Happy New Year!!!

I hope everyone had a happy, safe New Years eve. We just spent it watching a movie with Charlotte and I was in bed by 10:30. I am trying to get back into my work habits because over vacation I have gone to bed rather late and slept later then I usually do. Going back to work tomorrow will be interesting!!

Today I thought I would share some of my projects I did for the holidays. Yes, they are over but I wasn't organized enough to post them. I am going to try to do a Christmas Inspiration piece once a month, from tags to ornaments or gifts to get you inspired to create all year. Wouldn't it be nice to be organized for next year's holiday ahead of time?

My first projects are various cards I created. The one below was the EASIEST I have created in a long time. I used a piece of patterned paper over an ivory card stock base. I then layered fun embellishments from Pink Paislee over both. This is a card I did in about 15 minutes-a record for me!!

Supplies: Paper-Basic Grey Aspen Frost Woolen Mittens, Ivory Card Stock; Pink Paislee Parcel Tags, Pink Paislee Ephemera Pack, Pop Dots, Paper Trey Ink Stamp, Vintage Photo Ink; twine

My next card looks just as easy but it took a little more time. That funky star is a die cut that I glittered and then attached over all the layers. I love this card. The star really makes it!!

Supplies: Paper-green, red, ivory, and kraft card stock, Lily Bee Design Christmas Cheer patterned paper; Pink Paislee Parcel Tags; Ink-Red and Vintage Photo Ink; Tim Holtz Large 3-D Die; Red Rhinestones; Technique Tuesday "Be Jolly" stamps; Diamond Stickles

The next one is not my favorite but I am including it because not everything will turn out how you want, will it? The wreath is part of the Pink Paislee Parcel tags pack. I just doctored it up with glitter glue.

Supplies: Paper-Basic Grey Aspen Frost, red and ivory card stock, Pink Paislee Parcel Tags; Pop Dots; Stickles-Diamond and Turquoise; red buttons; ribbon

The next card is created by layering paper and then a stamped embellishment over a doily is the focal point. This stamp isn't meant to be a Christmas stamp but I used it on many cards this year.

Supplies: Paper-Lily Bee Design "Christmas Cheer" 6" by 6" paper pad, Red Card stock, Bazzill Basics-"Sheet Music"; Ink-Red, green and Vintage Photo Ink; Stamps-My Mind's Eye "Cutie Pie" Technique Tuesday "Be Jolly" stamps; Martha Stewart Doily.

The next two photos are a project that I saw on Pinterest and have wanted to try for over a year. I am not a wine drinker so I had to enlist some people to help me collect corks. I still need more so everyone I know, save them for me. It would be greatly appreciated!!

I used the Pinterest pin only as a jumping off point and made them my own as aI always do. I NEVER copy anything exactly. Charlotte made the deer on the right and I created the deer on the left. My reindeer is an ornament. Charlotte made fun of it because she thought it looked like it had too much to drink!!

Here is a side view of my deer with the little hook for where the hanger would go. I want to make more of these over the year because I have a ton of friends that I could see gifting one of these to. However, I have to figure out a better way to cut the corks. My husband was on a business trip and Charlotte was afraid I would cut my finger off. She had all the first aid supplies and a phone ready in case she had to call for help!!

This next photo is just a few chocolates wrapped with tulle. I stamped a tag, added a bow and a bauble and it is an instant gift. Easy peasy!!

I took A LOT of time with this ornament. I die cut the star, stamped it, glued trim around it, glittered it and added embellishments. It came out fantastic and this is another project I want to create more of for gifts next year. The fun thing about this was I dug through my box of Christmas findings I buy every year on clearance to decorate the front.

Supplies: Paper-white card stock; Tim Holtz 3D Star Die, Hero Arts Stamp, Stickles Diamond Glitter Glue, White Ribbon and trim; Christmas findings.

One of the things I try to do when I give a gift is to make my own tags. Often my wrapping is better then the gift inside!!

I created this tag for my niece. I adore this little gingerbread man! Instead of glitter glue I experimented using a glitter paint. It went on nicely however it made the paper curl a bit. I then layered the gingerbread man over a stamped tag.

Supplies: Paper-kraft and white cardstock, scraps of patterned paper; Ink-red and Vintage Photo Ink; glitter paint; pop dots; red Washi Tape; Sizzix Gingerbread Die and Silhouette Tag; Technique Tuesday "Be Jolly" Stamp; 

The next three photos are of a canning jar that I filled with truffles for a co-worker. I covered the top with patterned paper and ribbon to hide the top of the jar.

I then attached a tag I die cut and stamped over a tiny kraft bag. Inside the bag I placed a gift certificate. This woman does so much for the department that I thought she deserved more then the candy!!

I even decorated the inside of the tag. Sometimes it is the little "extras" that make the gift!!

