Sparks of Faith

Well, I had high hopes for Waypoint Church's Sparkle event yesterday and it did not dissapoint :-) Besides the glitter on every table, there were the brilliant smiles of my fellow MOPS friends to buoy my holiday fervor. Reminiscing over setting up my grandmother Ruth 's nativity set brought about both tears and laughter- what ever happened to all our baby Jesus'?!
Hearing my tablemates reflections on the Reason for the Season, and our speaker's shared gratitude for the lessons Jesus shared with his followers... well, I suppose it was fitting that Rainie and I were then invited by three seperate families to stroll through the Living Nativity put on by Discovery Baptist of Gig Harbor, where my sweet friend Adria and family showed us a glimpse of life in Bethlehem that first Christmas evening. 

Lo and behold, there lay an actual baby in the manger, quietly allowing a small nation of children to visit with their own coos and gasps of awe. I remember when I first realized Jesus was a real person...what a wonderful overlap of memories our oldest daughter and I were able to share with our framily (friends that are family) this evening ♡

Art deco

Every year I strive to create decorative spots of Christmas magic about our home which reflect our current life style and location, etc. This year, I've tried to banish red in general and focused on rustic bronzed metals, unfinished wood, and feathers. One of my favorite little spots features a quartet of polar bears who seem to point toward the glittering star mounted high on the mantel mirror across the room...like, "Do you see what I see?"

We have antique wooden duck decoys all over the house throughout the year.  I have been repeatedly told they are a sign of a well decorated home set for the holidays as well. A little mini garland around their neck is sure a cute way to dress them up!

Living in the Pacific Northwest, we have an abundance of verdant green to gaze upon all year long as well, so I only put a bit of faux garland about and we decided as a family to forgo a live or cut evergreen tree this year. We have often had a tree decorated outside, and we still do, but it's on the front porch!

Our main living space's window looks into the back yard, so often times I'll just take a break out front and gaze on the twinkling lights reflecting off a few (red!) ornaments also hanging out there. There is also a sort of sea star sitting on top of a small weeping willow out there, next to a metal sculpture of a sting ray I had made years ago. Nautical goes a long way at the Bradshaws :-) You should see the carved driftwood dolphin mounted near the ceiling with his Santa hat on!

App Happy

Well friends, Christmas has come and gone in what seemed like a flurry of preparations, sparkley lights, gift wrap and holiday outings. What's left is really fabulous: lot's of beautiful memories, telling photos, and well, gift wrappings. Oh, let's not forget the tunes still being joyously caroled about, and those Christmas cards!

This weekend I managed to devote some time to cleaning up my current albums. Current, meaning, these are the albums I'm currently still filling in with printed pictures and pretty papers. I always have two albums going; my most recently semi completed, and one that is current to the actual date and season.  There are lot's of unfinished pages in albums I started prior to the beginning of fall, but these two are the one's I'm focusing my attention on. This week at least :-)
So what does album clean up look like? Alas, I have no video, but I couldn't promise that if there were one, it would be very entertaining! Basically, I start with a stack of photos. Strike that, first I thumb through my album and try to put myself back in time a few months to remember the feeling of those days and some of the stories I'd intended to tell.
I've been hoarding our children's artwork as long as they've been making it and have started including some choice pieces within our family albums in clear plastic sleeves. There are gingerbread men drawings from school, fall leave wreaths, and then for our most recent pages, colored reindeer, snowmen, and holly berry clusters.  Slipping those in, where they seem to fit, ended up being a big part of what I accomplished too.
 With my photo stack, I go through the pages already created and slip extras in behind completed layouts. I can always add pages later, but I will not allow unused photos to hold me back (or taunt me by being on show). If there are empty spaces, I look for a large paper background that fits the feel of the photos, and put that in the sleeve too. Sometimes, I even go looking for the memorabilia I know I have lying around...somewhere.... okay, I'll go back for that later too.
There are times when I find I have all the necessary items for a page within an album sleeve. And so I stick it all together and call it done! And it doesn't always look "perfect"- so I turn the page and move on! Cause I'm in production mode, people! My glue is flexible, too if I need to go back and revisit that mess.
I was having such a good time scrappin, I hardly noticed that my few hours were up, and when I showed honey what I'd been up to, he commented, you did all that? Just now? and gave me the look... the one that says both, How did I get such a talented woman to document our lives, and How did you just spend 3 hours playing with paper? I had jazzed up 5 pocket page spreads, finished/completed 3 12x12 single pages, and even created three more from thin air. Thin air being comprised of tiny plant fibers. I used supplies I'd obtained at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last month. I didn't overthink or over embellish because I didn't want to travel the 25 feet to my craft room haha.
Best of all, I was having a really good time... like, unwrapping Christmas presents good time. Oh who am I kidding, it was like the WRAPPING presents time- I love the thrill of anticipating, what will they think of this?! so much more than, oh, that didn't go over well.
When my album is looking finished (to the untrained eye), I look for any more of those empty sleeve spaces. Our books almost always start right in with photos as opposed to a title page of any sort, but there are a few that have one, and this fall album I worked on ended up with a fun opening page. It's so simple, and lovely, and a great reminder, that all those things I have in the craft room do not have to go onto one page. There is one sheet of 12x12, one sheet cut down to 5x12, and a chipboard title that reads, Celebrate Together and a matching chipboard banner in the corner.


