Java Jingle

Didn't I say no more Christmas cards?  I mean, I guess this one could be a "winter" card.  After all who doesn't love a good cup of coffee - especially when it's cold outside.  This particular card would be perfect card slip a gift card in for Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts or whatever local coffee shop is in your area.

The card is from the SVG Cuts file titled Christmas Cheer.  There are several shaped Christmas cards in this file and while I've made one or two, I can't wait to make some of the others. 

To create this card I decided to run the coffee sleeve shape through my paper crimper to give a bit of texture and 'realism' to the card.  I also used a soft, silver glitter paper for the snowflake to help it stand out a bit more.  I also cut an extra peppermint swirl to use on the inside of the card along with the sentiment.

Speaking of sentiments, this one is from the stamp set Winter Wonderland by My Craft Spot.  I just hate that they are no longer doing business.  But we still have a lot of other great stamp companies out there so that's a plus.

 

And now I'm off to enter my card into the Cut it Up Holiday Shape Cards Challenge (which ends at noon today - talk about last minute 😉 )

 

I hope that you've enjoyed today's card as much as I enjoyed piecing it together.  But seriously this is the last Christmas card - until next July....

 

 

Spider Pumpkin

Yesterday was pumpkin decorating contest day at work.  Now I'm not pumpkin carver, let alone decorator.  Heck I can't even remember the last time we bought a pumpkin for Halloween.  Nonetheless, I thought it would be fun to play along.

 

Using a pumpkin provided by work I decided to turn it into a spider using the Party on Elm Street file from SVG Cuts. 

 

I spray painted the pumpkin black using Rustoleum spray paint.  Then for a couple of days I allowed it to just sit and cure.  After that I cut the legs and eyes out from the SVG Cuts file.  The eyes were cut from vinyl for easy placement and the legs from a sturdy cardstock.

  

After getting the spider put together I created his web using black and white webbing stacked on top of each other.  I was hoping I had some plastic spiders in my 'minis' stash but there were none.  However, I had some little mice so I used those to place in the webbing to add a little extra touch.

Now I'm off to enter this into the Halloween challenge over at Die Cuttin' Divas.

Halloween Jack-O-Lantern

Happy Friday everyone!  I don't know about you but I am more than excited about the fact that today is Friday.  It has been a very busy, crazy, exhausting week and I am ready for some down town.  You see in my "other life" I play the role of a Community Association Manager and this week kicked off Annual Meetings with two of my five Associations.  

 

Thank goodness for crafting.  If I didn't have all these crafty hobbies I might go insane.  And - well - now you know a bit about why my blog is named My Spot of Sanity.  LOL

 

So today begins another fun and exciting Anything Goes challenge at Cardz TV.  And let me tell you, our design team has created some wonderful projects to share with you today.  So after you've finished checking out mine be sure to hop over to Cardz TV and check out all the other projects.

 

Today I decided to have fun creating a fun Jack-O-Lantern.  Now if you've been following me for a while you may remember that I created some of these a year or so back.  One of them gets displayed at work and this year it's received a lot of compliments from co-workers, homeowners and vendors that have come in to see us.  So I thought I'd create another one just for you. 

 

The pumpkin is from the Haunted Forest kit by SVG Cuts and the stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set Frankly Frightful.

 

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge be sure to check out all the other designs.  Then create your own, link up and play along with us.  You have two weeks (October 27th) to do so.

Ghoul's Best Friend

Today we end the week with a 3D challenge.  A 3D Cardz TV challenge to be exact.  Our challenge for this week is to create a project that has a pumpkin.

 

For my project I created this wonderful jack-o-lantern from the Haunted Forest kit from SVG Cuts.  This is a fun project to put together and I love how you can decorate not only the hat but the pumpkin depending on your style. 

 

I used a variety of papers from a couple of different mat stacks, added some boa fur around my hat, skittles on the eyes, and then pop dotted up the sentiment in the center of my flower.  My sentiment is from the Trick or Treat Stamp set.

 

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge be sure to check out the other fun designs our team has created for you.  Then after you've been inspired, create your own project, link up and play along with us.

