Are the holidays really over?!

Wow!  In the blink of an eye, their gone!  The holidays that is... Well not quite gone yet as New Year's Eve is tomorrow.  One more blink and that will be gone as well :(
BUT!  With the ending of the holidays, means a New Year is upon us!  Yay!  That is a new start for me every year!  What are your New Year's Resolutions?  Do you make any?
I plan on being more organized to hopefully squeeze a few more hours out of one day!  With Pinterest a fave on my bookmarks bar, I have found a ton of amazing blogs, tutorials, and DIY projects I hope to one day try.  Not to mention all the organizing and homemaking bloggers I've found!  There are some really amazing and talented people out there!  I've added a couple of their blog buttons on my page here, make sure you check them out one day real soon!
So, with my organization goal for 2012, maybe I should start with the blog huh?  Not much to organize though as I don't make it here too often :(

Ok anyway, the new year hasn't started yet so I can still post a few pics of Christmas Cards I made right?
I did a card count in my head and I think I managed to squeeze out 20-something hand made Christmas Cards this season... AMAZING! (for me anyway...)  I'm sure there are thousands of people who've squeezed out hundreds more, but it's my first year so 20-something is Awesome!  LOL :)

Ok, all these cards are 4" x 6".  They are actually quite simple and thanks to my Cricut machine & Art Philosophy Cartridge, they didn't even take long at all!

This first picture is two of the shapes I used from the AP Cart, both are using the same button and both cut at 1 1/2".

Then I took the inside of the white square and stamped a Snowflake on it from my "Holiday Magic" stamp set.  I used the "Twilight" blue ink for this card.  It seemed to match nicely with my "Believe" paperpak that I used for the red/green/blue squares.  

Holiday Magic stamp set.

So there you see the (almost) finished project. I used 3D foam tape to make the squares "pop" from the page.

A bit of red velvet ribbon across the bottom (adhered to the back of inside cover w/liquid glass); and voila!  Card is finished.  Inside, I quoted a bible verse, Luke 2:11; and pasted a family picture on the inside as well.
The "gift" card beside it was actually even easier to make, as all I did was cut random sized squares out of my "Wonderland" paperpak (scraps actually) and adhered a ribbon to it topped with a bow.  Again, bible verse on inside & family pic!

The last card was actually a mess up... :(  But a mess up turned beautiful I think!  I had actually thought I could fit my picture on the back of the tag and done... Wrong!  I cut it too small....:(  Soooo, then came this idea of attaching it to a card base!  Woo hoo!!!  So after deciding how I was going to place this "tag" on my card; I stamped the tree shape stamp from my "Holiday Wishes" stamp set and 3D'd the tree over top!  Tied a little red velvet ribbon on top and stamped Merry Christmas & To You and Yours along the side and bottom of the tree!  ... And breathe.... LOL 

I guess you can't see where I've stamped the sentiments but Merry Christmas is stamped running down the left side of the tree & To You and Yours is stamped on the bottom sort of right corner of the tree.  

Christmas Cards Complete!  Now, my next project is to make a bunch of random Birthday Cards... I'm thinking the "gift" one above will make a nice birthday card as well... Hmmm... multi-purpose card!!  I LOVE IT!! 

Thanks for reading!  Check back soon!  (I promise, I will update more than once a month in 2012!)

God Bless you in your New Year!!!

Big news announcement!

Well I told you all I had a big announcement from CTMH... you ready for it?!?!?
Ok, so awesome deal starting Dec 19! A spring/summer2012 product Sneak Peek!! "Rock the Block" consists of a full "E" size stamp set that coordinates with the 3D Blocks to create your own centerpiece or conversation starter :)
This "Rock the Block" promo is only available with a purchase of $25 or more, for only $15.00!  This "Rock the Block" Promotion represents a retail savings of almost $30.

 Doesn't it look awesome?  As a Consultant with CTMH, you have the awesome opportunity to preview the products before your customers have a chance to get their hands on them; so, I have mine in hand and hopefully soon after the holidays, I'll be able to fancy mine up and show you as well :)

Also remember the Stamp of the Month Stamp Set?  With any purchase of $55 or more, you can add to your order, this limited time only, full size stamp set for only $5.50 plus shipping & tax.  But remember, the Stamp of the Month is only available for one month.  The December one is called "Mad About You" and will be perfect for your Valentine!  My husband and I celebrate our anniversary in February as well, so I will be making something special for him with this stamp set.

"Mad About You" is only available until Dec 31.

Announcement #2 - This is the Kicker and I'm "Embracing" this one with open arms! LOL :)  Starting Jan 1, 2012; all Canadian Prices for CTMH Products will match the U.S. CTMH Product pricing!!  Isn't that fabulous?!  That means you'll be able to purchase much more for your hard-earned money!!  We can all appreciate that, right?!  I know I do ;) 

Merry Christmas to All!

Tina Wolfe

Christmas Cards!!!

Hi all!  Look at me ... 2 blog entries already for December!!  Woot woot!! 

So here are my awesome Christmas Cards that I have been working on for the last few days.

I used the Close to My Heart "Wishes" Card Confidence Program How-to book.  There are 3 card workshops in the book that will walk you through step-by-step in creating your cards.  The instructions even show you whether to use cardstock or B&T Duos paper.  The one I used was the Greeting Card workshop. The paper pack I used for my cards is the Believe package also from Close to My Heart.  

