2012 Artisan Design Team Projects for January - Part 1

Who DOESN'T love new stampy goodies?? I was gazing, with my mouth hanging open, at all the new lovely things in the Spring Catalog a couple of months ago ... delightfully happy that Stampin' Up had, once again, outdone itself! There is such a wide variety of styles and tools in this catalog to keep us all happy for quite some time!

So comes my first Artisan project for this month ... a "love"ly anniversary card!! I kinda went layer-crazy on this one!! It won't really even fit in any envelopes I have, which means I am gonna have to MAKE one special when I send this!!

Here is a peek at the inside ... as you can see, the front of the card is only about 3/4 as big as the inside. I haven't done an offset front in a very long time, so this was kinda fun!!

Stay tuned this week, as I have more to share!!

Stamps: Hearts a Flutter, Ciao Baby
Paper:  Crumb Cake, Real Red Coredinations, Pool Party Coredinations, Primrose Petals Coredinations, More Amore DSP, Very Vanilla
Ink:  Real Red, Crumb Cake, Red Glimmer
Accessories:  Hearts a Flutter Framelits, Petite Curly Label Punch, Artisan Embellishments Kit, Honeycomb Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Essentials Paper Piercing Pack, Rhinestone Basics, Silver Mini Brads, Sanding Block

Fab Friday #9 ... One Day Late!

Sometimes it's sooo hard when I have to have TWO blog posts up on the same day!! Sheesh!! When a post has to say "Friday" in the title ... and you have MORE than ONE ... it causes problems!!

A day late, but nonetheless just as much fun to play with ... here is my card for the Fab Friday Stampin' Challenge!

My sweet little nephew, Barrett, has just had his first birthday!! We all call him "Baby Bear" ... he is the ca-YOOT-est little guy EVER!! So I KNEW I had to make him a little baby bear card ... got the punch art idea from Kim Score ... she is a punchin' GENIUS!!

Here is the sketch we were working from:

Here's a link to the Fab Friday Challenge Blog so you can play along:

Fab Friday Challenge Blog

Check out the Fab blogs of my fellow Fab Friends:

Mindy Backes
Cindy Beach
Jason Casper
Amanda Mertz
Brenda Myers
Amy O'Neill
Marla Reed
Pam Steckman
Jan Tinklenberg

Stamps: Itty Bitty Banners, Nicely Knit (wheel)
Paper: Real Red, Marina Mist, Bashful Blue, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Red Glimmer DSP
Ink: Read Red, Early Espresso, Bashful Blue, Signo Gel Pen
Accessories: Adorning Accents Edgelits, Bitty Banners Framelits, Small Oval Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Heart to Heart Punch, Modern Label Punch, Two-Step Owl Punch, Ornament Punch, Designer Naturals Buttons, Needlepoint Border Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Cloudy Day Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Real Red and Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Linen Thread

2012 Artisan Facebook Friday #4

It's Artisan Facebook Friday!! YAY!! I sooo look forward to these ... as my fellow Artisan friends are A-MAZ-ING!! I always love sharing what I've made and letting you take a little spin around the block to see what THEY'VE done!! They blow my socks off!! You should just have come from Sarah Sagert's blog (if you've been following the hop all the way around). Sooo talented, that girl!!

As SOON as I opened the box of Designer Fabric Essentials I KNEW what I was gonna do ... as I mentioned in my last blog post, my son is somewhat of a bowtie afficionado ... a real purist!! So what better thing to make with this fabric than a BOWTIE (or two!!)!

It was fun to discover that my fellow Artisan-friend, Jeanna Bohanon, also was inspired to make bowties. She made little-guy bowties with some fabric and hot glue, while I made big-guy bowties with fabric and a sewing machine!!

Although I HAVE made my son some bowties in the past, it has been MANY-a-year, and I (sadly) could NOT find my old pattern ... so I had to make a new one!

I took one of the MANY bowties from his ever-growing collection and traced a patten of it onto some tissue paper ... I added 3/8" all the way around for the seam allowance.

