Christmas in July

Merry Christmas (In July)...this is soo wierd, but I love it...Christmas is my favorite holiday and it is the one time of the year that I actually do go all out and crazy with card giving!! I love love love to make christmas cards and stuff for friends, colleagues and even some of the more notable aqquaintances...
anyways....so before I carry on...you should have come from Leslie's Blog...if you haven't and would love to start at the beginning, please head to Nicolette's Blog, otherwise carry on and I hope you like my work enough to become a follower, I love my followers and occasionally have some secret blog candy in the blog hops *wink* *wink*...so as promised i have my two projects...they are both cards, as I am trying this year to start earlier so that I can get them all done, as last year I started not as early and didn't have as many as I would have liked to...I had to budget my cards a little bit....now that is one sad concept!!! ha ha ha...anyways, thank you thank you thank you nicolette for giving me this opportunity to be in your hop, and I hope I didn't disappoint you by being MIA for the first day!! boo urns to that!!!...but hopefully this will help make up for it!! If you have come from
My first card is a bit more of the classical distressed christmas card...but I love love love it. All items on my cards are Stampin' Up items unless otherwise noted.


Recipe: Cardstock: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke
Stamp Sets: Season of Joy, En Francais, Holiday Happiness
Embellishments: Red Riding Hood 1 1/4" Striped Grosgrain Ribbon, Pewter Hodgepodge Hardware Brad, Sticky Strip, SNAIL, Snips for distressing the paper edges, Clear Embossing Powder, Versamark, Heat Tool Gun.
Quick Tip: To get the frayed, distressed look on the 1 1/4" Ribbon, cut in half and pull out some of the weaves in the ribbon. It give a fabulous distressed look.

For my next project, it is also a nice Christmas card using classic colours, but it was a bit easier in terms of tools and stuff used and just ease of assembly in general. This card would be awesomely easy to create in large quantity's and with less cost in terms of purchasing supplies. But still is beautiful, and fun to make.

 Front of Card

Inside of Card (hard to believe, but picture quality doesn't give the colour justice...it is Old Olive!!)

Recipe: Cardstock: Old Olive, Real Red, Whisper White.
Ink: Real Read, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight.
Stamp Sets: Season Of Joy, Occasional Quotes.
Tools: Circle Punch from Punch Punch, Old Olive 1/4" Grosgrain Ribbon, Stampin' Dimensionals, Sticky Strip, Snips for fussy cutting, basic rhinestone Jewels.
Quick Tip: I did not own the ticket Corner punch (and I would have love to earlier, but I didn't...)to get the ticket corner look , I took a bite out of one corner of one sheet of cardstock with my small circle punch from punch bunch and I then used that as a template for the rest of my card (i have since purchased the ticket corner punch becuase i think it is soo cute and love the look, this way it is a bit less maintenance).
I thank you so much for stopping by, and i am so sorry about not being able to share on both days...major tsk tsk on my part, but I hope this more than makes up for it.

I want to remind everyone again, if they want to fill up your stampin up wishlist, please let me know what I can help you with...as I have a stampin' up promotion going on within Canada ( I would love to open it to the states, but I cannot ship anywhere in the states). I am offering 10% off on any order over $50!!! Please contact me via email: rbanderson@live.ca to place an order!

Thanks again for stopping by today and can't wait to post again. Hopefully it wil be sooner than my last post (before this weekend)...it has been to long!!!
Don't forget to head over to the next stop on the way. Tammy has an absolutely stunning project for you to check out!!

Brenna!!

Christmas in July

HO HO HO!!!  MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Welcome to the Christmas in July Blog Hop with Nicolette from Beyond Scrappin'!!!  If you ahve happened here by accident, you should deafintaely head back tot he start at Nicolette's Blog.  If you have come here from Leslie's blog you are defiantely in the right place.



So....I know this is soo lame.  I have been bad.  I haven't been organised.My mom came intot own and I didn't have my blog hop stuff done before that. It has been a flrry of activity at my house and I just didn't have time to get everything done before now....argh...I do actually have two projects to share with everyone, so if you come back tomorrow, you can see my two projects.  they are super cute if I do say so myself!!  Anyways...This is a picture of my family and i at the mall just after we had taken our first Santa pics ever!!  what a fun time!!  ha ha ha...I can't wait till next year, to see if she cries or not...I don't think she will as she isn't scared of anyone!!
Anyways, I wanted to share with everyone that I am having a New Catalogue Stampin' Up Promotion.  I will be having a 10% off discount on all orders over $50 till the end of July  if you order over $100 that would be free shipping!!  This is valid in Canada only, as I am a Canadian demonstrator!  Just place your order through me via email at rbanderson@live.ca.

I hope to see everyone tomorrow for the unveiling of my two projects!!!  You can now hop on over to Tammy's Blog!!  Tahnks for stopping in!  Have a fabulous weekend!!!

