Thomas....

The other day I told you about Kiley, well her brother is a huge Thomas the Tank Engine fan. I couldn't leave him out of the card making process, so I put together this cute guy. I so did not make this one up out of my head, but instead bought a pattern from Sharon White. Of course, when I took it over to the neighbors, little brother was sleeping, so guess who claimed the card......Kiley of course! At least someone enjoyed it. I suppose I'll have to make another one just for him!

Another Birthday Party Invite

My kids birthdays are all in the fall, but my neighbors kids all have birthday's in the winter. This was another neighbor's request for an invite. Her daughter was turning four, and at the time was all about Ariel and the Little Mermaid. I wasn't impressed with the Ariel punch art out there, and I didn't have time to go find an Ariel stamp, so I decided that it might just have to be a mermaid inspired card, not an Ariel reference.

Luckily Kiley thought that the mermaid on the card looked just like her! I printed a line image from the computer onto watercolor paper and colored it with Stampin' Up! markers. A couple pieces of bling and a card shaped like a shell and it was good to go.

The important part was that Kiley loved them, and she had a wonderful time at her party!

More Snowball fun

I made these as neighbor gifts for Christmas, but I bet you could use them as gifts during the summer as well. Especially when there isn't any real snow on the ground to throw. I saw the idea of an indoor snowball fight in a catalog, but of course the price was exorbitant. Being the crafty girl that I am, I thought to myself, "I can make that!"  Of course I did forget that I can't really sew. Luckily, since these spent most of the time after I gave them winging around the room, no one seemed to notice how lopsided they really were!

Are you ready for some more winter fun?

Ok, I know that by now things have started to slow down on the snow front, but I still have winter projects to show you, so deal with it! :) The first project was actually a Christmas present for my Mom. I have to say, I LOVE the way this turned out. This was actually a last minute idea in my head that I had to make a reality. I think I made the entire project on December 23. Like I said though, I think this was my absolute favorite project this winter. It just turned out so darn cute!!!

I ended up mounting this on canvas, but I bet it would have looked so cute in a black or red frame as well. I am hoping my mom liked it as much as I did (cause if she didn't, I'm going to steal it back!).

Gotta love Legos!!!

My next door neighbor, and great friend Amanda, asked me to make birthday invites for her son. The plan for the birthday party was a trip to see the new LEGO movie. Since my son was invited too....I had to say Yes. Since I didn't have tons of time, I had to get creative and limit the amount of work that would go into these. A quick google search, and I came across tons of Lego cards. I couldn't believe how many there were. A couple punches with a circle punch and a some sponging, and these were finished. I couldn't have asked for a better or easier Lego card!

Now for something completely different!

I knew I loved Stampin' Up! products, but I had no idea how useful they can be when your 10 year old son on a Sunday afternoon says, "Oh, by the way Mom, I have to make a poster of Vermont for tomorrow.....do we have any posterboard?" WHAT!!!!! I tell my kids not to procrastinate, but of course, they don't listen. Since his handwriting is horrible, and mine isn't much better, and since there was a ton of information that had to go on this poster, we pulled out the big shot. He was able to cut out the letters himself and the poster ended up looking pretty decent. Once again, SU! to the rescue!

Valentine Pencil Boxes for School

Ok, last Valentine post of this year (yes, I know Valentine's Day was over a month ago....what about me not being a good blogger don't you get?!!!!). Jay wanted to give Valentine pencils this year instead of candy, so we found some really cute pencils from Oriental Trading Company that said "Hoppy Valentine's Day" and had pictures of frogs on them. Going with the theme, I created some punch art Frogs. I found these on the internet, but I can't for the life of me remember where to give proper credit (yet another problem with creating blog post so long after the fact!)

I had to make both a male and female frog, cause no boy is going to want a frog with a bow in her hair. I also had to make two different pencil boxes cause "Mom, I'm not giving the boys in my class a PINK box!". What was a I thinking. To make it even more Boyish....I added the flies to the boy's pencil box. They were so easy to make. I used the small wings from the Bug Me set and a pencil eraser dipped in white ink. I have to admit, I love the way they turned out. I just wish I had taken a picture of them with the sentiment tag and the pencils inside.

Valentine Chocolate Boxes

Jay always takes something to his teachers, bus driver and nurse for holidays. This time, we decided to make boxes of chocolate. Inside each of the "chocolates" is a surprise Hershey's kiss. So now, it's a never ending box. I really loved the way these turned out. I have had this idea in my head for years (quite literally). Ever since Stampin' Up! put a fake box of chocolate in one of their catalogs. Ok, I may not be the fastest at getting my ideas out of my head and into creation, but what is it they always say? "Better Late than Never!"

Since we were talking about Valentine's Day.....

