YIKES!!!

So I was playing around on my blog yesterday...accidentally lost the template I had... Went to Template Mama to get it back and it's GONE. So... what do you think of the new blog?? It's a little bit too pink and purply for my taste, but it's cute...right? This, my blogger friends, is a prime example of why you should back up your blog BEFORE you even "play around." Not sure why I feel the need to tell you this, except for that I'm frustrated with myself and thought you should know that there IS a reason for yet ANOTHER blog design change. Yes, I admit that I love changing my blog a lot...but not this often! :)

Well, anyway, Merry Christmas Eve Eve to all!
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What?!? A Non-Christmas Card?!?

Hard to believe, I know! Here is a card I did for the Sketchy Thursday Second Chance Challenge. I finally had a chance to break out my {Ippity} stamps (whoo-hoo! I ordered mine from Martha. I'm not sure if she has any left in stock, but check her out.) I really love this card. It was hard getting back into the non-Christmas card groove!

Supplies Used: Life's Little Moments (Ippity), Craft Fair pp (American Crafts), ribbon (American Crafts), rhinestones (Basic Grey), Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities

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Pretzels, Pretzels, and Pretzels, OH MY!

Every year at Christmas, I make treat bags for everybody at our church. Last year I made Oreo balls, buckeyes, and cheesecake brownies. This year, I was on a tighter budget and the idea of being in the kitchen that long wasn't appealing to me. So, after a lot of debating about what I was going to do, I found these adorable Christmas shaped pretzels and decided to dip them in chocolate. Easy, right? Ha. Well, ok, yes they were easy. But time-consuming for sure. I also didn't realize dipping your own pretzels was all the rage this year, until I received gift after gift of dipped pretzel sticks. So look at me, I'm TRENDY! Haha. Well in case you are thinking of doing this, let me give you some advice:

~If your husband wants to help, let him. He will get in the way. But it's probably worth it in the end.
~There are a LOT more pretzels in those bulk containers then one first thinks.~White chocolate chips are a lot harder to use then chocolate. The white chocolate are prettier, but the chocolate hides more mistakes
~When your husband tells you that you need more chocolate and you assure him you have enough...you better have enough! I tried a 5 loaves/2 fish miracle...It didn't work. I heard about it.
~Expect that not everybody is going to appreciate your hard work. So eat a few pretzels yourself and enjoy it!

Not counting pretzels we ate or that broke, we made a total of 510! We made 85 gift bags (which included 4 chocolate pretzels, 2 white chocolate pretzels, 4 plain pretzels, and a handful of M&M's). And we also made 10 gift bags with just plain pretzels and M&M's in case any crazies that don't like pretzels in chocolate were in attendance on Sunday.

Thanks for listening to my rambling on about my project! It took me (with help from my husband!) about 6 hours to dip all the pretzels! Oh and be sure to use a fork!

The tags are from Cute and Curly (SU!) cut out with the coordinating punch and So Many Scallops (SU!) also punched with the coordinating punch.
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The Last of 'Em!

Here's the last of my Christmas cards. I hope all my blog readers (and blog happen-uponers too!) have a VERY merry Christmas. My favorite Christmas set this year was Christmas Blessings by Taylored Expressions because it said exactly what I wanted it to... remember what Christmas is all about!

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Gina K Kraft CS, Top Note die, Regular and Scalloped Rectangle Nestabilities, Rhinestones, Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder, American Crafts ribbon

Supplies Used: Holiday Spirit (SU), Christmas Blessings (TE), Mistletoe PP (Making Memories), Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars), Gina K kraft CS, American Crafts ribbon

Let me leave you with this -- you HAVE to go to this site. It is so funny. My friend (and paper crafter extraordinaire!) Krista showed it to me and I have been addicted ever since!

http://www.sundog.net/carolofthechins/flash/card.swf

Merry Christmas!
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Christmas Quilt

I loved how this card turned out. I used the Nestabilitie Labels 4 die and on the bottom layer I used the quilted technique. It's very cute in real life! There is also stitching on the bottom layer, that is kind of difficult to see in the picture.

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Labels 4, Mistletoe PP (Making Memories), Winter Wonderland PP (LAD), Rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

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Christmas Quickies!

Okay, I have some quick Christmas cards to share with you. Rather then bore you with post after post of cards, I decided to put all the images here. I didn't use sketches or anything for these (amazing!). I just sat myself down and said "Katy, you're going to make Christmas cards. No playing on the computer!" So here you go, my Christmas quickies!