 

I can't wait to see what you create.

And now I'm off to enter my pumpkin into the following challenge:

Die Cuttin Divas - Happy Halloween - Ends November 1st

Autumn Decor

Happy Friday everyone and welcome back to another Cardz TV 3D challenge.  This week we are making a home décor project for Fall.

 

For my project this week I chose to make a basket in which to display my cinnamon scented pine cones.  While these things might be a pain having to pick up out of the yard they sure are pretty and nice once they get cleaned up and smell good. The basket is from the SVG Cuts file titled Caramel Apple Pie SVG Kit.

 

My sentiment of choice is from the Cardz TV Stamps set title Just Saying.  I keep finding myself drawn to this particular sentiment. 

 

I also used a couple of buttons and skittles in purple twilight for the center of my flowers.

 

And now that you have seen my project for this week please be sure to check out all of the wonderful creations our design team have created for you today.  Then be sure to create your own home décor project, link up and play along with us.

 

I can't wait to see what you create.

Ho Ho Ho

I just love crafting this time of year.  So many fun holidays and the change of seasons makes me feel excited.  I'm not completely sure why since I hate cold weather.  Maybe it's the craft shows, fairs, festivals, and all around fun that comes with the holidays.  That's got to be it.....

 

And as I sit here preparing for my first show of the season in a couple of weeks I have a Christmas card that I would like to share with you.

 

This was an easy one, and it was created using the Merry and Bright kit from SVG Cuts.  I decided to go with non-traditional colors but it seems that more and more this colors are becoming more common for Christmas too.  I love the mixtures of blues and pinks with hints of greens and silvers. 

 

And there you have it.  A fun, quick and easy Christmas card.

Nativity Scene Card

Happy Friday everyone.  Today I have another Christmas card that I would like to share with you. 

 

I love the look and feel of this card and just fell in love with it when I saw the Joyful Christmas Cards set at SVG Cuts.  This is only one of four fabulous designs available in this set and I'll definitely be making the others. 

 

For the main background I used some pre-embossed paper from some company I'd never heard of before - Craft Smith.  But I found the paper at Michaels on one of their "hot buys".  I got this pad for $5 and then when I went back for me the price was $20.  But I did buy it on sale for like 20% off.  Still not as hot a buy.  lol

 

To add even a bit more texture and oomph to my card I decided to emboss the Mary and Joseph figures with one of my Cuttlebug script folders.

 

 

 

On the inside of my card I used the Christ is Born stamp set from Jaded Blossom.

Special Delivery

This weekend I took a brief break from crafting to start getting all the things I've made lately in order.  You see Oktoberfest is a mere 26 days away and there's a lot to tag and bag.  On my blog here I mainly share my papercrafts with you but I also loom knit, sew and have even started learning how to crochet.  So as I started getting ready I realized that I basically have no Christmas cards.  Talk about a mild panic setting in.

 

After I got to a stop point with the tagging and bagging I quickly got to work creating Christmas cards.  One of the first ones I made is a favorite from last year using the Reindeer Card from the Mistletoe Manor file from SVG Cuts.  I love the ease of putting this card together and the end result is just gorgeous.

 

For the stamped sentiment on this card I used the Naughty or Nice stamp set from My Craft Spot.  (Sadly they are no longer in business.)

Co-Worker Appreciation Gift Set

 

Today I have fun project I'd like to share with you.  Earlier this month I entered this project into the Customer Appreciation contest at Jaded Blossom and am happy to say that it was chosen as the fan favorite.  And now that the contest is over I can share my project with all of you.

 

For my project I used the Good Day at the Office file from SVG Cuts.  This file set has the perfect focal point project - the typewriter treat box.  The box was easy to assemble and it wasn't until I cut out the keyboard that I had any issues.  I think I ended up cutting out three of them that were messed up before I decided to try using a brand new mat and had success. 

