Bring In 2011! (OTWC #39)

Happy New Year's Eve!  It's just about time to send out 2010 and bring in 2011...and I say BRING IT ON!  What better way to do that than with this week's Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  And, oh boy does Kim have great colors to do that with.  Nothing says glamorous more than these do. This week is a fantastic sponsor; Graphic 45. Check it out:

SIMPLY STUNNING!!!

I just had to add some blingyness (that's a word, right?) and sparkle to my card.  I thought it only appropriate to make up a card for the New Year too.  Plus, since this has so much glittery goodness, I'm going to submit it to the Glitter is Glam challenge over at Moxie Fab World.

 

The paper is from the "All Dressed Up" paper pack.  I added a little more glow by cutting up a silver dot name sticker.  The stars were cut using my good 'ole Cricut and then I blinged them up using a glue pen and glitter.

Do you guys have big plans for New Years?  I think we are going to lay low this year - that could mean snoozy time before midnight for us. :)  Isn't it weird to think that when we meet again it will be a new year?  I love it.  Enjoy your celebrating - see you then.

Monochromatic Sympathy

Today has been beyond a stressful day for me.  I'm actually typing this post up from my friend's laptop.  When we returned home from our Christmas with family, we found that our hard drive had crashed on our computer.  Not the end of the world - but when you are trying to make deadlines in blog land, it can make things a bit tricky.  Anyway, I'm trying to make the best of it!!!  Thank God for great friends and my ipod touch (and Wi-Fi)!  I really wanted to post this card that I made for the last Caardvarks challenge.  The goal was to make a monochromatic card.  I chose the color teal (or blue or green depending on your computer screen).  Here she be:

Again, bad photo quality since I can't edit and it probably took forever to load.  Sorry guys.  Anyway, I used the Healing Wings set from Skipping Stones Design and glittered up the wings and the scallops with my glue pen and glitter.  Thanks for looking today and I'm hoping things will get back to normal in our technology world soon.



My First V-day Card

Hi everybody, how has your holidays been?  I'm actually at my parents right now.  We were lucky enough to get ANOTHER virus on our computer just before we left, so I'm forced to post my card today from my parents house.  So, this will be a quickie.  I wanted to make sure that I played along with this week's Play Date Cafe challenge (you know, sinc I'm part of the DT now starting in January).  This week's colors are wine, bright blue and beige.  I busted out my first Valentine's Day card - better prepare, they're going to be coming your way everywhere. :)  Here's my card for this week.

That's it for today.  Sorry about the picture quality, no editing software.  Hope you have a great day!

A Christmas Eve Poem

“‘Twas The Night Before Christmas” : A Christian version

Adapted from the original by: Jaclyn Miller

‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Two creatures were stirring, dear dad and his spouse.

The bibles were laid by the bedside with care,

As memories of His Word were easy to share.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

With visions of love and kindness in their heads.

And mom and dad kneeled, and said one last prayer

To thank God Almighty for sending his son there.

When from the kids room arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the floor to see what was the matter.

Away to their room I flew like a flash,

Tore open the door in one crazy dash.

The nightlight left glare in the little children’s eyes

Gave the luster of innocence revealed from disguise.

When, what to my wandering eyes should appear,

That these children had reached for the Bible so near.

With wide-open eyes, so lively and bright,

They asked, “Will you tell us that story tonight?”

So, I seated between them and started to say,

How Jesus was born for us all Christmas day.

“Now Mary! Now, Joseph! A donkey and pack!

Started for Bethlehem with home to their back.

Under the night sky and to a far away land,

God would guide them safely with his loving hand.

No inn to stay in put them under a roof

Familiar with prancing of each little hoof.

A stable with horses, sheep, and some hay

Would host the great birth of our King on that day.

He was wrapped in cloth strips from his head to his toe

And placed in a manger for Mary to show.

In a field far away, an angel took flight

To inform some good shepherds of His birth on that night.

His eyes – how they twinkled! His heart filled with love!

His presence on earth a gift from above.

All would soon know of his reason for birth

To help wash away our sins here on earth.

A gift that was so special, He received his own star

That brought three wise kings from a land very far.

Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh they did bring

Gifts of great stature only fit for a King!

Word of this babe spread from nation to nation

So many came to see God’s newborn creation..

When each person saw Him, they knelt down in prayer

And thanked the Heavenly Father for sending him there.

He faced many battles as he grew into a man,

Told parables and stories all through the land.