Some simple photo editing
courtesy of my Samsung Note3

 I love the way it looks so much, I went a little app-happy and filtered it to this sepia image. Now this pretty background has an extended viewing platform: my phone's lock screen! Next time you have a page you love and want to show it off, upload it as you facebook cover image- you may have to play a little bit to get your details on show, but any play is good play when its a scrappy -appy- day!
Now I want to know, friends, how do you transition from the happy holidays to the New Year and all the promise of that date change? Are there photos involved? Pretty papers (please say some sparkle)? Would you rather pull the blanket over your head an hibernate until the flowers bloom? I want to know, comment below~
Cheers!
Anna

What to do with those Christmas cards!?

Our classes at the local youth hang out, Key Center's Red Barn, are always a lot of fun! There were four girls who sat down with me and my two assistant crafters to repurpose old greeting cards into new ones. Boy, did they ever create a ton of cards. They really seemed to enjoy the creative process and listened attentively to the tips and techniques presented while we brainstormed from card to card. I would have liked to involve more kids but there was a lot going on; at the Red Barn, kids can play foosball, ping pong, billiards, basketball,  just sit and chill with their friends, or, get involved with a cool art project.  

The project was to use old greeting cards to make new ones. We used a manual due cut machine (gifted early to me by Ray- my very own Big Shot) which they thought was pretty cool. Also, used a new product gifted from the generous folks at Queen & Co.:  tensile -not tinsel- string to make Christmas light strands. Lots of Bling being used! And, as always a delight to give permission to play with product with abandon.

Along with the tensile string, all of the glue, stick on rhinestones etc was donated last month by Queen & Co. What a blessing, huh?  The greeting cards were donated in part by our own Key Center librarian, Dorothy, and another local photographer in Gig Harbor, Nina Barcott. Cardstock was supplied by Two Water's Art Alliance.

Another tool we used which was a big hit was the Wink of Stella pen. This is a brush tipped bottle of glitter water. It's amazing lol. We also added some vintage to our cards by distressing with chalk ink pads.
With all the fun we were having, and the big pile of Christmas cards being created, I wondered, who would the girls give these beautiful new cards to for the Holiday Greetings.... It really was neat that almost all the cards made were donated for Red Barn's managing director, Laura to use as thank you's ♡

Next week we will use the tensile string and the greeting cards to make ornaments... I have green glitter paperclips to use for hanging - maybe we will even string them about the Red Barn?!
So, I'm wondering, what do you do with your old cards each year. Do you still send out holiday greetings, or is an email or text, or a general facebook post sufficient to extend your well wishes? And then, what about birthday cards.... I'd love to read your comments below!

 

New Traditions

Rainier has started a sweet tradition in this corner; meet the Christmas chair ♡ Adorned thus far with goodies she bartered for in exchange for her handmade cards, a few of which are also on display. Beneath is a gift I received from a MOPS mentor, a mug emblazoned with words of encouragement. I know it's not about the gifts, but I think Jesus would approve... #ReasonfortheSeason

A Tree With Windblown Trimmings

Day 8 of our Journal Your Christmas prompted remembering invites us to explore our Christmas tree trimming memories.


PNW screenprinting in action at the
 Nordstrom Holiday Party

I think back and see the twinkling of the personalized ornaments made to commemorate each Christmas that my brothers and cousins and I received each year from our aunt and uncle.
 I smell the fresh pine of our live tree inside, mingling with the cast iron tea pot of potpourri, the smoke of logs burning in our woodstove beneath, and the sweet, spicy, and oh-so- special cinnamon candle in a tin, brought out this time of year and lit exclusively by my mom.
 Almost forgot- the music! The well known and loved sounds of the season! No decorating party would be complete without them... because, It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... deck the halls with boughs of holly... and soon enough, we'd be rockin' around the Christmas tree!
Out of concern for our children's exposure to toxicities, I am usually the one to take care of hanging the decorations now, and our tree is usually outside to keep busy hands from exploring those hanging baubles, so I am content with capturing my daughter's gaze of adoration through the window.


