Cricut Vinyl Snowman Jar

Several weeks ago, when I was playing with vinyl on my Cricut machine, I cut out designs for two jars for Christmas gifts for my crafting buddies, Susan and Neena.  One jar said 'ho ho ho' but I forgot to take a picture of it.  This is the second one I made but I haven't seen Susan yet so I took it out of the bag and snapped a couple of pictures. 

I got the jar and peppermints at Wal-Mart.  The "let it snow" sentiment is a one cut word but I can't remember what cartridge it's from.  The snowman is from one called Doodlecharmed. 

Here's a close up.  It's nice when you don't have to cut all the words separate or weld them together.  It's doable but much quicker with the one-cut buttons.

The snowman had buttons for the face but the pieces were so small, I figured it was just as easy to use a Sharpie marker in black and orange.  It was a fun project and I would like to play with vinyl some more.

It's a Wonderful Life!

Yes, it's the title of a wonderful classic holiday movie but it's also a description of some of our lives, if we're lucky enough to have our children, friends and family around us this time of year.  I had a wonderful Christmas and hope you did too.

Our little living room only allows me a few options for putting up the Christmas tree and a certain amount of space.  This picture is pretty much exactly like last years post of our tree but it works and we found a nice full Noble Fir but not too big so it fit in our tight squeeze of a corner.  :o)

This was the Christmas card I made this year and barely mailed them out on time (if Saturday, December 24th was on time!!!!).  With no postal deliveries today, I'm sure most people won't get them until tomorrow and some later than that.  Sigh.......at least they got mailed.  It was a close call. 

I used Stampin' Up paper that I just love.  It's called Holly Berry Bouquet, the pine cone stamp was from a set called Pines and Poinsettias and the greeting was from Christmas Lodge.

I got some clothes for Christmas which I was really in need of.  Two of my favorite gifts were nesting dolls from my daughter, Kelley.  Adorable and priceless, in my personal opinion (and proud mama)!

This is me....in my favorite color, red and denim britches.  :o)

This was my other fav.  Oh my gosh, I'm going to have to dust off my knitting skills to make some of these adorable monsters.  This book was a gift from my youngest daughter, Ashley.  I can only knit and can't even remember how to 'purl' but my sister said she can help me in a few weeks when we get together for Road to California.  Woohoo on both parts of that sentence!!  lol



I don't think will be my first project since it has color changes but it's so cute!!  Someday........

Unfortunately, back to work tomorrow.  :o(  Oh well, at least it's a short work week.

Peppermint Jar giftie

I am a little poorer this Christmas with that hoopla wedding last month.  :o)  I needed a gift for the sweet gal that does my hair.  With helping Kelley do those mustache jars, I thought I could do something similar with the vinyl I have on hand.  Not knowing if Kristy was into mustaches, I figured I would play it safe by making a candy jar.

I got this jar at Goodwill.  I used red, black and white vinyl and the Simply Charmed cartridge.  The layering was a bit tricky with the vinyl and I'm sure there's a youtube video out there with hints but I was on a time restraint and didn't want to get lost in the black hole of cyberspace.  LOL

Here is a close-up of the little face on the "Peppermint" word.  It is a 'one cut' on the Simply Charmed cartridge, although you couldn't see the little face so I touched it a little bit with a fine-tip Sharpie.  I have a few bigger jars that I got at Wal-Mart so I may be trying a few more gifts for Christmas.  Geez, I have 11 days left!!!  Why rush.........  lol

Happiest Place On Earth....

***I started this post last week and never got back to it.  Where is the time going???  Argh....***

Just a few photos to catch you up on where I've been.  Here's a little hint (in case my Post title wasn't enough of a hint for you).  :o)

Sleeping Beauty's castle is a beautiful site any time but especially during the holidays!

