Dashing Deer Homestyle

I love all of the things that you can do with the Dashing Deer set.  For this project, I cut out a couple of the deer and put them on a glittery snowbank in the woods.  I got rid of the glass so that it can have more of a 3D look to it. 

It's very hard to tell in the photo, but it's a very shiny scene.  The snow is glitter paper and the copper embellishments that I cut out for the corners shine along with the copper portions of the pretty paper in the background. 

I cut the scenery a bit smaller than the frame.  Underneath is a white piece embossed with the swirly embossing folder to give it some snowy texture.

Don't they look sweet in this frame?

I Love Fall

I love everything about fall - the cool crisp air, the colorful leaves on the trees, the smell of mulling spices, apple cider donuts, Thanksgiving, being thankful, etc.

For this class I chose shiny copper paper and copper dry embossing for the accent colors to my cards.

This card features the new stamp set, Falling Leaves along with its set of framelits.  The cut outs are a shiny copper and the saying is made with copper embossing powders.  It's hard to tell in the photo, but the coppers all stand out so well, making this a glistening fall card!  I used the Tin Tile embossing folder for the background and some punched out copper stars for embellishments.  I love the font for the saying, too.  My idea comes from Leena Ginsa.

Remember the awesome birch tree embossing folder?  I think it's called Woodland Textured Impressions for its formal name.  Doesn't it look sweet on the background of this fall-colored card?  The leaves are cut out with the Colorful Seasons leaf thinlits and the saying is embossed with copper powder.  Simple, and yet so elegant.  Idea is from Jan Higgins, one of my stamping friends.

Next up is a card using the Springtime Impressions thinlits.  Of course, you can make it to work for any season by just changing the colors.  I cut out the floral die using the Wood Textures designer paper.  The background is lightly stamped using the Hardwood background stamp.  I colored some pearls with orange blends.  The idea for this card is from Stesha Bloodhart.

I have to say that I love this fall card!  It's made using the Coffee Cafe set and a stamp set that was in last year's holiday catalog.  The designer papers are left overs from last year but I love the look that they have on this card.  The leaves and pumpkins really add to the fall feel, but most of all I love the saying, "Hello FALL!  It's pumpkin spice latte season." 

I've never really had a pumpkin spice latte before, but it sounds so good that I'd like to try one.  What better reminder of fall than the smell of pumpkin spice? 

Do you like to make fall cards?  What are your favorite things in fall that you like? 

Hosting an Ornament Exchange

This December I hosted an Ornament Exchange with some of my crafty friends. :)  The idea is to have 8 friends (your number can vary) each make and bring 8 handmade ornaments to the party.

Then serve food, make a small craft together, drink hot cocoa while listening to Christmas music and exchange the ornaments.

Each participant gets to talk about their project - the struggles and victories, fun, etc of making them.  At the end of the evening, you get to keep one of each of the crafts to put on your tree for years to come.  What an awesome time that we had!






This year I chose a rustic woodland theme for my Christmas decorations.   I put burlap ribbon on the tree and added lots of little woodland animals.

It was fun to go through my ornaments from years past and pick out things that would match the theme for my tree.  I found some pinecones and added them to complete the rustic look.









I wanted to keep with the woodland theme for my exchange, so I sewed some burlap heart ornaments and added some rosettes and other embellishments to them.  Each one is a little different.

The ornaments that the ladies exchanged were all incredible!  It was fun to see all of the thought and effort that went into each of them.  There were cinnamon stick trees adorned with ribbon, light-up tea light snowmen, origami trees, wire stars, gnome bottom holders and more.  I wish that I had taken more photos.

Look at these cute little pinecone stars embellished in the center with a burlap flower.  My friend Melissa picked these pinecones out of her yard to make the ornaments.  I thought it was ingenious.








My friend Carol sewed these lovely red birds made from felt pieces with contrasting fabric for the wings.  They're so tweet, I mean sweet. 

And look at all of these dominos that Tammy made.  We got to each pick two for our exchange.

After we finished up with the appetizers, I prepared a small craft for everyone to work on.  I wanted to keep with the rustic theme, so we did some rubber stamping on birch log slices.

We sanded the logs to make the surface nice and smooth and then added woodland themed stamps and added some red and jute ribbons to finish them.

I love how they turned out!  Simple, but very cute.  They're going to look great on my tree.

All in all, we had a great night, spending time together during this busy season.  Good food, crafts, lots of creative ideas and most of all, good friends.  :)

I can't wait for our party next year!

The Owls Have Flown In!

Remember the cute little owls that I made for a baby gift?  Well, I redesigned them to make them look more like a woodland decor item than a kids' toy.  He's cute, right?  Don't you love the little scarf that I crocheted for him?  And I even made a matching hexagon placemat to set him on!

 Here are a few more cuties adorned in fall colors just in time for November and Thanksgiving.  The two on the ends look like they're keeping watch over the others!

Here are a few more that flew in, dressed in more of a teal-colored palate, one of my new favorite colors to decorate with.

And this one I think is my favorite.  He's sort of plain looking, but I think that I like him because of that.

Which one do you like best?