Coffee and Cross Stitch

Custom Made. | Papercraft.

How how how how HOW is it August???  HOW.

I saw this in Michaels on Friday and wept.

I mean, I get it.  We crafters have to stay a season ahead, and I tend to stitch Christmas things year-round which is ironically ok in my brain, but for some reason, when the Halloween decorations and crafts start hitting the stores mid-summer, I lose my shit.  Next week, I'll be seeing Christmas ribbon when it's still 105 degrees outside, and I'll end up crying & rocking in a corner of the store.

Anyhooter.

Know what's fun to do when you're still crying inside after leaving Michaels and all the Halloween paraphernalia, and because you know the Christmas nonsense will be hitting stores sooner than you care to admit ("ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS IS YOUUUUUUUU!!!!!"  You're welcome.), and then the dead of winter latches on and makes you want to just hibernate with boozy hot chocolate (or, let's be honest, just booze...like hot toddies on tap...) until it's July?  Make custom crafts for your friends that are not holiday themed.

One of my friends saw a banner on etsy that she was going to get for a bridal shower for which she's one of the planners, and asked me if I could make it for her instead.

Um, of course I can do that.  It gives me a reason to take my Cricut out for a spin, and also do a little distressing, which is my newest favorite thing to do.  My other newest favorite thing to do is prettify my planner, but that's a story for another day.  

So, I asked Erin to send me a pic of what she wanted, and asked what the bride's colors were, and got to work.  

Well, first I got the plague...so I got to work once that ran its course.

Ahem.

Banners are quite possibly the simplest things to put together, yet they really can make a huge difference in your party decor.  It's always the simplest things that are best, isn't it??

With my trusty kraft paper and purple and orange to work with, I had a blasty blast putting this banner together.  Because, purple wins.  Always.

How cute is that lil' saying?!  

Ok, so, first I distressed the edges of the square backings - 

Then, I used my Cricut to cut out the letters and hearts and just glued 'em on the kraft squares - 

I sanded the surface once they were dry to give it a little bit of a rustic look.

For some reason, the one thing I could never figure out with all the banners I've made previously, was how to keep the pieces of the banner attached to the twine, and used all kinds of methods to keep them attached.  Then, the other day, it hit me:  HOT GLUE.

DUDE.  DUH.   

I cannot even explain to you how much that revelation changed my life.

Stupid cute, amiright?! 

Happy Tuesday, friends.  Make it a good one, and keep the fresh coffee brewing.

COFFEE. COFFEE. COFFEE.

It's no secret I have a love affair with coffee.  I used to drink so many lattes, I named my blog after that obsession.

Over the last year or so, I've gotten back into stamping since I've been making my Christmas cards and keeping project life album.  Stamps are a quick way to add a little bit extra on a filler card, but not so much that it becomes overwhelming.

I'm also a huge fan of Tim Holtz's work - he does some really incredible things with ink and paper, and his mixed media creations are absolutely out of this world.  When you get the chance, check out the stuff he makes. Seriously.  It's incredible.

Tim has a line of stamps with Stampers Anonymous (and also designs and teaches for Ranger Ink), and my favorites of all of them are the holiday themed ones (the stamp I used on my Christmas cards this year was from one of his sets).  

Until this year, when a set from the blueprint line came out dedicated to coffee.

Yes.  You heard me correctly.  

Coffee.

Naturally, I needed to get my hands on a set.  I mean, hello.  Coffee stamps.  It's an obvious need.

I had a gift card that I somehow never used and found when I was unpacking, which clearly was destiny.  This gift card was meant to be used for these stamps I so desperately needed.  And yesterday, they came in the mail.

I ripped open the package, and ran to my craft table to try them out.  I grabbed PL cards that were relatively plain and could use a little somethin' somethin' and went to work.

You better believe I'm going to be using these stamps on EVERYTHING. 

Prettified notebooks. | Papercrafting.

And just like that, it's March.

Not only is it March, but we're a week in already, and we just lost an hour.  I will let you know when that is ever ok.  Especially this past week, when I seem to have gone from unable to stay awake to completely and totally incapable of falling asleep.  Thank you, Lyme disease and adrenal fatigue.  I see a nap in the very near future.  Hopefully.  Maybe. 

