Filled With Love Promo

Well, I'm back! :)

It was nice to take a little Christmas break and spend time with my family -  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas!

I will admit to you that I've been hanging onto this for awhile. To me, it just didn't seem right to be promoting Valentine's Day, when we hadn't even celebrated Christmas yet!  Now that we've celebrated Christmas, here it is:

Filled with Love Bundle

(click on pic to view in normal mode)

This Valentine's day, give your loved ones a beautiful handmade gift using products from Stampin' Up!

From now until January 24, get a FREE package of Bitty Buttons when you purchase the Filled with Love Bundle (includes Filled with Love stamp set and exclusive Love Patterns Designer Series Paper Pack) -- only available through this special promotion.

Ready to shop?  Click HERE to Order Stampin' Up! Products Online, anytime!

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)

Crystal

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

(click on above pic)


Thank you, Lord...for the ultimate gift!


Thank you for stopping by, and have a GREAT Christmas day!
Crystal

Birthday Blessings

So, Tuesday was my birthday.  I *heart* birthdays. :)

This year was especially nice, as my hubby took the day off to spend with us.  He's a dairy farmer, so for him to have a day off, he has to TAKE it off.  No M-F/8-5 with weekends off job for him, lol! So, you seee....I am VERY thankful when he takes a day totally off. :)
THANK YOU HONEY!!

A "party" with my family the night before - mom STILL makes us each our own special meal - is she a gem, or WHAT? My family is so sweet & generous.
THANK YOU MOM/FAMILY!!

Phone calls, Cards, and FB messages...oh, I feel so LOVED! :)
THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

The Saturday before was breakfast out with a girlfriend - I so treasure that time!
THANK YOU, BECKS! :)

Today's card is made using the stamp set I received from said friend: "Aviary".
I also made it to participate in this week's Color Challenge at SCS...use only Black, Red, & White.

The picture quality is poor, sorry about that.  It's a grey and dreary morning, and I'm too impatient to wait for better lighting, lol.

Well, what do you think (poor picture aside, lol)?

I'm sorry I haven't been on here much lately...life has just been so crazy busy!  This was actually supposed to be yesterday's post...but things happen and now I sit here finishing it today. ;-) 

I'm thinking one of my New Year's Resolutions will involve more frequent blog posting. ;-)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day!!
Crystal

Sew, A Needle Pulling Thread...

I decided I haven't been busy enough, lately. (insert sarcasm)

Yup, I've been sewing.

Nope, I'm not technically a "sewer"...but I DO enjoy it! :)

In the past, it's been easy things like fixing things, or making curtains or aprons for the girls.

This November, I decided I wanted to repurpose some old clothes and

make them into doll clothes! :)

November and most of December passed me by,

 and I had yet to get started (so much for the Dec 1 start date).

I should know myself better than that. 

Well, to be fair, I HAVE been busy with other things.

Rather than give up, I decided to try anyways.

As of yesterday (aka - NEW start date),

 I have now made a pair of black stretch pants,

 a black romper-style dress complete with additional white decor, and white shirt for underneath.

I got sidetracked and made a coffee-cozy sleeve, too.

It was supposed to be for my 6 yr old's teacher,

but upon finishing it at midnight, decided it wasn't good enough.

Better keep it for myself and try it out before giving it as a gift! lol 

As soon as I can get myself a latte, I'll pose the cozy and let you take a look. :)

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

A Cardinal Gift

There are numerous gifts for my children to give to special people this year, and I like to add a handmade touch to some of them...

I was telling my mom about it and how I wanted to make some fudge to give these special people in my kiddos/our lives.  But I was in a quandry as to what to put it in!  She just said matter of factly, without even really thinking about it, "Why don't you just MAKE a box?  You're always making cute little boxes".

Um, duh. LOL!  Sometimes it takes a mom's brain to make your own work. lol
Thanks for the reminder that I can MAKE a box!  Seriously...why didn't I think of that?

