New Year's Eve!

We bought some chocolates last year after Christmas in Maine at a very fun outlet store called Marden's. We have long since eaten the candy but I hung on to the boxes which are little drawers- so cute! In my cleaning frenzy I've been unearthing all kinds of fun stuff... I had one last gift card to give and amazingly, it fit perfectly in the drawer. I covered the outside with some scrapbook paper (using double sided tape to adhere paper to the box) and tied a ribbon around it and attached a Sizzix matboard heart tag that's wired on with a pipe cleaner. Lately I have been loving working with (OK, let's take a poll... do you call them pipe cleaners or chenille stems?)them :-) Nice and fuzzy, wired so they stay where placed and no fraying or finishing required! I also like working with wired ribbon for the same reasons. And that's all there is to it... Health and happiness in 2010! Thanks for reading.

Don't Throw Out the End of the Roll!

I am in the middle of cleaning for the kids arrivals on Wednesday but had to share this project with you made from gift wrap scraps. For full instructions, visit the new blog on the Sizzix website. I will be a regular blogger every Monday and feature projects, techniques and ideas using ScoreBoards dies. How was your Christmas? Did anything get an especially cool present or gadget? I am all ears... :-) Happy New Year everyone!

Cookies made by Mary... Wishing you a beautiful and blessed Christmas, a joyous New Year and all good things in the year to come. Eileen

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #6

Welcome everyone and happy holidays to all! So glad you could stop by to check out our sixth Blog Hop. Today's die is the Easel Frame. There are many ways this die can be used, as you will see when you check out the links to the amazing designers' blogs listed below. When I designed this die, I wanted a frame that would mail easily. It holds a wallet size photo and folds flat to mail. The frame is easily assembled by adding three brads (or just a strip of double sided tape). In the past, I have always used matboard as a base for the dies, but got curious about what other materials might work with the ScoreBoard dies. Turns out foamboard works fine! Consider starting a new tradition at the holidays of sending an updated school picture of your children to grandparents and other relatives that you may not see often. I spray adhesived a piece of BasicGrey paper to one side of a strip of foamboard and then ran it through the Big Shot. The machine will resist a little and does compress the foamboard but all of the pieces popped out without a problem. I cut off the bottom easel section, leaving a mat with a window and back piece the same size. I also added a matboard "J" cut out using my Serif Essentials alphabet, some baby rickrack, red glitter snowflake and a beaded handle. For more detailed instructions for this project, check out the latest issue of Totally-Creative, a beautiful e-magazine that contains 60 pages of unique holiday projects, complete instructions and interesting articles. Click here to sign up for a free trial issue! Need a last minute gift for a crafter friend? You have till Dec. 31 to get 2 subscriptions for the price of one! I love how my friend Kim added the middle heart shaped mat inside inside the frame. The red and white color scheme is so nice and crisp! The tiny ornament punches are adorable and I'm guessing here that they are Martha Stewart's. Am I right? One more item of interest and invitation. The Sizzix blog is up and running! You will see projects and ideas from Sizzix designers including Karen Burniston and Brenda Pinnick, who you have seen on our Hops, along with me. Many thanks to my great designer friends who took time out of their holiday preparations to bring you inspiration. Merry Christmas everyone! Ann Butler Fabrizio Martellucci Brenda Pinnick Jenn Ellefson Candice Windham Niki Meiners Violette Clark Cindi Bisson

Snowed in!

What a cozy day! The snow started Friday night as we were buying our tree. The local churches co-sponsor a holiday food drive and then families come and "shop" for a week's worth of food. The decision was made, with the snow coming, to open on Friday night instead of waiting for Saturday so Hayward and I went over to give a hand. Wow- what an operation! So well run... By the time we left at 10:30, the snow was coming down pretty well. When we got up yesterday, there was an impressive accumulation and it continued all day. I cleared the cars and shook as much snow as I could reach off our trees and shrubs. We did lose one tree- there was just too much snow for the branches to hold and it just kind of leaned over and kept going... Hayward got good use out of the snowblower and came in after three hours hungry and aching. It looks so clean and pretty out back. For dinner I made spaghetti and we watched "Hidalgo". Mary and I baked some cookies (check back on Christmas to see what we made!) and toffee. Right now I am finishing up some last minute projects (for other people). I haven't started on mine yet but there's still plenty of time :-)

Deck the halls...

It usually takes till about now for me to get in the holiday spirit. Today my friends Tina and Lorine and I went up to a historical wheat plantation in Leesburg where they featured wedding dresses of women who had lived there. It was beautiful weather and a great day to be there. Then we went on to lunch. We decided to go somewhere together instead of giving gifts this year. I am so blessed to have several circles of great friends and I don't tell them enough how much I love them. But now, back to a depressing topic... I am cleaning the basement/studio and wonder why in the world I let it get like this. I'm on a roll right now though... just in time for CHA coming up when another disaster will be created! A couple of things... I appeared on Inspired at Home: Spotlight on Creativity Dec. 7. The show archives are up if you want to see the show. The Sizzix blog was supposed to go live today but due to a tech problem it was delayed... hopefully tomorrow it will go up. Last thing. I was going through some stuff and found this little angel I had gotten at a thrift store somewhere. Is it my imagination or does she look faintly annoyed? Something about the way she's clutching that harp reminds me of my mom's expression in the rearview mirror as she is driving my sisters and I to piano lessons as we were goofing around and being obnoxious in the back seat and generally getting on her nerves... good times... Tomorrow night is Book Club so I will be baking today for the cookie exchange and family members that will soon be arriving. Christmas is coming!

