December

The year has come to an end!!  I can't believe that I made it. 

 Here is the final card to finish up my resolution.  What kind of resolution should I make next year...

My brother is a bow tie lover!  Not all guys can pull off wearing a bow tie, but he is one of the few that can!  I made the bow tie from some scraps of paper, and the "happy birthday" is made of beads and wire.  I love how simple this card is.  Simple, but nice.



I hope you had a wonderful Christmas, and a very happy New Year!

November

I was able to visit my family in Utah in November!  Of course it was awesome, but I forgot about my crafting resolution until we were just about to leave.  So, I quickly grabbed a couple cards, some paper, and some stickers, and away we went.  I needed to make 2 cards while we were there, with very limited supplies.  Here's what I came up with:

 It's amazing what you can put together with stickers, paper, glue and scissors.  No fancy stuff needed!

  My nephew is a Minion addict!  So, I knew that I needed to make a Minion card for him.  I think this Minion's name is Bob, or is it Dave?  I have no idea, but my nephew sure did! 

(All shapes completely cut by hand.)

Now, on to December cards!  I only have one birthday card to make in December, so I am pretty much done!  

October

Oh boy, I am so behind.  I am finally getting around to posting October's cards.  Christmas card season is in full swing, so I have been pretty busy lately!

In October I only had a couple of cards to make.  I can't believe that I am almost done with my crafting resolution.  I think I am going to continue making as many cards as I can, but I'll only post the awesome ones.  Hopefully lots of them are awesome...

I would love to see some of the wonderfully creative cards that you have made!  Send me a picture and I'll make sure I post it for others to see too!

 Sometime my creative juices aren't exactly flowing, so I just have to use some fun stickers I have on hand.  I think it still turned out cute!

I don't have a fancy cutting machine, so I had to trace this unicorn and cut it out by hand.  It just proves that you don't need fancy equipment to get the job done!

Oh, and here is the inside of the card.  My daughter really wanted to make a card like mommy, so I had her decorate a piece of card stock, and I put it inside.  This card was for one of her favorite cousins, so it worked out great!

Only 2 months left!  Woah!  Where did the year go?!  

September

Another slow birthday month in our family.  Just one, sad lonely card.

Sometimes all you need is a simple girly card.

I can't believe that there are only three months left until I complete my New Years Resolution.  Where has the year gone!?

August Cards

Wow, August was CRAZY!  I can't believe that I was actually able to keep up with this goal.  Sheesh!  

Here are the cards that kept me busy last month:

 This card was made for The Box of Sunshine I sent to one of my sisters.  You can read more about what went into that box here.

What do you do when your best friend has an adorable baby boy?  Why make her a card, of course!  I am so happy for her.  I wish that I could be there to kiss his little cheeks, but being in different states makes that kind of hard.  I guess a card will have to do.

Simple.  Edgy.  Birthday.  The End.

My husband's family wasn't able to get together to celebrate Father's Day until this month (yes, Father's Day was two months ago.)  So we made a big party out of it and celebrated his dad's birthday too!!

 I made this one for my wonderful mom.  She is addicted to everything purple, so that had to be included.  I love the rounded corners on this one.

 My husband and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary last month.  Best 6 years of my life!

We are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons), and we believe that marriage can be beyond "till death do you part."  I'd love to answer any questions you have about Mormon Temples and what we believe.  Or you can find more info here.

 Do you remember Homestar Runner?  My little brother and I use to love it!  We have this long running joke about one of the episodes.  If you want to be in on the joke, you can watch the short 4 minute episode here.  I probably think it's funnier then it really is... let me know what you think.

 A perfect card for my pirate loving nephew!  This card was fun to make because I was able to play with fire!  I slightly burned the edges of the paper to give it a fun and unique look.

 I love the simplicity of this card!  You don't need a lot of crazy cutouts and stamps to make a special card.  All you need is a few scraps of paper, and some letter stickers.  Easy!

Here is another simple thank you card.  My blade on my cutter is starting to dull, so I wasn't able to get the clean cut I wanted, but you use what you got, right?

