Oh, The Turkey!

Are you still eating turkey leftovers? I bet some families are... if the turkey was too big for the quantity of people, turkey sandwiches are going to last for about 3 to 4 days...hahahaha...

I made this little party favors for the kids at Thanksgiving... very simple and friendly to assemble and share...

I used 3" scalloped circle punch, 1 1/2" and 1 1/4" circles, and scalloped oval.

... Folded the big one in half, slightly to the edge so you can still see both. I inked them to notice better.

Placed the oval in front, leaving about the same space from edge to edge...

Placed the biggest circle and added an upside down heart. I cut mine from the same scalloped oval and shaped but any other regular upside down heart will do.

I attached to the pops...

... and placed another big scalloped circle in the back for support...

Assemble a face in the small circle (just two eyes and a triangle), and place right over the upside down heart like this:

Tadda!!!! Funny lollypops for kids...

I also made another turkey party favor using 3"x 9" strips of patterned paper..., which I scored at 3 3/4", 4 1/2" and 8 3/4".

I used the turkey image from Stretch Your Imagination cricut cartridge...

The 3" scalloped circle is used again... I cut in half and stamped the sentiment...

Then on the inside of the strip already cut and scored, I placed glue strip on both edges...

In the single edge I placed the candy...

On the other side I also put glue in the flap inside and closed...

Once closed I inked the edges...

... positioned the message on top, and made two holes...

... to tie a ribbon...

Little turkeys were placed at front of party favor...

And these are the final results:

Thank you for your visit and I appreciate your comments... Take care.

Even Closer to Christmas

Almost there....

I will be sharing with some friends today... our mutual hobby... Scrapbooking. I hope to have a good time and do some layouts or cards... just because.... Don't want to be attached to a specific project... just want to have fun... Let's see how the day goes by!!!!

Here are two more Christmas cards to get you some inspiration and make you realize how close we are to the Holiday... just in case you haven't already...:)

This is not an already die cut tree... I cut it from a patterned paper and added some glitter in the branches... I love the imperfection on it... love the obvious "handmade" attribute when I make a card.

Then I placed it with some areas glued to the patterned paper, and others with 3D effect to create some dimension...

The patterned paper itself delivers the Merry Christmas message in a nice way. I distressed the edges and added some ink before placing it in the cardstock. And the tree is placed a little bit outside the square so it also stands out.

I like this other card very much because it's just crazy and different... I punched circles from the same color cardstock I used in the background, and added some mist to a few of them. The mist was sprayed close and at distance, since I wanted to end up with little dots and also larger areas with gold color, without any perfect pattern.

I placed them randomly and glued only the center on purpose so the edges stand out from the surface.

I combined them with round Xmas stickers and in the blank edge left in the design, I stamped repeated phrases all over, stamping one in red to stand out and the rest in black. The phrases frame the design.

Do you like my cards? I am glad if you do... Well... don't feel bad if you don't... One of the reasons I love scrapbooking is because it is completely subjective. Some people take it too seriously and make up some rules... Let them guide you, but don't stop your creativity and continue being imperfect...

Thanks for your comments. :D

(cardstock: American Crafts; Stamps: TAC; Circle punch: Martha Stweart; patterned paper: Mi Mind's Eye; stickers: EK Success; glitter: Doodlebug Designs; Perfect Pearls mists: Ranger; inks: Stazon, Color Box; Adhesives: Scotch, Generations)

Thank You.... and a tag!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Don't forget to thank God for the little things... those who might pass without notice... like being able to see, walk, and smell... Thank you God for the wind... when I feel it I know I am alive... and it's cool in this tropic too.... And how we are able to express our feelings... we can talk, touch and just listen... Not only thanks for the materials things, which we appreciate a lot, but also for the emotional things that only each one of us feel inside...

So cool...

And I made this tag for a SWAP with the Thank You and Thanksgiving theme... and wanted to share how it was made...

I used some of the patterned paper from a free digital kit (Fall Digital Kit by Summer Driggs). Remember to always be true using these free kits from internet only for personal use.

So I printed some of the images and cut strips of about 1" x 9"...

I scored on each 1/4" to be able to have this fan effect...

Then glued at the ends...

When dried, assembled to simulate the flower and...

... attached to a cardstock circle as base...

I placed a button in the center and placed the flower in another shape behind to create layers.

I also stamped the words "Thank You" in a strip, which I scored to stand out the message... and added some bling bling...

The tag shape was cut from a cricut cartridge... and the leaves were stamped in patterned paper and then cut to add some interest and finish the illusion of the "flower".

I used more of the digital patterned paper to add a nice border at the bottom.