With eyes shining with wonder,
she gazed in delight~
No tree that I'll trim
will shine nearly so bright.

No soundtrack for this moment; instead, I hear the memorable voice of my German step-dad singing proudly O Christmas Tree in his native tongue...
and, I smell the faint scent of our animal pens and think of Mary's first moments with her new baby ♡

As Pastor Dan Whitmarsh commented Monday morning to our MOPS group; having a baby-in a barn- probably a little messy. Even if it was God's son!
A windblown tree may need to be up-righted more often, it may look a bit soggy, but it's twinkling lights shine even brighter against the black backdrop of night. Without worry of small hands touching, it invites observation, reflection, and dreams of what may still come this holiday season.
Hoping your tree is just as inviting,
(but if it's not, maybe a Welcome to Christmas ornament is in need) ~Anna

December Scrapbooking Plans

I love and adore the concept of a December Daily album. As you may have read in previous posts, I'll be following along with Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas class again this year. It's always interesting to see what the prompt of the day will be, as well as my family's reactive conversations.

For instance, I don't think I realized just how much my mother-in-law enjoyed shopping for Christmas ornaments, or that my older daughter had picked up on  (and insists that we carry on) many of the traditions we shared from our youth with last years journaling prompts. These small smile-abouts have only been tempered by knowing that, despite my best intentions and pre-plans for success, I'm still staring at empty pages in last year's album for this month. I still have stories that are not included in those album sleeves, too. I guess there is no wrong time of the year to continue recording, and I have put chronological scrapbooking way out of mind, but the way I do scrap is by putting my pages into a "current" album. And without that album at least purchased, that's a little harder for this crafter to do!
This year I decided to put some of my pre-holiday shopping into a plan of action that will be fun to use. Starting with a few scrapbooking kits I picked up on discount from EmbellishKits.com, I've now got plenty of product and pretty patterned paper to choose from once I get a few photos printed and make time to document our month's happenings.
A trip to Michael's on Black Friday brought home a gorgeous new addition to our memory hoarding library, which, coincidentally was just moved into a new location. This new album features gold roses outlined on a kraft background~ simple but stunning! What a joy it will be to place inside our memories of Christmas past and present, and now, housed within a few chosen sleeves of various sizes, are those gorgeous kit contents. Embellishments galore from Fancy Pants and Simple Stories, sparkley rhinestones, and perfectly coordinated twines and ribbons are included too!
You can see what I'm talking about, and maybe even get some ideas you can incorporate into your December scrapbooking process, in my latest video:

One bonus I did not mention in this video: with all I need within a grab-able place, I could actually take it with me while I travel about spending time with family. This album has the most potential to include hand written pieces from family of any that I've created to date. If even one sentence written in another's handwriting gets included, I will have a very merry memory indeed :-)
So, what are you doing (or not doing) to record the sights and sounds of the season so far? I'd love to hear about them~ leave a comment below or on the video and as always, thanks for stopping by to CraftWithAnna today!

December, Start Your Engines!

Everthing's better in December- Just Add Sparkle

  I gotta hand it to ya....

December is one of my favorite months! It includes my birthday, but that's not til the very last day, so until then I relish the joy of spoiling my honey on his birthday mid month, and our annual family reunion at my grandmother's house Christmas Eve, followed by a casual day at home with our kids, relaxing before the fire and chatting online with our cross country kin. Somehow the hustle and bustle of increased traffic, downpours, dark-end days, and party invites to choose from can kind of wear the cheer right out of a soul though, but I'm doing, and am going to continue to do, my best to do something to prohibit that effect.

 Inspired by Shimelle

 Last year, I joined Shimelle in her Journal Your Christmas class online for the first time. Never have been a fan of journaling myself, but I've practiced quite a bit these last few years, and I always love a good reason to scrap. I've decided to participate again for 2015, so every day I'll receive a prompt that will allow me to reflect on the past as well as the present(s).

Do you hear what I hear?

Now that I am in a family that I've had a hand in creating, there are so many more stories to tell about Christmas traditions. I not only have my own memories, but those of Ray and his family too- East coasters do things a bit different I've found :-) So we usually reflect on the daily prompt as a family over our morning meal. Sometimes there ends up to be a really golden remembrance, and sometimes we think about what we've heard of other people doing, but the best part for me is that we. are. talking.

How often does that really happen?

