I Love It All

November 30, 2011

calendar cuties

I hope you're all as excited about the New Year as I am...fresh start, new ideas, renewed spirit. And calendars. I do love a cute calendar and a planner that makes me smile.

Last year's subway art calendars were a hit and were download lots and lots and lots...glad you liked them. This year's collection of calendar downloads are sized to 4x6 with January through March now available. I used a template designed by my friend Celeste Smith, she's talented in so many ways, and will add each month in a variety of typefaces.

You can see that my baker's twine from The Twinery makes an appearance again this year. January happens to be a pretty good match for Caribbean. Well, February matches Pink Sorbet and March is a ringer for Honeydew, if you really want to know! I just used my Glossy Accents to outline the calendar and added my baker's twine. I also suspended it from more baker's twine with two mini clothespins.

Or add the calendar to a frame {this one is from IKEA} and embellish with ribbon to match each month. I'm guessing you probably have a ribbon stash like I do.

Or for yet another option, go to your paper scraps, I used some from Momenta, adhere a piece to the top and place it on an easel. In the extra space below the month, you can always add the dates you just don't want to forget!

April, May and June will be available for download in mid-March, so mark it on your calendar and stop in again for a visit then!

November 29, 2011

nutty nut slippery melts

We went into holiday prep mode early here at the Wright household.

Let's enter into evidence this little bit of goodness that I packaged up and the girls happily delivered to their Nana and Papa, just a short walk up the driveway, on Sunday. The super cute snowman and polka dotted papers are from Momenta's All Through The Year Super Paper Pad, with designs for a number of holiday celebrations.

I fussy cut around the snowman figures and popped it on top of some green textured cardstock. The container, which happens to be an empty nut can, was wrapped with the paper that didn't meet in the middle, so I wrote our little message and covered the bare spot with the cardstock.

Papa happens to love these little holiday treats and I continue to make them each year to solidify my place as his most favorite daughter-in-law. Oh, yeah, I'm his only daughter-in-law. Did I mention Mr. wRight has an unmarried brother?

Oh, gosh, who am I kidding? We all love Nutty Nut Slippery Melts! Ready for the recipe?

I hope you enjoy these as much as we do. I also hope you can practice more restraint than I do as I can't eat just one. You'll know what I mean if you decide to add these to your holiday treat list.

November 28, 2011

cyber monday sale

click I Love It All on Etsy to be taken directly to the shop {and thank you!}

November 27, 2011

the {perfect, too big} tree

November 26, 2011

1,000 followers

WOW! I made it to 1,000 followers on the blog, so let's celebrate. Use the coupon code FRIENDS30 at the shop for a 30% discount on your purchases. Thanks for hanging around and spending time with me!

flashback

At the time of this ultrasound, I did not know Zach was a boy. I didn't want to know. It wasn't until thirteen years later that I even made this layout and now he's a 20-year old Navy sailor. Hmmm, maybe there was a reason for the fish after all!

November 24, 2011

let the shopping begin

click I Love It All on Etsy to be taken directly to the shop

happy thanksgiving

| source |

joyful wishes for a wonderful day

52Photos :: thankful

my 52Photos capture

I had a difficult time trying to think of creative ways to capture the essence of thankful. Then, yesterday afternoon, we finally sat down to do the painted Thanksgiving handprint turkeys that made their first appearance last year, but now suddenly they're a tradition. How could I not be grateful for this small little thing that became a memory to my girls. Five minutes spent painting palms and fingers and making handprints, ten minutes spent cleaning up handprints and paint trays, then another three minutes trying to get the paint out of the shirt we should have taken off before we even began.

Thankful for the memories that I get to be part of, and I have the photos to prove it!

next week's theme

real

the wrap-up

...and I'm thankful to Lisa for including me on this journey with her!

November 23, 2011

grateful for you | simple things

Today I am grateful for a day spent with my husband on a last-minute road trip...just the two of us! Today I am grateful for a Mother-In-Law who rearranges her schedule so that she can spend the day with her granddaughters. Today I am grateful for a Mom who listens, offers advice, questions, but in the end lets me make my own decisions. And lastly, I am grateful for a very short phone call from Zach yesterday... today is his 20th birthday - his first away from home.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH

save to your Desktop and print from there or download

I am thankful for the simple things in my life that, when I think about it, are simply the best things in life.

