Twisted Easel Card

I had so much fun making this twisted easel card for my swap in my card swap group.  I watched a video from West Coast Scrappers.  If you'd like to try it, check out their YouTube Video HERE.

I'm working on a double twisted easel now.  I hope it turns out well.

Paper Layouts vs. Digital Layouts

It has been a long time since I actually did real paper scrapbooking.  I have been doing more and more digital scrapbooking because I can do it with no mess in my house and I can easily have it made into the digital books online.  I love that. I can also use and re-use the kits which actually cuts down on the cost of buying paper.  All this said, I spent 6 hours last night at a scrapping crop with a Creative Memories consultant and I remembered how much fun it is to do a hands-on, paper-cutting, tape and gluing layout.  It is especially fun when you can do it with other people and chat the whole time. 

These layouts I made don't have any Creative Memories stuff in them, but I did buy some papers which are super cute for next time!  I have to print the pictures to go with the papers.  So here's what I made.  I spent most of the time making my boys' Valentine's.  The airplanes still need to have banners attached, but I haven't printed those yet.

Most people have seen this kind of Valentine by now.  I love how cute they turn out.  I saw one online that also said, "Valentine, you make me snicker!" and then the little girl was holding a Snickers bar.  Totally cute.

These will have a banner tied onto the back with Happy Valentine's Day on it and my son's signature on the back.  He's a little too old (5th) for the traditional cutesy Valentines, so we went with something a little cooler.

 This is my layout I finished last night.  Not sure who makes the orange edged paper, but there is some Basic Grey on there as well as a folder I made using one of the Basic Grey folders as a template.

 The folder opens for a lot of journaling space...

There are two pages for journaling....

 I believe the "words" in the back are from Basic Grey as well.  They are actually on a transparency, so I can add a background behind it.  I tried that. Let me know which you like better.  I think the white looks crisper and Springier, but the dots look warmer and more "Fall".   What do you think?

Christmas Planner - Free Printable

Okay... well, I don't just have a paper crafting obsession, I also have a Christmas decorating obsession!  I love it and I love Christmas.   While looking for Christmas decorating ideas on the internet, I came across a group of ladies who decorate to the MAX!  They truly don't just decorate for Christmas like most... they put up LOTS of trees, they have open houses, they have parties, they make dinners, they have cookie exchanges.   The Yahoo group is run by Melody and a she is the maxest maxer of them all!  She has 70 or so trees and has had magazine articles written about her beautiful Christmas display.  If you are a maxer, want-to-be maxer, or just love Christmas, her group is the one to join.  You get TONS of crafting, food and decorating ideas right in your email inbox.  Participation is mandatory at least once a month.  Sharing your ideas and traditions is a fun way to get ready for the holiday all year long!   If you want to find this group... go here.

One of the things that is helpful at Christmastime, whether you decorate to the max or to the min, is staying organized.  With gift buying, decorating, menus, parties, crafting, etc, etc, etc.... there is lots of planning to do.  I've created some pages to use in my person planner that I thought I'd share with you.    If you have any ideas for other pages you may need, leave a comment and I will try to come up with a page for you.

These pages are 8 1/2 x 11 inches.  To get them, click on the picture and it will open full-sized in a new window.  You should be able to just print it from there, but if it doesn't work properly, you can right-click on it and save it to your hard drive then print it from your Paint program on your computer.   Some of the pages are just dividers for your notebook.  If you are trying to save ink, you don't have to print those.   Place each page in a 3-ring binder plastic cover and stay organized!

The next four pages are dividers....  Make a section just for those crafty, wonderful tree themes, garlands, tablescapes and vignettes you find in magazines and online.  Print them from websites (http://www.bhg.com/ and http://www.marthastewart.com/) always have great ideas!) and cut your ideas from magazines and place them in a page cover for future reference.

A budget is a good thing to have for any project, so this is a list to help you to keep your $$$ under control.

This is a list for those heirloom gifts you have.  This will be a nice list to give to your children when they move away from home and you hand down those ornaments with sentimental value for their first Christmas tree.

Ever buy a Christmas gift in January while all of the great after-Christmas sales are going on only to forget you had it and where you stored it???  If not, then your memory is awesome!  If so, this is the list for you {amd me!}

For those of you who like to get in Christmas Card or Ornament swaps, here is a directory so you can keep your swaps straight!

 I hope you enjoy these!  Again, if you have ideas for other pages, let me know in the comments section below.

I've linked this post up to the following linky parties!






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Today's Card

This is a wedding card I made today for my husband's cousin.  The background is shiny and the balls in the middles of the flowers are actually edible candies for decorating cookies.  LOL!  The Best Wishes and the edging are done with peel-offs as well as are the stickers in the inside. 

July Birthday Cards

I needed to make a birthday card for my friend today but I had no inspiration, so I turned to 2 Sketches 4 You for a layout idea.  Here's what I came up with using their layout.  Pretty literal, but it is what I needed... something to follow. 

Inside... Happy Birthday pop-up using a brass stencil.  I drew the Best wishes

and the And Many More (as if you couldn't tell).

Another friend's birthday card I made today.

Tami

Pretty Teacher Cards

I spent the day making cards for teachers.  Here they are.... The first two are not original ideas.  I saw them somewhere online or maybe in a magazine or something. 

Not sure how I'm going to give this card.  It may just get taped to the top of the gift!

The glue is still wet on this one. There is a thin string across the top of the banners...

Forgot to take a picture of this card, so you only get to see the envelope.  Sorry!

Have a great summer!

Tami

How to Sew an Easter Egg Card

I made this card for a swap partner {hope she doesn't see it! Ssshhhhh!}

I started with some fusible fleece so I could get a quilted feel and ironed on the floral fabric.

I then cut the other fabrics roughly so they would sort of stick out over the edges. I didn't want

them to be too perfect so you could tell it is handmade. {crazy, right?}

I then sewed on the stripes, sewed around the whole egg, added the ball edging and ric rack and glued the whole thing to some patterned paper. I then glued that paper to some cardstock and edged everything with peel-offs. The chipboard was then added to the top to give it that fabragé egg feel and flowers added just because I ♥ flowers.

Tami