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Christmas Verses (Our Daily Bread Designs), Jesus Is the Reason (Unity Stamp Co), friendship, love, miracles (Unity Stamp Co.), Holiday Spirit (Stampin' Up!), Mistletoe (Making Memories), ribbon (American Crafts), flowers (Heidi Grace), rhinestones (Kaisercrafts), Apron Lace Border Punch (Fiskars), Swiss Dots (Cuttlebug), Top Note Die (Stampin Up!), Labels 2 (Nestabilites)...and maybe some other stuff that I missed :)

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Christmas Candles

I made some more candles for a few Christmas presents this year. These are just so cute and easy to make (although I made votive candles this time and had a hard time not burning my fingers!) I used the Vintage Borders set from Gina K. Designs, Christmas Verses from Our Daily Bread Designs, and Christmas Blessings from Taylored Expressions. 3 of my favorite Christmas sets this year!

I didn't want to make boxes for the candles, and I remembered that I had some bags left from the old Unity Stamps packaging. How cute are these??

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Liar, Liar!

Remember that I said you would get a short break from Christmas cards. Well, I lied. But not on purpose. I never did get those birthday cards done (thank goodness for a stash, right!). But I did get 2 more cards done for some challenges. The first one is the Etsy-Inspired challenge. I'm really bad at remembering to do this one, but every once in awhile, I'm on the ball! I was inspired by this piece here in the Barefoot Weaver store.
Supplies Used: Tiny Trinity (Unity), Christmas Blessings (TE), Winter Wonderland PP (LAD), Vintage Christmas Flowersoft, Kaisercraft Rhinestones, Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars)

And this card is for the Card Patterns sketch. I'm not sure that I got it posted on time. I had it done last week and just now had a chance to post it.
Supplies Used: Christmas Verses (ODBD), Kraft CS (Gina K), Mistletoe PP (Making Memores), Threading Water Border Punch (Fiskars), American Crafts ribbon

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A Busy Bee!

IS ME!! I am going to get my Christmas cards done!! Are you tired of seeing Christmas cards EVERYWHERE??? Probably. Don't worry, I need to make some birthday cards today, so you'll get a quick break... This card I made for the Basic Grey Sketch #9 challenge. I had to take off some of the layers on the sketch because it made my card too heavy, but otherwise, I stuck pretty well to the sketch, I think. The Basic Grey is paper from the Archaic collection.

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Archaic PP (Basic Grey), SU DP (retired, name unknown), Close to Cocoa Classic Ink (SU), Ribbon (American Crafts), Rhinestones (Kaisercraft)

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Shimmery Fun

I made this card for the Cuttlebug Challenge to use glitter. I used the Snowflakes Cuttlebug folder as the background and then painted Pixie Dust Shimmerz over the whole card. In person it is SO shimmery! The camera had a hard time picking it up, but if you squint and turn your head funny, maybe you can see it. I included a close-up of some of the shimmery goodness though if you don't really want to try that.

Supplies Used: Snowflakes embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Christmas Verses (Our Daily Bread Designs), White CS (Georgia-Pacific), Pixie Dust Shimmerz, Ribbon (American Crafts)


And here's another card I made, using the same idea. It uses the Quickutz Christmas tree embossing die. I covered it in Pixie Dust Shimmerz and some really fun Polar White Flower Soft.

Supplies Used: Christmas tree (Quickutz), Mistletoe PP (Making Memories), Share the Joy (Hero Arts rubber stamps) Dew Drops (The Robin's nest), Polar White FlowerSoft, Pixie Dust Shimmerz, Yellow Droplet (Kaisercraft)


P.S. Can't see the shimmer? Try clicking the image to enlarge. It's there, I promise! :D
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Coloring - UGH!

I have been following the Caardvarks blog for about a year now, and finally decided to participate in a challenge. Why this challenge, I'm not sure. Because if you know me, you know that coloring is not my thing!! But what I liked about this challenge is that you could use "whatever" to color with -- markers, pencils, paper piecing, etc... So, I'm hoping that this qualifies for the challenge - I used Flower Soft (love this stuff) and markers to color my Christmas topiary! What do you think?

Supplies Used: Christmas Vintage Flower Soft, Winter Wonderland PP (LAD), Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Simple Life (Unity Stamp Co.)

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Favorite Patterned Paper

The Limelight Sketch #35
Use your favorite patterned paper!
My card ending up more boring then what I was going for. But sometimes simplicity is best! :)

Supplies Used: Christmas Verses (Our Daily Bread Designs), DP is from SU! (retired), ribbon (American Crafts), rhinestones (Kaisercraft), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars)

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It's Simple...Just Like the Old Days

That's what my husband said about my card...and when I added buttons he said "Nooooooooooooo, take them off" so I did. I don't think he's felt so strongly about a card before. LOL
This card is for the Taylored Expressions sketch #92

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Autumn Splendor PP (Making Memories), Pixie Dust and Mello Yello Shimmerz, Jute twine
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Gina K. Customer Hop!

I am so excited to participate in the Gina K. Customer Blog Hop! The second I saw the Gina K set Vintage Borders, I just had to have it! It's such a beautiful and versatile set. To view more customer's blogs with the Gina K. new releases go here and be prepared to be inspired!

