Christmas Countdown Calendar Tutorial

First off a big thank you to Amy Sheffer for allowing me to create a tutorial of her fabulous countdown calendar! I got my inspiration from her creation here.

Ok so on with it. You'll first want to gather some supplies:

• 2 4" square costers
• Pattern paper (2-3 coordinating patterns)
• Cardstock
• Alphabet stamps or stickers
• Number stamps or stickers
• 12" ribbon
• Decorative scissors/dieCircle punch
• Crop-a-dile
• Plastic coil (if you don't have this, check a local Children's Museum for a recycle store or wire from your craft stash will work as well)

Cut 4 pieces of pattern paper 4" square, apply adhesive and adhere to the front and back of your coasters.

After you adhere your paper to the coaters you'll nee to round the corners.

Next you'll punch a circle and stamp "Days Unitl Christmas".

Here's mine (sorry a bit blurry) as I am not fortunate enough to have a JustRite stamper like Amy, but I was able to make due with stamps in my collection. :)

Next you'll cut a strip of paper about 4"x 1" creating a decorative edge on one side. Here I used a Nestability to create a scalloped edge.

You'll also cut a piece of paper 4" x 1.5". You'll adhere this piece, the decorative edge piece from above and your 12" piece of ribbon. Top this off with your "Days Until Christmas" circle.

Next you'll cut 1"x 1.5" pieces of cardstock or paper for your calendar. For this calendar I choose 0-3 & 0-9 for my numbers. I used a snow flake stamp with Close to My Heart Daisy White (THE best white ink ever!) and number stickers from my stash.

Now the fun part! You'll place about .25" of your coaster under a ruler and mark off every .25". This will create the guides for punching holes for the plastic coil.

After you punch holes in the first coaster use this as a template for the second coaster as well as your numbers.

After you get your coasters and numbers punched it's time to bind. Be sure you have your numbers in the correct order before binding!

Here's the finished product with one final step. So the coasters don't collapse on each other cut a .5" x 3" strip of cardstock, score .5" from both ends, adhere .5" on the back coaster, slip the other .5" behind the ribbon. (If you adhered your ribbon already, don't worry. Take an exacto knife under the ribbon to lossen the adhesive and slip in the other scored end.)

My daughter gets a kick every day out of changing the date. Just so we're sure to get the right count I bookmarked this site. She checks it every day and thinks she's big stuff for using the computer!

Sheet Load - December Issue

Ok all go get your Sheet Load !!!! Here are my creations for this month plus a few extra's.

Copic Markers - I took the plunge

Ok, so I took the plung..... I bought some Copic Ciao Markers. Here's a couple of my first creations with my new markers. It takes a bit getting used to but I think I'm getter better at layering the different colors. Stay tuned for more creations with my new markers!

2Sketches4You - Laura's Sketch 12

Here's this weeks sketch from 2Sketches4You.

I decided to use the punch that I HAD to have. (wink) I've used some of my favorite DCWV paper, one of my new vellum flowers (folded in half under the U), and two buttons to make some super cute cherries. Thanks for looking!!

And just in case you were wondering, I intentionally took this picture on my stove. ;)

Randomness

Ok so I have lots to share. Let's start with Halloween. My husband collects comic books and so we decided since he was carving his pumpkin with the Batman symbol the rest of us would follow suit.

Right to left: Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Batman, Flash.

Now on to the costumes. We had Tinkerbell & a Rock Star! Oh what fun it was!

Now for some Thanksgiving crafts! In the Nov/Dec issue of Scrapbooks etc I found the cutetest idea - a turkey made of foam balls, buttons, paint, ribbon, googly eyes, flowers & feathers. Reanne and I made one to send to my mom. Can you guess how many buttons are on this guy? Around 150!!

Since I want to make about 4 of these turkey's (hehe pun intended) I knew that I didn't have nearly enough buttons to do the heads and the bodies. So I decided to make a girl.

I think she turned out soooooo cute! Now, last but not least this furry guy was crawling around in the driveway. I couldn't help but get up close and personal with him. I can only imagine what a beautiful butterfly he'll be.

