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.

Gratitude

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. Who doesn't love getting together with the family, eating, laughing, and eating again?

The nest thing about Fall and Thanksgiving is that it reminds you to be thankful. This is something that we all forget to be at times in our lives and I am thankful for the little reminder that the season brings.

I instantly fell in love with the Gently Falling stamp set in the mini catalog when I saw it. I knew it would be on my first order and it was. I haven't played with it all that much but when I started working on October projects for Stamp Club, I knew I would be using it for sure. Unfortunately since I procrastinate and time was running out, I cheated and used someone's idea. Now I need to go back and see who that was because I can't remember in my old age. Ok, I'm not that old but I did turn 32 today and I have pregnancy brain so for the life of me I can't remember.

Anyway, don't forget to be grateful this season and send someone a card letting them know you appreciate them.

Halloween Treats for Malachi's Friends

Malachi is only 21 months old and I love getting him dressed up for Halloween but really don't want him getting candy. I will still take him out with the family but will give most all the candy away. Anyway, I wanted to do a little treat for his nursery class at church but you can't really give a bunch of under 3 year olds candy, so I bought a box of the Teddy Grahams pouches and this is how I will be decorating them.

I decided I can part with some retired DSP for the treats. I am such a paper hoarder. I embossed the DSP with the Spider Web embossing folder and then I sanded it with a sanding block. The Build a Bear and retired pumpkin costume die is perfect for this project.

With a Cherry on Top

After I created my first sample with the Button Buddies stamp set and Sweet Buttons Embosslit, I looked at my cute card with the cute pig on it and admired it. I reread the statment "Happy Birthday with a Cherry on Top" and I thought why didn't I use the cherry stamp? That saying and that stamp are perfect for one another.

So when I had some time I sat down with the intention of using both of those stamps together. So cute, so simple, I love it!

Baby Button Buddies

My last few blog post have been Halloween, Fall, or Christmas related but this one is Baby related. Since babies come all year long it is great to have baby cards on hand.

This is one of the samples I made for the Die Club of the Month. I once again used the Button Buddies Stamp Set with the Sweet Buttons Embosslit. There is only one thing I wish I would have done differently and that is reverse the colors on the rattle. The Night of Navy is a little dark and I think it would have been better used as the handle of the rattle but what's done is done. Next time I'll play a little more before gluing everything down.

I should use this card to send to my Sister in Law Belinda and our newest nephew, Logan. I must make it to the post office tomorrow to get the gifts in the mail. I can't wait to meet lil Logan but unfortunately it will have to wait Spring, we just can't make the trip to Texas right now with me being pregnant and us in the process of looking for a house to buy. On the bright side, when we go next year the family will get to meet Kaiden.