Why not skip ahead a few holidays and I'll show you what I made for my kids. I always get my children something for Valentine's (usually my job is the candy and Dad gets the gift (a t-shirt, a stuffed animal, something small). This year I decided that I might as well make something cute to put the candy in, so Voila! here are my Rubik's Cube inspired Valentine boxes. Can you tell I'm an 80's kid? The scary thing is, my kids had no idea what they were suppose to be. I had to google pictures so they didn't think I was nuts, that we really did play with a puzzle block when I was a kid.....and NO, it did not use batteries or make any noise if you solved it! (considering the only way I ever solved it was by peeling off the stickers, don't think it could have made noise even if it did have batteries!).

It's official....I'm a horrible blogger!

Yes, I admit it. I just can't seem to keep up on my blogging. Another month and a half has gone by, and I still haven't even shown you everything from Christmas!!!! Oh well.

Today I decided to fast forward and show you the punch art Valentine card I made for my hubby. (Of course, the fact that the LNS challenge this week is to use punch art means I have to post it so I can get it in in time for the challenge).

Anyway, since he is such a science nerd, I decided to go with his strengths on this card. The scientist was CASEd from Blinkin, Thinkin, and Inkin, my favorite punch art blog (even though she doesn't post anymore, the ideas are fabulous!). The inside of the card came from a t-shirt that I recreated.

Needless to say, he thought it was funny, and I had fun making it. Hope you like it, (and weren't offended!).

More Christmas Canvas

I told you I was addicted to the process of creating on canvas. I saw online that someone had made a gift bag using the mosaic punch to create a Christmas tree. I thought it was an awesome idea, but gift bags can be destroyed and thrown away. I wanted to make something a little more permanent, so I put mine on the canvas. I used reinker to mix with white craft paint to paint the canvas, and then added the five layered punches and bling to create the tree. I still haven't quite figured out how to keep the ink from smearing when I add the modge podge to seal it, but I figure another few canvases and I'll have the technique mastered!

Classroom Santas

You can't bring a gift to the teacher, and not bring treats for the entire class. So once the teacher gifts were sorted, I got to work making petal cone die Santa's for Jay to give to his classmates. While I didn't mind making them, they did use up all my Real Red cardstock. Guess what I will be ordering before Valentine's Day!

Teacher gifts- Canvas Santas

I'm so glad my son is still little enough to want to give Christmas gifts to his teachers.  (My teenage daughter has so outgrown that!) This year I decided to do the Note pad covers on a much larger scale. You know what I'm talking about.....like these seen Here.

I have really been into the canvas art lately, and I thought creating a santa based on the note pad idea in a larger canvas art would be a great update. I think the teachers liked them, but even if they didn't, they were so much fun to make!

Cookie Exchange Gift

So, for the cookie exchange party at my house, I thought it would be fun to send everyone home with a copy of the recipes used to make the cookies they received during the exchange. Of course, being a paper craft fanatic, I couldn't let them just get a blank recipe card....I had to give them something pretty to keep them in, so I decided to make these recipe boxes.

I loved the added touch of using the snowflake bling as one of the O's in the word cookie. But it still wasn't quite fancy enough.....then I realized I had all those snowflake ornaments from the kit that was sold in December. That was exactly what this box needed. I loved the way they finally turned out, and I believe the guests liked them too!

Gingerbread Invites

So a couple of years ago a friend invited me to a cookie exchange for Christmas. We each brought several dozen cookies and traded with the other attendees, so when we went home, we had several different kinds.

Since I was feeling better, I  thought this would be a wonderful way to get the neighbors and friends together for a girl's day.

The first thing I had to do was get invitations made and handed out. I saw the gingerbread punch art idea on line, and thought that would be perfect for the cookie exchange, but the rolling pin invite was all my own idea. (I know, something I didn't case.....can you believe it?).

I really loved the way these turned out, and since the party happened a month ago, I can tell you that it went very well. We had a blast, and remarkably, no one brought gingerbread men! I definitely think this may be the start to a yearly event.

Another Thanksgiving project

I don't know how many of you purchased the bow die from Stampin' Up!, but I got it on one of their super weekly sales. I had been looking at it, but I just couldn't see spending the money.....and then Kirsteen Gill had to create this adorable Turkey using it and I was hooked!

It felt like Christmas waiting for it to arrive, but once it came I got straight to work. I made ten of these suckers as gifts for teachers, neighbors, and of course friends!

While Jay was disappointed his turkey didn't have as many candy pieces as his teachers, he soon got over it when I told him we had one here at home he could eat after the holiday.

November Rocks!!!

I love November....maybe because it is full of Fall weather (my absolute favorite time of year) and the color orange (my absolute favorite color) and FOOD!

Thanksgiving is one of the best holidays ever, but if you ask me, even better is the day after Thanksgiving. What is it about Thanksgiving leftovers that tastes so much better the second time around?

