My 2013 favorites.

2013 was quite the year!  Before I try to lose the 10 pounds that I lost and then re-gained this past year, and move into new (and exciting) crafty ventures, let's take a look back.  There have been so many projects this past year that I look back on with pride and thankfulness, and I'd love to share them with you.

My favorite card of the year.  Just Me Prints is primarily a card-making blog, so it only makes sense to start here.

I still love this card so much.  It was inspired by the oscar-nominated movie "Life of Pi" and the making of this card was a creative journey in and of itself.  I also got to work with my friend, Marlyn, who made matching cookies.  Anytime I get to work with Marlyn is a good day.

I love throwing and crafting parties.  My favorite party of the past year was our 10th anniversary party.

I crafted a lot of little details, weaving doilies and soft charm throughout, but my favorite element was the scroll of vows I wrote out in the middle of the room:

I also started doodling a bit this year.  I can't draw "from scratch" - I need to look at a picture to be able to draw things that have any kind of scale, but I surprised myself and hope to continue to develop as an artist this year.  My favorite drawing is this one that I framed for my girls' room.

My favorite gift packaging.  When my eight-year-old Sofia had her double-knee surgery this past fall, I baked "pill" sugar cookies and wrapped them for each of the nurses who were caring for her.  The nurse image is so cute!

My favorite sewing project. Who knew a felt burger could be so cute:

I was published a few times in 2013!  My favorite publication was an owl-y party invite.  RSVP to "the mummy" still cracks me up.

And, lastly, if blog visits are any indication, here was YOUR favorite project of 2013:

Thank you for stopping by my blog and I hope you've enjoyed this look back.  Come back on January 1st - I will have a special post with a giveaway to start the new year!

♥.

Merry Christmas, with love...

Christmas came too fast this year - I haven't shared all of my holiday creations on the blog, my kids were never festively photographed for a photo-card, and I still have quite a few presents to wrap.

Ready or not, this is my heartfelt wish to you: may your Christmas be merry and bright.

From our family,



to yours.

And, from JustMePrints too:



hee hee.

I hand-drew the cartoon versions of my kidlets, and my photog bff helped me turn a photo of my backyard squirrel into something that kept us in stitches for a solid 10 minutes.  BAM. Merry Christmas.

See you in the new year!

♥.

gift it out!

Today is the last day of school for my kids - I can't believe I made it! ha. If you are looking for last minute packaging ideas, this post is possibly, maybe for you.

I wonder what I ever did for Christmas crafting BS (before silhouette.) That machine has been my life-saver this week.



The kids' teachers all got Starbucks gift cards this year - I was feeling the pinch of time, and when my husband shrugged, "just throw money at them" I felt so much relief.  I always feel pressured to hand-make everything!  Once that pressure was relieved, I did the most logical thing: spent an entire day on the packaging. ha ha.

My friend Laurie made similar packaging, and I couldn't get over the cute-factor of a starbucks-shaped-tag on a starbucks-cup.  I added a little hanging tag at the top by welding together a rectangle and circle shape.  Adding the pair of pom-poms to each cup was the real time-consumer, but they look so cozy.  I have a pom-pom obsession this year.



Maia's preschool class was treated to these reindeer packages.  I don't like to give preschoolers too much candy (they get a little sugar-crazy, can I get an amen?) but a fun package could distract them from the fact that they are only getting 4 tiny treats.  I used the silhouette again - to cut the reindeer.



all 10 of them.

We like to give other little gifts - to the bus driver, the school's secretary - so the kids and I packaged cookies from the cookie exchange like this:



poor Thomas, posing for his mama at 6:45am right before school.  If you want to whip up a few decorated lunch bags, we got this idea from the amazing Lisa Storms.  I love that this craft was easy enough for the kids to take and make their own.

Until next time,

♥.

cookie exchange 2013

I hosted our annual cookie exchange party last Friday! I'm gonna go ahead and assume that you like to look at picture of delicious cookies, since I didn't craft too much for the party - yes?



I gave the spread a rustic and cozy feel, with a plaid blanket to cover the table and antlers, antlers everywhere.  Even a soft and floral one:

I asked the girls if they wouldn't mind, to bake treats that would match my rustic palette.  Thank goodness they love me enough to comply:



I'm thinking these cookie markers could serve as place-cards for our Christmas dinner.  I love a double-use project...



Barbara's sandwich cookies were gorgeous.  We couldn't believe she made 8 dozen of these beauties.

