Christmas village

I finally got around to taking some pictures today! Here are the little house I painted, glittered, and embellished for Christmas.

 yep, thats a glittery dove...

I forgot (was too lazy) to put mica flakes on the "ground" part of the house, so i'll be doing that next year when I take them out again. 

Joyful

I made this joyful Christmas banner to hang on a lonely wall that is waiting for me to finish some shelves....

The gingerbread man shapes were cut using my Cricut Expression and the "In my Kitchen" cartridge.

 I did a brave thing (for me) and cut up some of my very favorite paper, October Afteroon's "Very Merry" paper collection. I love love love the pretty patterns and colors. 

Each gingerbread man is made up of one layer of Papertrey Ink kraft cardstock and one layer of patterned paper. The cardstock makes it sturdier. 

 

 I made the crepe paper medallions using party steamers... The letters were cut using the Country life cricut cartridge. They were glittered with german glitter glass. I had to use a lot of glossy accents to get that glitter to stick. 

I sewed seam binding ribbon to each gingerbread man arm and tied them all together in bows.

Voila, C'est fini! 

Is anyone interested in a tutorial for the medallion? 

Its the most.....busiest?....time of the year.

Its been pure madness around here. Madness I tell you!

I have a few projects completed, but have not had time to photograph them. My project list is STILL a mile long. Thats what I get for having the brilliant idea to do a "Handmade Christmas" and then waiting until 2 weeks before to get started. Typical me. At least I have some {little} helpers. ;) 

This is what my dinning room table looks like, since I don't have a designated crafting space things can get pretty messy. Okay, whatever, I'm the one who is pretty messy! 

Sneaky peeky

So here's something i've been working on lately. I'm not yet finished, but here's a peek.

I wish I could capture with my camera just how sparkly these are. You'll have to take my word for it.


I also got my white Christmas tree up this weekend. I blogged about it, and you can find more pictures here .

Christmas bling

So here's yet one more Christmas card....

I'll post a non-Christmas card next time, to switch things up...lol

I made this one a couple of weeks ago. I haven't really been in a crafting mood as of late, but I need to get on it because I have a mile long list of projects to finish up!

Cardstock is from the DCWV neutrals stack...oh I hate that stuff for card bases...lol, I was Just trying to use it up but now I regret using it on this card. Its so flimsy. Great for the cricut though...

The patterned paper is Jenni Bowlin and K&Company.

Stamps are from Papertrey Ink, Studio G,and you probably can't see the snowflakes stamped in Ranger Distress antique linen, BUT those are Inkadinkado. Other ink color is Ranger Distress Fired Brick.

All the blingy swirls are Michael's store brand (Paperstudio? Reminisce? I can't remember...)

I made that sparkly star by cutting chipboard (cardboard from packaging) and glittering it with this great chunky glitter from Joanns. You can find that glitter in the kids craft section, it comes in little tubes. 

The lace is a ribbon roll I bought on clearance at Walmart. The seam binding ribbon was bought from Prairie Bird Boutique on Etsy. 

So after posting these pictures I noticed my lace ribbon is totally crooked...why didn't I notice that before I photographed it!? O well. C'est la vie. 

Also... I can't seem to get my tension ,on my sewing machine, correct for sewing on paper. I love the look but  i've the bobbin thread is always just sitting on top of the card instead of pulling through. Any tips?

Waltzingmouse stamps challenge

I made this card for the Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge... I love this challenge, but this is the first time I've been able to participate. Yay! 

The sketch

Supplies: Cardstock: DCWV pink, PTI aqua, white | Stamps: PTI fillable frames, Peace be still & Polka dot basics II. Waltzingmouse Stamps music background | Ink: Colorbox rasperry, PTI frost white and aqua | Dies: PTI fillable frames and peace be still | Embellishments: RickRack from walmart, Rinestones by paperstudio, glitter from Joann's.|

Joys of the season...

Its starting to feel more like Christmas. I think its the blanket of white snow that is covered everything on Sunday night. Personally, I haven't made (almost) any Christmas preparations yet. Cmon wasn't it just Halloween?

I did make a festive card for The Play Date Cafe color challenge this week

. I waited until last night to make this card, because this challenge was really challenging

. I wouldn't have thought to use those colors together on my own, but i'm actually happy with the way this card turned out. 

Well mostly happy. My wrinkle ribbon was a tad too wrinkly! Look at that funny bow...lol.

I'm too lazy a crafter to re-do it though.

Supplies: Cardstock: Papertrey Ink kraft Stamps: Papertrey Ink Wreath for all season & 2010 Holiday Tags, Waltzingmouse Stamps sheet music background stamp set.

Ink: Ranger Tim Holtz Distress ink in pumice stone and walnut stain. 

Embellishments: K and Company Yuletide acetate snowflake flourish, Martha Stewart lacey label and MS Glitter, Crafty secrets Christmas scraps ticket, Seam binding, Star is made by me.

Glittery snowflake ornaments

I broke out my new plum Cricut Expression last night. You know, I had to test it out. I've been wanting to make these little snowflakes for a while, so thats the first thing I cut.

 I used the back of my 12X12 paper packs. Its a lightweight chipboard, about the same as a cereal box. I layed out all the snowflakes on my gyspy, that way I was able to fit 9-12 snowflakes per 12X12 mat.

I used some spray adhesive to completely coat both side of the snowflakes. It is so much easier than trying to cover them with a liquid adhesive.

Then I picked out some pretty colors of Martha Stewart glitter and went to town.

I decided to hang a few from my red chandelier, since I have yet to put up a tree...(or anything else)

I love how the sun catches all that glittery shine. I love glitter! 

By the way, I used the "When its cold outside" Cricut cartridge for these. If you'd like me to make you some, let me know and I can add some to my new Etsy shop. :)