Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

First off, I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Joyous and Prosperous New Year!

I know that I have not been very good at updating my blog lately, but I have found it especially challenging to find time to craft or even enough time to check my email. I started back to work full time on November 1st, after being unemployed since Christmas 2010. In trying to learn all the new things at my new job, I come home totally exhausted. And with no time during the week to get my errands done, I now have to try and fit them into the weekend. I thank God that my husband took some extra time off of his job to get the Christmas shopping done and the gifts wrapped while I was working. He is such a wonderful man and I love him dearly.

I hope to be better at updating the blog during the new year. I am finally starting to fall into a routine of sorts, learning to get things done during my time off. I am fortunate enough to have the entire week between Christmas and New Years off, so I hope to get some crafting done and get some projects posted here.

Again, I hope everyone had a great Christmas with family and friends and that all will have an even better New Year!

Grapevine Designs word book

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. Did everyone get a chance to get some Christmas shopping done on Black Friday? I did and I didn't even have to stay out all night to do it!

This week, we got to request a word that we wanted to be cut by Grapevine Design from Paper Vineyard. I chose Violet since it is my Granddaughter's name. So far, I have all the pages in the book covered in Bazzill cardstock. I added some ribbon from my stash along the binding. I used my Cinch to bind the book. I am collecting violet-inspired embellishments to decorate the book. I only have a few right now, so will add them when I collect a bunch of them. And do you believe it.....no Cricut used, so far!
Hope you like it. I will post more pictures after I embellish the book. Have a great week!

New Stickles

Hello All,

Our challenge for the Paper Vineyard Design Team this week was to use showcase some finishing touches. I used the new Glam Pink Stickles. I made this card from 2 Craft Tags from Inksentials and book-bound them. I then covered them with scraps from my stash. I used the Phrases cartridge from Cricut to cut "You Go Girl" and Stickled the "Girl" only. I added a Sparklet from KaiserKraft and some glittered tulle, again from my stash.
Hope you like it. I am going to send this to my Granddaughter who made honor roll for the quarter at her grade school. You Go Girl!!!
Have a great week and an awesome Thanksgiving. Oh, and shop till you drop on Friday! I know I will!

Quick post for Paper Vineyard Design Team

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't posted in such a long time. I started a new job on November 1st and my brain is bursting at the seams trying to learn all the new stuff!! I am grateful for the job but am exhausted by the time I get home from work. But it is a good exhaustion!
On to the post for today. We were challenged to use a piece from Vintaq. Mine was the Mod Flower and I decided to make it into a piece of jewelry. I little bit of a step away from paper crafting I know, but wanted to try something outside of my comfort zone. I ran the Vintaq piece through my Big Shot using the Cuttlebug Script embossing folder and then sanded the embossed side to highlight it. I then used some Tim Holtz jump rings and a large Tim Holtz Fragment. I added a round disc that I had laying around. I hung the piece on a piece of velvet ribbon.

Hope you like it. I will be back later in the week (hopefully) with more. Have a great day!

Another project for Paper Vineyard

Hello all, hope you are having a great week. This weeks project was to utilize a word that was custom cut by Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard. I had them cut "Swartz" and I made a sign for my house with it.I used Tim Holtz Distress Coredinations paper, a dollar store frame, and black vinyl that I cut with my Cricut Expression. I have always wanted one of these signs in our house and this was just the excuse to make one. Let me know what you think. I love reading your comments.

Oh yeah, on another note.............I got a job!! I start today and it is only 10 minutes from my house! It has been a LONG 10 months of being unemployed. I got a lot of crafting done, but it's time to get back to work. I need a job to support my crafting habit!!!

Hope you all have a great week. I know I will!

The Joy of the Journey

Hello all,

This weeks challenge was to use the Joy of the Journey stamp from Stampendous. And to use some of the Reminisce Autumn paper. I loved the stamp and thought it would be a nice saying to have on display all year long. I used a frame that I had in my stash, covered the mat with the Reminisce paper and distressed the stamp image (which was stamped on white cardstock). I then pulled out my new Cricut Flower Shoppe cartridge and tried my hand at making some of the cute flowers that are on that cartridge. To say they were challenging to make would be an understatement. I went out and bought a quilling tool which made the process a whole lot easier. I think after some more practice, this will become one of my favorite cartridges.

Here is a close-up of the flower.

Hope you like my frame. I love to read your comments so when you stop by, leave me a note. Have a great week!

