September Ninth blog guest designer!!

Holy Bajoley!

Merry Christmas to all my fav stalkers!

Ruthie from September Ninth designs (btw- how awesome is this?!  She and I share a birthday.  that rocks.)  came to me and aske me to do a desing, I squeeled, danced around the living room, had my own parade float moment and prepared a speech, then composed myself and replied something to the effect, yes, I can cut SVG files.

She shot me over one and I cut it out.  I REALLY don't recommend cutting smaller than 5".  too many little parts.  anyhoo, We all love hello kitty, and pair it with Christmas and it just becomes something special for my little girl.  I made her this card for Christmas to give to her friend Natalie.

I used:
SVG file and my SCAL
the Paper Studio- Holiday Wonder christmas papers
red, black, green, white, pink cardstock,
tacky glue
atg gun
gold metallic marker
glitter glue in red and clear/greenish

Cut out at 5", and assemble with tacky glue.
Red cardstock cut at standard 4 1/4 x 5 1/2.
cut each subsequent paper 1/4" smaller and assemble with ATG gun.
glue Hello Kitty down.  (If I had it I would have put her on an action wobble)
after all is said and done, add glitter glue to the berries and the leaves of the holly "bow" on her ear.
Faux stitch with your gold pen around edge of red card and around stocking.
fill in lettering with gold pen also.

tada!  Super cute, instant card for the sweetheart on your list to give.


I think I'm going to be making a layout sometime in the new year.  I have quite a few plans coming up but an even tighter schedule than "normal"!!

and the winner is....

I know, I'm late about it.  Sorry!  I just got home.  You see, I start back to college tomorrow- I was going last year for photography and double pneumonia and pregnant with twins on bedrest forced my hand to put it off.  So, out shopping for essentials today, my husband bought me a kindle and a coffee pot!  How very supporting is he?  Lesson learned here:  with a good man by your side, it is NEVER too late to follow your dreams!

Anyhoo- I absolutely LOVED reading the comments.  I was bagging up at the worst Christmas gifts and smiling thinking about other memories that were brought up by your favorite Christmas memory and couldn't wait to read about your favorite Christmas breakfasts.  It really reiterated why I absolutely LOVE this time of year, and my eyes glaze over and I go all Norman Rockwell meets Clark Griswold with a little gremlins thrown in for good measure.  So, do you want to know what you'll be winning?

OH!  I'm so glad you asked!!!

I own a business called Homestead Soapery and Crafts.  Basically I get to make crafts and soap.  The winner has won 3 bars of soap!  1- Ocean Blue 1- Apple Orchard and 1- Homestead Clean.  They are 100% vegan and very good for your skin.  first two have coconut oil, olive oil and shea butter- all known for moisturizing, and the third is a 100% castile olive oil only bar.  all of which are amazing.  I use them all on my own skin (my personal bars- not the ones you'll be getting!) and my family, down to my 7 month old twins- that's how gentle it is!

Ocean Blue is a clean, water scent that reminds you of relaxing by your favorite watering hole!  (how's that for a southern term?!)

Apple Orchard is a faint scent reminiscent of biting into that first crisp fall apple.

Homestead Clean is a very clean scent that is like hanging your laundry in a breezy meadow.  (that sounds so frigging corny, but it's true!  it's really an awesome scent!)

I am so excited to announce that I drew it this way- I put all the names of everyone who commented on my blog in a baggie.  My 3 oldest each drew 1 name.  those 3 names were put back in an empty bag and the winner was drawn:

Marianne!

Email me at ThePaperJunkie@gmail.com to give me your address (within 24 hours or I'll have the kids pick another winner) and I'll get them out by Saturday.  (a little crazy here this week.  Ok, a LOT crazy here this week, but it'll be out to you within a few days!)

Oh, and here's what the soaps look like:  

12 days of Christmas bloghop... my day 5

Well, today is the final day of the hop.  I am a little sad to see it go, but have to say- the mornings when I woke up early to get it done it was crazy.  BUT I was more productive.  hmmm... fair trade?  sure, we'll go with that!

So, I was going to insert a joke about a Christmas artichoke here because I made an ornament last night and the paper I used ended up looking like an artichoke.  I am not amused.  This is NOT my project however, so I'm seeing how many actually read my blog and see if they're just going to comment on this one picture.