Birth Announcement

My friend Joayn became a grandmother at Thanksgiving. She had gotten some stationery before Jackson was born and I asked her for a notecard. Wasn't sure what I would do with it but thought I might somehow create a unique birth announcement for her. Actually I did two and will give the other one to Tara, Joayn's daughter. I like how this came out and it was so easy with the help of my trusty workhorse, the Logan mat cutter! Make sure to check out the Sizzix site on Monday and click on BLOG! I will be posting new projects, tips and techniques for working with the new ScoreBoard dies along with other Sizzix designers. I can't wait to see these babies in person on Saturday! I will be traveling down to Raleigh, NC where the closest Archiver's store is. They are offering a free Make and Take Sizzix ScoreBoards gift card box. If you have an Archiver's store in your area, boy are you lucky! Stop by and make a one...

Sizzix ScoreBoard Blog Hop #5

Thanks for stopping by today! I can't wait for you to see what the fabulous ScoreBoard designers have come up with for you this time. Every Hop, I am blown away by their creativity and style and so appreciate the time they put in to working on these projects, especially during the busy holiday season. Today we have two bloggers new to the Hop: Debra Quartermain is a designer friend from Canada who works in all kinds of mediums, but I think my my personal favorites are the projects she creates with fabric. Debra designs cuddly little creatures from felt, fabric and fleece- you just want to hug them. We also have Violette Clark here for the first time (another Canadian)! I met Violette two years ago at CHA when we had a booth next to her in the License & Design Section. We spent a lot of fun time getting to know each other. Violette is a multi-media artist and loves to work with lots of color and techniques. She has a purple house- check out her blog! The die we are working with today is the Business Card Box. This box is quite versatile. Not only does it fit business cards but it's the perfect size for gift cards- very handy at this time of year! Another reason I like it is because it's so quick and easy to assemble. I decided to do a little surgery on mine. My project is a magnetic organizer. I plan on putting it on the refrigerator next to my calendar. I am constantly looking for a pencil, paper and post-its so I can make notes and write in dates/times while talking on the phone. After I had cut out the die and trimmed the top flap off, I inserted the black matboard die-cut in the Textured Impression folder and ran it through the Big Shot. Then I sanded off the raised part of the image down to the white core. I will tell you, my arm got tired- it took a while to do! It was then inked with a light blue dye ink. I printed out labels and adhered them to the die cut tabs and threaded ribbon through the back. Black and blue matboard were layered on top of each other with a strip of white cardstock edged with a Martha Stewart punch design in between. The Crop-o-dile was used to punch two sets of holes to thread ribbon through for a pencil holder. Foam adhesive strips were placed under the blue layer for popped up dimension. On the back, three strips of one inch magnet tape was adhered to hold the whole piece on the fridge. I added black matboard die cut flowers randomly to the background along with a narrow ribbon at the top. I also used a couple of flowers to decorate magnet clips I had found at Ikea a while ago. This will be good for coupons. For a look at some more cool projects, check out the blogs of my talented designer friends! Denise Clason Jenn Ellefson Bonnie Bruns Korie B Violette Clark Karen Burniston Candice Windham Debra Quartermain Cindi Bisson Ann Butler Niki Meiners

18 Days till Christmas!

It's winter! And we have the snow to prove it... I returned to Virginia on Saturday morning from 3 days in Kansas to a beautiful white wonderland. I am happy to report that my son is back from Iraq and he and his family are doing well! Thanks for all of your comments- I relayed them and he was touched at your concern and gratitude. Trinity is sporting the latest in ballerina attire. Some fun events are coming up! First is another appearance on Tiffany Windsor's Facebook LIVE: Spotlight on Creativity Monday, Dec. 7 at 10 AM with last minute holiday gift wrap ideas using my new Sizzix ScoreBoard dies. Instructions will be posted in the upcoming week for the projects featured on the show. I also have some exciting news to share so hope you can tune in. This coming Wednesday is Blog Hop #5 and the featured die is the Business Card box (which also holds a gift card- how handy is that!). Hope you can join me at 11 AM on Dec. 9 to see the latest creations of the talented ScoreBoard designers. Now that the craft shows are over and I am almost caught up on my orders, I finally have some creative time! Please check back here often for holiday decorating ideas, recycled projects and quick handmade gifts.

This and That

Crazy week here... I went down to hear my daughter sing in her Choral concert at college yesterday and was so excited to stop in this great thrift shop that's on the way. Pulled into the parking lot and it was CLOSED :-( Last time I was there I found some great jars of buttons. Tomorrow morning I fly out to see my son who got back two weeks ago from Iraq! Can't wait to make sure he's really here and fine. On Monday at 10 AM I will be appearing on another Facebook LIVE show with Tiffany Windsor. Please tune in and see some ideas for last minute Christmas gift packaging as well as great tips for the holidays by other fun guests.