Aaaaaaanyhooter.

It's Sunday!  Let it be a lazy day, shall we?  The snow will be melting around here, thanks to predictions in the 50's for most of the week (with one day in the 60's!), and I'm just really hoping that spring is, in fact, right around the corner.  Winter is always rough for me; it wreaks havoc on my body, and I'm through with it.

Yesterday, I got my scrapping mojo back, and decided to stop hoarding paper and make something to make the day a little brighter, since it's still pretty damn cold out there.

For Christmas a year or so ago (probably more, because, you know...hoarder...), as part of my gift, my sister got me a few sheets of gorgeous fine paper from Paper Source.  It's seriously gorgeous.  So pretty, I would unroll them all, just to look at them, ponder about making something with one of them, and then roll them up again, not wanting to ruin the perfect rectangle by cutting them all up to use in projects.  Which is totally normal.

After having to pack up and move my entire craft room this winter, I decided it's high time I quit that nonsense and use the damn stuff already.  My sister didn't get me that paper for it to be just looked at, she wanted me to use it!  

This week, after having a few meetings to go to, and hating the wide-ruled (which, ugh - can't it at least be college-ruled?? seriously.) Gov't issue notepad the size of my entire arm that I had to use, I decided I needed something way cooler than that to have with me to take notes. Not wanting to spend any money on something like this, I went rooting through my stash to see what I had in order to make something.  I found two Moleskin kraft notebooks I'd totally forgotten I had (they come as a set of three...so god only knows where the third one is...), which are perfectamundo for this project, and unrolled those fine papers my sister got me for Christmas all those years ago.

And because I want you to be able to make your own gorgeous notebooks everyone will be jealous of, I'm gonna show you what I did.  It's wicked easy.  Ready?  Here we go.

Take the notebook, open it up, and lay it face down on the wrong side of the paper.  Trace the outline of the notebook, and then cut about 1/2 inch - 1 inch outside the traced line.

Using a paintbrush, quickly brush Mod Podge all over the cover of the notebook (I had to work quickly, so I couldn't take a snapshot of this stage.)  Carefully place the traced and cut paper on top of the Mod Podged notebook spine, and smooth out both sides from the center.  The edges of the paper will hang over the edges of the notebook.  Let it dry for a few minutes.  This shouldn't take long - Mod Podge dries relatively quickly.

Once it dries, flip it over, so the front or back flap is showing.  This is the back flap.  Cut the overhanging paper at the spine and at the corners, so you can easily flip it up and over to glue it down.  Since this particular notebook has a pocket in the back for hiding super-secret-on-the-down-low stuff, I had to make sure I also made a cut at the top to allow me to tuck the overhanging piece under the pocket, so the pocket could remain open.  

Do the same thing on the front flap, until the entire book has the overhanging edges secured on the inside.  If you're making more than one notebook, like I did, just repeat the process.  Both books took me a total of 30 minutes.  For realz.  It'll take a few extra minutes if you choose to also cover the inside flaps of the notebook.  I wan't really concerned about having them covered, so I decided to just cover the outside for this project.

Below is a shot of the back of the finished book on the left - this paper was made from strips of various fine papers, so the front is different from the back.

Now, this paper is pretty enough to have that be the end of the project.  But, we all know I can't let it end there.  I didn't want to do anything that would be overboard, but I wanted a little something extra on these books.  So, I got out my Versamark ink pad, my "j" stamp, and my favorite gold embossing powder.  I stamped the "j" on front, embossed, and viola! You can see the "j" on the above pic, in the lower right-hand corner.  I did this on both.  Took all of 1.5 minutes to stamp and heat emboss.

Then, on the inside, I decided to stamp only on the first page from a roller stamp from Kate Spade I got a while back (WAY more than I ever spend on stamps like this, but I loved the sentiments, so I splurged...):

Simple.  Awesome.  Total win.  People will be totally jealous when I show up with these beauts to boring meetings.  

