January (Let it Snow...)

Hello Peeps!

Hope everyone is having/had a wonderful weekend!  After having a very mild December, winter decided to show up this weekend.  It is very cold today and the ground is finally covered with a white fluffy blanket.  I guess that goes well with the project I have made for today!

While browsing in blogland, I have come across a few really gorgeous calendars and I knew that I wanted to make one (or a few hee hee) myself.  This one will be a gift for my mother (she never visits my blog) at Christmas, which is why it says 2013.  My thinking is I will make a page each month, making it ready for Christmas without too much last minute pressure.  We'll see how that goes...

Enough blabbing then - here is January:

The base is made from a Want 2 Scrap chipboard album, making it mice and durable.  I didn't like the placement of the wholes (it originally had three down the side) so I covered them with paper and punched a new whole at the top for hanging it.  The design allows this calendar to be reused each year, as the actual calendar sheet is encased within a little pocket and can easily be removed and replaced.  Alternately, a photo could be placed inside of it, turning it into a little scrapbook.

Over the holidays, I finally learned how to crochet!!!  I have been wanting to learn for a very long time, so over the 'break' my mother taught me how to read patterns and make sense of all the confusion.  So, for this project, I crocheted a couple of snowflakes!  I am thrilled with how they turned out!  The patterns are from Leisure Arts Leaflet 3013 called 99 Snowflakes and I used cotton which had a little iridescent thread through it, giving it a nice shimmer. 

A little borrowed humor - I saw a card on a blog a long time ago that had 'let it snow' on the front and 'make it stop' on the inside.  Unfortunately, I do not remember who's blog it was, so I cannot give credit.  If I find it, I'll add the link later.  (Turns out the creative gal is Brenda and here is her blog).  I thought my mother would get a chuckle from it, so I tucked the little tag inside the pocket behind the calendar.  The shimmery glitter on the snow is from Lindy's Stamp Gang - scintillating silver Glitz Spritz, painted on with a brush.  I think you can see it if you enlarge the photo.

Other Supplies:

Stamps - House Mouse Mice Snowball (*new*); Let it Snow is from Amy R Snowman Sayings

Ink - Stazon and distess inks (pumice stone, stormy sky, weathered wood, tattered rose, black soot)

Paper - Bo Bunny Midnight Frost

Punches - Martha Stewart border punch and Marvy tag punch

Other - yarn from stash, calendar was created in on my computer using a table in Word

Sketch is adapted from an old Sweet & Sassy Saturday sketch

This project is for the following fun challenges:

Crafty Catz - Use something new

Cupcake Craft Challenge - Something new

House Mouse and Friends - New

Simon Says Stamp - Spots and/or stripes

Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge - Anything goes with blue

Sweet Stampin' - All that glitters

Totally Papercrafts - Spots and Stripes

My something news are the House Mouse stamp, new year and new technique (crochet snowflakes).

Thanks for stopping in and for taking the time to leave a comment!  I really appreciate them and love having the chance to visit you too!  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Dawn

A Cheesy Birthday Card

Hello Peeps! 

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and that you all managed to get in a little relaxing crafting time!  I stole a little time to play with some of my new toys and made a birthday card for my SIL's upcoming birthday.  She has an extraordinary love of cheese, so I thought this image was perfect for her!

Details:

Image - House Mouse (new), coloured with my new Prismacolor Premier pencils (a Christmas gift from hubby!).  They were an absolute delight to work with, though I think I might have to up the contrast a bit for photographing.  Looks better IRL.

Tools - Martha Stewart edge punch (new - a Christmas gift from my mother)

Paper - Bazzill and Stampin' Up DP (retired)

Other - ribbon, brads and flowers all from my stash; sentiment computer generated.

This card is for the following fun challenges:

House Mouse and Friends - New

Simon Says Stamp - New something

Totally Papercrafts - Sketch

Papertake Weekly - Anything goes

Top Tip Tuesday - Anything goes (sorry, no tip this time :(  )

Thanks for stopping in and for taking the time to leave a comment!  I love to hear from you and it gives me the chance to visit you back.  Have a great week!

Hugs,

Dawn

Happy New Year & Top Five

Hello Peeps!

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's eve and that 2012 is off to a great start!  Hopefully you will all have plenty of time to indulge is making crafts this year.  I already have several projects on my 'to create' list for the year, so hopefully I will have time to make them all...

