2014 Birthday Cards

Every year as part of my Christmas gift to my parents, 

I make them enough birthday cards to give to their kids and grandkids for the year.

2013 was kind of a crazy year for me.

I felt like the harder I tried, the more behind I got.  

With everything.

So they didn't actually get this part of their Christmas gift until well into January.

I'm hoping 2014 will be a better year for me....we shall see :)

Supplies used:

Paper: SU! Birthday Basics DSP, SU! Basic Gray Cardstock, SU! Old Olive Cardstock, SU! Whisper White Cardstock

Stamps: SU! See Ya Later

Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad

Other: SU! Stylish Stripes Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, star punch (non SU!), oval punch (non SU!)

Crochet Slippers

I mentioned in my last post that I think I've finally got this crochet thing down.

It's much more enjoyable now that I kind of know what I'm doing!

Back in early 2013, I bought THIS SLIPPER PATTERN 

with great hopes of making beautiful slippers. 

I ended up making only one slipper.

Since I'm much more confident in my crochet skills now,

I decided it was high time to pull that pattern out of storage 

and make myself a PAIR of slippers. 

They were supposed to be for me, but ended up being too small.

My 11-year old daughter was thrilled with my mistake, 

because they fit her perfectly.

I guess I'd better start on another pair for me!

My New Hobby

One of my New Year's Resolutions for 2013 was to learn to crochet.

It's something that I've wanted to learn for a long time, 

but just never did anything about it.

One of my daughters and I joined a 4H crochet group,

and we quickly became frustrated with it.

Our first project was a dishcloth.  

Neither one of us ended up finishing it.

It was super confusing for both of us.

Then we tried making a slouch hat.

I ended up taking mine apart several times before I finally finished it.

And it sure wasn't pretty.

We started a few other crochet projects, but then both of us 

ended up putting away our crochet hooks for a while.

Learning to crochet was a lot harder than we thought it would be!

In November of 2013, after a very long break from crocheting,

I finally picked up my crochet hooks again to give it another try.

I'm SO glad I did, 'cause I'm LOVING my new hobby!

THIS OWL HAT was my ultimate goal when it came to crocheting.  

And I'm happy to say that I've finally learned how to make them!

I've made several (my kids have claimed most of them!),

but here's a few that I was able to snap pictures of. 

This one is a newborn size.

Cutest thing ever!

I made this one as a gift for a 6-year old girl.

Love the colors together!

What about you?

Do you crochet?

If so, what are some of your favorite things to make?

Camera Card

Have you seen the camera cards made with the Stampin Up! Envelope Punch Board?!

One word.  Adorable!

Of course I had to make my own version...

Such a fun little project!

If you want to make your own, HERE is a great tutorial from Valerie Moody.

I decided to make my card bigger than the one in the tutorial.
My finished card measures 4.25" x 5.5".
Other measurements:
Circles: 1/2", 3/4", 2", 2.5"
Patterned Paper: 1.5" x 5.5"

YW Christmas Gift

Although it's too late to use this gift idea this year, 

I figured I'd share what we gave our young women for Christmas anyways.  

It's never too early to plan for next year!

We loved THIS IDEA, and decided to give our girls a pair of gloves.  

We found the gloves at a dollar store, and packaged them up 

in a cellophane bag topped with a tulle bow.  

The girls LOVED them!

Since we used gloves instead of mittens, 

I ended up creating my own version of the printable.

If you'd like a copy of my version of the printable without the watermark, 

you can find it HERE.

Christmas Gift Box

No, I haven't completely fallen off the face of the earth ;)

I had every intention of doing my annual 12 Days of Christmas this year.  

Things just got too busy, and I never got around to it.  

I hope you'll forgive me!

Boxes are something that I love to make.  

Whenever I see a tutorial for a new one, especially if it's super cute, 

I always end up making at least one.

This little box measures approximately 4.5" x 2" x 1.5".

It's the perfect size for a small bottle of lotion, a few tubes of chapstick, candy, etc.

The bow on top was made using the new 

Envelope Punch Board from Stampin' Up!.  

Isn't it too cute?!

Want to make your own?

The box tutorial can be found HERE,

and HERE is a great video on making the little bow.

Have a fabulous weekend!

2013 Young Women in Excellence {Stand in Holy Places}

I've been busy the last couple of weeks planning and preparing

 for our Young Women in Excellence 

(this is a program in my church for young women ages 12-18 to celebrate 

what they've accomplished in the Personal Progress program throughout the year).  

