Ok, yes, it's January, almost February. You don't want to think about Christmas anymore. But I want to share my cards. So tough nuggets!

I got the inspiration for 2013's cards while walking around (actually, just walking into) Anchor Paper, a local paper supply/scrapbooking store. The first display I saw had bright, fun colors, shiny lights on the paper, and upon closer inspection... a hedgehog stamp! 

**Time out for those of you who don't know me that well... I am OBSESSED with hedgehogs! I think they are adorable and I have a whole shelf of stuffed animals and figurines in my work room!**

Time in!

So of course, I snatched up that stamp and a sampling of paper and hurried home to experiment. And boy, let me tell you, these cards took a lot of work. Not only to design, but to actually make!

First, I had to stamp the hedgehog image, then I had to color it in, by hand, with 2 different colors. Then I edged all the stamped papers with ink and matted then, then edged them with ink, too. Then I used glitter glue to fill in all the tiny lights.

Oh, did I mention I made 50 of these?
Yeah, 50.

After all that, it was pretty simple to finish the rest of the card, just cut out the pieces, edge in ink and attach!

And voila! My 2013 Christmas Card!

I really like how they turned out, and I got a lot of compliments from recipients, so I think I did well!

Do you make Christmas cards? How many do you make? Share with me!

My largest recurring project each year (and the one I both look forward to and dread the most), is making my personal Christmas cards. Every year when I start, I have no idea what I'm going to make. Sometimes I have a stamp that I like, sometimes I find some paper I like, sometimes I have to wander around a craft/scrapbooking store for a long time before I find something that inspires me. 

Here are some of my previous cards:

I have made my cards as early as August , and as late as winter break (sent out as New Years cards that year). This last year (2012), I made them over MEA break (October) while scrapping with a friend at Archivers. My inspiration this year came with a set of washi tape. 

Oh, washi tape, how I love you! so versatile, so pretty, so (relatively) cheap. (I will be extolling the virtues of washi tape in another post soon.)

I got some matching paper and found a stamp that went along with the whole theme, and away I went!

Like I said before, I never know what I'm going to do till I sit down and actually do it. 

So I began to experiment. 
A cut here, a stamp there. 
What does this element look like by this one? 
How about over here? 
What if I do it this way? 

Soon, a pleasing design came out of all my fiddling.

I like to work assembly line style, so once I had a prototype, it was easy to make all the components needed for all my cards. 

And just like that, I had made 60 cards!

I love the slightly grungy style of my cards this year, I usually make much more put-together and neat-looking cards, so this was fun for me to just rip and tape and mix and match. It also took a lot less time! 

That same friend and I already have plans to get together this summer and make cards. Maybe Christmas cards, maybe not. Probably not for me - it's a bit early, but you never know!

So, do you make Christmas cards? How many do you make? When do you make them and how long does it take?

...
Also, as an aside, I've always wanted to do something to necessitate the use of the phrase "Christmas in July"! Check that one off my bucket list!

For the month of June, I've decided to participate in the #30DaysofCreativity movement.

From their site:
Inspired by #30daysofbiking by @patiomensch, 30 Days of Creativity is a social initiative encouraging people to create stuff, anything, every day for 30 days.
This was launched in May 2010 by folks in the Minneapolis creative community. Follow#30daysofcreativity on Twitter. Make your pledge to create by contacting @createstuff.

So today being June 1, it's the first day! Today was also the first day of my summer job (working in my preschool's office instead of teaching), so it was a day of beginnings on all fronts.

I started simple in my creativity today. I didn't want to set up a standard that would feel unattainable in the upcoming days. So this is what I made today:

Best thing I've ever made? No

Cute & fast & creative? Yes

And that's the point.

I'm going to try to post what I make every day. Please comment, it will keep me honest in my creative promise.

So - are you participating? You can start any time, you can do the month of June or just 30 days from when you start. Show me your creations!

And thus ends Day 1.

Happy Creating!

I wanted to start a feature called Flashback Friday where I would showcase a project I had done in the past. And I had it all planned out for this last Friday to showcase my wedding paper creations. I had photos, ideas, I was even starting to write out the post in my head.

