Personalized Glitter Ornaments

If you are looking for a simple and inexpensive project to make for the holidays...this is the one!! All you need is glitter, clear glass ornaments and Pledge Floor Finish.
I also used vinyl to personalize each ornament for my family and friends.

The letters were cut using my Cricut and Storybook cartridge.

For a quick how to video go to the "Christmas with the Cricut" blog.

Weaving a Christmas Wreath...

Have you ever logged onto You Tube in search of one particular thing and find that you have gone way off track? Well, that's how I found this great little video on "Ribbon Weaving" and figured I might as well give it a try. Not bad for a first time weaver...lol. It's a very simple technique and when you connect the two ends it makes a perfect little wreath. I added a bow to mine and red pearls for berries.

To check out the video click HERE

Thanks for stopping by and hope you all have a wonderful weekend! =)

Welcome to my home...

I have thoroughly enjoyed the "blog tour" of everyone's homes in the last few weeks. From elegant to whimsy and modern to retro...it's interesting to see the Christmas spirit viewed through other people's eyes. Although many of us will never meet our "blog friends" in person, this is definitely a great way to welcome us all into your lovely homes.

Thank you to EVERYONE who has welcomed us all into their homes this holiday season! :)

Give a Gift of Cards...

I made these cards to give away (as a set) to a few of my closest friends for Christmas. The tin box is from Stampin Up, along with the paper, ribbon and punches. The stamps I used are from PaperTrey Ink along with Stampin Up.

Thanks for looking and hope yall have a wonderful week! =)

Simple Holiday Cards

East Texas Holiday Spirit

What a great way to get into the Christmas spirit than a visit to "Santa Land!" DH and I were in East Texas on Wednesday and couldn't resist stopping by. Santa Land is a tiny little spot off I-20 near Lindale, Texas. It is a drive thru maze of Christmas lights and Holiday decorations. As you drive under this huge wreath of lights, there is a sign letting you know to tune in your car radio to a specific station as some of the lights are syncronized to the music.
Tunnel of lights

If you are ever in or around this part of East Texas, take a moment to stop by and enjoy the wonderful lights and Holiday spirit.

It's a Girl Thing...

I have always loved everyone's take on the gift card holder purse and decided to make one myself. I wasn't quite sure about the dimensions but wanted to utilize as much as I could of the paper. I ended up with 4 different sizes and overall I was happy with the end results.
Paper is from Stampin' Up "Junior Varsity"
Stamps are from Paper Trey Ink "Mega Mixed Messages"
Scalloped & Circle punches are from Stampin' Up
Ribbon & Velcro are from JoAnn's
I also used one of the marquees from the Storybook Cricut cartridge for the flap on the purse and used a small piece of velcro to keep it fastened.

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful week!

OMG...has it been this long?!?

Just a quick little note to my "blogging buddies"...The month of October has come and gone and not one single post from me, it's definitely been a crazy-craft-free month!! My father had a terrible fall on October 3rd and was in the trauma unit at one of the local hospitals. He had some bleeding in the brain, fractures on his neck and spine, broken bones on his face and a broken arm. He is home now and doing much better but still has a long road to a full recovery. We are very thankful for the many prayers and well wishes we have received...the power of prayer is truly amazing!

I have missed visiting everyone's blogs and plan on catching up ASAP! Can't wait to see what you "crafty" gals have been up to. Hope yall are having a great week! =)

Birthdays & Chocolate

Who doesn't LOVE a good old fashion Hershey Bar?! Definitely NOT anyone I know...lol. I thought it would be cute to "dress-up" a candy bar to match the homemade birthday card. And my sock monkey stamp set from Stampin Up was perfect for this.
Modern Label & Word Window punches are from Stampin Up. Ribbon is "Organdy Autumn Garden" from Close to My Heart. Thanks for stopping by and hope everyone has a great week! =)

Quick n Easy Birthday Card

Papertrey Ink has this cute little stamp set called, "Everyday Button Bits." Instead of using a button on the topiary, I used my scallop circle from Stampin Up to make a flower. Then I added a couple of dimensionals to pop it up. The "Birthday Wishes" is also a stamp from Papertrey Ink. Ribbon is from Michaels.

Thanks for stoping by...

