Bella Calendar Swap, October & November

For the Bella Calendar swap this year I made 5 different pages, here is one of my November pages, the bottom of my calendar says "I am thankful for my friends". These HuggyBellas are still one of my favoite Bellas!

Supplies (all images are from www.stampingbella.com):
Stamps: HuggyBellas
Paper: First Fruits collect by PTI, Summer Sunrise and Rioe Olive cardstocks from PTI, Really Rust cardstock from Stampin' Up!
Ink: Brilliance in Graphite Black
Accessories: Ripe Olive Satin ribbon from PTI, ep (image is embossed), circle nestabilities, Copics

Here is my October page...

Supplies:

Stamps: WitchyBella

Paper: DP is from a Halloween pack from MFT Stamps, Black and Whisper White cardstocks by SU!

Ink: Brilliance in Graphite Black

Accessories: Nestabilities tags, button from Stampin' Up!, Black ribbon, copics, sentiment is a rubon by Stampin Up!

And the Blog Candy winner is...

Wow, thank you all for your ideas! I got tons of email ideas as well...thanks so much! After a couple of conversations with various "helpers", I've come up with the winner...actually winnerS. I have decided to combine the ideas from Cindy Malone and Kate Upshaw! Now I guess I'd better get to work on the construction of my new site!! I am so excited! I'll keep posting here until the new site is done....thank you all, again, for all of your awesome ideas! Cindy & Kate please email me so I can send you both your goodies!

Blog candy alert…

This post will remain at the top of my blog until the deadline. Please scroll down to see new posts. I have been thinking about moving my blog over to Typepad, and have finally decided to take the plunge! When I created this blog, I was obviously “creatively challenged” and I think that the domain and the blog name are boring and don’t very accurately describe my or my style, etc. Here is what I am asking of you… Please help me come up with a name for my blog. You can email it to me at tccrain@socal.rr.com or you can post a comment here. This will not be be a “random” winner. The person who comes up with the name I like the best (I will probably have a small panel of family to vote on the favorite) will win a package of Sweet Always DSP (by Stampin Up!, a brande new package of Fire Circle Rhinestone Brads, and 2 yards each of Chocolate CHip 5/8" ribbon, Regal Rose 5/8" ribbon Pink Pirouette 5/8" Striped ribbon and Pumpkin Pie 1/2" Striped ribbon (these are the 4 coordinating colors to the paper). The deadline to enter will be Sunday, January the 4th. So put on your thinking caps and send me your ideas. You can submit as many ideas as you can come up with.

Valentine Test Tubes

I needed to make a “hand stamped” item for a Stampin Up meeting tomorrow. I love these little test tube things, they are so quick and easy and you get a huge “WOW”! The patter is from Lisa Somerville, I altered it a little. When I made this the first time the tubes wouldn’t stand straight so I added a 2nd set of holes inside the box so they’d be held in place. I also added Close to Cocoa on the back for added support (you can see the scalloped top). I hope the ladies like this! That “Love you Much” bundle sure is coming in handy!! Thanks for stopping by, tomorrow I will have the calendar pages posted. Happy Sunday!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin’ Up!)
Stamps: Love you Much
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Close to Cocoa
Paper: Candy Lane dsp (from the bundle), Close to Cocoa, Riding Hood Red cardstocks
Accessories: Riding Hood Red Taffeta ribbon, scallop circle punch, circle punches, twine.

BC80 – Love you much!

This week’s Bloggers Challenge was to use any Red, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip and either Very Vanilla or Whisper White. Well since I also have to make some Valentine swap cards for Sunday I decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone…here’s the result! You’ve got to go and check out everyone else’s BC cards…they are awesome! You can click on the button in my sidebar. I am sure I am the last one on the planet to try out one of Stampin’ Up!’s punches that coordinate with a stamp…omg! these are way too cool! I used the 3 heart stamp from the Love You Much stamp set, and the coordinating punch…lines up with those hearts perfectly!!! You can get the stamp set, the punch and the new Candy Lane Dsp as part of the Love You Much bundle for only $41.48 (that’s 20% off!!). Click on the “Love You Much bundle” words above and then click “Shop Now” in the upper right…easy as pie! Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin’ Up!):
Stamps: Love you much
Paper: Candy Lane dsp, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze cardstocks
Ink: Riding Hood Red
Accessories: 3 hearts punch (from bundle), Button Bouquet, Chocolate Chip Taffeta ribbon

Hot Chocolate!

