confetti by lexi

i love organization!

i keep coming into my little studio and it's just too messy to create much after the last few weeks, so i figured i'd clean up a bit instead of walking back out again!  i often organize by color, but i have several collections that i prefer to keep together. up until today, my a muse ribbon (love the stuff!) has been tossed into a basket near my feet along with other ribbon scraps and random extras.  the other scraps went into the jars on my window sill and i reorganized the random, but i really wanted my a muse collection to be together and easy to use.  i found this little white lunch box in my stash, punched a few holes with my crop-a-dile and voila!

 

i have extra strands of a few colors, so those are tucked into the box, too, ready to be pulled through the proper hole when the first one runs out!  i used a label from one of the little ribbon bags and a glittered punch sitting on my desk to label the tin--the sheer glitter reminded me of the sheer ribbon and it was one more thing off my desk!  i know this has totally been done before, but i figured it was worth a share anyway--especially for those of you who participated in rhonda's recent amuseaddicts ribbon share.  now, maybe i can actually stamp something.  and put ribbon on it!

enjoy!
:) lexi

right up to the end!

while all of my christmas card orders were complete by early last week, i had a few stationery gift orders right up to christmas eve!  luckily they were given locally, so i could fit in my own last minute shopping and creating.  and i managed to snap pictures to share...

today, my girls have friends over and i hear my new stamps calling my name...

peace!
:) lexi

i have the best husband...

 
look what he gave me for christmas--an iphone!!!  i have been dying to get my hands on this sweet little piece of technology since they came out and now i've been playing with my own since yesterday morning--it is sooo cool!  we actually got a few very hi-tech toys this year.  santa brought a wii and my dad gave the girls nintendo ds lites.  even the board game santa left is hi-tech--life's twists & turns, lots of fun!  the girls also got dolls from their wish lists and a couple of other things, too, but overall it was a very 21st century christmas!

just had to share...
:) lexi

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

 
since i never got around to showing my favorite decorations, i thought i'd do that today, starting with my many trees...

a tinsel tree, perfect for my picture ornaments!

the kitchen tree, complete with christmas cookie cutters.

my mini year round "feather" tree, decorated for christmas this month--i'll have to share other months from time to time!

the kids' tree in the family room--lots of extra hand made ornaments and toys underneath!

nativity blocks--a family favorite.

santa's clothing line, hanging from the stairs.

and last, but certainly not least, our "fireplace" hanging over the sofa in our living room.  one year, the girls were concerned that we didn't have a fireplace for santa to get in, so we painted one that he could magically make real!

merry! merry!
:) lexi

more elf magic!

 
it's almost time for the elves to go back to the north pole with santa.  but we've had a fun month of midnight mischief around here, so i thought i'd share a few highlights.  the girls found them having all kinds of fun around the house while we were sleeping.  above, reading magazines and listening to music.

 
digging around in the candy jar, adding a few new treats.

hosting a santa clause movie marathon--all three in a row!

making snow angels & dreaming of the north pole.

building the manger scene and reading about the nativity.

leading a christmas karaoke party for the christmas toys.

papering the girls' bathroom and...

peeking around the corner to see the surprise!

hot cocoa snacking on a cold night, leaving more to enjoy.

and they even got into my gifts and opened one early!

i'm going to miss those mischievous elves!
:) lexi

christmas magic

 

i love the magic of christmas, so we have lots of magical traditions in our house.  along with cookies for santa on christmas eve, we also scatter reindeer food.  since it's one of my girls' favorite traditions, we share it with all of their classmates every year.  contents: oatmeal + red and green sugar sprinkles for sparkle--all edible for the birds (!) and topped with a stamped label, of course.  a cute little take home treat and one less piece of candy!

:) lexi

a muse admiration!

 
 
 

these are a few treats i made for my amuseaddict secret santa buddy--she should have received everything by now, including my reveal, so i thought i'd post 'em before christmas!  the clear paint can was filled with chocolate and lots of stamped and punched images and sentiments, along with the stamp shop christmas card.  the little box (a re-purposed papertrey ink box!) holds the cd and the four a muse ornaments in this post.  the cd is a mix of my girls favorite rockin' christmas tunes.  i used an a muse square card to decorate the box--untie the cord and it opens as usual.  in this case it was my reveal!  i also want to say thank you again to my secret santa, jenna hipps, who sent me the cutest little bag and box with cards, stamped images, candy and even a stamp.  good stampin' fun!

christmas rocks!
:) lexi

ETA:  i tried my hand at creating an imix to share the cd playlist--click here!  even though i purchased all of the songs through itunes over the last two years, only half of them are available there now, but it's a start!

more gift labels...

 

give 'em as gifts and use 'em on gifts!   and i spoke too soon the other day or, i guess, jinxed myself.  yes, i'm still near the end.  but, that night, my computer started shutting down on me again and i've seen this screen way too much over the last two days.  it had miraculously gone away during my main crunch time, but sadly it's not gone forever.  i guess i'd better go write a letter to santa...

:) lexi

nearing the end!

 

this last week has been so very busy with stuff like this.  printing, cutting, folding, stamping, etc. etc.  i finally feel like i'm nearing the end a little.  so in honor of that, i thought i'd play the recent tag game i was hit with--thanks jen and erika!  i'm supposed to share 7 random facts about myself and since i've done this one before, i thought i'd focus on now...

1. i have made almost 800 christmas cards recently, with 100 more to go.
2. that's not counting mine--hopefully by friday!?
3. in the last three weeks i've also created a handful of other invitations--people still have birthdays and parties this time of year!--as well as notepads, stationery and stickers--great gifts to give!
4. i've been going to bed around 2:00 or 3:00 every morning.
5. my tree is up and keeps me company!
6. my shopping is not all done.
7. but, even with all that, i still love christmas!

and the countdown continues--7 days to go...
:) lexi

p.s. if you'd like to be tagged, let me know and i'll be happy to pass it on!

papertrey hooray!