My Halloween Cards

I enjoyed working on my Halloween cards over the weekend. Although my scraproom is still under construction, I'm happy to say that Hubby has completed and hung my second shelving unit! I will post pictures once I get everything organized.

So, back to my cards...lol. I used the sweet treat cups and made each card refillable. Since Halloween is still over a month away, I wanted to be able to fill the cups with M&Ms just before I hand them out. I also saw the cutest 3D pumpkin card on the Cricut MB the other day and had to give it a try...not too bad for my 1st try...lol. Definitely check out Jennifer's site (HERE) to see where this idea originated...plus she has some awesome crafts to view!
Used Stampin Up! "Twick or Tweet" - "Little Boo" - "Holiday Best" stamps and Martha Stewart drippy goo punch

Added Pumpkin Pie striped ribbon, also from StampinUp!

"Cast a Spell" paper from StampinUp!, "Twick or Tweet" stamp set

Thanks for looking and hope everyone has a great week!! =)

Who needs Ty Pennington when you have a DH like mine...

We made a decision this past spring that we were going to turn one of our guest rooms into a Scrap Room. What is the point of having two guest rooms when there are some nice hotels nearby...lol. (I'm sure my guests will appreciate that comment) Plus, my crafting supplies have been multiplying like crazy, so it was definitely time! I just never thought it was going to take us this long to get started with the painting. Oh well, what better time to start, than a holiday weekend.

REAL men will paint PINK...lol or was it because it's actually called "Strawberry Splash" and not PINK?! :)

Poor hubby definitely had an interesting challenge to complete. I knew in my mind what I wanted...sturdy shelving that would hold LOTS of 12x12 paper!! Well, after a few weeks of measuring, a few trips to the lumber store and a whole lotta saw dust...hubby completed the unit of my dreams...lol. And since he did such a wonderful job, we've decided that a second unit would be even better! Here he is installing the first unit to my newly painted wall. The second unit will hold 12x12 AND 8 1/2 x11 paper. Can't wait to see how that one will turn out!

Installing the dividers that will hold the 12x12 paper

The second shelf that DH is building will fit to the left of this cabinet. It will also have 12 slots for more 12x12 cardstock along with 12 slots for 8 1/2x11 paper. Although my craft space is not complete...I'm happy to say,at least part of it is functional! Thanks for looking :)

Sweet Treats Workshop

I had some Happy Halloween Fun today at Barb's...aka Snowmanlover. She hosted a Sweet Treats workshop at her home and showed us how to make some Halloween goodies. The newest and "hottest" thing out there right now are these sweet treat cups! Aren't they just adorable?! We made Halloween cards using these cups and put candy corn inside. Barb even showed us a cute little technique to allow access to the candy without tearing up the card...how cleaver is that!

You HAVE got to visit her blog (click here) to see all the wonderful cards she has made using the sweet treat cups. This is definitely a MUST HAVE!! And for those of you who are new to card making...you can't go wrong with this...simple and fun to make! Barb is such a joy to know, extremely helpful, very knowledgeable and just the sweetest person ever!

Close up of stamped image & sweet treats cup

Side view of sweet treats cup

Decorated Candy Bar Treat

Close up of stamped Halloween images

We also made these cute little "Lollipops"

It was such a pleasure getting to meet a few more MB ladies today. It's always fun to chat with others who share the same hobby and I look forward to seeing them again. Thank you Barb for the FUN day! =)

"Googlie Eyes"...my Sock Monkey can see now...

I have some birthdays coming up and thought I would continue "practicing" my card making skills...or lack of...lol. I added some "googlie eyes" to this monkey and I'm really liking the new look. I also used my Cuttlebug and the D'vine swirl folder, SU punches, stickles, ribbon and dimensionals.
I've had the Martha Stewart drippy goo punch for quite sometime now and finally got a chance to use it. While surfing the MB, I noticed a post with everyone's creations using this punch...gotta say, the CREATIVITY in this post is amazing! So thanks everyone for showing us your "drippy goo" ideas and giving us tons of inspiration!

Thanks for taking the time to look and hope you all have a wonderful Holiday weekend!

Crafting Cards For Dummies...

