Flannel Baby Blankets

I made three baby blankets using the dinosaur-themed flannel panel.  The back of each is extremely soft minky fabric.

 

I hand-quilted around each of the dinosaurs and words.  I also stitched around the large square to give it a "border" since I didn't bind the blanket.

 

Hopefully all the families that received one of these has been able to put it to good use.  I purchased the flannel panels and minky fabric from fabric.com.

Tennis Wreath

Okay, this isn't on my door now, but it did spend all fall there.  To celebrate making the varsity line-up, my daughter and I created a deco-mesh tennis wreath.

 

Glass Block Nightlight

My niece, Amelia, LOVES her princesses.  Belle is one of her all-time favorites, so I made for her a glass block nightlight for her bedroom.

The cut-outs were from a package I found at Hobby Lobby.  I just used good ole' E-6000 adhesive to attach them.
 

The ribbon was sheer ribbon I picked up from Hobby Lobby.  It is tied around the glass block and the bow is attached at the top.
 

The hardest part of this project was "frosting" the glass.  The first product I tried was a glue-like substance that you painted on and then wiped off.  It didn't seem to frost the glass at all, even after leaving it on for several hours.  I finally ended up using a spray that makes the glass looked frosted, and I was much happier with the outcome.

Hope you have a happy crafting day!

Sympathy Card

Sympathy cards - I've needed too many of these in the past year...  They are never easy to make.  I have finally found a "formula" that I like, and it's very simplistic.

I don't like to use a lot of color on sympathy cards, and I tend to stay away from black - too depressing.  I will change out the color of the mat and stamp, but tend to stay with a white or cream and one color.

This is one of those projects that I can't find my notes on.  I know that the stamps on the front are all from Close To My Heart.  I don't recall whether the inside sentiment is also from Close To My Heart or whether it's a stamp I picked up somewhere (probably from Hobby Lobby).  If I find the sentiment, I will update you.

Holiday Dough

For those who need an idea for gifts for older kids for Christmas, here's a popular one making the rounds on Pinterest.

This is my adaptation of Tonya Whitehurst's Holiday Dough.  College students are all about their pizza, and my son is no exception.  I changed her holiday cookie theme to a pizza theme and gave him some extra spending cash for one of his favorite foods.

 

 
Hope you are having the beginnings of a wonderful holiday season!  Check back for more ideas soon.

Knit Hats

What do you make for Christmas for two toddlers who live overseas and don't have much room in their luggage to take presents home with them?

Hats of course!  They are small & fit in the suitcase, or, if the suitcase is full, put it on their head. 

Here are two hats that I knit for my nephews who live in Denmark.  They are both knit from the Heel Stitch Hat pattern by Purl Soho.

 

This hat is for my 9-month old nephew, Elvis.  It was knit using Red Heart Soft Prints yarn in Waterscape on US-8 size circular and doublepoint needles.  I used the baby size on the pattern.

The second hat is for my two-year old nephew, Jeremiah.  It was knit using of  Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn! in High Sierra Stripe on US-8 size circular and doublepoint needles.  I used the toddler size on the pattern.

On both hats, I added a pom pom which I purchased from Hobby Lobby.  Two Christmas gifts done and they only took a couple of days each to make.

 

Knit Baby Blanket

In the past year, I have been doing much more knitting than paper crafting.  It's more portable - I can throw it in my bag & take it anywhere which is a bonus as I always seem to be "on the go".  

I also moved, so a lot of my paper crafting supplies are still in boxes as that doesn't seem to be high on the priority list of unpacking.  

I'm going to be posting some of my "kreations" over the next few days.  I didn't keep good notes (or if I did, I've misplaced them in the move), so I may not have a lot of the details for you.  I wanted to at least show you what I've been up to & that I'm still around. Lol!

First up today is a blanket I made for my cousin's new daughter, Regan, over the summer.  It was knit with Bernat Baby Blanket yarn in the Peachy color.  The yarn is polyester.  It is thick & squishy - perfect for snuggling under or lying on top of on the floor.

