Hello friends! Are you ready for 2014? I definitely am! 2013 held many wonderful family memories for us so I wanted to share a little Year in Review Post with several of my favorite memories of 2013.

Some of my highlights were:

• January: Winter CHA, helping Lily make her own Valentines, Coffee Wednesdays
• Febrauary: Valentine's day party at Lily's school, Coffee Wednesdays with the ladies
•  March: St. Patty's day, Turning 43, breakfasts in the Marina, Coffee Wednesdays
• April: Our Annual Easter Egg hunt at Mombo's, Baseball season, Coffee Wednesdays
• June: Teaching at GASC and spending a few extra days in Dallas with a bestie. Father's Day Kite Flying in the Marina, Coffee Wednesdays
• July: Lily's Hello Kitty Birthday party, Riding the Metro to see the re-release of The Little Mermaid at the El Capitan, Coffee Wednesdays
• August: Water Taxi ride in the Marina and lots of Beach trips with local moms and their kiddos, Lily Toy Testing at Mattel and making a new friend, Coffee Wednesdays
• September: Lily starting 1st Grade and Scott 11th, Soccer season kick off with Lily's team, The Yellow Sunsets, Being an Art docent for Lily's class, Coffee Wednesdays, Scott's Marching Band Season.
• October: Halloween, The Dodgers making a run for the World Series, Fall fun, Traveling to Charlotte to teach at GASC and hanging out with Ashley and Robyn, Coffee Wednesdays
• November: Starting my own card making classes at El Segundo Library, Helping out at Spellbound's Midnight Craft Party, Winning tickets to see Justin Timberlake at Staples Center, Thanksgiving, Coffee Wednesdays

• December: Making 4 sweet new friends after being stuck on Jury Duty for 3 weeks, Lily's Holiday Sing, Running a card making table for Scott's Winter Wonderland Band fundraiser, Coffee Wednesdays, Spending Christmas time enjoying our family traditions of  Tree Trimming, A visit with Santa at The Grove, Torrance Candy Cane Lane and Christmas morning at Mombos

Thank goodness for iPhone cameras that are amazing and social media. What a great way to capture and share the best moments of our lives! 

Here's to a wonderful, prosperous, and blessed 2014 for all!!

Albums Made Easy Monday's will return January 6th

Hello friends! My December was robbed by Jury Duty this year. I spent 3 weeks sitting on a case and then Christmas was a blur. I am so sorry that my Albums Made Easy posts had to take a backseat to my 25 Days of Holiday cards. I had honestly planned to do 2 posts for Mondays but it just didn't happen. So next week I'll begin posting weekly again!

Now today I want to share an album I was asked to create using The North Pole Albums Made Easy Card set.

This album was super easy to create and really fun. I really like the way it tuned out.

Gather up some #8 Ranger Inkssentials Kraft Tags and a variety of Albums Made Easy North Pole Cards. I used a 4x6 card and then a #8 tag with the hole facing out and kept stacking as many as I wanted in the album.

Then I placed them all in my Cinch to make the holes for the binding wire as shown.

Then I used the 3x4 cards to embellish on the #8 Kraft tags. This one was perfect for the cover.

I used Unity Stamp Company SMAK kit stamps, Simon Says Stamp stamps, dies and various embellishments to alter my album. I love that tree from Lil Inker Designs.

Nothing makes an easier embellie than paper punches, twine and buttons.

I ran out of printer ink to add more photos but the idea is to make the album to suit your preference.

That's it for today. See you next Monday!

{S}

Stamp of the Week Sunday

Hello friends! It's another Stamp of the Week Sunday reveal! Here's another great image from Unity.

Love Makes the World go Round

Here's my sample with this week's image.

 Supplies: Paper: Simon Says Stamp card kit, Eyelet Outlet bling strips and Queen and Co. Goosebumps

For more creative inspiration make sure you visit Unity's Stamp of the Week Pin Board over at Unity's Pinterest page.  Now you only have one week to claim this cuteness for your own. 

 

Hurry over to this page to find out how you can sign up to have some Unity Happy Mail in your mailbox each week!

 

Have a creative day!

{S}

Unity Thursday

Hello friends! Thank you so much for stopping by! Today I am sharing one of my favorites from last December. I love this photo of my family at The Grove. Each year we make our way there for Lily's appointment with Santa. Then afterwards we have a nice dinner at Wood ranch and stay for it to snow.Yes, it snows in LA...love that!

