Holiday Planners & More...

'Tis the season for my much anticipated Holiday Planners. When the holiday season rolls around, all of my friends and family look forward to their Holiday Planner so that they can begin jotting down gift ideas, recipes, long to do lists and more. I like to hand out the Holiday Planners at least by November 1st and this year I'm adding in a few other items to make a perfect "re-gift". Here's a little shot of the merry little mess I created down in the Craft Department.

Every year I love to use a simple red and white color scheme for the holidays. Sometimes I leave it at that....and other times like this year, I'm adding in some aquas and greens to the mix. I'm also going with a candy cane stripe as you can see in the patterned papers and twine in my photo below.

Here's the whole gift ensemble. My idea is that in addition to my usual Holiday Planner, I'm also going to include 2 cards with envelopes and 2 gift tags with enclosure sacks. Many times the recipient will say "It's too cute to use"...or...."I want to keep all of it for myself". Well this year they can keep all of it. Or they can keep the Holiday Planner and give the rest away. Or they can keep the Holiday Planner + 1 card + 1 tag and give the rest away. You get the idea? I think I'm going to type up a little note enclosure that says this is the perfect *re-gift* and how this is the gift that keeps on giving. :)

The time is critical here for handing these out. I plan to give mine out by November 1st. This way the recipient can start using their Holiday Planner & other items. It's also a nice way to give a little gift to someone you don't buy something big or expensive for. And it's great to get together with the recipient early in the season before all the hustle and bustle starts.

Okay, here's what I did for my ensemble of goodies. Each piece has some similar items:

*Kraft cardstock base with white splatters (I used Studio Calico white Mister Huey)

*1 vertical, wide strip of aqua colored candy cane patterned paper from Candy Cane Prints

*1 vertical, narrow strip of red colored candy cane patterned paper (see above link)

*1 horizontal strip of Rustic White cardstock with sentiment (except tags)

*1 tiny pint jar embellishment with snowflake embellishment

For the Holiday Planner I used 2 White Notepads so that the notebook will be thicker and last a little longer through the holiday season.
All jar embellishments use the smaller friendship jar from the Friendship Jar Summer Fillers stamp set. The Pint Jar die is sold separately and makes mass producing these projects a breeze. I created 5 total jar embellishments and then started the projects from there. I colored each jar with a Copic marker, just around the edges. The pinked paper is from Crate Paper's Peppermint line. The snowflake die is from the Peace Be Still Collection. Snowflake stamp is from In the Meadow. Pure Poppy Vintage Buttons and Red Baker's Twine are from the PTI store.

For the sentiments, I used Take Note. It's still a favorite set of mine that Nichole designed from my concept sketches. Paper is from Crate Paper's Peppermint Collection. Vintage ribbon is from my stash.
Here's what the inside of the Holiday Planners look like. I use Scor-Tape to adhere the notebooks to the cardstock cover. Note: I do not have measurements for the cutting and scoring for the notebooks. I mark where I want to cut & score with my fingernail. The measurements are so small that they never turn out right when I go by a set number. I just make sure to add a little extra to the cardstock cover so that it fully covers the notebooks. For the notebook enclosure, I used a brown paper sack from my shop that I trimmed down and stitched around.
Here are the pair of cards. Same concept for the jar embellishment and patterned papers. For the sentiment strip, I used my Scor-Pal to create 2 raised lines on the top and bottom of the strip. That just adds a little dimension without the addition of more papers, inks, etc. These cards could easily be used as Christmas cards, thank you cards or well into the winter months of next January, February, etc. The *just a note * and hand are from Take Note. The *Winter wishes* is from Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers.
Here are a duo of tags that are made with the new Tag Sale #5 die. It's a new favorite of mine too. The sentiment is from Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers. Red chevron sacks are from my shop.
And there ya have it, a fun little ensemble that will surely put the recipient in the holiday spirit. The perfect re-gift! Hope you enjoy!

Note: You can click on the *Notebooks* label at the end of this post to see all my previous blog posts featuring my notebook creations.

Updates....

Edit: Not sure if it works for you.....but I've tried 3 times to link directly to Lisa's Project Life post.....if the link doesn't show up for you , please click on Lisa's main blog page and just scroll down. :)

Holiday Journals

*The Holiday Journals are now sold out for this holiday season. Thank you to everyone who placed an order.

