I'm still here...

Have you been wondering where I've been?  Well, I've been in my new home for a month now and we're starting to feel a little more settled.  It's been a little crazy though!  I started a part-time job the same weekend that I moved - I know, what was I thinking?  I've been looking for a little while and it kind of fell in my lap.  It was the right thing to do, but it hasn't been easy.  Although setting up my craft room was one of the first things I did, most nights I am so exhausted that it is the furthest thing from my mind.  But I know I'm in good company, so who am I to whine?

I have invited some ladies over to my home Saturday night for some crafting time, so I thought I would share one of the cards that I designed for the occasion.

Stamps:  My Pink Stamper Christmas Wishes
Cricut Cartridge:  Christmas Solutions
Paper:  DCWV, AC Cardstock, Roberts Crafts, Core'dinations
Border Punch:  Fiskars
Embossing:  Cuttlebug Snow Dots
Embellishments:  blue & white baker's twine

My Pink Stamper Design Team - October

Welcome!  I am so excited you have joined me today for the My Pink Stamper Design Team post for the month of October.  If you arrived here on your own today, I invite you to stop by My Pink Stamper so you can see all the wonderful design team submissions.

It's that time of year again!  Here it means that the whether has turned a little cold, the leaves are starting to fall from the trees, and my mind inevitably starts to think of Christmas.  Isn't it wonderful that in the crafting world we have that extra reason to start celebrating early - we need time to prepare after all!  I wish I could say that all of my Christmas cards are done, all of the cards I will be giving as gifts are done, and I'm ready to sit back and have a relaxing holiday season.  Maybe some day!  Some day when I'm not moving in a week...

The stamp set that I am featuring today is Winter Treats & Sayings:

I LOVE this set!  I love Christmas, and I especially love to bake at Christmastime.  I love to give treats for Christmas, and it's just so much more fun when there's a cute stamp to tie things all together.  This set is so versatile - perfect for tags, cards, you name it!  If you would like to find out where you can purchase this and other wonderful My Pink Stamper sets, click here.

Stamp:  My Pink Stamper Winter Treats & Sayings
Cricut Cartridge:  Christmas Solutions
Paper:  DCWV
Border Punch:  EK Success
Embellishments:  assorted buttons & gems, Stickles, Diamond Glaze

More Christmas Cards

What a crazy week this is going to be!  I have pears coming out of my ears right now.  Yesterday I canned 7 quarts of pears, and 6 1/2 pints of pear jam.  I swore that I wasn't going to do any canning this year because I knew that we would be busy with preparations for (hopefully) our move.  But pear jam is our family's favorite!  And then yesterday a good friend asked me if I wanted any tomatoes.  Glutton for punishment that I am, I gratefully said yes because my tomato crop has been a little pitiful this year.  And I can't go back to store bought salsa!  So, I have my work cut out for me - especially since it is supposed to snow in a few days.  It's time to bring in the harvest!  Isn't this the most beautiful sight:

It's not a great picture, but I think jars of canned goods are so beautiful!

But enough of that.  I thought I would share another Christmas card with you this morning.

For those of you who know me, you know that I love red.  So of coarse I love poinsettias!

Stamp:  My Pink Stamper Christmas Wishes
Cricut Cartridge:  Christmas Solutions, Gypsy
Embossing:  Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set
Paper:  Roberts Crafts (gold foil), AC Cardstock
Embellishments:  red twine, red button

Let the Christmas cards....begin!

I would like to start off today by apologizing for my infrequent posting lately.  I am living in temporary, rather cramped circumstances right now while we go through the process of purchasing a home that is a short sale.  If any of you have been through this, you know that it can take a long time!  Thankfully we are pretty far along and there is an end in sight.  But in the meantime my family and I are rather squashed which makes living, let alone crafting, a rather laborious process.  I miss my craft room!  It makes a big difference in my ability to create when my supplies aren't as accessible and I don't have a clean, quiet space to work in.  Hopefully, in a few weeks we'll be moving into our house and I can get my craft room established - just in time to need to start producing in earnest for the holidays!

Did someone say holidays?  This past weekend I brought out some Christmas card samples and asked my husband which one he liked the best, and he responded, "You're making Christmas cards already?!"  To which I replied, "It is a crafter's prerogative to start start the holidays early!"  Especially when there are classes to teach, deadlines to be met, swaps to complete...

So this week I will be showing some, what I would call, intermediate level cards.  These are pretty simple designs, with some slightly time consuming details.  If you want to make cute Christmas cards my best advice is to invest in some good paper, and add a little bling.  Here is my husband's favorite:

Stamp:  My Pink Stamper Christmas Wishes
Cricut Cartridge:  Christmas Solutions
Embossing:  Cuttlebug Winter Wonderland set
Paper:  Roberts Crafts (silver), Coredinations Gemstones (Pearl), Stampin' Up! (brocade blue)
Edge Punch:  Fiskars
Embellishments:  Silver cord (Stampin' Up!), gem, Silver embossing powder

For those of you who got all those free cartridges when you registered your Gypsy, if you haven't already, make sure you check out that Christmas Solutions cartridge.  There are some really beautiful designs on there!  I think the best thing I did to prepare for the upcoming Christmas crafting season was spend some quality time with my Gypsy.  Oh the possibilities!