Finished! Done! Completed! (Picture Heavy)

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my rendition of Tim Holtz 12 Tags of Christmas! I actually fnished! I know, I know, leave it to me to wait until the very last minute to finish. I didn't follow his directions directly on every tag, but I am pleased with every one of them :)

This post is very picture heavy. Enjoy, and please please please leave a comment and let me know what you think!

My Mom's (cricut) Lingerie

My mom and I spent all day shopping at our favorite craft stores in our area, and ended up with some pretty cool things (like the Sweethearts Cricut cartridge for $40!), but one of the coolest things she found was some awesome fabric and lace for a Cricut cover. I decided that this one reminded me of lingerie. How often do you get to make lingerie for your mom?

Sewing, as I said before, is not my forte, so I was a little nervous about adding the lace on the edge of this cover, but it was surprisingly easy! I cut the pattern out of two additional fabrics so that, should I have some spare time, I can throw together a few more :) I'm thinking of altering the pattern a little...maybe make it a little more interesting. We'll see.

Other than the Sweethearts Cricut cartridge, I didn't get too much today. I did get The Glitter Cardstock Matstack from Die Cuts With a View. I'm excited about using that with my Cricut :) I still can't get over how cool this thing is! Shame on me for giving all of you cricuteers a hard time when I bought my Silhouette...accept my apology?

Before I forget, only two more days to finish my Tim Holtz tags. AAAHHH! (I better get busy!)

Dust is nasty - Do you have protection?

After pulling my Cricut out for the very first time last night, I was shocked when waking up to it being covered in a think layer of dust already! So, I whipped out my sewing machine, jumped on my computer ready to print out the free dust cover pattern on Custom Crops, and then...it happened. Our printer wouldn't work. Out. Of. Ink. What was I to do? I mustered up the courage, and sketched out a rough pattern on paper, doing my best to replicate the orginal pattern. The actual sewing part went...semi-smoothly. Lets just say that I haven't actually finished a sewing project since making a pillow with my husband's little cousin last summer. I embellished the front, since it was a little plain, with a few Prima Flowers and a Pink Paisley brad from the Fetching Brads collection. I used my point-and-shoot to take the photos, so I apologize that the brad is washed out. It's a white corduroy brad that gives the flower a little extra texture.

It isn't perfect, but I'm sure that it'll protect my new toy from the perils in the air :)

My First Cricut Cut

It only took me three days to finish cleaning and organizing my craft area in order to break out my new Black Beauty! My first cut was using the Pooh Font cart that my mom gave to me as my Christmas gift :) This font is stinkin' cute! The second cut I made was using Everyday Paper Dolls. I made a cheerleader because my husband's 11 year old cousin is visiting, and she looooves cheerleading. I thought she'd get a kick out of it, and she did. As soon as I'm finished posting, I'm going to show her how the Cricut works.

I know that these are very basic, which isn't my style. I plan on embellishing my future dolls a bit more. Oh, and as you may notice...I will be purchasing the Peachy Keen stamps for my doll's faces. Apparently drawing their faces is not my forte.

Thanks for stopping by!

A Wonderful Life

This Christmas was mine and my husband's first Christmas together as a married couple. It was fabulous. We spent the morning together making breakfast and exchanging gifts. I made out like a bandit!

My husband's favorite gift (I think) was his Vulcan Nerf Gun, and mine, of course, was my black Cricut Expression!!! I am so excited! I can't wait to try it out! I was seriously spoiled today!

I ended up with 8 cartridges: Serenade, Plantin School Book, Wild Card, Paper Doll Dress Up, Everyday Paper Dolls, Winter Woodland, Pooh Font Set, and Tags Bags Boxes and More!

He also spoiled me with a TON of Tim Holtz stamp sets! He chose them himself, and did an excellent job :) I can't wait to use those on a few projects...I wonder what I can come up with....

I hope that Christmas was as wonderful for you as it was for me. I am so blessed to have the people in my life that I do.

Oops! Sorry!

Wow, did I drop the ball or what! I knew it was tiem to update again when my husband starting bringing it up on a daily basis :)

First off, I apologize for not updating my blog for the rest of Tim's tags. Secondly, don't worry, I am still in the process of finishing mine. They'll be finished before the 31st of this  month :) Wouldn't want to miss out on Tim's grand prize drawing!!!