*Shipping of the journals will start this week and all orders will be shipped by early next week.

*Stay tuned for upcoming Holiday Journal blog posts starting in November. I'll be showing a few journal assembly ideas, some page layout ideas and more.

The 12 Days of Christmas

*Many of you have been asking if The 12 Days of Christmas will take place this year. This was a blog event that Melissa Phillips and I did together last year where we presented holiday projects and recipes. Melissa and I have decided that we will not be doing this blog event this year. For me personally, I'm looking forward to a relaxing holiday this year with my family.

NOEL Notions

*I've been busy stockpiling my NOEL Notions that I've been creating. Special handmade holiday items such as the frosted jingle bells you've all been asking about, my much anticipated Holiday Planners, homespun candy cane kits, tag kits, glittered clothespins and more will be added to my Etsy shop very soon.

*NOEL Notions will be offered in very limited quantities through the early part of November.

*Look for updates on my blog, Facebook Page and on Twitter.

Project Life

*I've had lots of questions about how I do my Project Life album. Do I add photos daily, weekly......do I design the inserts in advance.....what is my process....do I use my iPhone camera or regular camera? I'm happy to share my Project Life ideas with you. I'll try to address a few of these questions with each Project Life update I do. Please leave me questions in my comments section at any time.

*Lisa Truesdell is another Project Lifer whose work I admire. She is going to be doing a blog post about her Project Life process in the near future so be sure to tune in to her blog. She has a fantastic outline of what she'll be covering in this post. I can't wait to read her post and I'm sure her tips and tricks will be most helpful when going about your Project Life album.

And now..

*Off to finish up some work....and put socks on. It's freezing here today!

Fall Birthday Cards...

Hi there, I'm back today with a few Fall birthday cards. Lots of October birthdays in my family so it's been fun gettin' crafty this month. My cards today were inspired by a scrapbook page by Keisha Campbell. You can view the page here at Keisha's blog. I was particularly inspired by the clever use of her little banner she created with manila tags and baker's twine. So off to work I went. Be sure to stay a while at Keisha's blog, she does amazing work. Thank you for the inspiration, K.

Here are my two completed birthday cards, I just love the Fall color palette.
I started off by creating the tags for the card banners. All of my papers I used today are from a 6 x 6 pad of My Mind's Eye patterned paper....Darling Deer I believe it's called. I added some pieces to Small Manila Tags, splattered with October Afternoon Sprinkler spray mist and then cut the tags into flags. The tags were topped with Studio Calico chipboard butterflies and tied with Vintage Buttons in Terracotta Tile. I used Chocolate Baker's Twine for the buttons and to create the garland.
For the card bases, I used Rustic White and more of the MME patterned paper. Using Papertrey's Birthday Bash Sentiments I made two separate pieces for the sentiments. One was stamped on scrap paper that I notched with scissors and the other was stamped onto a Label Basics shape. You can see below that I stitched all the sentiment pieces to my cardstock piece before I adhered it to the card front. This way, no stitching shows on the inside of the card.
So happy to have a few more cards crossed off the list this month.
How about you? Have you made your card list for this month? Have you mailed out any cards? Make your list and get crafty! :)

Mish Mash Monday....Jordy is awesome + a card

Edit: Soup recipe is here. Sandwich recipe here.

Happy Monday. Did you think I forgot about Mish Mash Monday? Well...I kinda did. Not really but the reds had orthodontist appointments today so my time was occupied as the taxi driver.

Volleyball....Both the girls had volleyball tournaments this weekend. Way far apart so we could only make it to one event. We went to Jordan's tournament since it was her last junior high volleyball event. She played awesome. There were several matches where Jordan got up to 8 or 9 serves in a row before the team lost the volley. Here she is surrounded by her coach and teammates at a time out the other team took to break her serve. What a joy it is a parent to see your child happy out there on the court. Way to go Jordo!
Fall...A cold front is coming through Kansas this week and we may even have freezing temperatures. Just in time, I fixed soup & sandwiches for the family we had visiting this weekend. I'm definitely not ready for the cold temperatures. If it gets below 50 degrees, it's Winter to me. However, I do like what Winter brings....warm, toasty fires + soft quilts + lots of books to catch up on, etc.
Crafting....Let's not forget the crafting, card making + scrapbooking. I've been having fun making cards from leftover products from my Project Life pages. Today's samplings are from this week's Project Life. Click the *leftovers* label at the end of this post for more cards made from PL leftover supplies.

