Girly - Hang In There

I got an email yesterday morning that had a sketch in it. I printed the sketch and thought I saved the email but apparently I did not. So...if this sketch is yours let me know and I'll give you credit for it.

This card kind of took on a life of it's own. It's very unlike most cards I do. I generally don't do many "girly" cards. But I absolutely love how this one turned out.



What do you think?

The greeting is actually from Clear Dollar Stamps (and went with a set of squirrel stamps...but it worked here with the image). The dress is from a grab bag of unmounteds that I got at The Hampton Company. I used two different embossing folders (paisley on the background and swiss dots on the strip).

Hopefully I'll have time/energy to create something else today...otherwise this may be it for the week. (But it's a beaut!)

Jane

A Little Thanks

These are the quick thank you cards that I made to give out to the folks at work who gave me gifts.



They are just little 3x3 cards. Simply stamped and colored and tied with a ribbon. But I like how they turned out and I was able to make 6 of them in probably 30 minutes or less.

So...what are YOU working on now that the holidays are over? Did Santa bring you any stamping goodies?

Jane

More holiday gifts!

I think I'm starting to run down on the items I've made for Christmas...so after this I probably won't be posting as often for a while till I've caught my breath! LOL.

This is my coworkers gift. She loves coffee. SO I bought a 1/2 pound of coffee beans for her. My dh thought I was nuts when he saw me pouring the coffee OUT of the bag (his reaction was "I'm not even going to ASK what you are doing"). Well I HAD to stamp the bag didn't I???? :-) I also included two spoons that my secret sister (Tara) had sent me in my package. They just worked so well with the coffee and they were so cute! I also added a "Java Jazz" CD...and the gift was good to go.



Here's a close up of the coffee and spoons. When I was all done I wrapped it in cello paper that had coffee cups and coffee beans on it.



And lastly, here are the Santa Pants containers. I ended up buying little 9 oz clear cups at Walmart. I wrapped each cup in 1/4 sheet of white tissue paper and stuck it in one of the pants pockets and then filled the cups with candy.



Aren't they cute!

Jane

Rudolph Reindeer Boxes

I saw these on Chera's blog. They were so adorable that I had to add them to my list of things to make for my coworkers.

I simplified mine quite a bit (using googly eyes) but the overall affect was still the same. Note to those transporting these deer...their ears do not transport well! Yesterday I got to work and I had four earless reindeer! LOL. Luckily I'd brought glue dots with me and I glued their ears back on before giving them to my coworkers. I have to admit they looked pretty funny without the ears though!

Here's the front view:


Here's the side view:


Aren't they adorable???

Have a great day!

Jane

Bah Humbug

If you are easily offended...then you may not want to view this post. Since I've lost a subscriber due to my "Naughty Snowman" card I almost decided not to post this card. But then I decided I just didn't care. You can view it or not. You can choose to subscribe or not to subscribe to my blog. If you're offended by a card...then I'm not going to tiptoe around you. My reality is different than yours. I've used dark humor to survive a life that was often painful.

Christmas is NOT my most favorite time of the year. I lost my first pregnancy on December 23rd. My Mom spent her last Christmas in the hospital where they were prepping her for surgery the following day. She had no food and was drinking the stuff that makes you miserable because it cleans you out. I stopped by the hospital so she could see our son (then 6 months old but only the second time she'd had a chance to see him since he spent the first 3 months of his life in an incubator). She had surgery the following day where the incompetent surgeon nicked her bowel. She died a month later (January 31st) from sepsis - secondary to the perforated bowel. Also, this time of year is the time of year where I see little girls all dressed up and see all the little girl toys advertised. And I miss my daughters that passed away. I mourn the opportunity to raise a daughter. So, forgive me if my holiday spirit isn't all it's cracked up to be. I do try. (As you can see with all the holiday gifts for my coworkers...) But, once in a while, I need to do something that reflects the way I am feeling (instead of the way I'm portraying on the outside). And that is what this card is.



I don't know if you can tell or not...but I used dimensionals on the dogs back leg and it's tail so they stick up away from the paper a bit. I also left the snowman's hands loose so they stick out as well. I printed the saying on the computer.

Well, off to work with me. I do have some cute Rudolf boxes to post tomorrow.

Jane

Santa Candy Bars

I have been busy working on little gifts for my coworkers. Last week they got the hot cocoa and the tic tacs. This week I have something planned for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.



Tomorrow they will get these adorable candy bars. My favorite part of these is how easy they are. These are the BIG candy bars and they were on sale at Fry's for $1 a piece last week. I just tore off the outer wrapper. Cut my red paper to fit around the candy bar. Tore some white the same height and put that down vertically, then tore some more white and layered it down near the bottom. Then I used black cardstock for the belt and for the buckle I used foil since I didn't have any silver cardstock. These came together in just a few minutes. No muss...no fuss!

Remember the "Santa Pants" I posted a few posts ago? I made three more of those yesterday. I used the larger 12x12 size. The pants themselves aren't much bigger but the measurements are easier. And they did go much faster after the initial pair. So that's just an encouragment for those of you thinking about doing them. I did three pairs in probably less than 2 hours. The original pair took me over 2 hours just for the one!

Are you done with everything for Christmas? I am so NOT done. Yikes! And half the people at work are taking time off this week so I'll be doing a lot of covering there as well. Should get interesting to see how I accomplish everything.

Have a great day!

Jane

Snowman Kisses Tic Tac Holders

This is the next project I created for my coworkers. I "lifted" the idea from Rochelle. You can see her sample and the directions for making these HERE on her blog.



