Thank You Sew Much

I made this last night and I meant to finish it up more. Unfortunately, when I went to go snip my ribbon, my finger got in the way. In case you were wondering, those precision scissors can really cut into skin. It HURTS like no other when I type right now... not really great for someone who types a lot for work too. Not compared to most people's bad weeks but maybe Thanksgiving dinner will be made by the hubster if my finger continues to hurt. :D

So yeah, you're getting this. :) Played a little more with Sewing Box Hugs from Waltzingmouse Stamps. I decided that it'd look cute on a quilted background.

Given that I'm short on needles (darn my ability to break needles), I faux stitched.

And given my finger, I'm leaving supply list off for now. :)

Holiday Card Swap

Vané from Brooklyn Bride is once again hosting her annual holiday card swap! We all make so many holiday cards and so I think this'll be a fun little thing to do! And there's a cookie recipe swap as well -- two loves in one!

Here are the directions:


Happy swapping!!

{graphics by Courtney Jenzen}

Holiday Gift Series - 1

A little break from our regularly scheduled programming... I'm on the hunt for quick and cheap holiday gifts.

I've been a little slow on the posting recently since first off it's 4th quarter and work is always hectic this quarter... Need to make monies for the company so I can get a bonus! A bigger bonus means more stamps! Secondly, I'm trying to finish up the Christmas schinanigans.

This year, I'm going homemade where I can. My husband thinks this opens the door to some unreturnable homemade gifts but like I told my husband, I'd rather get that than say an ugly Christmas candle holder that I can't return for much value either. Bring on the homemade! So I figured I'd share some of my "cheap" homemade gifts.

So here's gift option #1... Now imagine this with a cute little stamped tag... :)

I love purses. What woman doesn't love purses? I'm not going to disclose how many purses I own but lets just say there's a closet of purses and bags... And if you don't like purses, it's super green to bring in your own lunch to work in a stylish bag... This could totally work for a lunch bag as well.

I made a "fat quarter" bag. I had found some other cute patterns but I wanted to minimize the extra fabric I had laying around (at least until I know what to do with it more). This bag is basically a fat quarter for the lining and a fat quarter for the outside. So basically 1/2 yard of fabric makes 1 purse.

I found some fabric in Joanne's that I could "live" with. I'm not thrilled with it but I didn't have much choice this round. I went with the home section fabric -- gives it a little more umph I feel.

Total Cost Breakdown:
Handles: $5
Cloth: $5 (2.50 for the outside pattern and 2.50 for the lining fabric)
Interfacing: $2
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Total: $12

Time Breakdown:
Cut time: 15 min
Iron time: 30 min
Sewing Time: 1 hr
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Total: ~2 hrs

I didn't add a pocket but I haven't completely sealed this guy up so it's still possible. Also, I could have been fancier with the outside by adding a strip or something. I'm also planning on picking up some magnets so it seals better. Eventually I'd like to add a zipper but that's a long way in the future. :)

We're going to be making lots of my own purses! Oh, imagine the possibilities. Instead of the eh fabric that I got at Joanne's, imagine this in some Amy Butler fabric, Heather Bailey, or maybe with Patty Young's latest Floral and Fauna collection! Swoooon!

Hopefully no one minds a homemade gift this year... I promise they'll only get better over time. And I try not to be too lame...

Ok, back to the regularly scheduled program!

Winter Wonderland

Happy Saturday! :) I "vacuumed" where I use vacuum lightly... I'm so not good at the cleaning...

Anyways, just taking a break from the cleaning to post this fun winter card. :) Can I just say that I LOVE these papers from My Mind's Eye Colorful Christmas Collection. :) Such fun colors! I know they sell fabric in this collection too... I may just have to get my hands on some! Sadly, I don't know of a good fabric store in Pittsburgh... I've been mostly buying online.

And it works so well with the fun snowman image from Snow Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps). Isn't it adorable! I colored them with my copics and I added a little gray for the now. But I ended up covering a lot of it with some fun glitter.

I'm so behind on Xmas cards... really hoping to catch up on some of that during the Thanksgiving weekend... but I'm guessing as with all my perfect plans that it isn't going to happen.

