Rachel's Craft Room

Trash or Treasure? French Fry Box.

2012-02-14T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Trash or Treasure day in the craft room. Today's challenge comes from my daughter Kimberly. Have you seen these tiny french fry holders that come in a McDonald's Happy Meal? They are big enough to hold about 10 fries and Kimberly decided they were the perfect size to make over.

Make overs do not always need to be elaborate. I had this glimmer paper heart punched out on my craft table and decided to put it to use for this project. All we needed to do was cover the "M" and since the heart wasn't quite big enough I also punched out a scallop circle. Simple and cute!

Happy Valentines Day everyone ~ Rachel

Full Heart Punch
Small Heart Punch.
2 3/8 Scallop Circle Punch.

Valentines

2012-02-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I decided to use up all the valentines I had on hand for the shut-ins at church. I was six cards short so I made up some of these simple valentines.

Rich Razzleberry, Pretty in Pink, Early Espresso & Whisper White color combo.
Finial Press embossing folder.
Full Heart punch.
Short & Sweet stamp set.
1/4" Chocolate Chip grosgrain ribbon.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Red Hot Challenge

2012-02-12T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It's Red Hot Stamper day - woot woot!!! I had fun making my own cloud DSP for this card. Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge blog to see what the other gals made for today.

Send Me Soaring stamp set.
Bashful Blue, Marina Mist, Poppy Parade & Whisper White color combo.
Top Note & Circle #2 Sizzix Dies.
2 3/8" Scallop Circle & 1 3/4" Circle punches.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Silly Saturday

2012-02-11T04:00:00.002-05:00

Pizza Night.

Our puppies love to eat the crust. :)

Heart Framelits

2012-02-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Here is the final project I made for Glenda's Open House challenge - a wine bottle tag. I LOVE how this turned out. The self stick diamond jewels really shine. I chose my color combo based on the colors on the bottle.

Heart Framelits.
Top Note Sizzix die.
1 3/4" circle punch.
Elegant Lines embossing folder.
Self Stick Jewels.
Outline Occasions stamp set.
Marina Mist, Melon Mambo & Whisper White color combo.

Have a great day ~ Rachel.

Heart Framelits

2012-02-09T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Out of all the projects I put together for the Heart Framelit challenge this is the one that makes me the happiest. You all know I'm a sucker for a cute critter. The face and mane of the lion are one size heart and the body is a larger upside down heart. This photo is of the bottom corner of a 12x12 scrapbook page.

Heart Framelits
Wide Oval, Small Heart & Itty Bitty punches.
Crumb Cake, Chocolate Chip, Not Quite Navy & Old Olive color combo.

Heart Framelits

2012-02-08T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Shamrocks are definitely not Valentine-ish. Not a bad ideas for the Heart Framelit challenge if I do say so myself.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Heart Framelits
Finial Press embossing folder.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Garden Green, Certainly Celery & Whisper White color combo.

Heart Framelits

2012-02-07T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
The rest of my Heart Framelit challenge projects had an added challenge that I gave myself. Make something with the hearts that wasn't a valentine. Tom actually helped me with this one - he suggest a glider of some sort. Who is a better glider than a butterfly. :)

Send me Soaring stamp set.
Perfect Plum card stock.
Everyday Enchantment DSP.
Self Stick Pearl Jewels.
Stripes embossing folder.
Heart Framelits.

Have a great day ~ Rachel

Heart Framelits

2012-02-06T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Project number 4 for the Heart Framelits challenge. I knew right away I wanted to make a heart shaped box. I used my Cupid Corn candies to add some treats.

Heart Framelits
Pretty in Pink card stock, DSP & grosgrain ribbon.
Window Sheets
Cello bag.

Have a great day ~ Rachel

Red Hot Challenge

2012-02-05T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It's Red Hot Challenge day - yahoo! I love this card it is so fancy but so simple to make. The Pink card stock is stamped with the large flowery image in Versa Mark Ink. Sadly that doesn't show up in the photo - but it adds some very subtle shimmer.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge blog and see what the other gals put together for this week.

Mixed Bunch stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Pink Pirouette, Soft Suede, Certainly Celery & Whisper White color combo.
Finial Press embossing folder.
Certainly Celery 1/4" grosgrain ribbon.
Eyelet Border, Blossom & 3/4" Circle Punches
Self Stick Pearl Jewels

Silly Saturday

2012-02-04T04:00:00.002-05:00

When I got home from the store I found Tom like this.

He and Emily were playing beauty parlor while I was gone.

Isn't he cute :)

Heart Framelits

2012-02-03T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Heart Framelit project number three today. I love this card - it is so simple and so colorful.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Heart Framelit dies.
Short & Sweet stamp set.
Word Window and Modern Label punches
Concord Crush, Poppy Parade, Peach Parfait, Pear Pizazz & Whisper White color combo.

Heart Framelits

2012-02-02T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Here is project number two using the Heart Framelit dies. This one was so fun to make - and easy too! The best part is that I got to eat all the non-red M&M's (te-he)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Heart treat cup.
Full Heart Punch.
Scallop Heart embosslit.
Heart Framelits
Elegant Bouquet embossing folder.
Real Red grosgrain ribbon.

Heart Framelits

2012-02-01T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
My friend Glenda issued a challenge for the gals in her Red Hot Stampers group. She was hosting a SU! Open House at the end of January featuring the new products in the Occassions Mini & Sale-a-bration catalogs. She asked those of us who wanted to participate to choose one or two items from the Occasions Mini and/or Sale-a-bration fliers and come up with a variety of projects using only that item. The first item I chose to work with were the new Heart Framelit dies. I started with a simple Valentine.

Medallion stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Heart Framelits.
Perfect Polka Dot & Elegant Lines embossing folders.
Word Window & Modern Label punches.
Melon Mambo, Pretty in Pink & Whisper White color combo.
Self Stick diamond jewels.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Baby Tees

2012-01-31T04:00:00.005-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I had three baby tees left over from when I wheeled them out on card stock. I figured I would finish up this theme for now as I have tons of new stuff to show you next month. :)

This card was out of the box for me - rarely do I make a card that is not a traditional fold. It was fun to make this pocket card for something different.

This may have inspired an idea for baby announcements for Baby Boy Verbrugge :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Baby Tees Stampin' Wheel.
Short & Sweet stamp set.
Ticket Corner Punch.
Marina Mist & Whisper White card stock.