My friends (If you can call them that! lol) wanted to ride the Tower of Terror.  "Uh, okay.  I'll go.  How bad can it be?"  OH-MY-GOD!!!!  We are in the second row on the right.  I am the one with my hand over my face, Susan is in aqua and neena is the one with her hands in the air laughing.  The ride went to the top and then they opened the doors so you could see all of Anaheim.  When I saw how high up we were, I had to cover my eyes and I believe that is when I started screaming at the top of my lungs like i was being chased by a murderer!!!!!  Susan was laughing at me so hard that she was crying.  Yeah, whatever.....

After that ride, I needed to go to a happy place so Neena and I went to It's a Small World. Ahhhh, that was better. lol It is normally such a cute ride but done up with Christmas decorations, lights and holiday music, it was wonderful!

Here are a few shots of Main Street with poinsettias, lights and the beautiful Christmas tree. 

And here are two of my daughters at a craft show they did in November.  Yes, I am definitely behind with my blog....just posting about this!!  Stephanie (on the left) did hair bows, headbands and flower clips.  Kelley (on the right) is the artsy daughter and had some prints for sale, post cards, compact mirrors with cute pin-up girls and a couple of patterns.  She also sold soaps for a friend of hers.

My contribution to the sale was minimal.  With the wedding, the girls were all struggling to have anything on that table.  I did have these little metal chairs I found so I made them into pincushions.  I saw them on Lori Holt's blog, Bee in My Bonnet, here.  I only made 10 and sold 7 so that works for me.  I have two for gifts for Christmas.  :o)

Kelley's prints and patterns.

Stephanie had a co-worker stop by with her daughter.  She made a great little model for some of her headbands.  Look at those adorable rosey cheeks!

Onto some crafty news.......Kelley saw some jars on Pinterest.  (Pinterest....that's a whole 'nother blog post!!!!)  Some of her co-workers wanted them so she hit up thrift stores and Ikea for jars and I got to cutting on my Cricut.  (Yeah, I can hear all of you asking, "I thought Kelley was making them?")  LOL  I don't mind helping when I get crafting time with my girls!  Can you believe how popular mustache stuff is?  I've seen it everywhere.  How about you? 

I got all my Christmas decorating done last week and here are a few of my favorite things.  My little kitchen tree and the garland in my dining room doorway.  Love, love, love....it all makes me so happy.

And hubby and I got our lights up outside.  My big christmas lights make my walkway look like a "runway".  lol  Maybe next year I'll change it to the side planters.

So, I have a party at my house tomorrow night and the big family gathering on Sunday.  A little clean up, a little baking and I'll be ready to go.  Sleep?  Who needs sleep?  :o)

Ashley's Wedding, iphone pics

Being mother-of-the-bride is tough business any way but man, oh man, having to have my hands free and not have my camera was tough on me.  My Nikon is too big to tote around at times like these!!!  All I had was my iphone so I'm sharing a couple of the pre-wedding photos with the bridesmaids.

Ashley chose Nick, http://www.nickcharrow.com/ as her photographer.  He is young and likes to use brick walls and commercial structures in his shoots.  Next door to the Embassy Suites where the girls got ready was the Brea Cultural Center and he thought it was ideal for some pictures.  He had us walk there, which caused for quite a bit of honking from street traffic but that made it fun.  I only snapped a few and these are the best of them.  They're going to have to hold me over until we get the 'real deal' from Nick.

I can't wait to see the pictures if this is what things look like with my older iphone.  I love Ashley's dress in this picture.  Everyone looks so pretty!

This was a kind of a huddle shot.  :o)

And I love this one.  It looks nice and even with four girls on each side but David's sister is missing.  She was a "Groomsmaid" and took most of her pictures with the guys and their parents.  We left soon after this shot to do the gazebo flowers.  There were more taken of the "First Look" and the entire bridal party.  Don't those orange flowers look amazing against that navy blue?  Love it!