November SheetLoad

Just a quick reminder that the November issue of SheetLoad of Cards is ready for download. This months issue features a new section - Beyond the Card. Go check it out!

Halloween Treat

So I bought found two Bare Elements Purses in a clearance section of a local craft store, but have really struggled with what to do with them. I always like to give my mom a little something for Halloween, so I decied to decorate one for her and throw in some Mallow Pumpkins (think candy corn in the shape of a pumpkin.)

To get the great transition shading in the Spooky Sweets circle I used a make up sponge to apply Sunflower Ink, then Autumn Terracotta, and then a Purple. I used the same technique before I stamped the witch. I also used black paint and a sea sponge to sponge paint the edges where the different papers met.

Supplies: Stamps: Papertrey Ink (Spooky Sweets II); Ink: CTMH (Sunflower, Autumn Terracotta, Archival Black), Whispers (Purple); Punch: Martha Stewart (Gothic Bats Edge Punch); Pattern Paper: Sorry I used scraps from last year and I dont know the manufacturer!

Here's the coordinating card.

2 Sketches 4 You

I tried my hand this week at both the weekly sketch and the bonus sketch. I made one minor adjustment - I rotated the weekly sketch.....

I LOVE the googlie eyes!

To achieve the scalloped edge I placed one end of my card half way into a Nestabilities scalloped Circle.

SheetLoad ShortCuts Design Team Call

Want to be a part of the Short Cuts Design Team? Go check out the Design Team call here! Good Luck!!

Creating Keepsakes Convention - Kansas City

So last weekend was the CK Convention at which I volunteered. If you volunteer you get free passes to the vendor fair as well as $30 per shift to spend at the CK booth or on classes. Oh it was fun! But one of the coolest parts was when Alicia came up to me and said that Stacy Croninger was working the registration desk! So we had to get a picture!!! For the record Alicia made me crop her out as she didn't like the way she looked. :) And just incase you wondered what my shirt says, "It's all fun and games until someone looses and eyelet."

Pumpkin Patch Field Trip

Friday was the Kindergarten field trip to the pumpkin patch, so of course I had to go!!! I think Reanne had more fun walking through the pumpkin vines rather than picking out a pumpkin.

I tried to get her to pick this pumpkin because it was so different, but she was having none of it! In the end the pumpkins got the best of her. She went to her room about 6 o'clock and fell asleep. The best part is that she fell asleep on a stuffed pumpkin!

2Sketches4You

Here's this weeks sketch from 2Sketches4You along with my card.

I really love how this turned out. My new fascination lately is buttons. I can't seem to get enough of them. Although my first love is still flowers. I absolutely love the Snag-em Stamps from Imaginicse. This bird is from their Fairest of Them All collection. The border of white circles is hand drawn with the new Tim Holtz white gel pen.

The Secret is in the Sauce

This is a shout out to a site I found recently - The Secrets in the Sauce. It's a community of bloggers that support other bloggers. Heather and Tiffany, the genius behind SITS, feature a blogger M-F and have special shout outs on the weekends. (Sorry if this isn't totally accurate as I am still getting familiar with them). Anyway, so today we are to post what SITS means to us and then link to 5 blogs we have discovered through SITS.

(This is one of my fav pictures from our spring break trip to Juneau, AK in 2007)

Where do I start..... I love to check my blog and see that someone has left a comment. It gives a little twinge in my heart to know that someone cared enough to leave me a tidbit of themselves. I need that reinforcement. I work from home and really miss the sense of team you get when working in an office environment. Don't get me wrong I LOVE working in my PJ's or rolling out of bed 10 minutes before I need to take DS to school. With work, kids, church, school, etc i rarely get time for me, so my blog is it. My little slice of 15 minutes or so a day to loose myself in the information super highway and be inspired by others and leave a tidbit of me with them.

Ok now for the good part. Here are the wonderful blogs that I have discovered thus far:

1. Meaghan - is an amazing cervical cancer surviror. I am at a loss for words as I just read this amazing post. Just go visit her.
2. Heather - One of the funniest, most real, ladies I've met - virtually that is ;)
3. April - another gal that keeps it real and makes me chuckle out loud.
4. Cherry's Jubilee - I am axiously waiting to see if her passion for halloween extends to other holidays!
5. Scrapping for Less - Ok who doesn't love a website that tells you about great give aways on crafting supplies!

