The Holidays are Over

Hey all! Christmas has come and gone. Oh how I love celebrating the birth of our Lord and Savior! I just love reading the story of the birth of Jesus. It brings tears to my eyes each and every time I read it, and this was my first year sharing the story with my little guy.  We had family celebrations that stretches on for days (4 to be exact), eating so much that it will take a good 6 months to fit back in to my jeans (who am I kidding, I am now committed to only elastic waistlines), watching my children's eyes light up with excitement (it was my little guys very first Christmas), hearing the laughter and chit chatter as we all gather together, etc. What a truly splendid time it has been.  While I am glad the hustle and bustle of the holidays has finally slowed, I am reminded in my heart that Jesus is to be celebrated each and every day of the year, not just December 25.  Oh, our God is so good!

As I try and wrap up 2013 and get prepared for the new year, I wanted to pop in for just a second and share a few of the things that I created in the last week.  First up is a few treat bags that I created using the treat topper die, Reindeer Poop stamp and Rudolph Noses stamps from Jaded Blossom, the first reindeer is from Treasure Box Designs and the second is one I got from the Silhouette store. I think they are super sweet.  Each of my nieces received the noses (cherry sours) and each nephew received poop (whoppers).  They were a huge hit!

This was my first attempt at subway art; a gift for my niece Haley.  Although I wasn't completely happy with how it turned out, I sure did learn lots.  I have a few pointers now that I can use on my next attempt.  As you can see, I used a few of My Creative Time dies to create the fun shapes.   Not too bad for my first go at it.

And finally, here is a sample of how I gave pictures to all of my family members.  You will learn, that I am such a kraft paper junkie.  I made cute candy cane tags like Mrs. Emma from My Creative Time made.  I think they turned out just absolutely adorable and totally dressed up the envelopes.

These are just a few of the super fun projects that I made this 2013 holiday season.  I was super happy with how they all turned out. Each of the projects, with the exception of the subway art, was made in at least quantities of 20 each. 

I have set new goals for 2014. I will be blogging a minimum of 3 times per week and really cranking out more projects to share with everyone. I am excited beyond words to get busy!

Many blessings to each and everyone out there as they finish up the rest of this year! May God continue to bless us all as we begin a new year!

Love, Hugs & Blessings
Amy

3 More Cards

My super fabulous sister in law needed 3 Christmas cards for her bosses.  I put these together for her.  I am so pleased with how they turned out.

For the reindeer and inside sentiment I used a stamp set by Recollections that I got from Michaels.  Then I added some bling to all the little curly parts. (i love bling).  The ribbon is May Art. The little tags are from My Creative Time Chunky Jar Accessories.

On these last 2 cards I used some sparkly snow flakes that I got from Hobby Lobby.  I glued them on and then put some bling in the middle of each flake.  I tied a few jingly bells  to the top of the ribbon with some natural ribbon. The inside sentiment is from My Creative Time Warm Holiday Fun set.  I love the sentiment because all of the flakes are sparkly. 

 Sorry for the blurry pictures.  The sentiment says "May your holiday sparkle and shine!"

Yall keep your fingers crossed that Santa brings me a way to have better lighting for pictures!

Love, Hugs & Blessings!
Amy

Crazy Week and a Half

Hey all! This past week and a half have been super crazy around my place.  We were forecasted to get a few inches of snow and when all was said and done we ended up with about a foot.  Yikes, winter came early for us!  With the nasty weather it meant the kids were out of school for 4 days, my farmer guy couldn't work his 9-5 doing concrete, and all of our cows decided to have their babies. Oh my! Cow babies in snow is no fun. There was a fun plus during this nasty week. Me and my farmer guy celebrated our 15 year wedding anniversary!

Anywho, the weather is warmer today which means that the snow is melting (which looks so yucky), my 2 girls are back to school (which means my house is quiet), and my farmer guy is back to his 9-5 (which means a paycheck, finally).

I mentioned the last time that I posted that I had been working on some Christmas treats.  I am going to post them now.  Remember, I live in the middle of the woods and I don't have a lighting situation worked out yet, so my pictures are not very good.  I hope that Santa will be bringing a remedy for this situation for Christmas.  Having said that, here are my projects:

These are some super cute little treats that I put together for my daughter's cheer leading squad.  I made a few look more rustic and the others with a bright/colorful paper.  Unfortunately, the poor quality of the pictures just doesn't do them justice.  For these treats I used the following My Creative Time products: Bubblegum Treat Box die, Scalloped Stitched Rosette dies (small), All Around Holidays, and Chunky Jar Accessories for the cute little tags and stamp.  I put 3 little candy nuggets inside and tied them up with some natural colored raffia.

 

The next project is a secret Santa gift.  I made a cute little milk carton out of kraft paper, filled it full of candy cups, tied it with some beautiful black and white May Art ribbon that I got from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and made the tag with My Creative Time Just Tags die, Stitched Fun Tickets die, and Holiday Tickets stamps.  I love the simple and elegant look.

