I'm back my crafty peeps!
It’s been about a year since my last post (December 2023). Much has happened in that year but 2024 wasn’t the most crafty year other than my Christmas cards for the Blind Spot Animal Sanctuary. This past year I sent out around 200+ cards. I will continue to make and share those cards on this blog and, hopefully, via YouTube videos. I’m hoping to make 2025 a much craftier year. I will continue to make Christmas cards throughout the year but will now include a bunch of thank you cards (explained below) as well as getting back into scrapbooking!
I have been inspired to get back into scrapbooking after learning about a craft company called Elizabeth Craft Designs (“ECD”). ECD promotes all kinds of scrapbooking but seems to specialize in scrapbooking on a smaller scale. Instead of the 12”x12” size format, ECD uses an A5 Journal size and I have to say I really enjoy the size. It’s a very manageable size for me and doesn’t take up near the space my old 12”x12” scrapbook albums. The A5 Journals are about 5” x 9” and the actual pages are only 4.75” x 8.25” and are within the A5 six-ring binders. ECD also uses other smaller sizes beyond the A5 but I really like that size. Each scrapbook page is basically the size of a half a US Letter page. I’m also trying to do a weekly scrapbook page so that at the end of the year I will have 52 pages capturing what I’ve been up to in 2025. Below is the cover page I created for my 2025 journal/notebook. I hope you come along with me on my new scrapping journey! Week One (1) is below too!
The Cover Page below uses paper from Reminiscence, The Book (#8) where I cut out some sentiments included in the paper pack. I distress all the edges with my Black Soot Distress Ink too. Another good way to use up my supplies that I’ve been ignoring (apologies Ranger). I also create a band around the center that uses various stamp sentiments from the Family stamp set using my black ink. I’m also mindful of the fact that I can’t add too many layers to these pages or my journal/notebook will turn into 4 notebooks per year. My plan is to keep 2025 captured in 2 journal notebooks…26 weeks each…keep following and you’ll be able to see if I can follow through with that goal.
2025 Weekly Journal Cover Page
The cover page above is the first page in my 2025 Journal. It will be followed by monthly dividers and a single page per week. Below is Week One (1). In that page I show off a couple of thank you cards I made for Blind Spot donors. I will now be sending out monthly thank you cards to donors along with their donation receipts. And yes, it wasn’t until after I completed the layout that I noticed I used the “may” instead of “my”. Ugh. That’s life…I’ll figure out a fix later….
The paper used here is exclusively from Beautiful Bounty. I think that paper matches the coloring in the photos “beautifully”…ha! I distressed all the paper with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The elements on the tag are pulled and fussy-cut from the Beautiful Bounty paper as well. I cut the number “1” from Stitched Letters & Numbers. I added some stamping using Playful Textures making the distress tag look a little more worn. I added the Crafting bar code stamp from Craft Studio 2 to fill in the space below the tag. I’ve also added some cute hearts to jazz things up a bit. By the way, all supplies will be listed below with a place to purchase them if you are so inclined. I hope you stay with me on this new scrapping journey!
Week One (1) 2025
Supplies:
Stamps: Family (CS195), Magical Moments (CSD381), Craft Studio 2 (CS302), Playful Textures (CS386) (ECD)
Ink: Black Soot Distress Ink, Vintage Photo Distress Ink (Ranger)
Paper: Reminiscence The Book #8, Beautiful Bounty (ECD) Basic Black (Stampin’ Up)
Dies: Reinforcer Variety Pack (1736), Stitched Letters & Numbers (1863), Sidekick Essentials 2 - Original You (1766) (ECD)
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 25!
Day 25 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Diamond Press. Stampin’Up.
We’ve made it to Day 25 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. I’m ending this series with a card I’ve made for my son. He loves spending his free time outdoors and I knew he would enjoy these stamps! This card uses stamps and dies set from Diamond Press called Holiday Merry Camper. I used my alcohol markers to color everything as well as a gorgeous embossing folder of trees to give some dimension to the background (Stampin’ Up).
