Friday Sketch

Hope you and yours had a very Merry Christmas! Did you find any crafty supplies in your stocking or under the tree? Perhaps you will have a little paper crafting time over the next few days and get to play with your new toys? 

Over on the Bella Blvd. blog today there's a card sketch for you to try. It's perfect for making thank you cards. I have plenty of those I need to make right about now! :)

I decided to create one last holiday card with the sketch using the Holiday Cheer collection. One of my favorite papers in the line is this candy cane striped one...I think it's the perfect background for Christmas cards! I added a little pompom to Santa's hat for fun and a bit of texture. To make the card extra festive I tied a big grosgrain ribbon bow around it and attached a couple jingle bells with baker's twine. Oh...a bit of glitter is appropriate for the season so I covered that die cut snowflake with some.

To see the sketch and what my talented teammates came up with, click here to go to the Bella Blvd. blog.

How Sweet it Is!

Popping in today to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas! Hope you enjoy this time with your families and friends and consume many sweet treats! I've been doing a little baking and sharing with the neighbors. This year's treats are Russian Tea Cakes (Pecan Balls) and mini Banana Bread loaves. 

It sure is convenient to have crafty supplies on hand to making pretty tags for our baked goody trays. I used Doodlebug's adorable and festive Home for the Holidays collection. 

Here at the Martin house we have a lot of activities planned between now and New Year's Eve so blog posts will not occur daily as usual. But I won't be gone for long because I have a lot more I want to share with you in 2015! 

Scraptastic January Kit Peeks

Ooh la la...I'm excited about Scraptastic Club's new January kits! Would you like a little peek at them? This first one is called Sweater Weather and it's perfect for documenting your winter break and vacation photos. Hopefully it snows here in the Raleigh, North Carolina area so I can create some snowy pages of Christopher! 

Perhaps you're ready to move on from winter with this fresh new kit...This Must Be the Place. I'm lovin' all those awesome wood accents! 

Scraptastic has something for everyone...for those who document everyday life there's the January This Life Noted kit. OMGosh, there's so many fantastic papers and elements in these kits! Makes it super hard to pick just one! 

Not a kit type of person? The Scrptastic's Store is loaded with collections and embellishments from your favorite manufacturers! 

Tagged Tote

Gift certificates and cash are my favorite gifts to give and the Tagged Tote from Reverse Confetti is the perfect way to present them! This weekend we had a family get together and we gave our nieces these filled with money. They're both in their twenties and cash is something they can really use! More than another pair of fuzzy slippers! ;)

The base of this Tagged Tote was created with a metallic silver card stock...I love how it looks like a little metal box! The North Pole Wishes stamps and Confetti Cuts were used to decorate the tote. 

One of our nieces said they would hand their tote on their Christmas tree and the other said she would re-use it by putting a gift card in it and passing it along to another friend. Awesome! I love to make things that can be used again and again! 

Brrrrr!

Even though winter doesn't officially begin until next week, here in North Carolina it 's been winter-like for over a month! It's the perfect weather for sharing this snowy card I created with Reverse Confetti's Seasonal Sentiment stamps and Let it Snow and Circles 'n Scallops Confetti Cuts. 

(Buy Now - $4.99)

 I created the snowy background by cutting the Let it Snow flakes out of the same color Kraft stock as the background, gluing them on and then wiping it with a white ink pad. It creates a cold frosty look that I love for winter card designs. 

Well, today's the big holiday baking day at our house. Sweet smells, warm kitchen and plenty of sampling! 

Ornament

I couldn't resist making another Christmas ornament...this time using some of my favorite Anna Griffin products, Angelic Card Toppers and Holiday Metallic Card Stock. The base of this ornament is a simple wood embroidery hoop from the craft store, some recycled pompom trim and some gold wire ribbon that's been a go to accent for holiday projects for many years. 

This ornament came together quickly and beautifully because Anna Griffin's accents are just gorgeous and already made for you to mix and match and arrange just the way you like. 

You may have noticed the Anna Griffin logo added to my blog a few months ago? I have had the good fortune to be part of Anna's design team, creating projects for her HSN shows. It's been a dream come true to work with her team and such an amazing array of products! Here are a few of the holiday projects I've created recently. 

Both holiday cards were created with the Holiday Traditions Card Making Kit.

To see all the HSN exclusive Anna Griffin craft products, click here. 

What's New Wednesday

Christmas is on it's way! Before long you'll see this jolly guy and his lead red nosed reindeer landing on your rooftop! Today's holiday cards were created with Bella Blvd's festive Christmas Cheer collection, made for this week's What's New Wednesday post. 

(Buy Now - $4.99)

This card says it all...it certainly is a wonderful life! And a wonderful season! 

My talented teammate Jamie Harder created an adorable baking layout for What's New Wednesday that you can view here.

Have a great day! :)

For the Tree

Last Saturday morning I was in the mood to start my day creatively so I made this simple Christmas ornament using scrap card stock and a couple of the latest holiday releases from Reverse Confetti. Here's what I came up with which I thought could also be used for a present tag. 

This Christmas I can't get enough of these Branch Out trees and I've also been drawn to jingle bells, metallic ribbon and glittered paper. I love the way glitter sparkles under the tree lights!