That's it, friends! Two gorgeous notebooks that took a mere 30 minutes!  And they're totally personalized, and the best part - they're in my favorite color.  Purple.

I hope you have a fabulous Sunday, and that you're able to find time to create something today!

What a whirlwind. | Scrapbooking

And just like that, it's December 30th.  Christmas is over, and we're gearing up for the new year.

2014 is gonna go out with a bang, and 2015 is gonna be wicked awesome.  You heard it here first.

But, before we get that clean slate on 1 January, here's a peek at my full December Daily album.  I had a lot of fun making this album, mainly because I decided to stop hoarding all my Christmas paper and embellishments.  They're not doing any good laying around in my bins, so I did the best I could to use most of what I had for this project.  I'm actually really, really proud of myself - I didn't buy any new Christmas paper before OR after Christmas.  THAT takes an insane amount self control, my friends.  Hooooo boy.

I'll start where I left off in my last post about DD --

Day 9:  kiiiiinda lame, since I have no pic for that day, but I like the tree printable on the facing page...

Days 10 & 11:  Day 10 is from the Anthropolgie store in Rittenhouse Square.  It's one of my absolute favorite buildings of all time - they kept most of the original architecture intact from this house when they converted it to a store.  It's absolutely stunning inside.  I took this from the ground level floor, looking down to what used to be the kitchen in the basement, where they have their  home goods section.  Day 11 is the gigantic tree in the Liberty II building in Center City, one of my favorite trees to see each year.

Days 12 & 13:  I'm eh about Day 12, but what can ya do.  I may switch this up, I may not.  The pic I chose is the light show from the old Wanamaker's building - now Macy's.  Day 13 is the wreaths in the arches at Macy's, which are in the area of the light show.

 Days 14 & 15: Day 14 is of the tree and the tops of some of the shops in the Christmas Village in Love Park, right outside City Hall.  Day 15 is a snap of the handmade gift tags I made for all the gifts this year.  Just a simple stamp on a kraft tag (that I cut out using my Cricut, but you can use pre-made tags) that says "I'm dreaming of a white christmas" with red glitter embossing power, and red baker's twine.  Boom.

Days 16 & 17: Day 16 is all about the Santa display at Pottery Barn.  I wanted everything on that table.  Day 17 is a little stitching I've been doing when I should be doing 47 thousand other things.  (yes, i stamped directly on that photo of my stitching - Staz-on ink works on any surface!)

Day 18:  Day 18 gets a two-page spread.  It's the day my nephew was born! I'm an honorary aunt to many of my friends' kids, but this time I'm an aunt to my sister's first baby!  Welcome to the world, Carrick James!

Days 19 & 20:  Day 19 is when I was able to see the baby - the day he was born, I didn't get the chance to see him, but when I went back the next day, I was able to see him and hold him for a while.  Day 20 is the ornament I made for him for his first Christmas.  It's a Prairie Schooler design, from the Christmas Tree Farm chart.

 

Days 21 & 22: Day 21 is a snap of a house in my neighborhood whose lights are the rosary, and they have a manger scene below.  I've never seen anyone do anything like this, so I had to get a snap.  Day 22 is a snap of the cards I made this year.

Days 23 & 24: Day 23 is hot chocolate and White Christmas.  The best Christmas movie ever.  I have to watch it at least 46 times during the Christmas season, including on Christmas Eve.  Day 24 (Christmas Eve) is a pic of the altar at my parish church before the vigil mass. 

 Day 25: My mom and I went to my sister's house this year for Christmas, since it was only a week after the baby was born, and that way she didn't have to go anywhere, especially since she's not supposed to take the baby out in the cold.  I took a quick pic of the tree and mantle and of the table, and she sent me the one of my bro-in-law with the baby in his Christmas bib. The facing page is a quote from one of my favorite Christmas movies - Christmas Vacation - and I thought it needed a place in this album, so I used it as the final page.  Clark's freak out is so great.  My other favorite line?  "Why is the floor wet, TODD?"  "I don't know, MARGO."

