off with some pink ribbon that I bought out of the discount bin at Michaels.

I'm not quite sure if I like it yet. It certainly qualifies, but that doesn't make it a good card. I'd love to hear what you think.

Thanks for stopping by!

Baby Shower

In my last post, I mentioned that I am co-throwing a baby shower for my sister-in-law. I made invitations, but due to camera issues, I wasn't able to take pictures of them. I have a new, fantastic camera now, and could take pictures of the coordinating prize bags and treat dishes that I came up with.

These are the treat cups. They will be filled with Hershey kisses and set out on the table for people to help themselves. I think that they kind of looked like a swaddled baby blanket. I was going to make individual favors, but, lets face it, this was easier! lol By the way, if you like this template, I picked it up FREE at Waltzingmouse Stamps. Just look under the Freebies section. Thanks Waltzingmouse!

Pictures of the door prize bag. I went to Bath and Body Works a few days after Christmas to pick out the prizes. Lots of stuff for 1/2 price or better. I picked up a bunch of goodies; candles, lotion, body wash, little hand sanitizers, and for the door prize, a mug full of sample scents. I wish I could win! ;)

More prizes in these bags.

These are made with the Favor It Three die from Papertrey Ink. So fun to use!

Love the way coordinating packages look all together!

I used all Papertrey Ink products except for the paper bags, which I picked up at Michaels.

I was checking out one of my favorite blogs, I Am Derby, and Michelle made a baby shower invite for her sister-in-law that uses the same teddy bear image that I used on mine. She also used polka dots, but not Polka Dot Parade that I used. Funny how things like that happen sometimes! I love how she designed her card to be a pull out.

Thanks for stopping by!

A New Year's Resolution

I actually have many New Year's resolutions. High on the list is to keep up my blog more. I haven't updated it in a couple months despite the fact I have done lots and lots of projects. In my defense, I have had some camera problems. However, my lovely parents got me a wonderful new camera for Christmas. I love it. My husband drools over it. And, the truth is, I don't have a clue how to use it to its full potential. But, I know enough to take some pictures of my latest projects.

The first one is a project that I made for my oldest son, DJ, to take to pre-school for a Christmas treat for his classmates.

I used the Top Note die from Stampin' Up along with their medium glassine bags. Very easy, and I like how they turned out. Wish I would've got a picture of them all grouped together.

The next, and last, project that I made is a simple Thank You card for out friends and family. They made this Christmas really nice for us, especially when money has been really tight for us this year. My boys were completely spoiled, and I couldn't have been any happier!

I used some Karen Foster design paper and some PTI felt to cut out snowflakes from Spellbinders Flake One dies. DJ said he liked it because it was a "boy card." Haha!














I'll be back tomorrow with some of the gift bags I made for my sister-in-laws baby shower that is on Sunday.

Blog Candy from Mish!

Head on over to Mish's blog for a great holiday give away!

http://michellewooderson.blogspot.com/2010/12/12-days-of-christmasday-12.html

Melissa is having a give away, too. You can link to her give away from Mish's blog.

I hope to be back tomorrow with a few Christmas projects that I have been busy working on these past weeks. Such a busy time of year!

Halloween Treats...and I Hate My Camera

So like any crafty mom, I love making little holiday treats for my son's preschool class.  Halloween happens to be my favorite holiday.  Not because I am macabre.  I don't even watch scary movies. 

Halloween is my favorite because I love getting my kids their costumes.  I love going to the pumpkin patch and carving pumpkins.  I love going trick-or-treating with the kiddos.  I love the decorations (not the real scary ones, the cute scary ones).  I love that there is limited stress.  It is just a fun holiday.

So, I made some really cute little candy bags for my sons class.  I got out my relic of a camera and took some pictures.  Well, I went to upload my pictures of said project, and all I got was an error saying "Corrupted Files."  What?!?  They were there yesterday!  I know because I always make sure that they are somewhat in focus before I put away my extra light, white card stock, and old camera.  Well, it must be the Halloween boogie man who came and corrupted my files.  Darn it!  I hate Halloween! 

As luck would have it, I also made some treats for my co-workers.  They aren't nearly as cute as the ones I made for my son's class, but I will still share them.  The Halloween boogie man also left the picture of the teacher's gift. 

Well, the boogie man didn't corrupt the file for this picture, but he also didn't fix the shadows.  He did corrupt the file for the close up of the tag, however.  By the way, I didn't even know that you could get corrupted files on your camera.  What does that even mean?

This is what was inside the haunted house box.  The fun template for the house is available here, at Papertrey Ink, by the way.  I used the Home Made stamp set and put cracks in the window and put the door off center. 

For the mummy pencil holder, I just wrapped a used fruit can (put through the dishwasher, of course) with some white grosgrain ribbon.  I distressed the ribbon by sponging some Creamy Caramel ink (retired) from Stampin' Up.  Its too late now, but I wish I would have stuck a little bow on it to make it a girl mummy.

These are the treats I gave to my coworkers.  I kept it simple, but they still turned out cute.  I used Tiny Treats: Halloween from Papertrey, of course. 

I am super disappointed that my pictures didn't turn out.  Hopefully the picture-corrupting boogey man will be gone after Halloween.  Better yet, hopefully Santa Clause will bring me a new camera! 

Thanks for stopping by.

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

The 25th means that its PTI Blog Hop time again.

This months challenge is to create a card or project celebrating a winter holiday other than Christmas.

"There is always a lot of focus on Christmas in our industry this time of year, as that is what the majority
of the population celebrates.  However, this month's blog hop is dedicated to those that celebrate winter
holidays other than Christmas.  Create a project that celebrates Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or some other
winter holiday as we embrace everyone's beliefs in a celebration of diversity through paper crafting."

How great is that?  Love that concept!  But, it was challenging for me because I don't have any stamps or accessories for other winter holidays outside of Christmas.  


So, I kept it super simple and used what I had on hand. 

I created a simple Star of David with Scor Tape and glitter. 

I printed out "Shalom" from my printer.  I also noticed that the little extra piece from the center of one of my "Create a Flake 1" die made a tiny little Star of David.  What a fun surprise!  I had to add them to either side of my little label.  


I am really proud of the fact that I completed this challenge without buying anything new.  


Thanks, Nicole, for this challenge.  I have really enjoyed learning about holidays that I had no idea existed until hopping along to other people's blogs.  It was challenging, but fun to participate!