I then laid the pattern on the fabric and a piece of fusible interfacing and cut through all the layers. Where the bowtie I created the pattern from had a fancy-do clasp-y thing, I just left a gap and made the tie in two parts (two layers of each piece, plus the interfacing). I then ironed the interfacing on to one of its coordinating pieces, sewed up the seams, turned the whole shebang inside-out and then attached the two sides together (I actually tucked a little of one inside of the other to overlap the two sides and make them a little more seamless). Since the spot where the two halves are joined together will not show (as it will be safely tucked under a shirt collar), no one will be the wiser that I didn't have the fancy schmancy hardware!!

My son SWEARS that the red polkadot tie is kinda Minnie Mouse, although my daughter and I have been trying to convince him that it makes him look GOOD!! But I thought BOTH of them turned out pretty fun ... LOVE this fabric!!



Next up? Amy Bollman!!! Go check out her amazingness!!

Happy New Year ... and Happy New Stuff!!

I've truly been allowing myself some "down" time the past few days ... I've been running at a break-neck speed since the beginning of November and needed a little time to wind down (watch THREE movies yesterday ... took two little naps ... it was AWESOME!)!

Now I am gearing up to get back in to the swing of reality ... and I have a card I made for the Control Freaks Spring Catalog swap to share with you! When I saw the bowtie and saddle shoe images in the soon-to-be-released "Dapper Dad" set, I KNEW it was gonna HAFTA be mine!! Bowties are a big deal in our family .... it started with my brother in law, who wears bowties to work every day. He is a partner in his law firm, and rides his unicycle to work DAILY (no, I am NOT making this up!). Bowtie-wearin', unicycle-ridin' LAWYER. It's pretty much AWESOME. His son ALSO has an affinity for bowties ... he also prefers them to traditional "long" ties. So, as my son has always looked up to BOTH of these men, he ALSO is a bowtie aficionado ... he has been pretty much wearing bowties EXCLUSIVELY since he was 12 (not every day, of course! But when the occasion DOES call for a tie, it is the neckwear of choice!)!

Which is why I made this card ... as a salute to all the awesome, bowtie-wearing men in my life. YAY!

Stamps: Dapper Dad, Occasional Alphabet
Paper: Crumb Cake, Not Quite Navy, Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Parker's Pattern's DSP
Ink: Not Quite Navy
Accessories: 1 3/4" Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, Small Oval Punch, 1" Square Punch, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Natural 7/16" Trim Ribbon, Mini Silver Brads

Change of Pace ...

While we are ALL recovering from the Christmas Day festivities, I decided to share a card with you that is a departure from all the holiday/winter-themed projects that have been showing themselves in ABUNDANCE for the past couple of months!

I was fortunate ... blessed ... enough to have been invited to a group meeting/Christmas get-together for Pam Morgan's downline (LOVE that woman!)! We had a grand ol' time stamping and swapping and EATING. The only "rules" for our shoebox swap was that they had to be using "current" SU products. Sooo ... since I had JUST received my new box of mini catalog preorder stuff, I decided to go with ... WHAT ELSE?? A butterfly!!

I haven't done "emboss resist" in AGES! This butterfly just ACHED to be done that way, so here she is!!! I used some Rose Red and Tangerine Tango for this particular butterfly ... one color just didn't seem to do it!!

I STILL have MILES and MILES of PILES and PILES in just about every stinkin' room in my house!! My goal for today is to see if I can get rid of at least HALF of them!! Wish me luck!!

Stamps: Swallowtail, Bloomin' Marvelous
Paper: Rose Red, Very Vanilla
Ink: Rose Red, Tangerine Tango, Versamark
Accessories: Oval Punch, Rose Red Seam Binding, Clear Embossing Powder

Keebler Elf Sunday

It's the most wonderful time of the year ... that song has been going through my head a LOT the past few weeks!! (Whether I am doing something I enjoy, or feeling the frantic-hectic pace that this time of year brings!!) Yesterday we had our yearly Weixler Family Keebler Elf Sunday. We've been doing this for YEARS!!

