Notecards in a Purse

The wonderful Glenda at Glenda's Cards created an adorable Red Hat Snowlady Purse.  I have a dear friend who is a Red Hatter and I thought the idea would be perfect for her.  She is a Santa collector (an entire room is devoted year-round to every kind of Santa you can imagine - rugs, blankets, candles, dolls, figurines, dishes, etc. ), but since she recently lost her husband, I felt something more personal would be nice.

I used purse2 from Tags, Bags, Boxes and More and cut it at 11.5 on a 24 inch mat. The snowlady was created from circle Nesties and her hat came from a package of embellishments I found at JoAnn.  The snowflakes were punched and then I added lots of bling.  I made notecards to go inside the purse.  They measure 5.25 x 3.75.  I used Beyond Birthdays for the "Hello Friend" cut.

Thank you again, Glenda for the darling idea.  I hope my friend will be pleased with her gift.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

My Final Christmas Card

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  When I return from Sunday's crop, I should have 60 Christmas cards ready to mail.  Each time I thought I was finished putting together a kit, I would find another sketch or fall in love with more paper combinations.  I finally decided this is it - I'm done (we'll see how far that goes!!!).

I love all the papers in the DCWV Homemade Christmas Stack and one of the sketches in Raq's Challenge seemed to be the perfect layout for the papers I chose.  It's a simple layout, just corner punching, scallop and plain circles, a few MS branches, and, of course, paper layering.  The embellishment is from that great K&Company pack I found at Michael's.

I hope you have a lovely weekend.  We're having dinner with my bestest friend and her husband tonight - going to try to do some serious damage at a rib place , then an Open House tomorrow and the Holiday Crop on Sunday.  I love getting out and looking at the lights as we travel from place to place.  "Light Looking" was a family tradition for many years, then coming home and having a big pot of soup.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Oh Christmas Tree

Even though I've been creating Christmas cards for many of the recent challenges, I still haven't quite finished my personal cards.  I keep getting  those darn "card visions" running around in my head late at night or in the early morning hours (boy, have my dream subjects changed since I've gotten older!).  This is one of those visions and I decided to make multiples of this one to mail.  I try to keep in mind that the cards I actually  mail shouldn't have too much raised dimension (foam dots or embellishments) because of the extra postage required for special handling.

I used George for the tree, stretching the triangle on the Gypsy and then embossing it with Divine Swirls.  The star is punched from DCWV glitter paper.  The background border is an EK Success punch and then embossed with Diamonds in the Rough.  The snow is hand cut and embossed with Swiss Dots.  Finally, the tree trunk is embossed with Distressed Stripes.  I played around with different inking and decided that the white on white worked best. 

I'm sorry that the picture is dark.  It's cloudy and rainy so I had to take it indoors. 

I have 6 Crop Kits ready for Sunday's Holiday Crop.  I'm still working on a few more things to take, but at least I know I'll come home with all my Christmas cards ready to mail - woohoo!!

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Masculine Birthday Card

My brother-in-law's birthday is Saturday so I made this card for him.  The paper is DCWV The Guy Stack.  I used French Manor and Beyond Birthdays for the cuts.  I love layering papers, so this card definitely reflects my style.

I know it is a busy time for all of you and I wanted to tell you how much I appreciate the fact that you take time to visit my blog.  I also appreciate your comments.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Tuesday Takes Challenge #2

This is my card for the second Tuesday Takes challenge at the Sketches in Thyme.  I really gave my Cuttlebug a workout on this one.  I used Nestabilities Labels Eight and three embossing folders; Holly, Divine Swirls, and Swiss Dots.  The embellie is K&Company - I hit it big at the Michael's sale yesterday and came home with quite a few Christmas goodies including 5 packages of embellishments!

I'm busy putting together Crop Kits to take with me on Sunday to Monique Griffith's Holiday Crop Party.  I'm trying to get all my Christmas cards cut so that I can spend the day assembling.  I also have a few other projects that I'm hoping to complete.  By having all my projects ready to assemble, I can enjoy  chatting with gals, eating, and just having a grand time.  Of course, I'll take my Cricut and Gypsy just in case I get divine inspiration during the day

Hope your week is off to a great start.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Fuzzy Sock Cupcake

This is certainly not an original idea - I've seen it posted on quite a few blogs - but what a great quickie gift for the girlies (young or old) on your Christmas list. 

I used the cupcake wrapper from the Easter 2010 cartridge, using the hide contour on the little holes around the top.  I added the trees from Joys of the Season.  When you select the grouping button on the Gypsy, the trees become cutouts.  The paper is BoBunny.  I was excited to find paper with purple accents to match the socks I'd purchased.  I just added a sparkly pom pom for the "cherry" on top. 

Such a simple gift with a little added love because you created the wrapping.  Gotta love that!

Well, it's holiday crunch time.  Most of the decorating is done and I'm ready to wrap presents.  I'm still deciding on my final Christmas cards for mailing - hmmmmmm?? 

