handmade cass

It was a very proud day when I finished my first quilt! And it just happened to be a present for my girlfriend from college that is having a baby. I had to finish it on Christmas day in order to leave enough time for myself to pack up and visit her in Chicago. We had so much fun catching up on everything that's happened in the last four years.

Boy were we wrong when thought it would be quick and easy to make some jam for family and friends this Christmas!  But it was a learning experience and I think it would be a whole lot smoother the next time around.  Our day started out nice and lazy with some shopping for supplies at the local Ace Hardware - they have a small canning section.  And then we realized that our pot wasn't big enough to hold the rack that Ace carried.  No big deal we think - we'll just use tongs to get the jars in and out of the boiling water.  Bad idea!  But each jar sealed and the final product is a delicious blackberry and raspberry jam.  Merry Christmas to all the lucky recipients!

This is my favorite time of year!  The weather is getting cooler (although it was still 75 degrees  yesterday on Thanksgiving) and I'm starting to get into the Christmas spirit.  Nothing gets me ready for the holidays more than watching Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase and starting a big batch of Christmas cards to send out to friends and family. I watched the movie last night as soon as we got home from Thanksgiving dinner and now I'm trying to finalize a design for our Christmas card....here are a few iterations that I've gone through.  Nothing is final yet except that I want the main colors to be pink and green (those were my wedding colors too!). These ones have letter stamps from 7 Gypsies and Papertrey Ink.  The reindeer stamp is from Memory Box and I used Copic markers and Stickles to pretty it up a bit.  The pink strip is Stardream metallic paper that I ran through the Cuttlebug with a snowflake embossing folder.

I learned a new technique for making paper flowers over on Leah Fung's website . The video was great and showed exactly how to make these beautiful little paper beauties. This was my first batch, made with antique book papers, Adirondack acrylic paint, Papertrey buttons, and a McGill punch. My plans for the next few batches include using tissue paper, old maps, distress inks, glitter....who knows what else!

I've started a new craft!  I have always been interested in sewing but never felt like I was any good at it.  Now I have all the right supplies, including a great sewing machine and lots of help from experienced seamstresses.  I dove right into a baby quilt for one of my friends that is expecting in early 2010.  The first few steps went really quickly and I ended the day with laying out the pattern so I can start sewing the full blocks next weekend!

Just getting back into the swing of things after vacation, and happy to have had some time for crafting over the last few days.  This is the absolute quickest that I have ever had framed vacation photos up - less than two weeks!  These frames have been waiting to go up on the wall so I took the opportunity to frame some of our favorites from Crater Lake and Olympic National Park. And also whipped up a quick card for my cousin's wedding using a bunch of fun supplies.  I used the Tim Holtz c rackle paint in copper on some textured packaging  that I saved for a special project, along with tons of red to match their wedding theme.  The background stamp is from Heidi Swapp and I used Versamark champagne ink.  I also have some crepe paper from the party store on there and a page from a book I just got an estate sale (distressed with Tim Holtz ink in worn lipstick).  Hope it makes it through the mail okay!

I am always so happy to get emails from my local craft stores announcing sales...who doesn't love a sale?  I took a drive to one such event yesterday during my lunch break and was excited to find lots of great things on sale and a bunch of new goodies to try. I had been eyeing the Amuse stamp set for snail mail and decided that I couldn't wait any longer (it wasn't on sale).  And picked up a bunch of great paper from Hambly, American Crafts, and Luxe to try out a themed mini album - can you guess the theme?  Then I decided it was time to try out some different brands of pigment pens and adhesive.  I got a navy blue Pigment Pro fine line pen from American Crafts and the Glue Glider Pro (which was on sale).  We'll see if they can top my long running favorites. And when I got home yesterday I was shocked to see a package from American Crafts!  I had taken a look at their latest catalog online last week and was already making a wishlist.  But they sent me a hard copy WITH ...

The weekend always escapes too quickly!  But I did get a start on a tri-fold card that I think I'm going to send off to my mother-in-law in Hawaii.  The goal was to use up a bunch of extras I had cluttering up my craft space.  So it's a bit of a smorgasbord.  I love making these crepe paper flowers now so they'll be popping up on everything I send out.  And I had some extra Basic Grey letters that happened to be the right color.  I've been putting little white accents on them lately as a little something extra. On the inside, I used a new Hero Arts flourish stamp and colored in the bird with my Copic markers (love them!).  Also added some felt flowers and a little gem in the middle.  I'm planning to include a picture on the middle pane, and a note on the right one.  I also wanted to try out the Amuse beehive stamp that I just picked up to go along with the Memory Box bee stamp I have been using for years. And yesterday when I went to go see some family, my aunt had ...

