Christmas Cards

Here are TERRIBLE photos of our Christmas cards. I took the photo with my cell phone while we were writing the cards. There are several "types" using the Joann's paper pack Peppermint Forest. I had cut the "Peace" using Cricut Winnie-the-Pooh font and just 4 fit on a 6x12 sheet. So, there ended up being 7 sets of 4 -- each a different color combo or "type". The tree is from Cricut Christmas Cheer cart, the star bling is Martha Stewart from Michael's, the bling on the "peace" is from Heidi Swapp, ink from Quick Quotes Powder Puff, and ribbon is from my extensive ribbon stash. The brad, metal loop, and flower & pearl are from Stampin' Up.

I enjoyed the fun pink & blue of this festive paper pack.

I cut all the pieces in the evening during the week of December 7, then assembled in the evenings of the week of 14 December while we were on vacation. This was no easy task since we were staying in the Big Bend National Park lodge and spent the days mountain biking. I had body parts aching that I didn't even know I had body parts -- obviously, I am not getting younger!! One night, my husband and I fell asleep playing Yahtzee and didn't wake up for 2.5 hours. The Yahtzee and Battleship games were also interfering with the card making, but what else can you do in the middle of West Texas with no television (not a big deal for me but it is for most people), no wifi access, and no cell phone signal? Besides, games are a great Christmas or camping tradition!!

Crappy pictures but I hope whoever gets a Christmas card from us this year will think they look better in real life....otherwise it's time to hang up my scrapbooking hat -- ha ha!! P.S. The card front in the upper right was the prototype -- it had velvet ribbon on it and I used Sizzix letters. I think the improvements were good ones from the prototype!

And, just for fun, I've included a photo of hubby with the well-dressed Fort Stockton, TX, roadrunner!!!

Merry Christmas and a blessed 2010!

Little Gift Scrapbook

For my husband's parents, I also made a little book with the Cricut & Gypsy. This was almost entirely supplied from one of the awesome Club Scrap kits!


We didn't go trekking around looking for barns & wooden railroad trestles on the Olympic peninsula, so I only had a few photos to work with. Sequim had too many letters, and Washington most definitely has too many letters!!! So, Andy suggested I try "2009" -- I really like how the book turned out. Pity that they aren't UCLA fans since we've got the blue & yellow going!


Thanks for looking!

P.S. Andy really does own more than one shirt -- but we only packed one "cold weather" shirt with us!

Rest of Idaho Book

The rest of the Idaho book. I put in a back cover since it made the book look more finished and then decorated the back cover too.

Thanks for taking a look!

Idaho Book

I made this little book using my Cricut & Gypsy for my parents as a Christmas present. We went out to see them in Idaho in October and I took a bunch of pictures. I made them go searching for barns and old wooden railroad trestles to photograph. My mom sent me a card after we got home that said she forgot how much fun we were -- I guess she enjoyed searching for great old red barns to photograph!

My dad really likes the local history so I found info and put a paragraph onto the left-hand pages to go with the pictures on the right hand pages. My husband spent more time looking at this little scrapbook than most of my others because he was reading the stories, too. I hope they like it.

I only had 1/2" zutter bind-it-all spirals and the book was a bit thick for that -- I'm calling it a "coffee table" book since it won't shut flat and stands up really nicely!! LOL!!

Here's a few of the first pages.

Debbie's Birthday Card

My very kind friend Debbie's birthday is in December -- I have always felt sorry for people with birthdays in December and January since I think they get missed in all of the Christmas celebrations. So I've made sure not to use any red or green in the card based on the 2S4Y challenge this week!

Supplies used include: DCWV patterned paper (Nana's Kitchen since my friend Debbie loves to cook), solid paper from Club Scrap, Quickutz heart die cut with circle, Michael's ribbon (shopping girl, gotta love the name), Making Memories tag, flower, and marble, Heidi Swapp ghost flower & bling, Queen & Co felt flower ribbon, Tim Holtz alcohol ink (on the metal tag), and Quick Quotes Power Puff chalk ink (Blue Hawaiian, awesome!). I put the marble over the tag that says "Happy Birthday" to magnify it a little but I'm not sure it shows up too well in the photo. (I'm mostly an outdoor landscape photographer so I'm still learning how to take photos of these "still lifes" -- it doesn't seem to be my thing even with my really cool D700.)