In case any of you haven't seen, here is the photo Tim posted on his blog of all 12 completed tags:

Aren't they beautiful!!! I have tags 9, 11, and 12 to finish :)

Well, ladies and gentlemen...tonight is Christmas Eve. The presents are wrapped, the house is semi-cleaned, and our Mr and Mrs stockings are hung from the mantle on our fire place. Doesn't get much better. I want to wish everyone out there a very Merry Christmas, and I promise, promise, promise that after Christmas, I'll start doing some entries on some of my work :)

Happy Holidays!

Tim's Tags - Day 7

I love this technique! Tim's tag today features his masking technique. I've been using it on my personal Christmas cards that I've been working on, and highly reccomend that you check it out on Tim's blog.

Tim recognizes that many of you are waiting for internet orders to arrive before starting your tags, so he has postponed the grand prize deadline until 12-31-09. Read his blog for more information.

Tim's Tags - Day 6

Check. This. OUT! I think this is my favorite so far! Grungeboard, Sparkling Flock, Dictionary Paper...LOVE IT! What are you doing here reading my post? Head over to Tim's blog, and see his awesome explaination of this tag, and information about the grand prize at the end of the 12 Tags!

One quick note...thanks to those of you who've started following me on Twitter.

The First 5 Tags - Courtney Style

I know, I know, I know...you just haven't been able to wait patiently to see what I've made with Tim Holtz's inspiration. Well, I've kept you waiting long enough. Here are my tags so far...

The photos aren't the greatest, but they're good enough for 11:30 at night :) Once I have all 12 tags finished, I'll pull out the big guns to take the real photos that will be sent to Tim. Oh yes...I had to include a photo oh my hands afterwards. That's how they looked even after handling baby wipes all night! Comments are appreciated!

**Side note: The 1st tag (blue) doesn't have ribbon because the Stickles on the top were still wet.

Tim's Tags - Day 5

I had a feeling that Tim would use Fragments soon. I've been looking at the collection of his Idea-ology line at my local scrapbooking store, Lonestar Scrapbooking, and imagining what all he might come up with. I haven't been disappointed yet! As each day passes, and I start another tag, I've found myself straying more and more from his exact instruction, and being more creative :)

Check out his instructions for today's tag, and don't forget to leave him a comment!

Tim's Tags - Day 4

Sorry everyone! I was so excited about yesterday's post, that I forgot to add it to my blog! I came straight home from work, and got this one finished! I loved it! The background colors really have a feeling of Chrsitmas, and the hint of blue reminds me of winter. I had to substitute very little on this tag, seeing as how I have a large Distress Ink collection and the Mini Holidays stamp set.

Tim's ideas are out of this world. I can't wait to see what he shares with us tomorrow!

Tim's Tags - Day 3

Check this out! Tim's tags today incorporate his alcohol inks! I am so excited to try this technique. I don't have any experience with them, but I plan on grabbing some after work today. I am so impressed with Tim's versatility each day, and look forward to the next 9 days!

So far, I've completed the second tag, and half finished the first tag. Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint is no where to be found in my area, so I had to use Crackle Accents by Ranger instead. It took a while to apply, and to dry, so I went ahead and moved on to the second tag. I think I'll post photos when I have a few more done. For now, check out Tim's blog!

Tim's Tags - Day 2

Tim Holtz's second tag hit his blog early this morning, and once again offers so much inspiration! It's only 4 pm here in Texas, and he already has over 2,600 comments! He'll be giving away prizes each day depending on how many comments he recieves. So, take a few minutes today, and stop by his blog to comment on his work!

I was under the impression that my personal collection of Tim Holtz products needed a boost, however, I have everything needed to make a similar tag! I'm hoping to find time this evening to work on the last two tags. I don't want to fall too far behind!