Anyway, to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, Jay asked me to make Turkey's to take to school. I found a few ideas on the web, but nothing that really struck my fancy, so I took the best parts from several of them and mashed them all together in my own version of a punch art turkey treat.

I think they turned out pretty cute, and even though I am sure most of them didn't make it home without getting their legs ripped off.....Jay insists the kids enjoyed them!

Oh, and something important I learned this year that is definitely worth sharing. I used to buy large bags of M&Ms and sort them by color to make sure I had the right ones, but this year, on a whim I found a huge bag of Reese's Pieces......They definitely are fall colors....and no sorting involved!

Final Halloween Project

This is my last Halloween share for 2013.

The Sunday before Halloween I found myself glued in front of the TV watching football with nothing to keep my hands busy. The next thing I knew, I was putting together these candy holders to pass out to my "special" trick or treaters in the neighborhood. (I told you once I started I couldn't stop!),

You know what I'm talking about. There are those neighbor kids that always get a bigger handful of candy or a special treat just because you actually know who they are.

My kids and hubby lovingly called these my Halloween Tacos.....and I can see why. Notice the curly paper technique also is making a reappearance in this project as well as a little more punch art!

Unfortunately we had a cold rainy trick or treat day, so some of my treats didn't get to be passed out......but never fear, Jay took care of the candy they were holding, so at least that didn't go to waste!

Candy filled Witches Legs

I saw this super cute idea from Stamp with Heather, and just had to give it a try. I had book marked it over a year ago, but was actually able to find the idea and even though I didn't have the stocking punch, my upline was sweet enough to let me borrow hers.

This was one of those special projects for a special friend, not something I would have wanted to make 30 of for Jay's class, but it did turn out pretty amazing.

I could see all kinds of different takes on this idea....Elf legs anyone?

Halloween Teacher Treats

So, I couldn't just send the mummys to school for the kids without sending something for Jay's teachers. They are such great people, and I really do appreciate how much they work with him and the other 29 students in his class.

I had seen several of these curly paper wreaths on other peoples blogs, but hadn't made one myself. Most of the ones I saw online were made using the styrofoam wreath forms, but those things are expensive! I'm not a cheapskate by any means, but since I was making five of these, I thought there had to be a better way......

Cardboard! Nothing said the wreath had to be three dimensional, and with the curly paper to fill it out, you can't even tell these are just flat circles of cardboard unless you look at the back. I hadn't really used the Halloween Washi tape from Stampin' Up! yet, and of course, I had to put my favorite thing, punch art on there as well.

I thought they turned out adorable, and by the thank-you notes I received, the teachers thought so too!

Another bonus about this project, it is the perfect busy work project you can think of. Once you have the paper strips cut, it was just a matter of curling them with my bone folder and using glue dots to stick them onto the cardboard. I answer phones all day for my "real" job, so I just sat there curling and sticking away while talking on the phone. It made the day and the project go much faster!

Little Mummy's can't have all the fun.....

So while I was thinking of Mummys, I wondered what kind of treat box I could create using the same idea. I found a pattern for a coffin on the internet, and started there. I have to admit, the directions I found weren't very self explanatory, so it ended up being a one time only project. I won't be making it again anytime soon.

Maybe if one of you has better directions for a coffin box you are willing to share, I will give it another shot. Either way, it did turn out to be a pretty cute project. And it can hold quite a bit of candy.....not that I actually know how much. My son found the candy stash and ate it before I could ever quite fill this box.

Woohoo....Halloween!

Are any of you as big Halloween fans as I am? While I don't really dress up any more, I still love the ghosts, ghouls and witches that are abundant this time of year.

I'm not a scary, haunted house kind of girl, but if you can make it cute, I'm all for it. So, needless to say, the next few days will be filled with Halloween treats.

It seemed like once I started getting ready for this holiday, I just couldn't stop. For example, Jay asked me to volunteer to bring a bag of candy to his Halloween party at school. Well what fun is that?

He chose miniature Twix bars, and honestly.....those aren't very Halloweeny at all. So, I dressed them up a bit using a punch (of course) and the really neat washi tape that Stampin' Up! has started carrying.

What I ended up with were these adorable little mummys, the absolute perfect size to hold one miniature Twix bar each!

Flashback to October

October 14th is my darling son's birthday. This year, we finally started to get into Football (much to my delight) and even played on a Flag Football team at the Y! Since his birthday fell during Flag Football season, and since his party consisted of a Sunday trip to see the St. Louis Rams play, what was more appropriate than a candy bag topper showing his current favorite sport.

You might recognize the football player from my Lions vs. Patriots preseason post (Wow! that was a long time ago!).

I thought these turned out extremely cute, and so did the kids in his class and on his football team.

Since we are such big football fans in our house....I'm sure these cute little bruisers will make another appearance soon......Maybe even for SuperBowl!