Supplies: Paper-Lily Bee Design-Christmas Cheer; White card stock, Blue card stock, Ink-red and Vintage Photo Ink; Die Cuts: Paper Trey Ink and Silhouette Cameo; red ribbon; canning jar; Paper Trey Ink 2010 Holiday Tag Stamps

My last addition to this post are of a tag and star I created to top another co-workers gift. I love these little added touches. Presentation goes a long way!! Again, all I used was a die cut machine for the star and tag. I topped them off with bells and some curling ribbon. I LOVE how this came out!!

Supplies: White card stock; blue ink; Simple Stories grey polka dot paper; diamond glitter glue, Die Cuts-Tim Holtz Large 3D Star, Silhouette machine; Stamps-Paper Trey Ink and My Minds Eye.

I hope this inspires you to make some of your own tags and gifts for next year. Happy New Year!!

Nora

An End of the Year Post

Once again this blog has been neglected. I think if I could type this on my IPad it would be written on more but alas, I do not have a keyboard and will not be obtaining one any time soon.

I cannot believe it is December 31st. This year has FLOWN BY and I am trying to process it. I think as I get older, the months go by faster. I am not sure if I like this or not. It could mean that I am just busier and have more on my plate. It doesn't seem that way, though. I have been really good at saying no to things I don't want to do and making the time for things that I do. It is a never ending balance.

For my last post of the year, I wanted to post some photos of our kitchen that we did over this fall. It was a LONG process and many decisions. I LOVE the way it came out, though. The following photos are not staged. I was going to wait to post them until we had our table in and the kitchen was spic and span. However, our table was delayed and the only time my kitchen is uncluttered is at night and if you think these photos are bad-the ones taken at night are worse!!!

The first photos are of our new mudroom. This was previously an outdoor porch that was enclosed and added onto in the front.

We bought the bench at an unfinished furniture place. My handy husband painted it black and I added to pillows from IKEA to complete it. I just have to get baskets and hang a few things on the wall behind it for this room to be complete.

On the opposite wall from the bench is a new closet. I did not show the inside of this closet as it is not organized at all. That will come later when we can find the exact type of organizers we want...or in our case, it never gets done because that is just what happens. (AKA-Chris doesn't care what it looks like when the doors are shut!)

Here are photos of our old and new stove area. I am not a traditional person so I didn't choose a traditional color cabinet. The color is called Pebble Java and the cupboards were made by Wellborn. It is what the contractor carried so we went with it.

Before:

After: (Char was making cupcakes this day so excuse our mess!) Can I say I LOVE this stove!! I have gained 10 pounds since we finished this because I am baking all the time! It is an electric oven and a gas cook top. The oven temp is so even and cakes come out flat on top. And we can finally fit a turkey in our oven. The wall oven we had before was so tiny!

We took our fridge out of the cubby and made it a small pantry. You do not know how much space this freed up in our cabinets. I used to have 5 cabinets of food and now I only have one!

 Before:

After:

To the left of the cubby, we put a row of cabinets, the fridge and the microwave. Previously this held a useless cabinet and a hutch. The before also shows where our old kitchen door to the front was. That is gone and is now a doorway into the mudroom.

Before:

After:

Our big splurge was a garden window. I cannot tell you how much light this lets in!! I LOVE it! I plan to get herbs to grow in this space but want to do it from seed. Here are before and after photos for this too.

Before:

After:

One of the things we changed was where our dishwasher was. It used to be to the right of the sink which made it a pain to empty. We had it plumbed so it now is to the left of the sink which makes it easier to put things away.

Before:

After:

We also added a breakfast bar. Previously the counter ended with the last cabinet by the door.

We also put in a new back door. The other one was not cut right and it was so cold!! This one is sealed and the new kick plate heat under the sink keeps the kitchen toasty.

This is a close up of the granite. It looks so pretty with the backsplash and the paint!!

This is the tile we put in. I really wanted to put in hardwood but had to settle for tile that looks like hardwood floor. Our dog has "accidents" so we couldn't put in a real one. I really like it, however, it shows EVERYTHING!! I didn't realize how much Zach drips on the floor either. It does look nice with everything, though.

This is how it looks in the hallway that goes into our bedroom and the living room.

I know it might surprise some of you that know me but I am not a decorator. I do not enjoy it. You have to be on the constant lookout for "just the right thing" and I don't have the patience for that. This kitchen is still a work in progress. Thank you for visiting!!

Nora

The Mouse and the Halloween Treat Bag

Happy Friday everyone. This week has gone by so S-L-O-W. I do have Monday off, though, because our district honors the jewish holiday. How sad is it that I live for three day weekends and vacations?

Today I am going to post a Halloween treat bag (more specifically, the tag) I created to enter a contest. Alas, as I was finishing my project, I noticed mouse droppings on the outside edge of my white craft desk. There were only two but when I searched around the outskirts of the floor, I found many more. Then I searched the kitchen and I won't go into details there. It was so gross!! We bought poison for some areas and traps for others but still haven't caught any. We are not sure how it came in but we hope it went out somehow and never comes back. We did find a dead field mouse in the garage and I am hoping that this was the critter that had invaded our space. I cannot handle that again. I do not think mice are cute and can live with them if the stay outside!! Needless to say, I never photographed the project in time to enter the contest.