Baby Tees

2012-01-30T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Another baby card today :)

Baby Tees Stampin' Wheel
Short & Sweet stamp set.
Marina Mist, Certainly Celery, Bashful Blue & Whisper White color combo.
Polka Dots & Stripes embossing folders.
1 3/4" circle & 2 3/8" Scallop circle punches.

Red Hot Challenge

2012-01-29T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge day - yippee! Pop on over to the Red Hot Stamper blog and see what the other gals put together for today.

Send me Soaring stamp set.
Everyday Enchantment DSP.
Pear Pizazz, Peach Parfait & Very Vanilla card stock.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Silly Saturday

2012-01-28T04:00:00.000-05:00

I walked into the living room and found these Barbies.

I assume they are trying to hide from the ferocious

fuzzy beast in the background.

Sketch Challenge

2012-01-27T11:43:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
A late post for me today. I never made it into my own craft room yesterday, I was busy in Christi's craft room instead. :) I love our Thursday morning play dates.

I decided to play along with the Stampin' Queens Sketch Challenge today. I still had some baby tees left on my table from my last two cards so I just kept rolling with that theme.

Baby Tees Stampin' Wheel.
Short & Sweet stamp set.
Lucky Limeade, Pacific Point, Ruby Red (retired) & Whisper White color combo.
Pear Pizazz DSP.
Scallop Circles Sizzix Die
2 1/2" Circle Punch.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Baby Tees

2012-01-26T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Here is another baby thank you.

Baby Tees Stampin' Wheel.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Brocade Blue (retired), Bashful Blue, So Saffron & Whisper White color combo.
Word Window, Modern Label & Scallop Edge punch.
Stripes embossing folder.

Have a great day ~ Rachel

Baby Tees

2012-01-25T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Understandably I have baby boy Verbrugge on the brain all the time. This last month will fly by and move slow all at the same time. I'm excited to hug my new Little Mister that is for sure. With baby boy on my mind I decided to make some baby boy thank you notes.

Baby Tees Stampin' Wheel.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Brocade Blue (retired), Bashful Blue & Whisper White color combo.
Polka Dots embossing folder.
Scallop Edge punch.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Trash or Treasure? Marker Boxes

2012-01-24T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Trash or Treasure day here in Rachel's Craft Room. I have had this project in the back of my mind for several months. I wanted to use these boxes to make a special treat for the kids teachers. With Valentines Day coming up I got to work.

First thing I had to find was some Cupid Corn to put inside the boxes.

One big tub of cupid corn was enough to fill all four boxes and a leave a little left over for me to snack on. :)

Joshua was so excited that I was making his teacher a special valentine that I put him to work. He had a ball punching, cutting & sticking.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Occasions Alphabet stamp set.
Four Frames stamp set.
Scallop Heart embosslit.
Small Heart, Full Heart, Elegant Label & Large Oval Punches.
Red glimmer paper.
Everyday Enchantment DSP.
Misc ribbon.

Red Hot Challenge

2012-01-22T04:00:00.006-05:00

Greetings Friends,

I am loving all of my new Sale-a-bration items. The Everyday Enchantment Designer Series Paper is awesome and adds so much color to a card.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge blog and see what all the other gals have made this week.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Fresh Vintage stamp set. (coming Jan 24, 2012)

Everyday Enchantment DSP (coming Jan 24, 2012)

SAB ribbon/brad combo pack. (coming Jan 24, 2012)

Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze & Very Vanilla color combo.

Lace Border Punch.

Silly Saturday

2012-01-21T04:00:00.002-05:00

Lil' Miss Emily has learned how to wrap her hair up in a towel.

My Digital Studio Week

2012-01-20T04:00:00.010-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Here is another scrapbook page using the new Sale-a-bration My Digital Studio paper & Fresh Vintage stamp set. The free MDS Sale-a-bration CD becomes available on Jan 24.

Have a great day ~ Rachel.

My Digital Studio Week

2012-01-19T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is My Digital Studio Week here in Rachel's Craft Room. I love all the new Sale-a-bration Designer Series Paper - both the real life and the digital versions. Either version could be yours for FREE with a $50 Stampin' Up! purchase Jan 24 - Mar 31, 2012.

Everyday Enchantment digital DSP

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

My Digital Studio Week

2012-01-18T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is My Digital Studio week here in Rachel's Craft Room. Out of all the available stamp sets offered in the Sale-a-bration catalog the Fresh Vintage set is my favorite. I am glad to have it in digital format as well as a clear mount stamp set. Remember you too can have this set for FREE with any $50 Stampin' Up! purchase Jan 24-Mar 31, 2012.

Fresh Vintage digital stamp set.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

My Digital Studio Week

2012-01-17T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is once again My Digital Studio week here in Rachel's Craft Room. I am playing with all the new FREE Sale-a-bration digital stamp sets that are on the MDS Sale-a-bration CD. The CD features all of the digital versions of the Sale-a-bration exclusive stamp sets available for FREE Jan 24-Mar 31, 2012. If you are not a digital crafter that is okay, these stamp sets are also available in wood or clear mount.

Sprinkled Expressions digital stamp set.
Outlined Occasions digital stamp set.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

My Digital Studio Week

2012-01-16T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is time for another round of My Digital Studio week here in Rachel's Craft Room. I was able to pre-order the new My Digital Studio Sale-a-bration CD and have been having fun playing with all the new stuff.

The MDS Sale-a-bration CD is free to those who place a $50 Stampin' Up! order Jan 24 - Mar 31, 2012. The CD includes the digital versions of all the Sale-a-bration exclusive stamp sets and accessories.

Elementary Elegance digital stamp set.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Red Hot Challenge

2012-01-15T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Red Hot Stamper sketch challenge day. I sure have been having fun seeing what all of the Red Hot Stampers come up with each week. It is funny how one sketch can inspire so many different looks.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers blog and see what everyone else was inspired to make.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Mixed Bunch stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Blossom punch
Word Window punch.
Modern Label punch.
Scallop Edge punch.

Silly Saturday

2012-01-14T04:00:00.002-05:00

This is Daisy,

I have a jar of dog treats on my craft table.

She always comes a runnin' when she hears me crafting. :)

Kimberly's Valentines

2012-01-12T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Kimberly knew she wanted to have valentines with animals on them. After studying the choices in my stamp collection she settled on the Fox & Friends stamp set.

