CSAYL - Black, White and ???

Hi,
Well winter is well and truly here - I am typing up this post absolutely shivering and it feels like  perfect weather to keep building up my Christmas card stash. Thanks to the Christmas Stampin' All Year Long blog, I have now made a very healthy supply which will be ready to go at Christmas. This week's challenge is 'Black, White and ??? - create a holiday project using black, white and only one other colour of your choice. It is sponsored by A Perfect Presentation

and the winner will receive 1 free template of their choice. I decided to use the 'My Little Bag' template.

My extra colour of choice was red and I stamped my Christmas tree image in red ink and clear embossed it. The To/From sentiments were stamped in Smokey Shadow ink. Once I had completed my stamping, I die cut the image using a circle nestability and then mounted this on to red cardstock die cut with my Blossoms 4 die.

I punched two holes in the top of my bag with my Cropadile and then set two eyelets and threaded through some red satin ribbon. The designer paper that I have mounted on to my white base is from Kaisercraft ( I think it is the After Five collection). I have to admit that there is a little addtion of grey on my project, but I just felt that I needed to use the reverse of the black and white paper to break the pattern up a little.

Hop over to the CSAYL blog to check out the other team creations and make sure you add your project for a chance to win the fabulous prize from A Perfect Presentation!!

Supplies
Stamps: A Rhonna Christmas (Autumn Leaves)
Cardstock: Select White (PTI); After Five collection (Kaisercraft)
Ink: Real Red (SU); Smokey Shadow (PTI); Versamark
Accessories: My Little Bag PDF template (A Perfect Presentation); circle nestability, Blossom 4 nestability (Spellbinders); clear embossing powder, cropadile (SU); silver eyelets; red satin ribbon

CSAYL challenge - Warm and Fuzzy

Hi,
Time for another CSAYL challenge and this week the sponsor is A Perfect Presentation:

..and the challenge is to use felt on your creation. The winner of this week's challenge will receive a template of their choice.

I have used the Easy Candy Wrap template this week and I printed it out onto some white cardstock.  I then cut another piece of white cardstock to wrap around the centre of the box and stamped some Baja Breeze snowflakes randomly on all sides. I then used the To/From sentiment from A Rhonna Christmas set in Night of Navy ink. I used some Ocean Tides felt for my two borders and created this by using the scallop piece from MFT's Banner Die set a few times and adhering on all four sides. (I need to build up my die collection!).

 I then stamped the Christmas tree also from the Rhonna Christmas set in Old Olive ink, hand cut it, mounted it on dimensionals and covered it in Glossy Accents. To finish off the tree I added some Chilli Sprinkles from AnnaBelle Stamps.  I then punched out some tiny snowflakes and adhered them with glue dots all over the main section of the candy wrap. Finally I tied some Cranberry seam binding from My Craft Spot around each end.

I can definately see I wll be making a lot more of these Easy Candy Wraps and think they would be a perfect addition to the dinner table on Christmas day instead of the traditional bonbons. Make sure you pop over to the CSAYL blog and enter your creation for your chance to win a fabulous template as well as being inspired by the DT's wonderful work!!

Thank for visiting!!

Supplies
Stamps: Wings of Joy (TE); A Rhonna Christmas (Autumn Leaves)
Cardstock: Select White (PTI)
Ink: Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Night Of Navy (SU)
Accessories: Easy Candy Wrap template (A Perfect Presentation) dimensionals (SU); Glossy Accents (Ranger); Chilli Sprinkles (AnnaBelle Stamps); Cranberry scrunched seam binding (My Craft Spot); Ocean Tides felt (PTI); Banner Die (MFT); small snowflake punch

Seasons Greetings and New Year's Resolutions

Hello,
I hope everyone has had a very merry Christmas and I wish you all a very happy, safe and prosperous 2011. We had a lovely Christmas, sharing the day with the kids at home and Grandparents visiting for a couple of days. I never achieved everything I wanted to before Christmas and I did something unforgiveable - I had to give some members of the family cards that weren't handmade!! That is an absolute no-no in my house - but I just ran out of time to finish making my cards as other Christmas preparations took over.  Anyway, one project that I did manage to complete was a handmade calendar for my mum and mother in-law.

I purchased the frame from Taylored Expressions along with the plastic sleeves and the plain downloadable calendar templates. I gave the frame two coats of white acrylic paint with a light sanding in between. Then I set about choosing suitable images to stamp along the top of each page, trying to fit the theme of each month where possible. Each page was finished with either some ribbon or border punched cardstock and other finishing touches such as Glossy Accents to add shine or glitter to give a little sparkle. This was the most fun project I have worked on in ages and I am itching to make one for myself now! Below are the completed months. Click on each image for a closeup.