That we listen with our heart to our most intimately known loved ones... that we share stories that really don't have a point and it's ok... that we ask our children what they think of what we are sharing? That we ask them what they enjoy without promting their answer to fit what we want to hear, i.e "Honey, don't you want to see Santa?" Um, I'm thinking no, Mom.  Cause, to me, the stranger in the red suit you want me to sit with every year- kinda weird if you want my honest opinion.( I've got the cutest pictures to prove it too :-)

Old Saint Nick brought me more candles this year!
www.PartyLite.biz/AnnasCandles

The interesting thing I found about last year's prompted conversings is that it wasn't just contained to our home. Nope, I pretty much chatted up anyone I came in contact with about the ideas of the day. I encouraged my photo app savvy friends to add sparkle to every pic. I listened in rapture as families described their "Best Christmas Ever." I peered into the homes of every newly lit entry way to see what their tree theme would be. Do I remember every conversation? no. Did being available to conversating help me to develop deeper relationships with people I care to do so with? YES!

I also found myself thinking about my family, near and far. About how few cards I was mailing out even as I mass produced them for resale. About the people I've shared holidays with over the years- about friends I no longer see, about relatives whose company I savor because of the rarity of our mingling. Considered the debt-to-feel-good ratio of gift giving. I thought about the decorations that mark the season's start for me...and how would I document all of this while enjoying it too!?

Hoping you have a heartfelt holiday ahead

 I had all the best intentions and filled an album ahead of time. I should have known better- what could be more stifling than staring at an unfinished album before the pictures are even taken lol. This year, I'm going to focus more on the writing and sharing some of those musings here with you. I've got a hardcover journal to record stuff in, and plenty of pretty papers to pull from as the mood strikes.
Today I started setting up a display that will run through the end of the month at our local library- pretty cool, huh? Scrapbook pages, mixed media, even the busts I painted from when I was pregnant will be on display on the Key Center Pierce County Library's main space. There will even be an album with a guest sign in page~ I hope you'll feel compelled to comment, either here or there, friends! And that wherever you are, or how you're feeling about this time of year, a little bit of glitter finds it's way into your day.
 Now, to get my vocals warmed up with a bit of Pitch Perfect... hey, new traditions, right?

 

 

 

Start Planning Today

It's that time of year when I really start cramming things into our calendar space. Well, truthfully I have a tendancey to do that all year long, but we get more invitations to attend events as a family starting about now, and I figured that was reason enough to order a Christmas themed planner pad from WriteItDesigns.com
I also wanted to take a peek at their just-released planners... all I can say is WOW! Pre-orders are shipping out at the end of the week and that is almost too long to wait for me to get one of these fully customizable goodies into my hot little hands. If online shopping is your thing, you might want to take a look at those notepads the WriteIt folks have premade- they are cute, funny, and would be perfect stocking stuffers too.
Hope you enjoy my early morning excitement in the video I made in the wee hours; after a night of creativity in Tacoma with my super-crafty cohorts I was abuzz with ideas and lay awake imagining all sorts of happenings for the coming months. Now that I think about it through writing this post, I bet that's what led me to hop on WriteItDesigns.com before checking to see if Shimelle.com has posted her new design team.
I'm guessing wildly that she is super busy and is contacting prospective members already, and that sadly I am not one of them. On the other hand, she could just be so busy that she hasn't sent me word of my acceptance lol. I did get notice that her Christmas stamp set is shipping soon, I'm pretty excited for her number set because to me it looks like tiny twinkling lights.
I hear my family stirring, and I've still got voice overs to finish on my new kit preview video for November's EmbellishKits.com layout, so have a Happy, Crafty Friday, friends!

Crafter's Retreat

I finally used that cork! and those stickers! and it looks
AWESOME

bonding with grammaD and increasing flexibility too



Rainie, my mom, and I were able to attend our first overnight crop together. My friend Lynn from church got me in with this group and this is the second time I've taught at their retreat. Now that my oldest daughter is nearing 5, she's to the point where an all day, 24 hour craft sesh (or two) is not unappealing to her, and with her level of endurance I knew she'd be up for it if the other ladies wouldn't mind her being there. After we got the okay, sent in our reservation fees, and confirmed our plans with dad, it was all she could talk about. In fact she was so excited that it made me excited to go all over again each time the subject came up. The idea of letting grandma make us breakfast while we made cards first thing when we woke up in the morning just delighted her (and I). 


