A Splendid Photo Display...

Hello friends! It is January 4th...am I the only one in disbelief? It seems like just yesterday was Halloween and somehow Thanksgiving and Christmas have zoomed past us. Where does the time go? In any event, I hope you all had a safe and happy holiday season.

Moving right along, I am featured today over on Authentique's blog. I created this cute frame:

Be sure to head over to their blog to see the tutorial! Hope you all have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Wonderful Gift Card Holder

Good evening, friends! Anyone else ready for Christmas to be over with? {raises hand} It seems like the middle of December raced to get here and the days have been creeping by ever since. Maybe it's just me.

ANYway, I thought I'd make a card to put a gift card in. We all know how attractive the card holder that comes with the gift card usually are. I decided to put a different spin on them this year. And I'll tell you something...this is SUCH an easy and cute way to dress up a gift card!

I used a craft pocket as the card holder and then decorated around it a bit using twine, an edge punch and a little tag I made.

This card probably took me 20 minutes to make. That's quite an accomplishment in this crafty novice's book. :)

I hope I inspired you to put a new spin on an old (an unattractive) idea.

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Until next time...

The 80s are BACK!!

Hello all! Hope you are having fun hopping along on the Back to the 80s Birthday Blog Hop! If this is the first you've heard of it, go back to Emily (the birthday girl's) blog for all of the details!!

The 80s seem like such a long time ago, but also seem like just yesterday. My earliest memories are from the 80s...everything from the toys to the clothes stick out in my mind. The strange thing is, a lot of what I had, saw or experienced in the 80s are BACK! Guess I grew up in a pretty cool decade. :)

This is a picture of me from about 1985-ish.

Anyway, for my project I decided to scrap a picture that was taken of a friend and I back in 1985. I had just moved from Colorado to Arizona with my family and was going to be going to Disneyworld with my best friend from Colorado and her family. I flew - SOLO - from AZ to CO, then on to Florida with my friend and her family. The picture in my layout was taken at the airport in Denver before we left on our amazing adventure. The things that scream "HELLOOO 80s" in this picture are what my friend and I are holding: a Rainbow Brite doll complete with Sprite sidekick (me) and a Cabbage Patch Kid (my friend). Doesn't get more 80s than that, folks. :)


I used Echo Park's Little Girl line for this layout because the colors and patterns seemed very appropriate for a layout about the 80s. It was a very colorful decade, that's for sure.


I also decided to turn my picture into a polaroid-like picture as part of the throw-back theme.

I have to say, creating a layout to go with this picture was really fun. The memories of all of my 80s toys took me back to a happy place, which is something I needed after the last few days I've had.

Don't forget to post on all of the blogs along the hop because as Emily's post stated, there will be some FUN prizes given away! Have fun hopping!

The next stop on the hop is Heather!

Here's the blog line up in case you get lost along the way:

Emily
Lisa
Abby
Candace
Nicole
Julie Ranae
Stephanie
Tanya
Candace
Elizabeth
Angelica
Michelle
Erin
Sarah
Dawn
Kathy
Jeannie
Cristine <-- You are here!
Heather

Hopping along with Authentique and Scor-Pal!

Hello visitors and returning friends! I am excited to be taking part in the Authentique Paper and Scor-Pal Blog Hop today! If this is the first you've heard of the hop, make sure to go back to Authentique Paper's blog to take part in the whole thing!

Here is the blog order for our fun hop: {click on the name to take you to the specific blog}

Authentique Paper
Tifany DeGough
Steph Ackerman
Emily Lanham
Gini Cagle
Misty Buck
Lisa Andrews
Brenda Smith
Katie Tate
Cristine Redmond <-- You are here.
Kittie Franken
Scor-Pal

Be sure to comment on each blog as you hop because there are some great prizes up for grabs! Authentique Paper is offering TWO winners a fantastic paper prize pack {$20 retail value} and Scor-Pal is offering a Scor-Buddy {$20 retail value}! {Winner will be chosen randomly from all comments on the manufacturer blogs AND the DT blogs. Winner must have a US/Canada address.} Blog comments close Monday, December 19th at 11:50 pm {Pacific} and winners will be announced Wednesday, December 21st on the Authentique Paper and Scor-Pal blogs.

