Cards, cards, galore!!

 While it's never fun staying away from family, I made the best of it this last weekend when I was tied up with work about an hour away from the family. I made great progress on my Christmas cards (remember this sneak peek?). I might be crazy, but I really enjoyed typing all of the sentiments on my typewriter instead of printing them on the computer. Adds to the authenticity, I guess!

Now, on to business! I wanted to show you these birthday cards I made for some family friends. His birthday is only a few days before hers, so I wanted to make cards that were unique, but still coordinated. An easy was to do this (and to make card packs that all compliment each other) is to use paper from the same line. Buy one 6x6 paper pack, and mix and match until your heart's content!
I picked up a My Mind's Eye Stella and Rose 6x6 paper pack because I loved how it ranged from masculine to feminine, while each paper still coordinated with the next. I dug through my ribbons, stickers, and fibers for complimentary embellishments, and threw their cards together in no time! It was all, of course, held together with Glue Dots!

Her card

His card

Oh, and as a side note...the hubby said that Christmas decorations could come out this weekend!!! IIiiiiiiiiiii'm dddreaming of a wwwwwwhhhite Cccccchhhhristmas!!

I love sleepovers!!

Good Monday morning, people!! I'm up bright and not-so-early this morning for a couple of different reasons: I'm off work today, which automatically means no setting the alarm, and the kids had a 'sleepover' at their grandparents house, which means I was awake last night incredibly too late crafting!! It had been since my 'How to Carve a Pumpkin' page that I'd done any scrapbooking, so I grabbed some pictures and dove in.
It's funny how different art mediums and different artists styles can influence your work. I've been loving mixed media canvases for a few months now, and I found myself incorporating a lot of those techniques in this layout.

I used up a lot of scraps in the LO, too. I was pulling things from the bottom of the pile that hadn't seen light in a few years, so forgive me that I'm not sure what lines these all came out of! All of the cardstock was from one Stampin' Up! line or another, and I have no idea what paper the clouds were cut from. I found these stick pins from Little Yellow Bicycle that I hadn't used before, and I love the touch they add.

I used up quiet a few old rub-ons, adding bits and pieces around the entire LO. And if you even had to question it, all of these elements were held together by various Glue Dots!

With the busy holidays coming up, I hope you're able to get creative with your time and get crafty!! Remember, I love sleepovers!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Let it Glow, Let it Glow, Let it Glow!

It's hard for me not to continually think of Christmas right now. If I wasn't enough for myself, I've drug my mother in it, too! We try to get together at the beginning of the Holiday season every year to get a jump start on the Christmas cookie baking. This year, the timing just worked out for it to be this weekend!! The dough has been made, the cookie cutters are on stand-by, and the Christmas music is all queued up. I'm ready!
I was sorting through my baking cupboard when I stumbled across some wonderful smelling sticks of cinnamon. I rarely (ok, never...) use anything but ground cinnamon, so I was thinking of some way to put these sticks to good use.
I found an old jar candle, grabbed some Glue Lines® and ribbon, and whipped this pretty little thing up in no time!

I put two strips of Glue Lines® around the jar to make sure that the cinnamon sticks had something to hold on to, lined the jar with the sticks, then put a decorative ribbon around the outside.

It looks so pretty lit up, and it is making my house smell amazing!!!

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team

Easing into Christmas with Glue Dots!

Ok, ok, I'll admit it.

I've been listening to the Elf soundtrack every day for over a month on my commute to work (and I have an hour and a half commute).

I love Christmas. I'd start decorating right about now if a) my husband would let me, and b) it wouldn't make the kids ask if Santa was coming every single day. There's just such joy, anticipation, excitement and happiness around during the Holiday season that makes me want to start it as soon as possible.

Since it's technically not even Halloween yet, even though the kids went Trick-or-Treating a few days ago, there is no way it would be acceptable for me to dig out any Christmas decorations yet. I'm trying to fill that void, so it's on to making some Christmas cards! I can easily justify starting these early by calling it 'forethought' or 'good planning', even though I know better!

I love making my Christmas cards every year, and I always try to come up with some way to make the cards creative, yet super easy to make en masse. I'm kind of excited for this year's creations! They have the look of a traditional Christmas card, but the twist is that they're made out of felt!

