FNSI: Christmas in July!

It has been a few months since I participated in Heidi & Bobbi’s Friday Night Sew In and I sure missed it!!  There are 110 participants this time! 

I figured since it’s July, I should make this Christmas in July since I am trying to stay ahead of the game making my gifts so I can have a stress-free holiday!!    So I decided to make some potholders as gifts, which I believe can appeal to lots of people.  It comes as no surprise I decided to make a few for our house as well *wink* because I had to ‘test’ how they came out & how I would proceed, right? 

Well my idea is to do some scrap busting but then I remembered I had this gorgeous fabric that I made John’s Christmas stocking out of last year and my brother-in-law loves purple so the one on the left will be perfect for him.  The one on the right will be ours since we love green more than purple. 

I loosely followed a few tutorials: Scrap busting potholders and Quilted patchwork potholders.  I quickly decided I would rather make the style on the left since it doesn’t have binding, therefore less work and I can put the little holder thing in the corner.  It’s difficult to do that with the binding style. 

Can’t wait to make more scrappy ones this weekend!!  Thanks for stopping by!

Friday Night Sew-In Results–NOT

***Disclaimer*** this is a previously sewn project I am sharing!! 

I was not able to participate in the last 2 Friday Night Sew Ins and I am disappointed.  I had grand plans (too ambitious if you ask me) because the holidays are fast approaching, we tend to put too much on our plates don’t we?  Well, I am guilty as charged.  This week was quite busy and emotional for me.**more on that later in the post.  So, after work I went to a local Indian grocery store and spent almost $85 on spices and foods to stock our pantry so I can do more Indian food cooking from scratch.  You may not realize, but Indian food is my favorite cuisine.  I love the flavors, smells and variety.  After I did that, John and I met at Costco to do some more shopping and we didn’t get home until almost 8:00.  Of course, there were a lot of groceries to put away and well, I still need to finish that and it’s Sat. morning already, and after I compose this post, we are headed for a hike at McKinney Roughs Nature Park.  John wants to get some geocaches and I want to get some exercise since it was on my to do list for today anyway.  Plus, it is literally down the street from where we live and we have not been there yet (what a shame).  I was just too exhausted last night to get out my sewing supplies and sew.  I was in bed by 9:30 and had a great night’s sleep!

So, here I am showing some pillow ornaments I made a while back since I have not shared them yet.  These were my winnings from a few months ago from the Friday Night Sew In I won from Heidi.  She also sent me a quilting ruler and some chocolate covered potato chips that melted from the Texas heat but they were still tasty!  The fabric is Kate Spain Flurry and I got the idea for these here.  If you’d like to follow me on Pinterest, here is the link to my boards.  It is addicting but I have made MANY projects and recipes I have pinned since I found it!  I just don’t pin and not produce. 

**About the emotional week I had.  My favorite cousin Andrea is in the hospital very ill but as of Thursday, she was doing somewhat better.  If you pray, will you please keep her in yours for a continued healing & recovery?** Thank you so much.

Thanks for stopping by & hope you have a great weekend!

Mistletoe Cuppie

I think one of my favorite cupcake images from the Stamp a Sweet Impression Christmas release is the mistletoe from Season's Sweetings so I wanted to make a very unique card with it. I googled some mistletoe sayings and found this one to be perfectto use with Mistletoe Cuppie.  I used my Brayton Font & rectangular stamper by JustRite stampers to set up the saying on my tag - these as well as all the other supplies used on this card can be found at Taylored Expressions.  Feel free to email me if you need to locate a particular item.  

World Card-Making Day fun - days later!!

I know a lot of y'all had lots of fun last Sat. on World Card-Making Day, I know I did with a few of my friends who came over to make Christmas cards.  I had a few cancellations so I ended up with some leftover supplies.  I got my new goodies from Gina K Designs release last week so I got to work with making some cards to send for her great contribution!  You can read all about it here but basically you can win a LOT of awesome goodies if you make a card to send to one of our overseas troops (and provide an extra envelope so they can send the card to a loved one) - it's a wonderful idea and I'm happy to be a part of it!  I actually made 6 cards to send & plan to share them all with you.  

Both cards use Warm & Cozy Christmas I just love these bundled up kiddos - the girl with the snowgirl complete with a pot for a hat! I FINALLY got my snowflake cuttlebug embossing folder and on the burgundy one, I rubbed the Holiday Metallic Rub-on paste on the snowflakes but since I took pics once the sun went down, it is hard to tell in the photo.  I also used it on the watercolor paper focal image.  I also used the Peerless Transparent Watercolors, which are just so vibrant!!  I love 'em!!  Winter Foliage (one free with 3 set) was used for accents on the designer label punch for the sentiment.  Finally, the ribbon is the Holiday Pure Luxury-Holiday

which is just that - pure luxury!   

