2025

 An unexpected hiatus- probably one of my longest, but unavoidable. Life has completely transformed since that last post in August 2022. Crafting took a backseat for a long time. I managed to make a few cards but it's been so long that I no longer remember colors, techniques or even who they were for, sadly. So I'm just going to post them without comment. 

I've recently created a new craft space for myself and hope to get back into the swing of it by the holidays. Wish me luck.

Penguins!

Before Christmas, I ordered some Penguin stamps from the Whimsy Stamps site. Crissy Armstrong designs the cutest penguins so I bought two general types that I could use with many different cards. I've looked up a lot of color combos for penguins and they're all difficult to blend if you ask me. And I've tried. 

A lot. 

I have more too. On the sides, I've written the copic colors I used trying to decide which combos I prefer. I know there are probably a million places on the internet I could go to to help me decide which colors go best together, but I'm still in the stubborn trial and error phase. 

And I know most of these look exactly alike, but I know they are different and some are sloppier than others. Like I said, practice makes perfect. Evidently, I need a lot of practice. 

Christmas 2020

It’s been a MINUTE since I’ve created a string of cards and even longer since I’ve made Christmas cards. But honestly, if you find yourself dipping your toe back into the crafting pool, holiday cards are a great entryway. Taking my supplies out, I realized I gave A TON away so I had limited items at my disposal. Plus, I was using old stuff and I really should have invested in some new memento and versamark pads, but c'est la vie. 

I gotta say though, it felt really good to create again. I even enjoyed the old frustrations of screaming at my botched glitter embossing attempts (and God, there were lots) But for me, crafting has always gone hand in hand with screaming at my creations. I think it’s part of the therapy? 

This Lawn Fawn Penguin stamp is the only new thing I purchased this year because, c'mon... 

I added some Fired Brick distress ink to many of these cards just to give it a bit extra since I was massively low on holiday paper.

The little girl's dress is embossed and the background was created with a stencil and distress inks in the colors Fired Brick and Mowed Lawn. Also, still learning how to color white fur. Multiple polar bears later, I'm still not quite satisfied.

These snowflakes were all embossed which took multiple tries to get right, but I really like how it came out.

Not sure if you can tell, but I added some distress ink in Salty Ocean around the embossed angel.

To say this holiday is going to be different is the understatement of the year, but whatever you end up doing, I hope you're happy. Have that extra helping of cake and sleep in. Watch a cheesy Christmas movie and hug a loved one. Give thanks for the healthy people in your life. We could all use a little magic in the new year. 

A Crafty Shower

When it came time to have a bridal shower, my first instinct was to pass. Everything about my wedding up until then had been rather small and unconventional so I felt having a shower would contradict that. Then the combination of my mom insisting I have one and me realizing that it was my wedding and I could do whatever I wanted, changed my mind. What was important was that I stuck to my guns: no restaurant brunches and no shower games.

Instead I wanted to do something fun and different. Obviously, crafting is such a large part of my life and it was something I thought the other ladies would enjoy too.

Off to Paper Source we go! The store on the Upper West Side has a large side room and since my shower would be in the summer, I wanted my theme to reflect that. We went with a Moana/Lilo and Stitch tropical shower. I chose a basic card making class that people at all levels would be able to do. The folks at the Paper Source let us bring lots of food as well as decorate the space and honestly, it was the best time. Not everyone knew each other, but the activity was something fun they could do while chatting.

 I'm so glad I decided to try something different because it was such a great afternoon with the most important ladies (and gentleman) in my life. Below are some pictures of the day.

Here are the supplies for making the invitations!

Embossing and washi tape made for simple and quick invites. Also, Disney font because, obviously.

Our treat table/favors table! I created decorations based on Moana and Lilo and Stitch quotes.

Tiki brownies and Tamatoa treasure cake!

This is from his song, Shiny which is one of my favs. 

Kevin is one of my closest friends from college and also my officiant!

Table set up!

We're all busy crafting!

All the smiling faces was exactly what I wanted.

My creations!

My wedding party!

This handsome guy showed up at the end to help with clean up.

Champagne favors with my personalized tags.

Everyone's creations for the day!

The Mommas!

My lovely group of women (and Kevin <3)

Sweeeeet Birthday!

My boyfriend's sister, Michelle is a fan of Finding Nemo so for her birthday, I wanted to use my Pixar Cricut cartridge to make something for her. There are so many great cuts in this cartridge. I also used letter stamps to create the phrases. I made little squirt because who doesn't love him?

Blue Skies and Sunshine, Guaranteed

For my next Thank You card, I wanted to stick with the same bright and cheerful look. I still had some of that lace from my last card so I decided to use it again in a different way. The patterned paper is from a My Mind's Eye pack that I have and I just partnered it with a matching solid color. I made the center cut from my Elegant Edges cartridge.

Is it spring time yet?

Critters and Cupcakes

I still had some Valentine's Day cards I wanted to make and for that, I turned to my Penny Black Critters stamps. I cannot say enough just how much I adore Penny Black! Plus, it gave me the chance to whip out my Copics which I haven't done in forever and am SO rusty as a result. I have to go back and look at old youtube videos and blogs of how to do just simple shading. It was nice practice though. I also did some embossing and blending with Distress Inks.

I did this one Saturday while watching all of season 1 of Grey's Anatomy. The show might be a bit worn out now, but back in the day, it sure did a great job at mixing humor with drama. Plus, I will always love McDreamy. =)

Pink Elephants

For my birthday, my boyfriend and I spent the day in the city and of course we just HAD to stop by The Ink Pad. I can seriously spend hours in that store. He bought me the cutest Penny Black elephant stamp and I used it right away for a birthday card. I find that I am pretty obsessed with Penny Black lately. Their critters are just SO adorable and really perfect for Copic coloring.

This birthday card was made for my boyfriend's coworker, Teresa. I met her once at a movie premiere (they work at Blue Sky Studios) and she was one of the nicest people I met that night. I was glad I had a brand spanking new stamp for her card.

Remember when I had made a promise to stop buying paper? I sorta broke that pretty quickly. (Happy to say though, I haven't purchased any this month! Woo-hoo!) The pink background is from a small 6x6 paper pad I bought at Michael's. I used the Elegant Edges cartridge to cut out the scalloped oval that Pinkie the Elephant is stamped on (mind you, I don't think that's his official name, but I'm going with it). It still looked a bit too plain for me so I used the distress ink, Worn Lipstick for the edges. Lastly, adding a purple bow and three jewel accents on the bottom corner, I felt like this card was complete.

Along with my no paper buying rule, I may have to start curbing my Penny Black obsession. We'll see....