Tim Holtz Tags- Day 1

Tim Holtz is the Education Director for Ranger Industries, which is one of the leading manufacturers of innovative inks, paints, and embossing products that are widely used by scrapbookers and crafters around the world. Tim is continuing his now three year tradition of explaining, in detail, 12 original Christmas themed tags. Above is his first tag of the year! For complete instructions and inspiration, visit his blog at http://www.timholtz.typepad.com/

As soon as I gather the supplies I'll need and mimic this tag, I'll post photos!

Can't Sleep Now...

Well Ladies and Gentlemen, I've spent the last hour or so converting my crafting blog to this, my brand spankin' new blog, and now I am only a few minutes away from the revealing of Tim Holtz first Christmas tag of the year. How can I  possibly go to sleep??? I think I'll sacrifice a few minutes of sleep, and stay up for the excitement :)

Super Excited!

What do tags sent directly from Mario, on the Tim Holtz team, and new Mini Holiday TimHoltz Stamp set mean???

 

Starting tomorrow, Tim will be uploading a Christmas tag each day for 12 days. I can't wait! My mom and I will be doing our best to make the tags each day, and upload them to my blog! Feeling crafty? Try one yourself!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Thursday was my Mom's birthday! I brought breakfast to work, we ordered pizza for lunch, and afterwards the family took her to Movie Tavern for dinner and a 'private' viewing of Where The Wild Things Are. We got lucky, and no one else was in the theater :)

For her girft, I made her a chip board initial wall hanging for her office and a matching card.

For the wall decor, I decoupaged a large chipboard letter with two coordinating papers from the K&Company Classic K Margo Designer paper pack. For embellishments, I adhered three prima flowers and pearls to the top, and created matching buttons using three of the Autumn Leaves clear buttons for the bottom to balance it. On the back, I attached coordinating ribbon with two more matching buttons.

For her card, I used the same two pieces of patterned paper and embellishments, and hand cut a small tag. On the tag, I stamped a small flourish from the American Crafts Lavish stamp collection in Chestnut Roan Chalk Ink. I handwrote the sentiment. On the petals of the prima flower, I used Stickles in Platinum. I inked all of the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

Mother Daughter Craft Night!!!

As mentioned in my previous post, my mom and I had a girls craft night on Saturday. We made some cool stuff and had a great time! I didn't take as many pictures as I wish I had, but I got enough :)

Mom started on her vacation album. She applied a clear 12x12 sheet that says Seaside to the cover. She's going to eventually replace the random wedding couple on the front with a photo of her and my step dad. Her first page says 'beach', and has cute little squares for photos that she cut out, distressed the edges and then inked them with Tim Holtz Distress ink. The bottom of the page really looks like sand! She used a piece of bazzil, crumpled it, then applied more distress ink over the wrinkles. She then applied cute little starfish stickers! Isn't it great?!?!

The second page that she started was for her photos from New Orleans. She cut out maroon and blue pieces of bazzil, rounded the corners, inked the edges with distress ink, and stamped a beautiful fleur d'lis with her new acrylic stamp set! I thought those were beautiful!

Great job mom! I really can't wait to do that again!

My main focus of the night was to make a welcome card for baby boy, L.J., born 14 weeks early on Friday to two wonderful new parents, and friends of mine. It took me a while to get started and develop an idea, but eventually, I came up with this idea! I used blue bazzill, and cut it to a 6x6 card. I stamped, and clear embossed, polka dots across the top. I stamped 'Welcome John' with the American Crafts Rue Stamp Set on white, shimmery, diamond patterned paper that I stole from some old wedding invitation supplies we had lying around. I also stamped, on the same paper, two giraffes from a collection that I can't seem to remember... After inking some edges and distressing some edges, I glued everything together (duh). Finally, I used two clear buttons from Autumn Leaves to make custom buttons to match the design in the corner of the card. I used diamond glaze glue to attack them to the paper, and cut them out after they dried. I used pop dots to adhere them to the card. Easy peasy :)

My final project of the night, as I nearly fell asleep at the table, was three Thanks for Coming tags to give to my Mary Kay Spa retreat guests the next day. I trimmed a piece of white orange peel bazzil to 2x4 pieces and distressed them with Worn Lipstick, Tattered Rose, and Black Soot. I stamped the letters with pink chalk ink from Color Box, and used my Big Bite to put a small eyelet in the top.