This was for Hubby’s Dad & Step-Mom. I really wanted to make them something home made and fun for Christmas this year. Neither of them drink coffee or tea, but they both like hot chocolate. I wonder if Target realizes that they are a crafters dream store? How many times have we found the funnest alterables in the $1 bin? Well none of this came from the $1 bin, but alot of it did come from the Christmas baking aisle! Christmas tree shaped marshmallows, I got some plastic spoons and dipped a couple in milk chocolate and a couple in white chocolate. The cute bags came from there also. I bought some huge pretzle sticks at my local cake decorating store and dipped them in chocolate and then covered them with Christmas Tree candy sprinkles! That is a Spaghetti jar filled with NesQuick powder. I also included my boys’ favorite “Secret Hot Chocolate” recipe! The main image is from a set I won from Gina K Designs recently! (Gotta love Gina!!!). While I am quite proud of myself with all of the Christmas goodies I made this year, I am equally happy at this point to be done making anything “Christmas”, lol! Thanks for stopping by, tomorrow is Bloggers Challenge day, and on Saturday I hope to post my calendar page contributions for the Bella Calendar Swap.

Supplies:
Stamps: My Cuppa Joe by Rupa Shevde for Gina K Designs, From the Kitchen of by JustRite
Ink: Momento Dew Drops in Brown, Ruby Red classic ink from Stampin Up!
Paper: Holiday Treasures, Ruby Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White card stocks
Accessories: Felt ribbon and Ruby Red brads from SU, Circle and Rectangle nesties, White Liquid Applique

Card Organizer

I made this card organizer for my mom (who seems to be the biggest admirer of my cards, yup, she was my first “buyer”). I can totally see my mom making the same face as Bossy Elzy and in that same stance, lol! I made this box at 2 am on Christmas morning, because I couldn’t sleep and because “the idea just came to me…”. She really liked her box, but I guess now I’d better get busy filling it up for her! For the index cards, I made her 8 of them and I left them blank so that she could come up with her own categories, etc.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bossy by Elzybells UK, “I’m not bossy…” sentiment also by Elzybells UK
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black
Paper: Maine Blueberry, Night of Navy, Old Olive and Whisper White cardstocks
Accessories: Mellow Moss Taffeta ribbon, Top Note die, Copic markers, Tab punch, corner rounder, Crop-a-dile, On Board Chip Board

Old Guys Rule

Haha, I love this line of t-shirts, etc. When I saw this designer paper at my LSS, I knew I had to get it. It made a great cover for a notepad for my Daddy. It’s hard to come up with some kind of alterable for a guy. I also added a little “b” Chipboard monogram. Fun, quick, Easy and best of all Dad loved it!

Post-it holder

I made this little post-it note holder for my Gramma. She is truly a blessing to me, I adore her with every ounce of me. I used Stampin’ Up! Chip board and just cut it to the size I wanted, I don’t seem to be very good at using standard sizes, lol! Here it is open.

Supplies:
Stamps: A Beautiful Thing, Tart & Tangy
Paper: Summer Picnic, Real Red, Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstocks
Ink: Real Red, Glorious Green
Accessories: Red check ribbon, Scallope circle punch, cirlcle punches, scalloped border punch, Stampin Up! chipboard, Bind it all

Some gift card holders...

My parents like giftcards for Christmas, and since it seems like they have just about everything it works out well! I made 3 different gift card holders. This one was for my Gramma. There is a great tutorial for it on Gina K's blog, being that I was full of cold medicine and feeling artistically challenged, I decided to also use Gina's beautiful layout! Here is the inside of the card

Supplies:

Stamps: Frosty

Ink: Brilliance in Graphite Black

Paper: Holiday Treasures, Ruby Red and Shimmery White cardstocks all paper by Stampin' Up!

Accessories: Rectanlge Nestabilities, Copic Markers, Sakura Black Glaze Pen, Word Window punch by SU! (for the slot that holds the card)

Another Gift card holder...

Closed this card isn't so much fun, but when you open it..woo hoo! This one was for my Daddy and of course it is holding a Home Depot gift card, lol. Santa is colored with Copics and has Dazzling Diamonds snow and Fun Flock for the fur on his suit...very dashing!

Supplies:
Stamps: Jolliest Time of the Year, Holidays & Wishes
Ink: Brilliance Graphite Black, Craft Basic Black
Paper: Wintergreen DSP, Black, Basic Gray, Sage Shadow cardstocks
Accessories: Vanilla hardware, Top Note die, Black ep, Ticket Punch, Tag Punch

Secret Santa gifts...

I participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange this year...how fun!!! These are 2 of the "handmade items" I made for my little elf. These test tubes are the funnest little things to decorate! I filled these up with gumballs (mostly cause I liked the colors, lol).

