Springy Christmas

TCC#6

I finally did Tracy's monthly challenge before the deadline. Here in Texas it has been over 100 degrees every day this last week so making Christmas Cards felt a little weird. I am so glad I am keeping on track with these though. At this rate I should have enough to send all handmade cards out this year.

This month Tracy's challenge http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/ was to make 5 cards all using the same main image. This time though the challenge was to use a different fold. So I decided to try out a fold that caught my eye a while ago. It's called a spring card. Because when you take it out of the envelope it's supposed to spring up by itself.

I had a lot of fun making these cards. Cardstock is a tempting turquoise color and the paper is Heidi Grace. The image is my favorite little monkey Changito. I used my extra-giga scallop circle punch which was the perfect size. You can find the step by step instructions here: http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/spring_card/

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Gift Card for Hubby

Today is my Hubby's Birthday. He had to go to work which was a shame but not before opening his cards and gifts. One of which was this gift card holder I made for him. Well the gift card was the gift but you know what I mean. I tweaked it a little from the last one I showed you a while ago cause it turns out Xbox360 gift cards are longer in size than regular gift cards so I made the smaller gift card holder fit inside a regular card which in turn fitted inside a regular envelope. Score!

Still needs some tweaking though as the star at the bottom that was supposed to keep it shut refused to do it's job. I had to go to all sorts of lengths to figure something out for that. It wasn't perfect, but next time I need one I will figure out a better way to keep it closed.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Cushions for Hubby

Saturday we went to Ashley Furniture and got another bookshelf for our dining room. While we were there Paul mentioned that he has a leather sofa in his office (alright for some don't you think) but he had no cushions for it. Can you see where this is going? I should have cottoned on when he said he wanted something more personal than store bought but no silly old me offered to make him some. Somehow in the space of an afternoon we managed to go to Jo-Ann's, he picked out the fabric he wanted and when we got home I made 3 cushions. I think it's a record, for me anyways. He took them into work on Monday and sent me this pic of them on his sofa.

Father's Day Goodies

Ok, I'm a day late with these but as promised here are the things the kids and I made for Paul for Father's Day. Firstly I took pics of the kids out the garden holding the letters that make up the word DAD. Then I decorated a wooden frame I got at Michael's with Disney paper and mickey shaped buttons and once dry I put one of the pic's into the frame.

Once the pic's were taken the kids decorated the two D's with (their tool of choice) crayons. I took the A and using my Stazon black ink stamped some Disney stuff on it.

Last but not least I made him a post-it holder from a couple of drink coasters and I finally christened my bind-it-all machine. If your wondering why it's all Disney themed it's because Paul works for Disney plus the fact that the family as a whole are big fans of Disney helped too.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

An Award.....For Me....Aw, Shucks:-)

Hello fellow crafters, Just popped on quickly to show you the award I've received from Cindy at http://creationsbycindy2345.blogspot.com/ . Thank you Cindy, you are so very kind.

Here are the rules for this award:

Thank the person who nominated you for the award.

Copy the logo and place it on your blog.

Link to the person who gave you the award.

List 7 things about yourself that people may find interesting.

Nominate 7 new Kreativ Bloggers.

Post links to the new nominated blogs.

Leave a comment on their blogs, letting them know they have been nominated.

So 7 things about myself, hmm

1. I'm a big fan of So You Think You Can Dance

2. I have 2 cats: Cali & Tex (named for the 2 states we have lived in since moving to America)

3. I met my Hubby 15 years ago

4. I love playing drums on Rock Band

5. I've been crafting since I was a kid and used to help my mom.

6. I like most all types of music from Alice Cooper to Willie Nelson, but country is my favorite.

7. You should all know how much I love Gorillas by now ;-)

Now for the fab ladies that I'd like to pass this on to:

1. Lucy http://fabricaholic.blogspot.com/

2. Joani http://joaniscardsmadebyhand.blogspot.com/

3. Jacilynn http://jacilynndashwood.blogspot.com/

4. Libby http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/

5. Tracy http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/

6. Jeanette http://jeanette-happythoughtsinkspots.blogspot.com/

7. Suzanne http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com/

These are just a few of many. All of these and more are of great inspiration to me.

Hugs

Nic

Couple of Things

I'm afraid I don't have a lot to show you right now. My card making mojo has gone on it's summer holidays it would seem. I have been making a couple of things for my hubby for Father's Day but I will show you those once I have given them to him on Sunday.

Here's a couple of scrapbook pages I got made though. One for Jake for 4th grade and one for Megan for 1st.

I also made a dress for Megan. I can't take a lot of credit for this though as I actually bought it as a skirt from Goodwill and just added the straps so not really much sewing in that. I did however just wash a whole bunch of fabric yesterday and I have a pattern all cut out ready to make a dress from start to finish so I will let you know how it goes.

Z Fold Anniversary Card

I needed an anniversary card so went looking on SCS for idea's and found a bunch of cards using this new technique. It is TLC221 and called a Tri-shutter card, it is also referred to as a Z fold. They gave me a link to this tutorial. http://craftiblog.wordpress.com/2009/04/23/2009-04-23-quad-fold-card-sample-tutorial/ I thought to myself what a cool looking card. I must try this so I got out some 12x12 cardstock. I don't have much as I generally buy 8.5x11. I cut it to size then as always got distracted.

