Izbzee

closing out 2011

today was the final day for "play" with the gals in 2011, but it was a good one.  We sure enjoyed it -- we talked and we ate, we talked some more and a couple of us even managed to do a little creating!  :D  Yep, we nurtured that creative side too! 

SVGCuts released their kit, Everyday Cards this past week, and it's definitely a keeper!  This card and the rest in the kit are really easy to create and put together.  They are all A2 size as well -- and not bulky or difficult to piece together as some others I've run across recently.  What's even better is that all of the pieces are easy to resize if needed. 

 

  This card is based on the Party Card.  I just   used the plain frame and added the word Friend.  The papers are from a retired K & Co set, I think and SU! in Color set now retired.  They work pretty well together and have a vintage look with just a little bit of inking on the frame.  The brads I picked up on a clearance at Mike's.  The twine is from SU! The ink is also SU!

 

Now, we're working on some other projects for Valentine's and closing out the vendor's market items for the end of January in AZ.  Looks to be a very busy couple of SHORT weeks around here.  Need to get these cards bundled and the gems in packages! 

it's here!

my new toy -- and Christmas present!  I went ahead and splurged and bought a new machine!  A Sizzix Eclips!  Oh WOW!  It's everything they said it was and more. 

 

Ted's not sure about the set up right now and neither am I, but it will work for the moment.  It's just a little crowded.  I'm thinking it will get moved this morning, though since we'll be using it A LOT!  LOL  The gals are coming over for some serious craft time this New Year's Eve day.

And yes, I was doing a little bit of cutting to see what it could do -- what fun!  Little cuts and not a single problem like I might have had with the other machine.  AWESOMENESS for sure!

 

Last night, SVGCuts released their new kit -- so I had to pick it up and play with it of course and one of the cards jumped out at me...  I found some papers that I thought were funky enough to go "together" did a little inking, some dry embossing, distressing, wrinkling, crinkling and more inking, ran a few of the smaller pieces through the Xyron 1.5" machine, stacked them and Voila!  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used some Hemp twine from Canvas Corp, the angel button was from my stash an oh so long ago, I'm not sure of the source any longer.  The yellow floral paper is from sweetwaterscrapbook.com the Bloom Paper Collection (retired, I think); the polka dot is from K & Co and the yellow is an unknown scrap.  The base is Wausau.  The red textured and DSP is SU! All ink is SU!  Brads are from Oriental Trading. 

Planning on a great last day of 2011 -- Happy Crafting!

And today's thought is:
Think of what you are and all the fantastic potential of you.  Leo Beuscaglia

It was a glorious Christmas

and we're looking forward to a very happy New Year and hope you are too....

I think this is the first year we haven't taken a picture yet at the fireplace!  Oh MY!  I think we'd better get that done this week.  That's certainly a tradition we don't want to let go. 

Been busy printing Celebrating Greatness cards this week -- now to finish them up and get them packaged.  A couple of batches of Greatness Gems are on tap for early next week. 

Here are a few things from December's crafting days -

 

This is a fun adaptation of a couple of files -- shared by one of SVGCuts' design team members.  It was lots of fun to make and we'll be working on this after the first of the year with the group.  Oh what fun!  I can't wait to see how the gals decorate theirs!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

A pretty simple card with lots of heat embossing.  Using SU! stamps.  Nestabilities large and small circle dies.    Ribbon is SU!  The mettalic thread is DMC. 

 

 

Using the Summer Blockbuster kit from SVGCuts.com I dressed up a simple brown lunch sack.  I filled the sack with a 2lb bag of unpopped popcorn.  This went perfectly with the binder of popcorn recipes - over a 134 pages of recipes!  So much fun! 

 

This is the new box file - I LOVE IT!  So easy and one page - one PIECE!  This paper is from Canvas Corp and was included in a box of goodies I won recently!  The twine is from SU! and the buttons are chipboard. 

I ran out of time to make Christmas cards this year -- so I dug through all my graphics and I have a ton, you know!  LOL  Something like 16 Gigs on an external HD thank you PCCrafter.com (and oh, I am sad to see  you go).  So I found a few graphics I liked and printed those and created a few cards.

   

 

 

 

 

 

This card uses a cut from a Cricut Cartridge -- that a friend so graciously made a few cuts for me.  The stamps are from SU! 

 

 

I've been asked recently about the Celebrating Greatness cards ($12 for 10 cards)  and Greatness Gems ($5/pkg); they can be purchased through me.  Send me an email at jan at nurturedheartworld dot com forall the details. 

Catching up ....

the holidays are upon us and how quickly they arrived!  I missed November somehow altogether in blogging so let's catch up!

I can't say I wasn't crafting - the room was busy and we were definitely having lots of fun!  Pictures to follow shortly.  Had a few health glitches in there -- oh how I hate that, but I think we have those under control now.

We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving here in the heartland -- the weather cooperated and we even managed to get a few pictures over on the side yard -- our last since we put it up for sale and this past Tuesday, we closed on it.  The buyer was walking the  property again yesterday... I'm sure they'll begin excavating soon and a house will be on site within a few short months. 

