Over the Hill and Through the Wood

Here's a photo video of the cards I've made so far this year.  If you're on my mailing list and don't want to see yours you better not watch, lol.  I'm not done but at least I have a good start.  The best of it all is I've been having fun making them, and that my friends, is what it's really all about!

Penguin Friends

This is another stamp from Penny Blacks Mimi's Christmas

I got my inspiration from Vicky at Lily Pad, thanks Vicky!!

These little guys are just the cutest things around!

The stamp is another from that grab bag I got last year from My Sentiments Exactly

I used Diamond Stickles around the snowflakes

The emobssing folder is Cuttlebug Snowflake

I used distress ink over the top to make the snowflakes pop a little more

Skating into the Holiday

This time  I used my Cricut and the Winter Woodland Cartridge to cut the Skate out.

I just tore a piece of extra heavy white glitter cardstock to form the snowbank across the bottom for the skate to rest on.

The stamp is from the dollar bin, Studio 18 - Mary Engelbret

 The little snowflakes are a Fiskars mini punch

The card base is a pad of 12x12 paper from Michaels

Recollections Classic Christmas, it's a 

colored core paper, which means you can sand the top layer away to reveal

a different color under neath, in this case white.

Inside stamp is from Stampin Up

Christmas Advent Boxes

For each of my four youngest grandchildren I made a Kaisercraft Beyond the Page Advent Calendar.  I absolutely loved making these, Kaisercraft sends you everything you'll need to assemble the box and drawers.  There are 24 drawers, one for each day leading up to Christmas and then I tucked a special envelope with 25 on it in the middle.  They'll get to open one drawer each day to discover a candy, gift or money.  I'm anxious to hear their feelings about having a gift from Grandma each day of December.

You can follow along and watch how I assembled and covered the little drawers in the first video

And see the finished boxes in the second video

I printed out directions for opening the little drawers onto Kraft Cardstock and attached it to a full 12x12 decorative paper from the Warm Wishes or Snowy Days collections from Recollections.

  I covered each page in clear contact paper, added

ATG glue to the back and attached them to the tops of the storage boxes.

Each Advent Calendar fix just perfectly in these Art Bin boxes from JoAnns

And having a handle to pick them up by is the perfect touch for storing until the next year.

Each middle of the calendar was filled with a background paper scene

some ornaments from JoAnns and Michales, little chipboard pieces

from K & Company 

Each one is different depending on the Grandchild 

I was making it for.  

In the middle is a special envelope for Christmas Day

I decorated around the edges with either beads, 

ribbon or sequin strips.

This video is just photos of all the boxes

Snowballs 5 cents

I had so much fun making cards with the leftovers of a paper pak I bought last year

It's Recollections Snowy Days from Michaels.

The cardbase is from their collection this year called Warm Wishes

The sentiment is from K&Company

Border Punch is from EK Success

Edges all inked with Vintage Photo Distress Ink

Heart is covered with Glossy Accents

and Diamond Stickles were applied to the snowflakes on his hat

This stamp was in a rubber grab bag from My Sentiments Exactly
after I'd stamped it I realized I'd used the clear embossing on it
and it wouldn't show up so I lightly used Very Vanilla Craft ink from Stampin Up
to bring out the embossing, I really liked the way it looked after that.

A super simple card that turned out really cute.

Sledding Mimi

This is my first set of clear Penny Black Stamps and I must say

I'm in love!  They are just wonderful and stamp so nice,

this is Mimi's Christmas

The papers are from We R Memory Keepers - Christmas from

last year, it included the snow ribbon slide shown.

I paper pieced the hat and scarf on Mimi from printed paper that matches

the card base.

Christmas has started!

Here's the beginning of my Christmas Cards.

This one went to my Grandson in Afghanistan

This is a digital stamp, Harry Needs a Hand by Mo's Digital Pencil

She's great check out her blog for tons of cool designs

Counting the Days was an acrylic word art from K & Co
The corner punch on the insde is from Fiskars
Papers are Recollections

Cherish Happiness

I made this card for a dear friend of mine getting inspiration from Melissa Phillips in the June 2010 Cards Magazine.  I layered papers which I inked heavily under the lace.  

The lighting on this photo is horrid but I wanted you to see the card from this angle so you'll have to overlook it.  The flower is one I received in a swap at YPP from Natalie Wathins, thanks Natalie, I love it!  I stuck a stick pin I had made through the flower and lace to finish it off.

The bling inside and out is from Recollections, the butterfly from Websters Pages.  Under the sentiment I took a page from an old novel and tore and inked the edges.  I used Vintage Photo, Peeling Paint and Worn Lipstick Distress inks on the print to give it the same tones as the papers.  The sentiment I printed out on my computer and inked it with the above Distress Inks.