The next day I got a swap in the mail from my dear friend Carrie and would you believe it was one of these cards. She too had been making them. Once again inspired to try I went to my craft room and got to work. I kept it pretty simple as the card itself is very busy with all it's folds. I used some DP from the spring stack and the SU set Fifth Avenue Floral. I think it turned out very pretty in the end. I am going to have to try these again.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Punch Penguin Christmas

Although I keep missing the deadline for the challenge I am still making my Christmas cards each month and trying to follow the challenge guidelines on Tracy's blog (http://tracyshappyplace.blogspot.com/). For the end of May it was to make 5 cards where the sentiment was your main image and to use the color pink. I did that, but it was missing something so when I saw this cute penguin on Heathers punch club (http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/2009/05/simply-punches-three.html). I just couldn't resist adding him as the finishing embellishment. Isn't he just the cutest thing. I am having so much fun with this club I am so glad I joined.

Cardstock is retiring In-colors Pacific Point and Pink Pirouette

Multiple punches were used all SU

Sentiment is from SU Big On Christmas

Cuttlebug Snowflakes folder was also used

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Monkey Father's Day

I am getting a little overwhelmed with the amount of un-inked rubber I have. I seem to be buying them faster than I can use them, (LOL) but I'm gonna start working through what I have for a while. This will be a good test of my will power.

I wanted to make cards from the kids for Father's Day so I picked on changito as he's just so cute and I haven't inked this little fella yet. This will be the first card for my new resolution. I used one of the retiring in-colors too. It always seems that just as I manage to collect them all it's time to move on to the next round of colors.

Onto the card I used 2 changito stamps for this image as I needed two little monkeys to resemble my own two little monkeys. I even drew on a bow into the one's hair to make it a girl. Cardstock, DP and ribbon are all Pacific Point. I used 2 separate sentiment stamps. Misc Father's day one and a TAC grandpa one. I made one each for each grandpa and then made a third for dad (also TAC).

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

Flowers for Teacher

I decided to do this project last minute yesterday. Today is my kids last day of school for the summer. I bought these little flower pots a few weeks ago I saw them at the counter at Jo-Ann's and immediately this project came to mind but with one thing and another cropping up it was looking like I wasn't going to get it done. So last night I sat down and managed to get them done.

I originally got the idea from http://thescraproomblog.blogspot.com/2009/05/end-of-school-year-is-coming.html She had just done a label on a potted plant which I thought was very cute. Also I have been looking at a lot of blogs making flower pot cards. So when I saw these pots BOOM I got an idea to alter the packageing to look like the flowers were already there.

It was a lot easier in the end than I thought it would be. I took the cardboard cover off and traced it onto a piece of DP. I punched a hole in the DP so that you could see the picture of the flowers underneath and then I glued it together. I punched holes for my ribbon to thread through and for my little tag to attach.

I then made my flowers. I used my SU flower punch and small circle punch with pinks and purples for the pot with sweet peas inside and my SU scallop circle and 1 inch circle for the sunflowers. I then attached some with glue dots and some with dimensionals to make them stand out. I then atattched the ribbon and the tag and they were done. The kids loved them and I think the teachers will to. I almost didn't want to part with them.LOL.

Thanks for looking

Hugs

Nic

New Baby Card

I have been wanting to join in with Libby's "From Courtney's Closet" challenges on her blog for the longest time. I have very bad timing for missing them. Actually for missing most things, but with this in mind I tried really hard for her Anniversary challenge. It worked in my favor too as I was able to chose from the whole years challenges to pick out a favorite. Well I just had to choose the cute little monkey outfit from back in November 2008 it was #23.

I have been itching to try out this punch monkey I found on Heather's blog http://www.stampwithheather.typepad.com/ You actually have to go down to her archive list and click on January to find it as I didn't realise how long ago I had first spotted it. There is a video you can watch which lists all of the punches you will need as she goes. All the punches she uses are SU. I was missing a few originally which is why it has taken me a while. I just joined her current punch club. So much fun and the projects are so cool. Anyway back to the card.

Cardstock is: choc chip, creamy caramel, handsome hunter, cameo coral & ruby red

Cuttlebug folder: D'vine swirls

Other punches: Extra Giga scallop circle punch, SU scallop edge punch

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The leafy vine is from Quickuts. However it is slightly too thin to go through my cuttlebug so I had to pad it out with some cardboard to make it cut. To make the monkey look like a girl I used red grossgrain ribbon, I just tied one knot and rounded the ends with my scissors to make it look like a bow then attached it with a glue dot.

While we are on the subject of monkeys my friend Gabby sent me a RAK this week she sent me this awesome card and inside was the cutest gorilla stamp. I just love it, isn't he cute. Thank you once again for him Gabby, he's awesome and so is the card.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic

Garden/Fathers Day Card

I made a bunch of these both for a garden swap and for my dad and hubby's dad for Father's Day. I thought it was a good twist on topic as most people seem to lean towards flowers with garden swaps and at the time I needed masculine cards so it killed 2 birds so to speak. The image reminds me of when I was a kid. My mum had the same gloves and tools. Yes, I said my mum. Dad wasn't much of a gardener except when there was too much for mum to do alone and he would help out.

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I have had this stamp a while and not really been sure of what to do with it until now. It's from Mostly Animals. Cardstock is Night of Navy. I don't have a clue where the paper came from I found it in my stash and it just seemed to work. I don't even remember buying it. LOL. I water colored the image and cut it out and placed it on the cut down, distressed top note die with dimensionals. 3 bronze brads to finish.

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Thanks for looking

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Hugs

Nic