Saved many lost spirits, and even healed blind

Never with himself in the front of His mind.

He was righteous and fair, a knowing new teacher

People flocked over miles just to hear this bright preacher.

A touch of His hand and a nod of His head,

Gave each person comfort; they had nothing to dread.

This is why children we have nothing to fear

As we celebrate Christmas at this time of year

For on that still night, God gave us a reason

To love one another during this holiday season.

So, when you see candy, stockings, and lights

Or Santa and his reindeer flying in the night.

Think back to Jesus and why He was living

And remember that He is the true reason for giving.

A PRAYER:

Dear Heavenly Father, We want to thank you this year for sending us your one true gift, your son, Jesus Christ.  For, without Him, we would not know how to treat one another.  Because of his example, we know that we must give all the year through.  Thank you for our families and time spent together. Bless all those in need and reach out to those who do not know you this holiday.  Thank you Lord for loving each of us unconditionally.  In your Holy name, Amen.

Wishing you all the happiest of holidays!!!!

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday to Hubby!!!!  I always feel bad for him that his birthday is so near Christmas.  I'm sure those of you who have the same can relate - always receiving gifts wrapped in Christmas paper, Christmas gifts and birthday gifts are combined, and it's always cold and there's never time to do anything fun.  I do my best to make him feel special on his day and to totally separate it from the holidays, but sometimes there's only so much you can do.  It starts with a hand made card.  He has already made it clear to me that I shouldn't spend much time on his cards.  He just doesn't appreciate them as much as some do (I guess gift-giving isn't one of his love languages).  So, his card is pretty simple.  To make it, I used this week's Tuesday Trigger from Moxie Fab World.  Check out these mittens:

My gut instinct was to make a striped card in those colors, but that seemed way to much of a blatant rip-off, so I just decided to use the colors in a different way (notice I still snuck those stripes in).  Check out the card:

My sister will be arriving tonight and returning my son to me too!  I have really missed him these past few days and I think he feels the same way.  As much as I missed him though, it has been REALLY quiet around here.  I guess all of the fighting is between he and his sisters.  When I ask my daughter if she misses him, she says no.  That should tell you something.  Looks like we'll be having a tactful talk about some things.  Oh the job of a mom is so difficult sometimes.  Well, this will probably be my last post until after the holidays.  So, I wish all of you in blog land the bestest holidays filled with many blessings and lots of family love!

Jolly Santa On His Way!

To say the least, my craftiness has been pretty much non-existent this week.  I've been gearing up for the holidays, and honestly, am just ready to throw out the to-do list and start eating as much as I want, drinking as much as I want and living it up with my sis and her fam.  I'm having a hard time concentrating on any one thing.  The great part is that doesn't even have anything to do with presents.  I'm just really looking forward to loving on my family and enjoying each other's company.  So, it was really hard to sit for a period of time and put together this card, BUT I wanted to support the lovely Laurel (and there's a prize up for grabs) and her blog.  Be sure to check out her amazing blog and give this challenge a try yourself.  The challenge was to use this jolly santa image on our project. 

He seemed pretty rustic to me, so I paired him with some kraft and twine.  This IS the last Christmas card I will be making in 2010.  Tomorrow is hubs birthday, so I'm going to try and whip out a card for him sometime today.  Hope you all are having a jolly week yourselves.

Btw, today is the last day for the new designer reveal at The Play Date Cafe.  Have you seen all of the great talent that is going on over there?  If not, be sure to check it out (and get ready for another amazing color combo on Thursday too)!!!

The BIG News!!!

I know the suspense has been killing you.  

The big news I mentioned last week.

The reason I have been grinning from ear to ear.

A reason to celebrate with cookies. (as if I needed a reason)

I will be designing for The Play Date Cafe!!!

Those of you who know me, know how big of a deal this is for me.  I have fallen head over heels for the Play Date Cafe challenges.  They have always been so fresh, challenging, and they have the best DT gals.  Now, I get to be a part of that.  Honored, cherished, delighted, excited and cuckoo are just a few words that describe my response to being offered this spot.  A special shout out to Julie and Sarah for believing in me and giving a newbie the chance to shine.  Be sure to head on over to The Play Date Cafe all week long to see who the rest of the amazing new designers will be.  I can't wait to get started in 2011!