This weeks project for Paper Vineyard Design Team

This week's challenge for the Paper Vineyard design team was to showcase our "go to" tool. Mine, of course, is my Cricut Expression. We also had to utilize Authentique products. I made this gift bag (actually, I made 18 of them!) for the Cricut Swarm I went to over the weekend. The background paper is from Authentique's halloween line. All the solid paper is from Bazzill. I cut the "Trick or Treat" from the Cricut Martha Stewart Seasonal Cake Art cartridge and used some Orange Peel Stickles on the work "or". The ghosts were cut from the Cricut Happy Hauntings cartridge and the faces were stamped using Peachy Keen Stamps. The bags were from my stash of bags.

I hope you enjoyed this project. Please visit the Paper Vineyard blog to see the projects that my fellow team members have come up with. They always have great projects.

Thanks for visiting and I hope everyone has a great week.

Cricut Swarm 10-15-11

I attended a Cricut Swarm at my local scrapbook store, Paper Vineyard, yesterday and had the BEST time. It is always great to get together with other people who share your passion. It was a 12-hour marathon of games, drawings, and all around fun. Oh yeah, and we worked on projects using our Cricuts! Here is a picture of our mascot! He is guarding my bottle of root beer! And this picture is one of me and my good friend Kim.Everyone had such a good time. Adriana (the owner of Paper Vineyard), Danielle and Krista put on an awesome day and we really appreciate everything. We are all looking forward to more Swarms next year!

Hope you enjoy my pictures and have a great week!

Cards using Stampendous Stamps

Our challenge this week was to make a card using a Stampendous stamp of our choice. I chose the Angel Kisses Set (CRS2065). This set is available at Paper Vineyard. I colored the images with my Copic Markers. I am still very new at coloring with the Copics, and I only have a few of them, but I used what I had to do this card. I used a Snow Marker pen from Marvy Uchida and used my heat gun when the ink was wet to puff it up. I like the texture it added to the card.

Hope you like it. It's finally feeling like Christmas may eventually come. Our high temps here in Arizona have only been in the 70s for most of the last week. Have a great week!

Grapevine Designs by Paper Vineyard

This week, we had to pick a state name, and do a project around that. The name was custom cut by Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard. I chose the state of Pennsylvania because that is where my husband is from and we took a BUNCH of pictures of the beautiful fall colors when we were back there visiting a couple of years ago. Living in Arizona, I so miss the changes in the season and these awesome colors. I had to make this into a two-page layout to make sure I got the best pictures included!All papers are from Bazzill, "Pennsylvania" is from Grapevine Designs, "Autumn In" is cut from the Plantin Schoolbook Cricut cartridge, the leaves were from the Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons Cricut cartridge and all the pieces were inked with Chestnut Roan chalk ink.

Hope you like them. Let me know what you think. I love to read your comments! Have a great week.

Halloween Revisited!!

This week, we had to make a project using the Halloween items we got in our packet of goodies from Paper Vineyard. This card is what I came up with. Most of the supplies I used can be found at Paper Vineyard. I only added a few spider web stickers out of my stash of leftovers from Halloweens past.

I learned how to make this Diamond-fold card from a video I saw on Creations with Christina. She is an awesome instructor when it comes to teaching someone a new technique. So, THANKS to Christina.

Recycle challenge at Paper Vineyard

Hi All,

This weeks challenge at Paper Vineyard was a recycle theme. I must say, that this challenge really stumped me. It took me the longest time to decide what to recycle and what to make with it.


My keepsake tin began life as a steel-cut oatmeal container. I covered it with Bazzill paper and then embellished with silver glitter paper. I used an EK Success border punch on the edges. The "Treasured Moments" words were custom cut by Grapevine Designs at Paper Vineyard. I colored them with silver ink. The key on the top is from Bazzill and the silver trim on the top is from Teresa Collins. The ribbon and bling are from my stash. And can you believe it....no Cricut used for this project!

Hope you like it. Have a great week!

Back to School with Graphic 45

This is back to school week at Paper Vineyard using the Back to School paper from Graphic 45. Can I say that I love love love Graphic 45!! I made this 8x8 layout using this line. The inside of the frame has a slide out paper to mount a picture. I didn't have my granddaughters picture yet from her first day so I made it customizable. The Mini Composition book was made with the scraps I had left from the layout. I added some roses, buttons, and lettering that I had in my stash. You can find the Graphic 45 paper lines at Paper Vineyard.


Don't forget to get into Paper Vineyard and cast your vote for the best mini book from last weeks post. Remember that you as the customer also have the chance to win a great prize. The store is located in Chandler Arizona on Alma School Road between Ray Rd and Chandler Blvd. Stop in, vote, and do some shopping. They carry some awesome products.

Have a great rest of the week. Thanks for looking and let me know what you think. I love to read your comments.