November 21, 2011

momenta & epiphany crafts

I adore bright. I adore fun. And I adore when I can combine bright and fun to come up with something adorable!

Easy. Simple. Quick. That's what Epiphany Crafts says about their products and they're right! Using the Round 14 Shape Studio Tool, I slid my Momenta papers in the slot and placed the coordinating sized Bubble Caps into the hub on top of the tool to securely adhere the paper to the cap. After popping my newly decorated bubble caps into the Clubhouse Vintage Setting I was all set to begin crafting.

I began by embellishing this little eyeglass case to keep my reading glasses scratch free in my purse. Yep, it's come to the point that I need my readers when I'm at Hobby Lobby, to read the fine print on the packaging and check prices. Oh, and guess what, I see on the Epiphany web site that they're coming soon to Hobby Lobby!

In order of appearance, I used paper from these Paper Pads: red and yellow flowers use the Family Outing Premium Paper Pad and the white flower uses the Kaleidoscope 5x7 Cardstock Pad.

I was so inspired by the cuteness of these flower shapes, that I created, well...a flower!

Placing a piece of cardstock inside the frame from the One Fine Day 5x7 Cardstock Pad, I then placed a white 4x6 oval photo matte inside that has been backed with a contrasting cardstock paper. To that cardstock, I used embroidery floss to sew a stem and then adhered the leaves, which were made by trimming a heart punched shape in half like this:

Here's my sweet little piece of home decor, ready to gift to a dear friend, that is if I can bear to part with it. The scalloped flower punched shape with the Clubhouse Vintage Setting is actually adhered to the outside of the frame. I added some glue dots on the glass and adhered the bloom directly to the glass.

Speaking of gifts, I don't know that I can part with this one either, but my daughters are loving it!

These adjustable ring blanks are great, but I do have my eye on the charms as well. You can find the perfectly coordinated paper that I used for this adorable ring in the Forever Family 5x7 Cardstock Pad.

November 20, 2011

the ring

November 19, 2011

the twinery | market street stamps blog hop

So glad that you are all with me today, because we're going to have a little packaging fun with the Loopy Loo Polkas stamp from Market Street Stamps and lots of Caribbean, Maraschino, Peapod, Mandarin, Charcoal, Honeydew and Denim baker's twine from The Twinery.

you should arrived here from the blog of the talented

Michele Gross

If not, head over to The Twinery blog and begin there

If you don't have any kraft bags in your supply stash, you can find them here. The large bracket shaped die cut is available here.

It's beginning to feel a little like Christmas so my mind always goes into overload wondering how I'm going to make all those little treat bags for our Nutty Nut Slippery Melts look cute while trying to stay within a budget. And yes, those are Halloween treat bags and even a Valentine's Day version you see up there all to show you the versatility of this one background stamp.

Wondering where I found the tags and labels that coordinate with my baker's twine from The Twinery so well? Just head over to the blog at The Twinery and in the sideabar, you'll find a link to the tags. I imported them into my word processing software and added text that matched the occasion. You can also use your alpha stamps or your even your own handwriting for a more personal touch.

To get the two tone effect on my stamped kraft bag, I stamped the lower front half of the bag with one color, turned the bag over and stamped the top half of the back side of the bag in another color...in this case green on the front lower half and red on the back upper half. Fold your bag to the front and then fold the ragged edges under to make it nice, neat and festive. I topped it with some patterned paper and embellished with the ever appropriate Peapod and Marschino eco-luxe baker's twine.

And now what you've all been waiting for...

Prize from The Twinery

One Ultimate Sampler Pack

retail value $25

and

Prize from Market Street Stamps

One $25 Shopping Spree

your next inspiring stop will be with

DoBea Alberts

Don't forget to leave comments on all the blogs along the way during this two-day event that began yesterday...that's the only way you'll be eligible to win the prize packs from Market Street Stamps and The Twinery, two of my favorite crafting resources! Deadline for prize giveaway is Friday, November 25th. Prize Winners will be drawn at random and will be announced Saturday, November 26th on both The Twinery and Market Street Stamp blogs.