Feeling A Bit Old School

How was your weekend?  Mine went too fast too.  I swear I don't know where the hours go.  Before I know it, it is Sunday night and it feels like I haven't had a single moment to relax.  Luckily it's Christmas week!!!  My kids are on break, so we will have to do some fun things together.  I actually shipped my son off on Saturday night.  I sold him on Ebay and boxed him up.  Ok, I didn't box him up, but I did send him home with my sister so he could spend several days with his cousins.  So, it's just me and the girls this week.  There may be some fun girly stuff in order.  I see lots of nail polish, hair brushes and make-up in my future...and a few Christmas songs on the karaoke.

I actually do have a card to share today.  I made it Friday, but am just now getting to posting it.  This one is for this week's Play Date Cafe color splash challenge.  Yellow.  Ick.  I think the only time I have ever turned to yellow was when my son was born, I painted his nursery that color.  It is definitely NOT one of my go-to colors.  But, I if you make it a little warmer (or closer to orange) then I can handle it a bit more.  So, that's what I did.  Observe:

I went totally old school with this card.  I used an old stamp set from Close To My Heart called "Floral Delights".  The yellow weapon of choice was a CTMH ink called Sunflower.  The technique is even a bit old school.  I pulled out my watercolor pencils to shade that flower.  If you've never used watercolor pencils, they are really neat.  You just color like normal, but then you use a water pen to blend everything together and it makes all of the color more vibrant too.  You can even buy them at Office Max.  Not too shabby.  I think I actually like yellow.  Back in the morning with the exciting news - what could it be? :)

Sending Sympathy (OTWC #38)

Happy Friday!!!  Being Friday, you know what that means?  No, not the weekend.  Well, ok, the weekend IS here, BUT I was speaking of the new Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  You guys are gonna love this one.  The sponsor for this week is Skipping Stones Design.  I was blessed to receive their Healing Wings stamp set last week.  When I chose that set, it was because I had never seen anything quite like it.  The sentiments really struck me.  Fate would have it that just about the time I received it, several of my friends had horrible tragedy strike their families.  I was glad to be able to put together these few cards for them.  First up, this week's colors:

I also put together these cards using the same stamp set:

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  I do hope you'll play along with this week's challenge!  Btw, we will be off the week between Christmas and New Year's.

Hip To Be Square

I wanted to throw up a short post today to share this creation.  I had one of those days yesterday - you know, the ones where you cry about everything (even if it's lame) and nothing seems to go your way?  It really wasn't that bad in hindsight, but when you're knee deep in hormones and emotion, everything seems just plain awful.  Anyway, sometimes when I get that way, I find that if I just sit down and craft, it makes me feel so much better.  So, I did!  I guess I should do it more often because I'm adding this card to my "favorites" list.  Plus, I felt SO much better.  This card uses a few stamps from Technique Tuesday and papers from Cosmo Cricket Togetherness.

Another 2-hour delay for the kiddies this morning.  I can't believe how much snow we've had already this year...the kids aren't complaining!  I do appreciate your visit today, you guys make blogging the bees knees! ;)

Scrapbookin' + ME = Too Much Time

For Christmas this year, we are making all of our own gifts.  I had this genius idea of having each of us sisters put together several pages to compile a scrapbook for my parents (I'm praying they don't actually read my blog to spoil the surprise).  After taking on this task, I'm rethinking that genius part.  I have so much trouble with layouts.  I don't know why, but it just doesn't seem to flow as well for me.  It ends up taking me 4-5 hours to do just one page, sometimes more.  Is that normal?  Anyway, when I was digging through my keepsake box to try and find a picture of my dad, I came across a family photo we had taken at Cedar Point.  You know, those ones where you dress up all western-like and act all serious?  Hi-lar-i-ous!!!  I just had to make a page out of it.  This is what I came up with...5 hours later.

I believe this fits into the current Embellish challenge as well, BUT it's not nearly as beautiful as some of the other pages over there.  (Looks like you'll need to click the image for a better look) Pretty sure Mom and Dad will love it though!

Just a reminder, you still have time to play with this week's pinky colors at Off The Wall Craftiness.  If you find a bit of spare time today, give it a try - there's pretty good odds of winning something fun this week!

Snow Day!!!

Yo.  Well, it's already here - our first snow day - and only from our second snowfall.  I guess the amount of drifting really scared people.  I must admit that as much as I dislike winter, I REALLY enjoy driving in snow.  I grew up in northern IN where we got a lot of lake effect snow and it wasn't uncommon for a good snowfall to accumulate up to 9".  So, I've got experience. 