Kimberly loves sparkles so I knew we should put some red Glitter Paper on her cards. A tiny heart was the perfect accent. She loves all of the cards but says that the turtle & giraffe are her favorite.

Fox & Friends stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Small Heart punch.
Barely Banana (retired), Cherry Cobbler & Whisper White card stock.
Red Glitter paper.

Joshua's Valentines

2012-01-11T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Joshua requested his favorite skateboarder stamp for his valentines. Seeing as how we made his birthday treats with that stamp I took a chance and made some valentines using his second favorite stamp set, Grunge Rock. Mama knows best - Josh loves his rocked out valentines. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Grunge Rock stamp set.
Extreme Elements stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Vintage Violet (retired), Cranberry Crisp (retired) & Whisper White color combo.

Emily's Valentines

2012-01-10T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I am way ahead of the game when it comes to getting Valentines ready this year. I can't mess around with waiting until the last minute this year. My due date is too close to the holiday. :)

After much discussion Emily finally settled on wanting Valentines with hearts on them. Her favorite color is pink so I dug into my retired card stock and pulled out some Pixie Pink for her cards. She loves them.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

I {Heart} Hearts stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Pixie Pink (retired), Gable Green (retired), Orchid Opulence (retired) & Whisper White color combo.

Snow Much Fun

2012-01-09T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
For years I made sure to send cards each month to those members of our church that are no longer able to get out and about. When Tom fell apart last year I got out of the routine of regularly sending them cards.

I'm not sure why these individuals are so dear to my heart but I do know that I want to make a better effort to send them cards regularly again. I talked to our pastor and got an updated list of names and went to work last week making up some wintry cards. I can't wait to send them out. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Snow Much Fun stamp set.
Brilliant Blue (retired), Tangerine Tango & Whisper White color combo.

Red Hot Challenge

2012-01-08T04:00:00.006-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge day - woohoo!!! I decided to bust out all of my new Sale-a-bration items to make this card. Stampin' Up! Sale-a-bration event starts at the end of the month but as demonstrators we are able to get items early. :) I love getting new stuff to play with.

Pop on over to the Red Hot blog and check out what the other gals made today.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Fresh Vintage stamp set. (coming Jan 24, 2012)
Everyday Enchantment DSP (coming Jan 24, 2012)
SAB ribbon/brad combo pack. (coming Jan 24, 2012)
Poppy Parade DSP
Poppy Parade, Baja Breeze, Pear Pizazz, Calypso Coral & Very Vanilla color combo.
Lace Border Punch.

Silly Saturday

2012-01-07T04:00:00.002-05:00

A handmade gift from one of Tom's coworkers.

Stampin' Queens

2012-01-06T21:25:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I decided to play along with the Stampin' Queens today. This was a fun sketch challenge. Thanks ladies for the inspiration.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Mixed Bunch stamp set.
Misc. "Thinking of you" stamp.
Pacific Point, Old Olive & Whisper White card stock.
Everyday Enchantment DSP.
Top Note Sizzix Die.
Old Olive grosgrain ribbon.
Rhinestone circle brads.

Highchair

2012-01-04T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
After we had Emily we thought we were done having kids so we got rid of all of our baby items. When friends of ours found out we would have to replace everything they came to our rescue with items that they no longer needed.

One Sunday I was visiting with Sam & Jessica and their daughter Madi. They were telling me how Madi has move to a regular booster seat to eat dinner at the table. I didn't think anything of this until Sam made the comment to Jessica that he needed to pick a day to get rid of their highchair. WAIT!!! We still need a highchair.

I had been planning to wait until garage sale season next spring to pick one up but offered to buy theirs if they were done with it. Sam said, "We don't sell stuff - we give it away." Even better. :)
So this cute jungle highchair found it's way to our house.

I made another matching thank you note. This was the funnest one to make for sure!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Fox and Friends stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
Scallop Oval punch
Elegant Lines embossing folder.

Swing

2012-01-03T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
After we had Emily we thought we were done having kids so we got rid of all of our baby items. When friends of ours found out we would have to replace everything they came to our rescue with items that they no longer needed.

Rachel called us one day and asked if we could use a swing for Baby Boy. She had two and would love to give one to us if we could use it. Sure!

Another thank you card was needed. I decided to make a matchy matchy thank you card again for the item given to us.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Bitty Bolds stamp set. (retired)

Car Seat

2012-01-02T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
After we had Emily we thought we were done having kids and so we've gotten rid of all of our baby items. When our friends found out we would need to replace everything they came to our rescue with items they were done with.

Jen showed up one day and said she had something for me. She popped open the back of her van and there sat this beautiful infant car seat. Oh my goodness - I was so excited. This was the last thing we needed to buy for Baby Boy - what a blessing to be given one instead.

A thank you note was in order. I decided to make one that matched the pattern of the car seat.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.
1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches.
Word Window punch
Modern Label punch.

Red Hot Challenge

2012-01-01T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Happy New Years everyone. I admit that I did not stay up to ring in the new year. Baby makes me incredibly sleepy so I don't fight it when it is time for bed.

For today's Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge I decided to turn the sketch on it's side. As soon as I did that the Up Up & Away stamp set came to mind. I think it turned out pretty cute - I think I'll tuck it away and use it for a valentine for someone this year.

Pop on over to the Red Hot blog to see what the other gals created today.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Up Up & Away stamp set.
Elegant Lines embossing folder.
Sale-a-bration ribbon combo (coming Jan 24, 2012)
Wide Oval punch
Scallop Circle punch.

Silly Saturday

2011-12-31T08:16:00.001-05:00

Leave it to my brother-in-law to find the grossest thing ever

to give everyone for Christmas.

No one dared smear any on their lips. :)

Lucky for me they ran out of chicken poop

so I got Lizard Lips lip balm (tastes like vanilla)

Did you notice... it's gluten free in case I decide to eat some. :)

Snow Much Fun

2011-12-30T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

I started making this card at my friend Christi's house. We were trying a new technique together.

Apparently it is not a good idea to attempt new stuff when your blood sugar is all wonky. I had gone to the doctor to have my glucose tolerance test done that morning.

I couldn't focus on the directions and managed to cut all my pieces of paper wrong. And there also seemed to be too much glitter for me to handle. BOOHOO! I gave up and took all my pieces home to assemble later.