Supplies
Stamps: Holiday Merry Stamper (Diamond Press)
Ink:Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper: Basic White, Crumb Cake (Stampin’Up)
Markers: Stampin Blends (Stampin’Up)
Embossing Folder: Evergreen Forrest (Stampin’Up)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 24
Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Close to My Heart. Scrapbook.com
Welcome to Day 24 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards! A simple card. No stamps and ink. Just some bright paper and some Pops of Color.
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 23
Day 23 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Gina K Designs. Stampin’Up.
Welcome to the Day 23 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Todays card uses random plaid paper, a simple stamped sentiment and some red pops of color!
Supplies
Stamps: Festive Phrases (Gina K. Designs)
Paper: Real Red and Black (Stampin’Up), Plaid (Misc)
Dies: Festive Phrases (Gina K. Designs)
Embellishment(s): Pearlized Metallic Effects Red (Stampin’Up)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 22
Day 22 of the 25 Days of Christmas.
Welcome to Day 22 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card is a fun candy cane fun fold card.
Supplies
Stamps: Chunky Christmas (CZ Designs)
Ink: Garden Green (Stampin’Up)
Paper: Basic White, Garden Green, Sweet Candy Cane Collection (Stampin’Up) RETIRED
Dies:Sweet Candy Cane Collection (Stampin’Up) RETIRED
Embellishments: Peppermint Bits & Pieces (Taylored Expressions)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 21
Day 21 of the 25 Days of Christmas!
Welcome Day 21 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card features a fun and graphic background stamp set from Tailored Expressions that I have just discovered is retired (apologies). I’m using traditional colors of red and green with a hint of black and lots of layers. All in a fun holiday card.
Supplies
Stamps: Jolly Holly (Taylored Expressions)
Ink: Garden Green (Stampin’Up)
Paper: Basic White, Garden Green and Real Red (Stampin’Up)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 20
Day 20 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards.
Welcome to Day 20 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today's card is bright and cheery. I combine more paper from the Peppermint pad from Scrapbook.com, Stampin’ Up cardstock and a fun, blocky stamp from Tim Holtz (Mini Bold Tidings). I can’t forget to add some of my pearlized enamel effects in Real Red from Stampin’ Up.
Supplies
Stamps: Mini Bold Tiding (Tim Holtz)
Ink: Real Red (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Real Red & Basic White (Stampin’ Up), Misc Pink (Bazzil), Peppermint (Scrapbook.com)
Dies: 2” Circle Punch (Stampin’ Up)
Embellishments: Pearlized Enamel Effects Real Red (Stampin’ Up)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 19
Day 19 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards.
Welcome to Day 19 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card uses some fun holiday paper from Scrapbook.com called Peppermint. I paired it with some Stampin’ Up Pretty Peacock cardstock and coordinating ink color. I added a little pop of pink from my paper stash and added some Metallic Enamel Effects in Silver.
Supplies
Stamps: Misc
Ink: Pretty Peacock (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Peppermint (Scrapbook.com), Pretty Peacock and Basic White (Stampin’ Up), Misc Pink (Bazzil)
Dies: 2” Circle (Stampin’ Up Punch), 2” Starburst shape (Stampin’ Up Punch)
Embellishments: Metallic Enamel Effects Silver (Stampin’ Up)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 18
Day 18 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards.
Welcome to Day 18 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card is all about the pretty snowflakes. One of my favorite embellishments for my Christmas cards. This card uses supplies from my Sparking Winter kit from Crafter’s Companion. It’s hard to tell in the photos but both the navy and white cardstock is all pearlescent. Just extra sparkly. Couldn’t resist adding some Satin Pearl Pops of Color from Scrapbook.com.
Supplies
Paper: Sparkling Winter kit (Crafter’s Companion)
Embellishments: Sparkling Winter kit (Crafter’s Companion); Satin Pearl Pop of Color (Scrapbook.com)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 17
Day 17 of the 25 Days of Christmas featuring Tim Holtz’s Stampendous 2023 stamp set creating a warm and fuzzy card featuring a cute Christmas sweater.
Welcome to Day 17 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card is a bit of a style departure for me. I’m using stamps, ink, markers, an embossing folder and snowflake embellishments. Plus I decided to throw a Memories & More kit from Stampin’ Up in the mix. I typically keep things kind of simple but this has so many layers. Blue is my favorite color so I’m tickled I could use so many shades of it and I’m in love with the snowflake embellishments from Taylored Expressions.