Seriously, does anyone know if this book exists? I was so excited to get my goodies and start my card making that I failed to realize I still need MAJOR help! I will definitely be counting down the days to Barb's workshop on Saturday. I need all the help and tips I can get!!

So my plan was to make a set of 3 cards to give my Mom. Then make another sock monkey card for a MB friend. Of course the SM card was the easiest since I pretty much copied my previous one that Barb helped me with. But as you can see, I struggled with the other 3...PLEASE, any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated! :)

Sock Monkey + Snowmanlover = Super Fun Time

I had a fabulous time with Cricut MB member Snowmanlover! I knew there were quite a few MB girls in the area, but today I finally got to meet Barb in person...what a JOY! Barb was kind enough to invite me over to teach me how to make this cute sock monkey card...and I had a BLAST!! Those of you who know me, know I am NOT a card maker, I have attempted to make a few cards here and there but nothing has ever turned out as cute as this. (if I do say so myself...lol) Thank you so much Barb, I enjoyed meeting you and spending the afternoon with you and thanks for letting me play with your stamps! I definitely look forward to attending your next workshop and meeting a few of the other MB girls.

**Be sure to visit Snowmanlover's blog by clicking HERE to check out all of her AMAZING work...you are gonna just LOVE her cards!! =)

Look what I got in the mail...

My wonderfully talented blog-friend Lindsey sent me a fabulous gift. My very own Cricut Head magnet! As if that wasn't enough...she even personalized a magnet with my name on it...what a sweetheart!! She also enclosed this super cute card and as you can see, they are PROUDLY hanging on my refrigerator. Thank you so much Lindsey, your friendship means the world to me! =)

Road Trip 2009

I'm still excited about using my scrapbook convention "stuff" and the Rusty Pickle goody bag was perfect for this layout. The letters for Road Trip were in an Alpha Coupon booklet from Rusty Pickle that I cut out and inked all sides. The background paper is from Cosmo Cricket and called Halfway Cafe: Amarillo. It has a beautiful distressed look about it, that I just love! I also used Lyrical Letters cricut cartridge for Summer and 2009 along with some dimensionals for the 2 photos with the gold border.

We tried to snap a photo of each state we visited, but as you can see, we did not get all 8 states! I think it's still a perfect cover page for the remainder of our vacation pictures.

Thanks so much for looking! =)

The Circle of Friends Award

How exciting to receive this award from such a sweet and talented lady...Sandy. She is 100% encouraging and such an inspiration to us all. I am absolutely honored to have Sandy in my "circle of friends!" Be sure to check out her beautiful work by hopping over to her blog (HERE)...it's definitely AMAZING!!

The 5 people I will pass this forward to, are:

1. Linzie

2. Magoo

3. Meg

4. Melissa

5. Jeannie

Go ahead, check out their blogs and be inspired by their fabulous designs.

Now, for the rules to this award: To pick up the Circle of Friends Blog Award cut and paste the award logo and use it on your own blog. Nominate 5 other bloggers you feel have become part of your circle of friends. Link to your nominees within your blog post. Include these instructions on how to pick up the award in your blog post. Link back to the person who gave you the award in your blog post, to show your appreciation. Comment on their blogs to let them know they've received the award.

8 States in 14 Days...

...and 3,500 miles later...it's great to be back home!! We had a wonderful time on our vacation and the weather was fantastic. White water rafting in Colorado, Kenny Chesney in Cheyenne, Mt. Rushmore, Crazy Horse, Sturgis in South Dakota, and a detour with family and good friends in Iowa and Kansas.

I have missed all my scrapbooking friends and can't wait to get caught up on everyone's blogs. =)

Slowly But Surely...

With vacation just around the corner, I was able to squeeze in a tiny bit of scrapbook time. This is Irelyn (my youngest niece) with Grandma at her 3rd birthday party. Just a little information, for those interested...Abuela is Spanish for Grandmother and the kiddos call her Buela for short.

The glittery letters are actually chipboard from Melissa Frances, which I purchased at the scrapbook convention last month and the rest is from the Pooh Font Cricut Cartridge. I also used Walk in My Garden for the flowers at the bottom of the page.