CraftWithAnna TP Roll Mini Album by Barbara

I had also sent out an email offering the recipe for a fun CraftWithAnna class. I kept it a surprise, but it turned out to be Toilet Paper Mini Albums. These are really cute, economical to make, and hey it's fun to save the toilet paper rolls and pretend you're going to do something with them. Rainie would be teaching her first public class, TP roll Owls, made with a variety of circle punches and those same multi-purpose  cardboard tubes.
Her class was a hit, but her favorite students arrived just after it concluded- so she got to do it again! My aunt Lisa and her mom, Ivy made the trek to join us at Valley Camp above North Bend. The scenic location offered us some beautiful fall backdrops and we went on a family photo shoot walk before lunch. All of us out enjoying the brisk breeze as it swirled cascades of autumnal toned maple leaves in every direction. Now that we are all sporting less than shoulder length hair, that didn't bother us too much but Rainie's long strands kept blowing around her face. Coupled with her bright blue eyes and the corduroy jacket she sported, the photos I took are going to be really fun to set on patterned paper. Hmmm, maybe the left overs from the upcoming November EmbellishKits.com 2, double paged layout kit will find a home? I've got pictures in mind for the two pages that directions are provided for, but before I get into November's goodies, I'm going to make some wedding cards with the August 2014 cardmaking kit, which features beautiful black, white, and woodgrains from Simple Stories. I've been doing a fair amount of facebook stalking and unauthorized saving of pictures of my families when they post, and I hope to use that kit's dazzling array of die cuts to embellish a wedding themed mini album for my cousin Lori.
I'm falling behind a bit on my project list as I anticipate an upcoming craft fair I've committed to. Good thing I've got those handy planner pads and note pads from WriteItDesigns.com to keep track of my obligations! I finally decided it must be the pressure of having my art judged under holiday wanderers that keeps me from getting anything done... but I was able to create enough cards this weekend that I no longer feel the need to make my products fit witin a 4.25x5.5" perimeter.  After today I'll be focusing on getting the tools part of my display set up, the card rack I've never used, packaging all my cards and stuff like that, so I'll be hard pressed to finish the edit on my kit preview videos. But if you're a subscriber on YouTube, you'll get first rate notification on all my latest releases. So just do yourself a favor and hit that red rectangle next time you're watching a CraftWithAnna video.
I hope to find a few moments to dabble in Mixed Media canvas'... as if my list of to-do's isn't long enough, I want to throw in some modge podging lol. I'd better get started for the 15th time today...Until next time, friends~ Stay Crafty!

 

We're crafty and we know it!

 

 



Here's a paper sampler that's so cute, it's SCARY

Ornamental Insight

Gazing up, with eyes so bright, softly reflecting fluorescent lights,

I wonder do you know you still
make my heart skip a beat
 louder than the till
of merchants all about the mall we race through
Your hand in mine as we laugh with delight
at trying on shoe after shoe- only the right!
Then collapsing in giggles its out to the car,
and up the side street to a door left ajar.
And who inside but the smilingest face,
my grandma, our bestemor, but alas not a trace,
of the baby that today we've nicknamed with "Grace."
But soon she'll be coming, and the rest of them too...
more smiles, more laughter, under a Christmas moon.

JYC 2014 Album Prep Payout

The stars at night...
my Artsy Super Star, Radient Rainie!

This year I signed up for Shimelle.com's Journal Your Christmas class. The daily prompts allowed me to explore Christmas memories throughout the season and also provided some really intriguing photo-taking challenges.
 I figured early in the month that I'd be doing a lot of writing, but more than that, I'd be doing a lot of Christmas card making. Which I did! Well, not so much the writing, but definitely a lot of cards were made and sold which was really invigorating for me. Every day there was also a short video showing a 3x4 card being dressed up for the season, and I enjoyed watching and using the ideas on a few of those cards I made, as well as in creating little mini masterpieces with the girls.

I knew in the past that it has taken almost an entire album to contain just the one month of December's scrap worthy photos, so early in the process I chose an album and then after about five-ten prompts I added patterned papers, project life cards, and embellishments that fit the seasonal theme. I figured it would be easy to maintain a consistent theme throughout the entire album with this base to build on, plus I just like to build kits without pictures for a challenge occasionally. I used the prefilled sleeves that came with the album, added pocket pages as well, and kept everything for the season's recordings in there, adding mementos as they came across my desk.

Now, the title of the class does include the word Journal, which has never been something I've really enjoyed doing in my albums- I'm more of a record happenings daily on a calendar person than a record feelings type of person. So while I thought a lot about the ideas presented, what I ended up doing was more about talking to other people, sharing my own traditions and anecdotes, while learning more about my friends and family through their own story telling.

