Projects 170-189: Spring Organization is Nigh!

So, I invoked Murphy in my last post. BIG mistake!!! He always listens... like a creepy stalker!
Since my last post, I've attend one conference, two dance classes, three Easter celebrations in three different cities, and worked full time as usual. We also had a very early (but healthy!) addition to the family, our nephew David was born on April 29th - I think he really wanted to see the Royal Wedding!

Needless to say, I haven't had much time for crafting over the last two weeks! I'm also in big trouble in regards to the new baby - not only haven't I finished his projects, I hadn't started them yet! (Give me a break, he was a month early!)

Today has been a bit better for crafting, and for the world in general (If you don't know what I'm talking about, you need to go look at the news right now!). I've managed to finish off a couple of projects, and get ready for my class that I'm teaching next week. If you're coming, you can preview the cards on my Flickr account (I've denoted class projects below).

170 - Spring Flowers Frame (I had no spring decorations, I do now!)
171 - Letter to Dad (You won't see a photo of this project, my partner wrote a letter to his dad for his 70th birthday, and I suped it up with My Digital Studio (C) and made it all pretty. But it's pretty personal.)
172 - Bulletin Board/Ribbon Holder (A labour of love - this project took me a while to get from planning to complete, but I love how it gets all of my ribbon off of my workspace!)
173 - Summer Pinwheel Card (Class Project)
174 - Made in Canada Card (Class Project with embossing)
175 - Flower Punch Card (Class Project)
176 - Wedding/Anniversary Card with 3D Flower (Class Project - see image above)
177 - Sail Boat Father's Day Card (Class Project)

Projects 178-189 are an organizational project to help me keep track of every one's birthday! Each month was it's own project, and all birthdays are in pencil so the lists can be added to over time.

178 - January Birthdays
179 - February Birthdays
180 - March Birthdays
181 - April Birthdays
182 - May Birthdays
183 - June Birthdays
184 - July Birthdays
185 - August Birthdays
186 - September Birthdays
187 - October Birthdays
188 - November Birthdays
189 - December Birthdays

Keep Crafting!
Lindsay

Projects 54-79: Oh Christmas Tree!

Wow. There are a lot of projects in this category to be posted! It is December after all, and I love Christmas!

These projects are mostly Christmas cards, but there are also a few other items such as homemade wrapping paper, gift tags, and of course my Christmas Tree!

Some of these cards were made at various stamping events, and so some of them are not my design. I have noted the items that I did not design (but totally assembled myself!) on each photo in Flickr.

So, ready for the holidays?

54 - Christmas Tree (Easy to Difficult - your choice!)
55 - Wrapping Paper (Easy)
56 - Martha's Holiday Card (Medium)
57 - Homemade Tags (Easy)
58 - Jacob's Ladder Gift Card Holder (Hard - this one takes practice!)
59 - Lacy Christmas Card (Medium)
60 - Dasher Card (Easy)
61 - Happy Holidays Card (Medium)
62 - Green Bow Christmas Card (Medium)
63 - Rudolph Card (Easy)
64 - Christmas Treats Holder (Easy)
65 - Christmas Tags (Easy)
66 - Sparkly Tags (Easy)
67 - Joyful Tags (Easy)
68 - Snowflake Napkins (Easy)
69 - Warm Winter Wishes (Easy)
70 - Fancy Tags (Medium)
71 - Tree Gift Tag Holder (Easy)
72 - Season of Sweetness (Easy)
73 - Layered Christmas Card (Medium)
74 - Wrapped in Joy Card (Easy) * See image in post
75 - Snowflake Card (Easy)
76 - Peek-A-Boo Holiday Card (Easy)
77 - We Three Trees Card (Easy)
78 - Joy Card (Easy)
79 - Layered Christmas Tags (Easy)

Whew!

I'll keep trying to post every couple of days with the other projects as I complete them.
Feel free to harass me if I don't update this page on a regular basis!

Happy Holiday Crafting!

Projects 48-53: A Bit of Randomness

There are just some projects that don't easily fit into any specific category. Kind of like people!

Some of these projects were made with a particular purpose in mind - like the scraps bag, which I bring to all of my workshops so that we can put our little bits of trash into something without getting adhesive backings all over the house!

Others, like the star card, were made without a specific purpose or recipient in mind, but allow for a little bit of experimentation! (Nothing wrong with experimentation in crafting, it's only paper after all... just be careful with your glitter...)

