Update On Cross Stitch Project

And we have more progress!!! I have some tv to catch up on tonight so my goal is to get all the lettering done and some clouds. Then I am TOTALLY going to take advantage of my mom being here for Easter and ditch the kids on her so I can dedicate some time on this project!!

I can't wait to get back to making cards, just all my crafting time has been put into this project for now.

Cross Stitch Project I Mentioned

Here is the cross stitch project that has been taking up all my card making time. I've got a lot still left to do but here it is so far. You can finally tell that the white blobs on there are supposed to be sheep lol. I'm working on the very lower right hand corner atm with grass and stuff. I'll update with another picture soon when I get some more progress done on it.

Definately click on the image to see just how much work has been put into this. Lots and Lots and Lots of little X's! hehe

Sorry About Being MIA

I've been super busy and haven't had much time to get any cards made lately. I've been spring cleaning and am taking advantage of "wanting" to clean the house while I can. I have also been busy with a cross stitch project for an upcoming wedding. I will take a picture of it later tonight when I get more done and will show you the progress. By the time it is finished, I will have put in around 80 hours into it. My friends are getting married May 1st so I wanted to start it early. It's one of my favourite hymns; Just As I Am. =D

I've also been working on some new scriptures on the computer and did 4 today. When I get more paper to print them out, I'll make some cards with them.

Don't forget to head on over to my Bugaboo blog and see the card giveaway for the week. You can enter daily for a chance to win it.

Blessings, Dee =)

Days 68 - 69 ~ An Order

I've spent the past couple of days finished up this A-dorable order for a little girl's teaparty birthday party. I ran out of ink and couldn't get any until yesterday so here they are. The stamp is by Stamping Bella and her name is Scarlett.

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Here are the little place cards I made to match. I made an extra one for my folder and put Melody's name on it so you would get an idea of just how cute these were. I haven't gotten to craft today so no card or Dee's Thursday Tip for today. I'll update tomorrow with both those posts.

Day 67 CM47 ~ Colour Challenge

Another colour challenge over on CPC. You had to use pinks and a touch of yellow. I got this digi stamp free from Bugaboo Stamps and she is SO adorable, they have different new ones every Friday, so head on over and get them while you can. Even if you don't think you will use them as a stamp, they are great printed out for little kids to colour in.

Day 66 ~ Sunday Bookmarks!!!

I had these scraps left over from the tea party invites, after punching out the big circles. So, thought I'd make some bookmarks. They are embossed on the front and decorative on the back with swirls of different colours.

I then lamined them and put pretty beads on the ends.


Backs of the bookmarks:

Day 65 ~ Tea Party Invite

So, here is the final version of the tea party invite order. Isn't she adorable?? She is from Stamping Bella and I highly recommend her stamps, they are FABulous!!! I'll be finishing them up tomorrow and sending them out on Wednesday.

Day 64 ~ FOF43 ~ Spring Flowers Challenge

And another challenge over on CPC, this one was to use either a die cut flower or a handcut flower and make it springy. This was fun to make. If you look above the little flowers you can sorta tell it's supposed to look like clouds. I think my little flowers are just so stinking adorable!!!

Have a great Friday, Dee =)

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Close up of my adorable flowers!!!

Day 63 ~ BVT44 Son-Shine Challenge

Over on my Christian Paper Crafts forum the challenge today was to use scripture about Christ. So, here is my card. I had a lot of fun making it and making the colours coordinate, I can't wait for spring to get here.



Inside of the card:

Only one more day to enter this week's giveaway, come on over!!

Dee's Thursday Tips ~ Let's Talk Paper Cutters!!!

Today I would like to talk about my experience with paper cutters. I've used a bunch of different kinds and this post is about my preference of them.

First there is the Fiskars Cutter. I used to have 2 of these and used them for years. I didn't do much paper cutting, so I didn't go through a lot of blades. This type of cutter works well if you don't cut paper too often. I only have one now as I gave the other away when I bought my Martha Stewart one. It was the 12 x 12 and had a little arm that extended out of it.

When the blade gets dull, you replace the little orange part with a new one. You know it's getting dull when the paper starts to fray on the sides. I've been experimenting with this one on scrap pieces of paper and after a week of use, I've changed the blade 2 times. I had 2 blades left and so this one will be donated as only using it for one week doesn't suit me well.

