Designer Spotlight

Good morning! Welcome to Unscripted Sketches Christmas in July. Today is another Designer Spotlight day and it's shining right on me! The holidays are so hectic both at school (I teach first grade) and with trying to fit everything in with my family and traveling to see the inlaws, so I try to plan ahead a bit. It just doesn't always work! This year I'll also be going to Grad school so I really need to plan ahead.

One thing I make sure to do, is thank those people who are always helping me out during the year, like coworkers, classroom volunteers, family and friends. A sweet treat can be so much more special with a bit of special packaging, which is what I'm showing off today.

I found this sweet mini paint can at Michaels for a couple bucks and was able to dress it up simply, but elegantly with some SU Christmas dsp and ribbon. I added a tag (with to/from on the back) and put the santa hat on to make it a bit more festive. I couldn't leave the top bare either:

I'm not sure what will go in this, but that's the great part of planning ahead. I almost baked cookies just for the sake of photos but it's been HOT here for two weeks, and if I bake them I will eat them. I've been good about exercising and losing weight so I don't want to do that! These can be filled with candy, cookies or even tiny gifts. We'll see when the time comes.

I didn't want to just show off packaging that I spent money to buy before decorating. Luckily I save EVERYTHING just incase. You really can use just about anything.

This jar has been with me for many years. I think it came with a Christmas cross stitch kit from a former coworker who taught me to crochet and knew my love of crafts. So the hat came with it too! I just added a tag and I can either fill it with something yummy or add ingredients for a friend to make their own something yummy...festive pot holder and all!

At school we do a Secret Santa every year (for those who want to participate) and I have not yet met a recipient that didn't list CHOCOLATE as something they like. This funky little test tube will look great filled with some M&Ms (red and green of course). I kept it from a watch my father-in-law brought back for me from a trip in the Carribean. I knew I could use it eventually!

And while I'm sure I could spend a week going through the basement and finding things I've kept "just incase" I wanted to make a few simple tags for last minute things. This may go on a plate of cookies, a candle, or a bag of candy. The perfect size (2 1/4 x 3) to go on something small:

They are all together with my Christmas decorations now so I should be all set come December 1st. Now just what should I fill them with? Leave me a comment with an idea or what you traditionally give as little thank you gifts.

Smiles,

Another Saturday...

...another Unscripted Sketch. This week there's a piggyback color challenge--I used Close to Cocoa, Glorious Green, Real Red and a scrap of blue snowflake paper I had.

Today I'm at work at Hallmark for my LAST day....truly the end of an era for me. I've worked there for 13 years (just under half my life) and though I need to get away, I'm sad to be done. I'll be happy to have my Saturdays back, but sad to no longer buy anything with a discount. I suppose I can save my money for stamps and cardstock rather than Vera Bradleys now!

Hope you head over to Unscripted Sketches for a fun sketch, another guest designer, and all the Christmas in July fun!

Smiles,

Holiday Greetings

Good morning and happy Saturday! It's time for another Unscripted Sketches Sketch it Saturday and this week's sketch is another great go-to. Despite all my free time on my day off I didn't get to play around with paper, but hopefully tomorrow will be different. I may even use this sketch to finally make my Christmas cards to stick in the mail for family!





As soon as I picked up this postage stamp image, which was already mounted on the scalloped square, I thought of collecting stamps when I was younger. No envelope could be spared--I always ripped the corner right off! So I created my own postmark with a stamp and pen and voila.....a card was born!


I hope you find time (amid the shopping, wrapping and decorating) to make something and maybe even use this week's Unscripted Sketch to create. I'm off to work and to do all those other things I mentioned too!


Smiles,


PS--I also realized that I've just passed my one year blogaversary!!! So tomorrow I'll have candy......Yum-O!

O Christmas Tree

Oh happy SNOW DAY! This is the view outside of my kitchen window right now as I'm cozy in my pj's, drinking coffee inside:

I'm actually excited for clearing the driveway too, because my wonderful father helped me get the snowblower up and running. The snow is coming down about an inch an hour right now, so I'm letting it gather a bit, but there will be a change over to rain so I need to get out in a couple hours before it's too heavy for the snowblower.

I realize I do need to make this day of school up in June but I'm a bit tired this month and need to finish decorating the house for Christmas. What a good excuse! Here's my tree that I put up right after Thanksgiving:

Yes it is huge as you see it crammed between the couch and chair. It's fake and prelit and everyone says it a bit large for the room, but we won't always live here and I've got a lot of ornaments too! Pretty full tree for only my 5th Christmas away from home. My mom lovingly packed up my ornament when I got married so I'd have all the ones I'd been given over the years, along with some of my favorites from childhood. Her tree this year is here. A bit more organized than mine but I love it.

The other day I got some wine corks from a friend who actually drinks it and made her this ornament for her tree:

She loved it, especially as her mother never let her decorate the tree as a child and has no ornaments of her own...I'm enabling her in adulthood! You can see some of my ornaments more closely in the background too: A Precious Moments ballerina (I danced until 6th grade), a stained glass angel to the right of that (my mom has given me one every year for almot 10 years now), a smocked bell by my grandmother in the bottom right corner, and crocheted snowflakes all over too. Who made those Mom? I also have candy canes all over (you can see one to the left of the ballerina) because I loved to dig them out of the shoebox as a kid and hang them all up.

