All Things Stampin' Up! Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog, I am so excited to be apart

of the All Things Stampin' Up! Blog Hop. This is the first time I've ever participated in a blog hop and I hope I don't disappoint anyone.

I intended to have at least two projects to share with you today but I just couldn't squeeze enough crafting time in the past couple of days. I promise to have more to show you next blog hop.

Anyway, I have had this idea in my head for over a month now. I bought a cheap 5x7 frame from the dollar store so that I could make a little home decor for Thanksgiving. It is officially Thanksgiving weekend and I finally made this cute little Give Thanks project. Good thing is I can store it away after this weekend and use it again year after year. Now if I can only get my other home decor project done that I wanted to share today but didn't get a chance to make.

Now that you have seen my blog hop project make sure to hop on over to Tonya Ball's blog to check out her stuff, www.stampinwithtonya.blogspot.com

Stamp Set: Gently Falling

Paper: Spice Cake DSP, Pool Party, Early Espresso, and More Mustard, Very Vanilla

Big Shot Dies: Naturally Serif Sizzlit Decorative Strip Die and Alphabet Simple Letters

Ink: Pool Party, Early Espresso, and More Mustard

Tools: Scallop Trim Boarder, Big Shot, Soft Suede Taffeta Ribbon

BLOGS

1. Anastasia Radloff www.stampinblondie.blogspot.com

2. Shellie Hepner Grindy www.creativeeclectica.com

3. Annie Lee www.lovemecard.blogspot.com

4. Pam Steckman www.stampininthesun77.blogspot.com

5. Nancy Berg www.ladystampsalot.blogspot.com

6. Anji Pearson-Clements www.alteredscraps.com

7. Rose Castillo www.stampwithrose.blogspot.com (that's me)

8. Tonya L Ball www.stampinwithtonya.blogspot.com

9. Chelsea Malouf www.a-chelsea-morning.blogspot.com

10. Jenn Van Wart www.beachsidestampers.com

11. Dawn Snowangel www.dawnscreativechalet.blogspot.com

12. Erin Bradley-Hindman www.erinbh.typepad.com

Online Extravaganza

Start your shopping now! No need to wait for Black Friday.

Head on over to my website http://rosecastillo.stampinup.net and click on the shop now button.

Feel free to contact me with an order or any questions.

Candy Canes

Here is the second project from my November stamp club. I used Cherry Cobbler, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, and Whisper White for the colors. I also use the embossing folder and the Stocking Accents die from the Holiday Mini. I love the Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon, it is beautiful! What a simple Christmas card and the great thing is you could easily use one of the other die cut shapes on this very same layout and it would look just as great. Which is perfect for making some quick cards in a time crunch.

Speaking of time, I was looking at my blog history for the past couple of months and I have done a horrible job of updating. I guess time has gotten away from me. I will apologize but unfortunately I don't think it will get any better. I will do my best to keep up with my blog and sharing ideas but life is getting crazy. I did sign up for a blog hop so I will keep my commitment to that but with the baby due soon my energy level is way down, the holiday's are approaching rather quickly, and we just got the call that our offer on a short sale home was accepted and we should be closing escrow on December 30th. Closing escrow only 9 days before my due date. Just thinking about this makes me excited and stressed at the same time.

My plan is to set a time aside to just create so I can have pictures of projects ready to share over the next couple of months in advance but we shall see how that goes.

Simply Scrappin' Kit

I am getting down to the last 7.5 weeks of my pregnancy and it is making me a little crazy. It feels so far away but yet so close. It feels like yesterday I was preparing for the arrival of Malachi but it has been almost 2 years.

This weekend I was mentally going down memory lane, thinking about my sweet baby boy and the sweet adorable monster he has become. I ended up pulling out all his monthly pictures. Boy do we have pictures. I only pulled out the professional ones, we have thousand of snapshots but that would require us to get them printed. I laid out one picture from each month and marveled at how they change so quickly. This did two things to me, one it made me sad that my baby wasn't a baby anymore and secondly it made me feel guilty that I hadn't even scrapbooked his pictures like I had planned.

How sad is it that I have taught many scrapbook classes and have many scrapbook pages done with no pictures on them. This put me on a mission, I have been working diligently this week on Malachi's baby scrapbook. I think I have gotten about 8 pages done so far. Most of them are pretty simple because an 8x10 picture takes up a lot of room on a 12x12. I am determined to get the 12 months of professional pictures of Malachi scrapbooked asap because I plan to do the same for Kaiden when he is born and I don't want twice as many pictures sitting on a shelf. Hopefully I will do better this coming year, hopefully. I know that once these pages are completed I will love to sit and just flip through the book and stare at my baby.

I forgot to mention in my long story that I used the Simply Scrappin' Kit from the Holiday Mini for this scrapbook layout of some of last years Christmas photos.

Christmas Stocking

Who doesn't love Christmas Stockings? They are always filled with yummy treats and gifts.

This adorable Big Shot Stocking die is a must have, not only can you make paper stockings but you can make felt or fabric stockings too. I've even seen some Christmas ornaments made with the stocking die and fabric and they were beautiful. If only I could sew. Maybe one of these days.

This stocking project is one of the projects my stamp club made at our November club. I added a pocket inside of the card just a tad bit bigger than a gift card so that this card can be used as a gift card holder. It was so simple to do, with die cut cuts everything for the stocking and creating the gift card slot was simple. I decorated the outside of the Stocking with the holly from the Stocking Accents die, I embossed the front of the stocking, and used a little Designer Series Paper.

What a simple gift card idea. I can't wait to make more.

Stitched Stockings Redo

Last month I showed you a card that I made with the Stitched Stockings Stamp set and I wasn't completely happy with it. This is my redo. It looks nothing like the first card.

This card was super simple and I was able to use the silver glimmer paper. So pretty! This card will be easy to remake if I need some quick Christmas cards.

I am working on some more Christmas projects tonight for my stamp club this Thursday. It makes me want to put up the Christmas tree and play Christmas music.

Fa La La La!

Thankful Treat

A couple weeks ago I showed you a Fall card that my stamp club made in at club in October and here I am trying to plan for my stamp club in November. Where did the time go? I had very good intentions of showing you this cute little box many many days ago but I have been so lazy.

Laziness and major crafting block has kept me away from my craft desk. The bad thing is that I've had this picture ready to share for days and I just didn't get around to it. So I finally am sitting here and typing and sharing.

The box was created with the Milk Carton die just like I did when I made the Halloween Bat. So cute. I just love it! Well since I have a SU! party, Stamp Club, and I am participating in a Blog Hop I should get to work, even if it is 11:30pm.