I was supposed to go to lunch with Debbie today but we had SNOW in Houston so it was best not to travel. Pretty amazing but this is the second year in a row that we had SNOW in Houston. It is supposed to get really cold (25 F) tonight so I've got Christmas lights wrapped on my sugar date palms -- hopefully I don't lose anything more than above ground foliage. Tropical plants just don't go so well with snow & cold!!

Thanks for taking a look at my card and I hope everyone has a truly blessed holiday season!

Last Page of Quick Quotes Cruise Book

Oops! It looks like I posted the "last page" when it was really the next to last page of the Quick Quotes cruise book. Here's the "for real" last page -- it is of El Morro, the National Park site in San Juan, Puerto Rico which is older than most of the continental US. We went to this fort on Christmas Day and saw some really huge iguanas, on the order of 3 ft long. Since it was Christmas Day, we were able to capture photos without lots of people in them. The photos of the iguanas didn't turn out so great, thus I was FORCED to buy the exclusive Quickutz iguana die!! But he's awfully cute!

And isn't it cool that the guard towers are exactly the same as on the commemorative quarter issued this year? I also found a die cut of the tower in one of my National Park scrap packs!

Thanks for looking at my book.

Last Page of Quick Quotes Cruise Book

Here's the next to last page of the Quick Quotes cruise book. We stayed at this totally awesome resort high in the mountains of Puerto Rico. It was very, very remote. At night you could hear the little frogs (they say "cook-y, cook-y") but they are so small they are difficult to see (like the cross-section of a pencil eraser). We had gourmet meals, a guided hike into the rainforest, and relaxation. A cat adopted us and sat on our laps while we lounged in the hammock outside our lodge room. I don't think anyone could ask for a more relaxing place on earth!

We also drove to an ancient "ball park" which was framed, if you will, by stones with carvings. It was really muddy and when we left we had "high heels" as we used to say as kids! Puerto Rico is green and exotic -- we are lucky to have this territory so close to visit.

This is the first scrapbook page that Iused my Gypsy -- the M in Mountain Retreat is from Gypsy font and I sketched everything out to minimize paper consumption. What a fun tool!

(P.S. I'm a landscape photographer so I should learn how to photograph scrapbook pages soon.)

Quick Quotes Cruise Book - next installment

Okey-Doke! Here's the next installment of the QQ book from our Caribbean cruise last Christmas. This is St. Thomas, which is one of the beautiful US Virgin Islands. It had been a pirate hang-out and we saw a steel drum demonstration.

A very pretty island because you climbed straight up from the ocean and had spectacular panoramic views of the harbor with it's fantastically blue, blue water. We walked from one end of the island to the other where there was a private harbor. We took a gondola to the top of one of the "mountains" and took an organized tour of plantation-style homes, too.

Quick Quotes Cruise Book

Here's the next stop -- Saint Martin or Sint Maarten, depending on whether you were on the French or Dutch half of the island. We went on a zip line adventure tour here -- we had to walk on ropes and little bridges suspended from trees. It was really fun!

There was a family ahead of us on the zip line tour that had a college age kid who was a gymnast. The mom was afraid of heights and the dad was a little overweight and out of shape. We saw them later that night in the dining room of the cruise ship and shared a laugh with them because the dad was really worn out but the kids were totally fine!!

When I showed this book at Show and Tell, my scrapbook friends said they used to love magic mesh and forget to use it. I love it, too -- it adds dimension and is just fun!

All the paper is from Quick Quotes -- I bought an extra kit just to have enough paper for the whole book. Awesome beach colors with the blues & oranges, I think.

Another page from QQ Cruise Book

Okay, tonight I'm trying to remember to crop the photo. I really need to get Photoshop but it is so darn expensive!!

Here's the next page in the Quick Quotes book I made of our Caribbean cruise at Christmas last year. Last page was Aruba, this is of Curacao -- I even bought a special alphabet from Quickutz just so I'd have a squiggly "c" for this page!!

