Last year was no exception with our snowy filled days and not only do I love it, but Alyssa does too! She couldn't wait to dawn on her winter gear and go play in the snow! Here I created a layout that has her putting all her winter clothing on and running outside. Little did she know that it was FREEZING out there! I snapped her turning around looking at me! She kept saying it was "snow" cold out!

GCD supplies: Rob&Bob Scandia Jul Scandinavian Holiday Stripe Collection papers, Rob&Bob Scandia Jul Scandinavian Sparkle Lattice Light Green papers, Rob&Bob Scandia Jul Scandinavian die cut ornament sheets, Tina Higgins Flower Brads Sweet Surrender Collection.

So tell me friends, do you like frosty mornings too?

The Carney's
Dayv, Elizabeth, Alyssa, and puppies Jake, Kira, and Gracie
My blog
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me". Erma Bombeck

Oh Joy it's Crafting time with Heidi Van Laar!

Hello! Want to see and amazing be of inspiration?

The colors in this are so amazing, and although not typical, I think they are perfect for Christmas! I have a couple of cards to share to show you what I mean.


I broke out my Chip Art tool and some Soul Food papers to create this bright Noel card.

I hand cut the pink poinsettia from some solid colored b sides and added a jeweled brad from the Homespun Chic collection.

More solid colored B side papers from the Material Girl and Ava collections created the bow and wreath that are the focal pint of this card. And lets not forget that big beautiful Homespun Chic bling!

Material Girl and Scandia Jul proved the the paper that make up the multi- toned green background and I covered some Chip Art letters in Material Girl paper and added some glitter for holiday sparkle to finish my "JOY"

Now if only I could convince my husband that pink is a Christmas color :)

How are your holidays going?

Hello everyone! How are your holidays going? I've been gearing up for our big wrapping day by making holiday gift tags... enough to use on our family gifts and enough to share as gifts for teachers and neighbors.

This year my holiday gift wrapping inspiration has stemmed from this inspiration photo...

and here are my 2011 gift tags...

... and a mini tag box to keep of gift them in:)

Products: patterned paper (Soulful from Soul Food Collection, Our Family Tree from Sweet Surrender Collection, Light Green Sparkle Lattice from Scandia Jul Collection and Black Floral from Artsy Urban Collection).

What kind of crafty gift wrap are you whipping up this season?

wrapping gifts

I will admit it - I am no good at wrapping gifts. My corners are not perfectly creased, I never seem to cut the right amount of wrapping paper before starting, and I tend to end up with tape sticking my fingers together. So what's a girl like me to do? Bag it. And just so that simple bag can stand up to all the pretty, perfect boxes under the tree, add an over the top gift topper.

Using scraps from the Scandia Jul collection, a few snowflake ornaments and a handful of picks from the holiday floral aisle, I whipped up these gift toppers each in a matter of minutes.

Using a striped patterned paper always makes for a great rosette. Jingle bells tied with twine are the perfect center embellishment.

A large berry pick is prettier with hand-cut, patterned paper leaves.

A large banner cut from patterned paper and laid over a smaller berry pick makes for a great "to and from" backdrop.

A thinner banner with cabochon accent is a fun addition to a feather, jingle bell pick. With fanciful gift toppers like these, I'm hoping no one notices my lack of present wrapping skills. Happy holidays!

WOOT a double Teri post in one day! Surprise!

Hi everyone!

One of my favorite gifts to give during the holidays is gift cards.

That's because it is that one gift I don't have do any guessing for: Buy a gift card, give it to the recipient and let them decide! Translation: Happy Teri! :)

This year, I'll be giving my gift card gifts the handmade touch with a simple envelope made just for them.

They will look at a little something like this.



And like this.



These little envelopes are super easy to make and not the least bit difficult on your budget.

Here's what you need to make one of your own:

* GCD Studios patterned paper (I'm using paper from the Scandia Jul collection.)

* Small merchandise sacks (I'm using ones I found on Etsy.com.)

* A strong adhesive, paper trimmer and embellishments

Start by cutting sack down to 3" tall.



Cut a 3 1/2" x 4 1/2" piece of patterned paper.



Decorate with two additional strips of patterned paper.



Fold paper to fit around the bag. Add adhesive only on one portion of the paper. Adhere to bag.



Slide what you want inside the envelope.



Seal the envelope up by putting adhesive on the half of the paper.





Decorate envelope as you see fit.

I chose to decorate my envelopes with patterned paper, gems and a little twine. I think it would be fun to use letter stickers and diecuts as well.

Happy holidays!


terisplace.wordpress.com

Special Christmas Cards for Special People

Hi GCD fans!

Say it with me: The holidays rock!

I don't know about you, but every year I send out around 100 Christmas cards to family and friends. I've got a plan this year to make it easier on myself. Rather than sending out handmade cards to everyone on my list, the majority of them will receive a printed card. I will make a few extra special handmade ones for a few extra special people on my list.

I decided the other that there was no time like the present to get going on those extra special cards and set out to make a couple shaped cards the other day.

I started by finding a little color inspiration from this picture.

Pretty, huh?

I always fall into the red and green trap when it comes to cards so I thought this combo was perfect to try out for this project: Heavy on the green, no red and little bit of gray and black.

I used the photo as a springboard to make this tree card.

The papers are all from GCD Studios' Scandia Jul collection. I cut several papers from the collection into 1" x 3" strips, folded them in half and then mounted them on cardstock to shape a tree.

The stars are from GCD Studios' Chip Art Chipboard Shapes collection. I painted each of the stars with silver paint. I added gems to some of them. Others, I added buttons from the Sweet Surrender collection.

And in case you wondering, the tree really does stand on its own. :)

I used this first card as inspiration for myself to make a second tree card.

This time, I cut a triangle card base from cardstock and then ran strips of patterned paper down it. That made it a little less time consuming than the first card.

I decorated the card similar to the first one with chipboard painted stars, buttons and gems.

This card also stands on its own, thanks to a tent-folded design.

See you again soon!

terisplace.wordpress.com

Are you a December baby?

As it gets colder and colder, we tend to want to stay in and craft more. Well, at least I do :)

Today I have this winter wonderland photo as inspiration to share and our crafty Mandy has created something lovely to share.

At first when I saw this card I thought... ummm a Christmas card in Dec? and then I remember that I have 2 sibling with Birthdays in Dec. How about you? Are you a Dec baby? I love that Mandy thought of this when you using today's color challenge. So smart!

Mandy said:

I went a bit off subject with this card but I really love how the stitching mimics the branches in the inspo photo and the little blings remind me of the glares that come off the snow on the trees in winter.

Wow, just check out this cool stitching and blink. LOVE IT! Thanks Mandy for this beautiful inspiration and Happy Birthday to all you Dec babies ;)

Dec Kit Give away

This months kits has fun pops of cool colors. Like minty greens, ice blues and splashes of pink! PLUS... tons of fun embellishments ;)

Later this next week I'll share how I and another DT gal used this collection.

Please welcome....

Jennifer Evans

Jennifer had the change to work with this months kit give away and she made some really adorable things. I really loved the mini album!

I love that she thought to use a zipper. How crafty cool!

And I LOVE this layout. It's soooo darn pretty!

Now leave a comment and I will pick one winner next week. This month we have TONS of beautiful projects to share and at the end of the month after Christmas we will start sharing some sneak peeks of our 2012 winter collections. We have some big surprises too ;)

I'll see you all tomorrow

~H