This year, however, we went from making dough (which Amelia and I did in the morning before church - 10 batches of it!), to having all the neighbor gifts DELIVERED in less than 12 hours!! Sheesh!! It was GREAT having all the kids home and helping, though ... lots of talking and laughing (DESPITE how Amelia looks in this picture, they WERE having a great time! Somehow my kids find it funny to pull DORKY faces - hence, Devan's over-the-top look - can't hardly get them to be "normal" anymore!)!

And here is what they look like all finished!! Since I was making 54 tags, I decided to take the "easy" way out and use my Cricut (you can't see in the photo, but I embossed the white layer with polka dots ... they turned out cute and didn't take long at ALL!)!!

And I tradition I now have on my blog every year is sharing this most DELICIOUS cookie recipe with you!!

Lucky Pennies

2 1/4 C. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1 t. ground ginger
1/4 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground cloves
1/4 t. salt
3/4 C. (1½ sticks unsalted butter, softened)
1 C. firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 C. molasses
1 large egg
granulated sugar (for coating cookies)

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and salt. In a separate large bowl, use a wooden spoon to cream the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Stir in the molasses and egg and mix until well blended. Gradually stir in the flour mixture until combined. Cover the dough and refrigerate it for at least 1 to 2 hours or until firm enough to roll into balls.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Use a teaspoon to scoop the dough from the bowl and roll the cookies into about 1"-in-diameter balls. Roll the balls in a shallow bowl of granulated sugar. Place the balls on an ungreased baking sheet, leaving 2 inches between the cookies. Bake for 6 to 9 minutes or until the cookies are crinkled and set.

Cool the cookies on the baking sheets for about 5 minutes. Using a metal spatula, transfer them to a wire rack to cool completely. Repeat until all the dough is used. The cookies can be stored in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month and at room temperature for up to 1 week.

Makes about 8 dozen cookies.

Wishing you all the MERRIEST of HOLIDAYS ...

Paper: Gumball Green, Whisper White
Accessories: Cricut Very Merry Tags Cartridge, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon

Winter Fun with the Freaks!!

Welcome to some Winter Fun with the Freaks!! This month we are SMALL by MIGHTY!! Busy-busy-busy is happening all around us!! The nice thing about our theme - "Winter Fun" - is that it means you have no idea WHAT you're gonna get!! (Kinda like Forest Gump's box of chocolates!!) If you're following the Tour around, you should have just come from my BFF JanTink's blog (LOVELY Christmas cards going on over THERE!)!!

First off, I am finally sharing the "official" 2012 Weixler Family Christmas Card!! Oddly enough, this is probably one of the EASIEST cards I have ever done as a family Christmas card ... I tend to overextend myself with these, so I decided to go a little easy on myself.

I fell in love with this image from "Come to Bethlehem" LAST year. I'm glad I was able to figure out a way to incorporate it with the glittery snowflake. I'm pretty happy with the result!

Stamps: Come to Bethlehem
Paper: Very Vanilla, Cherry Cobbler, Champagne Glimmer DSP
Ink: Cherry Cobbler, Versamark
Accessories: Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Northern Flurry Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Modern Label Punch, Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Large Pearl Basics, Gold Embossing Powder

Here is the inside ... I decided to try doing the whole thing with MDS. LOVE how easy that is!!! This family photo almost DIDN'T happen ... it was almost literally at the "11th Hour" ... and the sun was going DOWN!!! So happy we were able to get 'er done!!

MDS Stamps: Home for the Holidays Stamp Brush Set
MDS Embellishments: Trim the Tree, Square Punch
MDS Paper: Christmas Cheer, Christmas Jingle

And I have one more little project to share. A gift tag! I am coming up on having to send my neighbor gifts out (somehow I can't seem to get OFF the 50-family list I am on!). I was thinking I was going to make these for my neighbor gifts, but I may rethink it a bit, as this took a bit longer than I had anticipated (and since we are gonna make about 1,000 cookies this weekend, I need to make it a little more simple!)! No matter ... I like how it turned out, and I'll figure out SOMEwhere to use it!!