Thanks so much for looking! :)

Irelyn's 3rd Birthday

I was able to complete another layout of my niece's 3rd birthday party. It's definitely been a slow going scrapbook summer thus far, as I have not had much time to scrapbook lately. I still have a few more photos from the PARTY that I plan to get done before we go on vacation next month...wish me luck!! (lol)

Used: Lyrical Letters (loop dee loo), Accent Essentials, Doodlecharms, stickles & bling!

Happy Graduation Christian!!

I had a request from one of my best friends to make a "tin" for her niece's graduation. Can you believe it made it to Houston in one piece?!? :) I was definitely happy to hear that she LOVED it!!

Cartridges used: Locker Talk, Hello Kitty Greetings & Pooh Font

SWEET

I was able to use some of the NEW paper I purchased at the Scrapbook Convention along with some stickles. As you can see, I am still in the process of completeing the layouts from Irelyn's 3rd birthday party and hopefully they will be done soon.

Thanks to DH for capturing her SWEET lil face as she opened her presents...priceless!!

Used Lyrical Letters & Accent Essentials...thanks for looking! :)

Great American Scrapbook Convention

What an adventure!! I finally made it to a Scrapbook Convention (in Arlington) and I had a GREAT time! I had no idea what to expect but as you can see, I definitely found some things I just HAD to have...lol. Good thing they only come to town once a year!

Check out this black bag ($29.99). The bag was sealed with zip ties, to conceal what was inside and we were told that each bag contained $125.00 worth of goodies. All these Heidi Swapp items were in the bag...

ScrapN T-shirts

More Goodies From The Scrapbook Convention

BIA w/books & wires, rhinestones & pearls & stickles

Cosmo Cricket Package with 12x12 cardstock & chipboard

2 storage boxes, chipboard & glitter alphabet packs

Purchased 2 packs of 12x12 cardstock (each pack contains 50 sheets of assorted paper)

Rusty Pickle

Was able to purchase this bag filled with all the goodies pictured below...

Rusty Pickle

Cool green bag w/goodies inside

OMG!!

Oh my gosh...I received exciting news and had no one to tell but the doggies! Today was definitely a LONG day (right Mom?!? lol) and so it must have been well after 10:30 pm when I finally got a chance to read my mail. Well, I was definitely surprised to see that I had made the Cricut Newsletter...again...Yippee! (with Meg's Graduation Centerpieces)

Since DH is out of town and the dogs were not as excited as I was, I made an "executive decision" to go ahead and "wake up" my other family members...yes, I phoned their houses after 10:30 pm...lol. Luckily, no one was in bed yet and they shared in the excitement WITH me! My Family...they are such a GREAT support team!

Adore * ABLE

Yes, I know I did NOT spell "Adorable" correctly, but I have an excellent reason...lol. I finally had a chance to use one of my newest cartridges...Home Decor...and I did not have the option to remove the "e." (unless I took the scissors to it and that definitely was not going to happen!) So, I decided that if I added a "jeweled" hyphen in front of "able," my layout of Irelyn would turn out okay. Hmmm...maybe I should have journaled the explanation onto the page so that 20 years from now Irelyn won't think that Tia Yvette can't spell...lol. Thanks for looking! :)

Graduation Centerpieces Completed

Meg's Graduation Centerpiece - for main table



Ten centerpieces for Meg's Graduation Party

"Girlie" Graduation Cards

We have quite a few Graduates this year within our close circle of friends and relatives...5 total. So, the other day I had this GREAT idea...MAKE cards! Well, as you can see, this was not even a GOOD idea and I am definitely NOT a card maker!! I have absolutely no idea how people can create a beautiful card in such a short amount of time. I struggled with all 3 and am still not happy with either one of them...grrrr!

Maybe the 3 girls I had planned on giving these to, will overlook the quality of the card and be happy with the cash inside! Wishful thinking, huh?! :)

Yipee...We Finished One!

Now, only 10 more to go...lol. My oldest niece Meg is graduating high school at the end of this month. We thought these cute tiny tins would be great centerpieces for each table at her Graduation Party and since she had some time to kill between classes today, she and I got busy "Cricuting!" Yes, I put her to work and as you can see, we only finished one! Guess I need to set a new rule in this house...Less Talkin' and More Craftin'! :)

If all goes well, I hope to have these completed before she comes back next week...should be a nice surprise for her when she realizes I won't have to put her to work again!