Then I got sick.

It happens every year at the end of school. My body shuts down, whether from exhaustion, relief, or all those little preschool germs finally getting to me. And every year, I forget about it till I actually get sick! So Friday night and all day Saturday, I was out with my yearly cold and unable to write my Flashback Friday. Now that it's Sunday, I thought about writing something else, but I am so excited about telling the story of my first huge jump into cards and invitations, I decided that this will just have to be Flashback Sunday instead.

~*~*~*~*~

My husband Mike and I were married on June 29, 2007. But this paper creation story starts well before that. When we started making wedding plans in the spring of 2006, we knew we wanted to save money. The first, and most obvious choice was to make all the invitations ourselves. Well, not ourselves, myself. Since I worked a second job at a scrapbooking store (Artsy Tartsy) at the time, I had tons of resources and supplies at my fingertips.

Usually, brides pick out their dresses, their flowers or at least their colors before anything else. I picked out my paper before anything else. No joke! I could not move ahead in any of my planning until I had picked out paper that I loved. And I fell in love with this:

It was funky and girly and all of my favorite colors in one. I quickly bought out all we had in stock and asked the owner to order more! I began by making myself a planning book. And how perfect to have my color right on the cover - no need to drag around samples; there were right there with me all the time!

After pouring over books and magazines dedicated to weddings and invitations and cards, I finally came up with a samples of all the things I was going to make. I measured, cut, inked, and assembled, and with the help of my sister, I finished all our wedding invitations!

Simple, elegant, and with a touch of personality. But I wasn't done.

I didn't like the tradition of a simple guest book. Too impersonal. After all, I knew who was at my wedding, why did I need all their signatures? So I got an idea from a wedding magazine for reception cards. 4x6 cards that you put on the reception tables for people to write down their well-wishes, advice, and (as in the case of our friends) humor! So that's where I put in more personality and color!

Way cute, right?

But again, not done.

I was on a creative roll. And I was loving every minute of it! Next on the list was thank you cards.

And slightly less creative; programs:

The hardest thing about my wedding day was the fact that I could not have my camera in my hand. Seriously! Everything else went beautifully, there were no major problems. But I was constantly seeing photos I wanted to take. Now, I had done some major research on photographers and I had chosen a husband-wife team who I knew would capture my vision perfectly (and they did), and I had several trusted friends and family members armed with cameras of their own. But I still wanted all the photos I could get. From every perspective. So Mike and I made up these:

Little business cards with our contact info on them so people could send us their photos. And we took that photo on the front ourselves. For those of you who are confuse; it's a video gamy controller wound around a calla lily (our wedding flowers). I call it "Gamer Romance".

So that about wraps up everything from my wedding! This was the most ambitious, most time-consuming, and most fun project I have ever done. The things I learned from this giant project was:
1) Adhesive is expensive - buy in bulk.
2) ALWAYS use a good quality, SHARP cutter.
3) One step at a time to prevent getting overwhelmed.

Thanks for reading my giant post!

One of the added perks of being a preschool teacher is the gifts you get at the end of the year. This year, one class got together and gave me an exceedingly generous gift card to Michaels!

So since I never pass up an opportunity to go to Michaels (and since the gift card was burning a hold in my pocket), I went last night at 8:00 and spent a full hour there till they kicked me out at 9:00! I wandered up and down all the isles; my brain teeming with possibilities.

I finally decided on a few pieces of paper, matching flowers, and an adorable pair of hedgehog stamps. I only spend $10! Which ensures that I'll have plenty more shopping trips and opportunities to get more goodies! I actually like to buy a lot of little treats all spread out rather than one big purchase (unless I've been eying something big of course!).

So when I got home, I immediately set to work with my new supplies and here's what came out:

Aren't the hedgehogs adorable? I love hedgehogs, and they are  beginning to make their way into the crafting world.

I will be adding these cuties to my Etsy page in the next week, so if you want them (sets of 8 cards), check HERE!

I'm done with classes, so all I have to do this week at work is clean up my classroom, then it's on to summer!

Hope everyone had a great week!