How about a little tutorial today to get the creative juices flowing? These are a few of my leftover supplies + I grabbed a few of the folded journaling cards from my Project Life Amber kit. Jordan still needs to send out thank you notes for her birthday presents so I decided to create 3 cards for her friends that came to her b-day party.
First, fold the cards in half and add strips of patterned paper to the card fronts. Using leftover Studio Calico Fabrips, cut little flags. Punch circles from leftover patterned paper and staple on Studio Calico chipboard butterflies. These were a new item that got stacked on top of my leftover supplies.
Stamp sentiments on card fronts. I used Papertrey's Say It With Style and Think Big Favorites #1.
Adhere the fabric flags under the circles. Adhere circles with pop dots to nestle inside the rounded tops of the journaling cards. And presto, a cute little set of cards.
For envelopes, use Papertrey's A2 Rustic White envelopes cut down to 3-1/2" wide. Adhere a strip of patterned paper that matches each card to the front. Stitch down the side to create a small envelope. Seal as usual.
Fun, colorful, fast. That's what it's all about. Enjoy!
Well, I'm off to greet Jordan after school. Now that volleyball is over, she has just a few days off before basketball starts on Thursday. Not much time but I know she'll enjoy playing with her iPad, getting homework done early and just relaxing. Maybe we'll sew on her quilt a little too. :) Thanks for stopping by!

Papertrey October 2011 Release Projects..

Edit: The white spray mist that I used is from Studio Calico. The white is unfortunately being retired.....however October Afternoon makes a white version of their mists also. You could also dilute some acrylic craft paint (in the little bottles from Walmart or any craft store) with water and splatter on with an old toothbrush.

Edit: Yvonne asked what I usually give for gifts that I package in the Kraft boxes. Typically it's a homemade treat like a stack of cookies, homemade truffles...or sometimes just store bought candies like truffles. They make great little teacher treats, bus driver gifts, etc. :) If I think of anything else, I'll post here on the blog. Your suggestions are certainly welcome too.

Hi there, back today to show you some of my gallery projects from this month's Papertrey release. We spent a busy Saturday at both of the girls' volleyball tournaments then made a trip to the city for new basketball shoes, a trip to Michael's and out to eat for our anniversary. A great time with my little family.

Here we go for the projects. First up is cheery holiday card featuring Christmas Poinsettia. I created the variegated flowers by first stamping the flower in Sweet Blush and then tipping the edges with Pure Poppy ink. I then misted the flowers with Studio Calico white spray ink. The inspiration for my poinsettia was from this pin in my Pinterest boards. Patterned papers are the Candy Cane Prints and others from October Afternoon.
Love the dimension that you get from the layered dies.
Next up I have a small Kraft gift box that I embellished with Pine's Tag-its #9 stamp set. I stamped the tag, punched it with a 1-3/4" circle punch then popped it up on a Crate Paper chipboard piece.
For all of my holiday packaging this year, I'm using Kraft boxes, bags and wraps with bundles of sprigs, jingle bells, ribbons and more. Each piece will also be wrapped with sheet music, old book paper, newspaper, etc. I sprayed the boxes with more white mist to resemble snow flakes.
Here I have another series of embellished boxes that use the Shape Up Snowman Accessories stamp set.
Each little snowman face was layered onto a Kraft Tag Sale #5 die that has a layer of patterned paper. I used a 1-3/4" circle punch to create the snowman faces. Hats were paper pieced using the coordinating Shape-Up Series: Snowman Die Collection. My favorite part....the red and white twine that I used to make the ties for the stocking caps.
This was a fun release to get the holiday mood flowing. I'll be creating more tags and boxes to have on hand....they make the perfect little treat boxes for bus drivers, teachers and all of those unexpected little gifts you find yourself needing each year. :)

Coming this week:

Papertrey release projects: I'll be posting more of my projects from my gallery this week.

Holiday Journal Kits-These are now sold out in the shop and I'm almost ready to ship them out. Stay tuned for more blog posts on how to assemble your kits and ideas for some of the kit contents.