Oh, and the photo is my niece and youngest nephew.

Hey Robyn...

I suppose it would have been nice of me to have posted what kind of camera Hubby bought me...so thanks, Robyn for inquiring...lol. It is a Fujifilm Fine Pix S1500 with 10.0 mega pixels and 12x optical image. My favorite feature as of now, is that the camera knows and adjusts itself when you take the picture. It even processes and removes the red eye after the picture is taken, where as my Sony cybershot did not. Although I am still trying to figure out how to work everything, I'm having a blast using it!

Oh, and Donny, you can take back FULL control of the camcorder (JVC Everio) you bought me at Christmas! (lol)

For My Mom...

Sorry I had to post this a day late, but I did not want my Mom to see this before I was able to personally deliver it to her yesterday. She loved the bouquet of flowers and I was super happy that Hubby and I were able to spend the day with my parents!

My New Camera

I am super excited today...Hubby bought me a new camera for Mother's Day! Yes, we consider our 4-legged furry pets our "kids" since we don't have the 2-legged kind...lol. And we still celebrate Mother's Day and Father's Day in this house! :)

Anyway, I was a little overwhelmed with all the features of the new camera but after messing around with it, I was able to get a few good shots. Just had to share a few pictures, since this "Non-Techy" girl was proud of herself! HaHa! Thanks for lookin' and hope everyone has a Great weekend and a Super Special Mother's Day!

The Tiny Tin

My littlest niece Irelyn turns 3 in a couple of days. Since she loves Hello Kitty, I decided to make this "Tiny Tin" for her party on Saturday. It will be a perfect centerpiece for the cake table.

I had to add a picture of the soon to be birthday girl. This was taken a few weeks ago when she spent the night at our house. She is so funny, she unexpectedly decided to come home with me, so my sister-in-law did not have an overnight bag packed. So of course this was a perfect time to take her shopping! She picked out the pj's and sandals she is wearing in the photo above and as I was looking for an outfit, I had two random items in my hand. A shirt in one and shorts in the other. Of course the colors of both were not meant to go together, as I was looking for something to match each one. Well, as I was still looking, Irelyn grabbed the shirt and said, "Tia Vette, these don't match!" I couldn't help but laugh...way too young to be a fashion consultant! (lol)

Our Date With Rick Springfield

My BFF's and I loved Rick Springfield in the '80s, so when we found out he was going to be in town we couldn't pass up the chance of seeing him again! We had a FANTASTIC time and it was definitely a memorable evening with the girls!

Thanks Andrea, for the "slumber party" at your house after the concert...talk about a flashback to the 80's!!

Happy Birthday, Cris!

Today is my one and only sister's birthday. She is almost 3 years older than me, but I will be nice and not give out her actual age. :) I spoke with her this morning while she was on her lunch break to wish her a Happy Birthday. Then I drove to her school (where she works) to surprise her with this lovely bouquet I made. She was definitely surprised and absolutely loved the gift. She called me later to let me know how much the other teachers loved the gift idea. Thanks so much to SusanBlueRobot for her lesson in making these beautiful paper flowers!!

Now for the little story behind the tin. I had completed this project for my sister and thought the pastel colors for spring were perfect for her. My youngest niece (who is not quite 3 years old) happen to be staying the night with me and had seen the completed bouquet along with the cricut and supplies on my table. Well, she decided she wanted to make something, so she picked out the lady bug. I picked out the red and black paper, thinking we could cut it out and she would play with it and take it home with her the next day. She also wanted to use the glitter and helped as best she could. Well, the next morning she picked up the lady bug and placed it in the tin and said it was for "Tia Cris." (aunt Cris) So, after she left that day, I decided I just HAD to add it to the bouquet...so the actual lady bug is courtesy of our little niece, Irelyn!

I barely survived the weekend...

We had a blast scrapbooking this past weekend. We stayed up until 4:30am on Friday night and then 3:30am on Saturday. Can you believe we were actually up and had the cricut going again by 9am the following mornings?! Talk about sleep depravation...lol.

We actually completed several layouts among all the laughing, chatting and eating! Lori is an amazing cook and she took the time to make two delicious dinners. I swear I felt like I was staying at a 5 star resort all weekend!! Thank you Lori for the FABULOUS weekend!