I cut out the card base and ornament, then stitched on both of them. Glue Dots® did a great job of adhering everything together! If you've ever tried to use liquid glue on felt, there's a lot of 'show through', and you'd see the glue on the reverse. Not with Glue Dots®!
All of my words were typed out on my typewriter and adhered with Glue Lines®.



There you go! An easy way to get into the Christmas spirit, even if it's a bit early! If I forget to tell you between now and December 25th,

I wrote this blog post while participating on the Glue Dots design team

T-Shirt Scarf...and New Year's Resolutions!

Well, hello, my much neglected blog!! I've missed you! If your family is anything like mine, this time of year tends to play out in fast forward, minutes feeling like seconds and a week feeling like a day. If you use this 'holiday mathematics', that means it's only been a few days since my last blog post! Ahhh, OK. Feeling much better about my absence now!

Several people have ask me about the scarf I'm donning in my profile picture (over there --->), so I'm finally getting around to doing a post about it!
It was a super easy project that I found on Pinterest. There are several styles and tutorials showing how to do this, which is good, because I forgot to take pictures after a certain point!


Step One: Lay out an old T-Shirt. This is one I've had incredibly too long, as evidenced by the holes in the shoulders. I made snips along the side of the shirt every inch or so as guides.
Step Two: Cut strips from one side of the shirt to the other (a rotary cutter would work wonders at this point. Too bad all I could find were my kitchen scissors!!)

 Step Three: You'll end up with strips in varying lengths due to the cut of the T-Shirt. Stretch each loop as far as it will go and sort them by their size.

 Step Three - B: Some of the loops broke, surely where the preexisting holes were. I used those pieces to braid a long strip.

Step Four: Gather all of the loops onto your hand. The loops will be long. We'll shorten them by folding the loops up, doubling what is in your hand. Loop the braided length with the scarf, using the end of it to tie all of the loops together at the back.

Maybe it's time to start some New Year's resolutions early...like blogging more often! Here's hoping!

How To Carve a Pumpkin

I am LOVING this weather. I'm not sure what the weather is like in your neck of the woods, but around my house, it's a cool, breezy, gorgeous Fall day. MY FAVORITE SEASON!! I love the crunching of the leaves, the brisk air, and the excitement and anticipation of the holidays in the next few months. I'm usually not a big 'outdoors' person, but this season always tends to draw me out and enjoying God's creation.

I had an unexpected day at home without the rest of the family around, so I took full (well, almost full. I slept in!!) advantage of it and got scrapping! I've been spending the majority of my crafty time recently in mixed media, so I wanted to pull out some 12x12's and get back to my home territory for a bit.

How To Carve a Pumpkin

 I used a pumpkin cut out page that, when added to my stash, I knew was completely not my style. Even as I painstakingly finished tearing out the little noses and swirls of the die cut, I was wondering if it was even worth my time to make this work. I think it was! I cut the center out of the pumpkin die cut, making a border with it. I sprayed inked it to take away the harshness of the orange, making it blend a bit better.

Cantaloupe Twinery twine as an accent

I was at a loss when it came to the lettering. My Cricut is being lovingly taken care of by my mother, so that wasn't an option, and all of the chipboard pieces I had weren't the right color at all. I ended up tracing some chipboard letters onto paper and cutting them out, instead. Worked great!! I think I'll keep that idea stashed in the back of my noggin for future use!!

Pop Up Glue Dots for depth

The fancy cut pumpkin was popped up to a) get some clearance over the other picture, and b) to add some depth and dimension.

Stampin' Write Marker for journaling

I took advantage of some of the scrapbook paper peeking through from the background to journal little bits about the carving adventure.

I'm going to purposefully take in each day during this beautiful time of the year to appreciate, enjoy, and be thankful for every breath, every experience, and every blessing given to me. I hope you do the same!

I'm a Dottess...Again!

Hey everyone!

I'm completely thrilled and excited about having a second term with Glue Dots® (here's a link to their Design Team announcement). I had a blast through this last year working with their products, and I can't wait to see what the next year has in store for us. The new team looks amazingly talented, so go check them out and be sure to follow their blog.

• Dawn Barrett
• Donna Budzynski 
• Gabriela Delworth 
• Holly Gagnon 
• Smitha Katti 
• Anita Scroggins 
• Joy Dickson 
• Danielle Hunter 
• Michelle Philippi
• Laurel Seabrook
• Samantha Taylor

Congrats, ladies!!!