Brenna

Welcome Baby

Hello,
Sorry I have been pretty spotty over the last little bit, Since I returned to work in February it has been difficult to create time for myself where I don't worry about anything else!!! I'm either to exhausted to actually enjoy crafting or just too busy...so I have been trying to make some time for my crafting in the evening after Paisley goes to bed...it shouldn't be so hard since she goes to bed at 6pm...(I should appreciate that while it lasts!!!), but it feels difficult!!! Anyways, I find that work is so busy that they are always "desperate" for staff and asking me to stay late and I always feel bad saying no...argh...I miss my little one and sometimes I wonder if she remembers who I am!! in passing, but that fast that it crosses my mind is something in itself!!! ha ha ha...she spends all day five days a week at day home...*tear*...She is fantastic and knows me but I do feel bad...Anyways, enough about my worries!!!! Back to my card!
It seems as if I cannot stop making cards for baby welcoming and baby showers!! ha ha ha...they are just soo cute, and friends are always having babies!! ahhh....oh well!!! ha ha ha...I made this super cute card, it isn't slated for a receipient yet....but I made it originally to use at a workshop I was doing at my sister's house...but then decided that it was maybe too complicated for a bunch of new scrappers/stampers....sooo...(stay tuned for in a few days I will post that actual cards we did make)...but I do love love love this card!!

Recipe: Cardstock: Concord Crush, Blushing Bride, Whisper White, In Colour designer paper pack in concord crush
Ink: Blushing Bride, Concord Crush
Tools: Designer label punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, blushing bride poly twill ribbon, SNAIL adhesive.
Stamps: Aviary Set, Sweetness Unlimited, Curvy Verses.

Hope you like it!! Thanks for listening to my mini mommy rant!! have a great weekend!!

Brenna

Late Mother's Day

Hello everyone, here with a new creation...i know i know, it's a bit late, I forgot that I had made this card!! I made this for my cousin who was in town the weekend before mother's day! He is one of three boys, so I figured I would give them a hand (and I wanted to make something, but needed some proper inspiration!!). So, I got out my supplies as we watched TV, where he proceeded to be the peanut gallery as I created..."You got a sweat shop going,eh?" "what in the world are you doing?" "What does that do?" etc etc...so it was kind of funny, that he was slightly interested in it...ha ha ha...I finished the card and gave it to him, he seemed pleased...maybe it was because he didn't have to buy a card, but he was a bit impressed that it could be made...ha ha ha...
anyways, I got a note back from my aunt saying that she really appreciated my part in the gift, and she was almost brought to tears because all three of the boys wrote there own name on the card...ha ha ha...oh boys...thank god I have at least one girl!! ha ha ha...the only reason they all got there names on it was A. because i made it earlym, that way as my cousin was driving home he could stop at his brothers house so he could sign as he went through (which is seven hour drive from their parents). Then the other brother signed when it got home! so it was actually pretty neat how it worked out. my cousins are the kind that stop on the way to breakfast on mother's day morning to buy a mothers day card! ha ha ha...so yeah...needless to say I felt pretty good about the card, even though it's not my personal fave!

Recipe: Cardstock: Old Olive, Pretty in Pink, Very Vanilla, Elegant Eggplant.
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Melon Mambo, Elegant Eggplant.
Stamps: Four Frames, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Eastern Blooms, Always Elegant, Occasional Quotes.
Ribbon: 5/8" Satin Old Olive
Tools: Word Window Punch, Modern Label Punch, Decorative Label Punch, MS Border Punch (can't remember the name), Sponge, I rock Tool and silver glam rocks, cuttlebug, cuttlebug embossing folder "spots", SNAIL adhesive, Stampin Dimensionals.
A few techniques that I used on this card are: Dry embossing, Sponging, "Rock and Roll", adding dimension.

Thanks for stopping by today!!!

Brenna

Name on the Wall

Wow, I am on a roll!! ha ha ha...well today isn't paper crafting per say...but secretly it is!! i have had this project on my back burner for about 14 months!! ha ha ha...my husband and I started this when my daughter was 2 weeks old!! He was HOUNDING me to get some letters cut out using my cricut so that he could use them as a template to cut out the wood letters!! So...the journey begins...and like all things with good intentions...there is always a delay! So anyways, i cut them out and he took about two weeks to cut the letters out of wood (he was working full time too!! ha ha ha), and then he wanted to try and match the stain to the crib...alas...the first delay! ha ha ha...fast forward to about February 2011 (Paisley was born in february of 2010)...we finally decided that we couldn't match the stain...so we decided on colours to pain the letters (to match a quilt that my mom is making for her for her big bed...) so we chose a bright pink (similar to melon mambo) and a navy blue...picked out ribbons to match...then it was about another month before we actually painted the letters. The letters then sat in my craft room for another month-2 months...until today...when i was cleaning up (tidying so that I could walk around), and decided enough is enough, we are getting this hung up today!! so....after much discussion on how we would hang it (banner style vs how it is hung now), I "won" and we hung it how it hangs now, looking back I think this is still th better choice! but yeah...super fun and it looks sooo cute!! It is of course deliberately hung unevenly...it would be super hard to make it any other way!! anyways...yay! my daughters name all hand made!! This would be a super fantastic personal gift for someone also...it takes some time, but it is really easy...Although my husband and I took so long to make it. the second time around, it wouldn't be bad at all!!! i'm sure it could be done in a weekend (with paint drying times and timing it outside of nap times also)...you just have to know what you want to do before you start it! ha ha ha...we will definately be doing this for our next child also...only we will be prepared and will have all the supplies prior to starting so that it can be done right away!! ha ha ha..