For now I'm off to enjoy my day and hopefully make some well deserved cards too. I haven't made my Christmas cards, how bad is that???

Smiles,

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Good morning! Hard to believe it's December and though it's raining in NH right now, I did hear that dreaded four letter word for tomorrow....SNOW! While I love the look, I'm not a fan of clearing the driveway. We'll see if the weatherman was actually right on this. It is nice to have a white Christmas.....

But the good thing about snow is being trapped inside and taking time to create. This week's Unscripted Sketch is one I'll be using again, and hopefully you'll play along too. Here's my card:


(I know you're humming the song now...go ahead, it's a favorite of mine!)
I haven't had much time to do anything creative lately and didn't get anything made in time for the dt cutoff, but forced myself to take 10 minutes and make a card with this sketch. My way of coping with life, and I need a few more Christmas cards.

Last night we had to say goodbye to our wonderful cat, Melky. Though I'm heartbroken and know it will take a long time for my husband to cope with it, I know we did the right thing and he's not in any pain now. The vet told us a year and a half ago that he may only live for another few months and we had much longer to love him and spoil him. We saved him from the shelter three years ago and I know that the time he spent with us was a good life for him. I know he's smiling down on us now, playing with as much yarn and ribbon as he wants. I'm sure I'll put Melky back on the blog someday, but for now I thought I'd showcase some decorations. Hopefully I'll have pictures of the tree to share later too!

Hope you find some time to play along with us at Unscripted Sketches this week. Be sure to squeeze your furry friends and give them a kiss too!


Smiles,

Introducing Bigsby

In addition to a bit of rest and cleaning yesterday I happened to find time to finally make a card with this great digital image that Dawn recently shared with me.

This is Bigsby the Mouse, a digital image made by Dawn's friend Karen, and this weekend they are launching a site for these images. You can read more about it HERE. I love this mouse and had fun coloring him with my colored pencils. Nothing fancy for this first grade teacher! The picture doesn't show it well but I embossed the edge of the plate with gold--there's something about a plate with gold edges that says Christmas to me. Then I found this Cookies for Santa ribbon by chance at Michael's yesterday. It was meant to be!

If you have a sweet tooth like me (and this mouse) be sure to hop over the Patti's. Holy blog candy is all I can say! I'm off to reaquaint myself with the couch now...still not 100% so I better rest up a bit more.

Smiles,

Sketch It Saturday

Is anyone else as excited as I am that today is Saturday??? That means another Unscripted Sketch to share, this one courtesy of the very talented Keri Lee. Of course I took liberties with the sketch and eliminated one element but if you don't tell I won't either.

I used one of the Christmas tags on this card, and kept it simple with the fun striped paper reminding me of old time Christmases. Well, at least how I imagine them! Be sure to head over to Unscripted Sketches to check out this week's sketch, see the rest of the DT's fabulous work and don't forget to stop and wish Steph a Happy Birthday! (especially since my card to her will be late!)

Next Saturday not only will I be sharing an Unscripted Sketches card, but I'll also be part of a HUGE blog hop for Operation Write Home....so be sure to come back and check it out next week!

Smiles,

Christmas tags

I've been holed up at home all week (except for the morning I THOUGHT I was healthy) and have hardly anything creative to show for it. Just a couch that forever has the indentation of my sick, napping body. I did manage to make some Christmas tags from my aunt's RAK last night, mainly because it required a bit of glue and not much energy.

Some of these definitely will be adorning presents under the tree and homemade goodies, but I think I'll use some of them for Christmas cards. I just love the sparkle and hate for it to be thrown out with the wrap! But that is a project for another day because I'm wiped out and need to get some rest. I'm attempting to go to school tomorrow, knowing I have the weekend to recover. Be sure to come back Saturday for a fun Unscripted Sketch!

Smiles,

PS-How about them Yankees!!!!! 27 world championships now, more than any other sport franchise EVER!

Christmas in the Heart

Three day weekends are the best! I finally felt my sore throat disappear Monday morning and fit in some time to create amid school prep, R&R, and yard work. Good thing Monday also mean Mojo Monday!

I'm still trying to get my 25 Christmas cards made for Cards for Heroes, nevermind the fact that I need to figure out what I'll send for a card this year. I enjoyed this sketch and had fun with a new stamp from the $1 bin at Michael's. Love those mini Studio G packs! I'm exhausted from my day at school and wish I could get a picture that would do the card justice. The sentiment panel is popped up on dimensionals and really 'speaks.' Off to prep for tomorrow...glad I could share today...

Smiles,

Paper: Whisper White, Regal Rose, Rose Red, SU dsps, unknown Olive

Ink: Olive Stazon, Black Stazon

Stamps: Studio G (holly), retired SU (sentiment)

Other: unknown ribbon, dimensionals