Bags-More of the Chevron, notebook paper, grid paper and Kraft polka dot and striped bags will be listed in my Etsy shop this week.

Noel Notions: I'll be busy working down in the Craft Department on little holiday notions to add to your Christmas crafting. Look for vintage candy canes, jolly jingle bells, sparkly snow, holiday notebooks and more. :)

2011 Holiday Tags

Edited for questions: Yes, the Front and Center die does fit through the Cuttlebug. It's sized just large enough to fit through. The vintage jingle bells I use on my projects are hand made by me. I will be offering them up in my Etsy shop under my Noel Notions creations very soon.

Today I'm mixing it up with a whimsical project created for Papertrey's second Group Post for this month. The team is featuring 2011 Holiday Tags and Wonderful Words: Holidays + the coordinating word dies. I also used the new Front & Center #1 die. Our assignment was to create a tag & card using a combination of both the new sets.

I used all the products to create a tag and card with coordinating pocket.....all within one project. The patterned papers are from Crate Paper's 2010 holiday collection.
Let me show you a break down of all the pieces and parts. First up I created a pocket to hold an A2 size card using the Front & Center #1 die. I'm telling you, I love this die and I know you will too. I die cut two pieces of the yellow polka dot patterned paper, trimmed off the bottom and then stitched around three sides to create a pocket. I embellished the card pocket with a bundle of loopy ribbon, jingle bells, a green ornament and red and white baker's twine.
Here's the tag portion of my project made from the Tag Sale #5 five, another new favorite die of mine. I topped it with a *merry* die cut word from the Wonderful Words: Holiday die collection. I saved the die cut oval that comes from the main Front & Center #1 die. It's the perfect little accent to add a stamped word to. A glittered clothespin was added for some bling along with some machine stitching.
Another fun accent on my card pocket is a second pocket made from an Aqua Chevron Bag from my shop. I adhered it to the pocket front before stitching, trimmed about 1" off and then did my stitching. I love the pocket on top of a pocket...so many fun places to tuck in little tags. I used another oval on the bag front with a stamped holiday image.
And here is my simple card that slips into the card pocket. It's made up of 3 stamped tags from the 2011 Holiday Tags stamp set, with stitching on two of the tags.
All of my little pieces make a perfect little gift because you have a card + a tag + a gift pocket all in one. Add in a gift card, a candy bar or some other fairly flat goody and you're good to go. Hope you enjoy!! I think we'll make up a bunch of these for the girls' friends at school....or maybe teacher gifts. They're just so fun to make!
Please visit the rest of the Papertrey team to see their creative takes on today's featured products.

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman
• Melissa Phillips
• Maile Belles
• Jessica Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Danielle Flanders

In the Meadow..

Edit: The plaid paper that I used for my projects are from The Merry Days of Christmas line from My Mind's Eye. I've had it in my paper stash for some time now so I'm not sure of the availability.

Edit: Just wanted to clarify that the clear box I used is linked up in my post. It's the box from the PTI store that is for A2 cards. The boxes that you get with your stamp sets are too wide for this die.

One of my favorite Papertrey stamp sets being released on the 15th this month is In the Meadow. It has beautifully illustrated, traditional images and dies galore. I wanted to evoke a rustic feel to my projects, as if you were taking a sleigh ride through the snowy woods while snuggled warmly with an old, plaid quilt.

One of my favorite things to do around the holidays is to give out gifts early in December...or even late November. Sometimes it's just easier to get together with an old friend or have a family gathering before all the hustle and bustle of the season starts. Today I'd like to share a few tips for creating a coordinating set of cards with matching gift tote, a perfect pre-season holiday gift.
First up is a set of 4 coordinating cards which use the In the Meadow stamp + it's coordinating dies. When creating a coordinating gift set, I like to keep some details similar on each card so they look like a matching set.