Looking forward to have another craft day with mom...maybe tomorrow???

Early Birthday Surprise!

My sweet, wonderful mother has a birthday coming up on the 22nd of this month. I worked on her birthday present for a few days, and had no problem keeping it a secret. After finishing it, keeping it a secret was not so easy. If you know me at all, I don't keep secrets like this very well at all :)

I had blocked off a whole afternoon on my schedule for my mom and I to do crafts together at her house. I walk into her house with my new craft tote full of my artsy fartsy stuff, and set it on the table. What came next was perfect! Mom looks at it and says, "Why didn't you call me to go with you and get one? You always get stuff by yourself!" I responded with something along the lines of, "Sorry. I just happen to be in the store the other day and picked it up so I could bring all my stuff over :("

I stalled for a little while by chatting and eating some lunch, while my husband was on his way over with my mom's present. I could have waited until her birthday, but then she would have thought I felt bad, and bought her one afterwards. When I walked in the door with this, she was SO excited!

I bought the plain tote at Walmart, and tied a thousand pieces of pink, brown, and white ribbon to the handle. I stuffed it full of all of the things Mom needed to really start enjoying scrapbooking and crafting :) I am SO happy that she liked it.

I'll post another entry to show everyone what we made! Happy early birthday Mama!

My First Tag!

I'm hoping that I'm posting this late enough that my mom won't see until I give this too her, buuuut, I couldn't wait to show everyone :)

I used my Quickutz Silhouette to cut out a tag, and a set of cute little flowers. I then used my Tim Holtz Distress Inks in Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Tea Dye, and Black Soot to distress the tag. A few times, while buffing on the color, I accidently bent the paper and it actually made it look even better!

After applying the base color to the front and back, I stamped a polka dot stamp, partially inked with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink, across a section on the top. I then glued several of those cute little flowers to the bottom, and one to the back.

Love it? I do. I hope my mom does too :)

Distress Inks

Tim Holtz Distress Inks are amazing! If you haven't used them, step away from the computer, grab your keys and RUN to the nearest scrapbooking store and pick up your favorite shade in the Tim Holtz Distress Inks!
They are so versatile and unique!

This video shows a few of the uses, demonstrated by Tim Holtz himself.

I recently bought the Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool, and LOVE IT! The tool itself comes with two foam applicators, and the refill pack has ten. Below is a photo of my personal collection of inks, as well as how I label each foam applicator so I don't mix colors, or have to throw them away constantly because they're getting nasty :)

I use a black permanent marker to label the BLUE side of the foam applicators with the name of the Distress Ink assigned to each applicator. Very helpful :)

Cutting Edge ::Pun Intended::

Guess what, y'all!!! My Silhouette SD came in last week! I was so busy this week, that I wasn't able to play with it much, buuut I did take photos when I took it out of the box. Later, I'll post photos of what I've been doing with it this weekend :)

Gorgeous!

I came home from work today to box from Mary Kay containing my Star Consultant prize; a Mary Kay themed scrapbooking set!!! I think it's gorgeous! I'm not sure that I'll use the photos stickers of Mary Kay Ash, but other than that, I love what it came with. Everything is of really high quality :) I took photos during the unboxing process...

It came with a beautiful box that matches the album, 3 ink pads in pink, silver and black, 3 flower stamps that coordinate with the album cover, 2 sheets of journaling die cuts, 2 different fonts of clear sticker letters with lowercase letters as well as capitals, and foil MK themed stickers.

The Missing Photo

After every project that I do, I take a photo of the finished piece for memories sake, seeing as how most of my crafts are gifts of some sort. Two of my best friends in the entire universe, whom also happen to be married to each other, have the cutest baby boy you could ever imagine. earlier this month, it was Tracy's birthday, and I of course made her a gift, BUT...I forgot to take a picture...

Tracy, being the amazing friend that she is, took time away from her mountain of homework and took a picture of it for me :)

I used a canvas for this project and covered it with some of her favorite colors and a bright photo of her adorable baby boy in his Halloween costume! I embossed the words 'you are my sunshine' on the cirlces and added Making Memories Arrow Eyelets to help draw the attention to the photo.

Silhouette!