I love that you're here. If you are here from Dena's blog, awesome- if not start from Lisa's blog here.  Because after this post, you're going to Ashley's Blog Here!

My project was really easy to do!  2 cricut cartridges, 3 minutes of my time.  Stocking stuffers totally taken care of.

What I used:
Cream colored card stock
Yuletide Joy by The Paper Studio
Cricut Cartridges:  Elegant Edges, Wedding
tacky glue
ATG gun
ribbon

How I did it:
Today's bloghop video

And the final day's question:  What is your traditional Christmas morning breakfast?  (Bonus if you put the recipe!)  I make my homemade cinnamon rolls, and I do a HUGE country breakfast, all homemade- sausage gravy, biscuits, grits, eggs, ham/bacon, hash brown casserole- it's yum!

The winner will be picked tonight and I'll contact you on your blog or email.  If I don't hear back within 24 hours, it goes to someone else, so stalk my blog people! (kidding, I'll post it around 8:00 central tonight)

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you have a blessed day, and enjoyed all of the projects that I had here for you. :)  More to come, just not in this rapid secession!

12 Days of Christmas blog hop... my day 4

Holy Bajoley!  It's been 4 days and I feel like I haven't done anything!  I can't believe I only have 1 day left.  I am having so much fun doing this hop, and I hope that you are too.  If you're here from Daisy, you're in the right spot.  If you're not, start at Lisa's Blog here.  After you spend a few minutes here watching my video and commenting on how fabulous the idea is, and how you wish you had done this, and how amazing I am, and phenomenal, and talented... too much?  ok, well at least check it out and comment. ;)  Anyhoo- after you're here, head on over to Suzy's Crafts Here.

One of my passions is the 1940's wartime.  I love the romance, the mystery, the intrigue, and relate pretty well.  Heck, I used to pinup model!  During the war, they would ration everything from sugar to fabric and just about everything in between.  For Christmas decorations, there were very few things that they had extra of to bring a little cheer.

I went old-school today.

TADA!  Paper chains.  what, you heard fanfare and got let down?  sorry.  this is something that can be done with the kiddos, and who knows!  You might make a few fond Christmas memories.  Speaking of memories, the question of today is what is your fondest Christmas memory?

there are SO many to choose from, but I'm going to relate this one:  last year, my kids and I started a tradition of a gingerbread decorating contest.  We didn't even have any gingerbread.  So, instead we used graham crackers.  I made some royal icing, and with dollar tree candy we decorated and had a blast!  yes, they looked like the Flintstones houses.  but we had fun and had a great Christmas memory.

So, What you need:
12x12 sheets cut at 6 x 1"
a "dry" adhesive.  I used my ATG gun.

here's how I did it!
Paper Chain Video
Hope you enjoyed!

12 days of Christmas bloghop... my day 3!

Welcome back and hello all you shining, happy people!  It's day 3 for me here on Lisa's bloghop and it's still early in the morning.  I have coffee in me, and have been trying to get my video tutorial done!  My camera chick was sleeping, so I didn't wake her up to help me.  mea culpa!

Anyway, how much fun are you having?  Come on- 12 days of Christmas designs?  TONS of flipping awesomeness from some REALLY talented people.  I hope that coming here hasn't been a disappointment to you. :)

So where you are in the hop-  If you didn't start at Lisa's Blog, go there, but if you did then you should be here from Laurie's.  From here, you will be going to Robin's Blog Here.

How magical is Christmas?  I love the sights, sounds, smells and even the obnoxious people that you just want to hug!  Yes, this is absolutely my favorite time of the year.  It almost drives my husband bonkers.  No really, he's not a huge Christmas guy (I'm working on him).  I think it'll be the ultimate victory if I can get him into an ugly Christmas sweater with reindeer antlers.  hahhaha, maybe not.  OOH, better yet, maybe a pink bunny suit like Raphie wore!

I think he'd be more apt to wear the bunny suit than the sweater.  To his credit he's willing to go all Clark Griswold on our house with lighting.  Since our budget doesn't include nuclear reactor, I decided to do some lighting a little more subtly.  I made.........


LUMINARIES!

This was a large one I made before this blog hop to see how it would turn out.  I've since made them smaller and you can see on my video.  This was made 5 1/2" x 8 1/2"   with a 5" outside base and a 4 7/8" inside stabilizer.
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This was the only picture I was able to get of them.  I mean, I could go hide in a dark closet and possibly get others, but I'm not THAT obsessive.  ok, yes I am.  But that's not the point.  The point is... I'm lazy here.