Here's what each card in the set of 4 has in common:

*I used this card sketch as a starting point for each of my cards

*each card has a heat embossed + die cut focal image

*each card has a stamped + die cut snowflake tied with brown/white baker's twine + a Vintage Button

*each card has some of the plaid patterned paper on it (from My Mind's Eye)

*each card has machine stitching with brown thread

*each card has a torn strip of woodgrain Washi tape on it

*each card has been splattered with spray mist

Using all of these elements made my stamping session go pretty smoothly. I made up four of the snowflake embellishments, cut my strips of patterned paper and die cut & embossed my 4 main images I wanted to use. From there it was all about adding specific details to each card. On this first card I used the tree die and the sleigh ride image. An additional piece of Kraft cardstock was added that was first die cut with a scalloped border die. I also used both of the dies from the In the Meadow die collection to create the drifting snow.
Here I used two deer images from the set, both heat embossed with brown powder and die cut with the coordinating dies. I also die cut another snow drift. Here I used the woodgrain Washi tape (from the American Crafts Amy Tangerine line) all along the bottom of the card....vs little torn pieces I used on the other cards. I know that I'll get a lot of use out of these deer images + dies with all the hunters in my family.
For this card I wanted to make big snow drifts so I spaced my snow drift dies far apart and added glitter to resemble glistening snow. I also added glitter to the snowflake accent to tie it in with the stamped sentiment. Love the hat and scarf whishing through the wind as the little kid sleds down the hill.
And for my last card I embossed the snowman over and over again by applying more white embossing powder right after I heat set a layer. I also used the Mat Stack 3 and the new Layerz Mat Stack 3 die being released on the 15th of this month. Small pearl accents were added around the snowman to resemble snowballs.
And here's what you've probably been waiting for, right? This is gift tote that will hold the four cards + four envelopes easily. I die cut 2 pieces of Kraft cardstock from Nichole's new Front & Center #1 die. This is genius, I tell you! I love it soooo much.
This year I am using Kraft wrapping and boxes for all my gifts + a second wrapping of either sheet music, old book paper or newspaper. All gifts and sacks will then be topped with an embellished tag with baubles and jingle bells and tied up with twine. Here I used another matching snowflake, some sheet music, a leftover strip of the plaid patterned paper and some thick, cotton twine. Tip: save the ovals that are die cut from the larger pieces. I stamped a sentiment on one and added it to the front of the gift tote with pop dots. A little snippet of the woodgrain Washi tape and some tied buttons finish off the gift tote.
The two large dies were adhered to a Clearly Creative Card Box. I used a sharp Xacto knife to trim the top off of a flat card box, then assembled the box. Using Scor-Tape I added strips to the clear box and then adhered my two die cut pieces. Presto, an instant gift box. I can't wait for Nichole to show you even more ideas for using this wonderful new die. Stay tuned because tomorrow I'll be using it again. :)
I'm pretty certain I'll be making lots more of these fun gift totes with coordinating cards. Makes you want to start crafting right now, doesn't it? Please join me as I hop on over to the other Papertrey blogs to see what they have in store for In the Meadow.

• Nichole Heady
• Heather Nichols
• Dawn McVey
• Lisa Johnson
• Betsy Veldman
• Melissa Phillips
• Maile Belles
• Jessica Witty
• Erin Lincoln
• Danielle Flanders

Swimming for Katie....

Hello friends. Today I'd like to share the link to a fundraiser for Katie Renz. Katie was diagnosed with an inoperable cancer in December 2010. Since then Katie has shared her journey with cancer through many posts. I have spent the last hour wiping away tears as I've read Katie's story on her blog. I hurt for Katie and her family.

Cancer is such an ugly disease. I hate it. I hate that my mom had cancer reoccur three times when I was a teenager. I hate that her face is scarred from it. I hate that some of my precious family members and friends have died from cancer. I hate that my mother-in-law was diagnosed with breast cancer just this year. I hate that a great teacher at our high school just died from cancer before school started.

But I LOVE that friends and family come together for a cause. I love that my mother-in-law has just completed her radiation and her outlook is 100% hopeful. I love that my mom still lives next door to me. I love that there are people willing to share of themselves to help others.

Please take some of your time today to visit the i {heart} papers blog to learn the details of how you can help. Links are provided for stamps and digital images that are for sale to help support Katie. 100% of the profits go to Katie and her family. You can purchase stamps or you can do like I did and make a donation just by clicking the *donate* payment button at the link above. There are also links to a 3 day blog hop, with many designers participating. Please help in any way that you can.

Katie, my prayers go out to you and your family.