Photo Prompt: Through the Window

Some of my favorites; Hearing about the little boy who got a bike but didn't know it until he was completely disappointed about not having found one under the tree (it was in the backyard)! The little girl who was shocked to receive a paint by number set from her parents (she thought they were oblivious to her artful inclinations). My friend whose dad took her and her sister to get their ears pierced on a whim while their mom shopped the other side of the mall. Sharing my own story of being up on stage in preschool and being so mesmerized by my granddads shiny bald head glowing under the lights that I forgot to follow my classmates into the wings!

Photo Prompt: Add Sparkle

So, not having written most of the storytelling down as it came my way, how HAS my album benefit from this class? Well, for one thing, I've been able to take some really cool pictures throughout the month that I may not have thought to try otherwise, like this amazing picture of my mom and Sunday in a restaurant before dinner. Tried out a few new apps and created really cool effects on otherwise terrifically seasonal photos. I'm thinking more about stories that I've told over the years and how they all impact how I enjoy the sights and sounds and the whirl of Christmas cardmaking around this time of year... and the awesome bonus is that I'll have access to this class for many years to come and can continue to visit the prompts and tell those stories that make the background for my families traditions.

Thanks for joining me today, I wish you and your family all the best of the Holiday season, and the best hopes for a happy, healthy, scrappy New Year!

Quick Card Share for Dec 15th

Just a quick look at a few cards I made last week, and I'll be back to share more of what I've been doing with my time this month tomorrow!

The first days of December

 This month has started off spectacularly; I've managed a night out with my friend Jen, some really touching moments shared with my girls, and of course, a few cards and scrapbook pages have made their way out of my paper stash. I even managed to kiss a nutcracker!

The other day I woke up with the image of a fire built out in the snow on a cold winters day, with trees in the background and the sentiment, "Nature lends to each season a beauty all its own." You can see that card in the third pic down on the right, or just click on the purple Instagram camera at right  to see the final vision and my alternate version in much clearer detail.  I wasn't sure I'd be able to create what my mind had, well, in mind, but both cards turned out awesome. I have been using my Cricut a lot more this year but it is still hard for me to envision how to use the hundreds of images I have available to me!

So, how will I capture the memories that are already fading as fast as the seemingly never ending turkey supply? Well for the first year, I'll be participating in Shimelle's Journal Your Christmas forum/class. I'm excited because it will help me with my lifelong hurdle of journaling and my hesitancy to do so, as well as helping me to capture and retain some of the  reasons why I do so love this season.

I've always loved creating my own handmade Christmas cards for friends and family. Selling my cards has somewhat impaired my usual thoughtfulness in this area though! Sometimes I just feel that taking a picture and texting a card front is a good way to brighten a friends day, when before I would not hesitate to simply send it off in the mail. I love picturing the receiving end... whether its someone who purchases a card of mine on Etsy or in one of the shops in Gig Harbor, or the person is standing right in front of me, I'm always smiling knowing that they got something so non-corporate!

When I first started dating Ray, he found out that he WOULD be sending my handmade cards to his clients. Now years later he has cut down his sending list, but I still make him get his cards from me. It is a little bit of myself going out in each envelope to spread some holiday cheer. I love thinking that maybe mine is the one they just can't bear to throw away and keep for no good reason like I have done with so many cards over the years. I'm still looking for ways to use those old cards haha.

Now, if I can just remember to SEND the cards I'm making out to my friends instead of just writing about doing it...

thanks for stopping by, and I look forward to sharing what comes of my JYC experience with you!

Celebrate With Me!

Sparkle A Little Brighter Darling

  54 Subscribers on YouTube!

14 Blog Followers! 

125 Instagram Followers!

2 Gig Harbor stores selling my cards!

Wow, this is my 200th Blog Post, and NO, I'm not throwing these figures out for no reason- they are a little proof that YOU REALLY LIKE ME! lol, for the last year I've been working on increasing the amount of posting that I've done, hoping to attract more interested viewers, and it looks like it has paid off :-)

My initial goals were to have 50 YouTubers, and 10 Blog followers... so hooray for all of you who surpassed my expectations. Granted, I set them relatively low, but you know I love challenges, so perhaps by this time next year I will have DOUBLED that goal. ..

I'm especially hoping to have my cards distributed in a few more places; combining my love of crafting with bi-monthly shop visiting always brings more smiles to my craft room.

Speaking of smiles in the craft room, this week I'm throwing sequins on EVERYTHING it seems, so that will be my November product challenge item. I got so many beautifully colored and shaped sequins at the Creating Keepsakes Convention last weekend, and they are fun and flashy so what's not to love? I'm also taking a harder look in my bling box and am determined to use up some of those barely there bling backers, so watch as I apply liberal doses of all manner of bling to get us through the end of 2014.