That wraps up my December Daily for 2014!  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas (if you celebrate)!!!  What are some of the traditions you have?  Did you do anything new this year for Christmas?  Did you do any Christmas crafting?  

 

This month is already flying... | Scrapbooking

It's hard to believe we're already at 8 December already.

I mean, really.  There are only 17 days left till Christmas!!  I need to start binge watching my Christmas specials.  I still have some saved on my DVR from last year - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas (anyone else remember that one??  The one where the clock stops and the mouse and the clockmaker have to fix it so Santa knows it's Christmas????), The Grinch (the original cartoon, not the Jim Carey version), It's a Wonderful Life....I need to watch them ALL.

I also need to watch White Christmas as many times as humanly possible in the next 17 days.

Each day has kinda flown by, but I have managed to keep track in my December Daily album.  Much of it routine, but that's ok. 

Day 3 was just a day where I didn't feel particularly like I needed a photo, so I journaled what I was feeling.  There are some pretty awesome things happening this Christmas season, so I took this time just to jot it down in my album.  I also got my first Christmas card last week - I decided this year that, instead of saving my cards in a separate album, I'd incorporate them into my DD album as I get them.  Much easier that way.  Day is kinda hidden...because I forgot to slide the card over and take another shot...(sigh)...but it was the day I sat in Starbucks and wrote out all my Christmas cards.  (yes!  they're out! they're mailed! i can barely believe it myself!! check your mailboxes!!)

 

Days 5 and 6 are just foundations pages at the moment.  Day 5 has journaling for that day, but I didn't print out the picture I wanted for that slot up top.  Same goes for Day 6 - I have the pic, just didn't print it yet.

Day 7 was all about this PHENOMENAL gingerbread cake I made.  I was busy cleaning and purging and gathering clothes to donate to Purple Heart, and took a break for a smidge to bake.  I'd been craving gingerbread for days, and I decided to just give in and bake.  I much prefer darker gingerbread, and was skeptical of this recipe when the batter turned out pretty light.  However, it baked up super dark and moist, and OH.MY.GOD is it good.  I made it gluten-free, saved a couple pieces for myself, and took the rest to work.  There is no way I can allow this to stay in the house.  It would've been completely gone by now had I not cut it up and put it on a plate to bring into work.  Also, it's iced with a cream cheese frosting.  Next time, I'm making a chocolate frosting for it.  The thought of that....I can't even. (if you want to try your hand at this beyond delicious gingerbread, the original recipe can be found here on Joy The Baker's website)

Gingerbread is seriously one of my favorite things....ever.....

That's all I have for now!  This week should fly by as well...one of our work Christmas parties is this Thursday, which is always a good time, so we'll all be anticipating the celebration!

How is your Christmas season so far??  Have you done any baking?  Have you put up your tree?  Do tell!! :-)

 

December Daily: Day 2

Well, I'm already a little behind, but that's ok.  I have photos mapped out for yesterday and today, so at least I'm on track to being somewhat up-to-date.

Here's Day 2:  I spent the bulk of the night sewing a nursing cover for my sister.  I promised her one as part of her baby shower gift, and was so busy getting other things ready for the shower, this project was a victim of me running out of time.

 

While I sewed, I had "Charlie Brown Christmas" on tv in my bedroom.  Somehow, I always miss the airing of this special every year, but my mom reminded me, so I put it on while I worked, AND set my DVR.  I refused to miss it this year!  I found this printable of Linus's speech, which I resized to 5x7, and put in a 5x7 Project Life protector.  Perfect addition to the day, and a reminder of one of my all-time favorite Christmas specials.

So, that's Day 2.  

I also changed my cover page - I didn't like the 4x6 I originally had in there.  

There's a moose now.  Much better.  

December Daily: Day 1 | Scrapbooking

I am seriously determined to keep up with this album this year.  Seriously determined.  Having a photo printer this go-around will hopefully help with that.

Yesterday was your regular run-of-the-mill Monday.  Nothing crazy to report.  I did continue working on a few projects, including making envelopes for my Christmas cards.