So, I made a box. :)  Sponged the edges, and had my daughter help, too, making a cardinal out of punches! :)  It IS, afterall, a gift from her. ;-)  I'll have my oldest (age 6), do most of her own, I think. That is, if I can manage to let go. ;-)

Well, what do you think?

Thanks for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

It's here, it's HERE!

So, if you've been following me at all, you know we've had computer issues around here...and that I was awaiting a new computer. WELL...after much deliberating, shopping around, figuring out affordability, biting nails, etc...Well, I suppose the nail biting thing is an extreme, since I don't do that. Hmm...I'll say tense shoulders and headaches. :)

Here's what it looked like within 5 minutes of me finding a package by my front door:

I just had to laugh at myself. Ya think I was a little excited???!!

We've had our share of headaches, even with setting this all up (wireless router problem), but oh how nice to finally be done, and enjoying the portability of a laptop - sorry...just had to share my excitement. :-)  This is a pretty big deal for us, and for us, a lot of money to spend on one item. We try to do the best we can, try to save what little we can, and be wise with our finances. Which is partly why we deliberated so long on all of this.  We did not go crazy by any means. :-)

All this to say...YAY!!!!
I hope to be back this week posting projects...don't worry, no more snowflake projects (that I know of), lol! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)
Crystal

Snowflake Series #7 - and Tutorial!

Well, here we are. The FINAL Snowflake Series Post.  For me, it couldn't come soon enough, lol!  Don't get me wrong...I have loved this series, but...

I just wish sometimes that life could slow down a little and give me time to blog, instead of being busy and having it hang over my head, lol! ;-)

If you've made it with me this far, congratulations...and sorry it's been awhile again...it has been CRAZY around here! :)

Day 7 - Light!

So, this is what is called a Luminary, or Luminare...I'm not sure which, I've seen it spelled both ways. :)

Let's get right into the tutorial, shall we?  It takes a bit of time (perhaps why I haven't had time to post it, lol).

Step 1:  Cut vellum cardstock to 4 1/4 x 8 1/2.

Step 2:  Cut cardstock (Marina Mist) to 2 x 8 1/2.

Step 3:  Score vellum at 2, 4, 6, and 8".

Step 4:  Score cardstock at 2, 4, 6, and 8", flip and score 1/2" from bottom.

Step 5:  Stamp snowflakes on vellum and set aside to dry.

Step 6:  Cut cardstock on score marks along bottom 1/2".

Step 7:  Punch cardstock with scallop edge punch to make decorative edge.

Step 8: Apply sticky strip on edge of 1/2" section of cardstock (see red arrow above), fold at score lines, adhere to itself, making an open ended box. Adhere each bottom corner to each other (I used sticky strip).

Step 9:  Flip vellum over and apply sticky strip along edge of 1/2" section.

 If vellum is not yet dry, carefully dry with heat tool. Fold at score lines.

Step 10:  Adhere the vellum to itself, forming an open ended box.

 Apply sticky strip around bottom edge of box.

Step 11:  VERY CAREFULLY, lower the vellum box into the cardstock box,

 using a bone folder to press the sticky-stripped sides together.

Step 12:  Finish decorating, place LED tealight candle inside, turn on, VOILA!

I feel a little strange saying "voila" after 12 steps, lol!. This is one of those things that may take a little time, but once you've made it, it's easier to whip another one up (easier than explaining, too, lol!)   Hope you were able to figure it out! :)  Oh, and I also added dazzling diamonds to the snowflakes here and there once the box was assembled. :)

Well, I hope you've enjoyed my 7 projects in the Snowflake Series!  There's obviously a lot more you could do with this...in fact, you'll see in the pic below...there's a table placesetting (name)...decided not to show you that in a seperate post. Seven is a good number. ;-)

Oh, and here's a pic of the cards I had Ruth make - which is what started this series in the first place! :)

 (see other Snowflake Series posts for explanation, and more tutorials)

What do you think?

Thank you so much for stopping by, and have a GREAT day! :)

Crystal