Elves at work!

I am buisily trying to finish up my handmade gifts. I am so excited to get the wall hangings I'm making my sisters-in- law. I will get pictures up as soon as I'm finished. They are turning out better than I expected. I'm going to make myself one after Christmas!

So far this year I've made: 3 altered day planners, monogrammed 4 scarves, made 3 personalized wall plaques, made 26 holiday blocks (these are for me!)and want to try an make several sets of tile coasters before Thursday!

Ok, back to work!

Advent Calendar

Finally! After 3 years of embroidering, I've finished our Advent calendar. I embroidered all of the characters and animals for the Nativity. The numbers were painted on the squares, then sewn to the felt to make pockets. At dinner one night, we named things we could do as a family to celebrate Christmas. From this list, I printed them out and cut the them in strips. One for each pocket. Each morning, we move one of the characters to the Nativity Scene and read what we are going to do for the day.

The girls are loving it!

Baby gifts

A couple of baby gifts I made this month.

Thankful Banner

Banner I embroidered for Thanksgiving.

Surprise Blog Candy!

Crafty Chatter is offering an awesome "surprise" blog candy package. Rush on over to find out how to enter.

A Few More Clippies

Candy Corn and my lovely daughter

Flower power


Halloween Bat


Yes...I'm bored!

Hair Clippies

Here are a few clippies I made for Madeleine tonight. I'm also working on a ghost, fall leaf, apple, and heart.

Candy Corn Card

Well, I'm slowly exploring Design Studio. I thought today I'd try to make a simple card with layers. A candy corn shape seemed simple enough. (after all, it is just a triangle!) I even made a second page to cut the layers!


Next, I'm going to attemp to make a shape book!

New Paper Organizer

Just thought I would share a picture of my new cabinet. I love it!

I Did It! I Finally Did It!

My friend Rachel (Hi Rachel!) inspired me to try my hand at using Design Studio again. I was making a card and wanted a 2" scalloped circle. I don't have any cartridges with a scalloped circle so I sat down and decided to make my own. After about 45 minutes of playing with it...I DID IT!!!


So proud of myself... :)

Pumpkin Butter

One word...YUMMY!

I made a batch of Pumpkin Butter as a possible food gifts at Christmas. I used Splenda to make it a little more sugar free. I also just use the can of pumpkin pie spice I had in my cabinet. I also added a little vanilla.

So...if you are on my Christmas gift list...you can expect some!

Win Winter Wonderland!

Provocraft is having a contest for it's Cricut Messageboard readers and you can win Winter Woodland just by replying to the thread and posting a link on your blog!

If you would like to enter just click HERE!

Cuttlebug Spot Anniversary giveaway

Cuttlebug Spot is celebrating their one year anniversary with a giveaway every day this week!

http://thecuttlebugspot.blogspot.com/2009/09/our-1-year-anniversary-week.html

Egg Muffins

In my quest to make breakfast more streamlined ('cause I'm NOT a morning person!) I've been scouring the Internet looking for easy, freezable meals that I can make a big batch of at one time.

I stumbled onto Kalyn'sKitchen. She posts low carb recipes. She had a fabulous recipe for egg muffins.




My first batch didn't turn out quite as pretty as hers did, but they were mouth watering! I added my own little tweaks to the recipe, and made a few mistakes. The first batch, I decided that to save time, and dirty dishes, I would just mix all of my veggies, meat and cheese in the egg "batter". WRONG! Even after stirring, everything settled in the bottom. I layered the second layer like she suggested, and every bit had veggies and meat. I also used my own seasoning blend of minced garlic and onion. My next batch I'm going to add a splash of salsa and some olives.

You can play with this recipe. Use different meats and cheeses, or veggies. They freeze beautifully and were even better the next day. Reheat them in the microwave (thawed) for about a minute.

I'm even thinking of trying a sweet version using bits of bread, raisins and cinnamon and syrup in the egg batter.

Here's your chance to win Winter Wonderland!

Provocraft is having a contest for it's Cricut Messageboard readers and you can win Winter Woodland just by replying to the thread and posting a link on your blog!

If you would like to enter just click HERE!

Good Luck!

