Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas

I hope you're all having a wonderful holiday season and wishing you a wonderful new year! As a teacher this season has been especially busy, helping the kids prepare gifts and holiday items to share with their families. Also I've been battling a cold for well over a month. Luckily I have the next week off so hopefully I can rest up and maybe do some crafting. The card above was made with Kreaxions Punch 312 and Basic Grey Nordic Holiday.

Happy Winter

I hope your holiday preparations are going smoothly. I have some shopping done but not much else. I won't be getting my tree until next weekend but one of the most fun parts of the season is pretty much complete. Making Christmas cards! I used 312to create two different borders for the card above. The top border is technically the "trash" left over when you punch the bottom border, but why let such a pretty detail go to waste. I even added the negative from the border as a snowflake embellishment on the picture card. I love that elements created with Kreaxions punches can add detail and intricacy to cards even when they aren't the focus of the design. Remember punches are one sale and at $11.99 Punch 312 would be a great companion for winter card making this year and every year to come.

Happy Black Friday

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving! For everyone who went black friday shopping I hope you got what you wanted. For my card today I used Punch 311 to make a simple Thanksgiving card. I decided to go with a bit of an unconventional color scheme but I love the way Punch 311 goes with the Stella Rose collections.One way I like to draw attention to the beautiful patterns of the punches is to add gems or glitter.

Lawnscaping Challenge 21

I got my first Lawn Fawn stamp sets about a week ago using some birthday money. I don't usually order scrapping goodies online but I've been eyeing Lawn Fawn stamps for so long and the shipping is quite reasonable so I finally broke down and bought two sets. I treated myself to Critters in the Forest and Critters in the Snow because well her critters are too cute. I used both sets here and created the card for the Lawnscaping Challenge to make a thank you card. I was inspired by guest designer Jennifer McGuire's card that used a snowman since it snowed here even before October was over. I also used Kreaxions new Punch 312 which features snowflakes. Paper is Cosmo Cricket's Mitten Weather.

Circle Cutter to the Rescue

I used to dread and avoid any card sketch that used circles. Before the Kreaxions Circle Cutter, I always cut circles by hand because I had never found a circle cutter I liked. However when I saw this week's CPSsketch I was not intimidated at all. My circle cutter made it super simple and the Crown Punch 611 was a perfect embellishment. I love how the standalone punches can make a quick accent that coordinates with the paper line you're using.

Punches to Match Your Style

Sharing my Kreaxions post from Friday...

With so many great Kreaxions punches to choose from it may be hard to decide which one to add to your collection next. While I love my wide collection of punches I think that some punches lend themselves to particular styles really easily. For instance the punch I used on today’s project (Punch 916) is perfect for vintage and shabby chic styles. Punch 306 is perfect for fun and cute styles and Punch 907is perfect for people who have a clean and simple style. Of course there are punches like Punch 604 which work for every style but matching punches to your style will mean they are well loved and well used. Explore the shop to find other punches that work with your style.

In this post I've added the inside of the card as well. It does not feature Kreaxions punches but has some lovely bird stickers and a pop up feature.

A Special Birthday Card

I wanted to create a special birthday card for my younger cousin who turned 19 on Monday. I fell in love with Trin Harreita's cupcake card when I first saw it and I thought it would be fun to recreate for my cousin. I tried to put a bit of my own spin on it by folding the paper for the cupcake liner and adding a bling cherry to the top for a fun finishing touch. Summer is quickly coming to an end. Next week I'll be finishing up my summer job and then be back at school to start setting up my classroom. Where did the time go?!

Two Cards from One Awesome Prize

I was extremely lucky to win a prize hosted by Sassafras and Vicki Boutin at Moxie Fab that contained the Ellie's Tale line. I love elephants and Sass and so this huge generous prize package really brightened my day last week. I sat down to create with it and made the two cards you see here but also a LO which I might share in the future (so much more work to take a pic of those). One card is made with the CPS sketch and the other with the Card Patterns sketch. You can see that things got a little messy when I tried to add enamel accents to the elephant's eye and I tried to fix is by adding eyelashes but it's still pretty messy. But handmade cards are subject to human error and I think the elephant's cuteness makes up for my mess.

A Card to Share

I created this card with this month's kit from my local scrapbook store Scrappers Cove. Love their $5 kits because you get a great value and a chance to play with things you might not have bought otherwise. This month featured the Twig line from Little Yellow Bicycle. I made this card with last week's CPS sketch.

I recently visited the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA. I got to meet Eric Carle himself and get a few books signed. I loved his books as a kid and love to teach with them still so it was a pretty exciting day for me. I made a quick collage in the museum's studio to share with my kids when we study Eric Carle in the fall.

Mail-able Cards with Kreaxions Punches

Like many of you cardmakers out there I love to send handmade cards. Unfortunately it can be quite expensive to mail them and cards with any dimension often mean a special trip to the post office to make sure you have the right postage and if you mail in a square envelope it will cost you extra as well. I don’t say this to discourage you, but instead because I think Kreaxions punches offer opportunities for us cardmakers to add great detail while still keeping cards easy and cheap to mail. On my card I’ve used Punch 916, Punch 604, and the circle cutter, but have done a fair bit of layering to add dimension without the bulk that requires extra postage. A few other tips for mail-able cards. Faux stitching will keep your card flat and is much faster. Also, I find it best to make a few cards for each occasion that are flat for mailing so that way you don’t have to worry about being inspired during crunch time because mailed cards always need a few extra days to get there. Have fun adding dimension without bulk with your Kreaxions punches!