I thought that it might be fun to look back at 2011 and choose my top five cards for the year.  However, the task was a bit daunting, so instead my hubby offered to pick his favourites.  Turns out he couldn't do it either and ended up with a top nine.  So, from his top nine, I chose a top five.

#5:

#4:

#3:

#2:

#1:

Have a happy, healthy & creative new year! 

Hugs,

Dawn

Tee-rrific!

rHello peeps!

I hope everyone had a superb holiday season and you are all now gearing up for an equally magnificent new year's celebration!  Santa was very generous this year and I now have lots of new crafting goodies to play with, including a full set of Prismacolor Premier pencils!  I hope Santa was good to all of you too and I'm looking forward to seeing all your projects using all your new stuff.

I have been neglecting my blog lately as the holidays were very hectic for us this year, but I finally have time to show you the birthday card that I made for my hubby.  This is a true 'Dawn card,' complete with cheesy pun and a unique, but relevant embellishment.

Supplies:

Stamp - House Mouse

Paper - Bazzill card and Authentique DP from the Journey collection

Sentiment - computer generated

Ink - Black Stazon coloured with Distress inks (pumice stone, black soot, tattered rose, tumbled glass and faded jeans)

Other - fuzzy yarn, cotton string from my stash, golf tees are from a local golf shop and came already painted blue for me.

This card was inspired by a few challenges, but the only one that is still current is House Mouse and Friends, where they want to see your fuzzy and warm creations.  Golfing makes me think of warm weather, and the yarn is very fuzzy!

That's all for now.  Thanks for popping by and for taking the time to leave a comment!

Have a happy and safe New Year!  Sending you wishes for love, happiness, health and - of course - lots of creativity for 2012!

Hugs, Dawn 

The Last of the Christmas Cards

Hi Peeps!

Hope everyone is having a splendid week so far!  First off, I want to welcome my new followers!  I'm very glad to have you along!

I probably don't have to remind any crafters of how close Christmas is getting...so in my haste to finish up my cards, I made a few quick cards that are the same, but a little different.  Though they are simple, I think they are very elegant and I love how they turned out. 

To simplify things, here is a list of supplies common to all four.  I will then list supplies unique to each card below that particular card's photo.

Common Supplies:
Paper - metallic cardstock (gold or silver) and white cardstock
Stamps - Inkadinkado Spirit of Christmas for sentiment and corners, embossed with fine gold or silver embossing powder
Other - focal shape cut with Cricut Sentimentals cartridge, Stickles in gold or Star Dust

Unique supplies - Martha Stewart snowflake punch (sorry I forget what this particular one is called), dazzling diamonds glitter

Unique supplies - Stampin' Up Tree Trimmings stamp set stamped in gold or silver Color Box pigment ink and embossed with Stampin' Up Iridescent ice embossing powder.

And the last one:

Unique supplies: McGill pine branch punch, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Layered Poinsettia cut from white card and painted with Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals in Poinsettia Red Gold.  I love this paint - it is red with gold mica, which you can see when the light hits it just right.  Brad for centre of 'flower.'

These cards (one or all) are for the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp - photo inspiration (and a stunning photo it is!)

Papertake Weekly - anything goes

ABC Christmas Challenge - Y is for Yippee! (anything Christmas goes!)

Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Snow (1st card)

Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Mainly Monochrome

Top Tip Tuesday - Let it Snow (1st card)

In the spirit of sharing, I have two tips this time.  My first tip is for the snowflakes.  I love this snowflake punch, but the tips sometimes just seem to fall off so easily.  So, to avoid this problem, I cover my cardstock with a piece of sheet adhesive - I use Sookwang, and before removing the top protective layer, I punch out the snowflake.  Once the snowflake is punched, remove the top film, exposing the adhesive.  Cover with your favorite glitter, and not only will the tips stay put, the snowflake is now sparkly and gorgeous! 

My second tip comes from the last card.  I really wanted to use what I had in my stash to make these cards, but I didn't have anything that I liked for the centre of the poinsettia.  So, I altered a brad.  The sparkly gold brad in the photo started out as a pastel purple brad with a 1 on it.  I started by taking a file (or you can use coarse sand paper) and scuffed up the shiny finish on it.  I then covered it in gold stickles and allowed it to dry.  Once dry, add a second layer of stickles to ensure complete coverage and allow to dry again.  What a transformation!

Thanks for stopping by and thank you for taking the time to leave a comment - I love reading them and it gives me the chance to pop by your blog to admire your handy work too.  Enjoy the rest of your week!

Hugs,

Dawn