After a good lunch, a nap and two weeks of not looking at what I tried to create I decided to assemble the card without the special feature. Good thing the card looks cute without it. :)

Thanks Christi for tyring to teach me something new. Maybe we can try again for Valentines Day. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Snow Much Fun stamp set.
Ornament Punch.

Calendars

2011-12-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
After I made my batch of 2012 desk calendars I realized that I was a couple short. Rrrr!!! I had moment of brilliance when I remembered having some left over from years past. I ripped off the old calendars replaced them with 2012 calendars and now I have enough to give away - Phew!!!

I made the calendar above in 2010

A Flower for all Seasons stamp set. (retired)

The calendar below was for 2011

Lucky for us there are some people we will be giving calendars to for the first time this year. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Calendars

2011-12-28T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

I have been crafting like a crazy woman this month ... something that happens every December. :)

Each year I assemble desk calenders as a gift for my kids Sunday School teachers. I was browsing through my SU! Catalog and the Season of Friendship stamp set caught my eye for this project. Lucky for me my friend Christi owns this set and lets me borrow her stuff whenever I want. Thanks Christi!

The calendar is made from a half a sheet of cardstock. All four sides are decorated for the different seasons. Check them out ...

Winter

Spring

Summer

Fall

Visit the PrintFree website to find a yearly calendar to use for this project. Remember to shrink the size to 80% if you are making a desktop calendar from a half a sheet of card stock like I did.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Seasons of Friendship stamp set.

Trash or Treasure? Nesquik Container

2011-12-27T04:00:00.027-05:00

Greetings Friends,
The kid-o's just finished up all the powder from this Nesquik container and I thought that it would make a great container for something else. I washed it all up and set it aside until I could figure out what to use it for. Inspiration came quickly.

Emily likes to bring a coloring book and crayons with her when we go pick up Kim & Josh from school. She usually fills a baggie with a few crayons. Well why not make her a container to keep her car crayons in. We have large pocket/cup holders in the back of the van and this container will fit perfectly.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Broadsheet Alphabet stamp set.
Bitty Bolds stamp set (retired)

Inspired

2011-12-26T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
One of Toms Christmas presents was kinda odd shaped so I had to go hunt for a tall gift bag to put it in. This was the bag I found - I bought it even though it isn't really Christmasy. When I was putting Toms gift inside I thought to myself - this bag looks like someone stamped it. I should make a card like this ...

So I did!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Fresh Vintage stamp set (coming Jan 24, 2012)
Stripes embossing folder.
Scallop Edge Punch.
Crumb Cake, Bravo Burgundy & Basic Black color combo.
Gold craft ink and embossing powder.

Red Hot Challenge

2011-12-25T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Merry Christmas to all of you. Because I have spent most of the month showing off Christmas cards I thought I would make a birthday card today - it is after all Jesus' birthday. :)

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers Sketch Challenge blog and look at what the other gals came up with this week.

Have a very Merry Christmas everyone ~ Rachel

Vintage Vogue stamp set.

Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Santa Burger

2011-12-24T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Yes, you have seen a similar card on my blog as a trash or treasure project. But wait .... this one is a gift card holder.

Grandma and Grandpa (my parents) love to meet my kids at McDonald's for breakfast whenever our busy schedule allows. It is usually Grandpa's treat so I thought - why not have the grand kids treat him to breakfast for a change.

I zipped through the drive thru at Mcy D's and picked up a gift card then came home and put together this Santa burger card. I had planned to put the punch art hamburger on the front of the card but it just looked weird so inside it went. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Elegant Lines & Perfect Polka Dots Embossing folders
Top Not Sizzix Die
Large Oval & Scallop Oval punches.
1" circle punch.
Simply Scored Scoring Tool.

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I had a scrap piece (the tree) left over from a different project I have been working on and decided not to let it go to waste. One extra Christmas card is always good to have on hand.

Have a great day ~ Rachel.

Seasons of Friendship stamp set.
Christmas Greetings stamp set.
Snow Flurries embossing folder.
Self stick jewels.

Red Hot Cards

2011-12-22T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,

I decided to make some Christmas cards for my stampin' gal pals too. Merry Christmas ladies!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Tidings of Joy stamp set.
Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder.
Soft Suede and Very Vanilla color combo.
Self stick jewel.
Misc. golden ribbon.

Joy to the World

2011-12-21T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

Normally each Christmas I make between 60-75 cards to send to family and friends. This year I decided to use all of the Christmas cards that I had on hand from years past, classes, and blog posts. Surprisingly I only had to make about 15 more cards. Woot! Woot!

The design is a simple version of something that Christi, Marla and I put together on one of our Thursday morning play dates.

The Sounding Joy stamp set.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

For Michelle

2011-12-20T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Here is the second design I came up with for Tom's cousins Christmas cards. Michelle loves sparkle so this card is sprayed with lots of shimmer mist.

I think both cards turned out great.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Lovely as a Tree stamp set.
Christmas Greeting stamp set.
Finial Press embossing folder.
Handsome Hunter (retired) and Very Vanilla color combo.

For Michelle

2011-12-19T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Tom's cousin hired me to make her Christmas cards again this year. I love working on cards for others, especially family. I was fortunate to get to have their family picture this year so I was able to color coordinate the whole arrangement.

She did request a couple of different designs so come on back tomorrow to see what else I created.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Delightful Decorations stamp set.
Finial Press embossing folder.
Mellow Moss (retired), Pale Plum (retired) & Very Vanilla color combo.

Red Hot Challenge

2011-12-18T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Red Hot Challenge day again - yippee!!! I really liked this sketch. Simple but lots of possibilities.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers Sketch Challenge blog and see what the other Red Hots came up with for today.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Pennant Parade stamp set.
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Silly Saturday

2011-12-17T04:00:00.004-05:00

Do you see what I see?

Pumpernickel in the tree.

I'm the one who tucked him in there - after finding him in my purse again.

I wonder how long it will take before someone notices him. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Teacher Gifts

2011-12-16T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Emily's gifts for her teachers were a bit different from Kimberly and Joshua's. Emily's teachers are good friends of mine and we attend the same church. Knowing that Mrs. O & Mrs. L stocked up on their own cookie jars I had to come up with a different Christmas gift idea for them.

I finally settled on assembling a bag of cards for each of them. Each bag holds a card for each major holiday plus a few birthday cards and blank notes. I know that they will love them.