Quick Quotes Cruise Book

Here is the first set of pages from the Quick Quotes book -- gosh it was a fun book to make! I made most of the book while we were in Dallas earlier this year to see the King Tut exhibit.

Front of Quick Quotes Cruise Book

This is one of the really cool Quick Quotes kits from earlier this year. I made an easy book of our Christmas cruise to Puerto Rico & Caribbean islands last year. It was a perfect design for a trip like a cruise where you only spend a little time at each place.

Making the book was really fun, too. The front and back are canvas -- I used Stampin' Up ink instead of the QQ chalk ink so the inking turned out a little bolder than the examples from QQ.

Thanks for taking a look -- I'll post the rest of the pages later.

Whoo's Birthday? Card

Here's a birthday card that I put together for Andy's mom. I was inspired to use the forest animals because I had seen a really cute book with Owls that my sister had made for her daughter's outdoor camp. She did a great job with Owls and I thought I'd give the little guys a try.

The forest animals and printed paper are from Friendly Forest by Colorbok, cardstock from Club Scrap (of course), and the frame & letters were all Sizzix dies. Fun!



Since they live near Forks,WA, we got her a copy of Twilight and some Moonlight Path lotions & shower gels from Bath & Body Works. I usually go for the fruity scents, but I spritzed some on my wrist and have been loving it all day -- probably not the scent that Edward found so attractive of Bella-- ha ha!!


Not sure if the Owl card goes with the Twilight theme or not, but it was fun to make! (I took the photo at pretty low resolution so it would post up to Blogger -- I'm not especially happy with the photo, though.)




Thanks for taking a look at my card!

Teresa

Birthday Card

Here's a birthday card I made for my friend Kathy -- who shares the same birthday as me, but she is 9 years older!!!

I think the fun foam is, well, really fun! I used the fun foam for the brown background for the stamped image and for the stars (Sizzix die cut). The stamp & ink are from Stampin' Up. Striped paper from my scrap stash and the blue-ish paper is Club Scrap (also a big stash of that but such wonderful textures).

The picture is with my new D700 -- I have some more to learn and need to get Photoshop for editing. I had/have a bit of learning to make my SB28 flash work with the new camera since it won't work in TTL (through the lens)..... The built-in flash is too close to the body of the camera and casts a shadow if I don't remove the lens hood.

Keep watching for photo improvements!!

Thanks for looking.

Rodney's Retirement Card

Usually, Andy doesn't say much about the cards I make ... just the obligatory "that's nice." Boy was I surprised when I got in the car the other night to go home from work and he asked me if I'd make him a card for Rodney.

Rodney is retiring at the end of June from a major petrochemical company and was a star on one of the championship LSU football teams (a virtual religion in Louisiana!). Remember that Mardi Gras colors are green, purple, and gold, too.

So, I've combined these elements for a retirement card. The oil gusher is from Cricut My World, the state of Louisiana from Cricut 50 States (and the purple paper from Cricut Tags, Bags, Boxes collection). The football paper and football stickers were recent purchases from Michaels (but unfortunately, I've already thrown away the source info). Congratulations from Alphalicious cartridge. I put some Stickles on the oil gusher and "skittles" from Sierra Pacific Crafts (in Wilsonville, OR) to look like players on the football field and to mark Baton Rouge on Louisiana. Ink was the cool chalk ink from Quick Quotes. Andy wanted me to add the Friends metal sign. I also thought the Phillips head "screw" brads were a cool touch for an engineer (yeah, yeah, we're true nerds...)

This was a fun little card to make. I hope Rodney and Miss Mary enjoy his retirement!

Bonus Sketch - 2S4Y - week of 30 March 2009

I needed another card for my friend, Maria, who has a new job. I'm seeing her for lunch tomorrow so I checked the 2S4Y site and was inspired by Berdien's bonus sketch. I really like how the card turned out. Maria does wonderful needlepoint and loves to receive homemade cards.

I swapped the bling from the left side to the right side since it fit better with the size of the quote.