So many fun layers.
Supplies
Stamps: Tim Holtz Stamptember 2023 (Simon Says Stamps)
Ink: Balmy Blue, Misty Moonlight & Basic White (Stampin’Up)
Markers: Balmy Blue Stampin’ Blends (Stampin’Up)
Paper: Basic White, Misti Moonlight, Beary Christmas Memories & More (Stampin’Up)
Embossing: Sweater 2D folder (Diamond Press)
Embellishments: Snowflake Bits & Pieces (Taylored Expressions)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 16
Day 16 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to Day 16 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card uses some 8x8 paper with toppers to create a cute card. This is an example where I used a card topper with coordinating paper and precut sentiment to create a card without stamps and ink. I did pull some Old Olive card stock and a snowflake embossing folder to create a visual break between the topper and the base card. It also serves as a foundation to boost the sentiment so that it doesn’t get lost in the background paper.
Supplies
Paper: Basic White & Old Olive (Stampin’ Up), Misc Patterned Paper
Embellishments: 2D Snowflake Embossing Folder (Misc)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 15
Day 15 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards with the red pickup truck and christmas tree.
Welcome to Day 15 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card uses the old red pick up truck image with the pine tree in the in the back for the center image. The background paper is from my stash. I think it is from a pack from Hobby Lobby (I think its The Paper Studio brand). It’s a red car but was close enough to let me use my Trucking Along stamp set from Stampin’ Up. And I couldn’t let an opportunity to use my Black Gloss Pops of Color go by with the black polka dots in the background paper.
Red, black, white and green make for a great color combination.
Supplies
Stamps: Trucking Along (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Real Red, Garden Green (Stampin’ Up) Memento Tuxedo Black
Paper: Misc - The Paper Studio (Hobby Lobby), Basic White & Black (Stampin’Up)
Dies: Nested Circles (Waffle Flower)
Embellishments: Black Gloss Pops of Color (Scrapbook.com)
Keep it crafty friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 14
Day 14 of the 25 Days of Christmas using Close to My Heart’s Christmas Story Collection.
Welcome to Day 14 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards! Todays card uses more “retired” paper and embellishments from the Close to My Heart Christmas Story collection. Here I use some strips to add interest and a foundation for the die cut sentiment Happy Holidays. I decided to cap off each corner with some Black Gloss Pops of Color. I must admit to being a bit addicted to the liquid drops to add dimension. I use the Pops of Color from Scrapbook.com the most because of the color collection I have amassed. I also like the Nuco Drops and the Metallic Enamel Effects by Stampin’ Up. I whole-heartedly endorse them all!
Notice there’s just a little dimension. Enough to make things interesting but not enough to impact postage…remember all these cards are going to get mailed…no holding cards people!
Supplies
Paper: Christmas Story (CTMH), Basic White and Black (Stampin’ Up)
Embellishments: Black Gloss Pops of Color (Scrapbook.com)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 13
Day 13 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Non-traditional colors create a whimsical Christmas card.
Welcome to Day 13 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card uses some fun (retired) holiday paper from Close to My Heart. I just love the non-traditional colors…especially all the pink! I have added some Satin Pearl Pops of Color to add some soft dimension and the some nesting circle dies to cut out the sentiment.
I encourage everyone to use all the paper in their stash…if you’re like me you have TONS of paper you could use. Holiday cards don’t have to be the traditional green and red…
Love the “softness” of the Satin Pearl Pop of Color. The angle side shows you the dimension. Not too thick that it would impact shipping with a Forever Stamp!
Supplies
Paper: Misc (CTMH)
Dies: Nesting Circle (Waffle Flower)
Embellishments: Satin Pearl Pops of Color (Scrapbook.com)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 12
Day 12 of the 15 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to the Day 12 of the 25 Days of Christmas. Today’s card uses some miscellaneous plaid paper. I find a good plaid is always a good base paper for a holiday or seasonal card and when it comes from a 12x12 paper pad each sheet gives me a foundation for 6 cards! I created the pine tree using a Stampin’ Up stamp set with my Garden Green ink pad. I popped it onto a vellum background so it wouldn’t be as stark as if I would have placed it directly onto the black oval. I used my Waffle Flower Nesting Oval Dies for the foundation of the tree and the Satin Pearl Pops of Color to mimic snow. I added a fun Tim Holtz sentiment from the Scribbly Christmas set below the oval in a coordinating Garden Green ink. Simple but a little whimsical at the same time.