I hope you enjoy your visits to my fellow SITS sista's!

Grandma's Birthday Gift

My grandmother is awsome! Until my grandfather passed, she sent me a card and $5 for my birthday every year.... and I'm 33. Can I tell you I just loved it because she'd tell me to go to Taco Bell and buy lunch. It's just so sweet. She sends my kids little notes just about weekly so they get their own mail. Now her children get on her about what she's spending in postage, which I can understand because she has 14+ grand children plus 7+ great grand children.

So for her birthday this week I made her a set of stationary and included a book of stamps. I really love how this project turned out. The black carstock took the Versamark ink BEAUTIFULLY!

All supplies Close to My Heart unless otherwise noted.

Supplies: Stamps (Treasure Life); Ink: Sunflower, Sweat Leaf, Tulip, Creme Brulee, VersaMark; Pattern Paper: Boom-Di-Ada, Ribbon: Offray

WCMD - 2

I'm not getting very far, but I did make a pumpkin cake from scratch if that counts for something.

Here's my card based on the sketch at jen del muro's blog.

I rotated the sketch and used foam adhesive for the top layer of cardstock that I stamped on.

Cardstock: Blue (DCWV); Pattern Paper: Euphoria (Basic Grey); Stamps: Garden of Life (Papertrey Ink)

WCMD

Ok, so i haven't gotten much done, but here's what I have so far for World Card Making Day!

• Snowgirl Card - A little touch of pink is all a girl of snow needs!

• Merry Christmas - i know again with the pink ;) I pulled out an oldie but a goodie - my alcohol inks, used them on the back of the clear button.

• Happy Birthday - a card I made for my grandmother.

Toot & World Card Making Day

I've been published..... well sort of. My online friend Ivanka had a celebration for National Pig Day and I participated with this card. Well she let Paper Crafts know about this and there's a little snipet about it in the Nov/Dec issue. Go check out page 16 in the Online Corner. I'm practically giddy! Also today is World Card Making Day and there's lots going on. So make a hand made card to brighten someone's day!

i've been tagged

Oh I'm all a twitter!!!! Barbara at Made For Keeps has tagged me for a Q&A. Here are the rules...

1. Link your tagger and list these rules on your blog.
2. Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.
4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

So here my 7:

1. I only eat eggs scrabbled or in an omlette. Not fried, not deviled, no egg salad, not poached, not hard boiled - blech!
2. I love sci-fi! Some of my favs are Battlestar Galactica, Heros, Smallville, Fringe, Star Trek, Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles.
3. I collect Little Mermaid snow globes.
4. I hiked in, to the bottom and out of the Grand Canyon on a 9th grade field trip.
5. Ice cream IS a food group, at least for me.
6. I wanted to go to the Air Force Academy, become a pilot and fly F-16's
7. I love Project Runway so much, and they make sewing look so easy, that I was inspired to make my DD's Cinderella costume 2 yrs ago.

Ok so now for my favorite blogs:

1. Alicia - she has more talent in her little finger than I have in my whole body!
2. Michelle - I discovered her through one of my favorite stamp company's - Papertrey Ink. I really like her clean style.
3. Jennifer - A fellow Papertrey Ink fan. I've been stalking her blog lately and love her style!
4. Jen - a fellow SheetLoad designer who's intricate cards are amazing!
5. Nicole - designer and sketch artist at Sheetload. This gal is truely an artist. She makes not only cards, but the most beautiful jewelry!
6. Michelle - designer and sketch artist at Sheetload. Her creations are so clean and crisp. (Crisp - I know a weird descriptor, but that's was I think when I see her work)
7. Heather - and last but not least my recent gem found through SITS. If you need a chuckle, or even a belly laugh you must go visit Heather. Believe me you won't be sorry!

October SheetLoad

It's ready! Go check out this month's SheetLoad. I created the card below for this months issue in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness, please do your exams! Be sure to check out the other great cards in this month's issue.