I ate a few rum balls and I swear I felt a buzz. ha.



These were amazing - like a healthy version of a buckeye.



mmm.... like soft brownies.

I love any cookie with cranberries in it.  This was the pregnant lady's alternative to the boozy rum balls.

I couldn't decide what to make, so I made 2 kinds of cookies.  These cinnamon roll cookies, all warm and sugary like a Christmas brunch...

and these chocolate squares.  They are my fave, and so easy to make.

As a special bonus, I had a mason jar of popcorn for each of my friends to take home:



I drizzled red candy melts over home-made popcorn.  It's a great sweet/salty snack, and the perfect filler for some of the cookie tins that looked empty even after we piled a few dozen cookies inside.

After all of the tasting was done, we rolled ourselves over to a crafting station, to create tags for our gifts (or snatch ready-made ones that I had already created.)



I hope you enjoyed the tour of our holiday party!

♥.

oh happy day {RIC guest designer}

I won't lie. When Jen asked if I'd like to guest design for the Runway Inspired Challenge, I started sweating a little bit.  These girls mean business.  And the fashions aren't always straightforward. But it turned out to be so much fun.

The inspiration photo, from the Matthew Williamson Spring 2014 collection:

It's very flashy. ha. These are some of the things I took from it: the popped up flowers, the translucency underneath the popped up florals, the mix of white and cream, and the flashy pants (which I translated into gold glitter, no neon yellow for me!).

I white-heat-embossed florals onto a kraft tag base, and then did some translucent-type watercoloring over them.



The sentiment was also white-embossed, but onto a strip of cream cardstock.  I helped the lettering come back to life with some subtle watercoloring as well.



I had to pop up at least one flower, didn't I?  And pop it a gold, glittery center.  I hung it from a smaller, vellum tag.

I hope you like it!  Click over to the Runway Inspired Challenge blog to see more inspiration from the Design Team, and check out the prize that is up for grabs.

♥.

let's be merry {lawnscaping challenge}

It's time for another lawnscaping challenge!  We're giving you an arctic color palette to work with:

I won't lie, this one was difficult to craft and photograph.  gah.

I cut the "merry" banner with my silhouette (it's an original creation) and used lawn fawn alphas to spell out "let's be".  A pair of wintery buddies and some snowy white spray was all I needed to reflect the challenge colors.  There, I made it sound breezy. Let's pretend that this card came together that easily, that it wasn't an uphill battle all the way.  You always practise full disclosure around the holidays...

I hope you like it!  And join us in crafting - you could win a prize from lawn fawn.

♥.

whoa baby!

If you're looking for my winter lawnscaping blog hop post, click **here**

Our dear lawnscaper, Elise, has given birth to a beautiful baby girl.  We're sending virtual baby squishes and congratulations with this fun blog hop. If you're following the hop, you should have clicked over from Karin's blog:

So, this one is for the brand new baby Claire: 

I used sponge daubers in bright, fun colors and a Mama Elephant sentiment stamp to create this card.  The stripes on the side were pulled from my saved scrap pile.  I love when I can actually make something I've already stamped work for a new project.

Keep the hop moving, over to Christy's blog next.

Elise, we're so happy for you! I wish you all the joy in the world, as you discover the magic of being a mama.  There are some things I don't miss about the newborn stage (i like my sleep too much, and enjoy not smelling of vomit), but other things I ache to re-live: the little sucky faces they make in their sleep, when that baby smell (the good kind) wafts up and fills your heart and nose, the way the teeny tiny hands fit into yours, the expectant eyes that lock onto yours and penetrate to your soul.  You may not enjoy every moment, but these things you will, and a million more.

♥.

milk & cookies for santa {lawnscaping winter blog hop}

Hi and welcome to the winter edition of the lawnscaping blog hop!  You should have clicked over from the always beautifully styled and photographed Nicole's blog.

There are prizes up for grabs and a complete hop list up on the lawnscaping blog, if you lose your way.  Since you have many stops to get to, I'll keep the chatter to a minimum. I was so inspired by this pin:

I mixed stamps from lawn fawn (specifically, the gnome, the banner, the cookies, and the gingerbread man), Wplus9, CSS, and Papertrey Ink to create my version:

The focal panel is one layer.  I wanted it to look like a print, so everything was carefully (sooo carefully) masked.  I started with the cookies, then the milk bottle, santa, the banner and finally the sunburst background.  whew!  I held my breath the entire time, and when I was coloring in the images, I prayed to Santa, "please Santa,  no red-marker-bleeding.... and let my 3 year old still like what I've bought her for Christmas, because she keeps changing her mind."