Hope your December is off to a wonderful start.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Sharing My Blog Award

I received this Blogger Award from Rachel at Back Porch Creations - thank you so much, Rachel.  Now I get the opportunity to pass it on.  The rules for this award are:
* Thank the person who awarded it to you - Done!
* Share 8 things about yourself - oh my, here goes:
      1.  I've been married for 41 years, living all of them in Northern California.
      2.  I have two grown daughters - Aly is a softball coach at Texas Tech University
           and Janna is group sales coordinator at the iHotel in Champaign, IL
      3.  I am a retired educator, spending my last 10 years as a Curriculum and Instruction coach - loved it!
      4.  I began this journey two years ago by starting with a scrapbook to celebrate Janna's college softball
           career and earning her Masters degree.  
      5. I discovered the joys of cardmaking when I joined the Cricut messageboard.  Who knew I'd make
          so many wonderful cyber-friends and have so much fun!
      6. My blog began in July with encouragement and guidance from Crystal (Card Fairy
           Commander) and Carolyn (The Scrapping Cat).
      7.  Making and giving handmade cards gives me such joy - that's why I proudly participate in
          Card Fairies and Cards for Soldiers.
      8. We traveled a great deal (4 years in a motorhome) watching our daughters play
           softball and visiting the many friends we made during their playing and coaching careers.
*Pay it forward to 8 bloggers you have recently discovered - see the list below.
*Contact the bloggers to tell them about their award.

I'd like to share this award with:
Sandy - so glad you got your new blog up and going - A little piece of Heaven.
Wendy - such a gifted crafter and sweet lady - *****Bling Queen. . .
Peachy - a true artist - Peachy Papercrafts
NanaDonna - Amazing cards - Card Dreams by Nana Donna
Sandy - a northern CA gal that I've met at Monique's crops - Sandy from Ukiah
Kelly - fantastic cards with great card recipes -  Kreative Korner By Kelly 
Kimberly - see how she makes hand-dyed crinkle ribbon - My Craft Spot 
Kristie - lots of different and wonderful projects - Kristie Kreates   

            I'm off to meet a special friend for lunch and a little window shopping.  Fall decorations are packed away and now it's time to think Christmas, Christmas, Christmas.  We did have a totally white lawn this morning because of the heavy frost. 

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

A New Card Challenge

Sketches in Thyme debuted its new card challenge spot called Tuesday Take.  Along with the newly selected Card Mavens, Kim will feature a guest designer each week (I'll be featured on January 4 and February 15).  I love this blog because it has both card and layout sketches with lots of wonderful examples from the Design Mavens.  I hope you'll visit soon.
I designed this card for the first Tuesday Take sketch challenge.  The paper is DCWV Christmas Combo.  I used Nesties to cut the two scalloped circles and a MS punch for the snowflakes.  The flourish is from a set I picked up at the Expo manufactured under the name Forever in Time.  The sentiment design is heat embossed and the ribbon is dotted organza from JoAnn's.

And now, a big thank you to Rachel, from Back Porch Creations for the Blog Award.  I'll be paying it forward soon.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn

Christmas is coming!

My daughter's flight was delayed on Sunday giving me a little extra time to complete two cards before leaving for the airport.  Now it's raining, so I figured I'd take the time to post, hoping the rain will let up before we head out to do a little shopping.

The first card is is the wreath from my new Gingerbread cartridge. It has a simple, primitive look with the inking, hemp, and kraft paper.
The next card was for Santa's Slackers.  I wanted to use ornament hangers, but they were too big so I crafted my own for the card.  The stars are cut from Christmas Cheer, both base and shadow, and then popped on the background paper.

OK, so this isn't a card, but it is a new addition to our family.  My husband has trained and run bird dogs for years.  He no longer competes, but he is an avid waterfowl and upland bird hunter.  He has a lab that has been his hunting companion for 9 years.  Now we've added Yaller, a two year old English Pointer.  The dogs keep him busy and active and it gives me all the time I want in my craft room.  Can it get any better than that?

Have a marvelous Thankgiving.  That means Christmas is ONE month away - woohoo, better get busy.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn



A Card of Thanks

I'm entering this card in the Jitterbuggin' and My Sheri Crafts challenges. The paper is DCWV Amber Autumn - it has such a gorgeous selection of papers. I embossed the green dot paper and the leaves with the Swiss Dots embossing folder (difficult to see) and also heat embossed the sentiment with Distressed embossing powder.  The flower stem is hemp.  The yellow flower is from Hero Arts.  They now have coordinating sets of flowers and gems - so fun - I bought five different sets :).  I also added a little ink to the corners and popped the sentiment, flower, and leaves. 

My youngest daughter is flying home tomorrow to spend Thanksgiving with us.  She has lived in Champaign, IL since 2000 and doesn't get home very often so this is an exciting time for the family.

In case I don't get an opportunity to post, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  I am thankful for your encouraging comments and the support you have given me as I continue this journey.

Hugs and Happy Crafting,

Larelyn