Ok, now to celebrate with me, this weekend I've got another Bling-tastic giveaway, so go ahead and comment below to enter and perhaps I'll draw your name on Monday. Let me know of some cute handmade goods or artsy little shop that could use a little CraftWithAnna carding!

Thanks as always for your support and ideas, enjoy your weekend, and Happy crafting!



Sunday applies washi tape to the edge of a plastic bag full of sequins,
 and a foam adhesive keeps things sliding around in there.

Embossing how (not) to

Second Christmas Card for the Year Made!

I had no idea what a good value I was getting almost ten years ago when I picked up my beloved heat gun at a garage sale for only $20. In fact I couldn't figure out why my friend was so excited for me! Little did I know how much I would come to rely on the consistent perfect heat setting temperature it would bring to my life...

Well, now I have been reminded not to take anything for granted! My honey was thoughtful enough to purchase me a new one. From the tool store. Like, it's for a man! lol Oh, and it really is manly- it's gun shaped!

Over Heated Snow

I gave it a try the other night and was surprised to find it has two settings. Turns out the low is too low, leaving the embossing powder crystals in a semi melted state. The high setting has a tendency to burn the paper! And no, there is no happy middle ground on this.

On top of this displeasing state of non embossing success, I noticed that there were some strange vapors coming from the motor area of the gun when I started it back up again. With two young kids who love to get up close and learn all the crafty details of how the tools work, I just can't use it around them.

So, while I keep looking, I will amuse myself with the creation of some non embossed Christmas fun, like the rock and roll stamping I did with these holiday lights by the Stamps of Life. A simple drawn string and some bling, and it's ready to go :-)

Scrapbooking "Off the Grid"

I love it when I see a magazine feature or advertisement or card in a shop that inspires me, don't you? Picked up some "vintage" scrapbooking magazines from a friend last week and yesterday afternoon a layout featuring a grid of 16 squares with rounded corners caught my eye. Funny, this layout was actually a lift of another scrapper's layout! So I guess its a pretty good design in terms of its adaptability.

On my desk's to do list this last week has been some photos taken last December, over at my wine-loving friend Becca's. Every year she bakes, like, a hundred cookies and her family decorates them all in one night. This is like a dream event for me! But how could I go and leave my little ones both at home... we don't exactly promote sugar ingestion in our home, but this is the kind of traditional holiday gathering that I grew up with.

Rainier and I met my mom over at Becca's and ended up bringing our own cookie dough along for the fun. Delicious, healthy, and easy to make, these cookies even appeal to regular cookie eaters :-0 Just take a banana, mix it with some nut butter, oatmeal, a dash of vanilla and I think that's it! You can add cocoa for extra yum. There may be more to it, I haven't made them since December so I'm a bit mucky on the particulars.

Sprinkles of raisins, currants, and almond slivers had my toddler in decorating heaven along with the other kids there that night. Including some very large kids home from college, haha! I was feeling very MOM like, with my glass of wine, overlooking all the festivities... but you know as soon as a seat opened up, it was ON for me to get my sprinkle on! I felt kind of bad because we wouldn't be eating them, but we thought of a great way to pass on the goodness; send them for fellowship after church the next day :-)

Matting my photos really helped them to stand out against a very busy background. Adding some cooking themed stickers for embellishment made the layout a lot less serious and I was able to pass on the few not used for Rainier to use on her own project. You'll be able to see this entire layout, with a cool use of a negative die cut, in the next issue of DieCutCrazy.
Can't wait that long for some die cutting inspiration? Check out the April edition, now available on your Apple device and as a PDF as well! And, you can see another grid style scrapbook layout opposite this page:

Christmas Cards Continued

I've been concentrating so much lately on getting organized around the house that I haven't taken much time to write about it, what a bummer. But, as usual, in between my chores I have still found ways to release some creative energy, so here is another fun way I figured to use my Christmas cards received this year; enter the hole punch.

This relic of our school days still comes in useful and makes it really easy to slip just about anything into a binder, provided it can span the width of two of the binder rings. Otherwise things get a bit wobbly, which bothers me, but may not bother you?

I put all these cards in between the couple of Christmas pages I've created and I love the way they break up the monotony of my regular 12x12 album pages. For some extra visual and textural interest I added this large chipboard piece and glued on all the postage that was on the mailing envelopes. I just couldn't let all those pretty little pictures go in the garbage :-)

I accomplished two things with this dash of inspiration: 1) I got that stack of Christmas cards received off my craft desk. Who put them there anyway!? Oh yeah, me, whoops! Anyway they are cleared and there is more room for crafting yeah! and 2)Now we have the names and addresses of those thoughtful clients and family members who spent the time and postage to let us know they were thinking of us over the holidays. Every year it seems like I hear of more and more people doing away with card sending. Even Ray has made the comment a few times, but of course I still make him take my homemade cards around to all his clients heehee.