 

 

 

To decorate the typewriter I chose to use some flowers since I used flower print papers.  On the knobs I used a couple of mini bottle caps from my stash.  For the sentiment I used the recently released Coworkers stamp set from Jaded Blossom.  And since I somehow managed to smear the dot of my exclamation point I added a small sprinkle to cover the booboo while adding a little bit of emphasis at the same time.

 

Next is the rolodex greeting card. 

 

 

 

This is another file included in the Good Day at the Office.  For this card I used another sentiment from the Coworkers stamp set.  I also decided to use a couple of raspberry colored skittles from DoubleClick Connections.  And then to finish it off I used a fun foot shaped paperclip that was in my stash.

 

Then we have the business card holder. 

 

 

 

I saw this idea in a magazine years ago and just fell in love with it.  I've made several of these and even use them to hold my business cards when I'm out doing craft shows.  So here's how you make one of these for yourself:

 

Cut rectangles in the following sizes:

 

• 1 @ 1 1/2" x 4 1/4" 
• 2 @ 2 5/8" x 4 1/8"
• 1 @ 1 1/8" x 4"

Glue the pieces to the cassette tape cover accordingly and then decorate.  Again, I used another sentiment from the Coworker stamp set.  The telephone is from the Cricut cartridge From My Kitchen.

 

Finally, what's a treat box without treats?  For my candy kisses I used the BFF Candies and Hello Candies from Jaded Blossom. 

Jester's Shoe Treat Holder

 

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to another PDE Linky Party.  Today our design team has created some wonderful 3D projects for you and we're hoping that you'll come play along with us.

 

For my project I decided to jump a little bit ahead of Valentine's Day and create something for Mardi Gras.  The cut file I used is from the Santa's Helpful Elves file at SVG Cuts.  I picked up some metallic paper in shades of green, purple and yellow so that I can change this elf shoe to a Mardi Gras jester's shoe.

 

To complete the show I adhered some purple eyelash yarn along the opening edge and then added some tinseled pom poms in green and purple.

 

Then I baked some chocolate chip cookies, placed them in the shoe and gave it to one of my physical therapists who absolutely loved it.

 

So now, let's see what 3D magic you can create.  You know you can do it.  So come on, create your project, link up and play along with us.  Need more inspiration?  No worries.  Hop on over to the PDE Linky Party blog and check out the other great designs the team put together just for you.

I am entering this treat holder in to the following challenge:

Craftin Desert Divas - 3D Linky Party - Ends February 1st

Elf Shoe Treat Holder

 

Hello my fellow crafty bloggers!  Welcome to a new PDE Linky Party Challenge.  This week we want you to pick a theme from of the three following choices:  

 

1.  3D - Make a 3D projects (tags count for this one)

2.  Fun Folds - think step cards, gate fold cards, etc.

3.  Mini Albums

 

So choose your favorite or, make them all.  Remember you can link up as many times as you want so long as you are not back linking.

 

 

 

For my project, I chose the 3D theme.  I found this great elf shoe treat holder at SVG Cuts and just had to give it a whirl.  It was pretty easy to put together - especially since they have a tutorial that shows you exactly how to do so.

 

 

The stamps I used for my treat holder are from the Jaded Blossom Elf Workshop and Elf Report Card stamp sets.  I love, love, love the candy stamps.  They always help with adding that finishing touch to the various treat boxes.

 

 

And now that you have seen my project for this week's challenge be sure to create your own, link up and play along with us.  I'm so excited and can't wait to see what you create.  Remember you have until December 15th to link up.

 

Before you do that though be sure you check out the other designs our team created for you.  I promise you're going to love them!

Now I'm off to enter my project in to the following challenges:

Anything Goes - DL Art - Ends December 31st

Holiday Inspiration with Elf - Red Carpet Studios - Ends December 31st

Merry Christmas to You

If you are looking for my Let's Talk Turkey project you'll find it right below this one.

 

 

Welcome to a new challenge over at PDE Linky Party.  This week our challenge is banners.  Either a create a banner or use a banner on your project.  Bet you can tell which option I chose.  LOL

I fell in love with this reindeer card as soon as I saw it being released over at SVG Cuts.  The reindeer just sucked me in and then I thought ooooooh, banners!!  And so my card was born.