Also, they have changed the Fiskars cutters and they have new blades that don't fit with the old ones. So, while I like other Fiskars products, this type of paper cutter is not for someone who cuts multiple slices of paper during the day.

When I started making my Christmas cards last year, I youtubed different paper cutters to see what I might like. I instantly liked the Martha Stewart one because of the arm that extends out. It's not just a little arm, but the whole thing opens up and you can move the arm to whatever measurement if you have lots of a certain cut to make.

It is the same type of cutter as the Fiskars and you go through blades really quickly and I just couldn't keep up with the maitenance of it. It also has an scoring tip that I LOVE. I am keeping this cutter around just for that reason until I can afford a scor-pal.

So, I like it for the scoring ability but not so much on the cutting, it goes through blades really quickly.

Here it is with the arm extended out.

So, a little story ... I was doing the christmas craft at my daughter's school with her former kindergarten teacher and then the other ones. It was a super cute calendar where you used the kids handprints to make different pictures and a poem went with it. You can see the project here. I tried to cut it in the martha stewart one and it was a no go. I couldn't use the cutter at the school because I'm not insured if there is an accident, so I wanted to buy another cutter. Hubby said nope, no money honey, and suggested I ask my father in law if I could borrow his. So, I did.... and that is when I fell in love with the rotary blade cutter. The only problem with his is that he needed to replace the blade if it got dull, but after 400 cuts, it was still cutting like a knife through warm butter.

About a month later, I was making valentine's and whined enough that my cutter sucked that Daniel took me out to look at cutters. I had a 50% off coupon for Michael's and the Making Memories one caught my eye because it's a full 12 x 12, had a magnetic ruler for making those multiple cuts (you just put the ruler down and place the paper edge against it) AND!!!! it's SELF SHARPENING !!! I have been using this everyday and I've had to have made atleast 5,000 cuts with it and it still cuts perfectly. It was $60.00 originally so for $30.00, why not??!!

The only thing that I could see being a problem is if I wanted to take it somewhere for a crop. It's big and bulky but I would deal with it. I'll take big and bulky over frayed paper anyday. I have definately earned my money's worth with it and it's such a great cutter.

Here it is opened.

Thanks for tuning in and seeing my tip for today. Dee =)

Day 62 ~ More Thank You Cards

I had a nap and am just getting to post this now. hehe Today I made some thank you/thinking about you/anything you want it to be cards. I have this really pretty set of stamps that have the words beauty, fly and dream on them. So, I thought they would make a cute set. They are 3" x 3" and have matching envelopes if you are interested in buying them. You can find them over on my Etsy store.

Day 61 ~ Sketch Tuesday ~ Dream

I am LOVING the challenges over on Christian Paper Crafts. Today is working with a sketch they provide for you. So, here is my card.

I have bypassed this poor green paper so many times, it's a limeish green and not really my first choice. I made it a challenge to use this paper as well today and I am thrilled about how this card turned out!! It's so spring like and I can't wait for spring and to be rid of this snow.... atleast another month. hehe

Don't forget to stop over to my Bugaboo blog and enter for my card giveaway, she's a super cute card!!!

My Craft Nook Part 1 ~~ IT'S FINALLY DONE!!!!!!

IT'S DONE!!!! IT'S DONE!!!!! Can you believe it??? It's only taken me... .how.... many months to get this craft nook together??? BUT .... IT'S DONE!!!!!!

Here is what it looked like when it was Ruby's nook and you can see where the bed was. AiAi has been really destructive and I didn't want him to ruin Ruby's things, so I've moved some things out of his reach and packed some things away and will bring them out when he's old enough to understand how precious they are to us.

SO...... without further delay!!!! Here is MY CRAFT NOOK!!!!!!! =D

I've seperated showing it to you into 6 sections/posts that make sense to me, so enjoy checking out my Happy Place!!

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This is the dresser that used to be in our closet. It now holds fabric and crochet stuff.

The brown letter sorter on top has all kinds of little sewing notions in nice little categories. I have my sewing machine on the right side, ironing board and iron on the left side. The ironing board is right beside the door.