Supplies:
= Cardstock from Club Scrap (always fabulous texture & color)
= Patterned paper from Scenic Route (actually Christmas paper but it looks okay)
= Chipboard from Pebbles Chips -- these are so cute!!! Gotta love the packaging
= Puffy center from Heidi Swapp
= Ribbon from Cloud 9 travel collection
= Polka dot felt from Creative Imagination (my sister sent this to me, isn't it cool? you can check out Tami's awesome cards & creations at Tamaroo's Funky Scrapbooking blog)
= Transparency from Quick Quotes, love their canvas kits!
= ink from Palette (hybrid)
= Bling from Prima
= black cord from ??

So, thanks for taking a look at my blog!

Teresa

Kazan's Sketch 23 - week of 30 March 2009

Loved Kazan's sketch this week.

I turned the card 90 degrees to make a quick thank you for someone in the training group who went above & beyond.

The bandana paper is from K&Company, the bling is from Michaels, ink from Tim Holtz (distressed walnut), ink from Quick Quotes powder puff, and I used Going Places & George cricut cartridges. The "no" symbol is raised on pop dots -- not sure if you can see that or not. The rest of the paper is from my scrap pile!


This is also the first time that I've used my Cricut deep cut blade (on the chipboard of the "no" symbol). I think I still have a bit of learning to do since it bogged down a bit at the start of the cut.

Thanks for taking a look and have a wonderful Palm Sunday!

24 Mar 2009 - 2S4Y Challenge

Here's my take on the 2S4Y Challenge -- a birthday card for my very dear friend Kathy!

I used a QK Revolutions die cut in my Sizzix Big Shot--I got the QK die during the Houston Shop Hop!! What a fun time that was! I also used a Cuttlebug embossing die on the core-d'nations paper (vases). I tend to get mixed up between embossing and debossing when I'm making the "sandwich" -- these turned out debossed but I think they look kind of like the Navajo pots I got in Arizona a few years ago, so it was a pleasing mistake! My sister sent me the core-d'nations paper and I think it's totally awesome!!!! I don't think there's any other way I'd have gotten the Navajo pot look!!

The card itself is from The Card Connection, yellow, orange, blue cardstock from Club Scrap, white cardstock from DCWV Luxury Collection, raffia unknown, blue brads from Recollections (Michaels), black brad unknown, and black paper with tan core is core-d'nations! I also used Staz-On ink with a Stampin' Up stamp (celebrate from 2006 special set).


My friend Sherry distresses a lot, so she inspired me to use the Tim Holtz distresser around the edge of the yellow cardstock.

I have to admit that I really, really miss Recollections. We were up in Dallas for the King Tut exhibit and in the old days, a trip to Dallas always meant a special treat to go to the scrapbook store! Oh, well.

Finally, as a gardener, I know that God doesn't make blue flowers in nature -- but isn't it cool that I can make blue flowers in scrapbooking??? I was very blessed tonight to see a bluebird -- and even though Houston is on a migratory route, it is very unusual to see a mountain bird in our area! Magnificent!

Thanks for taking a look at my blog.

9 March 2009 -- Laura's Sketch 21 (2 Sketches 4 You)

We are having superb spring weather in Houston! I can hardly sit still indoors long enough to make a card since our "spring" lasts only a couple of weeks! The azaleas are in full & colorful bloom across the city and early bulbs, like freesia, are spreading a glorious, sweet scent across the gardens. Aah! What could be more wonderful than spring??

Feeling the wonders of spring, I've made a birthday card for my friend Donna using flowers & spring colors! The purple & gold cardstock are from Club Scrap, the butterfly template from The Crafter's Workshop, gold ink from Tsukineko, vellum/patterned paper/white ribbon are unknown, the flower was cut from a Sizzix die, the bird from a Quickutz die, black ink from Palette (hybrid) and Staz-On, stamp and pearly things (a technical term!) from Stampin' Up, and last, but not least, the twine is from some Chinese Vermicelli that I got at the supermarket last week to make a Rachel Ray soup recipe! Gotta love recycling!

Thanks for taking a look at my little blog.

Teresa

2 Sketches 4 You (Kazan Sketch #21)

Finally, a bit of free time! I need to make about 30 cards for all the great folks who are supporting me in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer. Where else to get an idea for a card but the great sketches over at 2 Sketches 4 You?