November 17, 2011

52Photos :: mosaic

my 52Photos capture

A small collection of photos from the last week, which includes quite a few milestones:

+ A favorite necklace.

+ Victoria Monika Wright celebrates her sixth birthday! And loses another tooth the day before. It was her 6th tooth.

+ 11.11.11 - how many times does that happen in a lifetime? I was in my craft room, which is a big surprise for absolutely no one.

+ Isabella Tipton Wright prepares her 3rd Grade Social Studies Fair project.

next week's theme

thankful

the wrap-up

Looking forward to seeing what your thankful capture is!

November 16, 2011

super star ribbons and psa essentials

School started August 2nd here in East Tennessee, so that means we've already had our first Report Card...can you believe it? I thought it might be a nice surprise for our two scholars to have a prize ribbon showing them how proud Mommy and DaDa are of them and their stellar academic performances. We'll have to let Isabella's American Girl, Julie, stand in as my prize ribbon wearing model as she sits in my craft room rocker. No more live models now that Victoria is a school-goer as well.

Glueing two 2.50" x 12 inch strips of patterned paper, from Momenta, together {total length will be 24"}, and scoring and folding each 1/2" I made the rosette, which will serve as the base for the PSA Essentials stamped image.

I used the Super Star Peel & Stick set to begin, used a 3" scallop punch and embellished it with just a bit of Marschino baker's twine to highlight the Momenta papers I was using. Love that star patterned paper, I could use about 10 more sheets of it! TIP: I use Glossy Accents and it does an excellent job keeping the twine in place, but giving me a bit of time to get it perfectly into position before it dries completely.

Here's a close-up so that you can see just how cute these can be. In the past, I've also used a border punch for the outer edge of the rosette and it makes such a nice presentation that way as well.

And, if you're the type of Mom that doesn't dress up to hand out Halloween candy {I'm that kind of Mom}, you could have made yourself a little rosette to wear, instead? I used the friendly little witch from the Haunted Shack stamp pack, but there are plenty of others you could choose, as well.

Love that paper, it's from Momenta, too! And that's Cappuccino baker's twine this time. The Leaf stick pin is from the Hello Fall collection at Little Yellow Bicycle. I think that if you changed up the patterned paper, you could use these in place of corsages at baby or bridal showers for a fun switcheroo.

November 14, 2011

merry & bright

It's The Most Wonderful Time of the Year...almost. A few of you probably already have your holiday greetings addressed, stamped and ready to go...but for the rest of us, well, have you even decided how many you're going to send this year?

Hi, there...get ready to bust out your card making supplies.

I decided not to get in that pre-holiday frantic rush this year by trying to decide on the perfect cards now. So I sat down, sketched out an idea and began creating. It really wasn't that hard, actually, using the All Through The Year Super Paper Pad. Every holiday has several coordinating papers in this Paper Pad, so you could craft for an hour and probably have enough cards for the next year using this one simple design.

You can see that some of the cards have a large circle cut through the top layer so that you can see the sentiment that's mounted on the inside of the card.

Because these were such fun papers, I decided to go the non-traditional route and use cardstock colors that one does not generally use for Christmas cards...pumpkin, aqua, periwinkle and pink. Plus, I thought it would be fun for Isabella and Victoria to have some fun cards to give to their friends in school, if they wanted.

And it's always nice to have a few cards on hand that don't specifically say Christmas for friends that are of other religious beliefs, so make a few of those as well.

And it never hurts to have a Thank You card, or twenty, on hand! It would make your Mama proud.

May there be lots of jingle bells and hot cocoa in your very near future. Happy card making my friends.

If you're in a card making mood, read about this wonderful card drive, Cards that Care, to brighten the spirits of elderly folks in nursing homes. Cards must be received by Vera Wates and Jennifer McGuire by November 30, 2011.

November 13, 2011

at day's end

November 11, 2011

grateful for you | saluting our service members

When I stop to think about everything good in my life, everything I am thankful for, all the blessings in my life, I literally am overcome with emotion. I often allow the in-the-moment frustrations of everyday life take over without seeing the big picture. I have so much to be thankful for.

save to your Desktop and print from there or download

I am thankful, today and everyday, for the men and women who serve our country. They are brave, they are strong, they are selfless, they are heroes. I praise also the family members of those men and women because they, too, sacrifice in supporting their service members. They endure separation, loneliness, worry and single-parenthood all while feeling pride.