I haven't gotten to fill in the squares on the facing page yet, so I just put squares from the scraps after I made the envelopes for my Christmas cards.  Making envelopes might be my new favorite thing to do.  Ever.  I got the templates from Paper Source (same place I got the envelope liner templates which are also super fun to use), and the Cavallini paper I used I got after Christmas last year when it was super cheap.  Since I didn't make each card different this year, I decided to make a few fun envelopes instead.  Totally worth it.

The 3x4 cards up top are from Project Life (left) and Stitch In Time (right).  The stamp set I used for the #1 on the card on the left is from Cavallini.

Tea was close at hand last night...it was a dreary night as we wait for some cold air to come our way.

Hope you all had a great start to your week!  Are any of you doing a December Daily album this year??

23 DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The Christmas season is officially here! | December Daily

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

This year, I ventured to NYC for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Why, you ask?  Simple.  My friend, Matt, was marching in the parade as a member of the Madison Scouts. He was one of 426 participants, made up of current and alumni members, to march in this event.

The Madison Scouts Drum and Bugle Corps was one of the groups that marched down 7th Avenue, around Columbus Circle, and down Broadway to Herald Square.  And guess what else?!  They were the group RIGHT IN FRONT of Santa, so they essentially escorted him to Macy's!!  

HOW COOL IS THAT!!!

This video doesn't do justice to how absolutely incredible the brass players are in this corps, but this is what was broadcast on tv (they played Christmas songs as they marched down to Macy's, but this is all that was captured for the broadcast....)

 

I mean, COME ON.  Those screaming trumpets!!!  I can't.  

Here's them at rehearsal, standing still, playing the cadence and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town":

 

Seriously.  So. Much. Fun.

This event, naturally, had to mark the beginning of my December Daily album.  This year, I am determined to keep up with it better than in the past.  Determined.

The December Daily is intended to be just the days leading up to Christmas and then Christmas day (1-25 December), but I like to include the entire Christmas season, which starts (in this case) with Thanksgiving Day.

Here are is my album so far ---

 

I'm not sure how I like the 4x6 title, so I may end up changing that, but I do like to keep things simple.  The top left is from a Heidi Swapp value pack with embellies from My Mind's Eye, and the right is a pic I took when I was in Chestnut Hill on Wednesday morning, before I headed up to NYC.  It was too awesome with the holly boughs and the pup sitting outside Starbucks, waiting for his owner.

For this spread, I used the Merry Christmas letterpress plate from Studio Calico, a quick pic on the train, and 2x2 instas from the parade (i printed all these pics on my Canon Selphy 910, which is a great lil' printer for projects like this, so you can instantly add photos to the album.).  Unfortunately, I couldn't get close enough to the parade itself to snap pics of the Scouts as they went by, but since the balloons are enormous, I was able to get snaps of some of them.  I still have to do simple embelishments for the red squares, but I left it as-is for the moment, and hopefully tomorrow I'll be more inspired to get my stamps and embellies out to finish this page.

That's it, folks!  December Daily is officially started!!

How was your Thanksgiving?!  Have you started any of your Christmas season festivities yet?!!?

Baby Shower Goodies

My baby sister is having a baby! 

Naturally, I had to outdo myself, and make everything for the shower.  

Ok, not literally everything...but close.

First up:  the invites.  Why buy them when you can make them, amiright??  Especially when you don't know the gender of the baby - much easier to make non-gendered things than try and buy them.

I went to my local Paper Source, and picked up some mint green flat cards and envelopes, plus fine papers to line the envelopes.  (If you haven't tried lining envelopes, you totally should)  I also used a cutie stork stamp I got from there to put a simple flourish on the bottom.

How cool is that Color Box stamp pad!!  It matches almost perfectly to the paper I chose.  Awesome.

That liner paper!! GAH.  I can't get enough.  

The invites were super simple and easy to make - since I was using Paper Source paper, I went online and found their templates for printing inviations at home (You could use their templates with other paper, you'd just have to scale it to what size paper you're using, if the dimensions aren't exactly the same.). You can buy blank invitations from them and print at home, so they have Word templates to account for paper size and margins, depending on what design you got.  I used this one, since it was closest to how I would be stamping the image on the bottom of the invite.  I typed in all the info, hit print, and viola.  Then, I stamped the image on the bottom, and embossed it with clear embossing powder to give it a little something extra.