Phew!  We made it!  Now on to September.

Box of Sunshine

It's raining here in Arizona today.  Which doesn't happen all that often, but when it does, watch out!  When it rains, it pours!  The monsoon season is one of my favorite things about Arizona.  Seriously, the lightning storms are incredible!!  We got so much rain last night that streets have literally turned into rivers, most major freeways are shut down, and they canceled school!  I've heard, it is the worst storm Arizona has ever gotten!  

So, on such a dark and dreary day, I wanted to share with you a little bit of sunshine.  This is a little thing I put together for my sister, who was going through a difficult time, and I thought she could use a little pick-me-up.  I call it my little Box of Sunshine.

This is seriously one of the easiest gifts to put together!  And I had a blast doing it, too!  Everywhere I went I would look out for things that were yellow that I could put into the box.  That's right, everything in the box was yellow, and only yellow.  Plus, I painted the inside yellow too, so when you open the box: BAM!!! all you see is yellow.  All you see is sunshine!

I used a pretty small box, so I wasn't able to fit a ton of stuff.  Here is what I included:

Honestly, I could have probably have sent a box four times bigger, and I wouldn't have had a problem finding yellow stuff to fill it.  Here are some more ideas to fill your own Box of Sunshine:

-  Wheat Thins

-  Teddy Grahams

-  Golden Oreos

-  Starbursts

-  Tissues

-  Juicy Fruit Gum

-  Finger Nail Polish

-  Potato Chips

-  M&M's

-  Yellow Loofah

-  Wet Wipes

-  Sticky Notes

-  Note pad/journal

-  Lemonade (or my favorite: Glaceau's vitamin water zero.  Delish!)

-  Lotion

-  Air Freshener

-  Soap

-  Lemon Heads

-  Crayons

-  Carmex

-  Car Air Fresheners

-  Subway Gift Card

I could go on for a while!  You'd be surprised at how many yellow things there are.

And, keeping up with my New Years resolution, I made a card to include in the box.

 Putting together this box made me so ridiculously happy!  It's amazing what happens when you look outside yourself and help others.  

 

June Cards

We have made it half-way through the year!!  I can't believe that I have been able to stick with my new years resolution this long!  This is a new record for sure.  How are your resolutions coming along?  I am ashamed to admit, but this may be the only one that I have been able to keep.  Usually I forget about them, and slip right back into my comfortable routine.  It's amazing what happens when you are held accountable to other people.  There's my little piece of advice for the day :-)

Anywho...

Here are the June cards.  I love how they turned out!  The card I made for my husband for Father's Day is by far my favorite one to date!

The hubs turned 30 this month!!  I was actually able to keep all my planning for his surprise birthday party a secret, which was kind of a minor miracle.

So, I remember when Pokemon first came out.  Does that make me really old?  I can't believe that it is still huge with the kiddos!  My nephew just turned 7, and he is OBSESSED with Pokemon.  "Gotta Catch 'Em All!"

For my dad.  He's a pretty simple guy, so nothing but a simple card will do.  

Curious about the "R"?  I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and we believe that worthy men are able to hold the Priesthood, which is the power of God here on earth.  Want to learn more?  Visit mormon.org  

I am in LOVE with this card.  Probably because I am head over heals in love with the man that I made it for.  Each hand is the actual tracing of mine and my children's hands.  Yellow for me, pink for my daughter, and blue for our new baby boy.  

Life is SO good!  Thanks for stopping by today!

May Cards

May!!!  We have come to my birthday month!  I'm gonna tell you all a little secret: 27 sounds so much older then 26.  Is that weird?  It's only 1 year for goodness sake!  Some days I still feel like I should still be in high school, but then I remember that I have 3 kids, and I actually have to act like a grown up most of the time.  Life's tough for us big adults :-).

Anyway, sorry that it took me so long to get these May cards posted.  I have been feverishly planning my husband's surprise 30th birthday party (more on that later!), and some things have gotten pushed onto the back burner.  It's a good thing Mother's Day and these birthdays didn't happen at the end of the month, these cards may have not been finished if that were the case.  Dodged a bullet on that one!  

