Paper Smooches Blog Hop

It's no secret I'm a huge fan of Paper Smooches stamps and dies.  For one thing, they are adorable.  

For another, the customer service is fantastic!  

Right now they are having a blog hop to celebrate their latest release.  Check it out HERE!!

Pumpkin Tree

Can you believe this SU DSP is still hanging on?  I used it for so many projects this fall!  

Once again, I followed a tutorial to create these cute little pumpkins. 

Here is a close up of one of the little pumpkins.  

One more of the "tree." 

I displayed it on our bay window in the kitchen.  Made for a cozy Thanksgiving decoration.


I guess it's time to move on to Christmas!
Have a great day!

Fall Delights

I almost forgot to take a picture of this little project.  

Not the best picture in the world.  It's sitting on my kitchen table with my husband's coat as a backdrop.  I gave a few out today to some special ladies at work.  I followed Christy's tutorial here.  It's a fun little project and the girls were delighted.

Still using that SU dsp! The sentiment is from an old Ali Edwards set and the little leaf is from Paper Smooches.

We got our first snowfall of the season.  The day before a holiday is always crazy.  Add snow and you've got a room full of very excited seven year olds.  I'm looking forward to a quiet night!

Stay warm!

Bee Merry

Every year we have a big Christmas get together with my family.  It's wonderful getting everyone together!  We have pretty much phased out gift giving and concentrate on good food and lots of laughter, but I like to have a little "favor" to hand out to my nieces.   
This year I'm making these little lip balm holders.

I used a digital stamp from Paper Smooches.  I colored with alchohol markers and I was pleasantly surprised that the ink did not smear!  My printer is ancient!  The little Santa hat is from the Paper Smooches set Merry Motifs.  Oops! Almost forgot. The snowflakes (stamped in Versamark) and the inside sentiment are, too!

Here is a peek at the inside:

And one more of a few of the merry little "swarm":

I'm entering these in the SPARKS Anything Goes Challenge this week.

I spent a few quiet hours on the Paper Smooches website making my holiday wish list!  Be sure to check out the adorable images HERE. 

Happy Friday!

Mini Wooden Spool Cards

It's funny. The other day I used the word 'spool' in my second grade class and no one knew what I was talking about.  I grew up with a mother who sewed and my sisters and I learned at least the basics at home.  My sister, Julie, is the seamstress, though.  She is into fabric like I am into patterned  paper.

These little cards fit a 3 X 3" envelope and will be nice for gifts!

I used a tutorial I found HERE.

Thank you, Lisa, for your generosity in posting so many wonderful tutorials!!

The cardstock, stamp and ink are all SU (crumb cake/woodgrain background).  The paper is from Simple Stories.  I used a Martha Stewart button punch and some Doodlebug baker's twin.  The most important tool, of course, was the envelope punch board from WeRMemoryKeepers.  I'm having fun discovering lots of ways to use this nifty tool!  

Have a great week!  I'm starting to think of Christmas! How about you?

One Year Anniversary

I was scrolling through old photos, trying to delete some and make some space, when I came across a picture of a little gratitude album I made last fall. The construction of it was one of my first blog posts.  

Then I noticed the date and realized I just celebrated my one year anniversary of having this blog!
 

Happy Birthday, MaryTakesATimeOut!!

 

The sentiment written above still holds true.  I am very grateful for my hobby and the friends I have made because of it.  It has provided a creative outlet and a bit of an escape from the stresses of life.  It's been fun entering challenges and receiving feedback and comments from other crafters.  I remain in awe of the talent that exists in the paper crafting world and I look forward to trying new things in the future!

To my four (count them) subscribers, I hope you enjoy my posts.  You probably found me because I had found you and admired your work! 

 Thanks for your interest!

  It's fun, isn't it?!

Happy Harvest

A cozy November weekend!  Yesterday it rained all day.  I worked on a Thanksgiving project, but put it aside because I wasn't sure I was happy with it.  You know how that goes.  I figured I would give it some time to grow on me.

Today was clear and bright but very windy!  My husband and I just got back from a chilly walk along a local trail.  It was just beautiful!  We saw this amazing crane.  It was huge and eerily prehistoric looking.  Not something you see everyday here.  I wish I had my camera!

I have been working through some old SU dsp and made some cards with a stamp from Doodle Garden called Happy Harvest.  I love this image!  I had to order it off ebay.  I couldn't find it on My Favorite Things website.  Perhaps they stopped making it.  

Anyway, here are the cards:

 

 I water colored the images with Distress Markers and tried my hand at some different hair colors.

Tomorrow starts our parent-teacher conferences.  Always good to sit down and talk with parents, but it is a very tiring couple of days as well.  Here is our kitty, Sunny, keeping me company this morning as I prepared for conferences. 

Such a funny old man!

Have a great week!