All the products I use are CTHM products; and they are available on my website - (with the exception of Constant Campaign items and Stamp of the Month)  www.tinawolfe.myctmh.com

On the first card, the stamped sentiment comes from the Stamp set "Holiday Wishes" which was the November Constant Campaign.  The mistletoe stamp is from the October Stamp of the Month; and the itty-bitty bit of gold glitter is the Glitter gel.

The second card also uses the "Holiday Wishes" stamp set and a few of the brads - Green Assortment.  When you follow the step-by-step instructions and also use the pre-made paper packs, these cards should be completed in just a few hours; with the exception of embellishments of course :)  However, sometimes fewer embellishments and keeping the cards simple results in beautiful cards as well :)

This one is one of my fave's!  Using the  "Holiday Cheer" stamp set for both the sentiment as well as the ornament and adding random dots of Silver Glitter Gel makes this card simple yet beautiful!

Card #4 used the Green Ass't brads and then the December Stamp of the Month for the "Dec" stamp.

For Card #5, I used the November CC Stamp set once again for the sentiment as well as the stars.  Then I traced the stars with my most favorite CTMH product of all.... Liquid Glass.  This gives it a "glassy" look and a "puffy" texture, similar to puff paint perhaps....?

This workshop gave me 16 cards; 2 of each design.  Yes I know, I only posted 5 of them... I had already handed out a handful of cards before I realized I had no pics yet!  The nice thing about these workshops is that you can rotate the cards therefore giving you even more variation so not         each and every family member gets the same card!  

So, there you have it!  We had family pictures taken in the fall, by my light-breaking sister (from the birthday post)... who did a FABULOUS job btw, and I matted the pics and attached them to the inside of the cards.  Voila!  My Christmas cards and family pics are ready to be handed out to each and EVERY one of my God-given family members.  

And just in case I don't get to post again before Christmas, as concerts, programs, and parties are quickly approaching;  I want to wish every one of you, A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!  May we all take the time to celebrate the birth of our greatest gift of all; Our Savior, Jesus Christ!

Thank you all for reading my posts!  

Tina Wolfe

PS- Big Announcement coming real soon from CTMH!!!  Stay tuned!!!

Oh my GOODNESS!! It's December already?!

I have really not kept up with my blog through all of November?!  I suppose the calendar doesn't lie right?  Well, I have had a REALLY busy, busy November.  I'll try to keep this post as short as November was :)  LOL
So, first of all :)  And totally NOT CTMH related - All three of my beautiful blessings are November babies, so needless to say... I had 3 birthday parties to plan and hold :)  One of the highlights of one of the "sleepover"  parties was these AWESOME goodie bags!

Here is my AWESOME sister who agreed to "help" me with the bags :)  Hi Sarah!  And would you believe these awesome women could not work the double threaded sewing machine BUT we could totally work the 4 threaded serger... LOL ... go figure :)

So we had a pattern but I altered it due to the sewing machine not working.... The other bag would have been way cool too but here's how we made these bags.  

1) We started with a pillow case (purchased a set of two @ the dollar store for a buck!)

2) Then we cut out a "U" shape from the top - as pictured here 

3) Then I, (Ok Sarah actually) serged around the part that is going to be the strap and the bottom of the "U" which is the opening of the bag

Awesome serging job Sarah! LOL :)

Below is the "U" piece that was cut out and I plan on recycling that by sewing around the sides and bottom and attaching a strap to make yet another bag :)  

4) Lastly, we tied a knot in the two straps and Voila!  Bag was complete!  The girls LOVED them!  And I filled (ok not all the way full) of nail polish, homemade lipgloss, playdough and bubbles and of course candy :)

And the bags can also be used as messenger style bags :)

So then... the day of the party I baked and decorated the cake for my dear 8 yr old daughter :)

Decorating was quite simple as you can see, however splitting the reese's pieces into colors was a little time consuming :)  

I must say the cake was AWESOME!  However, I did note that for next time, I will not load the cake with reese's pieces when all the girls are staying for a sleepover :)  LOL ... imagine, five 8yr old girls up till all hours of the night trying to work off a sugar rush... It really doesn't result in a lot of sleep :)

All in all, it was an AWESOME birthday party and the kids had a ton of fun!!

So after all the girls were picked up the next morning, I scrambled to tidy the house and decorate cake #2 for the weekend!

This time is was for the 5 yr old boys... Ya four 5 yr old boys, one a little younger than that and one 6 yr old girl... Oh and my nephew (who did awesome card tricks for entertainment!) and my other AWESOME sister... LOL!  Oh yeah it was interesting to say the least!

That was my awesome cake!  It tasted fabulous!! I started with a chocolate cake, frosted in chocolate of course :)  Then I scooped out a hole and spread some Oreo crumbs in the hole and dumped a little pile beside the hole; then plopped a bobcat on it and called it done!  The kids (especially the birthday boy) LOVED it!  The kept asking if the bobcat really made that hole in the cake...??? I'll never tell... mwahhaa :)

That's my handsome 5yr old birthday boy!  He had to have a mohawk for the day... What do mom's know about making a mohawk??? !!  

And just a few of his little gifts from the party guests :)  And through-out this whole 2hr birthday party... the kids were awesome!  As I mentioned earlier, my nephew entertained with card tricks and his mom entertained .... well... by being herself!  LOL :)  And the only damage we incurred was the fact that entertaining sister kinda sorta broke my kitchen pendant light while unscrewing the broom from the handle for limbo....  Ya... the biggest kid of all... broke my light fixture!!! Ah... wouldn't change the weekend for anything!!!  

Thanks for reading :)  Let me know how/what you do for your kids' birthday parties!  I would love some more ideas for next year!!