With my kids being home today, my normal plan of getting groceries flew out the window.  I'm putting them to work on cleaning up the house.  Of course, a snow day wouldn't be complete without 20 minutes of bundling up kids and 10 minutes of actual play.  I just caught my 3-yr old licking the fire hydrant out front.  Awesome.

Since snowflakes seem to be a theme for today, a card for this week's Play Date Cafe challenge with snowflakes on it only seems appropriate (there's actually glitter on the snowflakes and the word happy, but you may have to click the image to see it better).

Supplies: 

Stamps: (Flurry from Technique Tuesday, Holiday Button Bits from PTI)

Ink: (CTMH ocean, moonstruck, grape sherbet)

Accents: (fine glitter, glue pen, rhinestones from Hero Arts) 

Here are the color's this card is based off of:

I REALLY love this inspirational photo - the artwork is gorgeous!  Thanks BonnieRose for sharing.  In fact, I was so in love with it, that I decided to literally translate it into a card...and because I can sometimes be an overachiever, I made two cards instead of just one.  I'm also entering this card into the Moxie Fab World - Card Creations All Occasions challenge.

Supplies:

Inks: (CTMH ocean, moonstruck, grape sherbet)

Accents: (sentiment and dots rub-ons from Technique Tuesday, white button from wander basicgrey, blue floss)

Congrats & Love

Wow, yesterday was such an amazing day for me.  I just love, love, love how you can have one of the worst days ever and then God swoops in with His amazing grace the next day and wraps you in His blessings.  Firstly, I received a happy email stating that one of my projects was accepted for a publication.  I was not expecting that at all as there were over 2000 submissions for only 300 spots.  That's exciting!  Then, I got some other very exciting news that I can't yet share, but let's just say it made my month!

I decided to channel some of that excitement into my creativity and craft a bit.  I had been wanting to participate in the Moxie Fab World challenges from Card Creations week.  I had a few ideas brewing, so I put them to paper.  This first card is for the Love challenge:

The stitches are a set from Technique Tuesday.  I just printed the sentiment on my computer and that heart is made from felt.  I used a mask to create that circle and then filled it with a blue cardstock circle - I'm always roving my desk for round items I can use to trace circles.  It's amazing how many circle-type items of have there!

This next card is for the Congrats challenge:

Ever since I got this swimsuit stamp, I thought it would be great to use as a congrats for someone who had lost a lot of weight.  I know when I lost a bunch of weight, the first thing I had to do was go buy some new clothes and swimsuit shopping was so exciting!

Glad you stopped by today - hope you are off to a great and happy weekend!

Warm Mittens (OTWC #37)

Yippee, it's Friday!  You know what that means, right?  Yep, another Off The Wall Craftiness Challenge!!!  This week's colors remind me of rosy cheeks and red hands since we are having some cold, wintery weather here.  (It was a whoppin' 8 degrees when my kids got on the bus this morn).

Rosy cheeks and hands require the necessary gear - hats, scarves and MITTENS!  My project using this week's colors is a mitten gift card holder. (Don't look at my horrible sewing skills - let's just say that me and curves don't do well together)

I used Flurry and a stitches stamp set from Technique Tuesday.  The sentiment is from PTI.  To create the cuff, I simply cut strips of paper and glued them on in a pattern.  Right-click and save the image below to use the pattern. 

I do appreciate your visit today.  Why don't you give this week's colors a try?  You won't regret it!  Have a great weekend!

Felt Critters

Ahhh, the holidays.  They mean another year is coming to a close.  When I look back, this has been one of the toughest years for us, but yet one of the most amazing.  Tough because my husband took a huge pay cut and we became one of those "check-to-check, live off of savings" families.  But, God has blessed us in so many ways despite financial difficulties.  Take for instance, my paper crafting journey.  I have now been published in a mag AND am on a design team; all while doing something I absolutely love.  That's a treasure, my friends.  We also have been able to keep our home.  Earlier this year, God helped us find an amazing deal that allowed us to get a fully loaded Honda Odyssey (and red to match our house) for only slightly more than our old van (R.I.P. the loser cruiser).  I really could go on and on, but a few others are heat, electricity, running water, health, friends, a new Church, etc.  I have learned a tremendous lesson - even though we have lost many luxuries we used to have, it just means our life has changed.  We must face this new life head on by overcoming challenges and adapting to what God has dealt us at this very moment.  Most of all, we must trust Him for our provision.  As I look back, He always DID provide the things that mattered most.

