handmade cass

I have a couple articles that were posted recently on the Craft Critique website.  Take a look and let me know what you think. 10 Essential Tools for Rubber Stamping Sizzix Letterpress Plate Review

A while back I decided I wanted to make a list of 30 things to do while I'm 30.  It was pretty easy to come up with the list, but getting them done in one year is going to be the challenge.  I printed my list on vellum and added it to my Book of Lists (Smash Book). I also celebrated my birthday with a huge stack of homemade waffles and my favorite little helper.

I love it when my husband creates homemade cards for me.  They usually involve a piece of printer paper, a ballpoint pen, and a sharpie.  But this year he went all out.  Luckily I had taken out a bunch of my Valentine's Day supplies for a mini book, and he used what was out on my desk.  This is his masterpiece. My first reaction was - wow!  I was very impressed with his punching.  Then I couldn't hold back and said, "you used my expensive markers!".  He tried to deny it, but there is always bleed-through proof with Copic markers. Love him anyway.  It's best that he doesn't know how much I spend on crafting supplies.

Time to get started on my Valentine's Day cards, because it will be too late to mail them before I know it. I had started a couple cards at my last Stampin' Up class, but ran out of time and mojo.  So I put some finishing touches on these ones today and feel inspired to get a whole new batch done this weekend! This is the "manly" card for my husband.  Not quite what I envisioned, but I know that he will still appreciate the fact that it's not solid pink.  The background is a small ledger stamp from Stampin' Up that I just used over and over again.  Although it was hard to get the image lined up each time, it adds the perfect aged patina I was looking for. This card has lots of embossed texture.  The hearts on the front are all from an embossing/die folder.  Love those because you get double the fun with one pass through the Cuttlebug.  I also added a couple pearls on some smaller hearts to mimic the swiss dots embossing on the white stock.  A re...

Sometime last year I became obsessed with the idea of library pockets for crafting.  I ordered a whole mess of them online (in the standard white/manila combo as well as pink) and they sat on my desk all year waiting for the perfect project.   Library cards and pockets still in original packaging, waiting for the perfect project. Turns out they are the perfect way to make a quick addition to my ongoing book of lists .  I only had a few minutes this week so my embellishments are pretty minimal.  Hoping to be struck a flash of genius for decorating more library pockets in this book. I had a few of the pink embossed hearts all ready to go, and I will be using more of those on a couple Valentine's Day cards in the works.  The embossing die is from Stampin' Up - cuts and embosses with one pass through my Cuttlebug!    And I have a new Valentines letterpress plate from Stampin' Up as well that I can't wait to try.  Gotta wait until the next good n...

It was a very happy Christmas for our family.  We were lucky enough to get to spend time with both families - my daughter was spoiled by her grandparents in Hawaii and then again by my entire family here. And it was a very crafty Christmas for me!  There were a few themes this year... Matryoshka Christmas On the left is the awesome packaging that my mom found at World Market.  She even saved the extra tissue and wrapping paper for me!  And on the right are the tapes that I had seen on etsy as well as this amazing matryoshka nativity fabric.  I am hoping to make a tree skirt with that. Handmade Christmas My hipster brother just recently moved to Portland and I think he loves all the handmade shops there.  He spoiled me with these rolled rose felt hairclips  and a felted wool ring - not to mention the earrings with vintage beads. And my youngest brother who has dappled in the culinary arts decided to give me a homemade dessert every month! ...

I haven't found much time for crafts since we got back from vacation.  Maybe this has something to do with it... Here are my goals for 2012: Stay current on getting pictures printed for the baby album I am working on Finish my book of lists Keep my crafting area organized And if organized is too much to ask then at least keep the desktop clean Start a new sewing project Open an Etsy store to sell some extra supplies and maybe some projects Get published or join a design team I better stop there, because that last one is going to take some work!  Did anyone else set goals or is it just me?  Maybe I just really like making lists.  Okay, I know that I like making lists.