Chesapeake Bay Project

I had great fun putting together this gift for my aunt and uncle, great lovers of folklore and oral history who are moving to the Chesapeake Bay watershed. I downloaded several interviews from the Voices of the Chesapeake Bay series, burned them onto cd's, and made a two-volume set using paperboard cd folders, designer papers, and several of Mark's photographs.

Cookie Swap!

The neighborhood cookie swap is tomorrow. Mark made his amazing cookies, and I made photo ornaments to dress up the bags.

'Tis the Season!

In between preparations for baby Nate's arrival, I have been crafting my buns off. I've had to let some things go this Christmas. I'm not sure we will have a proper tree, for example, and most of the gifts I'm giving are wrapped in the paper I'm sick of, in hopes of a fresh start next year. But the two above are exceptions: a candy-themed gift for a girl nicknamed "Lollipop," and a movie-themed gift basket for another friend. I built the box and covered it in fun velveteen-dot paper, then made "popcorn" from yellow tissue paper.

And I promised the mom of a boy nicknamed "Moose" that I would continue the tradition of photo ornaments, after starting last year. Scraps of woodgrain cardstock provided the perfect jumping-off point.

These are just the things I can show you without ruining Christmas surprises; stay tuned!

Wesley's First Birthday

I made these car and truck-themed invites and thank-yous for nephew Wesley's first birthday party. I gave my circle punches a workout!

Introducing Romy!

Erin and Marc welcomed baby Romy on January 3. Her very happy nursery is decorated in chocolate and hot pink. So when I saw these papers from the Romance line by American Crafts, I just had to use them for her announcements. I used Paper Source petal cards and square envelopes, and their envelope liner templates to line the envelopes with the striped paper (Tainted Love.) The Martha Stewart circle cutter made cutting the patterned paper (Summer Love) for the card fronts a cinch!

Pirate Party

Tyler's second birthday party was today. I had a lot of fun making these invitations, complete with treasure map and skull-and-crossbones sealing wax.

Crafts and Cupcakes

Today I hosted several friends for a Cupcakes and Crafts party. Our first project was a mini-album created from CD folders. This was Jocelyn's gorgeous creation.

We also watercolored these one-sheet boxes, and filled them with spiced pecans.

And finally we used the Sizzix frame die and punches to create this photo frame ornament with a beaded hanger. Mine features my adorable neice Sara.

The girls took home their goodies in these gift bags, along with extra cupcakes to share...or not.