So there you have it. hee.

Your next stop is the lovely Sarah's blog.  Don't forget to check out all of the prize and giveaway details on the lawnscaping blog.  To be eligible, you can leave comments along the way, from now until Sunday December 15th at 11:59EST.  Good luck!

♥.

1 set, 3 cards {pinkfresh studio}

Once upon a time, there was a dreamy stamp set.

When I was invited to guest design using Pinkfresh Studio products, I immediately jumped for their set "delightful tales."  It's so soft and pretty, perfect for so many occasions. Check:

This one is going to a newborn princess.  I have seen the babe, and she is positively regal.  I did some messy pink painting on a piece of water-color paper, and left it to dry before embossing the starry medallion in gold.



The little sentiment strip was watercolored as well, but heavily so the corners could look more worn.  Anything to add some extra subtle texture.  I added sequins and some wooden stars to build up the focal point even more.

The next card is wedding-ready:

White-embossing, another wood star, a sponged cloud border, and a fun pennant feature:



I cut a toothpick down so it would fit perfectly on either side of the folded banner.

The last card is without real occasion:

I love, love, love that sentiment. Any kid who grew up on Disney would love it, right?  I used the same starry medallion on the card base, but then added a sheet of vellum over it.  Think dreamy, huge bokeh bubbles.  ha.  I hand-stitched the vellum to the card-base, and the added the sentiment banner (which is actually a leftover piece of water-coloring from the first card) front and center.  Sometimes, a good sentiment in pretty fonts is all you need.  The little enamel heart is from the Pinkfresh Studio shop too, and so lovely.

A huge thanks to Pinkfresh Studio for the opportunity to work with such a beautiful set.  Be sure to check out their store!  I love their ombre washi tape, color-blocked wood veneer, and all of their shaped enamel accents.

♥.

love you tons {lawn fawn inspiration week}

Hi and welcome back to another day of the lawn fawn inspiration week.  Today, check out the cutest little fawnie elephants:

"Love you tons" is a mini stamp set (2x3) with matching dies. It features a pair of elephants, so you could have them facing each other for valentine's day.  I wanted to show you how easy it would be to create a child's birthday card with this new set.

I stamped and masked the tower of elephants and the speech bubbles (the ones on the right are simply turned on their side - I couldn't find a speech bubble that small and facing the way that I wanted until it occurred to me that I was already holding it.)

Once everything was masked, I sponged grey ink over a sunburst stencil.



With the masks removed, I colored everything in and added sparkle to the party hat.

I hope you like it!  Check out more "love you tons" ideas on the lawn fawn blog today.

on the mend {lawn fawn inspiration week}

Hi and welcome to another day of lawn fawn inspiration!  Today, we're showcasing new dies for old favorites: on the mend, quinn's capital abcs, and quinn's 123s.

I made a little gift set for an under-the-weather friend:



The whole thing came together so easily with the new dies (especially for the spoon!)



I layered the soup bowl three times... because why not?  I'm not hand-cutting them anymore! ha.  The "loving" steam rising up from the bowl is from "science of love" which we featured yesterday.

Along with the dry soup mix, why not send along a few crackers?  Nevermind that the soup mix will make enough to feed a family of 8, and there are only 6 crackers...

I hope you like it!  Be sure to stop by the lawn fawn blog to see what the rest of the design team has cooked up.  

♥.

Science of love {lawn fawn inspiration week}

Hey there, and welcome to lawn fawn's valentine inspiration week!  All of the products will be available as of December 12th.  We're kicking things off today with my very favorite set, science of love:



Truth be told, science classes were always the worst for me, but I still remember what color plus what color equals purple!



I sponged on a kind of green ooze in the background - can you see it?  And then added the beakers and test tube on top.  The solutions are all nice and glossy, even though you can only really see it in the purple solution.



I wish I had some hot cinnamon heart candies to put in there!  I had to settle for some jube-jubes that we had in our stale candy stash. (everyone has a stale candy stash, right? for emergency situations, like when your husband calls and says he'll be late coming home from work and the kids are already crying because you told them it's shepherd's pie for supper. a little sugar to save your sanity.)

I hope you like it!  Be sure to check out the giveaways on the lawn fawn blog this week!

♥.