Here's my 25 Days of Holiday Memories layout. I even have this as the wall paper on my laptop. Love it!

I used several SMAK images and a very cute Santa image from the Naughty, Nice..Not sure set.

OK...about today's SALE

We have TWO amazing Unity filled prize packages to giveaway.  Leave a comment on EACH blog in the hop (including the Unity blog) for your chance to win.  The winners will be announced Saturday night on the Unity blog.

Now I am sending you onto Thienly!

Merry Christmas! Day 25

It's Day 25...

Wishing you all a very very Merry Christmas!!

Supplies: December Card kit from Simon Says Stamp

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 24

I still can't believe it's Christmas Eve! I have been wrapping and baking up a storm today for our annual Christmas Eve dinner with the Love family. My husband has been celebrating Christmas Eve with his High School friend for the past 15-20 years. Now we all have children of our own and it's a wonderful way to spend the evening before Christmas.

Today's card celebrates my exact feeling of Christmas Eve after the kids are in bed...

Supplies: more beautiful products from Anna Griffin include Holiday Card Trimmings kit, Snowflake die and Christmas garland Embellishments.

I hope you have a wonderful Christmas Eve celebrating with your families. 

 {S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 23

Hello friends and thanks for stopping by for Day 23 of my 25 Days of Holiday cards. I know some of my posts were a bit late. I don't know about you, but the week before Christmas is crazy around here. So thank you for taking to time to visit.

Card 23 is some fun with die cut layers.

Supplies: Anna Griffin Emerald Forest Collection.

That's all for today. I'll be wrapping up a storm this evening to try and get ready for Christmas. We go out for Christmas Eve and this year I hinted to hubby that I would love to see the sneak peek of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty at our local theater playing at 11:15. We'll see if he picks up on my Christmas wish.

Thanks again for stopping by!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 22

Hello friends! It's been a busty weekend of Holiday Traditions, shopping and just trying to fit it all in! We headed off to The Grove Friday afternoon for our annual visit with Santa. I love going to the Grove every year. It's so beautifully decorated for the Holidays.

Today's card features the Christmas Wreath Self Inking stamp set from Anna Griffin. 

 

I used Anna's gold ink pad along with some coordinating embellishments to create this card. I also used the beautiful embossing folders from her Christmas Embossing Collection.

Can you believe we are just 3 cards away from Day 25! It's been alot of fun sharing the past 22 cards with you. Thank you for stopping by each day to have a look!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 21

Hello friends. Today's card is a beauty. I love the new dies from Anna Griffin and creating with them is easy and fun. I love making 3D cards with several layers. Creating them with Anna's dies and metallic paper is even more fun.

For You This Christmas friends...

 I told you I love layers and there are lots of them on this card. From cardstock to borders, to border punches and dies. There is a lot going on here but the result was well worth all the time. 

If I were to tell you just how much foam square adhesive I got thru in a month you would not believe it....So let's just say I use an awful lot!

Thanks for stopping by for Day Twenty-One!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 20

It's Day 20...only 5 days til Christmas! Where did December go? I would honestly love one more week to prepare. Serving 3 weeks on a Jury this year certainly affected my holiday planning and card making.

Today's card features an adorable Christmas Teddy image from Unity Stamp Co. and We R Memory Keepers Yuletide collection.

I don't know anyone that doesn't love a teddy bear and this image is so stinkin cute! Sometimes I really do enjoy coloring in my images.

This stamp is only $1.49 right now at Unity! You might want to scoop this little guy up quick!

Thanks for stopping by!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 19

A little something fancy for Day Nineteen. I love Anna griffin's velvet flocked cardstock. It screams "fancy" and the holiday red is a perfect color for today's card.

Anna's foil sentiments from last year's holiday card kit is a perfect way to finish this 5 minutes or less styled card.If you are looking for a quick and easy to reproduce card, this one is perfect.

Thank you so much for all your sweet comments and for taking the time to stop by and check out card Nineteen today!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 18

It's Day 18 friends! How is your holiday shopping going? I am far from finished but I have a list and I am making may way thru it.

Here's Day 18 featuring a fun banner sentiment and embossing folder from Anna Griffin!