And the colors are so bright!!  It is such a unique combination of orange, pink & fuchsia.  It's just beautiful!  

The knit pattern I used was the Corner to Corner Seed Stitch Blanket which was on the skein of yarn.  I used US 11 circular needles to knit and the blanket was knit on the diagonal.

Enjoy!  I'll be back again tomorrow with another project to post. 

Senior Scrapbook pages 12 & 13

I'm back with more of my son's senior scrapbook today.  Here are the next two pages covering one of his pre-season wrestling tournaments.

These pages were created using Studio J, Close to My Heart's online digital scrapbooking program.  It is absolutely free to play around with and try out.  Check it out on my website or contact me with any questions.

Thanks for stopping by again today!  Hope to see you back again soon.

64 Years of Wedded Bliss

Today is the anniversary of my wonderful grandparents.  They have been together for 64 years.  I threw this card together for them late last night.  There are things I would have done differently if I weren't working on a deadline to complete the card.

The inspiration for this card came from a card that Jeri from Bug 'N Me Creations made.  You can see her original card HERE.  I did not make my card a shaped card, but I did like how the "happy" was the main focal point of the card.

Here is my version:

Here is the inside:

I have to apologize for the photos.  In my haste, I didn't have time to wait on the "good light" of the day to take my pictures.

The card is an A2 size.  The paper came from Close to My Heart - the paper is now retired, but I have a few pieces leftover from an earlier project.

Here are the items for this card:

• Cricut
• Gypsy
• Xyron
• Adhesive
• Sweet Pea paper (retired) from Close to My Heart
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Stand and Salute Cricut cartridge
• Varsity Letter Cricut cartridge
• Black Exclusive Inks from Close to My Heart
• Say It in Style stamp set from Close to My Heart
• Amore stamp set (retired) from Close to My Heart
• My Acrylix Blocks from Close to My Heart
• Ribbon from my stash
• Black fine tip pen

I am linking this up to the "Get Your Brag On" linky party and the TGIF Linky Party.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope to be back soon with a birthday card for a sweet little girl soon to be one.  Have a great night!

Dotty for You Promotion

Close to My Heart is celebrating National Scrapbooking Month with the fabulous Dotty for You paper packet.

This fabulous promotion is available from April 17 through May 31 or until supplies last.  How can you get this great paper pack, you ask? 

• Place an order of $35 or more, and it can be yours for $5.
• Host a gathering with a sales total of at least $400 in qualifying sales, and it will be yours for free.
• Join CTMH as a new consultant between April 1 & May 31, and it will be yours for free.

Hip Hippo Hooray

My niece is turning 4 this week.  Her birthday party was last weekend, so she has already received the card I made - loved the hippo.

This card is 5-1/2"x4-1/4".  There were a lot of layers to put together on this card.  I don't usually make cards with so many "little pieces", but I was really happy with how it turned out.  The Xyron makes putting all those little pieces together so much easier than glue!

The items I used for this card were:

• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy
• Xyron
• The Christmas Card Stack by DCWV
• The Fun in the Sun Summer Stack by DCWV
• Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
• Cuttin' Up Cricut cartridge
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Turquoise Stickles by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by!  Hope you've had some crafting time this week.

I'm linking up to:

April Stamp of the Month

April is here, and that means a new Close to My Heart stamp of the month.  This month's stamp set is so versatile!

There are so many possibilities for this stamp set!  You can purchase the set for $17.95, or with a $50 purchase, the set it yours for $5.  You can check out the details on my website. 

You can see directions and supplies needed for making all the items (scrapbook page, 2 cards and the travel album) seen in the above photo HERE.

Cupcake Birthday Card

I'm back today with another birthday card for a dear friend of mine, Tracy.  Hopefully you get the card in the mail before you see it here. :-)

This was another card that was inspired by Pinterest.  See the original HERE from Kassidy at the Inking it Up Crazy blog.