Supplies
Stamps: Scribbly Christmas (Tim Holtz), Winter Woods (Stampin’ Up)
Ink: Garden Green (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Vanilla, Black, Vellum (Stampin’ Up), Plaid (Misc)
Dies: Ovals (Waffle Flower)
Embellishments: Pops of Color - Satin Pearl (Scrapbook.com)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 11
11th Day of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to the 11th day of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card uses some old Stampin’ Up designer series paper with some tree stamps. The colors are Old Olive and Real Red (class Stampin’ Up colors) and has a lot of layers but not extra mats that would add bulk. I did use some random olive colored pearls along the side to mimic the shapes of the trees. I also used a technique called generational stamping. I stamped the original trees in the Old Olive in the center and then continued to stamp the trees without adding more ink on either side of my original stamp. It creates the illusion of depth to the trees. Notice there is no sentiment stamped on the card because the Designer Series Paper in background says it all.
Supplies
Stamps: Misc (Stampin’ Up)
Ink:Old Olive (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Misc DSP, Very Vanilla, Real Red, Old Olive (Stampin’ Up)
Embellishments: Misc olive green pearls
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 10
Day 10 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to Day 10 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card showcases some fun poinsettia dies with rabbits and sparkling silver dots. The supplies are listed below but I do want to showcase how you can mix things from so many different companies to get a cohesive looking card. Special Shout Out to my Love From Lizi peel-offs . I just love them. Here I’ve used them for the center of my poinsettia, as random spots around the card as well as a stripe down the middle. The peel-offs add a lot if sparkle and the look of dimension but no real thickness that would impact my ability to mail this card without extra postage. I call that a win!
Supplies
Stamps: Scribbly Christmas (Tim Holtz)
Ink: Real Red (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Real Red, Garden Green, Basic White (Stampin’ Up), Peppermint (Scrapbook.com)
Dies: Nesting Circles (Waffle Flower), Mini Botanical Dies (Anna Griffin)
Embellishments: Peel-Off Silver Circles (Love from Lizi)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 9
Day 9 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to Day 9 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards! Today’s card uses some paper from the Peppermint Paper Pad from Scrapbook.com and some basic paper that coordinates from Stampin’ Up. I added some fun silver drops from Stampin’ Up and this cards was done. A very simple use of some layered rectangles with a sentiment and some drops of silver make this an easy card with dimension but will not add extra postage when it is mailed.
Supplies
Stamps: Misc (Crafter’s Companion)
Ink: Mint Macaron (Stampin’ Up)
Paper: Peppermint (Scrapbook.com), Basic White & Mint Macaron (Stampin’ Up)
Embellishments: Metallic Enamel Effects Basics Silver (Stampin’ Up)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 8
Day 8 of the 25 Days of Christmas Cards
Welcome to Day 8 of the 25 days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card is a celebration of snowflakes. This card uses supplies from Crafter’s Companion Sparkling Winter kit. I get to use some pearlescent cardstock and some precut edgeable snowflakes. I add a little “Pop of Color” with some white satin pearl from Scrapbook.com. Snowflakes are some of my favorite winter shapes to use on my cards. You will see more designs using this kit later this this month.
Supplies
Paper: Crafter’s Companion (Sparkling Winter Kit)
Embellishments: Scrapbook.com (Pops of Color - Pearl Satin)
Keep it crafty my friends!
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 7
25 Days of Christmas Cards - Day 7
Welcome to Day 7 of the 25 days of Christmas Cards. Today’s card takes advantage of a Memories & More kit from Stampin’ Up. I added some of my favorite embellishments from Tailored Expressions…snowflakes. I hope you enjoy!
Supplies
Paper: Stampin’ Up (Memories & More)(Basic White & Night of Navy)
Embellishments: Tailored Expressions (Snowflakes)