After I had the bags made up I punched out a simple tag and had Emily sign her name. Great job Emily girl!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Teacher Giftbags

2011-12-15T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Joshua came into the craft room while I was working on Emily's treat bags and we put our heads together on what he would like to create for his class. Joshua told me he wanted to use the Big Shot to cut out big snowflakes to glue on his bags. Simple and cute - good thinkin' Buddy Boy.

Our plan changed when I went to the craft store and found pre-printed bags for cheaper than plain ones.

No problem - I had some left over bags from Emily's class so we dolled up two bags just how Joshua wanted and we will be using them for Mrs. Hill's & Mrs. King's Christmas gifts. Inside each bag is a jar of layered cookie mix. The jars are something my girls group at church sells every year for their fundraising project.

I hope the teachers enjoy their cookies. :)
Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Emily Treat Bags

2011-12-14T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I've been working on treat bags for Emily's class Christmas party. Emily attends a Christian preschool so I took the opportunity to use my new Tidings of Joy stamp set to make tags for her bags.

I think the bags turned out great. Simple and sweet.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Tidings of Joy stamp set.

Trash or Treasure? Ribbon Spools

2011-12-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I've been told several times lately that some of you are missing my Trash or Treasure posts. I love doing these projects I just am not always inspired by the "trash" at our house. :) These spools however have a story behind them.

My girls group at church sells layered cookie & soup jars as their annual fund raiser. A ribbon is always tied around the top of the jars. I was cutting all the ribbon at home ahead of time and was tossing these spools on the floor when they were empty. Emily picked up the spools, asked if she could have them and has been carting the spools around the house calling them her cookies.

Hmmm ....

Thanks for the inspiration Emily.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Chocolate Chip Stampin' Wheel (retired)
Circle Scissors Plus & glass mat.
2 3/8" Scallop Circle Punch.

Red Hot Challenge

2011-12-11T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Red Hot Challenge day - yahoo!!! When I saw the tag shape on the sketch my mind immediately went to this birdcage in the Aviary stamp set. It is the perfect shape.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers Sketch Challenge blog and see what all the other gals have put together for today. Play along with us if you can.

Have great day everyone ~ Rachel

Aviary stamp set.

Silly Saturday

2011-12-10T04:00:00.000-05:00

Umm ... I'm not really sure what to say about this!

Christmas Program

2011-12-09T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Monday night we attended Emily's school Christmas program. A show full of 3 & 4 year olds is quite entertaining. Someone is always being naughty. Emily was no exception. My favorite part was when she made dear antlers on her head and waved at Daddy. Ahh good times, good times!

Emily is standing right in front of the teacher on the right side of the letter A.

The preschool asked me if I could make them some new signs for this years program. I made two different sets ... CHRIST CHILD and CHRISTMAS. I can't believe that I got this photo of all the letters facing the right way - someone usually had their letter upside down, sideways or swinging above their head. So funny!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Secret Santa Reveal

2011-12-08T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
On reveal night for our Secret Santa exchange I brought along this basket of goodies for Glenda. Inside the white bags with curly ribbon was some homemade hot chocolate mix and french vanilla mix.

The bags themselves were sitting inside some plastic baskets. Glenda uses these baskets all the time for her classes and I thought what a great idea to add some more to her collection.
I remembered Glenda mentioning that the Snow Much Fun stamp set was one of her favorites so I made a tag for the center bag using the tall snowman.

Inside the snowman bag I tucked these two ornaments. These are made sticking two treat cups together. I sandwiched the punched snowflake between the two cups.

I'm not sure if Glenda had me pegged as her Santa before reveal night or not. She never said for sure. Either way I sure had fun coming up with project to send her.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Snow Much Fun stamp set (tag)
Snowflake Punch.
2 1/2" Circle Punch.
2 3/8" Scallop Circle punch.
Treat Cups.
Micro beads

Secret Santa on Turkey Day

2011-12-07T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
The Thanksgiving holiday fell right in the middle of our Secret Santa extravaganza so I thought it would be fun to make some place cards for Glenda's family. I knew if I used my own handwriting for the names Glenda would know who her Secret Santa was right away (if she hadn't already figured it out.) so I asked my Mom to write out every ones names.

Looking at this photo now I wish I would have thought of making Glenda's turkey more goofy looking than the rest. Crossed eyed would have been awesome. (te-he)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Owl Punch (I trimmed off the owls ears to make the turkey body)
Scallop Circle punch.
Misc Thanksgiving stamp.

Secret Santa

2011-12-06T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
This is card number two that found it's way to Glenda's house. Inside I tucked a coordinating gift card holder (which I forgot to take a picture of - of course!) and a gift certificate to Glenda's favorite local coffee shop.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Pocket Silhouettes stamp set.
Framed Tulip embossing folder.
Trio Flower Punch (retired)
Self Stick Pearl Jewels

Secret Santa

2011-12-05T04:00:00.005-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I thought I'd spend this week showing off the items I made for my Secret Santa.

The rules for our Red Hot Secret Santa exchange this year were simple.

Items should be hand stamped/made.
Items bought were to be inexpensive.

The name I drew for the exchange was Glenda.
No pressure there, drawing the name of the leader of our group - AUG! :)

The first card I mailed to her was a blank note and a cello bag with some pre-stamped greetings. This way whatever occasion she needed the card for, there was a greeting included that she could attach to the front of the card.

Stay tuned for the other items that found their way to Glenda's house.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Awash with Flowers stamp set.

Red Hot Challenge

2011-12-04T04:00:00.005-05:00

Greetings Friends,

This Red Hot Stamper has been struck down by a bad head cold. Blech! I'm all tucked into my chair with the dogs, a supply of orange juice and Kleenex nearby. Not wanting to untuck myself to visit the craft room I decided to submit a My Digital Studio project for this weeks challenge. The sketch reminded me of a present so that's the look that I put together.

Head on over to the Red Hot Stampers Sketch Challenge blog to see what all the other girls have created.

Have a great day everybody ~ Rachel.

Silly Saturday

2011-12-03T04:00:00.002-05:00

Those are not pearl earrings the girls are wearing.

Those are my self stick jewels.

Red Hot Christmas Party

2011-12-01T23:32:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Tonight the Red Hot Stampers got together for our Christmas Party. I love this night - we always laugh and laugh and laugh. The night kicked off with a potluck supper and boy do these gals know how to cook. I sampled everything. An advantage of eating for two, no one questions how full your plate is. :)

After dinner we had our Secret Santa reveal. Oh my word - everyone had super funny stories to share about their SS experience this year. I was delighted to find out that Sandy was my Secret Santa. She gifted me with boxes of Mike-n-Ikes (yum-o) and a pickle ornament. The pickle ornament is perfect because ours was broken when I took it out of the box this year. Thank you so much Sandy - you were a wonderful Santa.