This is an A2 (5-1/2"x4-1/4") card.  It was made with scraps from my stash.  The inside is simply stamped with Happy Birthday.  Here are the rest of the details:

• Cricut Expression
• Gypsy
• Cuttlebug
• Xyron
• Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
• From My Kitchen Cricut cartridge
• Just Because Cards Cricut cartridge
• Stamps from the Close to My Heart Cricut Art Philosophy collection
• Spots and Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder
• Craf-T Chalks Kit #2
• Magenta Stickles
• Ribbon (from my stash)
• Foam tape
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad by Close to My Heart
• Sparkle Sheer Shimmer Spritz by Tsukineko

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hope to see you back again this week for some more new projects.

Feminine Birthday Card

Sorry for the lack of posts this week.  I forgot to schedule posts before I left with my son for his college visit this week.  I meant to post this birthday card that I made for my mom yesterday. Happy belated birthday Mom!

I will be back tomorrow with the "recipe" for this card; I just wanted to make sure I got it posted before it was really belated (although I did make sure she got the actual card on her birthday).

Senior Scrapbook pages 8-11

Welcome back!  Thanks for taking time out of your weekend to stop by.  I'm continuing on sharing my son's senior scrapbook today.

Here are the next two double-page layouts of my son's senior scrapbook:

The first layout was created with the Game On kit in Studio J.  The second layout was created using the Sophisticated kit.

Wishing you a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by to check out my work. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Sports Theme Birthday Card

Yea!!  It's Friday and the start of spring break here.  No major plans for us ~ a couple of college visits this week as we try to narrow down the decision, and my daughter still has her activities to keep her (and us) busy.  I know I promised some more scrapbook layouts today, but it's a special day!

Today is my nephew Jack's birthday.  Happy birthday!!  We wish we were closer to celebrate with you, but we'll see you soon.  Jack, like many 11-year old boys, loves to play sports.  That love of sports was the inspiration for his birthday card.

This card is 4-1/4"x5-1/2".  I used the Gypsy when creating this card.  It really helped me visualize what sizes I needed to make the bat and balls. 

The supplies I used for this card were:

• Paper from my scrap stash
• Tombow adhesive
• Xyron Creative Station
• Cricut Expression
• Sports Mania Cricut cartridge
• Designer's Calendar Cricut cartridge
• Gypsy
• Black Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• Dutch Blue Exclusive Inks stamp pad from Close to my Heart
• ColorBox French Blue Chalk Ink
• 3x3 My Acrylix Block from Close to my Heart
• Stamps from the Cricut Art Philosophy Collection from Close to my Heart
• Say It In Style My Acrylix stamp set from Close to my Heart

Thanks for stopping by today!  Hopefully you are looking forward to a weekend full of crafting.  See you soon a new project.

18th Birthday Card

I wanted to share something different today.  Today I'm going to share the birthday card I made for my son's 18th birthday.  I can't take credit for the design ~ it's something I found on Pinterest.  If you want to see the original idea, you can see it HERE; it came from JulieH on the Cricut message board.

The card is a 6x6 square with the fold at the top.  The yellow mat is cut using the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge exclusively from Close to my Heart at 5.87" wide.  The "happy birthday" mat is cut using the same cartridge but at 5.75" wide.

The "18" is cut from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge and cut again using the shadow feature at 5.5" tall.  "Jonathan" was cut from the font on the Wild Card Cricut cartridge and welded using my Gypsy.  I played with the size until I was happy with the way it lay over the 18; I would make it a different size if using a different length name.  As JulieH explained in her original directions, I cut Jonathan three times, ran them through my Xyron, and attached them together to make it thicker.

On the inside, I cut a mat from the Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge at 5.75" wide.  The sentiment is cut at 5.5" wide from the Create a Critter Cricut cartridge.