 

last night was another fun papertrey ink release.  i was so close to that puzzler prize!  and today the honorable mentions were posted and my bookmark was there!  thank you nichole--it's such an honor to be mentioned!  i sent it in at the last minute--i thought it was too simple and i've been too busy to do much extra this month.  i had actually wanted to include the bookmarks i posted yesterday too, but i couldn't get to them in time.  i did manage one other project...

a gift set of mini gift cards--same colors, different designs, eclectic but still cohesive.  i love monograms and the combination of borders and corners and the fonts nichole has chosen are perfect for simple and stylish.

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

tree trimmings

 

more quick and cute for christmas!  for the a muse ornaments, i chose the same paper, colors and stickle border to make them a cohesive set.  i also decorated the stamp shop and cafe for christmas by adding little trees and i doodled a little gift for santa to give.  the wreath ornie is created with some cool tree branch pipe cleaners colleen insisted on buying at michael's--she's definitely following in my crafty footsteps!

merry! merry!
:) lexi

more bookmarks!

 

i wanted some quick little thoughts for a group of friends and immediately thought of the ribbon bookmarks--complete with monograms, of course!  it was fun to come up with different color and shape combos for each person, especially since there were a lot of the same letters.  (all stamps are from the borders & corners and monogram sets by papertrey ink, punches are either su! or marvy)

 

to make them easy to give, i simply rolled them into small cello bags with the monogram taking center stage--gotta love quick & cute!

:) lexi

more gifts to give!

 

when i say christmas is all about the presents, i mean it--i love to give little presents to lots of people!  here is one of my favorites--some mini note pads that i print along with a hand stamped gift card that i've incorporated into the presentation.  the vellum envelope allows you to see the front of the card, but keep it closed and protect any other contents--perfect for holiday tipping!

 

here, i actually used the martha stewart crafts idea from my holiday craft critique article to wrap a book for my book club's gift swap.  and since it was a book, i incorporated one of the ribbon bookmarks into the wrapping too--a little bonus gift!  sorry for the bad picture, but i shot it quickly on my way out the door.  i'm so last minute these days, trying to get every detail done!

'night!
:) lexi

j is for...

just personalize it!  here is a quick little birthday thought for my sister in law.  i love little notebooks and adding a chipboard monogram covered in red patterned paper to this simple black one was a great way to transform it into something special.  add to it a handy stack of personalized gift cards and she's ready to make a list and check it twice--and give a few gifts of her own!

:) lexi

it's all about the presents!

 

this is the elzybells stamp i forgot to order--a few stamped images of it arrived as part of a sweet gift from my amuseaddicts anonymous a muse admirer.  i just *had* to take a break to color in one of them and make a quick card right away!  the package also included stamped nuggets (yum!), pretty christmas notes, "i'd rather be stamping" stamp and several stamped images.  and look at the cute hand made packaging...

 

i love fun happy mail!  it gave me the perfect opportunity to take a break from the endless flow of printing, cutting, folding, stamping, etc. that i'm buried under right now.  this is always the busiest time of year for me, but i love it and i always feel a great sense of accomplishment as each order is finished.  so now...

back to work!
:) lexi

p.s.  i almost forgot to mention--don't forget to check out the holiday gift list articles at craft critique.  if you're looking for something to give or get, the reporters have some suggestions.  my article was posted yesterday--but after reading some of the others i have a few things to add!  also, if you've posted any holiday projects and want them to be featured in craft critique's upcoming holiday carnival series, see this post--i always love to cruise the carnival links and see what everyone's up to!  okay, now really back to work!

you're an angel!

 

one more quick thank you for the amuseaddicts challenge!  another a muse note card, paired with an elzybells stamp and handwritten sentiment.  i kept trying to add ribbon or something to this, but nothing seemed to work as well as leaving it alone.  the wings, stars, halo & streaks in the hair are colored with copic spicas--the perfect amount of sparkle.  i love those pens!

:) lexi

a little note of thanks!

 

i managed to sneak in a little stamping in between designing and printing today--'tis the season to be busy!  this is for the amuseaddicts weekly challenge to create christmas or winter themed thank you cards, something we will all need in less than a month.  the note card is a muse, the stamps elzybells, with a little added hand lettering by me!

thanks for stopping by!
:) lexi

elf magic!

 

the elves are back and the other night, they got into my stamps!  now, my desk was already messy, but those mischievous elves didn't seem to mind and simply added their own mess to the mix.  the a muse images of santa, the north pole and even one of them was too tempting to pass up.  at least they brought their own pencils!

:) lexi

feeling blue?

 

chances are you're still giving gifts even if a red and green christmas isn't your thing.  so here are a few personalized gift card desings in blue--with touches of silver or gold for a nice bit of glitz.  changing the color or sentiment would make them perfect for a variety of occasions.

happy everything!
:) lexi

personalize it

 

here is another group of christmas gift tags, this time with phrases and/or names printed on them.  some of these are designed completely on the computer including the artwork, some are stamped after setting up the text.  i also like to include details such as ribbon, torn edges and special punches if it works with the design.  the punched stars on the snow couple serve two purposes--they add to the design and would look nice on a flat gift, but you can also thread ribbon through a star and tie it around a bottle of wine or gift bag to take to a party.  a set of personalized tags also makes a great gift.  during this season of giving, it makes sense to have a stack of these ready to go!

back to work...
:) lexi