Wedding Craftiness

When you entered the reception hall, there was a table where you could stop & pick up your name place card. They had 203 guests at this wedding!! On the same table, they had two frames, one with the save the date card and this message thanking me for making the save the dates & invitations, and the frame next to it had the invitation on it for display. I got so many compliments (even from men! You know you did a good job when a man compliments your crafts!) and I thought it was so sweet of them to do that for me.

Kristen & Jeff made the centerpieces themselves, I think they turned out so good. They used mason jars, filled them with coffee beans and stuck daisies in the top. I thought they were so cute. In an effort to save money and not use so many coffee beans, they rolled up a piece of brown cardstock and stuck it in the middle of the mason jar. The coffee beans are just around the glass and the center where the flowers are is empty, inside the rolled up cardstock. I thought that was a great idea.

This was the table for gifts. My Aunt JoAnn came from TX for the wedding and brought Jeff & Kristen this quilt that she made for them. She brought a couple sharpie pens and had people sign the quilt as they came in. Everyone signed on the white part of the quilt. I had never heard of this before, and it was a huge hit. The quilt was beautiful, and done in pinks & browns, their wedding colors. You can see the black/white canvas wall hanging that I made for them in this pic as well. I posted a photo of it last week on my blog. Kristen saw it before the wedding and started crying! I am so glad she liked it.

Wedding Photos

I'm back from my brother's wedding. We had so much fun, the day was just perfect and everything went smoothly. I'll post a few more photos tomorrow that have some crafty stories behind them. Whhewwww.... I am glad this wedding is over. Now I'll have more time to craft for fun!

Wedding Time

It's finally time for my brother's wedding! Seems not that long ago that I was working on sample invitations and making save the date cards. Since my gift to them was the save the date cards and invitations, I am not giving them a huge gift. I made this canvas wall hanging for them. It's made from a Quick Quotes kit that I found at a Scrapbook Convention that I attended last month. Super easy and quick to put together. I ordered the picture of them from the photographer that did their engagement photos. The die cut tree and all the other pieces came with the kit. I'll be away for a few days, hope you have a great weekend!

Back from Texas....

I had so much fun in Texas! The people there are so friendly, and I loved the city. Definitely different from East Coast life! Here are a few pics from my trip. I got my hair done while I was there. I went back to being blonde! I had a lot of fun at the hockey games and the Hershey Bears won both games I attended. It was worth the 3030 miles round trip! I went to San Antonio and saw the Alamo and also went to Waco and visited the Branch Davidian/Waco massacre site. That was very moving, and extremely sad. I didn't realize so many young people died during that stand off. The hockey picture is when my team won Game 5 in Overtime!! They came over and celebrated next to the glass almost right in front of me. How thoughtful of them, I got some good pictures!

On a crafting note, I've been taking lessons on Pergamano. I love this technique! I took a few lessons on Pergamano several years ago, then got sidetracked on other things, and decided I wanted to try it again. I found a teacher nearby and have really enjoyed learning about Pergamano again. Pergamano is dry embossing on Parchment paper. I mostly like the look of white on white Pergamano, so most of the cards and projects I make using the Pergamano technique won't have much color. I think it looks so elegant and is just beautiful. I made this card as a wedding card for my brother & his fiance. This technique is time consuming, it took me over 3 hours to make this card. I am so pleased with how it turned out. I think it's my best pergamano project that I've made! I'll post some of my original creations from years ago later, but they are not as good as this one. Hope you have a great week!

Zentangle

Last week, I took a class at Angela's Happy Stamper taught by Laura, on how to Zentangle. It was so much fun. I love this technique. You can find out more about what Zentangle is here on their website, www.zentangle.com (sorry, can't get blogger to post the link correctly). Everyone in the class was commenting on how relaxing making Zentangles is. I'm not sure I agree with that. Even though I enjoyed it, the perfectionist in me was struggling with all the free hand drawing. I left the class with stiff fingers and a tense neck. I will do it again, for sure, as I love, love, love the look of this. For the top card, Laura stamped the flower stamp and we drew our Zentangles inside the petals of the flowers. OH! Wedding invitations are DONE!!! I am so pleased with how they turned out. So glad to be done with that project!

Wii Night in Birthday Gift

I made this for my brother's 28th birthday. His birthday was a few days ago but I wanted to make sure he received the gift (I mailed it to him) before I posted it here. I learned my lesson about posting his gifts on my blog - at Christmas I posted something I made for him and he left a comment on my post. I had no clue he even looked at my blog. So if you're looking now - Hi Jeff!

I got the template for this from Papertrey Ink. It's one of Lauren Meader's timeless templates. You can find the template here. The template I used is the take along tote. I put a candy bar & a bag of m&m's in the front outside pocket. On the back pocket I put a bag of microwave popcorn. I put a Wii game in the middle of the tote. There is a pocket on the inside and I put a gift card for his favorite pizza delivery place in that pocket. Everything he needs for a "Wii night in"!

Yay Snow!

I am so excited about our expected snowfall today!! Originally they said we were going to get 5" of snow. Imagine my disappointment when I heard the revised estimate of 2" last night. I hope we get closer to the 5". This will be the biggest snowfall all season. Being from NE Ohio I really miss the snow, we just don't get much of it here in the DC area.

I was looking through my templates and with snow already on my mind, this one jumped out at me last night. I used a Lasting Impressions template and paper to emboss the snowmen, bucket they're in, and the sign. The background paper is by Bo Bunny. I used a piece of wire for the handle on the bucket. The little snowflakes are punched. Enjoy your Sunday!

A Major Award!