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Here is the top of the dresser. I'll tell you what things are in the following pictures.


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Left side of drawers has all fabrics in it. I have a few more to wash and put away.


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The bottom drawer has purse projects and stuffing. Then the 2 top drawers have some yarn (which I need some more colours of) and crochet hooks. Back in there somewhere are some knitting needles, I gave up on knitting again, who wants to come for a visit and teach me to knit??

I crochet hats for Sick Kids Hospital, primarily for the PICU (pediatric intensive care unit) and Cancer Ward. You can see my blog I've dedicated to Ruby here. Please do all that you can to help these children. If you don't knit, crochet or sew, think of finding a group who does and donate yarn to them. We are always in need of yarn. I make about 250-300 hats a year and it can get really expensive. I will always accept donate wool. Please leave me a comment with your email if you would like to send some. Just keep in mind that it has to be soft for their little heads, especially the precious ones in the cancer ward.


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This is top of the letter organizer and it's the one on the left side.

Very top is my stuff for making Italian Charms.
Middle are beads and jewellery stuff.
Bottom are all the tags and things that go on my donated hats.


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I've had this vase for a really long time but because Daniel is sensitive to flowers, we never have them in the house, it really bugs his allergies and asthma. Well!!! I found a use for it. It houses my clothespins and rods for when I make korker bows.

You will also meet Ginger, the mad money saver. Isn't she adorable?? She helps me save money hehe. Melody found that little box of hummingbird pencil crayons and gave it to me. Isn't she a sweetie??


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This is all ribbony stuff for my bow making stuff.

Top is misc stray ribbons and my glue gun atm.
Middle is korker bows and neat little shaped bows.
Bottom are my itty bitty skinny ribbons and ones from packages or presents we've received.

Now.... onto the paper/card making posts!!!! Are you ready?? Grab a latte and dive in!!!! =D

Craft Nook Part 2

Here we go onto the paper area!!! Which is pretty much almost all of my craft nook.

Beside the dresser is this shoe organizer that has 2 baskets with stamps/glues. The shelf below are my chalks, little squares of papers and misc things. Below that is the power cord and pedal to my sewing machine. The purple and green container has all my ribbons for my hair bows. I'll have to show that sometime just for fun.


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Here is a better shot at my inks on the left, and glues and daubers on the right.


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This is my inspiration board. You'll see a little glass hummingbird hanging near it, I have 3 of them in the room and we collect them now because of Ruby. She never talked but she would hum her sentences. My daughter Melody said that Ruby was like a hummingbird and there is a ruby throated hummingbird, so we collect them now. =D

I put things that inspire me and goals (ahem pink slice) I am working towards.


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This is the shelving unit of paper craftage!!!! I'll go into more detail with the pictures below.


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On the very top, on the left is my 12" x 12" box that has extra supplies in it that I use regularly. On top of that are my copic marker refills. Beside those are my finished cards. I don't have a better home for them, so this container works well and keeps the dust off of them.

The shelf below going from left to right.....

My containers of embossing powders. They each have their own little spoon and I find it much easier to hold the image in the box and sprinkle on some powder, then flick so the powder goes right back into the container.

The two boxes hold stamped images that haven't been coloured in yet. When I stamp, I always make a few extra stamped images for later on. Next is baby wipes, you can never have too many baby wipes!! Then there is temp adhesive and rubbing alcohol behind the pink container that holds my decorative scissors and beside that is my circle cutter.


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The next two shelves are my fun shelves. The top one in the picture is where I take my photos of my cards. I took thick thick bristol board stuff (but like styrofoam only more durable) and cut it to size. On the left side are little bottles that used to have body lotions and stuff in it, now they have little glittery flowers hehe. On the right are my tim holtz inks and some sickles glittery heavenliness!!! The effect of glitter without the mess... ahhh.....

Below that shelf is my paper storage. You can see the post I did about it here. The binders that are on that shelf hold my past card ideas and my full stamped images so I can just flip through the binder and decide what I want to stamp with.


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The bottom shelves host my stamps in cd cases and on that same shelf are some cute photo albums that need some homes at some point. On the very bottom are my magazines. I just purged through a bunch of them so there are a few empty magazine holders. On the very far right are all of my cross stitch patterns and books.