Now on to the fun stuff! For my project today, I decided to try something I've never done before...making an elaborate paper ornament. Here are the supplies I used:


I used my Silhouette to cut out 15 2-inch circles. I used some chalk ink to ink the edges of one side of the circle. Then I scored each circle so that a triangle was formed.


I used my Xyron Mega Runner to put adhesive on the backs of the flaps formed by creasing the circle, then I started sticking the edges together. Once I got the first five pieces together, I made the bottom cap of the ornament by stringing a button and some Jenni Bowlin pearl charms with twine.


The next row consists of 10 more circles, then finish it up by adding the final five. I added another button, then tied off the twine to make a loop for hanging the ornament on the tree.


I am so happy with the way this turned out! I've never attempted anything like this before and judging from how easy it was to put together, I don't think this will be my last!

Thank you for hopping by my blog today! I hope you'll become a follower to see what other fun things I have up my sleeves!

Next stop on the blog hop is Kittie Franken.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Hello all! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are getting into the Christmas spirit! Today I am showing you a project that I made after being inspired from a post I saw on my scrappy friend Heather's blog. She made an adorable "Dear Santa" book for her daughter to write her Christmas list in every year. What an adorable idea!

We have a resident elf named Holly. She showed up this time last year and made sure the girls were being good throughout the season, then reported back to Santa each night. This year, Holly told me that she wants to deliver some journals like the ones Heather made. So today when Holly showed up, she had these journals with her. I'm excited for this new tradition in our family. :)

"Holly"

I started with a couple journals I got for $1 each at Michaels. (Sorry for the crummy picture.)


I covered each journal with kraft paper. (Again, blurry picture...sorry!!)


And then I decorated them with Authentique's Wonder collection and some Twinery twine. The "Dear Santa" alphas are from Scenic Route. I'm pretty sure my oldest is going to figure out I did these when she sees the twine as she knows I have some, but I'll just have to tell her Santa wanted me to make them. :)


As I mentioned before, I am so excited for this new Christmas tradition. Hopefully we'll be able to continue it for many years to come.

Until next time...

Gathering Thoughts

Hello again! Sorry for my lack of posts lately. Seems I've been doing more napping than crafting as of late. Must be entering my winter hibernation mode. :) I have been working on the following project for a few weeks now and finally finished it up this morning.



Before the school year started, I volunteered to be my daughter's teacher's Secret Pal. By signing up, I was agreeing to do something special each month for her teacher to let her know how much she's appreciated. I admit, I've slacked off a bit as I forgot to give her something last month, but this month I hope to make up for it. I made her this magnet board using Authentique's Gathering line, which seemed fitting for this occasion. I thought it would be a nice place for my daughter's teacher to put her thoughts, grocery list, etc.

If you saw my post for Authentique on October 24th, then you'll know that I have been making magnet boards and magnets for gifts recently. It's a fun and easy way to put together a cute gift for a friend, family member, neighbor, etc.

Here is a closer look at a couple cute flowers I made. I've never attempted these with paper before as I've only made them with felt, but I think I like the way they turn out with paper better! I just cut out five circles of the same size and one circle a bit smaller. I got the circles wet, then crumpled them up. I kind of shaped them the way I wanted them to dry, then let them dry over night. I used a hot glue gun to glue them to the smaller circle and voila! Cute flowers to add dimension to any project!

This is a close-up of the magnets I made. SUPER easy to do. I purchased a bottle cap kit, used some clear craft glue that I already had, then cut three one-inch circles. I did a tutorial for Authentique on December 4th, which explains the process with pictures.

I hope you enjoyed this little slice of Gathering heaven. :) If I am not back before then, I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year I have much to be thankful for. I'm thankful to be on the Authentique Design Team. I'm thankful for the amazing scrappy ladies I've become friends with this year. I'm thankful for a husband who might not understand my scrap habits, but never complains when he sees new stuff come into the house. :) I'm thankful for my two beautiful red heads, who challenge me and make me laugh daily. And last but not least, I'm thankful to have picked up a craft hobby that calms and centers me. If I didn't have my scrappy time, I'd be a much different person. :)

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Blissful Organization Part Two

If you can recall, I did a post for Authentique last week with a tutorial on how I made this wonderful little magnetic bulletin board:

Today my post over at Authentique is a tutorial on how I made the magnets and pins. Be sure to check it out! My post is part of the Handmade Holidays Blog Hop. Follow along to get great ideas for making handmade gifts this holiday season!