Ashley's Wedding, first pics

I know I've been gone a loooong time but I was a little busy with final wedding plans, blog posts just had to wait.  But now, I have pictures from family and friends to share.  Yay!

Ashley's wedding was Saturday and we prayed we could have it outside at the beautiful gazebo but there was a storm coming down from Alaska due to hit Saturday early evening.  Wedding time, 4:00 p.m. (kind of early evening!!)  

The bride and groom to be really wanted to have their ceremony outside since that's why they picked this beautiful venue and all day there had not been a drop of rain so we decided to just go for it.  We barely made it!  In one of the pictures, you can see the raindrops on the collar of my dress.  :o)  During the cocktail/social hour, the rain came down pretty good but we were already inside at the reception celebrating.

First, here's a picture of the program that Kelley made.  She saw something online and put her creative juices to work.  It was adorable and though I'm her "biased" mother, I think it was cuter than the original she saw.  She listed the Bridesmaids and then "Sistermaids".  Our two girls and Dave has sister.  I thought that was cute!

This was the table by the entrance to the wedding area.  We had the bubble basket, the yarmulkes (hats for the Jewish ceremony) and the programs.

Instead of having a sign in book, Ashley wanted to do puzzle pieces.  She had seen this idea and found small 5x7" puzzles at the teacher supply store.  She loves to do puzzles and will glue them on cardboard and bind them in a little book.

This is a picture of the cutest little flower girl, Kylie, with our daughter Kelley (out of the shot) and Richard and Ashley in the background. 

Richard and Kelley bumping elbows before the walk down to the garden.  Actually, Ashley didn't know she was supposed to grab her daddy's arm.  Different generation, you know?  I think it's a cute picture.  :o)

Some of the bridal party waiting to walk........  There were nine bridesmaids and five groomsmen.

Kelley and Kylie........

Here's a shot of the threatening sky but it did make for gorgeous pictures.

All the bridesmaids in a row with cute little Kylie.  Kelley gave her a piece of candy after they walked down the aisle and under her mother's instructions, she was not to eat it until after the ceremony was over.  Kylie held onto that piece of candy with a death grip but she did not eat it until they walked back down the aisle.  So darned cute!  And I was told this is a "technique" that is used by mom quite often.  lol

My daughter Stephanie did the centerpieces and bouquets.  I'll post more inside pictures tomorrow.  I did the floral spray on the gazebo.  It was a little stressful as the ceremony was to start at 4:00 and we did photos prior to the ceremony and weren't done until a little after 3:00.  We were at another location so hubby and I flew over to the site so I could do the spray.  Since it was just wired together and no water source, the grower we bought flowers from suggested I wait until a few hours before the ceremony.  I think we cut that one a little close!!!  I did that spray in about fifteen minutes.  After that, I could finally relax and enjoy the festivities. 

This is the dessert table.  I got the banner idea from a Stampin' Up! website.  A demonstrator had used this term for her daughter's wedding.  I cut them out with my Cricut.  I borrowed some serving pieces from my boss and from Kelley.  I bought a few at Goodwill and the rest were in the cupboards at home.

I bought candy in bulk and baked Texas Sheet Cake, Magic Cookie Bars (Dave's favorites) and white cupcakes with orange frosting (on clearance from Target after Halloween).  We bought apple and pumpkin (Ashley's favorite) pies from Costco.  My friend and former co-worker, Becca, made the devils food cake pops, which were delicious.  She is Becca's Cupboard on facebook.

Kelley printed the names of the baked items and candy names and I cut them out with my Cricut.

Kelley painted the cake toppers (minus the cake lol) as her gift to her sister and new brother-in-law.  She even added the hair flower and made orange paper roses for the bouquet.  Dave and Ashley fed each other their favorite dessert for that portion of the reception. 

These photos are from the flower girls mom and my sister.  As I get more pictures of the family, I will share them too. 

Halloween, Wedding and Baby Shower crafting...