I will post my completed projects later. :)

Count down to my scrapbook weekend getaway...

Wow, the month of April is alomst over and I have nothing to post! I do have a good excuse though...lol, I was on VACATION!! :D Hubby and I had a blast in South Texas, although we didn't make it to the Island, we still had fun sipping margaritas in the sun.

While on vacation I was pleasantly surprised to have receieved an email from Sandy (on the cricut message board). She was congratulating me for making the Cricut Newsletter with my niece's Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader layout. What exciting news!!

My friends and I have been planning a scrapbook weekend gathering and I'm so excited that it is this weekend....finally a chance to do some more scrapbooking! My friend Lori has a GI-NORMOUSLY beautiful house and lives an hour away from me. Plenty of room to lay out all our scrapbooking supplies...child free....and we can stay up as late as we want...what fun!

I am lucky to have a group of girlfriends who have all been friends since elementary school. Yes, that means 30 years! Although we don't get to see each other on a weekly basis, we do keep in touch regularly and always make time to see each other as often as possible. So, this chance to get together and scrapbook is perfect for some "girlfriend" time!

I'll have to post some layouts when I get back...until then, Happy ScrapN' !

The Mini Dallas Cowboy Cheerleader

I've been working on my oldest niece's scrapbook and found this picture of her at the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders Competition. She danced for the "pee-wee" drill team at her school and once a year they would compete at Texas Stadium. The teams with the highest scores in their categories would be invited to perform with the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders during half-time at one of the Cowboy's home game. Her dance team got to perform 2 years in a row at a Dallas Cowboy game...These girls were definitely on cloud nine! What an honor for these young "Texas" girls and a memory they will share for a life time!

Easter Egg Tin

Our family gathers for Easter at my brother's house every year. The kids have their yearly egg hunt and we always have more than enough good food to eat. I decided to make this tin for our gathering next month.

We also have a tradition of making "cascarones" (confetti eggs) for Easter. Our family has been making these (by hand) ever since I can remember. Guess you can say we were "crafty" way back then too...lol. Now days you can actually buy them already made, which in my opinion, takes away from the fun of making them yourself. Anyway, I wanted to share a couple of photos from last Easter showing the results of our "cascarones." (I have not scrapbooked these photos yet, but do plan on getting them done soon) Thanks for looking!!

Family Tradition

One of our family traditions is to make Tamales during the Christmas holidays. We set aside a day that is available for everyone and we all gather at "Grandma" & "Grandpa's" house to do the work. It's an all day process and a lot of work, but we have fun doing it! As "Grandma" says..."If you don't help make 'em, you can't help to eat 'em!!"

We always end up with several dozen for each family to take home and of course there is always extra to share with our neighbors and friends.

This photo was taken when my oldest niece & nephew were little. They are "helping" Grandpa make tamales.

Pouty Lips

This pretty much says it all...

Medieval Knight Tin

I decided to make this for my youngest nephew Trais' birthday. His party theme was "Medieval Knights" and I thought this would fit the 6 year old perfectly. I filled the tin with small suckers for the kiddos. He definitely enjoyed it!

Simple But Sweet

Yes, I'm all about simple and quick layouts!

Rock Candy Tin

My oldest niece turned 18 on Valentine's Day. Since that fell on a Saturday this year, I decided to make this and surprise her at school with it on the Friday before her birthday. She loved it!

Golf Ball Tin

I made this for my Dad's 63rd birthday last month. He is newly retired and enjoys playing golf, so I thought I would be a little creative and fill the tin with golf balls. He definitely got a kick out of this!

I recently joined a Cricut message board and decided to post this project for others to view. I was completely shocked to see that within a few days of posting this, it was selected to be featured in the March 2nd Newsletter. As they say in the Cricut world..."it made the Chirp!"

32 Sucks Tin

I saw something similar to this on a Cricut message board and decided to make one for my brother's 32nd birthday.

I'm A Big Girl Now

I got some new glitter paper (DCWV) and found some cute pictures to add to my scrapbook.

Always In My Heart

This is the first scrapbook layout I made using the Cricut Expressions hubby bought me for Christmas in 2007.