12 Days of Crafty Christmas: Day 1

The countdown is on and it's crazy as usual around here. Sorry for the absence but I just can't seem to catch up with it all, like, ever, anyone else feel that way? Pretty sure that's just life but I thought, why not add a crafty Christmas countdown to my chaos because, well, it's fun! :) So, I'm trying my very best to show you a fun project every day until Christmas highlighting a product or technique to try.

First up, Prismacolor watercolor pencils. I've been using cheaper versions on pencils for coloring since this became a trend and just haven't loved the coloring which surprised me. So I took the p,urge with a 40% off coupon at Hobby Lobby and invested in a small Prismacolor pencil set, similar sets can be found on Amazon. I had a stamp set from Stampin' Up and wanted to make a few thank you cards for Christmas gifts. I had the circle dies from Lawn Fawn and planned it out.

And here's what I came up with for a few cards, with some help from Addison because, who doesn't love to color?

I didn't do the water coloring because I needed to knock these out quickly tonight but I did add some red glitter glue to the reindeer nose and ornaments to add some texture. My verdict on these pencils, so worth the investment! Smooth and easy to add more depth or shadow, excited to have time to play with hem more and hoping I'll have a chance to use them for a watercolor technique on the countdown. Hope you'll stop by again to check it out, with the rest of the craft countdown projects! 

Sympathy and Blessings

Life is busy but the world does not stop moving! I don't expect it to, although every now and then I do have wishful thinking, especially when I have friends who are dealing with life events and I want to be there for them but my own circumstances don't make that a possibility. So, my next best option? Send a heartfelt handmade card!

A coworker's spouse recently lost her father and I wanted her to know she and their family were in my prayers with an autumn card. Fall is my favorite season with its striking colors and contrast and you can see His presence in the leaves before they land on the Earth, a symbol of something so grand! I recently got the leaf die from Papertrey Ink and did some water coloring for the leaves background to create that feeling for my sympathy card and used a Stampin' Up sentiment to finish it off with a few enamel dots.

I loved the way the first one turned out so decided to turn the same card into a thank you for someone that is long overdue! I switched out the sentiment with a newer one from Papertrey Ink and used gold embossing to add subtle texture. One card layout with two purposes is always a good thing!

I really enjoyed the process of these and hope you're counting your blessings and enjoying this beautiful fall season that God has blessed us with to savor before the snow starts flying! :)

Project Life...Catching Up from Summer

Hope you all had a fun and festive Halloween! It happens to be my favorite holiday behind my family favorite of Christmas! This year we had a hot dog, a baby, and a hunter in the family! If you want to check us out on my Instagram feed, ou can find me at sdbreidenbach.

So, here's some serious PL catch up, July, August, and September to be exact! I'm feeling pretty good about my progress considering November just started! :) I used a few branded kits to get these completed quickly! I bought a big stash of items recently because one of the last brick and mortar scrapbook stores near me recently closed because Lori, the owner and friend, decided to retire so I can't be too sad. Looks like online shopping may be a part of my crafting future!

July...

August...

And September...

Papertrey Ink October Blog Hop

It's only been um, eons, since I've had a chance to blog so sorry about being MIA but with a new job and listing our house for sale along with back to school chaos, the blog just had to take a backseat for awhile. So I figured a Papertrey Ink blog hop would be a perfect way to jump back in and why not get ahead on some Christmas tags in the process? :)

Here's the inspiration...

And here's some of the tags I created...

A picture of them all piled up, so excited that the holidays are upon us and had so much fun creating a few simple tags to adorn some shopping I've already started. Shhhh, don't tell my girls! :o)
Hope life is treating you all well and you're starting to get into the spirit with this fabulous inspiration and Papertrey Ink. It's always fun to look back at sets I've purchased several years back and get the same enjoyment out of them now as I did a few years back!

PS: Sorry about the bad lighting and that one picture that is not right side up, I waited until the end of my Sunday to create the tags and snap a few photos and just couldn't figure out how to move the picture right side up because it's been too long since I've been blogging! :o) I got a few PL layouts done this weekend, too, so I'll try to post those this week sometime! Happy hopping...

More Gossamer Blue, Project Life June 2015

Wow, it's been awhile since I stopped by, life has been a whirlwind! I actually created these cards and PL pages a few weeks back and am just now uploading them. So June Project Life with the June kit, what a novel idea! :) LOVE the gold and pinks with pineapples and flamingos in this one...

And here's my PL for June, such a fun month with lots going on...

I just love to look back at these moments that are moving so fast in this joyful, crazy, beautiful life of mine! Gives me a chance to relive them and hopefully, my girls will look back at these someday and not only know, but actually see how much love is in their lives! Happy weekend, friends! Thanks for stopping!!!

Birthday Layout w Gossamer Blue

Happy Saturday! Just a quick update w the layout from my May kit.

This came together easily and I added a few details to some of the die cuts I created w my Silhouette like this snow cone w a few candied enamel dots and sugary Wink of Stella pen accents. Here's the left page...

And the right page...

It's HOT here and we had the ADA Tour de Cure this morning and spent the afternoon swimming so feeling a tad exhausted this evening! The girls are baby-sitting the neighbors so Eric and I are going to relax in the air conditioning and catch up on our DVR...

Gossamer Blue May

Is it seriously past the 4th of July? Oh me oh my, time needs to slow down! But it won't, I sadly realize as we are preparing to have a middle schooler living among us!?!?! Eeeeek! I did have a few days off and dug into some kits. Cards galore from the May Gossamer Blue kit and I am loving some of these, just fresh and fun!

I had fun mixing the random font letters to spell my sentiment. Next up, I used the wooden Sweet to create a sweet little thank you that happens to be my favorite creation from this kit. Not sure if it's the vintage like yellow flowered paper or the pretty blue polka dot one, but seriously had so much fun making this one!

This is my second favorite...

I swoon over the wooden camera and those gold hearts! So sweet!

And another thank u, just for fun with a few scraps. You may have noticed the envelopes behind each of my cards. It's typical to not want to part with anything pretty and these kits are packed with this problem. I pulled out my envelope punch board from Stampin' Up and whipped these up to create some unique sized cards and matching envelopes and use up the pretty paper...why hadn't I thought of that earlier?!? 

You can check out Gossamer Blue and their kits here. I created a layout for Addison's birthday party with the rest of this so I'll share that later this week, hopefully before too much time goes by! :) Hope you're enjoying your summer as much as we are!