 

I used a page from my Warm Wishes mat stack by Recollections that I picked up a couple years ago.  I thought that the brown type paper was the perfect back drop for this card.  I then chose some various scraps from my bin to use for the banners. 

 

After piecing everything together I decided to use some skittles to accent the banners and one for the reindeer's nose.  The blue ones are some I picked up at Michaels but the Rudolph red one is from the Black Friday 2013 release over at DoubleClick Connections.  Finishing off the card is my stamped sentiment, which is from the Naughty or Nice stamp set recently released by My Craft Spot.

 

 

And now that you have seen my take on this week's challenge I would love for you to check out the other wonderful designs our team has created for you this week.  Then, after you've been amply inspired I hope that you will create your own banner project, link up and share it with us.

I am entering my card in the following challenges:

Anything Goes - DL Art - Ends November 30th

Christmas - Crafty Hazelnut - Ends November 30th

Sparkle or Shine - Moving Along with the Times - Ends November 12th  (the reindeer reins and the white with glittery silver banner are my sparkle/shine)

Pumpkin Trio

 

Good morning fellow bloggers.  I thought I'd start the week off sharing a 3D project I worked on over the weekend.  I loved the way my Jack O Lantern turned out a couple weeks ago that I decided to make some more to try to sale at my first craft show of the season this weekend.

 

The cut file is part of the Haunted Forest set over at SVG Cuts.  The beauty of these is that she gives you the exact size measurement for each of the file pieces to ensure accuracy of putting it all together.  All you need then is some great patterned paper and you're all set. 

 

I used the Eerie Tales mat stack from Graphic 45 for my pumpkins and their hats.  The flowers; however, are a combination of papers from the same stack and My Mind's Eye.  The brads in the center of my flowers are from Bo Bunny and are called Fright Delight Brads.

 

 

 

As you can see I put a flameless tea light candle in each pumpkin and that's how I'm going to market them.  Just think these will be jack-o-lanterns that won't rot and have to be thrown out at the end of Halloween......

Zombie Virus

It's time for a brand new PDE Linky Party and this week kicks off what I am sure is going to be one of the best ones yet.  This time the challenge is all about stitching - real or faux.  We've all done it.  We've either 'drawn' on our stitches or actually stitched them by hand or machine.  Or maybe you're like me and you've done a bit of both.  This week though I chose neither.  That's right.  I didn't stitch by hand, machine or drawing.  Instead I let my cut file do it for me......

 

This absolutely adorable zombie is from a zombie file I purchased over at Too Cute by Jessica.  Now I gotta tell you that I have purchased quite a few zombie files but I think this little fella is my favorite by far.  Who could resist that cute little stitched up face? 

 

The bat is from a different file though.  It's actually a cut that was too big for me to use on another project and it's from a file by SVG Cuts.  It's one of the 'fun extras' included with the cauldron project I shared a couple days ago.

 

The sentiment on my card is from the recently released Pick Your Poison stamp set by Jaded Blossom.

 

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge be sure to check out all the other wonderful designs our team has created for you.  Then after you've been amply inspired, created your own project, link up and play along with us.

 

I can't wait to see what you stitch up.

Cauldron Treats

I haven't been able to get much paper crafting done the past few days as I've been busy with my loom knitting in preparation for my first craft show in a couple of weeks.  However, I did take some time today to put together this cauldron treat holder from SVG Cuts. 

 

I was amazed at how big this cauldron was once it was completed and it's sturdier than I expected too.  I love the way it all came together.  It was easy to do and I enjoyed trying to decide what folders to use for the embossing on my panels.  In all I used four different ones.

 

For my candies I admit I didn't wrap and pretty up all of them - nor did I have enough to actually fill my cauldron.  (Remember, I said it was larger than I expected.)  But I did decorate up a couple handfuls of various candies.  For this I used scraps of paper from one of my Recollections Halloween mat stacks.  I love this particular pack of paper and I am going to be very sad when it's all gone.  I love the prints and colors - not too cutesy but not too creepy either. 