Of course no family picture would be complete without Busted.  And if you're wondering who the young man is, that's Elder Abbott.  He's the Elder that has been serving a special mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints here and living with us. 

(I think it was a delightful 70 degrees on Thanksgiving Day). 

Our yard collects all the leaves from all the surrounding yards, or so it seems.  In some places, the leaves are about a foot deep!  We can't keep up with the raking.  One of the reasons for selling -- or so Ted says.  I think it's because we can't keep up with the mowing and watering!  HA!

At any rate, I hate to see the green space go, but it's time and we are grateful for the joy the space has given us over the years. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with Andrea fixing the dinner all on her own for the second year in a row and doing a really great job overall. I got to lounge around in my jammies and read and sleep in.  How cool was that? 

Edynn Willow, our 7th grandchild arrived a few days after Thanksgiving -- what a doll she is!  Here's a pic  - she's the daughter of our 2nd son and his wife.  Their third child.  She's doing well and gaining weight and already grown an inch in her first month. 

 

 

 

 

 

Now on to some crafting and creating -- this is a cut file from SVGCuts.com.  it's small enough to go on a card and so cute.  Great for using up some scraps.  Lots of inking, some embossing folders adds great texture.  A little more ink and some brads in the corners make it the perfect embellishment.  Thanks Mary and Leo for a great addition to any card or tag! 

 

Here's how I used it on a card!

The stamp is from PaperTreyInk.  I used velum for the top embossed textured paper.  The DSP is an unknown scrap.  Inks and cardstock are from Stampin Up!

 

 

 

 

3-D papercrafting is definitely becoming a passion of mine.  I truly enjoy what you can do with paper and playing with shapes and figures.  SVGCuts has provided lots of files recently that feed that passion!  :D  Oh my goodness!  We're having so much fun building these things!  What's even more fun is to create your own "gingerbread" from white paper when you don't have brown... just ink up!  This was a sample I made to show the gals before I started cutting for real.  Oh they had so much fun making theirs and putting their own touch on the cottage.  So cute. Ink from Stampin Up!, Paper, Office Depot - index weight. 

 

From the Merry and Bright collection by SVGCuts, this cardinal card is so much fun and a quick card to make.  The stamp is from PunkinPatchStamps.com and the Holiday Traditions stamp set.  Papers are from Stampin Up!  and unknown assorted scraps

 

 

This is one of my favorite cards from November's crafting session.  PapertreyInk stamps, Stampin Up!  The cutfile was a gift from a friend.  Isn't it cute?  The music paper was from a swap and the punch, papers and ink are from Stampin Up too.  I heat embossed the snowflakes to make them standout a bit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's about it for November -- I'll be back in a little while with December's update -- and oh yes, there's more........ Happy holidays! 

Happy Halloween!

It's definitely turned cold and you know it's Halloween! 

 

 

We've decked out the trees and the mantel is decked out too.  LOL  you'd think it was a holiday around here or something.  It's been kind of fun and Busted has been really good at leaving the stuff around the bottom of the tree alone this year.  It's probably because there's  no good smelling stuff in any of it!

The stuffed fabric goodies are from Heartspun Primitive Treasures.com.  I love Amy's ideas and fabulous work.  I purchased these a few years ago and enjoy putting them out every year to celebrate the holidays. 

The banner is from one of our first year's of paper crafting as a group and the blocks  from last year I think.  The Bottle of Boo's from a couple of years ago as well.   The Cauldron below is from a SVGCuts.com file as are the bat and candy corn cones.  We've had so much fun with these 3-D paper crafts!

 

 

all files from Party on Elm Street by SVGCuts.com

 

 

 

With November just around the corner -- it's time to start thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas!  Oh my!  Not much time to get it all done.  And we also have a few birthdays creeping up shortly too. 

Aren't these slices cute?  Another SVGCuts.com file.  You could make a whole pie if you wanted and slip them into a box and serve as a gift filled with slips of gratitude or small gifts at  your Thanksgiving dinner.  Make them more feminine or masculine by what you "dress" them with. 

 

As always, the holidays are filled with family -- both near and far.  This year, most of our family will be elsewhere.  We haven't decided what we'll be doing, whether we'll be cooking and inviting a few friends over or what... though we need to decide in the next week or so.  Would love to cook the FEAST! 

   this banner is hanging from my mantel and I just love it -- it's another file from from SVGCuts.com and I used lots of different embellishing techniques on the banner pennants to make it all mine. 

 

embossing folders, die cutting machines, eyelets: Provo Craft

ink, paper: Stampin' Up!

paper crimper: Fiskars

 

 

 

All materials same as above

embossing powder:  Ranger

 

 

 

 

And these rosettes are  on either end of the banner -- they are from the Vintage Rosette kit from SVGCuts.com too.  Yep, lots of good stuff there!  Happy Crafting!