I stamped the image using the circle from Paper Trey Ink's Tag-its #2 and the jack-o-lantern from the Tag-its #7 Mini stamp set. I colored the pumpkin with Copic Markers. I had never colored on Kraft card stock and not sure if I will do this technique again. It was harder to get the colors to blend on the toothier paper.

I was originally going to fill the bag with candy corn but since it previously held paper flowers I wasn't sure that was sanitary. I found these adorable jack-o-lantern covered Lindt chocolates to use instead. Who can resist a chocolate truffle?

Supplies: Stamps, Polka Dot Paper and Dies-Paper Trey Ink, Copic Markers, Tsukineko Ink, Paper Scraps,

 Queen and Company rhinestone

I was going to send this to my niece who went off to college for the first time this year but Charlotte informed me after a taste test that the truffles were melted. I guess I am going to have to buy two more bags. Hmm-that certainly worked out for both Charlotte and Chris. I only like dark chocolate!!

I hope this inspires you to create some goodies of your own. Have a great weekend!!

Nora

Back to School, Kitchen Construction and Other Fun Stuff

September is here and that means back to work for me. I enjoyed my summer immensely and cannot say that I am all that excited to be going to work every morning. I like my job and the hours but just wish I could get paid for staying home and doing what I want. Don't we all?

We also are going through a kitchen remodel. I spent last week emptying the cabinets, shelves and a hutch. Yesterday the contractors came and gutted our kitchen. They are still working on getting the floor up. Unknowingly we had 3 layers underneath our tile!! It looks like a big mess. I will post photos later on this week.

Our poor isn't liking the construction very much. Stinky peed his crate tonight when we went out to dinner and he hasn't done that for a couple months. I am convinced he had a seizure that was brought on by all the chaos but since we weren't home, we don't know. The only reason I think this is he usually pees so that it is all outside the crate when he is mad. He doesn't like to step in it!! Tonight it was mess inside the crate and we had to give him a bath. Poor thing!

Enough about our chaos and now to the fun stuff! Tonight I am going to show you the gift tag and card I made for one of Char's friends last month. However, as things often go in my life, I had to make the card twice. 

The first card I had created was personalized and had a 12 on it. However, when I went to buy a gift box, the only one that I could have bought that would have matched was bright pink. The birthday girl was not a pink type of girl. So I carefully removed the number and added the cupcake. 

Supplies: Card stock and dotted paper-Paper Trey Ink, Word Paper and striped paper-October Afternoon, Stamps-Paper Trey Ink, Tape-Bella Blvd, Ink-Paper Trey Ink, Die Cut-Paper Trey Ink and Cupcake-Martha Stewart

I have to say that this card was a CASE of a card created by Dawn McVey. I really like the pink and aqua color scheme on this card. I also love how easy the tape was to use. I will be utilizing my tape like this on many cards!!

Since this card was a reject, I had to make another card in the color scheme that matched the box. I liked how it came out and was feeling really good about it until Charlotte told me she thought it looked too much like a boy. I told her too bad because I WAS NOT making a third card!!! Looking at the photo now, I get where Char was coming from but I think it is cute anyway. 

Supplies: Blue Card stock, Polka Dot Paper, Stamps, Dies, Ink-Paper Trey Ink, Glitter-Stickles, Patterned Paper-Making Memories and My Minds Eye, White Card Stock-Stampin Up!, Kraft Card Stock-Paper Studio, 

Tape-Queen and Company

I had to make a matching tag for the gift and I used a fun mix of curling ribbon to decorate the handle. I have not been a fan of curling ribbon in the past for gift wrapping, but I really like the looks of this gift. I will be repeating it for the future.

Supplies-Stamps, Dies, Ink-Paper Trey Ink, Kraft Card Stock-Paper Studio

Here are both the gift and tag together. I know the photos don't look like the blues match the box but IRL they did. It was a cloudy day when I took the photos and I only get so much light in my room when that happens.

Thank you for looking. I promise I will be back later in the week with some photos of what has been going on in my kitchen!!

Nora

A Pillow and some Scrapbook Pages

Happy Friday!! I cannot believe it is August and my summer is almost over. I still haven't done everything I planned for this summer but here are a few projects that I created the last few weeks.

My first project is a sewing project. I made a 16" pillow and created this without a pattern. I am NOT a sewer and though this looks like a piece of cake, it took me a long time to make. I wasn't sure how to much extra to cut out to make the seams and the envelope pocket was not in the middle on the back. I have a larger pillow to make and will doing it a bit different when I sew that one.

Here is the pillow with my bedding. The lighting in my bedroom is horrific so please forgive me.

This is a more accurate photo of the colors.

I had so much fun scrapping this photo of Charlotte and my friend Jil's son Noah. It was taken last year at our annual get together in Wickham park. I used Nostalgia die cuts by My Mind's Eye and used spray mist on the background paper. 

I LOVE these photos of Charlotte. Don't they just shout Pre-Teen? A very simple page using die cuts and spray mist.

Have a great weekend!! I hope you all get some time to do something creative!!

Nora