Clean and Simple Stamping 148

I love the idea of clean and simple cards but I also love to use lots of patterned paper so sometimes its hard to achieve. I have tried with the sketch from Clean and Simple this week. The papers are My Mind's Eye and the stamps are Hero Arts.

Card Patterns Sketch 123

It's been great to have some time off although I do have a part time summer job. But still I have time for scrapping and for catching up on some reading. My card is for the Card Patterns sketch and uses papers from My Mind's Eye. I know that many manufacturers are releasing new lines but there are still ones from last CHA that are new to me like this one that I'm excited to have.

Can't Use Just One

When I started this card I had just planned to use the star template and Punch 305 but unsurprisingly when you have all the lovely Kreaxions products sitting out in front of you it’s hard to use only a few. I wound up layering the punched star template on a circle cut with the circle cutter and then on the base of the card I punched the corners with Punch 916 and punched a butterfly for an accent. I love that their products are designed to work so easily together. I encourage you to play along with our July challenge. On my next post later this month you will see my take on the challenge.

Happy Summer Everyone!

The school year finally ended last Thursday. I loved the experience I had and am so excited to be teaching kindergarten next year but I never did get the hang of maintaining my crafting or my blogging while dealing with the job and commute. I’m hoping some summer downtime will allow me to play along in a few challenges and catch up on some fabulous bloggers. I’m still designing for Kreaxions and you can see some of their fabulous products featured in my cards today but unfortunately I had to leave my spot with Die Cuttin Divas because I just didn’t think I was giving them my best. Anyway, happy summer everyone! I look forward to sharing with you and checking out your blogs.

Just Imagine/Kreaxions Blog Hop

Welcome to Just Imagine Crafts / Kreaxions Punches BLOG HOP

Date: Saturday June 11th 12:01am EST - Sunday June 12th 10pm EST ***all day Saturday and Sunday. Winner to be chosen by Monday PM

That gives you all weekend to join us, blog hop and play along with the amazing DT who are ready to inspire you especially now that we are well into June... kids almost done school, flowers popping, planning those special summer holidays... and our Theme: Summertime ( anything goes) will be so much FUN.

Be sure to have a scrap of paper while you hop to write down the number of your favourite Punch.. when you finish the hop and return to Just Imagine Crafts you get an additional ballot when you list it in the comments section. We would love to hear what you think.

My project for the hop is a simple summer hello card using Kreaxions Punch 913 and the Kreaxions Circle Cutter.

Be sure to join and comment on my blog for a chance to win the punch I used. Punch 913.

Also if you play along and follow our rules for the June Challenge (add link) and post your project this weekend during the blog hop time allotted ... you get an extra ballot to the main draw.

If you didn't start at the beginning of the blog hop be sure to because you don't want to miss out on any of the added fun surprizes.

Order of hop:

1. Just Imagine Crafts

2. Angela

3. Barbara

4. Ginni

5. Jess you are here

6. Linda

7. Lisa

8. Stephanie

9. Valerie

10. Wendy

11. Gina

12. Bev

13. finish at Just Imagine Crafts

Hope you had fun ... we sure enjoyed having all of you visit us. Thanks everyone and have a great weekend.

Now you should go and finish off at Just Imagine Crafts.

A Card from a LO Sketch

Bev provided us with an awesome sketch for the June challenge. Even though the sketch was meant for a LO I adapted for my card. I created this card using Punches 913 and 907 along with my circle cutter. I adore the way 907 adds an ever so subtle touch to the corners of panels. I used the border feature of 913 to create the simple little tabs from the sketch.

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 17

I hoped everyone has enjoyed Memorial Day weekend. This week challenge at Die Cuttin Divas is to use creepy, crawly things on your project! I used Garden of Words cartridge to create this super simple bookmark.

CPS #219

Loved the simple but timeless sketch at CPS this week. I interpreted the sketch wide. Here’s my take with some new to me Sassafras Applejack papers.

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 16

This week at Die Cuttin Divas we want to see some celebration cards! Such as a party hat or a gift cut. My card was created with the Sweet Treats cartridge and features Krexions Punch 907 as well.

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 15

Here's my card for this week's Die Cuttin Divas challenge. This week's challenge is to use a "Masculine" cut on your card! Fishing, ATV's, BBQ, etc... be sure to use masculine colors too ladies! I can't wait to see all your lovely projects this week. Also this week I'm happy to tell you there's a few new additions to the Die Cuttin Diva's DT Team and I encourage you to check out their work on the blog.

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 14

Here is my card for this week's Die Cuttin Divas challenge. The theme this week is travel cuts. I used Cosmo Cricket's Joyride collection for my card. Can't wait to see what you make!

Die Cuttin Divas Challenge 13

Here's my card for the latest Die Cuttin Divas sketch challenge. The blog may be changing hands but the challenges will keep coming and be just as fun so come play along. The punched elements along the card was created with Kreaxions Punch 907 and the little flowers are from Punch 913.

Jingle Belles

As some of you may know this week's challenge at Jingle Belles is mine and so I had a card done a few weeks in advance but I didn't get to play along last week. I was cleaning out my cabinet when I discovered this printed cardstock that was inserted in a bath gift set as part of the packaging and thought immediately of the Jingle Belles recycled challenge. I like the green and the classic design so I cut a simple tag with my Cricut and then layered some stickers and ribbon with the tag to create a simple card. I have enjoyed looking at the cards for this week's challenge so far and know its going to be hard to pick only a few cards to highlight. Remember because the whole idea behind this challenge is I have too many Christmas embellies, I am offering a pack of rub-ons for a random participant.