I received this blog award from both Susan and Christy. Thank you ladies!! I love both of their blogs, Susan is wonderful at making House Mouse cards and she is fantastic at coloring images with colored pencils. You should definitely check out Christy's blog, she has pics posted on her blog of her gorgeous pink scrap room (I'm so jealous) and her crafty card making cat!

In order to receive this blog, I have to list 5 addictions that I have! Pretty easy...

1. Capitals Hockey - My hometown team, I love the Caps! I go to every home game, even considering hitting the road to follow them to a few away games this year!
2. Starbucks Strawberries & Cream frappucino -yummm!
3. Card Making & Scrapbooking - as if that wasn't obvious. I spend all my free time in my craft room.
4. Sunflower Seeds - (in the shell) I love to sit in front of the TV and eat sunflower seeds, they're so tasty.
5. UFC - I love, love, love the Ultimate Fighter reality TV show. It's the only reality TV show that I watch. It's a bunch of guys who have to live in a house together and cage fight in order to stay on the show. I'm not really sure why I like all these violent sports. But this show gets better & better every season. Guy drama is funny. I can't wait for a new season to start soon!

You'll shoot your eye out!

Are you a fan of the Christmas Story movie?? I love it!! My mom lives in Northeast Ohio, not too far from where the Christmas Story movie was filmed in the 80's. The house is now restored and open for tours and we got a chance to visit it this year. I learned on the tour that only the outside shots of the house were filmed in Cleveland Ohio at this home. The inside shots of the home and school scenes were all filmed in Canada. They've restored the house to resemble the home from the movie, and they have a museum and gift shop across the street. Let me just say, this house is in a very, very bad neighborhood. I was a little scared when we pulled up the street. The tour guide told us they have plans to purchase a few houses in the neighborhood and make it a "Christmas Story wonderland" (oh how wonderful!) and turn a few of the houses into bed & breakfasts. They are in negotiations to purchase the Bumpas' house next door - remember the Bumpas family had the dogs that reigned terror on their Thanksgiving turkey dinner! A few of the original characters were at the house, the female elf from the Higbee's scene that says "Hurry up kid, the mall's closing!" to Ralphie; and the delivery guy who brings the "major award" leg lamp to their home. Did you know the Christmas Story house is the #1 most visited museum in Cleveland for the last 2 years?! Wow! There are some good museums in Cleveland. Surpassing the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Science Museum and others?! I would say I am surprised, but after visisiting there, it is so interesting and I strongly recommend it to all! Hope you enjoy these pics.

Photo Contest

You might remember around Halloween time I dressed my dog Rusty up as a cat and entered her photo in a contest sponsored by my local florist. We won 2nd place in that contest and received a $75 gift card to the florist. They are now having a holiday photo contest, and the first place winner can receive a $100 gift card. My mom will be celebrating her 60th birthday on December 30th and I would love to surprise her with a HUGE floral arrangement for her birthday. If you'd like to vote, you can do so by going here. You can't miss Sammy dressed up as Santa!

Decorating the Office

I work in a financial institution. Recently, it's been hard to keep an upbeat attitude when so many people are experiencing financial problems. One of the other managers had the idea to decorate the office as a surprise and morale booster to all the employees. I thought it was a fantastic idea. We went to the office one weekend and decorated for over 4 hours! I wrapped all the pictures on the wall to resemble gifts. She put up the tree and other decorations. We enlisted the help of another employee to make the picture ornaments. I punched circles using my large (purple) Marvy punch. She took the pictures and punched them out using my pink Marvy punch and attached them to the paper ornaments. I think she did a great job for someone who's not a scrapbooker/crafter! She took everyone's picture in the department and made an ornament for each person. I thought it was so nice and everyone was so surprised.

Hockey Night!

I found the template for this skate treat holder on the Stamp Shack. You have to be a member of the website (I think it was about $10/year to join) to get the template. Isn't it the cutest?! We have season tickets for the Washington Capitals games, and there are two little boys who sit in our section that I wanted to give a small gift to. When I saw the template for this skate treat holder, I knew it would be perfect! I made the skate (it was super easy), and then put a few treats inside it. I found the Capitals logo on a google search, and added it to the side of the skate. Hope you're having a great week!

Rusty Won 2nd Place in the Costume Contest!

Rusty won 2nd place in the costume contest! Thank you to everyone who voted! We won a Thanksgiving centerpiece (the contest was sponsored by our local florist). I feel bad that Rusty didn't get anything for her humiliation! Only the first place winner got a pet treat gift basket. Maybe I'll get her something special next time I'm at the store.

I am going to an all day crop tomorrow so hope to be posting some cards soon. I just haven't been in the mood to craft lately. Don't know what's wrong with me!!

Doggie Costume Contest

I love dressing up my dogs at Halloween! It's so fun and the kids that come trick or treating always enjoy seeing them dressed up. Here is a picture of Rusty dressed up as a cat. She is more like a cat than a dog (she sits on the back of the couch on top of the couch cushions, she stretches and arches her back like a cat, and rarely barks.) I think she looks so cute in this costume.

I entered her in a costume contest that our local florist is having. This florist does wonderful work, and they are located next door to where Zubie & Bunny (my other dogs) go to daycare. They are giving away a first, second and runner up prize to the costumed dog with the most votes.

Rusty and I need all the help we can get to win the contest! (She's very skinny and would love some treats!) If you'd like to vote, click here. Thank you!

Spiders!!

I'm still working on little Halloween gifts for my co-workers and friends. I found these listed here on Splicoaststampers' site. They were really easy to make. And for once, I happened to have all the punches already to make the spiders! I love how they turned out. Hope you're having a great weekend!