Christmas {Cards} In July

This is the second time I've tried to publish this post. When I first tried two days ago- everything seemed to be going ok when all of a sudden my computer stopped talking to the router. I thought it was just my computer and I tried everything I could think of - but, I'm not really computer savvy-so I was pretty useless. My husband is our resident computer geek ( Thankfully) so he looked at it. Poor guy has been working a lot recently ( lots of overtime- but he's exhausted), so I told him to put the computer away and I would use the desk top. I found out the next morning that all of the laptops were affected. After much debate and frustration he decided that we needed a new router . The router was purchased- and when he got it home he found out that the router didn't want to talk to QWEST. YAY. But, my husband- being the super computer geek that he is- he got it working this afternoon. He SO ROCKS. I am so lucky. It's nice to know that I can count on him to get things taken care of.
Anyhow, on to the Christmas cards... sorry about the digression but I did need to give Kudos to Johnny. He really deserves them. :)
This is probably the first time I've ever made this many Christmas cards in one sitting- and not having to rush through them because it's December! :) I found the stamps at the Rubber Soul in Poulsbo last weekend. I was inspired by a card I saw while I was there. So I bought the stamps . I found that regular trips to the stamp store are a good source of inspiration. :)

After I stamped the images and put the card together I added snow to the trees and the swags. The snow came from a pen- I guess you could call it "puff paint". After the "ink" dried a little bit- I used my heat gun on the images and made the snow pop. Next I added some red bling to the swags. I think they turned out very Christmas-y.

My BFF said I was an over achiever when she saw the tree on the inside of the card and the one of the envelope. I prefer to think of it as a finishing touch. :)

I made this card as part of a challenge for an online group- I didn't post this one because I chose the following card instead. The CS is all SU!, the image is from SU! as is the ribbon. The printed paper is from my stash.

I am really happy with the way this card turned out- the picture isn't as good as I wanted it to be- but I didn't notice until much later. The image is Sophie Moose dressed as Mrs. Clause. The CS , ribbon pearls are from SU! The printed Christmas paper is from my stash.

I have a couple other projects that I finished while I was without internet. I need to take pictures of them ( a mini album and a set of thank you card) tomorrow so I can share.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope your week has been wonderful!

Summertime Layouts-

All CS on the the Water Balloon layout is from SU! Printed paper is from the Little Yellow Bicycle summer line ( Boardwalk). Buttons and ribbon are also from SU!,the hear shaped paper clips are from the office supply store. I also used thickers and rub-ons for (part) of the title. The word FUN is made from Chipboard- I used SU! craft ink to color it- then I added stickles to make it POP.

Scenes from the beach- Chocolate chip cs and ribbon is from SU! Pink CS is from my stash- as is the lace. Title is made using Thickers. Printed paper is from Little Yellow Bicycle ( the boardwalk collection).

I printed out a bunch of summertime pictures with the hope that I would start feeling a bit more ambitious. So far though- I've only created three layouts. That's three more than I had before though, right? I have more pictures to print out- some from our trip to Mt. St. Helens last weekend, and the birthday pictures I took of Linsea this morning. I'll be taking more pictures of her on Friday- she's getting caramel highlights - and she wants pictures of that as well. So, I'm looking forward to scrapping those occasions too.

A Summer Layout & Grandpa's Envelope Mini Album

I used a sketch from Unscripted Sketches (http://www.unscriptedsketches.com/ ). I really liked the way the sketch was laid out. I added ribbon ( twisted ) all the way around the picture border. The paper comes from Imaginese, the letters are Thickers. CS is from SU!

I started making this mini album for my grandpa just after this past Christmas. I picked this project to do at my BFF'S house. We try to get together every year ( usually right before New Years Eve)- a couple of years ago we decided to make sure we had a project to do together. Two years ago it was magnetic memo boards ( her project) and last year it was envelope mini albums. I bought everything for the project before we left town. Anyhow, it took me so long to get it finished because I couldn't decide on the pictures of my youngest niece. With the exception of the pictures of KK- all the pictures are from our trip to Southern California Spring Break 2009.

I don't recall the name of the paper line- but, I did use my Bind it All to bind the album together. Ribbon is from Martha Stewart, buttons are from my BFF ( Thanks Kathryn, they were perfect!), I also used rubons and bling-all from my stash. The CS is from SU!- Chocolate Chip.

Now, that this one is finished- maybe it's time to start another project. I'm thinking of using wood blocks. We'll see. I need to talk to my BFF- and do some research. I have the best Dad- he said that if I brought wood over- he'd cut it in pieces for me. :)

Dry Erase To Do Boards

I Really love LOVE these dry erase To Do Lists. I use mine every day. I have plans with the kids to make them each one- hopefully, they'll actually use them this up coming school year. I made the one on the left side for my beautiful niece- her favorite color is red-but, since in order to be able to see what you're writing the color has to be light- I chose a lovely light blue print. Both frames came from the dollar store ( YAY ). I bought them unfinished and then painted them white and added polka dots ( red for Taryn and blue for me) . I used the paper in my stash. All the paper comes from SU! I cut the numbers out in vinyl using my Cricut Expression- the title was also cut using the Expression. This project came together really quickly- if I hadn't painted the frames - the time spent on these boards would have probably been around 30 minutes.
I have to say- there is a certain amount of satisfaction using these boards- to actually be able to see what you've accomplished during your day- AND being able to cross it off- Well, it's a good thing. I've been known to put something on the list that I know will get done- just for the satisfaction of crossing something off. It feels really good. :)

Sunny Family Day Mini Album

In the summer of 2008 my sister and her family took their vacation in Washington. I managed to snap a few pictures to remember the events.

I love mini albums. They're pretty quick to put together- it's almost like instant gratification! I really like that. If only every day life worked as well.

The album is chipboard shaped like a sun. I got it from the dollar bin at Michael's. Love that. Things for a dollar. Paper comes from my LSS- it's from Bo Bunny- ( the a gift of love line ). I normally don't go for paper that's this bright. But, the day we spent at the beach was dreary and overcast- and they seemed to call for bright, cheerful paper. I also used bling from the same line- and I was super excited to find some puffy flowers in coordinating colors. All the pictures are mounted on Chocolate Chip cardstock ( from SU!)- I "journaled" using my label maker. The ribbon on the ring is from SU!

I think there will be some more mini albums made this summer. Just the thought gives me "warm fuzzies". :)