Anyways, hope everyone is having a great weekend! :)


Stamps: Snow Friends (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Paper: White (PTI), (Colorful Christmas) My Mind's Eye
Ink: Noir Palette
Accessories: Buttons (Making Memories), Glitter (Making Memories), Copics, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart)

Thankful for Your Support

I'm pretty sure I haven't shown this yet. :) It's one of those weeks...

I ADORE this tree from Blessed By You. There's something so calming about willow trees. I remember as a kid, we had one in our neighborhood and we used to love to try to swing on its branches... never worked well though. :)

The swirl comes from Seasons of Love - Tags. It creates such a fun background don't you think? I only stamped the base to give my card a little grounding.

I added some gems to the tree (yes I know willows don't have fruit but in the stamping world, who cares?) They're red but I can't seem to get that to show in my pic.

Hope everyone's having a good week!


Stamps: (Seasons of Love - Tags, Blessed By You) Waltzingmouse Stamps
Paper: (Avocado, Scarlet Jewel, Dark Chocolate) PTI
Ink: (Dark Chocolate) PTI
Accessories: Border Punch (Fiskars), Hemp, Button (PTI)

Stamping Around PA Photos

This is totally a photo filled blog post. :) I just got back this weekend from Stamping Around PA. :) Highly recommend it if it ever comes into your neck of the woods. I finally got a chance to meet some great people that I've only known online and the location was just diving (I could just stay there forever). I'm just going to show people pics but there's some fun pics floating around of all the projects we made!

Korin is the owner of Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps and it was great to meet her finally! An absolute sweetie and just so much fun. We made a cute and simple card the first night using some SNSS stamps to form a fun Christmas tree -- adorable!!

Kathi was such a sweetheart. It's nice to finally put a face to the name. She taught us a fun class using wax resist... and I needed special lessons... somehow I never learned how to color with crayons. :-P By the end of the class,I had the whole box of crayons all for me!

Here we are with Becky (in perfect height order like some AT&T wireless commercial). She was such a hoot. We loved her class (she didn't even need to bribe us all with a free Autumn Abundance set from PTI and one of Lauren's templates! Although bribing does help... Thanks to PTI and Becky for the fun new stamp set!)

This is Wendy and Erin. I met Wendy on the PTI forum - but I definitely didn't realize we lived so close! Sometimes I think I assume everyone I "meet" in the forums lives far far away in some happy stamp land where deer sing & dance. Yeah....super special. Erin I knew through the MFT forum and it was great to finally meet her as well! Both of them are great stampers and I can't wait to crash their monthly stamping get togethers! :D It's not the last you've seen of me ladies!

My CMU gals! :) I'm so glad that these ladies joined in on the fun and hopefully these n00bs didn't feel too out of place!

Look Ma - I made a card! Ren-Yi was so proud so we had to document it! :) Wish I had the happy pic where she showed off her "buttons"! ;-)

Jenn was my "across the hall" neighbor freshman year in college... one of the first people I met in college. I can't even think of how many hours we spent in her room or vice versa. So thrilled that she came and that we got a chance to catch up. :)

And I have to give a BIG thanks to the hubster who drove me to and from Stamping Around! :) I think it would have been a much rougher driver without him there. And I know it wasn't easy for him... dealing with squealing girls, a car filled with crafty goodies and a wife who just can't stop chatting about stamps.

Good for You!

I pulled out Oliva again (for both this card and my name tag for Stamping Around PA!). I'm so excited for this weekend. :-) I've been looking forward to this weekend for a very long time and I can't believe it's almost here! Eeeek! :)

The hubster is driving most of the way. He actually volunteered... somehow he doesn't think I can drive 5 hrs by myself... and he's probably right. :-P Especially after last week when I almost got run off the road by a truck (and cut off a not so nice man in a sports car , I'm kind of scared to drive so I'm glad we planned things this way.

Anyways, card... :) I love the fun Owl Celebrations set from SNSS. You can do so much with the fun accessories to Olivia. Love the fun accessories (although I am attached to the balloon.

Eeek! Ok, off to load the car!


Stamps: Owl Celebrations (Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps)
Paper: Dark Chocolate (PTI), October Afternoon
Ink: Dark Chocolate, Pure Poppy (PTI)
Accessories: Ribbon (PTI), Button (Making Memories), Twine (May Arts)