Wishing for warmer days

So as I type this post, there is snow falling rapidly outside quickly mounting up to an expected 6-10 inches.  The kids are home from school, hubby is "working" from home and I am tucked away in a quiet corner planning out projects and obviously, blogging.  As I watch the snow falling, I can appreciate it's beautiful and peaceful look, but I wouldn't be honest if I didn't say that I HATE the snow.  I would much prefer the warmth of the sun on my face as I sit with my feet in the sand and the smell of the ocean, but I live in an area that most of the time gets roughly 3 of the 4 seasons, and winter is the longest.  So while I look at the beautiful snow falling, I am thinking of the spring and of flowers and fresh cut grass.  We have so many birthday's in the spring (mine being one of them) so I wanted to get started making some spring themed cards.  Here are a few that I wanted to share...

Stampin'Up! Mixed Bunch Stamp Set

Stampin'Up Mixed Bunch Stamp Set

Stampin'Up Summer Silhouette's Stamp Set

Stampin'Up! Supplies Used:

Cardstock:  Whisper White, Marina Mist, Crumbcake, Daffodil Delight

Ink:  Marina Mist, Island Indigo, So Safrron, Old Olive, Pool Party, Daffodil Delight, Real Red, Crumbcake, Calypso Coral, Wild Wasabi

Misc:  Artisan Label Punch, Bitty Butterfly Punch, Basic Pearls, Crumbcake Seam Binding, Stampin' Dimensionals

Enjoy!

Cindy

Soccer Star 2-page Scrapbook Layout

Happy Monday fellow crafters!  Today I wanted to showcase a scrapbook layout I have been working on.  Both of my daughters have been playing soccer for a few years now in both the fall and spring.  This past fall, BOTH of my girls scored their first goals of their soccer careers.  As you can imagine, we were BEYOND excited.  I wanted to make sure I preserved that memory for each of them so that they can look back and remember the excitement and all the hard work it took to get to that point.  So the challenge is, my oldest has gotten into this phase of not wanting to get her picture taken which makes it very hard to capture good shots of her to put in a scrapbook.  My husband has his camera with him ALL the time and for every practice and every game he attempts the impossible.  Needless to say, we have hundreds of pictures, but none that are exactly what I want.  My other daughter played goalie most of the season so most of her shots are of her either standing in the goal or punting the ball (her specialty).  So I will take a compilation of pictures for each of them and attempt to tell the story on this 2-page layout.  Each one will have their own layout with their names and their season stats on the right page.  I used the Soccer Star Layout from http://www.ppbndesigns.com/soccer-star-girl-scrapbook-page-kit-cut/ and used my Silhouette.   The paper I used was all from Stampin’Up! and colors and additional supplies are listed below.

Supplies Used:

Cardstock: Real Red, Whisper White, Basic Black, Basic Grey, Old Olive, Garden Green, Marina Mist, Pool Party, Crumbcake

Adhesive:  Snail, Dimensionals

Happy New Year????

Happy New Year fellow crafters....I can't believe it is already the 9th of January.  My intention come the first of the year was to start blogging and crafting on a regular basis.  Well here were are in the second week of January and this is my first post and I have nothing to show in terms of projects!  So the kids went back to school for one day and then we got hit with a series of bad weather which kept them out of school for 3 additional days.  Yesterday was the first day back and I had one of my kids home sick.  Today however was the first day I have been alone in my house for nearly 3 weeks.  I would love to spend some time crafting, but having the kids home from school for almost 3 weeks has created a bit of chaos in this house.  So my first order of business is to get things back to a fairly normal working/living environment.  So my plan is to tackle one area at a time until I can get everything back in order.  One thing I wanted to start spending more time on this year is scrapbooking, so you will probably start seeing more layouts in addition to my cards and other home decor items.  My dear hubby takes so many great pictures, I feel like I really need to start showcasing them (at least the family photos).  I will post photo's as often as possible, but I want to try and get 2 to 3 posts per week (which means I am crafting that much as well).  I figure if I start out with small goals and accomplish them, it makes the larger goals that much easier to reach.

Until next time...

Cindy

Holiday Craft Fair

Thank you to all of those who supported me the last two-days at the Freddie Mac Holiday Craft Marketplace event.  Every year for the past 3 years I have participated in this event (they also host a spring craft fair that I also attend).  It is nice to see old friends (I use to work there some time ago) and make new friends will selling my wares and gaining new customers.  As with every year, I had a great time and didn't do to badly in the sales department.  It still amazes me, even as a crafter how talented people are. There were knitters, photographers, glass blowers and quilters, just some really lovely stuff.  I am honored to be apart of this community of crafters and look forward to future events.  Here are a few pics of the items I had on my table (the lighting wasn't that great for photo's so I was only able to put a few up).