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Deer Friends

Paper: Heirloom Treasures, Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip cardstocks

Ink: Chocolate Chip

Accessories: Season of Cheer and Saint Nick Rub-ons, Felt Flurries, circle punches, silver cord, Alpine Ribbon Originals and Test Tubes by Martha Stewart

Secret Santa gift #2

Here is the second item I made, this one is full of yummy chocolate. I hope my little elf likes her homemade goodies!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted)

Stamps: Snow Swirled

Paper: Heirloom Treasures, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Ruby Red cardstocks

Ink: Old Olive

Accessories: Saint Nick rub-ons, Fire and Ice Rhinestone Brads, Brown felt Alpine ribbon, Slit punch, Circle Nestabilities, I don't remember where the cardboard container came from.

Bellaholics Calendar Swap

Well this is the 2nd year that I have hostessed the Bellaholics Anonymous Calendar Swap. Each person make calendar pages for 4 months and then we throw all the extra's in a big pile and reassemble all the calendars. I normally end up contributing 2 spots and then I bind them and give them a front and a back. This is this years calendar. Later I'll post my month contributions. This year we made 44 calendars! Up a few from last year. I think the biggest challenge is making these cute and simple. I can't do anything elaborate or very time consuming since I have to make 44 of them. I'm rather pleased with this year's covers, I hope everyone else likes them too! The circle on the cover is a monogram using my JustRite Special Occassions set. The part where you see the words is the back cover (the front cover is 9" long and the back cover is 10 1/2" long), it says "Life, Live like you mean it".

Birthday Gift for my MIL

Have you ever had one of those projects where you worked so long and so hard on something and you are abosultely inlove with the end result, and then the recipient says "Oh, that's nice"? This is that project. I made this Stationery Box and altered Candle for my Mother in Law's birthday. Now mind you these stationery boxes are pretty quick and easy to make, but I spent hours coming up with the card, and the note cards, etc. I really loved the way it turned out. I got the directions for the box from Jackie Topa's blog and then just had a great time decorating it, etc. Because my cards and note cards are so bulky I could only fit 4 of each into the little cubbies. The main image on the cards was colored in using my "Homemade In Colors" markers (click on the Tutorial catagory on the left sidebar to see how to make your own set of these). Below is a picture of the contents, the cirlce thing-y's in the corner are envelope seals. This was so much fun I think I will make some more for some family Christmas presents!

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Bloomin Beautiful, Say it with Scallops, "From the Desk of" and Special Occassions font by JustRite Stamps, "B" monogram and border by PTI
Paper: Bella Blossoms DSP, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Pink Pirouette, Kiwi Kiss cardstocks
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Riding Hood Red
Accessories: Stampin' Up! markers, Pink Tafetta ribbon, dimensionals, Ticket punch, Chocolate Chip 5/8" ribbon, Riding Hood Red stripped ribbon, circle punches, scallop circle punch, Nestabilities (tags and circles), Swiss Dots cuttlebug folder, Button Bouquet buttons.

BC76 - A Color Challenge...

Happy Friday!!! Happy Friday means Happy Bloggers' Challenge day! Woo hoo! Todays' challenge was to use Bashful Blue, Old Olive, Tango Tangerine and Close to Cocoa. I was very excited to be getting my challenge card done early (yesterday), until I finished and realized I didn't like it, so I made another one! Above is my 2nd attempt, I like this one. I've attached my "reject" card below.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):

Stamps: Jolliest Time of the Year

Ink: Brilliance in Graphite Black

Paper: Close to Cocoa, Bashful Blue and Whisper White cardstock, Frosty Day DSP

Accessories: Rhinestone brads, Felt Snowflakes, Dazzling Diamonds

Here is my poor little "reject card", lol. I used Spica glitter pens and "outlined" the snow with a C-1 Copic marker. I think I like the Dazzling Diamonds look above better. This is a Joy Fold card.

Supplies (all supplies are Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Jollies Time of the Year
Ink: Basic Black and Bashful Blue
Paper: Bashfull Blue, Close to Cocoa and Whisper White cardstocks, Frosty Day DSP
Accessories: Rhinestone Brads, Silver cording, copic markers, spica glitter pen in clear, Black Sakura glaze pen, Scallop circle punch, circle punch

BC75 - Inspiration Challenge

Happy Friday!!! I am so excited to be stamping again and participating in the Bloggers' Challenges! This week's challenge was an Inspiration Challenge, IC's are quickly becoming my favorite types of challenges!! :) Thanks Lisa! You can see the Inspiration piece below. A friend of mine had a really bad week this past week, so when I was looking through my stamps trying to figure out which stamps to use for the challenge, I knew this set would make for a perfect card for her! Thanks for stopping by, hope to see you again! Have a wonderful weekend!

Supplies:

Stamps: owl always love you by Gina K Designs

Paper: Figgy by Basic Gray, Basic white cardstock from PTI

Ink: Brilliance in Graphite Black

Accessories: Build-a-Brads from Stampin' Up!, Copic markers, Paper piercer, Sakura Black Glaze pen