That said, Christmas looks a lot different for us this year.  In fact, we were not going to have presents for our kids, but God blessed me with a photography job that paid well.  It was time to get creative.  We took the money from that, split it up and drew names within our little family.  Each person got $20 to spend on whatever they wanted.  We liked this because it taught our young ones to both give and receive.  But, I didn't feel right only giving my children one gift.  So, I turned to my God-given talents.  A while back, my youngest got this tiny stuffed dog key chain out of a vending machine.  She ADORED that thing.  When I looked at it, I thought to myself, I can make that.  So, I ventured to the local library for patterns and found this book called, "Adorable Mini Dolls" by Momo-Taro.  I brought it home and set to work.  Look what I made for only $1.50 (granted I had all of the necessary thread, needles and glue already on hand):

Yes, it was a bit time-consuming, but did I mention it only cost $1.50?  I can't wait to see my girl's reactions.  I also found a book called, "Zany Wooden Toys that Whiz, Spin, Pop and Fly" by Bob Gilsdorf.  I'm setting my husband to work on creating a rubber band shooter for my son.  It really is possible to give gifts for little to no cost!  So, for us, we've done whatever it takes to survive and I'm pretty proud of my family for pressing on!

Have a great day friends!

Strive For Greatness!

 "Only those 

          who will risk

                       going too far 

             can possibly find out 

how far 

                 one can go." 

 - T.S. Eliot

I take this quote to heart.  I think there are many times in our lives that we stop short of what could be greatness because we are too fearful of the outcome, it is too much work, or things get in our way.  This year has been an amazing year for me with my hobby because I took the risk and submitted some of my cards to publications.  Friends, I am here to tell you that there is nothing that can stand in your way if you set your mind to it and are willing to step out of your comfort zone!  If you are one of those sitting on the fence, I say, go for it!  Take that risk and watch what happens. :)

Alright, enough preaching.  I actually have a card to share too.  All last week, there were challenges proposed over at The Moxie Fab World to help celebrate Card Creations.  This card is for the birthday challenge. (*Disclaimer: You might need your sunglasses for this one)

I think this card may have been commissioned by God.  When I made it, I didn't really know anyone who was having a 30th birthday, but when my husband came home, he told me that the pastor's wife was having a birthday next week.  Guess what?  She's turning 30! :)  The cake is all paper pieced on this and the rhinestones were colored orange with markers to match.  That oughtta bring some brightness to your day!  Until we meet again...

Yea, Cookie!

A super quick post on this long Sunday (my Colts lost, boo!) to share my "I waited till the last minute" creation for this week's Moxie Fab World Tuesday Trigger.

The Trigger:

My Card:

This ended up being nowhere near what I had originally planned on doing.  Oh well, I think I might've had cookies on the brain today. :)

Red, White & Gifty

Happy Saturday!  I uber love Saturday, although, they just don't seem to pack the same punch as they did when I was in school.  Remember how exciting the weekends were as a kid?  Now, as an adult and stay-at-home mom, the days just all sorta blend together.  But, Saturdays are mindless, so I still love them!  And, it's a full day with the hubs.

A shorty post today to share another Play Date Cafe creation with you.  I just loved the colors from this week so much that I had to do another.  I also thought this would be a great opportunity to use up some of those scraps in my bin.  I went with a gift card holder (based off of a sketch in my coveted Go-To Sketches mag) for this one.

Isn't that star neato?  It is from Jillibean soup.  The star sheet was magnetically attracted to my hand in the store and we couldn't separate.  I was forced to purchase.  There's a bit of distressing on this too.  And how about that faux stitching stamp at the top of the focal?  A fun set from Technique Tuesday.  Well, I hope you have the bestestest Saturday ever!  I do appreciate your visit!

Redband Headband

Weeeelllll, I wasn't gonna post again today, but I was so excited about sharing this project that I just had to.  A few weeks ago, I saw that JoAnn's had these gorgeous red glittered headbands for $1/ea.  I knew that my girls loved wearing them and I thought they would make perfect accents to their Christmas dresses.  But, I wanted to spruce them up a bit with my crafty talents.  When I saw the colors for this week's Play Date Cafe (red & white), I knew this would be a perfect match.  Are you ready?

Ta-da!

A close-up of this flower created using this tutorial by Maile Belles.  The white fabric was from my stash, the glitter tulle from JoAnn's and the middle accent is a fabric button from TPC Studios.