Thanks for following along with me and my New Year's resolution.

 

I am a sucker for all things daisies!

It's a bird!  It's a plane!  No, it's Super Mom!
I really do have the best mom.  Ever!

April

April was a slow month in the homemade card department.  But busy in every other department!  Being a mom of two is a lot harder then just being a mom of one!  Especially when you have a busy (and potty training) two year old to run after.

Anyway, here is my lonely single card for the month of April.  It was made for my older brother who is pretty much a soccer star.  He has been on many semi pro teams, and is seriously one of the best soccer goalies I have ever seen (and that's not just a proud little sis talking.)

One thing you can't see in the picture, is that I made this card to open left handed.  He is a proud lefty, so I had to make the card with the open side on the left instead of the right.  I hope he appreciated it :)

  

Doing good so far with my resolution!  Bring it on May!

March cards

Phew!  March was a busy month.  But I still got all the cards done that I needed.  Hooray!

My nephew is absolutely OBSESSED with Legos.  I couldn't help myself :)

My dad is pretty much a musical genius.  He would definitely know just by looking at this that it was the birthday song.  

Well, that's it for last month.  Now onto April!

How are your New Years resolutions going?

February Cards

February, the month of LOVE!  And I have got to say, I loved making these cards!  It is so much more personal to make a card for someone, as opposed to just buying one off the shelf.  The entire time I am creating a card, I am thinking about the person that it is for.  It's pretty awesome!

So far, so good with this resolution.  Next month could be a little tough though.  I'm not trying to make excuses (ok, maybe I am), it's just that having a baby usually takes time away from crafting, right?  I guess I gotta go make some cards before my son decides to make his arrival into the world...
  

This one was made for my 3 year old niece.  Her parents call her their "little monster", so I thought it would be appropriate.  

I was pretty nervous with this one... It was for my mother-in-law who is pretty much a crafting genius.  I figured it was better to go simple and clean, then to try and do something over the top.  What do you think?

This one was for the love of my life, and I loved being able to make it for him.

My oldest brother has more ties and suits then any person I have ever met!  His jobs have usually required a nice tie, but even on his days off he seemed to find an "excuse" to wear one.  I don't often get opportunities to tease him, so I just had to... You know how it is with siblings :).

Oh, and here's the inside.  I followed this tutorial to make each of the origami ties.  I love trying new techniques!

My New Year's Resolution

In an effort to save some money, and also get rid of some of the crafting stuff that has been laying around my house gathering dust, I made a New Year's Resolution for myself.  Instead of buying birthday and greeting cards, I am going to hand make every. single. one.  Only using supplies that I have on hand.  

Yeah, for you pro card makers out there this would be easy as pie!  But with another little one coming in March, this may seem a little ambitious for me, but I gotta do it!  Wish me luck!  

So far, so good (too bad it's only February...)  I'll be posting photos of each card at the end of each month, so you can follow my attempt to keep my resolution.  That way you can keep me accountable :).  Ha!

Well... Here we go.  Remember, I'm not a card making "pro".  You gotta start somewhere though, right?

My sister and I kind of have an inside joke about monkey birthday cards, so I HAD to make her one.  The problem was, was that I didn't have any cute die-cuts or monkey stickers.  Cutting paper out by hand was the only other option.

I have a niece who I know someday will be a famous gymnast (don't we all have crazy aspirations like that for little kids :).  With a mom who almost went to the Olympics for gymnastics, you never know.
With this one you get to see how truly horrific my handwriting is...

Now, this one I love!  My other sister is a quilting genius, and I wanted to do something special for her.  Yeah, it may not be perfect, but it was my first time sewing on paper.  That's right, I used my regular sewing machine on this baby!  Kind of a cool technique.  I'll probably post a tutorial on how to do this soon!

January down, only 11 more months to go!

February
March
April
May
June
July (believe it or not, I didn't have any cards to make this month!)
August
September
October
November


Have you ever made a crafting resolution?  Or is that totally strange?  Let me know what you think!