The little ticket is from the Tim Holtz idea-ology line and the stamped sentiment on it was from a set of old Stampin Up stamps I picked up at a garage sale.  The base of the card is Kraft Cardstock.

Tubby Tabitha

OK Marlene over at Disguised as a Grown Up has done it again with her digital images.  This one is just way too cute, she named her Tubby Tabitha and if you rush over there right now today you can pick her up for free before she pops into the stores.

Today she surprised us all with a new version where the bubbles aren't blue and she added a saying, you can find it here.

The inside reads:  Personally I like the tickle your nose and drink me down bubbles myself.

I printed her 3 times and cut leg, arm, hair and facuet out once or twice and popped them up.  Added a few stickles to the bubbles and glitter gel pen to the wine glass.  Love that big toe!

I added a touch of Glossy Accents to her lips and toenails.
Bottom punch is Martha Stewarts Trellis
Papers are We Are Memory Keepers - Christmas (the plaid borders)
and Stampin Up - the stirpes
Anyway, I love Marlene's stuff, she has a warped sense of humor that I adore!
Have a creative week!  Patti

Celebrate

Digital Stamps are from Lost in Paper Scraps Blog

Birds are colored with Distress Ink (and the background on front mat)

and then highlighted with Copic Markers and Stickles

Stamp (Happy Anniversary) from My Sentiments Exactly

Tag, Celebrate and Papers from Bo Bunny Ad Lib Collection

Leaves are cut from the  Martha Stewart Pine Bough Punch

Flashing the Flash Cards

I made this set of flash cards for my youngest grandchild, Brynn who will be turning 2 on the 7th.  She just loves flash cards and I thought it would be fun to make some for her myself.  I'm missing a few letters, they'll go out in a later post, along with some shapes and numbers and some people ones.  I want to do a set with photos of family and friends with captions like Uncle, Auntie, Grandma, Puppy, Kitty, etc etc etc.  I think she's gonna love the feel and colors of these!  And they were soooooooooo much fun to make!

A Glimpse of my Soul

Journaling Reads:
Sometimes this is how I feel like I’m looking out at the world from the inside and no one sees the real me in here.  My life has evolved to the age of not knowing or sometimes caring what day or hour it is.  Our life is most times uncomplicated and easy, we roll with whatever each day brings and plan little.  My children have grown and the roles shifted to their shoulders instead of mine, I no longer have to worry about school hours, or homework or the agony of growing, a Grandma only has to smile and love.  I can do that.  We hop in the car and travel and see, me with the camera in hand and lens open to seeing the world about me with new vision, seeking beauty in just the everyday.  I cherish all this time I get to create, to play with pixels and paper.   How wonderful to start with a blank screen or bits of paper and bling and end up with something that makes me happy to share my creative side with those I love.

Life, it’s certainly changed, it’s gentler to me now, or perhaps I’m more gentle to myself at this stage of my life.
Here's what I used from the Cottage Arts Store:
Simply Friendship Pak - Paper 2 and 6 blended together, Mat 1 elongated (3 copies), key 2, string

Quirky Back to School Element Pak -  Quirky Tree, Word Art 1, Hanging Chain, Brick

Font - Constantia distressed with Grunge Paints 1 Brushes & Stamp Set

Natures Sketchbook  -Photo Art Blends 2 - Blend 07, placed over photo at multiply blend, added texture Weave 4 over photo and tree

Plum Haze Page Pak- Word Art Personable

As Time Goes By Page Pak- Word Art Glimpse Soul

Gator Love

I have entered this card in the CES Challenge Blog

Challenge #48 - Water It!

I made this card for my daughter and son-in-law for their anniversary.

Don't ya just 'luv' these litter gators?

This is a digital stamp from The Paper Shelter

I used Copic Markers for coloring and restamped the image a second time on

plain white cardstock.  After coloring I cut out all the colored pieces and

glued them on top the stamped image.

The cat tails have an additional layer of Doddlebug Design crushed velvet on them

And the hearts have been popped up for dimension and covered with Glossy Accents

The 'love' sentiment I got at Michaels in the Wedding section
I used a fine mist of Tattered Angels Iridescent Gold over the whole card
and then added a smattering of Diamond Stickers to the sky

Sew Thoughtful

This is entered in the Papertake Weekly Challenge - Grow Your Own,
where you were to use a flower that you had made yourself

Card is made from a recycled pattern from the thrift store.

A piece of the pattern was cut and distressed and matted with brown cardstock

Inside strip is a twill measuring tape with you buy by the yard

The flower is made with the Sizzix 3D flower die and distress with Vintage Photo

Thread spool is a die cut and the thread is baker's twine