This treat was for one of my nieces who turned 6.  I used the My Creative Time Treat Slider Box, Celebrate Good Times dies and stamps, and Fancy Frame Stamp & die set.  I used some cute sparkly paper that had donuts and ice cream cones on it.  Filled the slider with wrapped candy nuggets, and tied a natural color twine bow on top. (i slid a $10 bill under the candy for her present)

My super fabulous sister in law needed cards for her co-workers.  I put these together for her.  Again, I really love the simple and elegant look of kraft paper paired with patterned paper.  Each of the cards has an adorable envelope made using My Creative Time Scalloped and Stitched Envelope die, tickets made with the Stitched Fun Ticket die, and stamps from Holiday Tickets.  Each of the cards is a little different.  Different color twine, tickets, etc.  I totally forgot to take a picture of the absolutely precious little post cards that I made and stuffed in the little envies.  I just might recreate one to post later because they turned out so stinkin cute.

Love, Hugs & Blessings!
Amy

 

A Bit of a Break

I had to take a bit of a break for the last week. My little guy ended up being pretty sick! What we thought was pink eye ended up being ear infections in BOTH ears, backed up sinuses (which was causing the eye gunk) and a super yucky cough. Poor baby really needed his cuddle time with his momma! (I might add, that I so love my snuggle time with my little guy.)

I have been working on a few Christmas items here and there while my little guy napped that my girls will be handing out for Secret Santa with their school cheer squad, as well as a few cutie patootie gifts that I will be giving out.  I am going to be trying my best to get some of those posted tomorrow to share with everyone!

Also, My Creative Time came out with a mini release last week...Oh Emm Gee...I can't wait to get mine in the mail.  If Miss Emma keeps coming out with such fabulous things, she may cost me a divorce!  I can't resist her sweet dies and stamps even though I know I shouldn't be spending the money! Eek, my hubby will have my hide!

I am going to be super busy the next few weeks creating some Christmas goodies.  I will share each of them as I have time!

Love, Hugs & Blessings!
Amy

Christmas Advent Calendar

Evening all! What a day it has been. After pulling an all niter with a sick baby (who also woke up with pink eye, gross!), I dropped my sister-in-law and niece off at the airport. They were sneaking off to North Carolina for a week long visit with her side of the family. I'm a bit sad that they won't be spending Thanksgiving with us, but know how important it is for her to get to be with her mom and siblings.

My kiddos and I were supposed to go to an annual Christmas parade in a near by town, but decided since my little guy was feeling puny (and due to the gunk in his eye), we better sit this one out.  Did I  mention that it was a very cold and windy day here in Missouri? 25° and windy, brrr...

Anyhow, every year my dad buys both girls their own advent calendar.  I thought that it would be fun to try and make one that they could use over and over and fill with their favorite candy.  I wish that I could say that I snuck off to my craft room to finish up on the Christmas advent calendar I started yesterday, but I will have to settle for saying that I lugged a bunch of my stuff to the kitchen counter...I don't have a craft room! I hope to someday! wink wink hubby!

Here are a few of the pictures of how it turned out. I wish the pictures were a little better, but I am working in a poorly lit kitchen. lol 
 

I used this really cute paper from My Minds Eye called 12 Days of Christmas for each of the little drawers.  Then I cut each of the numbers out with a die from My Creative Time.  Its hard to tell from the picture, but I wrapped a ribbon around the entire calendar so it would look like a present and topped it off with a bow.  I made the bow by crisscrossing two of the medium scallop bow dies from My Creative Time. You can see this a bit better here.

 

In each of the drawers I have placed a piece of candy for both of the girls (my little guy is too small for candy).  I chose two of their favorites, peanut butter cups and kisses. I can feel my waistline expanding just thinking about them. lol.  Anyway, I used one of my circle punches to cut the patterned paper and then inked all the edges and stamped each circle with some stamps from Post Card Add Ons stamp set from My Creative Time and then adhered them to the candy.

 

 

 

Considering this is my first non-card project, I am pretty pleased with how it turned out.  However, I think I might go back later and add a few things on to the drawers just to jazz it up a bit. I also will be trying to figure out how to get pictures that are a lot more clear!

 

 

 

 

 

Taking a Leap

I am finally taking the big leap and joining the world of blogging.  I have to admit that I am a bit intimidated by all of the fabulous crafters out there! I have always loved to do anything crafty and have been following many wonderful blogs for about a year.  I just decided that I want to get my creative juices flowing and give blogging a whirl.  I hope to make some new crafty friends and create some fabulous projects to share with them.  I am going to try my best to get crafty as much as possible! (although with 3 kids, I know it will be a challenge)

I just started a Christmas advent calendar this morning for my kids and will be finishing it up this evening so I will be able to post it tomorrow! Yay, it will be my first post!