Here is a close up of the glitter added to August's image:

As the New Year is fast approaching, I have been giving much thought to my New Years Resolutions. I thought I would share them on here to make me more accountable and they will serve as a constant reminder to be followed:

1. Become fit and healthy and stick to it!!! I have joined countless gyms over the year and I have to admit that the last time I joined was the most successful. Unfortunately I got a slight tear in my achilles from doing step classes, so this all came to a halt. However I did recently  buy a cross trainer which is looking very lonely in my family room, so there are no excuses from Jan 1st!! I would like to reach 40 in much better shape and I have a couple of years to achieve this.

2. Manage the budget more successfully. I know this is probably on most people's to do list, but due to my passion for this hobby, I am very impulsive and as I order a lot of products online, it is more economical to blow the budget and order a ridiculous amount of products. I will still be buying online but I have to remember to use my ever-growing craft supplies up as well.

3. Start making Christmas cards now! As mentioned before, I didn't manage to give all my close friends and relatives a handmade card and that is just not on! I have decided that each time I create a new card, I will make a Christmas card using the same sketch or same colour combo at the same time. If I can make one each week or two, I will be close to reaching my target by December. So expect some Christmas spirit to be shared throughout the year!

4. Balance my time more efficiently. This should probably be number 1 on the list according to my husband! Since I have started this blog, my stamping mojo has skyrocketed and not a night goes by when I am not posting or creating a card much to my husband's disdain. He is THE best husband in the world as he keeps the house together while I am off in my craft heaven, but I think it's time I picked up some of the load, not to  mention focus on some valuable family time as the kids seem to be growing up too fast. I will still be posting as regularly, I just need to become more time efficient.

5. Buy an SLR camera! This is my number one purchase that I wish to make in 2011. I find that I am unable to capture the finer details of my cards and achieve closeups with my little camera.

So there it is - written down for all the world to see and I am determined to achieve all four of these resolutions. I might update on how I am going with them throughout 2011.

Thanks for visiting and  I will be back very soon.

Supplies
Stamps: All in the family, Trendy Trees, Thoughts and Prayers (SU); Tiny Treats- Valentine, Fancy Flourishes, Vintage Picnic, Round and Round, Scattered Showers, Scattered Showers Additions, Holiday Button Bits (PTI); Bubbly (Penny Black); Wings of Joy (TE); Spring Chicks Retired (Elzybells);Charlotte's Holiday Mail (Paperworks Co)
Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Kraft, Pretty In Pink, Basic Grey, Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Chocolate Chip, Baja Breeze, Ski Slope DSP - Retired (SU); White Basics (PTI)
Ink: Tuxedo Memento Black; Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, Certainly Celery, So Saffron, Pretty In Pink,Night of Navy, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Not Quite Navy

Accessories: Copic Markers; Frame Your Imagination Stand, 6x6 Page Protectors, 6x6 Calendar Download (TE); Stampin' Write markers, Scalloped Border Punch, Scalloped Oval Punch, Small Oval Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Certainly Celery Ribbon (SU); Glossy Accents (Ranger); Scor-Tape; miscellaneous ribbon

Simple Calendar

Hi,
Just a quick post tonight - I just thought I would show pictures of a very simple calendar I made using this tutorial by Nancy Morgan. I have been wanting to have a go at this for a couple of years and now as I need a Secret Santa gift, this seemed like the perfect opportunity. I kept the calendar quite monochromatic and simple using some retired Stampin' Up designer paper and matching cardstock. Click on the images to see a closeup.

The card images for this card were stamped using Papertrey Ink's 2010 Anniversary set Round and Round and Riding Hood Red Ink. The calendar is held upright by some vanilla ribbon. Jan to Jun are on the outside of the calendar, then you simply untie the ribbon and flip the calendar over and Jul to Dec are then able to be used.  I have kept the vanilla ribbon a little long so the recipient can decide if they want a bow or knot. These could easily also be blinged up a bit with some rhinestones or glitter - I just had a strict time limit.

I had a lot of fun with this and will probably make some more for teacher gifts as its so inexpensive to make.

See ya!

Supplies
Stamps: Round and Round Anniversary Set (PTI)
Cardstock: Ruby Red, Groovy Guava, Ginger Blossoms DSP - I think! - all retired, Very Vanilla (SU)
Ink: Riding Hood Red (SU); Printer for calendar
Accessories: Scallop Circle Punch, Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, Cropadile, Dimensionals (SU); Circle Nestablilities (Spellbinders)