7 Gypsies Receipt Holder

I've had this receipt holder from 7 Gypsies sitting around with my other "to-do" projects for over a year, maybe two.  I finally got it out tonight.  I printed the family pictures with low color making them look older although all were taken this fall and winter.  I used a yellow patterned paper from CTMH's "Elemental" paper pack for the background.

I added misc. bits and pieces I had in my studio.  The dominoes, eight and six, represent the year we got married (1986).

There's a ticket stub from Tom and my annual trip to Alpine Valley to see Jimmy Buffett, along with some mini flip flops.

"Family" is made from miniature Scrabble letters.

We're all Cubs fans, so I added a ticket stub from a trip to Wrigley Field.  I made the fleur de lis with a small wooden disc, CTMH inks, and a CTMH stamp to represent Mardi Gras and our time living in Louisiana.

I had some extra chipboard letters I used to include each one of our initials.  Jess & Neal both attend the University of Iowa and we've all always been Hawkeye fans, so I added the tiger hawk.  Once I got started on this project, it came together in less than three hours.

Show Devils Freak Show Layout

Doing a little scrapbooking this Christmas Eve Day.  And what says Christmas more than a Freak Show Layout?

These pictures are from October when me, my friend, and two nieces went to see my first cousin's daughter in her traveling side show act, Show Devils.  Her name is Serana Rose, and she and her boyfriend, "The Enigma" have traveled around the U.S. and Canada and several other countries swallowing swords, eating glass, and performing nasty tricks with chainsaws.  Not my usual kind of entertainment, or my usual crowd, but she's family, and I thought it would be fun to see when she was performing in central Iowa. 

That's me in the bottom right touching the implanted horn on The Enigma, who is covered in puzzle piece tattoos. Even the whites of his eyes are tattooed blue.  His ears are notched to look like puzzles.  Eeek.  I made the curtain-like feature across the top of both pages by cutting circles then cutting them in half.  Then I added the large CTMH peal opaques to look like tie-backs.

All of the papers are older stuff from my massive stash.  Most everything and the "Freak Show" title are from an old K&Company Scrap Pad To Go.  I tried to use papers and colors that had an older Vaudeville / side show feel to them.  All the pictures, papers, and insets are edged in black ink.  I used a white colored pencil on black cs for my journaling.

30 Sucks!

I saw this idea on Pinterest and made it for my niece who turns 30 on Christmas Day.  The glass base is the same $1.97 one from Wal-Mart that I used for my Bath Sponge Sundaes.  Inside is a styrofoam ball that I tinted a little with pink ink and shimmer gel.  I stuck 30 suckers in the ball, added the sign and ribbon, and that's it.

And, here's my 30-yr-old niece, Katie, when we surprised her at work with her sucker bouquet. 

Collage Cubes Puzzle

I made this gift with CTMH's new "Collage Cubes."   This picture is my sister, her two grandsons, and my niece cooking hot dogs at my mom's farm.

  It comes with nine chipboard cubes and the base, all white.

  It measures 6" x 6" so you can cut a picture to that size, then cut it in two-inch squares to fit the cubes perfectly.  I inked the edges of the cubes first for a little distress between all the sides.

This side is pretty plain, just six different colors of cardstock with numbers embossed in silver.  I used a two-inch square punch for the cs that had a fancy edge.

This side is a current picture of the two brothers who received this collage cube as a gift.  The one on the left, Luke, is two, and Jack, on the right, is five.

I just stamped on this side and added some glitter gel highlights.  Here's a tip:  Watch out where your words break on the cubes.  I inadvertently ended up with the center cube here saying "F-U" when held alone.  LOL.

For this side, I only used a 5"x7" photo and trimmed it to 4"x6", so I added the embossed star design to complete the side.  (Sorry this picture is out of focus--it's not really.)

For the final side I just stamped some animals I thought little boys would like and added some Stickles around the edge.  I covered the base with cs and glued around a ribbon and bow.  The gift was a hit, and it was really simple and fast to put together.

Christmas Cookies

Jess solved the problem of what to do with a broken gingerbread man:

Bath Sponge Sundaes

Besides the gift below, I gave my lunch group friends all one of these "sundaes" at our little gift exchange.  It's yet another idea I found on Pinterest.  If you know me and I haven't harassed you yet into joining Pinterest, I just don't know what else I can say to you to get you to check it out. 

Anyway, what's in these sundaes?

The sundae dish is from Wal-Mart ($1.97).  I put a pair of pink gloves in the bottom, but pink soaps would be cute too.  A white net bath sponge sits on top of the gloves, and looks a lot like whipped cream.  I stuck a pink emery board in one side to look like a spoon handle and a candy cane on the opposite side to mimic a striped straw.  A tiny red ornament is the cherry on top.  Lastly, just add a ribbon or bow of your choice.  Easy!!!

Lunch Group Gifts

Today was my Lunch Group Christmas exchange.  Three fellow court employees and I used to gather for lunch almost every day.  We don't anymore, and we're not all still even in the same building, but we still get together from time to time, and for years we have gathered for a Christmas gift exchange.  Because there are four of us, we're not young, we're not thin, and we probably looked this excited to go on our lunch breaks, I thought this stamp from Art Impressions Girlfriend line would make a great tag.  I colored it with copics.  The giftbags--lunch sacks, of course.  And it's hard to read, but the license plates are LNCHGRP. 

Snow Flurries Thank You Card

Another easel card for an extra special holiday thank you.  I used one of my favorite winter stamps, CTMH's Snow Flurries and also a sentiment from the Thank You stamp set.  I used some adhesive sparkles for the centers of some of the snowflakes and added CTMH's glitter gel to some of the smaller ones.  The icycles are a MS punch.