I love creating cards with embossed backgrounds. They are so easy and come together quickly. These festive banner sentiments are so easy to apply and add instant fun to holiday cards.
 

Thank you for stopping by for Day 18!

{S}

 

25 Days of Holiday cards Day 17

Hello friends! It's Day 17 of my 25 Days of Holiday cards! Thanks for stopping by to take a look at today's card.

Today's card features products from Anna Griffin's Holiday trimmings card kit.

Putting this card together was quick and easy thanks to all the amazing embellishments included in this amazing kit!

Thanks for stopping by today!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 16

Hello friends and thanks f.or joining me for Day 16 of my 25 Days of Holiday cards. Today's card features some of the goodies included in my Simon Says Stamp limited edition Holiday Card kit.

Season's Greetings

I love the softness of the color turquoise and paired with gold, it's a fantastic combination! I added a
glitter snowflake I had and used two punched vellum snowflakes that came in the envelope of a holiday card from my sweet friend Aimee Maddern. Nothing like recycling right?

Thanks so much for stopping by for Day 16!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 15

Hello friends and thanks for stopping by for Day 15 of my 25 days of Holiday Cards. I can hardly believe Christmas is 10 days away. Do you have all your shopping done? I certainly do not. I'm definitely not ready for the feeling of Christmas to be over in 10 days!

I finally got to break open my December card kit from Simon Says Stamp. It features an adorable Holiday themed stamp set and Maryanne snowflake stencil that was perfect for my first attempt at creating with the Bokah trend. 

How did I do?

I used Grey ink and the mask to create a background on white cardstock. Then I stamped my sentiment in black ink. I punched various colors of vellum with a hole punch to make my confetti and added a little sparkle with some Stickles.

It was fun and easy to create. My only issue was having the vellum confetti curl when I used the liquid glue to adhere to the card. Perhaps the mini glue dots would have been a better choice.

That's it for Day Fifteen. Thank you for stopping by!

{S}

12 Days of Craftmas & Day 14!

Hello and thanks for stopping by my blog for Day5 of  the 12 Days of Craftmas! I've created a fun little 3 dimensional card using some of Anna Griffin's beautiful products.

This card features several layers of Anna Griffin's Christmas Kitsch and a fabulous Martha Stewart punch! It really was a snap to create. Simple cut the blue foil cardstock, adhere border punch to bottom and adhere with pop dots. Then layer the banner and add a few 3D stickers. Finish with twine!

 

Now for the Giveaway! 

  

I'm offering up a mini card making kit featuring products from Anna Griffin's Christmas Kitsch collection. You'll get 12 sheets of 6x6 patterned paper, 4 sheets of vellum quotes, 2 1/2 sheets of 3D stickers and 2 Sentiment garlands! 

All you have to do to be entered is leave a comment telling me what your favorite holiday tradition is.

Good luck everyone! Remember to check out the rest of the hop over the next 10 days! You will want to be sure that you really keep checking each participant's blog for the next giveaway. Be sure and leave a comment to be entered to win!

Here's the list:

Day 1: http://www.ohsnaplizzie.com

Day 2: http://momscraftycloset.blogspot.com/

Day 3: http://www.atstudiod.blogspot.com/

Day 4: http://ladyguineveresinkyfaeries.blogspot.com/

Day 5: http://shemainesmith.blogspot.com/

Day 6: http://kelliewinnell.typepad.com/

Day 7: http://karynscraftingobsession.blogspot.com.au/

Day 8: http://insidethecraftersstudio.com/

Day 9: http://normajean8105.blogspot.com

Day 10: www.blog.iheartpapers.com

Day 11: http://www.theoddgirl.com/

Day 12: http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com

 There will be some really amazing prizes coming up! My winner will be announced Monday December 23rd! Check back then to see if you're the winner.

Thanks for stopping by!

 {S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 13

Hello friends. Oh how I love silver and gold together. Especially at Christmas time. So you can kind of take the hint that today's card is all about just that...

Season's Greetings

I am all for fancy schmancy...I love elegance and high style. Who else makes such products than Anna Griffin herself. Everything about her products says CLASS, STYLE and ELEGANCE. That's why I personally love creating with her collections each year.

This card was quick. Layer the patterned cardstock with foam squares, adhere border strip with punched edges and add glitter 3D embellies. Let's not forget that sassy silver bow! Yep...this one is perfect for someone I know. Now I am off to mail it!