Stamps: Scentsational Season, Pennant Parade
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso, Snow Festival DSP
Ink: Early Espresso
Accessories: Pennant Parade Bigz Die, 2 1/2" Circle Punch, 1 3/4" Circle Punch, Holiday Collection Bigz Die, Pearl Basics, Silver Mini Brads, Jewelry Tag Punch, Linen Thread

Next, hop on over to the blog of the MEGA-talented Mary Brown!! (I think I wanna be her when I grow up!!

2012 Artisan Design Team Projects for December - Part 3

I am a few days behind in posting this ... caught myself a nasty headache which put me out for a few days (all is well now, though!)! I am finally feeling back on track ...

I am VERY excited to share with you this little mini photo album. I have made these before, but it has been about 4-5 years. They are REALLY fun to make! This one is an "ode" to my little toy poodle "Daisy" ... she owns EVERY single person in my family!!

Here is what it looks like with the "belly band" pulled off ...

When you open the album like a "book", this is what you see inside ...

After untying the little flaps, here is a peek inside (it just keeps getting BIGGER and BIGGER!)!

TA-DA!!!! This thing folds out QUITE large!!

If I flip the three photos on the left over (kinda like turning a page in a book), here are the photos on the back ...

And here is the same view on the right side ...

Now ... BEFORE you ASK ... I AM going to be doing a tutorial on this little beauty ... but NOT until after all the holiday craziness is OVER!! So, STAY TUNED!!


Also, because SOOO many of you have asked about my ribbon rack ... posted HERE ... here are the dimensions:
55" Tall
24" Wide
4 1/4" Shelf Height
3 3/4" Shelf Depth

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!! Come back tomorrow night/Thursday morning for a look at the December version of the Control Freaks Blog Tour!!

Stamps: Morning Post Alphabet, Simply Serif Alphabet
Paper: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Polka Dot Parade DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Marina Mist
Accessories: Simply Scored, Small Oval Punch, 1" Circle Punch, Boho Blossom Punch, Blossom Punch, Scallop Circle Punch, 1 3/8" Circle Punch, 3/4" Circle Punch, 1/2" Punch, Itty Bitty Punch (Circle), Whisper White Stitched Grosgrain Ribbon, Perfect Polka Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Mini Silver Brads, Linen Thread

2012 Artisan Design Team Projects for December - Part 2

Part of what we get to play with each month for the Artisan Design Team comes in the form of MDS downloads ... MOST EXCELLENT!! Sooo ... this month I wanted to be sure and take advantage of that and play with some of what we got ...

I have been making a concerted effort in the past few years to make sure that my hubby and I get pictures taken TOGETHER ... too often, one of us (usually ME!) is behind the camera. I realized when I went through some photos of my parents a few years ago that they didn't take enough photos together and want to make sure that I don't end up in the same boat ... so that is where this layout came from ... me and my bestest friend in the WORLD!!

Stamps: Natural Composition Overlays, Freehand Phrases, A Split Second (Splatter 1), Ink Splatter (Splatter 3), Greatest Moments II
Paper: Good Life DSP
Embellishments: More Candid Frames, Piece of Cake (Flags), Fan Fair (Stitching), Mis-Stitched

And SPEAKING of my hubby ... and how he is the BEST ... LOOKIE WHAT HE MADE ME!! (It is actually my Christmas present, but he finished it a little early and hung it up the other night!) Isn't it DIVINE and AMAZING!! OHMYGOSH!! I cannot even BEGIN to tell you how happy this has made me!! HAPPYDANCE!! I haven't finished organizing all of my ribbon in it yet (still sorting and deciding WHAT to keep).

I LOVELOVELOVE how the little dowel allows me to feed the end of my ribbon spool under it. I spent the longest time the morning after he hung it up just sitting and STARING at it after I got the ribbon put in ... this is the BEST EVER!! I guess that is because my hubby is the BEST EVER!! I am one lucky girl!!

And because SOOO many have asked ... I am amending this post to add the dimensions for this lovely ribbon rack:

55" Tall
24" Wide
4 1/4" Shelf Height
3 3/4" Shelf Depth