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Reclaiming My Time

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When I worked full-time, had two active and involved teenagers at home, and volunteered at church in a variety of capacities, I used my time very effectively. I’m not so sure that happens now that I’m retired. I am getting a lot of things done that were on my To Do When Retired list, but there are an equal number of things I’m not getting to at all. So I was interested when I got an email about a BPS class called Reclaiming My Time. I thought about it for a long time, then by chance I found the instructor’s blog: karinka. Once I started reading her blog, I knew I’d like the class. And I do. The exercises are very enlightening, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time on it the last few days. I’ve already made some interesting discoveries, and done a lot of thinking about how I want to use my time in 2010. That, of course, is the point of the class. I made a quick cover for the binder where I’m keeping all the handouts and my worksheets.

TimeBinder
The image on the binder comes from one of the handouts. It’s a photograph of Karen’s mini-book. I don’t think I’ll work on that until I finish my Christmas Journal. Speaking of which, I have the photographs and ideas for five more pages, but have been busy with other activities for the last couple of days.

I did make two cards a couple of nights ago with the Making Memories Mistletoe collection. I didn’t use much of this for my Christmas cards this year, but I know I’ll still like it next year. I decided to make a couple of Thank You cards as I know I’ll need a few of these after the holidays.

Thanks

 

ThanksCardinals 

All the materials are Making Memories. I didn’t like this one as much until I added some red stickles to the berries on the patterned paper. The letter stickers on both cards are glitter stickers–a little hard to tell in the photographs.

Gifts for California

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GiftCardHolders

For the first time ever, Sarah and Adam won’t be here for Christmas. I am grateful that it took 29 years before it happened, but I know I am really going to miss them at Christmas. Tonight I got all the gifts wrapped, and one box packed and ready to mail tomorrow. These are the gift card holders I made this afternoon to put in their stockings (one for Matt, too). The cardstock is Scarlet Jewel (Papertrey), the ribbon from Paper Source and all the rest is Making Memories Mistletoe collection. The gift card holder was one Kristina Werner posted on 2Peas last year. I’ve made lots and lots of them since I first downloaded the pattern. It’s quick and easy.

CPS 143

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We had quite the tree search today, but photos from that and Thanksgiving will have to wait a day or two until I have time to get them ready for the blog. On the way home from cutting down the tree, we stopped at Grossman’s so I could get some poinsettias. They had beautiful ones, and I also found a new wreath for over the fireplace. Once we were home, I was anxious to start decorating, so photo editing went by the wayside. This card is for the CPS 143 challenge. I needed a card for my BIL’s upcoming big birthday so used this sketch.

CPS143_3 

Cardstock (Rustic White  & Enchanted Evening Papertrey Ink), Patterned papers (Basic Grey Granola), stickers (unknown & American Craft), twine (Papertrey Ink), ink (Chamoile Vintage Touch Papertrey Ink), Nestabilities.

Papertrey Ink Blog Hop

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Bloghoplogo

I’ve always wanted to participate in the monthly Papertrey Ink Blog Hop, but somehow always put it off to the last minute. This month I got my project done in plenty of time. This month’s Blog Hop Challenge was to create a quick & inexpensive wrap or tag that can be the perfect solution for “grab & go” gifts. I’ve saved all the plastic boxes that my stamps from Papertrey come in thinking they’d make a good package for gifts. Indeed they do! A whole box of Tazo tea fit neatly inside. A simple ribbon and tag complete the gift.

Package2w 

Tag2w 

This steaming cup from the 2008 Holiday Tag Collection was the perfect accompaniment. I used Perfect Pearls and some glitter to emphasize the steam. A quick run through my Cuttlebug with an embossing folder, a holly punch, and three gems complete the tag. Scarlet Jewel cardstock was used with the scalloped punch.

 

Christmas Cards

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It was so beautiful here today. We have had just amazing weather for November. I met a friend for lunch and a stamping date. When I left her house, I decided to see how much Christmas shopping I could get done since it was such a nice day. Thus, no Christmas Journal preparation as I chaired our Youth Ministry Committee meeting tonight. But I did get quite a few Christmas cards made while I was stamping with my friend. Over half of what I need was done this fall for various challenges. Sometimes if I liked the design a lot, I would make a couple extra. But now is the time for mass production.

TagChristmasCard 

Stamp (Papertrey Ink), cardstock (Papertrey New Leaf and Pure Poppy), ribbon (Midori)

And yes, I did get a lot of Christmas shopping done. I need to make one return (I knew that was a possibility), but aside from a couple of internet orders, I think I am done. It’s a lot easier buying for adult children.

Two More Christmas Cards

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Here are a couple more Christmas cards–all Papertrey Ink. I spent some time this afternoon on another card, trying to find a design I can easily duplicate. I need a dozen more perhaps. Usually I create just one design, maybe two, and duplicate them. This year I tried to make Christmas cards for lots of the challenges I participated in so I have many different ones. The only problem with that is I have a nice album that contains the different cards I’ve sent each year. I guess my blog will have to be the record this year!

Mittens 

I bought these tiny clothespins years ago (from Impress Stamps, I think). As soon as I saw these mittens in the Winter Swirls stamp set, I knew I’d use them on a card. The snowflake punch is from Martha Stewart.

PeaceWreath 

A simple card; you can’t see the embossed circle in the photograph unfortunately.

Finally. . .

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It’s been an especially busy week, but I finally got time to do some crafting, and just in time to get this anniversary card in the mail to our dear friends in Maryland.

GigaGuidelines 

All the materials are by Papertrey.