Hi there!  I've had this draft done for a week or so and forgot to post it.  DOH!  You can tell I'm a little distracted with life.  I have been a busy mom, helping to prepare for this upcoming wedding.  I have managed to find some time for crafting too though.  Woman does not live by wedding planning alone!!  :o)

I found this little note holder at Michael's in the dollar section a while back and I thought it would be a nice little gifty if it was covered in a cute scrapping paper so I picked up two of them.

The first one I did was the plaid one but it was a cardstock from Joann's and it split on the creases.  I went ahead and finished it anyway since I had the paper cut but it's not really nice enough to give away as a gifty.  I used a thinner paper for the second one and it worked great.  I used a stamp set from Stampin' Up! and a couple of punches to make the scallop circles. 

I had some down time in wedding preparations so I got my lace bin out and though I would see what it takes to make a garter for the garter toss.  I had plenty but my lace collection is old stuff from crafting, some from my grandma and leftover from various projects over the years.

I also have a collection of items I have purchased at estate sales and have "yet" to use.  But I found some pretty lace and thought I just needed a ribbon and the right sized elastic so off to Joann's I went.

That's when I found this.......for $2.97 a yard!!!!  Already sewn together and for the prices, woohoo, I can add one seam and a bow and be done!

Actually, I added a Detroit lion to it too.  Dave, the soon-to-be SIL loves anything Detroit because his dad is from there in his youth.  I thought it would be a good way to add "something blue" to Ashley.  I had enough to make her a garter to keep for her wedding night too.  Woo woo!

 

Then, I just wanted to share this picture my daughter Kelley made for her friend Brenda who is expecting a little boy in November.  We went to her shower a few weeks ago so I grabbed a picture while I could.  Kelley used scrapbook paper for the sail and I believe it is done in watercolor.  The little "sweet dreams" piece is a scrapbook decorator element.  It came out pretty cute and Brenda loved it!

Tonight me and my bride-to-be will be off to get our dresses altered for the wedding.  Only a few more weeks and then life will be back to normal.....or at least back to "Liz normal", which is anything but normal.  :o)

More wedding preparations

This weekend we wanted to give it a go on the flowers for the wedding.  I had my doubts that we could do this ourselves but my my daughter Stephanie had taken some floral arranging classes in high school and a friend who had no experience did flowers for her daughter's wedding.  She said it was a lot of fun and she's glad they did it.  Soooo, with that information under our belt, we went over to the wholesale flower market on Saturday and bought gerbera daisies, roses and carnations.  Stephanie did the arranging and did a pretty good job.  Her second attempt was better than the first and way better than my attempt.  She thinks she can handle it so we're going to give it a go.  This is just a peek at the small centerpiece she did.

The rest of this weekend was boring old laundry, a little housework (very little lol) and some other tasks for the wedding so I could check them off my list.  We are having a dessert table at the wedding and I had seen on someone's blog or maybe it was on a Stampin' Up website, but they did a pennant across the cake table with the words "Love is Sweet".  I thought that was perfect for our table so I cut the letters and pennant shape with the Cricut, embossed the background with a floral design and threaded it with silver ribbon.  It came out pretty cute.  I didn't take a picture of the finished design because no one was here to hold it.  Pooey!

And this is what my dining room is still looking like.  A few more pieces to be cut out and I think I can finally put things away and get back to 'normal', whatever that is.  :o)

Ashley, the bride-to-be, decided on the design for the table numbers.  We used the same Night of Navy Stampin' Up! paper as the invitations, added an orange  scallop for a pop of color and to incorporate the orange flowers.  This paper is SU also and is called Peach Parfait, though it's more pumpkin than peach. 

Ashley found a Cuttlebug embossing folder that she liked in my "collection" so she embossed the white circles. 

We got a lot done this weekend and can mark a few items off our to-do list.  Time sure seems to be flying by!  If my calculations are right, we have 48 days left!  S C A R Y!!!!!