Here are the supplies I used:
Cricut Expression
Xyron Creative Station
Art Philosophy Cricut cartridge from Close to my Heart
Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge
Wild Card Cricut cartridge
Create a Critter Cricut cartridge
Black cardstock (from my stash)
Yellow cardstock from Hobby Lobby
Multi Colored Bday Words from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Silver from The Paper Studio
Solid Glitter - Turquoise from The Paper Studio
Clouds from Colorbok

Hope to see you back at my blog soon!  Stop back tomorrow as I'll have some more of my scrapbooking layouts. 

Senior Year Scrapbook pages 6 & 7

I'm back again....this might be a new record for me for the number of posts in a row.  Today I'm going to share the next two pages of my son's senior year scrapbook with you.  This layout was created using Studio J and the Stardust kit.

Yes, those are "duct-tape pants" he's wearing.  He spent many hours covering a pair of jeans and an old hat in neon duct tape for this football game.  Once again, the bonfire pictures are pictures I downloaded from friends' facebook pages.

It's the middle of the week!!! Thanks for stopping by again today. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Senior Year Scrapbook pages 3 - 5

I'm back with some more of my son's senior scrapbook.  First up is "the other half" of yesterday's layout.  This ended up paired up with a page with his school picture instead of the page from yesterday's post.

This layout was completed in Studio J, Close to my Heart's online digital scrapbooking program.  The kit used was Class Act.  These were pictures from the first football game of the season - every game had a different "theme" for the student body.

Here is the next two page layout.  They were made using the Magnifique kit.  I was "super-pleased" with the way the class of 2012 pictures came out.  It was a photo I downloaded from one of my son's friends facebook pages.  I wasn't sure it would be high-quality enough to print, but it turned out pretty good.

Wow - posts two days in a row!!  Thanks for stopping by again to check out my work. If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE. I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there. See you soon with more layouts!

Senior Year Scrapbook

As I said in my recent post, I just don't know where all my time is going this year.  My son is a senior, and I'm really trying not only to play "catch up" on his scrapbooks, but to keep current on this year's book. 

The easiest way I've found to stay current is digital scrapbooking.  Now, don't get me wrong, I still love playing with paper AND my Cricut, but digital scrapbooking really is so much faster and convenient in this day of digital photos.  I have been using Close to my Heart's digital scrapbooking program, Studio J.  I really resisted when it was first introduced, but, after playing with it, I can honestly say I LOVE it! 

I don't have a photo printer at home, so traditionally when I scrapbooked, I would have to plan ahead to get my pictures printed or print pictures and hope they were sized right when I sat down to create.  Nothing kills my creativity faster than working on a page and not having the photo I want!  With Studio J, I upload my photos, choose the papers and layout I want to use, and create away.  No more printing pictures.  No more cropping photos; I can enlarge or crop the photos as I am using them in the program.

Best of all, the papers in the current Idea Book are all represented in Studio J as well as some of the retired lines!  I can add traditional pages to my digital pages or add elements from the same paper pack to create dimension.  The possibilities are endless!

I thought I would start today with the opening page of his scrapbook.  I've known for YEARS what I wanted on this page.

Everything about this page is digital.  I did not add any traditional elements to this at all.  I used the Class Act paper kit.  Once you have created  your pages (everything is created in two-page layouts) in Studio J, you have the option to have them printed (and sent to you with page protectors) or you can purchase the images and have them printed yourself. 

Because you create in two-page layouts, the "other half" of this layout is used later in the book.  I knew there were some pages that I would have that I would need to create myself - school picture, newspaper articles, team pictures, etc. - and just planned to use the other half opposite one of those pages.

Hope you are having a great start to week!  Thanks for stopping by to check out my work.  If you're interested in checking out Studio J for yourself, you can find out more by clicking the link HERE.  I would love to have you "like" me on facebook with the button at the top of the page as I am getting my page started there.  See you soon with more layouts!