Our theme was "Stand in Holy Places". 

 Here's a rundown of few of the things we did.

I bought THIS IMAGE of a high heel shoe made from the 8 Young Women Values.  

We used it for our invitations, in our programs, and made cupcake toppers with it.  

Here's our invitations (I loved THIS INVITATION so much that I patterned ours after it!).

I didn't get any pictures of our cupcakes with the toppers (darn!), 

but here's a few other pictures from that night.

'Stand Ye in Holy Places' printable can be found HERE.

 Value printables can be found HERE.

Our gift to the girls was these cute paper high heels filled with Hershey's Kisses.  

They were a hit!! (and a LOT of work!)  

We also gave them each a temple recommend holder 

that says "Stand Ye in Holy Places"

A close up of the cute shoes...

The printable pattern for these shoes can be found HERE.

We've got a wonderful group of girls in our ward!  

It was fun to be able to have a night to celebrate them 

and all the wonderful things they are doing!

'Be of Good Cheer' Card

Yep, you guessed it!  

The card I'm sharing today features my favorite new tool 

at the moment...the Owl Punch from Stampin' Up!.

This one was inspired by THIS CARD.   

I love the layout....so much in fact, 

that it's on the short list of ideas for my 2014 birthday cards.  

I'll share those when I decide what I'm going to do ;)

Have a great Thursday!

'Celebrate the Season' Card

One item that I've had on my wish list for a very long time is the SU! Owl Punch.  

A few weeks ago I was finally able to purchase it, and I absolutely adore it!  

What I love the most is how versatile it is.  You can make so much more than just owls with it.

I've been in a penguin mood lately :)  

My inspiration for this card came from HERE.

Have a great Tuesday!

File Folder Card {my first one!}

It seems like my posts are few and far between lately!  Sorry about that!  

I wanted to pop in real quick to share a fun card I made today...

Have you seen these file folder cards made with 

the new Envelope Punch Board from Stampin' Up!?  

One word...Adorable!  

I used THIS VIDEO TUTORIAL to learn how to make them, and am now hooked!

Have a great Wednesday!

Supplies used:

SU! Items: Envelope Punch Board (133744), Owl Punch (118074), 1-3/4" Circle Punch (119850), Seasons of Style DSP (132340), Old Olive Cardstock (124284), Old Olive Classic Stampin' Pad (126953), Chocolate Chip Classic Stampin' Pad (126979), Endless Wishes Photopolymer Stamp Set (133455)

Other products: 2" Scalloped Circle Punch, white cardstock, black cardstock, red cardstock, orange cardstock

Card Folders

We recently held a community bazaar in my little town, 

and everyone was asked to donate a few things to be sold there.

I decided to make some of these cute Card Folders as part of my donation.

They open up to hold cards and envelopes.  

I think I put 4 cards and 4 envelopes in mine, but there was room for more.

Here's the card that I made for this card folder.

Card Folder #2....

And the cards that went inside...

These little card folders would be a fun gift idea!

Would you like to make a few?  You can find the instructions HERE.

'I Didn't Forget Your Birthday' {card fail}

I'm not always happy with the cards I make.

Anyone else have that same problem?

This card needs something else, but I just can't seem to figure out what IT is.

Maybe the scalloped circle needs to be bigger.  

Or I should've went with a different shape.

THIS is the sketch I used for inspiration.  

I tried adding another shape by the sentiment like it shows in the sketch, 

but it just didn't work on my card.

Thoughts, anyone?

Pumpkin Lollipop Holders

October already?

I've been itching to make something fun for Halloween, 

and these cute Pumpkin Lollipop Holders were the perfect thing 

to satisfy my crafty itch.

Here's a view from the side.

How fun are these?  

Want to make your own?

  

Directions can be found HERE,  

and the pumpkin idea came from HERE.

More DIY Magnet Boards

There are a few thrift stores in my little town, and my SIL and I 

like to go to them each week to see what treasures we can find.

Last week I found some gold trays hiding on a bottom shelf of one of the stores, 

and knew immediately what I could make with them.....more magnet boards!

These trays were gold, so I spray painted the edges a chocolate brown color 

before mod- podging scrapbook paper onto them.  

They turned out so cute!

I think there may have been a few more trays at the store....

and I'm hoping they're still there!  

My girls and I will be making more of these 

for Christmas gifts for their friends this year.

(if I can find more trays!)