So, here's a little list of random creations:

48 - Leigh's Grad Card - my brother just graduation from med school... scary! (Easy)
49 - Sunny Thank You (Medium) * See image in post
50 - Thanksgiving Place Cards (Medium)
51 - Scraps Bag (Easy)
52 - Star Card (Easy)
53 - Flower Napkins (Easy)

Keep Crafting!

Projects 44-47: The Sweet Stuff

These projects were designed as part of a romantic weekend away that I planned for my boyfriend for his 40th birthday this year, and for our 3rd Anniversary What can I say? I love him!

Here they are:

44 - Anniversary Card (Easy) * See image in post
45 - No One Like You (Easy)
46 - Please Bring... (Easy)
47 - Ten Things (Easy)

Be sweet to your sweetheart!

Projects 30-38: Happy Birthday!

Ah birthdays... in my family they tend to come in clumps. About half of my immediate family has a birthday in December as well as a couple of my friends. The others have managed to group themselves in March, May, and October. I refuse to have kids in any of those months, especially December!

Ahem.

So, birthdays are a big deal, and making birthday cards is a lot of fun! My difficulty seems to be making "boy" oriented cards (not little boys, they're easy, it's the grown up boys that are difficult!)

Here's the list of Birthday related items that I've finished over the last little while. I've put the relative difficulty of the projects in brackets beside the titles. Don't forget, all of these items have a picture on Flickr that you can see!

30 - Sue's Birthday Card (Medium) * See image on this page
31- Wine Bottle Birthday Card Holder (Medium)
32 - Aunt Liz's Birthday Card (Easy)
33 - Bold Birthday (Easy)
34 - Striped Birthday Card (Medium)
35 - Birthday Gift Card Holder (Medium)
36 - Birthday Wishes Card (Easy)
37 - Cake! (Easy)
38 - Teeny Tiny Birthday (Easy)

I still need to make one more birthday card for this month... sigh.

Day 4: Little Notes of Thanks

Okay, before I even start talking about crafts, I have to say the coolest, most serendipitous thing happened to me today! I spent the morning shopping around Toronto, and stopped into the Worlds Biggest Book Store (I'm a librarian, how could I not?). Anyway, as I was deciding which books to put back and which ones were actually coming home with me, I noticed someone in a corner signing a cart of books...

Now earlier, I'd noticed said cart of books, and by whom they were written - and there he was, Mr. Cory Doctorow, signing a bunch of books for the bookstore to sell, and no one there the wiser!! So there I was, very fortunate to meet Cory, and tell him how much my teen book club enjoyed Little Brother, which won an Ontario Public Library award last year. If you haven't read any of Cory's books, please proceed to your nearest book store or library and pick one, any one!!!

Ahem, right, crafty stuff...

Have you ever had a thank you gift for someone that just didn't warrant a full card? Ever want to slip some one a subtle thank you that didn't require envelopes and sentences of sentiments?

Today's project was a set of 16 mini thank you notes. There are four different designs which really play into the type of thank you you are trying to portray, and I tried to pretty them up with different techniques such as punching edges, piercing the paper, using mini library clips, etc. These notes can be as easy or difficult as you choose, and can even be used as tags on a gift. They took me about 2 hours from design to finish for the set.

The notes can hold about one sentence on the back, so you're not trying to fill a lot of white space! They're great for keeping in your desk drawer at work, or even in your purse.

No camera yet, but soon I promise!

Day 2: A gift that keeps on giving

Today's project was a set of gift tags to give away to a friend. Gift tags are a multi-purpose and personalized gift - just the way I like it! The obvious use is for gifts you are giving away - it adds to the packaging, making each gift unique and special.

The tags I made today are the first group in a number of sets that I am planning on giving away to friends and relatives this Christmas. There are a lot of crafty people in my life, and these tags will give them an extra special bit to add to the gifts that they give away throughout the year.

In terms of difficulty, tags can be any where from easy to hard to make, depending on the complexity and design. Having the right materials such as punches and stamps can make the project quicker to complete, although there is something to be said for simply using your own artistic skills and a pair of scissors!

As for a picture, well, I had to give the camera back yesterday, so no picture yet. I promise to put one up as soon as I beg, borrow, or buy a camera!

Keep smiling, crafters!