Lucky for me, my cutie-patootie daughter was more than willing to model it for me.  She just has the most beautiful hair!  Heck, she's just plain beautiful! ;)

I can't wait to make more of these and they make great gifts too!  Hope you enjoyed.

King For A Day (OTWC #36)

Yep, it's time for another Off The Wall Craftiness challenge.  I sure am enjoying using each of the unique color palettes that Kim provides.  This week is neutrals and the sponsor is Artful Delight.  I uber LOVE neutrals.  Whaddya think of them cookies?

There are a lot of technique goodies going on in this card!  Firstly, I began by using rolling to create that two-toned damask background.  It was too plain with just that, so I stamped over it with a text stamp.  Then, I sponged the edges.  Wanna know a fun tip?  I was having a lot of trouble finding a brown cardstock to mat with, so I just used kraft and ran a brown marker along the edge to get the shade I wanted.  It matched perfectly...I'm finding that the things you can do with markers are limitless.  So, the fun part of that card, the burlap focal.  I started by stamping the crown and cutting it out to create a mask.  I then attached it to the burlap and sprayed with glimmer mist.  Remove the mask and you've got a great negative!  If you want to learn more about masking, there is an edition of Stamp It! coming out in January with a few projects using this technique.

So glad you could join me today.  Now, give it a try yourself!  I can't wait to see what you guys come up with.

Tagerrific

Today's story - my sore muscles.  Over the past few months, I have been a bit of a slacker when it comes to my exercise routine.  Well, alright, I have been queen of the slackers.  My routine has been non-existent.  In all honesty, a lot of that has been because my focus has shifted to my crafting - I know, it's a great excuse, isn't it?  But, when I don't exercise, I feel like poop and I'm not happy with myself.  So, I bit the bullet this week and broke my Wii boxing back out to try and get back into the groove of it.  Boy was that a big mistake!  If you have any inkling of what it is like when you first workout after a break, you kow what I'm talking about.  Yeah, the "my muscles hurt so bad, I can't go to the bathroom" syndrome.  Every day tasks become difficult.  Then, to top it all off, me thinking I'm pure awesomeness and all, I decided to work out again WITH sore muscles.  I am here to tell you friends that you should NEVER do that.  I literally screamed my way through that work out in pure pain.  Lesson learned.  At least my hands still worked so I could put together some projects to show you today.  Good thing too because I don't know how I could push on without my crafting time. :)

First up - my entry for the Paper Crafts Sketch Challenge.  I pulled back out my supplies from the Wander collection by BasicGrey.  I really like this collection.  It is great for masculine cards.

Next up, a little taggy for a Technique Tuesday challenge over at Splitcoast.  Normally I don't share stuff from over there, but with Christmas nearly upon us, I thought it would be fun to show you guys.

Why yes I DID make myself a new light box, thanks for noticing!  Alright friends, guess what I'm gonna go do - that's right - work out!  Wish me luck. ;)

Crepe Paper Flower

It snowed!!!  Now, normally, I'm a "move south as soon as I get the chance" kinda girl.  But, this morning when I looked outside and saw those giant, peaceful flakes falling, I got a little nostalgic and thought, "If I ever move south, I sure am gonna miss this!"  God sure does bless us with beauty in every season of the year.  That reminds me, my 6-yr old daughter asked me the other day - "What did God make people from?"  Now how is a mom supposed to answer THAT?  I said something like God just clicked his fingers and there we were, but I'm sure that didn't settle her curious little mind.  Amazing what those kids think of.

Yesterday when I was trying to lay down and take a little snoozer (my 3-yr old prevented that from happening with her alertness), my  brain popped out an idea for today's card.  Moxie Fab World is having a birthday card challenge and I had crepe paper on my mind.  So, I thought it might be fun to create a flower out of it.  I must admit that apparently photographing crepe paper is difficult because it is somewhat translucent.  The color and clarity is lost in the photo.  This is definitely one that looks better IRL.  I REALLY need to update my photo box.  Anyway, here it is:

To create this flower, follow the steps in the spiral flower tutorial found here until the part where you start rolling up the flower.  Once the spiral is cut, cover the back with tape and adhere the crepe paper, pleating it as you go.  Once all the crepe paper is attached, then you can begin to roll up the flower.  My son liked this as soon as he saw it, so I think it is a winner!  Thanks for joining me today.

p.s. There is still time to play along with this week's Off The Wall Craftiness challenge - everyone seems to be holiday busy, so there are few entries right now.  That means your odds of winning are pretty good!