Sandy's elf helper, Belinda, was responsible for the mis-delivered pink package. She felt so bad for the mistake that she bought more jelly and redelivered it ... to the wrong house again. LOL! Belinda has been to my house a dozen times so she blames her double brain fart on the fact she approached my house from the opposite direction that she normally does. Pfft!

Maggie was so sweet and brought a small gift for everyone in the group. We all received a different type of dip mix inside a cute Santa gift bag. Mine is a cookie dough cream cheese ball mix. I can't wait to mix up my dip and snack on it with the kids this weekend.

From Santa stamp

After our SS reveal Glenda had some projects for all of us to work on. The first project was a super cute and simple card portfolio made from two standard envelopes.

Inside were matching notes and envelopes. I'm looking forward to making some more of these.

For All You Do stamp set.

Next we made two different candy wrappers. I did forfeit one of my Peanut Butter Cups to Tom when I got home. It is his favorite candy and I figured he earned it by giving me the night off.

Delightful Decorations stamp set.
Four the Holidays stamp set.
Stocking Punch.

Back to some games. Each of us got to choose a wrapped package from the center of the table. Glenda read us a silly Christmas story and every time she said the word "right" we had to pass our packages to the right. When she read the word left we had to pass our package back to the left. None of us ended up with the package we started with.

After the story was finished we were allowed to open our presents. Inside we each found some "white elephant" items out of Glenda's craft storage. Pat's present was the biggest and heaviest - she was excited until she found a bunch of old retired SU catalogs inside. Ba-ha!!! There were some other small usable items in there too, but how funny!

I scored some chocolate, packets of tags, scalloped edged bags and a clear divided stamp box (something I've been wanting).

A Red Hot party is not a Red Hot party unless we play a few rounds of bingo. We all won several times and were able to choose from a variety of prizes. I chose some spools of ribbon. Ribbon after all is a weakness of mine.

Bingo background stamp.
Jolly Bingo Bits stamp set.

Glenda's son Dean had helped her make an instructional video on how to make these cute Reindeer goody bags. When they were done with the video he decided he wanted to make each of us Red Hots one of them. How sweet ... Thanks so much Dean!

The final craft lesson of the night was Glenda showing us how she made some great gift bags from some Designer Series Paper (known as Double Sided Paper to some)

Glenda had made each of us a bag and inside included her favorite SU! product - Self Stick Jewels. To help us color coordinate our jewels to whatever project we are working on she added a pack of Sharpie markers. Just color the surface of the jewels to colorize them. Awesome!

What an amazing night. I'm sure that I'll catch myself snickering about something from the party before I doze off. :)

Have a wonderful day everyone ~ Rachel.

Christmas Program

2011-12-01T04:00:00.000-05:00

Second and Third graders. (Joshua's group)

Fourth and Fifth graders. (Kimberly's group)

Greetings Friends,
Tuesday night Kimberly and Joshua had their school Christmas program. Each group of kids sang three different songs and they did a really nice job. After the program we went to Tom's parents house for some cake and ice cream to celebrate Tom's brothers birthday. Wouldn't you know I forgot to take a picture of his card. (Rrr!) It was a super quick birthday party as it was already past the kids bed time, but it was nice to celebrate together just the same.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Craft Show

2011-11-30T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
This past weekend my favorite craft show was going on. Why is it my favorite? There is only one vendor I go there to see - she has the cutest hand painted wood decorations. She only does a couple of shows a year and this is the one closest to my house.

I always make the point to get there so I can buy a new ornament for everyone in the family. This year she had hand painted Christmas trees - so cute. I had all my kids in tow this year (normally I sneak off by myself for this event) so they all got to choose their own ornaments.

It wasn't until I snapped this photo that I realized that we had a blue theme going on ... except for Tom's. Sorry you got the odd ball ornament Daddy - my bad.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

For the Club

2011-11-29T04:00:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
This fall I joined a Stampin' Club. Once a month for eleven months a group of ladies who love to stamp gather together at Glenda's house and craft together. We have all agreed to make a minimum SU! purchase each time we meet and then take turns being the hostess for the night - earning all the hostess benefits of a SU! workshop.

November was my month to be the hostess - woot! woot!

Wanting to be an awesome hostess I decided to make up a little gift for each lady in our group. I hope they all enjoyed their little chocolate surprise.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Delightful Decorations stamps set.

Secret Santa

2011-11-28T04:00:00.010-05:00

Greetings Friends,
My Secret Santa struck again ... at my neighbors house.

I got an e-mail from Glenda ...

Hi Rachel,

Your Secret Santa is getting a little worried that you did not receive the package she sent. She said it was in a pink bag and in your bottom mailbox (the cubby under the mailbox). Did you receive it? If so please post to the group so she can sleep. LOL

To which I replied ...

Uh Oh!

We do not have a bottom cubby on our mailbox.
If it was tucked in our neighbors box by accident it is not there now.
How fun for the mystery recipient. :)
How sad he/she will never know who their secret Santa is LOL!
Rachel.

I assumed that the package was accidentally tucked into our neighbors box which is right next to ours. That particular neighbor is not very friendly toward us - not sure why. I was waiting to catch her at home (hard to do) so I could ask if a pretty pink package happened to get tucked in her mailbox.

Meanwhile I got a call from a different neighbor ...

Hi Rachel, it's Karyl.
Are you part of a secret Santa thing?

Yes! Yes I am! Did a pretty pink package show up at your house?

Yes Ma'am.
And another blue bag showed up today.

Oboy Oboy - I'll send Kimmy over right away.

Kimmy came back home with a pretty pink bag and a pretty blue bag and we found lots of yummy jams inside. How lucky am I that Al & Karyl didn't assume the present was for them and snarf up all my jam!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Red Hot Challenge

2011-11-27T04:00:00.007-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge day - yippee!!!
I am not one that sticks to the sketch exactly. Why use a giant circle when a huge snowflake gives the same effect. Am I right?

I'm looking forward to seeing what all the other gals have created for today. Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers blog and see what they came up with.

Have a great day ~ Rachel.