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Here is a closeup of my cd cases with my stamps in them.

Craft Nook Part 3

You will notice in this part of my nook that I have left Ruby's quilt up. This is a very special memorial quilt some very special mama's at CHF made shortly after Roo passed away. This is a picture of it when this part of the room was my Ruby nook.


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In front of her quilt I have 2 microwave carts pushed together. It was hard to take a picture of because of the table being right there hehe.


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On the bottom are some 12" x 12" containers holding various things. The top shelf has Melody's bin (it contains all her scrapbooking stuff), solid cardstock and small scraps (which at the moment is a bunch of loose papers still needing to be filed). On the bottom shelf are baby, designer (full 12" x 12" sheets) and christmas stuff. There are also black single accordian folders that contain different kinds of stickers.


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On this side of the cart are my paper cutters and scoring stuff. On the bottom is all my cross stitch things. That's another thing I really enjoy doing is cross stitch.


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And here is the top of that. On the left is my scrap paper storage unit. Here is a link to the post about how I got the idea for this system. It works really well for me and I grab for these folders so often that I am not wasting anymore paper sorting around trying to find little pieces.

Next to the scrap paper bin is another 12" x 12" container and it hosts my orders and current projects I am working on. Always nice to keep things in one area.


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I took the lid off of one of the bins so you could see what is inside. These boxes have different envelopes and pre-cut cards ready to be folded up. The top is my 3" x 3" box, then there is a 5 1/2" x 4 1/4" box and then a 6 1/2" x 5" box. I make all of my own envelopes now so I mass produce them when I do. I often watch tv and get busy with this kind of thing. Then I don't have to make an envelope when an order comes in because they are already made. =D

Hope you are enjoying your tour thus far, onto part 4!!!

Craft Nook Part 4

Now onto my table. I haven't cleaned up from the card I made today. I always make 2 of the same card and keep one in a binder that shows how I made that particular card. I'll be posting about that on Dee's Thursday Tips this week, so stay tuned for that.

The table that I craft on is a fold away table. So, I can have either one side up, both sides up, or close it down to a little rectangle when I vaccuum, I adore it. The picture shows it with both sides up. I'd still like to get a pink computer chair for this area because the fold up chair that comes with it... well it's uncomfieish even with a seat cushion. hehe


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Now I sit on the left side of the table and on the right side is my blue cubbie. It holds those things that I am always looking for. The top 2 drawers are smaller and the bottom 2 are deeper.


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This is the bottom drawer. It has a box with my most commonly used stamps, you know the ones you find yourself drawn to time and time again no matter how many stamps you have!!

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Next deep drawer up is currently housing only my heat gun. Don't have anything else to go in there yet, works for me.

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This little drawer at the moment is holding just some paper scraps that haven't found a home yet. I don't know what it will be in the end.

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Ahhh!!! My top drawer!!! It contains all the stuff I grab for everyday. It has my most used stamp pads, glue pens, dimensionals, painters tape (which is GREAT for holding down paper temporarily when I'm using my circle cutter), and all my other adhesives and glues.

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I have a little cubbie that I got at Michael's and don't remember who makes it. It has 6 side spots, 3 drawers, 1 frame area, a place to hang stuff and an elasticy holdy area. In the middle area I keep my chic stand and paper piercer.

These spots hold my markers and commonly used jelli pens and the other one has my glue dots and adhesive runner.

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This part holds my acrylic blocks for stamping, my jelli pens, bone folder and embossing stylus.

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Overe here we have scissors. You'll note that the purple pair has a ribbon on it. This tells me that this pair are my tape cutting ones. They are gummed up with glue etc, and get cleaned once a week. Behind the scissors are my different kinds of rulers. In front, I have my tweezers, mist sprayers and quilling tool. ~~ The other side hosts my copics.

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And here is the chair that is from my husband's grandma from the 70's. It's an aswesome chair, really well built and still very comfie. We have the matching 3 seat sofa in our living area. You will see on the wall there is a picture of my darling daughter Ruby. That was the last summer she was with us up in Muskoka. It's a pixel project that took about 50 hours to do. Click on my personal blog to see it. I also did one of my favourite picture of her and you can see that here.

Thanks for tuning in this long... on to post number 5!!!