 

On my wrappers you'll notice a couple of bats and pumpkins.  The bats are from the Cricut cartridge Happy Hauntings and the pumpkins are from Designer's Calendar.  The stamped sentiments are from three different sets by Jaded Blossom:  Halloween Candies 2 and Spooky Labels.

 

The label on the front of my cauldron is a mini tag from yet another mat stack - Recollections Journal Tags.  The sentiment on my tag is also from Jaded Blossom - this time using the Pick Your Poison set.  And those black 'dots' on each side of my tag.  Those are skittles from the Back to School set by DoubleClick Connections.

 

And now I'm off to enter this project in to the following challenges:

 

Jaded Blossom - Any Treat - Ends September 21

 

Fantabulous Cricut Challenge - Mix and Match 3 patterned paper (used for my candy wrappers/decorations) - Ends September 14

 

Hiding in My Craft Room - Think Fall, use Fall Colors - Ends September 13

Hey Punkin

I am very excited for today's post because today I am honored to be a guest designer for Die Cuttin Divas.  This week's challenge is a picture inspiration challenge and it looks like this:

Now if you ask me there's a whole lotta crafting inspiration going on in this set of pictures, but of course what kept popping out at me were the pumpkins.  All those big, rip, orange, delicious pumpkins. 

Needless to say, that's what I chose for my project this week.  Both my card and jack o lantern files are from SVG Cuts.  The jack o lantern is from the recently released Haunted Forest set and the card is from the Midnight Jamboree set.

And now that you've seen my take on this week's challenge be sure to check out the designs created by the Design Team then create your own fall inspired card, link up and play along with us.

Thanks for the heads up Diana, I'll be adding this to your September Anything Goes Challenge over at DL Art momentarily.  For anyone else who wants to play along the challenge ends September 30th.

I'm also entering this in the Think Fall challenge over at Hiding in My Craft Room - Use Fall Colors, Ends September 13th.

Something Wicked

With Halloween closing in upon us I figured it was time to get a couple of cards made.  Today's card was made with the Jack O Lantern card file from the Haunted Forest set by SVG Cuts.  At first I wasn't so sure about using black as the top layer for the pumpkin but after trying the colors in reverse I will say that this order popped better.  Especially with the paper choices I made.

 

The stamped sentiment is from the Cardz TV Stamps set Trick or Treat.

 

And since pumpkin is technically a "fruit" even though it's a member of the squash family I thought this would also be the perfect time to remind everyone that you still have some time to join us in the fruit challenge over at DoubleClick Connections.  All you have to do is create a project using fruit, link up and play along with us for a chance to win a yummy pack of hand dyed Skittles along with some other crafty supplies. 

 

Not sure what skittles are or how to use them?  Take a look at the top right of my card - those are skittles (Summer Release) and they are uber easy to use and the possibilities are endless.  For more ideas and a video on how to use skittles click here.

First Halloween Project of the Year

Today I thought I was going to take a break from challenges and then I remembered the Freestyle challenge going on over at Hiding in My Craft Room.  Yippee!  That means I can create a project I've been dying to make.  For example, this Jack O Lantern I found over at SVG Cuts.  It's part of the new Haunted Forest set and if you haven't purchased this one yet you are missing out.  My husband loves Halloween.  It's his favorite holiday.  As for me, well I could do without it.  But because my husband loves it I have started getting in to the Halloween mode.  Oh, and I admit most of the projects I've worked on are fun.  Perhaps that's because I create with him in mind though.

 

So back to my Jack O Lantern.  I cut this file out at the sizes indicated with the pattern and it made an 8" tall Jack O Lantern.  (To the tip of the hat)  I wanted to embellish the hat but didn't really have a lot of supplies on hand to do so.  I did find some ribbon that worked well and I had a couple of Halloween buttons that I used.  Here's a close up of the flower.

 

 

 

See the skeleton crawling inside?

 

I added a flameless tea light candle inside and it made for a wonderful piece.  Yeah, I think I'll be making a few more of these.....

 

 

This kit actually comes with other fun projects including a haunted house, couple of cards and a witch's hat treat box.