Recipe: Plantin' Schoolbook Cricut cartridge (letters cut to fit page at 12x12...I cut it on vellum so that it would be easier)...pink and blue acrylic paint, pink and plue 1-1/4" ribbon, nails, foam paint brushes, stapling gun (to staple ribbon on the back of the letters).

The bumper pads is something that my mom made for us before paisley was born, and there is a matching crib quilt, they are an under the sea theme.  Also, I actually made the bed sheets...you can't really tell but they are fantastic, I actually made about three or four sheets for her...I just couldn't help myself once I found out how cute they are and they are sooooo sooooo soooo easy to make, made me wish that I hadn't purchased three sheets for her!!! I didn't match the sheets to the bedroom decor (for the most part) but making your own sheets is a foolproof method of ensuring matchiness!!!  ha ha ha...if you want the pattern for the sheets email me and I'll gladly give it to you! thanks a ton for checking it out!!

Brenna

Linking up With: I Made It Myself Monday's

Really Reasonable Ribbon Challenge #24: Anything Goes With Ribbon

Welcome Baby!!

I am back, this time within a week! yay!! (first time in a while) But I am back to you with a set of baby cards that I made in the last little bit...One for girl, one for boy and one for not knowing the sex...aka - pink, blue and yellow!! ha ha ha...Super cute! this is just going to be a quick and dirty post...I will post all the recipe stuff at the end together, it is all the same except for the colours of paper and ink for the cards...so it sould be pretty self explanatory...but yeah...this was a fun set of cards to make and really simple and quick, so especially when it's baby season and you start needing a lot of baby cards!! ha ha ha

(The inside of the blue is exactly the same as the pink except the orientation -ie tall intead of wide, not sure that makes sense???)

Recipe: Cardstock- baskful blue, pretty in pink, so saffron, very vanilla, subtles Designer paper pack.
Ink: Pretty in Pink, Regal Rose, So Saffron, Bashful Blue.
Ribbon: Bashful blue 1" double stitched grosgrain ribbon, so saffron 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon, pink pirouette 5/8" striped grosgrain ribbon.
Stamps: Word Play (inside of yellow card), A word for you (inside of boy and girl card), Welcome baby (elephant image).
Misc Tools: SNAIL adhesive, Sponges to ink edges, Cuttlebug Spots embossing folder, and the Cuttlebug machine, stamp-a-ma-jig.

Thanks for stopping by, hope you liked my cards!! have a great day!
Brenna

Submitted: Fuzzy Wuzzy Challenge Blog - Baby
Really Reasonable Ribbon - Anything Goes with Ribbon

Thank You Card

hello all!!
sorry it's been a while since I last posted here!! I have been crafting and taking pictures, just haven't really had a chance to get it posted online!!! So....without further ado...if you've been following for a while, you'll know that I was recently trained at work for being the charge nurse on nights...whew...stressful!! ha ha ha...let me tell you charge nurses don't get paid enough...just thinking about a trauma coming in made my hands shake! ha ha ha...not that I can't handle it...but the responsibility of decision making is different than being a staff nurse!! ha ha ha...anyways...I made it through...
so I come to you today with a card I made for my colleague that actually trained me! (this was like almost a month ago!! ha ha ha) This was a fun card to make, and it turned out beautifully...but looking at it now, I feel like it's missing the stamp from the four frames stamp set (I got it shortly after I completed and sent this card off!! ha ha ha)...anyways, it still looks good, and hind sight is twenty twenty!! Everything is stampin up except for that i stitched with a sewing machine on the ribbon to give it a nice flat effect (easier to put in a standard envelope) but the dimension of a folded ribbon!!

Supplies: Paper - subtles designer paper, old olive, perfectly plum, pumpkin pie, very vanilla, early espresso.
Ink: Perfectly plum, old olive, pumpkin pie, early espresso, basic gray
Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes, Punch Potpourri, Fast and Fabulous, Fine Filigree background stamp.
Tools: Word Window punch, Modern Label XL punch, decorative label punch, boho blossoms punch, stampin sponges, SNAIL adhesive,
Ribbon: Pumpkin pie 1/4" Grosgrain, Old Olive 5/8" Satin.

Thanks for visiting!! have a great day!

Brenna

Submitted at : Anything Goes Challenge Blog - Bingo (Flowers, Ribbons, Punches)
Reasonable Ribbon Challenge - Anything Goes with Ribbon