Jumbo Snowflake Sizzix Die.
Every Little Bit stamp set.

Silly Saturday

2011-11-26T04:00:00.002-05:00

Joshua was shoveling his piece of Tom's birthday cake in

as fast as he could once he saw Teddy sneaking in for a bite. :)

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T04:00:00.001-05:00

A handstamped project made by Emily at school.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving everyone ~ Rachel

From my Friends

2011-11-23T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is always fun to visit the mailbox and find a card from a friend. My friends Christi and Glenda both sent me a note for Thanksgiving. Thank you ladies - they are lovely.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Autumn Splendor stamp set. (card 1)
Gently Falling stamp set. (card 2)
Teeny Tiny Wishes stamp set.

Happy Birthday Tom

2011-11-22T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Yesterday was Tom's birthday. He did have to work all day but requested a super duper dinner. So I made baked pork chops, stuffing, veggies and orange poke cake. He was delighted to eat a hearty meal after a long day at work and I was delighted when the kids gobbled it all down too.

Everyone in the family made Daddy a homemade card. I made sure that all the pets wished Daddy a happy birthday too by including their signatures inside my card. :)

Clowning Around stamp set (retired)

Joshua was up bright and early working on his card.

I particularly enjoy how Joshua's card opens backwards - something I know my friend Christi will appreciate.

Joshua's card was attached to a gift bag. Inside the bag Tom found all of Joshua's clean undies. At least I think they were clean. Regardless Tom decided he could still wear these teeny tidy whiteys if he put them on his head.

Emily has been making cards for three days now. This is the one that she settled on putting inside the envelope.

She has learned how to spell "Dad" in the last few weeks and was so proud to fill out the card herself.

Kimberly had to think through how she wanted to make Daddy's card - so she waited until after school to put hers together. She used Toms favorite color (blue) and his favorite thing (tools) and pieced together this beauty of a card.

Nuts and Bolts stamp set (retired)

The girls attached their cards onto Toms present. Wanna know what Tom asked for for his birthday? Socks.

So that's what we bought him. :)

After our bit of family fun we tucked Daddy into his chair with a blanket, pillow, glass of pop and the remote controls. After he put on a pair of his new socks that is. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Online Extravaganza

2011-11-21T07:16:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
For the next 10 days Stampin' Up! is offering some fabulous deals on a variety of products. Click on the link HERE to check them out and place your orders.
Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Red Hot Challenge

2011-11-20T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Red Hot Stampers sketch challenge day again. I have had this Turkey idea in my head for forever and was glad to have a sketch that I could use it on. The Turkey is made with the new Pennant Punch.

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers blog and see what the other gals have been working on today.

Have a great day ~ Rachel.

Pennant Punch.
Trio Flower Punch.
3/4" Circle Punch.
Word Window Punch
Modern Lable Punch.

Silly Saturday

2011-11-19T04:00:00.001-05:00

Joshua wasn't the only one who liked the

3D monster truck book that Aunt Lisa sent.

My Digital Christmas

2011-11-18T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
What fun I had playing with all my new digital downloads this week.
Have a great day ~ Rachel

My Digital Christmas

2011-11-17T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Another digital Christmas card that could also work for a scrapbook page.
Have a great day ~ Rachel

My Digital Christmas

2011-11-16T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
I recently got a free My Digital Studio download from Stampin' Up! and these adorable embellishments were apart of that download. I had lots of fun putting together this little town. Wouldn't this be great for a scrapbook page or a photo Christmas card. Love it!

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

My Digital Christmas

2011-11-15T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,

I told Joshua he was wearing the perfect hat for opening day for rifle hunting here in MI. I wish all the hunters a safe and successful hunting season.

I know that we haven't celebrated Thanksgiving yet but all the projects I have going on in the craft room (and in my head) are Christmas related. I thought I would spend the week creating some My Digital Studio Christmas creations for you since none of my paper crafting projects are finished yet.

Have a great day ~ Rachel

Volleyball

2011-11-14T04:00:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Last week I was working on a really big project. A friend of a friend hired me to make some scrapbooks for all the girls on the volleyball team that she has been coaching this year.

There are nine girls on the team and each book is personalized with the players names.

Each book held ten photos. The coach did have some special requests. She liked the idea of having a variety of page styles inside each book and also wanted to have the teams prayer included inside the back cover.

Knowing that these books would be presented to the players at the end of season party I volunteered to package them up in a cello bag and coordinating ribbon.

The books turned out great. I hope that all the girls enjoy them.

Good Sport samp set (retired)
Sporting stamp set (retired)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Red Hot Challenge

2011-11-13T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is Red Hot Stampers Sketch Challenge day - woot woot!!!
I had fun with this sketch. I knew right away I wanted to use my Nursery Times stamp set and of course I had to make the card for a baby boy. :)

Pop on over to the Red Hot Stampers Blog and see what the other gals have done this week.

I hope that you have a chance to play along with us.

Have a great day ~ Rachel

Nursery Times stamp set.
Misc. "It's a boy" stamp.
1 3/4" Circle Punch.

Silly Saturday

2011-11-12T04:00:00.002-05:00

First snowfall of the season.

It's hard to tell in the photo but Emily is wearing capri pants with her boots.

Secret Santa

2011-11-11T04:00:00.002-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It is that time of year again ... the Red Hot Stampers Secret Santa month of fun. Those of us who wanted to participate this year drew names this past weekend. Yesterday I was surprised by a gifty in my mailbox from my Santa - love it!!! Thank you Santa.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Stampin Queens

2011-11-10T08:17:00.001-05:00

Greetings Friends,
It has been forever since I played along with the Stampin Queens sketch challenge. (SQSC12) This morning when I looked at the challenge my creativity went into overdrive. I had so many great ideas pop into my head. The first stamps I thought to use were the birds from the Aviary stamp set. Apparently I need to add some larger oval tools to my collection because I really don't have much. I improvised with the Medallion background stamp.

Aviary Stamp set.
Medallion stamp.
1 1/4:, 1 3/8" & Scallop circle punches

The next stamp set that popped into my brain was the Trendy Trees set. I made a scallop border for my oval using two scallop circle punch outs.

Trendy Trees stamp set.
Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.
1 1/4" circle punch
1 3/8" circle punch
Scallop circle punch
Wide oval punch.

Sometimes turning a sketch on it's side sparks another great idea - which it did for me. I wanted to use the Grunge Rock set but the card didn't come together until I turned the sketch. Phew!

