dinosaur hat

this is my son, modeling my latest knitted creation. the dinosaur hat from morehouse farms. i love their patterns and recently bought their critter collection book. i hope to get lots of these and other fun things made for christmas.

my swaps came today!

every single tag is fabulous! thanks to all the very creative ladies! visit my tag countdown page for info on the artist, close up picture and ingredients for some of the tags.

too creative pick

my "cute find for the day". visit jodi's site to find out how she created this too creative card.

too creative GOLDEN SITE

picture: one of the MANY page maps available from pagemaps.com

every once in awhile you come across a "golden site", one you not only bookmark into your favorites, but also add to your sidebar because you just KNOW you will use it tons!

mom emailed page maps to me...at 6am this morning. if you haven't been lucky enough to find it yet, GO NOW! the genius behind this site is becky fleck, a graphic designer and illustrator.

be sure to check out her tag maps...i will be!

remember to check our tag countdown to christmas! 60 tags so far and only 31 to go!

they are done

my gift tag baggies for the ornament/card exchange are done! each little baggie has 7 gift tags in it.

whew! that's alot of tags!

350 tags! they are all done and ready to package. my friend does an ornament exchange every year and started giving the option of making ornaments or cards to exchange. i am doing little goodie bags of 7 handmade tags. the pictures aren't great. when i get them all packed up i will post some better pix.

my rubbermaid relish tray really came in handy for organizing all of them!

why i love versamark!

versamark must get its name from "versatile". it is one of my most-used items. today i needed to quickly make several tags. going through my die cut tags i realized i had a variety of colors, but not several of one. i pulled out my versamark pad, white craft pad and the "season of joy" set (because the tags were so big, i also added "be merry" from the "warm words" set). in a couple of minutes i had 16 completed tags, from several different color families...and only two stamp pads to clean! it was quick and they turned out really cute. just need to add some fun ribbon to the tops.

they're on their way!

my swaps are finished and on their way to hawaii! i signed up for two spots...so I could get one of each of the tags (there were a couple of different groups since so many people signed up).
i did one of my favorite tags from my countdown, #16. i changed it just a little bit.

this is the other tag i made for the swap. i really like how it turned out.

stamps: deer friends, season of joy, punch pals

ink: riding hood red, creamy caramel, black, versamark

paper: sahara sand, misc. print, real red

extras: die cut tag, 1 1/4" & 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop circle punch, jute

using a 2,4,6,8 box pattern, "stamp queen" from splitcoast stampers adapted it to fit her glass ornament. she scalloped the edge and stamped the sides with the winter post set.

helpful tip

one of stampin' ups new dies, baskets and blooms, makes a cute little basket, but many people, including mom, think its a little tricky to put together.

mary fish, of stampinpretty, offers some super tips today on conquering this basket without an engineering degree. while there, take a look around her site. its one of my favorites!

a few simple tags using the set, winter post.

i love today's creation by Dawna Pritchard. this reindeer christmas ball card is a great accent as well as a gift card.

colors: bashful blue, chocolate chip

simple gift tags made with this week's spotlight set, winter post, add charm to any gift.

set of the week

winter post is this week's highlighted set. its old-fashioned feel is great for a variety uses. this beautiful card was created by stamp addict from splitcoast stampers. she also used the new top note die cut....my most favorite.

colors: riding hood red, close to cocoa, chocolate chip

a week of tags

this weeks quick and easy tags were all made using the following sets and punches: curly label punch bundle, say it with scallops, short & sweet, square scallop punch. recipes for each tag can be found on our tag countdown to christmas page, along with all the others (44 so far!)

this weeks featured product

I saved the best for last! today's idea for the "create a calendar" from the holiday mini is pure genius.
jan tink, from stamps, papers, scissors is the creative mind behind it. you just have to visit her site and read the blog entry. she has more pictures and complete instructions there too.
after she received her kit, like me, she sat and stared at it forever...mine is STILL in the drawer waiting to tell me what it wants to be.
this project would make a great workshop so lets book one for you and your friends today! what a great christmas present.

what a fun idea to turn the calendar kit into a mini scrapbook. you could write short journal entries each month about special memories and events.
i also like this idea as a perpetual calendar, choosing pictures each month of those celebrating their birthday or anniversary. since the calendar is '09 it could be covered by a cute graphic or thought.

i think a lot of people felt the same way i did upon receiving the calendar kit. its cute and looks fun on the trio clipboard, but when you start thinking about it would you really use it?
i like today's idea from whats_her_name on splitcoaststampers (that's her screen name...it really is). basically, she has attached all of the calenders with large key rings.

i really like this idea. spiral bound, the calendar can easily be taken places and used as a planner.

it is constructed using the kit items and some chipboard.

item of the week

this week's featured set is actually a kit. "create-a-calendar" is a cute item in the holiday mini catalog.

for only 7.95 it contains a lot of fun things. the samples shown in the picture are cute but, honestly, not practical.

i have been searching the internet for new ideas for this kit. this week i will be sharing some of my favorites.

a week of tags

this weeks tags have been made from 3 sets: frames with a flourish, spotlight on christmas and best yet. recipes for each can be found on our tag countdown page.