Thanks for stopping by and supporting my 25 Days of Holiday Cards. I hope you are enjoying the inspiration!

Have a great day!

{S}

Unity Thursday on Day 13 of 25 Days of Holiday Cards

Hello friends! It's Unity Thursday and it's filled with some fun new releases!!  I have a cute new Holiday card to share with you but first let's take a look at this week's sale banner...

 To see all the new images head on over HERE

                                                          

 I love finding ways to get my card and layout mojo goin and what better way than with the

 new Unity {be Inspired} challenges!

Now for today's holiday card. I love the Holly Jolly Christmas set from Unity and it was perfect for today's card.

   

This image was so easy and fun to color. I stamped the season's greetings background in the strip in red and then used my Copics. A Martha border punch and dies from Papertray Ink helped bring the image out. The patterned paper is We R Memory Keepers from their Yuletide collection.

 Now I'm sending you onto Thienly! 

Have a fantastic week! 

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 11

Hello Friends! I am so thrilled to be back with Day 11 of my 25 Days of Holiday Cards! I can finally tell you that I have been serving on a Jury for the past 17 days. While it was an interesting experience, it was mentally exhausting. I really missed my crafting time. I won't go into much detail but it was a serious case and it did weigh very heavily on my mind. I am very lucky to live in the community that I do where violence is not an everyday thing. I have a great deal more empathy for people who are not as lucky as I am.

OK... so onto Day 11! A beautiful card I created using the new Anna Griffin Winter Wonderland cartridge.

 

Supplies Anna Griffin patterned paper, embossing folder, sentiment and Winter Wonderland Cricut Cartridge

I also added some Stickles to the snowflakes that aren't easy to notice but they do make them shine.

Thanks for stopping by today!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 10

Hello friends. I'm a little behind due to my crazy weekend but I'm going to go ahead with Day 10! Check back later to see cards 7, 8 and 9.
Today's card is all about last minute! Pre- printed sentiments included in paper pads are really helpful when you need to make a card quickly. 

I used red cardstock to bring out the red in the patterned paper. Then I cut the sentiment and adhered with a strip of border punched paper. I used the   star dies and button to accent. I finished the card by adding Stickles to the Christmas text.

Thanks for stopping by today!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 9

It's Day 9 friends and I am happy to be back sharing another fantastic card! Today's card features the still growing strong in popularity, Washi Tape! 

The entire card base is strips of Anna Griffin Washi Tape cut into a frame for the middle section which is an embossed sheet of metallic gold cardstock layered with pop dots.

Then the middle layer is also several strips of washi tape paired with a 3D Tree embellishment and sentiment. The ribbon finishes the card nicely with elegance.

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on the last few posts. I hope you are enjoying the inspiration!

Thank you for stopping by!

{S} 

Stamp of the Week Sunday

Hello friends! Thanks for visiting today for another Unity Stamp Company Stamp of the Week reveal. 

 The Unity Artista's have created yet another fantastic image...

Beauty is a Joy 

  

 Here's what I was inspired to create with this weeks image

 

For more creative inspiration make sure you visit Unity's Stamp of the Week Pin Board over at Unity's Pinterest page.  Now you only have one week to claim this cuteness for your own. 

 

Hurry over to this page to find out how you can sign up to have some Unity Happy Mail in your mailbox each week!

Have a creative day!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 8

It's Day 8 already! I have another fabulous card to share that I created with Anna Griffin's Holiday Decoupage kit!. Layering embellishments always creates a beautiful card. Creating a window for the layered Decoupage embellishments takes it to a whole other level don't you think?

This card really pops! Maybe it's because I did use an obscene amount of POP dots to make the decoupage flowers really stand out.

That's it for Day 8. 

Thanks so much for your support and for taking the time to stop by!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 7

Hello friends! Welcome to Day 7. Today's card pairs dies and elegant papers to create a beautiful card that is perfect for that classy and elegant person on your Christmas list.

I love silver and gold during the holidays! This card is all about gold and elegance with a rosette in the center of the greeting and a beautiful snowflake die in ivory paper to compliment the gold.

I'm having a blast at my son's Winterposium Fundraiser today. We're creating cards to raise funds for the Marching and Concert Bands. Here's a snap of my table.

