Christmas cheer in November!!!

What better way to start a morning than to start it with Christmas? . . . It may feel impossible to get into the Christmas spirit when you live under the constant blazing California sun. But I guess that's where the Christmas music and hot cocoa comes in handy (yes, I'm one of "those people" that whips out the Christmas music the second Halloween has passed lol). What can I say? - this time of year just makes me happy :) So here are my first Christmas paper "developments" of the year! Two cards and some package tags. Happy Saturday!!

Also, something very important to end with- please check this out for details on how to make a little boy's last Christmas a special one. Please participate.

Materials Used: Creative Imaginations paper, green cardstock, BoBunny stamp from the Merry Christmas collection, LePlume markers in Rustic, Red Ribbon from Michaels.

Materials Used: My Mind's Eye paper and cutout from accessory sheet, "Merry Christmas" stamp from Hero Arts.

Stamps used: Hero Arts, Inkadinkado, BoBunny

Overdue Halloween Pics

Whoa these pictures are overdue! But I guess since Thanksgiving hasn't come yet, it is still appropriate to post them ;P I had a wonderful Halloween again this year! It was a night filled with watching movies, chowing down on delicious food, and me and one of my besties carved some pumpkins and made mini hotdog mummies (the pictures below explain).

We baked up a storm in the kitchen . . .

and made some delicious hot dog mummies!

Awesome Halloween costumes! I was SO scared! lol

Me scooping out the pumpkin guts . . . eeeeeeew!

Yay for us!

Spooooooky! :D

(Does this look like a copper rivet . . . or more like a yummy chocolate donut?? hmmmm . . . ;)

The weekend is here, the weekend is here!! Yay! I've decided to make good use of my Friday night by working on some designs that I need to finish up by next Thursday. Oh the pressure! haha. Mainly I decided tonight that I would work hard so that tomorrow night I can have pumpkin carving, horror flick watching, candy eating FU-U-UN! Wish me luck . . . I'll be carving a pumpkin for only the second time in my entire life (gasp). So yes, I will be inviting help and suggestions from my friends . . . and pictures to come soon :) Hope everyone has a SUPER happy Halloween tomorrow.

Quote of the (tues)DAY!

Fun in Claremont, CA (Arts and Crafts Show!),

I had a blast today at the Claremont arts and crafts show! Each year during this time, Claremont blocks off several roads so that artists from all over can show us, AND (lucky for us) allow people to purchase their work! :) I saw amazing paintings, glasswork, jewelry, woodwork, papercrafting, knitted scarves and sweaters, hats, mosaics, pottery, and so much more. Everything was beautifully handcrafted by some very talented people! It's a fantastic opportunity to not only see what people have fun working on, whether it is their job or just a hobby, it's a wonderful opportunity to actually talk to the artists and ask them questions about their work. Needless to say, I had SO MUCH FUN! :) I picked up only a couple of things (college student working on a budget here! lol), but I'm really pleased with what I decided to purchase.

One of the first booths I visited had mini scrapbooks, handmade cards, scrapbooking embellishments (everything right up my ally). Her work is really fantastic! I purchased some of her "all year round" cards. Oy! It's going to be really difficult deciding who gets these cute cards- it might be difficult to part with them! :D

The artist's name is Tina.

You can view her blog and enter to win some BLOG CANDY here . And you can view her website here. Super CUTE stuff!

(Handmade cards by Tina Curtis at http://embellishmentsbytina.com/)

As I made my way through the tents, I came across a glass artist who was selling BEAUTIFUL glass jewelry. I bought a gorgeous flower pendant (trust me, the picture does not do this pendant justice!) I don't feel like I'm wearing a necklace, I feel like I'm wearing artwork. And it truly is one of a kind :) Please visit the artist's website here if you're interested in seeing more of her and her husband's work.

(Handmade glass pendant by Christina at http://chrevan.com/)

Well, quite the eventful day! Hope everyone else is having a wonderful Saturday!

Paper Bag Mini

WARNING: This post is HEAVILY populated with photos :)

Where to begin . . . do you remember those paper lunch bags you used to use when you were in school?

Almost every day was a brown bag lunch day for me! Yummy PB&J sandwiches, yucky carrots, and a juice box. Ah, those were the good old days! lol. I don't think I've used lunch bags since I was in Middle School, but I'm sure people are still using them. (If you do brown bag your lunch, PLEASE RECYCLE!) Well, I was looking through some cupboards in our house a week ago and I came across a package of unused lunch paper bags. What's a girl to do? Papercraft of course! lol

It reminded me of a tutorial that I saw awhile back where paper bags were used to create a mini scrapbook (I tried to find this tutorial again, but was unsuccessful. I'll try to recreate the tutorial in the next couple of days.) So I decided to try doing one myself!

I know I raved about the DCWV Green Stack (made with 70% recycled paper) in a previous post, and this paper seemed to fit perfectly into my theme, so I decided to go with! I matched the paper with some garden twine that I got from Target for $1 and it came together nicely. Now the real question . .. what pictures am I going to fill it with?!

I hope these pictures inspire you to do a mini of your own- it was super fun! :) Happy Saturday everyone!!

This book is massive for a mini, so it's a good thing

I decided to use some sturdy twine to bind it together :)

Look at all those pockets!!

See what I mean about space? It's not only limited to the

pages you create, you also have the pockets for additional

pages and other goodies ;)

(These paper leaves are incredibly easy to make! For

instructions, you can see a post I made earlier in the week :)
Tags, tags, and MORE TAGS! There is so much space in this

album- you can add lots of things to all the pockets).



I love the texture of crumpled paper bags! It seemed to add

some life to this tree. I used crackle paint in peeled paint by

Ranger for a different kind of texture for the leaves.

These tags were SOOO fun to make.

Brought to Color

Grandma & Grandpa's wedding (July 25, 1943)

"Art must be an expression of love or it is nothing" --Marc Chagall