I stamped each one on the back with my Kelly Purkey stamp, and signed and dated them all.   

Perfect.

Next up: the favors.

In my mind, favors must be useful.  Or, they should be food.  Chocolate is usually a winner, but in this case, since it's fall and I have serious problems when it comes to great ideas and underestimating how long things take to make...I decided making apple butter and apple cranberry jam was the way to go.

I know, right.  Delicious.

So, I got 4 oz Ball canning jars, made the recipes, then hot bath canned them.  That way, people don't have to feel pressured to eat them right away.  Using scraps from cutting the white paper for the invites, I made little "thank you" tags for each jar.

Super simple little tags stamped with this expression stamp, hole punched, an eyelet smashed on, tied it with some twine, and boom.  Favors. 

Delicious favors.

They all went into baskets at the shower for guests to grab on their way out the door when the festivities were over.  

Each basket had a tag, so you knew which one you were grabbing.

 Um. So. Do you see that sideways "L"???  Yeah.  That's what happens when you pick up the letter stamp, and swear it's going the right direction, but it's not.  Then, your almost uncontrollable OCD freaks the f out, and you begin a panicked search for more blank tags.  Unable to find any, you decide if anyone even notices, you'll say you did it on purpose - it is a baby shower, after all, and it's cute to make stuff look baby/kid-ish.  If that makes sense.  You know, like when I used to write my "J's" sideways when first learning how to write my name.  Now I just stamp letters sideways for effect.  And to drive myself insane.  Literally.

So, there was a sideways "L" on the tag at the shower.  And now you know the story behind it.   Just in case anyone asks.

Ahem.

Lastly:  the dessert table.

 

Hello, sugar coma.

Cookies.  Pumpkin cake.  Pumpkin bread.  Luscious cake balls that my lovely friend, Angela, volunteered to bake.  Scones.  Maple cakelettes.  

Homemade baked goodies overload.  I think I'm done baking for the entire year.  My mom and I baked everything on that table, with the exception of Angela's cake balls.  

I made the cards to label the goodies, too.  Glitter pumpkins are all the rage.

 Glue stamp pads make using glitter SO much easier for stuff like this.  You use the stamp on the glue pad like you would a regular ink pad, stamp the image, then pour glitter over it, and tap off the excess.  Let dry.  Glitter pumpkins abound.

That's it for the shower goodies I made.  I have a few tricks up my sleeve for when the baby arrives, but until then, the projects are super-secret-on-the-down-low.  

Have any of you done any handmade things for showers or parties?  What did you make?? 

Photobooth!!! | Scrapbooking

First, let me apologize - Typepad was down for most of the past week, and it's only now that I'm able to do this post.  Thanks for bearing with me and hopefully there won't be any issues anymore!!!

Last night I (finally) felt like I needed to bond with my craft room and do some scrapping.

I've had these photobooth strips chillin since Ang & Joe's wedding...back in October.

Yeah.  I know.  A solid 8 months ago.

Procrastination is what I do best.  

I decided for this layout (which is a bare-bones take on a Studio Calico sketch) that I'd let the photos tell the story.  

The back is black heavy cardstock, splashed with Heidi Swapp Color Shine in Bronzer.  I used a Studio Calico gold camera, Teresa Collins "smile" chipboard element, Prima flowers, and heat embossed a Tim Holtz stamp on the journal card.

My friend, Erin, is the creeper from Blair Witch in that bottom photo.  You may remember her photobomb from my sister's wedding.  She's a bit ridiculous, and I love her.

Erin also convinced the guy at our table with the gigantic handlebar moustache to go into the photobooth with us.  It.was.awesome.  

Apparently the more I drink, the more I want to wear fedoras.

I kinda love fedoras.  I wish I could pull that look off on a normal day, not just in the photobooth with Wyatt Earp.

Congrats, again, to Angela & Joe - your wedding was beautiful & we all had a blasty blast at your reception.