I even included an extra Christmas letter card Rainier helped me make for my Close To My Heart friends. I think this is a really neat way to include a little summary of what I thought it was important to share with people I don't see very often but think of while crafting regularly. Since I didn't do any journaling yet on my Christmas layout, I now am feeling completely guilt free about what I consider to be "unfinished business."

Last bit of this post, and then I'm going to spend some time on a new process video I'm hoping to release in conjunction with this Saturday's Valentine Die Cut Crazy Blog Hop... I've got a couple other blogs started up and put some new posts on there tonight as well. So if you're interested in what I have to say about the latest in our families lifestyle/food choices, or what I'm up to with my PartyLite business, just click on my blogger profile and you'll see them listed under my name.

Thanks for stopping by!

Using Your Christmas Cards

What to do with all those beautiful Christmas cards received each year... some I admit are easier to toss than others, but really, what good do they do in a box in the closet, never to be looked at again. Aha! I finally found a home for three of them! The top left purple with silver ornaments actually came from PartyLite. How did they know to send me a card in my favorite colors?! The card behind the girls came all the way from Ed and BJ in New Jersey, and the Christmas Wishes sentiment was cut from the front of a card, complete with popped-up letters!

If you watched my recent Album Review movie on YouTube, you know that one of my favorite layouts ever created was one of Rainier in front of the Christmas tree at my bank last year. My Little Christmas Angel has grown up quite a bit in the last year and has a new sister to pose with as well... which meant, back to the bank for a photo shoot this year!

She walked right over to the tree (shedding outerwear all through the lobby as she went) and turned on the charm for my camera;  highly unusual behavior for her! Of course I didn't have the camera ready, but I still managed to snap a lot of great photos of her and Sunday. I love the way the tree shimmered and twinkled behind them. After our shoot those two amused themselves and the tellers by touching as many of the ornaments as possible.

I really wanted the focus of this layout to be on Rainier and the look on her face. I did get a photo of her with a great big smile, but this kind of look is more "her." Using a CTMH flip flap sleeve allowed me to hide her sister and the journaling in one place. I'll carefully slice through the page protector and this page will become interactive.

 If you look carefully in the border near the bottom of the page, you'll see I continued my baker's twine theme for this month in green and white, lime green and white, and purple with white. A little washi tape on the back of my layout keeps the twine in place just fine. Another goal of mine this year is to use my supplies, and I'm happy to report that another sticker sheet went in the garbage after this! So long, Teresa Collins fabrication stickers!

What do you do with your old holiday cards, or birthday, Mother's Day, etc.? I'm looking for a way to house the hundreds of cards Ray has been fortunate enough to receive from me over the last five years- any ideas? I'd love to hear them! Leave a comment below and you could win a repurposed card from me. What you choose to do with it afterwards is up to you :-)

After Christmas Specials

The mad rushing of Christmas prepping is now over and yesterday I spent some time clearing off the leftovers. Not from the refrigerator- eating at grandmas eliminated any chances of goodies in our house! As the days flew past last week my desire to scrapbook was growing and growing (like my waistband) and it was mixed feelings of relief and sadness that I experienced about this page spread I made in November.

Relief because all I need now is to print a few photos and this awesome two page layout will be complete! I used my Embellish It! kit for the paper choices, dug into my stash of old metal rimmed tags and giant brads, washi tape, sequins and paper clips for the rest of my embellishments. The layout design itself was lifted from a CK feature.

I felt a bit sad though because I had intended to produce a process video to accompany the photo and release it on the day after Christmas. hahaha, the footage is all there but it may be NEXT Christmas when it all comes together?!

 I love making the process movies but sometimes I feel like I'm putting too much effort into them. Usually I feel this way towards the end of getting all the cropping, voice overs, and captioning put together and I finally head to the library with the finished file stowed on my Hello Kitty flash drive. All that time on the computer really gets in the way of my paper crafting!

Well, the feelings of relief at having my Christmas layout (with what ended up being the perfect title) all ready for pictures won out, my desk got cleaned off enough for me to feel comfortable starting something new, and I ended up creating one of my favorite pages of the entire year. You'll have to wait until the February edition of DieCutCrazy comes out to see it though!

 

Now, back to crafting something for Me! er, I mean for my family to enjoy for generations to come ...

Hoping the holiday buzz stays with you for a while longer, and has you creating something magical to store those good-time memories :-)