Christmas Ornaments

The annual ornament exchange has taken place this year. I was extremely pleased with how my ornaments turned out this year. And I am extremely grateful to my husband who cut all the blocks for me.

These definitely stretched my limited painting skills to their max. I wasn't sure if I could transfer the ideas I had drawn onto the ornament, but I definitely like the way they turned out.



All the ornaments lined up.


The finished products. On the back of each of the ornaments is a spot for a 3x3 picture of family. I kept the "Ho, Ho, Ho" one for myself.

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

A family tree

I recently moved across the country with my husband and we are now living 2,500 miles away from our families and it is a little hard at times. I have been feeling a desire recently to make some kind of family tree. I wanted it to be something that I could put in a frame and see everyday, rather than something that gets filed away in a book. For a long time I couldn't find anything I liked. I didn't want to do a basic pedigree chart - how boring! - but I couldn't find any other way to do it. Then, one day while surfing blogs, I found this tutorial for a family tree on Sutton Grace.

The one on this blog was a little too big for what I was wanting to make, but it was PERFECT! So, I used the pattern to create a much smaller one of my own. The pattern was for a 19" x 22" tree, and that wasn't going to fit in our new place, so I made a 12" x 12". I love it. So, without further ado, here is the finished product.


I really wanted a blue background, and I really like the way the colors turned out. The men are in green and women are in yellow.



A close up of one of the branches


The trunk


The final framed product. I don't suck this badly at taking pictures, I just didn't feel like blurring out every single name on the tree, so I just blurred the whole picture :) Oh, and yes, I realize that some of the names get blocked by the frame, I'll be fixing it soon.

I am going to be making a few more of these trees, and when I do, I will be changing a few things about the tree base. I am overall really pleased with it but there are just a few adjustments I'll make so it is even more perfect.

I hope you (all two of you that still read this :) enjoyed my family tree. I am thrilled with how it turned out.

More buttons

Ok, I have a slight obsession with buttons...alright, it's far from slight. I absolutely LOVE buttons. I pretty much love anything with buttons on it. I bought a big bag of brightly colored buttons (which is where most of the buttons for the jewelry I've made has come from), and it has served me well. Of course, I made my most favorite button bracelet from this bag.

I've been looking for other ways to use my buttons, and they find their ways onto my cards and various other crafts I work on. Recently though, I made a new bracelet and pair of earrings for my mother. I love the way this turned out. Don't worry, I've already ruined the surprise for her.

What do you think?

New earrings

I made these fantastic earrings for my best friend for her birthday in September. I made the earrings a good two weeks before her birthday and yet, I didn't get them in the mail until three (or four) weeks AFTER her birthday. Going to the post office was just a little inconvenient. Then add in the fact that I was packing for the move to Virginia...it was a crazy time.

Anyway, I love them both. I think I will need to make some more for myself.


These ones are made with one continuous piece of silver. I REALLY like the way these turned out.



These were an experiment. My mom has some fabulous earrings that are a spiral like these, only they are much cooler. I tried to replicate them and this was the final product. I like 'em.

Fun Baby Gifts

I've had a few friends who have had babies recently - and I've made some pretty cute baby gifts for them, if I do say so myself.




This set of burp cloths and a blanket is for a friend in our ward who just had a baby boy. I thought it turned out very cute. Even though we live in AZ and it is still 100+ degrees outside, I thought the blanket would be useful for when it does get a little chilly. If nothing else, they can put it on the floor for the baby to lay on.










I also have a friend who just had twin girls. I didn't have enough of my girl fabrics to make solids of any of the burp cloths, so I got creative and stiched some together. I think they are really cute.











I have loved making these burp cloths for friends. They are super easy to make, and I think they make a great gift. I can't wait to be able to make some for myself someday.

That's it. I've also made another set of boy burp cloths for one of Justin's co-workers - but they are very similar to the top picture, and I didn't want to bore you with too many pictures of the same thing...

Fun Stuff

I've have been completely remiss in actually taking pictures of things I've been making. So, here is some of the jewelry I've been making.

I have been wanting to make a necklace to go with my big button bracelet. I love it. It's super long and a lot of fun!


Sweet Tweets! I really like these earrings. They turned out super cute.


Classic Black and White. I am always in need of good black and white earrings, and these are perfect.






These earrings are some that I made for my one friend who entered my giveaway on my other blog. There is still space for 4 more winners... You can click here if you want to enter. Here's the deal. The first four people to comment, don't even have to re-post - I will just make you something and send it to you.

I absolutely LOVE these dice earrings...and so do a lot of people. Of all the earrings I have made I get the most comments and compliments about these. They are so simple, but a lot of fun, and extremely darling.

I just like these. I created the loop beneath the earrings with sterling silver and added the beads.


These earrings could have a post of their own. I originally made these two years ago at the first "annual girls get together," and they were great. They were just a little different, but the first time I wore them I broke them. Lame, I know. It was my fault. Anyway, I tried making them two more times, and finally ended up with these - I love them! And this time, I won't break them :)

Happy Birthday!

I made a really fantastic birthday present for my mother (if I do say so myself!)

Here is what I did:

I was trying to allude to springtime flowers...but with earrings....do you get it? :) I decopauged the fabric onto a small glass vase I had lying around my craft room that I have been wanting to do something creative with. I love the way it turned out. I was sad to see it go. But, it was actually a trial run for a much larger vase that I have the intention of doing the same thing with.

As for the earrings...I love the way each of them turned out. I wanted to try something new with big buttons, and I think the yellow ones turned out fantastic. And I just love the orange earrings. I didn't take a picture of the third pair of earrings because they are just a simple green jade circle. I think I am going to have to make a pair of each of them for myself.

Anyway, I do have some more projects that I have recently finished including a scripture case as well as a really REALLY cute card. I'll try to get some pictures up soon. But don't hold your breath, it probably won't happen very soon - let's be honest :)

I'm still making stuff!

I have been so busy with school and work and other things that I have seriously neglected this blog.


Here are some pictures of the ornaments I made for Christmas this year. They turned out really cute, and I was very pleased with them.

A bunch of the ornaments. They are all made of paper and ribbon.

Hanging on the Tree.

I have also been working on some digital scrapbooking recently. It is actually what I have spent most of my free time working on. I have enjoyed using this system, but it was a little more time consuming than I expected. Still, I was able to create some really fabulous books and also some super cute calendars for my parents and in-laws for Christmas. Here are some previews of what I've done.

(**I removed the links for the calendars because they were not playing nicely with my blog.)

So that's what has been keeping me busy! I am hoping to spend some more time on making jewelry over the next few months, but it'll be hard because I am definitely going to be busy.