Grapevine Designs by Paper Vineyard

Hello all,

This week, Paper Vineyard is having a friendly competition using their new "Grapevine Designs" Custom Albums. I used their "Plain Jane - Man and Woman" album this week. These albums are AWESOME (they have a bunch of them that they keep in stock all the time) AND you can order custom albums cut just for you!! More info about the competition is listed below.

Anyway, here is my album. When I saw the Man and Woman (the universal symbols), I knew I had to do some kind of travel album. All the supplies I used were from my "stash" of papers and embellishments. The pictures are all ones that I have taken during my travels over the years. I printed them out in sepia tone and inked the edges to make them look older. I did the same thing on the other items that I included on the pages. I added a few charms from my stash of jewelry making supplies to finish the cover.

Here is more about the competition Paper Vineyard is having for the Design Team. All the Custom Albums that we have made will be on display starting on Wednesday, August 31st at the store. If you live in the Phoenix metro area, please stop by the store in Chandler (Alma School between Ray Rd and Chandler Blvd) and vote for my book. The voting can only be done in person at the store. Update: Voting will be open for a whole month so you have until September 30th to stop in and vote......for me I hope!!! The Design Team winner will win a goodie bag AND ...... wait for it ...... one of the customer ballots will be randomly be chosen to win a goodie bag too! See, there is something in it for you!!

Thanks for looking and I hope you get a chance to come into the store to vote. Let me know what you think. I look forward to your comments!

This week at Paper Vineyard

Hi All, hope everyone is having a great week so far.

This week, our challenge was "Shimmer and Shake". Make something that had movable parts and that shimmered or was glittered. Here is the card I came up with!

I cut the flowers using my Cricut and the Mothers Day Bouquet cartridge. I used a skewer to curl the edges of the flowers under and then rolled something rounded (I have since bought a tool that is actually used for working with modeling clay) in the center to make the flowers actually stand up. I didn't have any dark colored brads, so I took one of the big green ones that I found in my stash, colored it black with my black sharpie marker, and glittered it with Stickles. All the paper, except for the craft card stock that I used for the card base and the tags, was left over from a class that I attended at Paper Vineyard a while back.

Both of the flowers are attached to tags, that when pulled out, have "friend" related rub-ons that I also had in my stash of goodies!

Hope you like it. Let me know what you think.

Halloween in August at Paper Vineyard!

Hello Everyone!

Sorry for not posting in a while. I was out of town last weekend ( in the much cooler mountains of Payson, Arizona ) and didn't get to participate with the Design Team at Paper Vineyard. I had a great time in Payson and it really got my design juices flowing again. I think I just had to get out of the heat, recharge, and get back to designing again.


Anyway, here is this weeks project for the team. Our assignment (if we wished to accept it!), was to make anything Halloween using We R Memory Keepers Spookville line of products. The print papers and the spider web brad are from this line. Solid paper is from Bazzill. I cut the entire picture frame from the Cricut cartridge Happy Hauntings. I love that cartridge! The rest of the supplies were from my ever-growing stash of supplies!!

Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Have a great week!

This is also entered in the following challenge:

Bitten By The Bug - Happy Hauntings - Use any frame on the Happy Hauntings cartridge

Paper Vineyard Cards, cards cards!!

This week, we were challenged to make cards using any Paper Vineyard products, any theme we wanted. I had gotten a sheet of paper from Scrap within reach (double sided) and decided to utilize both sides of the paper. I had a rub on from Kaisercraft of a camera and gotten the idea to make a card for someone who would be traveling. I was inspired by my Mom, who will be taking a Panama Canal cruise in September. Can you say JEALOUS!!!

Here is the inside.

And can you believe it.......I didn't use the Cricut on this one!!
I know, I can't believe it either!!

Hope you like it. Let me know what you think. Have a great week.

Birthdays at Paper Vineyard

Hello Everyone,

Another week, another project for Paper Vineyard. This week, our challenge was to make something for a birthday using the Kaiser Kraft Birthday line - and it couldn't be a card!! Well, since I have been trying my hand at mini-books, I decided to make one for this challenge. I was at a weekend crop here in Phoenix over the weekend and worked on it there. This post is picture heavy since I included shots of all the pages.

I used the Kaiser Kraft Birthday line of papers, stickers and stamps. I made the book from scratch using chipboard and binding the pages together with Bazzill paper. I also bound the outside of the book with Bazzill paper. I used cuts from several Cricut cartridges - Birthday Cakes, Birthday Bash, Carousel, George and Basic Shapes, Tags Bags Boxes and More, and Create a Critter. I also used twine, gems, chalk ink, ribbons, lace and buttons from my stash of goodies.

Let me know what you think and have a great rest of the week!