I used her measurements. I think next time I might modify them a bit - maybe I had a different size box of tic tacs or something...but it seemed like I had a lot of space left inside the container. I used a snowman stamp (instead of punches like she used). And I cut out the center portion of the snowman instead of the bottom. So I had to peel part of the label off the boxes of tic tacs so the label didn't show through. But there was just something about calling them "Snowman Kisses" and having them come from the bottom of the snowman that seemed wrong! LOL.

Here's a top view so you can see the tic tacs inside a little better.



I also made covered candy bars this weekend...and still have plans for some Rudolph triangle boxes and more Santa Pants if I have time. But I'm quickly running OUT of time!

Jane

Hot Cocoa Packets

I'm trying to create a bunch of little things for my coworkers to lead up to Christmas. Luckily we are a small group (5 including me...so I really only have to make 4 of each item).

I saw these boxes on Debbie's blog and had to try them myself. I printed off her tutorial...got out my new Changito stamp that my secret sister sent me...and I was off and running! I love how they turned out! I made two of each color (red and green). For the inside I used a Stampin' Up set (Like it a Latte) for the marshmellows and the saying.

Outside:



Inside:




And just because he's SO DARN CUTE...here's a close up of the new Changito stamp! :-) Thank you Secret Pal (or not so secret now!)

Jane

Naughty Snowmen!

I love how this card turned out! After seeing a very similar one on Splitcoast I just had to copy it. I was originally planning on making 3 of them (one for each of my brothers) but after the first one I determined it was such a pain in the butt that I'm making one and only ONE of them. I will just post it here and send them all a link to come view their Christmas card! LOL.

Here's the one I was inspired by

Here's mine:



On the inside I used the computer and printed "May ALL your holiday wishes come true!"

Enjoy! ;-)

Jane

Simple, yet elegant

I totally CASED this card from Madeline on Splitcoast. You can see her card HERE. Her's is a little more fancy than mine. She used another layer (or two) and used a corner punch on her layers. But I like mine a lot just how it is!



I used a coluzzle to cut a circle in some cardstock and then used that as a reverse mask. I sponged in the ink and then stamped the snowflakes from my Stampin Up "Snow Flurries" set randomly. Then I punched out the top of the "ornament" from foil (didn't have any silver cardstock but hey it worked great!). I added the hook with a silver gel pen. The greeting is from Clear Dollar Stamps. Lastly I layered onto the card and added the bow.

Easy peasy and it looks really elegant. I could see doing this card next year for the holidays.

Thanks for looking!

Jane

Santa's Pants

When I saw a link to these Santa Pants on Splitcoast I HAD to try my hand at making them. I will say that it went slowly and I was telling myself it wasn't worth it...all the way to the point of completion. But once I looked at the completed product? It was SO totally worth it! They are ADORABLE!



I think the sample in the tutorial by Kathie McGuire was actually stitched (and would have been much quicker to do). Instead I pierced all the holes and "faux stitched" with a silver gel pen. They used ribbon for the belt...I didn't have any black ribbon so I just used a small strip of black cardstock. And for the buckle I used a soda can tab.

I did see another sample HERE where they'd modified it and made it with 12x12 paper so the pants legs were a bit bigger. In their sample they did their stitching like I did - and they noted that they placed their two pieces of cardstock together so they could pierce two at a time and save some grief. Maybe I'll try that tip next time (assuming there IS a next time, LOL).

I was trying to brainstorm what you could fit in these for holiday gifts. Each leg is about 2x2inches wide by 4 inches tall.

Here were some of my thoughts...please share what YOU would put in the container if it were yours!

Generic: Candy Canes
Popcorn flavorings
Coffee flavorings or creamers
Coffee in one side and chocolate dipped stirrer spoons in the other
Hot cocoa mix in one and marshmellows in the other
Maybe some sleeves of homebaked cookies?

Female Gift: Bubble bath and lotion

Male Gift: ???? No ideas!

Child Gift: Colored pencils or markers

How is everyone doing on preparing for the holidays? I have my recipes printed for cookie baking day. I think I'll do that next weekend. Most of the kids' presents are bought. Still need stocking stuffers. And haven't even started on coworkers or friends. Can't afford much - so need to come up with some creative yet inexpensive ideas.

Have a great day. If you feel like a little bit "naughty" come back later this week and look for my x-rated snowman card. I'd originally planned on making one of these for each of my brothers...but once again...it was a LOT of work. Maybe I'll just send them a link to the card! LOL.

Jane

Have you been Naughty this year???

I saw a card on Hambo Rubber Stamps blog and fell in love with it. I had to go right out and purchase the stamp and "stamplift" the card asap!

These aren't the best pictures (black card base against my black photo box) but I think you can still see where the card ends and the box begins. I know a few people who deserve one of these cards! :-)

Card one (pretty muchly a straight CASE of Monica's card):



Card two (same layout but different colors):



So...which version do YOU like better?

Jane

Monday...Monday...

Well, after a week off from work...it's time to go back (yuck!) It's dark and cold outside...and it's 6:30 a.m. inside. Double yuck! Although I should be thankful to have a job. Yesterday's classifieds was a total of 6 pages here...that included the legal stuff, the jobs, and the items for sale. Ouch! So, I guess I need to be happy and get up and go to work. Just wish I was a morning person (not a night one) and that my job was closer. Adding two hours a day of driving is for the birds. I did ask Santa for a Bluetooth compatible phone...maybe that'd help pass the time.

I guess you probably came here for artwork, eh? Not to listen to me babble. So...without further ado - here is my next creation...



The cute little giraffe and saying are from High Hopes Rubber Stamps. I absolutely adore their images!

Well, better go get showered and dressed. Need to stop and fill up the gas tank before I hit the road today. Have a great one!

Jane