So what I used:
Cardstock:  4" square, 3 7/8" square, 4 pieces 4 1/2 x 5 1/2
Velum 2 3/4" x 4 1/4"
From my Kitchen cartridge (gingerbread cut at 2" RDS)
Elegant Edges
Tim Holtz Alterations on the edge die.
Cuttlebug and B plates
tacky glue
ATG gun
xyron sticker maker

Here's how I did it:
Christmas Luminaries Video

Don't forget- I'm not a sponsor to this bloghop, but I am doing a give-away for a subscriber who answers all the questions on my blog for the 5 days I'm in this hop. (hint:  if you didn't answer for day 1 and 2, go in, find the question and do it, so you're automatically entered!  Wouldn't want you to miss out because of it!!)  Day 3's question is:  What is the worst gift you ever received?  Mine:  I was 19 and engaged to my ex-husband and he gave me a fruit sized cutting board, various knives (not even a SET, just a few pairing knives) and some rock sea salt.  To this day I call it the Lorena Bobbit Starter Gift Set because I warned him if he ever got me anything like that again, I'd use them on him...

12 days bloghop... my day 2!

Can you feel the excitement in the air???  I am SUPER jazzed about this project- I absolutely love it!

I used Winter Woodlands and cut 9 pages worth of holly leaves.  186.  No kidding.  Yes, I actually have a lot left over, so that'll be used for a candle base or something.  IDK, but they won't go to waste.  that's a guarantee.

Anyhoo, Are you guys enjoying Lisa's hop so far?  We're on day 9 for her, and my 2nd appearance here.  I am so honored that she asked me to be in it, and I'm so thankful for that. :D  I love all of my hoppers, and if you're just passing, I'd LOVE for you to stick around for a little bit- become a stalker (subscriber) and leave a comment.  there's good stuff when you do.

So, today's official blog hop started with Lisa  and after you're done here, you'll be going to the very talented Diana.

So, you see the wreath and here's what I used:
9 sheets of Bazzil cardstock in Rainforest.
1- 12" foam wreath
Winter Woodlands cartridge
10 feet of wired ribbon (or less, I made a bow and will show you in another video)
glimmer mist, or homemade shimmer spray
hot glue/ glue gun
hanging wire
Christmas berry spray pick
bone folder and mouse pad
ribbon

 And here's how I did it:
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so don't forget- the question of the day is What is your favorite Christmas cookie?

Merry Christmas day 2!!!!

12 days of Christmas bloghop!

What's that- 2 bloghops in 1 week?  I know, crazy right?

I'm loving this- so here you are smack-dab in the middle of the blog hop.  Are you feeling the Christmasy goodness yet?  I sure am!  Lisa over at Honey Bearz Designs is so sweet and generous to be doing this, and there are some mega sponsors going on with the hop, so if you started with me, go over and check out Lisa in that link I just put above.  If you're here from DeDe's blog  then you're in the right spot.





So, Christmas will be here in 24 days!  Has anyone else gotten an uber SQUEE or is it just me?  I LOVE Christmas!  I love the sights, the scents, the sounds- all of it.

One tradition I'm starting this year is to make an advent calender for each of my children.  Here's how I did it:



You'll need:
24- 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 pieces of Christmas paper.
ATG gun or sticky strip- just STRONG adhesive.
paper crimper
cricut cartridges:  Lyrical Letters "Jumbo" numbers 1-24 and Mini Monograms- scalloped circle 1 1/4", RDS on.
tacky glue
1" circle punch

Here's how to assemble it:

Hope y'all enjoyed and now you're on to Robin's Blog and don't forget to comment!  I am having a blog candy give-away on December 5, for a subscriber to my blog who comments in my comments section with an answer to the daily question. (must answer all 5 questions and be a subscriber) Today's question is:  What is your favorite Christmas traditions that you do?  Mine:  each year we do a gingerbread decorating contest, and we go light-seeing and I make my homemade hot chocolate for it!    And I just started making an advent calender for each child for each year (I have 5 but the youngest two are 7 months at the writing of this, so I'm not doing it for them this year)

Merry Christmas count down day 1!!