I hope you liked my tags... and I specially hope the SWAP gals could find use for them... I can see them in a layout about being thankful... or about a person you thank God for... or maybe use it with a gift for someone you like as a token of appreciation...

(cardstock: Bazzill, AC; stamps: Martha Stweart, Inkadinkado; patterned papers: Basic Grey, Summer Driggs; ink: Color Box; bling: Reflections; others: Calligraphy Collection cricut cartridge, Scotch adhesives, Spellbinders, Cuttlebug, buttons)

More Christmas Cards...

Hello friends...

Here are some more Xmas cards for inspiration...

They ended up with similar design... using a centered embellishment and sentiment as main elements, framed with squares or multiple layers of mats.

I took a piece of patterned paper, then embossed a piece of cardstock to match.

In the center a die cut tag with Xmas trees, in which I stamped a Holiday message and added a ribbon.

The photo does not make justice, since the embossing and the glitter I added to the borders of the mat, really look nice...

For the other card, with same paper, punched a scalloped circle and matched with nestabilities shape to frame a pre-made die cut of an ornament.

Stamped the sentiment and added more color with other patterned paper scrap I had from other card.

Well... let me continue making more cards... I do want to make more and more and more... Love this hobby!

(cardstock: Bazzill, AC; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; stamps: TAC; others: Nestabilities, ribbon, adhesivs, ink)

It Smells like Christmas!!!

It's closer and closer... it's almost Christmas. When we get to November, we feel it's already Christmas... and the spirit starts to get into everybody. Most people even change behavior... Have you noticed? People is more kind... and tolerance is the order of the day... Since it's Christmas, some think it's a reason to be a better person, understand others and give in... yes... I know... It is what should happen all year around... but you know... let's enjoy the season and witness what the human beings are capable of... LOVE.

These are my first Xmas cards this year... I so needed to do something just because... and these are my first...

For this one I used a Santa sticker, which I placed in cardstock and then cut so it can be stronger because I wanted to place with square dots in 3D.

The "hohoho" message is from a commercial tag I had from a gift. I thought it was worth it to re use it in a card... why not?

I also had this Magnolia image that teacher Maribel had given me in a class. I painted it with watercolor pencils and used Xmas colors to make it suitable for the theme, since the image is not a Christmas intended one.

Just left it as simple as possible so the girl can be the star of the card.

I hope you like my first Christmas cards this year... More to come later on...

Have you started yours? Do you make cards for your family and friends, or for selling, or for fun? Share with me... :)

(cardstock: Bazzill, American Crafts; patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; stickers: EK Success; stamps: Studio G, Magnolia; adhesives: Scotch, Generations; others: Martha Stewart border punch,Spellbinders Nestabilities, watercolor pencils)

Franciscan Winery

Hello my friends...

Remember I promised to talk a little more about my trip to Napa? Well... in this post I will tell you about Franciscan. It's a winery founded more than 30 years ago.

I first heard about Franciscan from a coworker and friend who shares passion for wine, and told me about a great wine he enjoyed with his wife. I immediately told my husband and we took note about it and when the trip to Napa was a reality, we included this winery on the list.

Personnel was really friendly and we discovered Franciscan has signature as well as limited release wines of different grapes. They also have "winery only" wines which you could tell by the description, that you can only taste and obtain if you visit the winery.

We had the opportunity to taste wines from Mount Veeder Winery.... But... we were at Franciscan!!! What happened? Well... it's a winery also owned by Franciscan. We chose the tasting called "wines with altitude". Mount Veeder elaborates wines from a specific soil from this mountain, meaning high. Higher soils provoke the grapes to develop thicker skin when try to protect from higher temperatures or the sun. This then makes the grapes to have more tannins... also more sugar and therefore more alcohol.

We tried Rosenquist Vineyard 2007 which was 100% Cabernet Sauvignon, or Cab as we call it. Strong, and fruity at the same time... Very robust and perfect to pair with meat or even to enjoy by itself.

We also tasted Elevation 1550 2008, which was a blend, mainly Cab. (Note that a wine blend is usually described by the grape with 85% or more part in the mix. Sometimes we call a wine a Cab - Cabernet Sauvignon- but it really has Cab, Merlot, Cab Franc, and others in the blend... depending on the flavors and combinations the wine maker desires.)

Another blend we tasted was the Reserve 2006.

All wines were spectacular... but our favorite was the Rosenquist 2007... and the one we brought home.

We took a picture beside the landmark fountain at the entrance of the winery (Franciscan even has a wine called Fountain Court and it is to honor this fountain).

Needless to say, my husband was very happy with the visit to Franciscan... you can tell in this picture below... LOL!!!!