On the boy card I used Handsome Hunter and ran the craft white pad over it to bring out the snowflakes, which is a lot of fun!!  I have to admit though, that I mistakenly colored their candy canes like they are walking canes!  My DMIL & DH pointed that out to me - ha!  My response which I say all the time, I can color anything the way I want to - it's a chocolate candy cane!  

RAK from Rose Ann

Look at my adorable House Mouse Christmas Gingerbread House card!!! Rose Ann of Paper Delightz sent this to me! She's the sweetest - I had sent her the images last month in a RAK and she returned it to me! She did a fabulous job with her coloring & I LOVE the sparkle on the icing on the house!! And I adore the 3 clear dots in the lower right corner (Rose Ann, you have to tell me what those are as I must get some!) Thank you, Rose Ann - Merry Christmas to you & your family. I'm so glad we're blogging buddies!

Scalloped Angel

Here's another On Angel Wings (retired SU!) card that I made. It has the Floral BG on the Soft Sky base. I love the little pearls I got from Ellen Hutson's store, just the right touch of elegance
to finish off the card. Used my scallop rectangle nestabilities (which I also got from Ellen).

I'm so excited! My holiday stuff was featured on Craft Critique's Holiday Carnival Part 1. They just posted Part 2 yesterday too. Check out the links to some awesome blogs on there! It's taking me a while just to check out all the ones I've never seen before!

Good times, but lately my left eye has been twitching really often like 3-5 times a day and I think has gone on about a week. Keep in mind I have been overdoing it a little with the holiday to do's and I do work on a computer all day but I have been getting to bed at a decent time and waking up before the alarm goes off so it seems I am rested enough. I looked up what could be the cause of it this morning and here's what it said:

Causes of Eye Twitching
There are various causes of eye twitching in its serious and not so serious formats. The more common causes for eye twitching include:

• Corneal irritation or injury
• Stress
• Lack of sleep
• Fatigue
• Prolonged staring or eye strain
• Neurological disorders
• Possibly Hereditary

Another website recommended to go to your doctor if it goes on a week. DH jokingly calls me Dr. Donna when I self diagnose (well, from the internet) and tells me to wait another week. HA!

Snowman Jingle Bag

I got the pattern for this cute designer paper bag from Nancy at Paper Smiles

I had my stamp club meeting last night & the gals had requested gift bag ideas (and I ended up throwing in a box and favor too) and they loved it. I presented the hostess for this month with a coaster box I made and extra bags (such as this one) to keep/use. The other was the Lovely as a Tree box I posted earlier this week which she said she's going to keep for herself. She is going to give put this snowman purse on her tree for a little gift for her 12-yr old granddaughter and I know she'll LOVE it. Thanks for the inspiration, Nancy!

Jingle Snowman

Here is a Christmas card inspired by Debbie Olson's card Teach a Penguin to Fish I love the idea of the rounded corners of the card base (and have to frankly admit, I just never thought of doing that, but what a difference it makes!) I actually only did the bottom, should have done the top too. I must get the Round & Oval Nestabilities too, they tend to create a nice elegant feel to cards, but for now the scallop & circle punches were just fine for this whimsical card, I have used this set a lot that was in the SU! Fall/Winter mini catalog, although I'm ready to move on from Christmas images real soon! Thanks for stopping by today!

Simple Angel

It's really hard to tell in my photo (bad lighting is almost out the door because I ordered this cute pink portable Ott Lite!! I am so excited, especially because when I want to craft in my room while watching t.v. (jewelry making, crocheting) I can with better lighting!! yea! Anyway, I used my Nestabilities Rectangle for this simple Angel card.

Winter Peace Box

Of course this is nothing like the winters we see in Central Texas, but a girl can dream, huh? Actually, I am trying not to complain; but it really does not even seem like Christmas is a few weeks away. I was wearing shorts last night & at our Holiday party on Friday night, I wore a sheer blouse and it was a lovely evening (a little on the humid side, though...my hair attested to that alright) big difference from a year ago it was COLD. Anyway, it's been in the 80's during the day and 60's at night. It's another story for those already shoveling snow, huh? I bet they'd love to be in the warmth! The grass is always greener...

I digress. The box is a template that Lauren Meader did a tutorial here last month. Isn't it the neatest? Her directions were great and it's simple to make! I really am pleased with how it turned out.

Simple Holiday Hello

One of my card orders was for a co-worker's nephew who is 18. She wanted something more masculine yes still Christmasy. I usually always go to my Papertrey Faux Ribbon set and knew Baroque Burgundy, Night of Navy & More Mustard would do the trick. She really liked it.

Simple Merry & Bright Snowman

Really having fun with my Spellbinder's Nestabilities!! They are so cool! They allow me to keep my cards simple yet make a statement. This card is pretty straightforward. Thanks for visiting!!!