Here's a look at the sketch and a couple of cards I've made as thank yous. Envelopes with a pink ribbon are layered under the cards in the scanned images.

Paper from my stash, ribbon from Shopping Girl (cool brand name, huh?), die cuts & embossing from Sizzix's Pink Ribbon kit, and tag from Making Memories.

I think I prefer the card below, since it has more contrast with the brown Thank You and snaps.

Thanks for taking a look! And you can visit my Avon Walk blog at http://avonwalk.org/goto/teresa if you like.

Teresa

Tag Book, The End!

The end of the Tag Book! Thanks for taking a look at my blog!

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Tag Book, Part 3

Here's Part 3 of my tag book. This sure is taking a long time to get posted!




Thanks for taking a look at my blog. Maybe next week I'll have time for a card challenge!

Teresa

2 Sketches 4 You (Laura's Sketch 19)

A busy week -- our group had Show and Tell today! My friend Kathy had made a wonderful word book of her grandson's name using baby blue papers -- it was awesome!

My favorite color is purple (you know, the color of "royalty"....) and I received my latest shipment of Sizzix dies so I absolutely HAD to use this cute dress form. So, my take on Laura's Sketch 19 (see below) from over at 2 Sketches 4 You, used my cool new (discontinued) Sizzix die for the dress form & purse, bling from Michaels, flower from Prima, purple paper from Club Scrap (also cut with Sizzix Bigz die), lavendar dress paper from Paperworks, rest of paper from my stash, ribbon from Colorbok, and rub-on ("hi") from Making Memories. The idea was generated from Hallmark Scrapbooks who made a beautiful wedding card using this die cut. They have also had a GREAT sale on Cricut carts!

It seems to me that the colors are a little warmer than they show up in the scanned image. But, hubby is talking about a vacation in July/August, so I should be on tap to get a digital camera for my birthday. Yeah! I cannot imagine what natural light (or at least incandescent light) would do to enhance these images!

Please visit my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer web page at http://avonwalk.org/goto/teresa. I am a little over 60% of the way with fundraising but I skipped my workout tonight to shop for Valentine's Day and to make this card. But, I'll be back at the gym tomorrow!!!

Have a Blessed Week and remember all of your loved ones on Saturday! Here's my eye candy -- my cute hubby with his best buddy, Ranger. Always looking natural when I take a photo (NOT!!! ha ha ha!)

TFL!

Teresa

Tag Book, Part 2

Here's Part 2 of the luggage tag book. This sure was fun to make!

I've recently donated my hair again to help victims of cancer. Please see my Avon Walk for Breast Cancer in Houston web page, to see how we can support the fight against this awful disease.

http://avonwalk.org/goto/teresa

Thanks for looking at my mini-album. Using Club Scrap papers, I think it turned out really cute for such a goofy topic as a haircut!

Teresa

Simple, Simple Cards for 2 Sketches 4 You (Kazan Sketch 19, week of 2 Feb 2009)

I needed 4 thank you cards -- quickly -- for the nice ladies that took me for my Farewell lunch last Friday. I just have so much other stuff going on that FAST was my only option. Normally, I have a supply of thank you cards at the ready, but not this time!

So, using Kazan's great sketch at 2 Sketches 4 You, I managed to whip out these cards in about one hour. Simple & easy! The sketch was very adaptable for easy & quick!

Here's the sketch.

The purple card uses Heidi Swapp ghost flower that I spritzed with Glimmer mist. Everything else, I pulled from my stash. The red paper is from a Disney pack that I got at Disney World last fall, "Thank You" is a Sizzlit.

The orange card used Scenic Route paper and everything else from my stash. The label was cut using Spellbinders labels nestabilities.

The pink card used an Embosslit for the hibiscus (Sizzix) using Core'dinations paper -- isn't it cool once it was sanded? And the red & blue card is totally from my stash with the same label nestabilities die cut.

Thanks for looking at my cards. Anyone who wants to check out my progress for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer can look at my web site at http://avonwalk.org/goto/teresa! Just 2 months to go!