What an inspiration to come home from work and see these beautiful flowers in our front yard. I'm lucky enough to live in a warm climate that keeps these hibiscus in bloom all year. And of course, Frank is always happy to see me when I get home. Today he thought we were going for a walk when I got out my camera. Wishful thinking.

It was one of the first hot days this summer.  And how did I spend it?  Inside working on crafts of course...for at least a couple hours.  We did just get back from an awesome Greek feast out on the restaurant's patio.  The weather is perfect for outdoor dinners.  But back to the important stuff. I took a class this week where I got to play with Copic markers again and it got me all excited to start another project with my improved techniques.  I have been dying to use this lotus flower stamp (from Savvy Stamps) that I found when exploring a new scrapbook store last month.  And also used some Papertrey card stock and ribbon for the first time.  You can also see the Copic color chart that I am slowly filling in.  The Sketch markers are really hard to find around me - everyone else is using the Ciao and Original versions. Products used : Papertrey Ink card stock and ribbon, Copic markers, Memento and Brilliance inks, Tim Holtz Distress In...

I love finishing a project!  Luckily I had all the pieces for this one and was able to finish in one afternoon.  Like I mentioned earlier , I went to visit my brother last month to see his senior exhibition of art work.  He just graduated and I wanted to put a mini book together for him.  He can show it off at his graduation party and then keep it as a little memento. I got to use some new EK punches that I was lucky enough to find on sale (the crab shape and the photo corners).  Also used some more Thickers from American Crafts and my DYMO label maker.  The mini album itself is also American Crafts and made the whole project so easy!          

It's been too long!  And I have been dying to finish this album.  Not just to post the pictures, but because I have been planning all of the special pieces of the album for months!  Still not 100% finished but here it is: I used a big sheet of paper from Paper Source for the covers.  It took two tries to adhere it, but the spray adhesive from 3M did the trick.  I haven't had much luck when trying to use the acid free version of Mod Podge.  And it was a lot more work than I planned on in order to cut out around the scallop edges of the covers...but worth it I think.  Also used some Thickers for the title, red crystals, and gold stickles to enhance some grungeboard swirls. I started planning the album way back in January when I saw these new covers and page protectors from Zutter at CHA.  Love them!  And all the pieces finally came together.

Just a quick picture of my little brother showing off his ceramic works of art at his senior exhibition this weekend. And the most delicious (and large) hot chocolate I've ever had!  I heart Scharffen Berger .

I had to get a thank you card in the mail ASAP so I decided to use a little bit of all the new goodies I've been wanting to try.  Some Hero Arts stamps, McGill bird punch, and the Copics I have been dreaming about buying for months!  I still need some practice with them but the blending is so much fun.

I was making birthday cards recently and couldn't get enough of these Hero Arts fruits!  I loved the four apples set so much that I had to get the sparkle clear set too.  I used both in this card.

I am taking a leap and entering a contest on the Hero Arts blog...since I am loving the distress inks so much and that happens to be the topic this week.  Here's the card.   And I am so happy that I found the antique dictionary I've been looking for at an estate sale this weekend!  It's from the 1940s and I got it for $1.00 - can't beat that.  I have so many project ideas that needed little bits of text in them.  Better get started.

I was so excited to come home last week and see a package from Tim Holtz in the mail!  And look at the fabulous prize he sent: Stamper's Anonymous stamps, Distress Inks, and a mini Glossy Accents . I had been watching some of his demos online and was trying to get the hang of distressing edges using the foam pads.  I've made a few very pathetic attempts over the past year and usually just ended up getting frustrated.  But this time I tried his advice to go very lightly and hold the tool at an angle.  Lo and behold - no square ink marks to be seen!

It's official - the impossible has happened! I won a prize on the Tim Holtz blog and received an actual email from him today. I figured this would be the best start to the blog I have been wanting to create for a long time. I can't wait to get the package and post some pictures!