Grunge Rock stamp set.
Extreme Elements stamp set.
1 3/8" Circle Punch
1 1/2" Circle Punch.

Thanks Stampin' Queens for this weeks inspiration.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Game Night

2011-11-09T04:00:00.003-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Tonight is Mother/Daughter night for my girls group at church. For my own sanity I decided to keep the event really simple. I asked all the counselors to bring some of their board games from home and we'll have some friendly competition between mother/daughter teams.

Not only are snacks and drinks important, so is a party favor at a party. I found packs of jacks at the dollar store and thought what a great idea to pass those out as favors instead of candy. Lucky for me each pack was a double set of jacks so this ended up being an inexpensive little gift.

Thank you to my friend Glenda for letting me borrow her Game Night stamp set - it was perfect for making the tags.

Have a great day everyone ~Rachel.

Game Night stamp set (retired)
Melon Mambo, Tempting Turquoise, Pumpkin Pie & Basic Black classic ink.

Rootbeer Floats.

2011-11-08T07:27:00.000-05:00

Greetings Friends,
Yesterday was birthday party part two. Toms parents came over for dinner and dessert. I had spent the whole day at my Moms house visiting with Aunt Jo so Tom was in charge of this little get together. He did a great job getting everything ready. Thanks Mister.

Joshua requested rootbeer floats for his birthday dessert. They were soooo yummy! Josh was surprised that I got eight candles to stick into his float. :)

The favorite gift of the night was a matchbox car race track. What boy doesn't want his cars to make loop de loops.

It didn't take Tom and Josh long to get the tracks set up and soon we had cars flying all over the livingroom. Fun Fun!!!

I am hoping get back into the craftroom today - so more crafty photos are on the way.
Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Happy Birthday Joshua

2011-11-07T06:44:00.000-05:00

Happy birthday to you.

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Buddy.

Happy birthday to you.

Greetings Friends,
Today Joshua is celebrating his 8th birthday. We had a family party with my side of the family yesterday. My Aunt Jo was here from CA so it was a double celebration for us. We had birthday eclairs for dessert. (Aunt Jo's favorite treat)

]Grandma and Grandpa got the award for the favorite birthday present when Bud danced around the living room with his new pillow pet. Josh has been aching for the frog pillow for almost a year. He was so happy.

Tom and I didn't do to bad with our gift of a Perry the Platypus tshirt and a new pair of jeans. He is wearing his new outfit today to school :)

Kimberly and Emily gave brother a Mater Lego set and the new movie Cars 2.

Tom and Josh are on a run to the grocery store for some birthday donuts and chocolate milk for breakfast this morning. YUM-O! Everyone is awake super early because of the time change so we thought we would watch half of the movie before school - a rare treat indeed.

Joshua says the best thing about turning eight is that he no longer needs to use a booster seat in the car. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

More Stockings

2011-11-05T04:00:00.012-04:00

Greetings Friends,
When I showed Joshua my last two fireplace cards he said, "It needs more stockings."
He is used to seeing our five (soon to be six) family stockings hung up at Christmas time - anything less is not enough.
So I stamped some more stockings added J O Y (an idea from my friend Trudy) and ta-da a card full of stockings.
This version got two thumbs up from Joshua.

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Stitched Stockings stamp set.
Vintage Vogue stamp set.
Christmas Greetings stamp set.
Sweet Shoppe Alpha Upper stamp set.
Top Note Sizzix Die
Stocking Punch
Stripes embossing folder.
Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

Red Hot Swap

2011-11-04T04:00:00.004-04:00

Greetings Friends,

It is time for another Red Hot Swap. All of the Red Hot stampers were invited to participate in a swap using stamp sets from the Holiday Mini catalog. Six demonstrators decided to participate this time.

I liked my fireplace card from yesterdays post so much that I decided to make another version of it for the swap.
Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Stitched Stocking stamp set.
Vintage Vogue stamp set.
Christmas Greetings stamp set.
Stripes embossing folder.
Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.
Stocking Punch
Top Note Sizzix Die.

Trash or Treasure? Top Note Scraps

2011-11-03T04:00:00.003-04:00

Greetings Friends,
When I was working on my Frankie bags Christi was working on a bunch of cards and needed to trim off a piece from the Top Notes that she had just cut out. Before she tossed them in the trash she asked me if I wanted the challenge of turning them into something. SURE!!! I knew right away what I wanted to do. This is the second idea that popped into my head.

We had just been talking about making a card with a fireplace so we could hang some of the stockings from the Stitched Stockings stamp set on it. I thought Christi's Top Note scraps looked like a great mantle cover. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel.

Stitched Stockings stamp set.
Christmas Greetings stamp set.
Vintage Vogue stamp set.
Top Note Sizzix Die.
Stocking Punch.
Stripes embossing folder.
Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder.

The Hulk

2011-11-02T04:00:00.000-04:00

Greetings Friends,
Our nephew Conrad recently broke his arm. He tripped over the ball during his soccer game and ended up breaking his arm when he fell. Poor little man.
His family has started calling him The Hulk because he chose a green cast. So, of course Aunt Rachel had to make a green cast for the Build-a-bear on his thinking of you card. :)

Have a great day everyone ~ Rachel

Rachel's Craft Room

Trash or Treasure? French Fry Box.

Valentines

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Heart Framelits

Baby Tees

Baby Tees

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Sketch Challenge

Baby Tees

Baby Tees

Trash or Treasure? Marker Boxes

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

My Digital Studio Week

My Digital Studio Week

My Digital Studio Week

My Digital Studio Week

My Digital Studio Week

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Kimberly's Valentines

Joshua's Valentines

Emily's Valentines

Snow Much Fun

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Stampin' Queens

Highchair

Swing

Car Seat

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Snow Much Fun

Calendars

Calendars

Trash or Treasure? Nesquik Container

Inspired

Red Hot Challenge

Santa Burger

Merry Christmas

Red Hot Cards

Joy to the World

For Michelle

For Michelle

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Teacher Gifts

Teacher Giftbags

Emily Treat Bags

Trash or Treasure? Ribbon Spools

Tags

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Christmas Program

Secret Santa Reveal

Secret Santa on Turkey Day

Secret Santa

Secret Santa

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Red Hot Christmas Party

Christmas Program

Craft Show

For the Club

Secret Santa

Red Hot Challenge

Silly Saturday

Happy Thanksgiving