Cricut's giving away 100 cartridges!

They are giving away 100 Winter Woodland cartridges over the next 5 weeks, 20 cartridges each week. All you have to do is search for the topic on their message boards and then post underneath it search for 100th cartridge it should come right up. Then you can enter again by posting on your blog about the giveaway.

Here is a link to the product “Winter Woodland” so you can see it:
http://www.cricut.com/shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?id=361&s=1&sc=2

Here is a link to the actual forum post as well for this week to get you started:
http://www.cricut.com/messageboard/tm.aspx?m=5248058&mpage=1

Good Luck !

What I'm working on

Why do I wait till the last minute!?

I am sitting here watching my big bug cut out tags to attach to the top of goodie bags for Maddie's class. Her birthday is tomorrow (I can't believe my baby will be 6!) and I am putting together some little goodie bags for her to pass out at the end of the day.

Once I finish one I will post a picture.

Embroidered Towels

I made this embroidered towel set for David's secretary. The pattern is called Sweethearts. Isn't it pretty, I might have to make some for me!

Sketch # 33 Layout

I decided to finally participate in 52 Sketches layout challenge again. I found this wonderful pic of David & the girls walking on the beach. I took this picture in February 2009 around David's birthday. I wanted the colors to be soft and muted like the colors of the beach that day. I must say, Galveston beach never looked so good!

I used & distressed patterned paper from Melissa Frances, cut the title "forever" from the Home Decor cartridge, and embossed the swirl with a foam stamp and seafoam white embossing powder.

Altered Composition Notebook

Made this for a gift from a composition notebook from Walmart. The tag is cut from Home Decor and stamped with the word 'imagine."

Cricut Cart Giveaway!!

Hop on over to Juju Bee's Scrapbook Corner for your chance to win a new Cricut Cart. Here's what she's giving away!

Fab Giveaway!

Die Cuts R Us is giving away a Just Rite Stampers Set! Hurry on over, today is the last day!

Cuttlebug Spot Challenge #42

I decided to jump into the ring and enter the Cuttlebug Spot Challenge this week. The challenge was to use your favorite Cuttlebug embossing folder. I love most of them , but the one I use most is Swiss Dot. It is so simple looking and classic. It reminds me of dresses my mom use to make from swiss dot material.

More Blog Candy!

Help Leanne at "Created by Leanne" celebrate 100 followers and enter to wind a fantastic paper pack. Check out the link and enter to win!

Happy Sunday,
Julie

Great Finds

I just got back from Michaels...they had some great stuff on their clearance aisle. I got some rub on transfers that look like stitching, a stamp set, some stickers, a board book and some bling and only spent $12!

Now I want to go play in my craft room!

Win $1000 gift certificate!!

The Cuttlebug Spot is having a contest and the prize is a $1000 gift certificate to Custom Crops! This has got to be the largest blog candy giveaway in history! Click on over to the Cuttlebug Spot for details on how to enter.

You can click here for a direct link.

Good Luck!

New Burpies

These are a few burpies I made for my firend Cathy. She is giving them as gifts to a couple of new moms. I wish I had had these when my girls were babies.

Sweet Girl Scrapbook Page

I made this page several months ago for a challenge at 52 Sketches. I was so pleased with how it turned out.






This is the original sketch from 52 Sketches.

First attempt at card making

I've been watching one of my scrap friends make cards. I decided to give it a try, and I'm hooked! These 2 cards are my first.



I used mostly cardstock scraps for these cards. I'm trying to use what I've got on hand. The ribbon I found in the Dollar Spot at Target. The ice cream cone was cut from DoodleCharms, and the stamp was a stamp I found in the dollar bin at Michaels.



Popsicle stamp is from the dollar bin at Michaels, Target ribbon, and I embossed the orange with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing plate.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new craft blog. I have a family blog and have been posting some of my creations there, but decided to start a blog solely devoted to my crafts. I love to scrapbook, make hairbows, tutus, and embroider custom baby items.

I do sell my creations so if you are interested, drop me a note or leave a comment. I do have a web site called Sour Pickle Boutique where you can see some more creations and prices.

Thanks for stopping by!

Julie