Supplies Used: Vintage Borders (Gina K. Designs), Ribbon (American Crafts) Pixie Dust Shimmerz, Dew Drops, Very Vanialla (SU) and Kraft (GKD) cardstock, SU! DP

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To Polka Or Not...THAT Is the Question

I made this card for the Lizzie Anne sketch #104. Last night when I went to bed I hated the polka dot ribbon. This morning when I woke up, I was kind of liking it! That could be tired eyes, though. So what do you think, ditch the dots or leave 'em?

Supplies Used: Dreaming of Dots (LAD), Girl Friday PP (Cosmo Cricket), Very Vanilla CS (SU!), Chocolate Chip (SU!) and Angel Pink (Memento) Ink, Ribbon (American Crafts), Mello Yellow Shimmerz

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#91

Nope, not my 91st Christmas card, more like my 13th. I better get in gear, huh! But it is the Taylored Expressions Sketch #91. I'm happy with how this card turned out, and of course, love the stitching! I also added Shimmerz to the whole card so it's a little sparkly, just hard to see in the image.

Supplies Used: Christmas Blessings (Taylored Expressions), Winter Wonderland pp (LAD), My Mind's Eye definition card, American Crafts Ribbon, Jillibean Soup journaling sprout, various cardstock, Pixie Dust Shimmerz

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Going SEW Crazy

I am loving my sewing machine -- especially that zig zag stitching! So here's a few projects with some sewing on it. I'm not good yet, but I'm getting there.

Supplies Used: Little Yellow Bicycle Scalloped Circle, Core'dinations Heritage CS, Jillibean alpha letters and journaling sprout, Shimmerz, American Crafts ribbon, a pocket full of.. (Unity Stamp C0.)

Supplies Used: Autumn Leaves and Crate Paper pp, Kaisercraft Pearls, Very Vanilla CS, Rain and Flowers (Unity Stamp Co.)

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It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile, so I think it's time for a scrapbook page! I FINALLY did one. And what's even more exciting is that there is STITCHING on my page! Just a little, but it's there. Remember when I said a Janome Sew Mini was in my future? I bet you didn't realize I meant NEAR FUTURE, huh?! Expect crazy stitching for awhile! :) I made this page for the Design to Inspire challenge blog to scrap a page of your significant other. Supplies Used: The Green Stack (DCWV) and The Boyfriend (Cosmo Cricket) PP, Little Me stamp (Unity Stamp Co), Apron Lace border punch (Fiskars), Heidi Grace punchboard letters, My Minds Eye journaling card

Journaling says:
Jon and I went to Dave & Busters and saw this photo booth that would show what your future child would look like. We thought it was a joke and expected something funny~this was not what we expected. It was a little creepy :)

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Chipboard Fun

This card is for the Limelight Sketch challenge and the product focus was chipboard. I love how this card turned out, one of my favorite Christmas cards so far! I bought a Pixie Plus sewing machine and I wanted to sew around the squares, but the machine didn't work well. I spent more time threading the machine then actually sewing, so I packed it back up and returned it. I think I see a Janome Sew Mini in my future :)

Supplies Used: Vintage Borders (Gina K. Stamps), Earth Love chipboard (Cosmo Cricket), Snowflake Border (EK Success), black and kraft cardstock

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Oh, Oh, Oh, You Wish You Were My Boyfriend

Okay, so maybe you don't :) But if you don't have The Boyfriend paper from Cosmo Cricket, I bet you wish you did! Isn't it cute?? I made this card using the CardPatterns sketch #40, and it has to be posted by 11:59pm tonight. I am cutting it close!

Supplies Used: FourSquare (Cornish Heritage Farms), Fresh Beginnings (Unity Stamp Co), The Boyfriend PP (Cosmo Cricket), Rich Cocoa Memento ink, Pumpkin Pie SU Ink, misc. brads, Jute, Scor-bug, Kraft and Vanilla CS
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Insert Creative Title Here

It seems like it has been a LONG week. Of course when you wake up on Tuesday thinking that it's Saturday, it's bound to feel like a long week! This is my second card for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge. I was thinking about the challenge about God being "unseen" and as I was looking for a stamp to go with that subject, I came across this one -- "You are in our prayers..." How many times do people, unknowing to us, lift us up in prayer? Probably more often then we think! So I found it to be a very fitting card -- prayers lead to God moving. So anyway, here's my card. I used the emboss resist technique on the background, it gives it such a soft effect.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: perfect in every way (Unity Stamps), Flourished Christian Symbols (Our Daily Bread Designs)
Ink: Soft Sky (SU!), Antinque Linen (Distress Ink), Rich Cocoa (Memento)
Paper: Glossy CS and Very Vanilla CS (SU!), Crate Paper PP
Accessories: Taylored Expressions Ribbon, Making Memories Brad, Clear EP, Shimmerz Spray, Brayer, Various Circle Punches

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