 

OK, back to crafting! Thanks for stopping by today!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 6

Hello Friday and Day 6 of my 25 Days of Holiday cards! It seems as if this month is already moving SO fast! It's now only 20 days til Christmas! We have a few Christmas Traditions that we enjoy celebrating each year. Our annual trip to The Grove is a favorite. Driving around Torrance and looking at the Christmas lights is another. My daughter also loves to visit Barbie at our local Tree Lighting Ceremony and that's where we were yesterday afternoon. Here are a few of the sweet pics I shot of them.

 

This photo is so sweet! She walked right up to Barbie and gave her a hug.

 

Then she told her "Barbie, you look beautiful!" Barbie was so sweet and told Lily "Thank you, you're beautiful too!"

Then the two of struck this adorable pose. It was such a sweet moment to watch.

Alright, now for something a little less flashy...Here is today's card.

For today's card, I used a label die and cut out the center. Then I stamped my image Unity Stamp Co.  onto vellum paper and secured it over the die cut space. I added some Stickles to give the pine cones a little shine and finished it off with my sentiment and the twine and little red button. 

A simple and sweet little card.

That's it for today. Thanks so much for stopping by!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 5

Hello and thanks for stopping by the Day 5 of my 12 Days of Holiday Cards. If this is your first visit make sure you scroll back the the past 4 days of cards. You don't want to miss out on all the fun.

Today's card is created using cardstock and sentiments from Anna Griffin's Holiday Trimmings Card kit. I also used the Holiday Decoupage kit for the bells.

Lots of cardstock layers can transform your cards from just nice to WOW! Take it a step further by adding embossed elements like I did in the back ground with the cream embossed cardstock. I finished the Decoupaged 3D bells with a little twine that complimented this card well.

That's it for Day 5. I hope you'll join me all the way to December 25th! 

I'll see you tomorrow with a new card.

Have a creative day!

{S}

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 4

Hello and thanks for stopping by for Day 4 of my 25 Days of Holiday cards. Today's card is pure elegance. I must admit, I do prefer creating Elegant cards over any other style. Certain techniques like embossing solid cardstock, creating with satin ribbon and using bling in my design are all key components like I like to use to create a successful elegant card.

Today's card uses foil patterned paper by Anna Griffin from the Winter Wonderland collection. Spellbinders M-Bossibilities Quilted Delight folder. Eyelet Outlet Bling and a Sentiment tag from last year's Anna Griffin Holiday Card Making kit.

Thanks so much for stopping by to see today's card!  

25 Days of Holiday Cards Day 3

Hello and thanks for stopping by for Day 3 of my 25 Days of Holiday Cards. I hope you are enjoying my holiday card inspiration so far. If this is your first visit then please check out the Day 1 post here. I am always so late getting my Holiday cards out. You'd think I would have learned by now when to have them all done by but that would be way to organized for me. I like to live in creative chaos. I honestly think I do my best work there...lol. So tell me, when do you mail out your Holiday cards?

Alright, let's get to the crafty stuff! Today I am sharing a fun and easy to make card using embossing folders and stamped images.

Happy Holidays

I used kraft as my cardstock and then cut a piece of white cardstock at 4x51/3 and embossed it with a stitched embossing folder by Provocraft. Then I stamped the flower image in a quilted look using 2 different colors of ink. The sentiment and mini holly die are from Lil Inker. I loved this Sentiment kit as soon as I saw it. I finished the card with some ribbon and accented the red stamped images with Perfect pearls.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look at today's card!

{S}

Albums Made Easy Monday

Hello friends! Sorry I have been unable to post an Albums Made Easy Monday post for the past couple of weeks. I have really missed this post. I am still away from my home during the day but thankfully I was able to be home the week of Thanksgiving and I was able to catch up a bit on some work including today's Albums Made Easy feature. 

We R Memory Keepers November featured collection is Harvest

It's perfect for the fall photos and Thanksgiving memories.

I used the Hello, Life and Today Lifestyle Crafts Pocket Scrap dies and the Dainty Doily for today's page.

 

Something as simple as a little bling, die cut paired with patterned paper and some chipboard letters can make for a fun insert.

Start to finish this page took me 30 minutes. Dies can add some fun to your Albums Made Easy projects. 

To find out more about our Lifestyle crafts dies, visit the We R Memory Keepers website.

Thanks for stopping by!

{S}