Cocoa Box

I wanted to package some cocoa for a gift and make a cute presentation for it. I re-packaged the cocoa in a medium flat cello bag and used Cambria's Batty For You basket for a template. But, I needed it a little bigger so I increased the sides to 2 1/4" (making the total cardstock square 6 3/4" instead of the 5" sqaure. I am so glad I kept this retired set by SU! Like it a Latte. Embossed the cup & sentiment on tag in Chocolate Chip Craft, Liquid Applique for the Marshmallows. It's real cute IRL, can't wait to give them away.

Hedgehogs Sledding

This card was so much fun to make!


It started out with knowing I HAD to use my Stampendous Clear Christmas Critters I got from Eclectic Paperie. Then I got my color inspiration of Kraft, Ruby Red, Buckaroo Blue, Garden Green. The paper is Basic Grey Fruitcake, which fit the bill for that combination - score!


I stamped the hedgehogs on watercolor paper because I wanted to color with my re-inkers. I also used my Cat's Pajamas Snowflakes for the cardbase and SU! Itty Bitty Background for the snow flurries (also used Iridescent Ice embossing powder on those) and Papertrey's Holiday Treats for the sentiment. Then to top it all off, I had to put white Liquid Applique on the santa hats & snow on the ground. Then, I realized I didn't have ribbon to match the colors I chose, never fear...the COPICS are here - the Moss color matches Garden Green perfectly so I colored white grosgrain ribbon.


I won't tell you how long this card took, it didn't matter once I'd finished it. Plus, I made 2 and added it to my Christmas card stash!

Fruitcake Angel

Maybe that's not the best title. This is my card for entering Jen Del Muro's Want Verve contest! It is my version of her Sketch from Saturday This is On Angel Wings retired from SU! that is my go to set for Christmas every year because it's so pretty. I loved pairing it with Soft Sky (Floral BG on that), Blue Bayou and I thought a nice match was this paper from Basic Grey's Fruitcake. DH suggested I make her a redhead (I was thinking of the famous redhead who's become a mommy to her first boy recently, Charmaine...she's so sweet & pretty). I love using Dazzling Diamonds on the angel's wings. You can't tell in my photo, but the sentiment is done with White Craft ink and Iridescent Ice embossing powder (since I still had it out from last night). My pearls are from Elle Hutson's online store {which by the way is having a great 15% off sale on Friday and she's also giving away a set of heart nestabilities on this post Aren't they pretty? I almost forgot I had them (first time using) and I am not quite sure I like where I placed them?! Maybe they should have been horizontal with the lower layer. Oh well, too late to move them now because of the self-adhesive stuff.

**ETA - I forgot to color the bird, but then again Doves are white so I guess it's o.k. Tired & ready for bed.

I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus...

I had this card in my head all day Tuesday and made it last night (took forever, because what I had originally started with got scrapped) I had to make it smaller to look more real). Basic Grey Fruitcake paper was used. I hope Kristi doesn't get upset I 'changed' Hanna to fit with Santa. The only thing is, I messed up her face a little because I forgot I used waterbased black to draw her. I really should get a better camera.

Dazzling Snowflakes

I've really wanted to make a card not using Hanna from my Hanna Stamps (*gasp*, I know) and thought the Dazzling Diamond Dust tutorial would fit the bill with these pretty different-shaped snowflakes! And of course, I had to add bling to the centers and on the lower right corner. Sorry the photo is not that great {I have no natural light to work with since I leave the house at 6:45 a.m. and don't get back until 5:15 when there's no sun anymore and I don't have that great of lighting in my stamp area). However, I was able to get the sparkle of the iridescent ice embossing powder! I heat set the ribbon slightly (thanks to a wonderful card that Nicole Cooke sent me [I still need to upload, I always forget about that simple yet unique tip]. I also used a retired SU! set Perfect Ending.

Origami Box

Over on SCS there was a 2 week holiday project showcase where I learne how to make a few exciting things! Some, I've still yet to try but there's only so much time in a day, huh? I will do them as I need them, basically & some may just have to wait until 2008 and I'm o.k. with that. So above was An Origami Box by Jenn Balcer. I made this necklace & earrings & I loved that I could make a box to go with them perfectly because of this tutorial! It was SO easy to make. In fact it won't be difficult to memorize it if you even just make 2. I think I may make a few more. I love it.

2007 Ornament

I found this unfinished frame ornament at Hobby Lobby (it was $.99 but 40% off) can't beat that! I am making an ornament for my sister every year of her daughter (and next year will be adding another one to the mix as she is pregnant again!) I covered it with Dashing Designer Paper using Mod Podge and tied the ribbon. I love the little silver bells on the bottom, they dangle. The part I wrote on will be turned to the back once a photo is placed in there.