And I finished these:

GiftExchangeTags 

These are gift tags for the family gift exchange on Thanksgiving. There are many more, but this shows all the diferent designs, and in the back middle you can catch a glimpse of the back side of each tag. I got the idea from Heather Nichol’s blog. Again, all the supplies except the snowflake punch  and ribbon (Michaels) are from Papertrey Ink.

CPS 141

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It was a busy day:  Zumba, lunch with college friends, a hospital visit, grocery shopping. While I was watching the Friday news programs, I managed to get a quick Christmas card made for CPS 141.

141 

Snowflake2

I love stamping an image on more than one inchie and then separating them. A few gems, a little glitter, and some feathery ribbon (I have no idea where I found it), and it’s a quick and easy card. I love the shimmery cardstock from Papertrey as well. The snowflake is from Snowflake Serenade by Papertrey.

Embellish with Owls

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I’ve had a lot of fun this afternoon making cards for a couple of challenges. All of them use the same images. The first is for the Embellish Owls Color Challenge.

Owl-Embellishments

 

I recently purchased a fun clear set of Hero Arts stamps I’d been looking at for several months. A 50% off coupon sealed the deal. One of my favorite images is this cute little owl.

EmbellishOwl 

Here’s a detail shot that emphasizes the glitter on the owl.

EmbellishDetail 

Stamps (Hero Arts, Memory Box), Cardstock (Papertrey Ink), gems (Amuse Creative Candy), twine (unknown), button (Papertrey Ink), Copic markers and Spica glitter markers.

Here are  a couple more cards using the same images but different color combinations. On the first, I stamped the branch on the back of a coffee wrap and then cut it out. The leaves were stamped, cut out, and attached to the branch.

Owl2 

And finally the simplest of the three:

Owl1

Moxie Fabic Plum Crazy

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I finally had time to create a card for the Moxie Fab Plum Crazy Challenge. Once I had the peacock colored and layered on two Nestability oval die cuts, I went hunting for a card. In my stash were these wonderful tags and envelopes from Paper Source which were just perfect. The perfect ribbon in the “purple box” as well.

PurpleChallenge2wHue 

Stamp (Hero Arts), Copic markers, miscellaneous gems from stash, card (Paper Source), ribbon unknown, Nestability oval and scalloped oval dies.

Sunday Drive

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It was a gorgeous day here in western New York—warm and sunny. After church we drove up to the boat yard to check on the sailboat. I knew our boat was a bit small when we take it out on Lake Ontario, but today I really understood how small. I had never been up there after all the boats had been put up on dry dock. Our boat looked like a toy! But the plastic Tracy covered the boat with has stayed in place so that was good. On our way home we drove through Durand Eastman Park, another beautiful park designed by Frederick Law Olmstead. It’s still beautiful in November.

Park4w 

Park1w 

Park2w 

Park3w 

Later this afternoon Tracy and Matt moved most of his furniture and belongings from our garage to an empty garage in Naples that Tracy’s mom owns. There’s still a bit of cleaning out to do, but we’ll eventually be able to park in the garage this winter. While they were gone, I got a few more Christmas cards made–three of each design.

SparklingPines 

It’s hard to see in the photograph, but the trees all have a bit of glittery “snow” on them. The star has a tiny Hero Art rhinestone in the center. Both stamps are by Memory Box.

Paper Amour Challenge

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On a recent trip to Buffalo with a friend I picked up a couple of Memory Box stamps. The samples the company had sent to the store were beautiful, so I googled “Memory Box” and found a number of blogs that feature the Memory Box stamps. I also found a contest on Paper Amour. 

HalloweenCard2

I love the collage look of this stamp. The moon was colored with Moonlight Smooch although it’s hard to see the shimmer in the photo. The rest was colored with Copic markers. The patterned papers are all from a Halloween collection by Recollections that I picked up at Michaels. The card is also Memory Box and the ribbon is Orange Zest by Papertrey Ink.

Embellish the Cure

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Just under the wire for the Embellish the Cure Color Challenge.

EmbellishTheCureChallenge2 

Here’s my take on it. I was anxious to use one of the beautiful images on Papertrey’s Giga Guidelines.

Embellishcure 

Cardstock:  Smoky Shadow and Vintage Cream by Papertrey; Cuttlebug embossing folder; Nestabilities Label One; Hibiscus Burst ink and ribbon by Papertrey.

Hero Arts Simple Christmas

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I got inspired today after finishing my card for the Raspberry Suite Challenge and finished three quick and simple cards for the Hero Arts Simple Holiday challenge.

HASimple2

I love this new embossing folder from Cuttlebug.

HASimple1 

HASimple3 

Cardstock: Papertrey Pure Poppy and New Leaf, Neenah Solar White; Hero Arts stamps; snowflake punch; Stickles; pearl from stash.

Raspberry Suite Color Challenge 18

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I really enjoy the color challenges. Often they are colors I would never think of putting together, but I ususally end up with an interesting card. This one is no exception. Here are Dawn’s colors:

RaspberrySuite18 

Since Papertrey’s Vintage Cream was one of the colors, I printed the Raspberry Suite patterned paper samples on a piece of Vintage Cream cardstock and punched them with a 1.5 inch punch. The rest of the card is pretty straight forward. I used my new favorite, Smooch, to color in the leaves of the wreath.

RaspberrySuite18 

All Papertrey Ink: Kraft, New Leaf, Raspberry Suite, Dark Chocolate, and Vintage Cream cardstock; Rustic Branches and Signature Christmas stamps; gems from stash; Green Apple Smooch.