Personalized Frames (big hit)

Holiday Candy Cracker/Popper

The personalized frames were successful.  Can I just tell you, I LOVE MY SILHOUETTE.  I had a small table to the side that I had my laptop and Silhouette on and was able to do the personalized frames onsite within an hour.  My customers were thrilled with the quick turnaround time and ability to customize while they shopped (or in this case went to a meeting).

The holiday crackers were fun...each of these little treats is filled with 2 Hershey Nugget candies and a good will foturne.  They were fun to make and the kids wanted to pull them apart as soon as I had them done.  So, I know I will be making some of these for our Thanksgiving table this year.  I think I might add a little something special to theirs so it is a surprise when they pull them open.  I will have to give that one a little thought.

Anyway, just wanted to pop in and and give a little shout-out to my dear friend Michele Jackson for organizing this event EVERY YEAR and let her know how thankful I am that she still includes me even though I have moved on from Freddie.

Thanks for stopping by and I will catch you all later.

Cindy

PS:  Be sure to swing by the shop as we are trying to add new items on a frequent basis

PTI Tag It Challenge

Hi there fellow crafters,

Today I decided to participate in the the Tag It Challenge at Papertrey Ink.  I love their products and use them often.  I don't usually participate in blog hops or challenges, but I decided that I wanted to start.  I have been getting ready for an upcoming Holiday Craft Fair and happened to be making tags already so I thought I would put my hat in the ring.  Here are some of the tags I decided to share:

I love the holidays with all the glitz and sparkle.  I am one of those people who prefer to wrap presents instead of using gift bags for the sheer joy of watching the recipient rip off the paper.  And what's not to love when you see all the beautifully wrapped presents sitting under the tree Christmas morning.  So therefore gift tags are just one of those things I love to make.  One year I even put little bells on each of the gifts.  The kids had so much fun picking the packages up and shaking the boxes just to hear the bells.

Here are some close ups on each of the tags:

 

PTI Supplies Used:
Cardstock:  Kraft, Stampers Select White, Enchanted Evening & Scarlet Jewel
Stamps:  In the Meadow, Silent Night, Tremendous Treats:  Christmas, Shape Up Snowman Accessories
Ink:  Pure Poppy, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate, Versamark
Other:  White, Silver and Gold Embossing Powder, Snowman Shape Up Die

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you picked up a few ideas to help make your holiday packages sparkle!

Cindy

Thank You, Merci, Gracias!

The importance of the "Thank You" note.  I recently had a conversation with my 13 year old daughter about the need to send thank you notes when someone gives you a gift.  As you can imagine, she is all about her phone and texting or emailing.  So, let me be a mother for just a second and provide the lecture I gave my daughter.  "What happened to us?  How is sending a text to Auntie to thank her for your birthday present okay?  It will take you 3 seconds to type and send that note.  However, how many hours did she have to work and then shop for your gift?  Do you think taking 5 minutes to write a personal note of thanks to your Aunt, who mind you couldn't come to your party because she was working, is too much to ask of you?"  End of lecture.  Okay, so yes, I laid it on pretty thick, but come on, I AM A CARD MAKER!  I have thank you notes sitting in boxes all over the house.  She even has her own personal set of thank you notes.  Now what my daughter doesn't realize is that even the 3 second text would have made her aunt happy.  But the point is, that she went to the effort of shopping for a gift and made sure that she would receive it on time to enjoy, the least she can do is sit down an write a simple thank you note to drop in the mail.

Think for a minute about the things you receive in your mail box.  Typically it is bills, advertisements, or junk mail.  Very rarely do we get personalized "happy mail" as I like to call them.  Wouldn't it be nice for a change to open the box and find a handmade note with a personal message for you?  I know I would, and yes, to end my story, my daughter did end up sending about 10 thank you notes to family for her last birthday, and every single one of those people made a point to tell me how much it meant to them that she did that.

This is one of my daughter's personalized Note Cards

Not everyone is a crafter, and there are certainly plenty of stores out there that sell thank you cards.  So whether you make them yourself, or buy them at your local store, remember that saying thank you can brighten even the gloomy days.

Check out our variety of Thank You cards at zibbet.com/cindybudhaidesigns.com

Welcome to Cindy Budhai Designs

Welcome to the next chapter in my creativity.  This blog will be a place for me to share my creations and thoughts.  Stay tuned for images of my creations and videos in the future.  Thanks for stopping by.