We were an Air Force family, my Dad served in Vietnam and elsewhere. My brother served in the Army. My Father-in-Law was a Marine before marrying his sweetheart {aka Nana}. My son is in the Navy.

I know what it is to be proud. And I am. I am also thankful.

November 10, 2011

52Photos :: nostalgic

my 52Photos capture

What could possibly be nostalgic about this particular photograph? Actually, it's not the photograph itself, it's the memories it evokes. It has me thinking of Gordon applying Dracula make-up {white face, black eyes...} to Zach so many years ago. And if I remember correctly, I'm guessing that Zach was the same age Isabella is now, 8 years old. It touched my heart then that Gordon would take the time to make sure that Zach was prepped and ready to go have some "scary" fun. He's so good that way.

And on this Halloween, we even made a stop at our house again after visiting Oma, so that Gordon would freshen up Isabella's make-up to be cute for our visit with Nana, Papa and Uncle Chad.

You might also wonder why it is that the DaDa is applying the make-up, well, he's just so much more artistic than I am. Must be his Fine Arts Degree in Design, what do you think?

And here's a bonus photo, of Victoria as Cinderella...she wanted make-up, too, of course and it looks as if Mommy might have been a little heavy handed in the blush and lipgloss departments. Too soon they'll find the dressing up part is not something big girls do, so we had better enjoy these moments while we can.

next week's theme

mosaic

the wrap-up

I'm headed over now to upload about 10 photos to the Flickr group...finally. Anyone else behind in doing the same thing? Go here for an explanation, a blog button and an invitation to join our 52 week journey of discovery! We'd love to have you join us...just jump in now and see where your photos take you.

November 9, 2011

the twinery & the stamps of life | blog hop

Are you ready for some fun?

The {Stamps} of Life and The Twinery Design Teams are playing together for this hop! Welcome if you are a new visitor, I hope you find something you love and will come back soon. You should have arrived here the blog of the creative Vicki Garrett.

About The Twinery:

Our twine is made from 100% cotton, it’s eco-friendly and made in the USA. Whether you’re gift wrapping, crafting or tying up baked goods to give to a friend, our baker’s twine adds a fresh, yet nostalgic look to any project at hand! Our baker’s twine comes in 14 delicious colors and is uniquely twisted against a bright white hue, creating an eye-popping burst of color and a creative embellishment! Our twine has lots of color which lends to a fun, candy-striped look. For creative ideas & more…visit OUR BLOG!

About The {Stamps} of Life:

We feature high quality, made in the USA, clear stamps and digital stamps/brushes for stampers, card makers and scrapbookers. Feel free to browse our gallery with more than 2500 samples using our stamps, watch our free how-to videos and join our club!

caddy box embellished with Peapod baker's twine using Holly4Christmas stamp set

Using Holly4Christmas {set #14} from The Stamps of Life, I not only embellished a painted wood caddy, but I made a whole array of gift tags. You see, at Christmas...we gift candy to family and close friends. Not just any candy, we gift Nutty Nut Slippery Melts! Be sure to stop by again in December when I share that awesomely addictive {and super easy} candy that has become a Wright Family tradition.

I admit that I am not a professional quality stamper in any way, but I did not hold me back from playing and experimenting and I wanted to share with you just how versatile these stamps are; the quality of them is incomparable. Using the Peapod and Caribbean baker's twine added a fun twist while also highlighting the tree lights that I used my daughters' art pencils to color in. I would have let them color all the lights in themselves to make this a family project, but they were in school.

I got a little adventurous and stamped the holly leaves onto some patterned paper, fussy cut, embellished with Marschino twine and adhered to my gift tag. By the way, all my gift tags are 3"x3" in diameter to fit perfectly inside the caddy from Michaels.

More colored pencils, but this time I also used some markers with the Marschino bakers' twine from The Twinery. Have I mentioned there are 14 eco-luxe {and delicious} colors of baker's twine to choose from? From our home to yours, we hope you have a holly jolly Christmas wrapped in baker's twine!