I'm at work, but I just HAD to tell everyone the great news! After much frustration and running around, I finally spoke with a representative at Quickutz, and they are shipping my Silhouette TODAY! ::excited::

Surprise Prize

So, today during the last class of the day, I was in the classroom of a wonderful lady. She got this crazy look, and said that she'd be right back because she had a 'prize' for me in her office across the campus. Confused, I stayed behind. She returned with two (one for me, and one for my mom) adorable pink tissue paper wrapped gifts, and instructed me to "OPEN IT! TEAR IT!" Though I didn't want to tear the pretty packaging, I obliged, and LOOK what I found inside!

She made these beautiful magnets out of ceramic tile, patterned paper, vinyl (cut with her Quickutz Silhouette), and a sealant! I think they're stinkin' cute. I'm not sure I remember the last time I recieved a gift for no reason...

Scrap'n 101

If any of you are from the Spring/Woodlands area of Texas, you have to check out The Lone Star Scrapbook Company. Besides hobby stores like Micheals and Hobby Lobby, Lone Star is the closest scrapbooking store to me. I love it there! They have everything you could possibly imagine when it comes to scrapbooking, and their prices are reasonable.

They offer classes on different scrapbooking techniques and styles almost every night, so my Mom and I signed up for their Scrap'n 101 class that gives introduction information to beginning scrappers. We had a BLAST! the class was $10 each, but at the end, you receive a $10 gift card for the store, plus 10% off of anything you purchase that night. They ALSO had a coupon that gave 40% off one item.

We definitely plan on signing up for more classes!

Road Trip Turned Crafty!

Okie Doke! So...Rigo and I took a road trip to San Antonio this weekend for his cousin's wedding. For the record, it was B-E-autiful! Anywho, our hotel check-out time was 11am, so we decided to take the long way home. We drove from the San Antonio Riverwalk where our hotel was to the Tanger Outlets in San Marcos, stopping for coffee on the way in New Braunfels. We only spent $12 dollars at the outlet mall, but did look around quite a bit. From there, we headed towards Austin. Half way to Austin, I remembered why I was so excited about going to San Antonio...I had heard that there were some great scrapbooking shops. I was pretty disappointed that I had forgotten, so we decided to look for some scrapbooking shops in Austin. Of the three we found on Google, guess how many were open on Sunday. Zero. Bummer? Yes.
We continued driving around Austin, this time looking for food. We came upon a Tuesday Morning store. I remembered faintly hearing about someone on YouTube shopping there for scrapbooking materials. I found some pretty great stuff!

Making Memories Embellishment Paper - Scrapbook Basics - Bright. 40 Sheets. $2.99

Making Memories Snaps Collection- Watercolors Muted - 6 colors, 270 pcs. $4.99

Fiskars Craft Mats (2, one for Mom) - Coastal Collection - 6"x6". $1.99

Glue Runner - Permanent. $1.49

Two Very Special People

These two cards were made for two very special people. Since becoming a Mary Kay IBC, I have more support than could ever be imagined! Not only have my husband, Mom, step-dad, and in-laws been supportive, but also my Sales Directors. In Mary Kay, as a consultant, you only have one actual director. My director, Holly, is AMAZING at what she does.

In early July, she was placed on extreme bed rest until her delivery of her first baby in September. While she was unable to work like she usually does, her offspring director, Jessica, became our unit's acting director and at the same time, managed her personal unit. When Holly returned on Friday, September 18th, we had Jessica Appreciation Day, and were asked to bring a personal note or card to surprise Jessica with. Here's mine:

Since Friday was also the first chance I got to see Holly since she had her baby boy, Evan, I made her a baby card:

These were my first cards that I actually made with specific people in mind. I can't wait to see what else I can come up with! We have a lot of birthdays and holidays coming up...

Organization for the Cluttered

This 12"x 24"x 6" tote, my friends, is what my crafting supplies have been stored in for over a year...

My wonderful, handsome, thoughtful, amazing husband (can you tell I'm happy??) bought me this new drawer set to organize all of things, and set up a desk from another room so that I have somewhere to work! It's no giant scrapbook room like some people have, but this is a HUGE step up from my tote :)

Amazing? Si.