December 31, 2018 in

Top Blog Moments of 2018

Another year has passed. A wonderful year. A peaceful year. A year filled with so much more calm and simplicity, continuing to fill my heart.

Last year I came across the greatest year-end quote that was so fitting for me. Although I included the author of the quote, I had never heard of that person. Upon looking back on my year end posts a few days ago, I was astounded to find that the author of that quote is someone amazing who I have come across this year through social media! This author finds the most appealing, fulfilling, and beautiful way to make her words feel like they are speaking directly to you. Her words are full of wisdom, optimism, and hope. Here is another Morgan Harper Nichols quote to finish off this year:


Here is a look at my blog throughout the year, month by month, and the things I have learned and crafted!


January - You Are Pretty Amazing
Getting back into the craftroom and finding time to be creative became an important goal and challenge for me. Learning how to make more simple, but satisfying cards became my mission!

February - Winter Wonderland
Ink blending continued to be a big theme throughout my cards this year. The Distress Oxide inks were especially fun to play with and watch the fun water effects.

March - Green Latte Inspiration
I am still loving to create coffee cards - my husband seems to think these are the only stamps I use - ha! This card was highlighted on the Verve blog and was fun to play around with more ink blending. I also practiced painting the cup using different ink shades to achieve a more 3D look.

April - Onesie Extenders
I was able to fit in some sewing projects throughout the year and was excited to create some onesie extenders for my son and for some friends too. I learned about the differences between organic fabrics and fabrics using environmentally friendly dyes versus fabrics that do not.

May - Coffee Lovers in Ontario
I was SO happy to be able to take a trip with Harvey and my Mom out to Ontario to see my Auntie Karen and her family this spring. We even found some time to craft together and it just so happened to be the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop! I loved visiting The Workshop in Stouffville and found these awesome blueprint coffee stamps. They have been fun to learn how to colour with markers to achieve a 3D look.

June - Mandala
When I first saw this beautiful mandala stencil from Studio Katia I couldn't stop imagining all of the gorgeous designs that could be done with it. Distress inks lend themselves so well to stencils like these and make an intricate design easy to accomplish!

July - Waterfront Thank You
This stamp set makes me think of my favourite pace on Earth - Kootenay Lake! Layering the images and using second generation stamping helped create this beautiful watercolour look.

August - Keep Calm and Drink
This card was one of a set of four that I made using the blueprint coffee stamps. They were fun to colour up with my Tombow markers. 

September - I Heart Mountain Ranges
There is just something about those mountain ranges glistening as the sun hits those beautiful snowcaps. I love how this card came together, especially with the distress ink pops for the sun and the die cut sentiment. 

October - Forest Friends Birthday
I had an idea this summer that I wanted to celebrate Harvey's 1st birthday with a forest friends theme. I sought out these cute woodland creatures from Lawn Fawn and love how the creation of this invitation came together. I also decided to better utilize my time (and cut down on waste) by only making one of these invitations and sending a picture out electronically instead.

November - Winter Wishes
These tags were the first that I created during the fabulous inspiration from the 25 Days of Christmas Tags during November. This really sparked the creation of my tag stash this year and provided so much creative inspiration! Here, I learned to first stamp and emboss snowflakes onto a strip of cardstock, ink it up with some oxide inks, and then punch out some tags.

December - Mountain Snowfall
These cards were apart of a custom collection of Christmas cards that I created especially for my friend. I enjoy tailoring cards to certain qualities and loves of close friends. I had not thought of adding white acrylic paint splatters for snow on my cards before and love how it turned out.

Bonus Picks:


'Perfect Princess' Shout Outs on Freshly Made Sketches
I was so honoured and flattered this year to make some of the top picks with a few cards using Freshly Made Sketches. This card, along with the Birthday Wishes card pictured above and a fun pumpkin spice card, were celebrated!

Shop Local, Eat Local, Eat Seasonally
I have started to really watch my shopping, not only on cutting out plastic and being less wasteful, but by learning what is made locally, too. This coming year a goal of mine includes learning to cook more seasonally through buying local produce. This asparagus recipe using Creston asparagus was a good start this year!

#ShopSmall #ShopLocal #ShopLocallyMade
I love a good quality handmade product and have enjoyed searching for and finding many Canadian makers this year, especially for baby clothes and toys. I have also made it a goal to focus on quality versus quantity in the hopes of downsizing and limiting mess and waste.

Coffee Lovers Blog Hop Designer Picks
I was incredibly excited to hear that one of my projects for the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop was highlighted out of 1113 entries! These wooden tags were an awesome find at our local Farmer's Market this summer and I loved stamping onto them and colouring them up to create Christmas tags this winter. 

International Tea Day
On a whim I decided to sneak into my craftroom and play around with a tag set I got last year to celebrate my hot drink of choice! I love being able to find time to let my creativity flow :)

What have I learned this year? To have faith that things will work out in one way or another. To breathe. To let it be. Cheers to 2019!
Merry Christmas!

Here are a few holiday sewing projects I managed to get up to this month.

I was so excited to find this NHL fabric this fall and couldn't wait to make some toiletry bags for our hockey-loving niece and nephew! This was the first time I learned how to sew a zipper and it actually wasn't too bad once I learned a few tricks. I found this fantastic tutorial from Melly Sews.


In keeping with my goals to be less wasteful, I sought to get more creative this Christmas, especially with gift wrapping. For these bags I used the larger one as the "wrapping" and put the smaller one inside along with a book, and added some ribbon that can easily be reused. For other gifts, I was able to make some more fabric bags, as well as continue to reuse bags I had made a few years ago. I love finding cute fabric at our local shoppe, SugarTown Quilt Company


With all of the Christmas tag inspiration floating around the past couple of months, I finally thought to take out this awesome kit I got last year from Papertrey Ink and play around! My sister-in-law needed some tags to go along with some gift bags she was making up and I loved how they turned out :)

Paper - Colonial White (CTMH)
Ink - Mowed Lawn, Black Soot distress ink (Tim Holtz); No. 28 English Red marker (Marvy)
Stamps + Dies + Stencils - Holiday Tag Along Kit (PTI)

Happy International Tea Day!

What is your favourite kind of tea?

I am a lover of many kids of tea, but my ultimate tea drink is a London Fog! I also like a good cuppa Chai, too. I was inspired to get into my craft room today and create a tea themed tag. I pulled out some digi-stamps from Verve that I had printed awhile ago and played around with this fantastic Holiday Tag Along Kit from Papertrey Ink that I got last year. I even figured out how to elongate the tag die so that it could fit this fun stack of cups. I realized afterwards that these cups were probably intended to be coffee cups, but today they're tea for me!

Paper - White Daisy, Charcoal cardstock (CTMH)
Ink - Evergreen Bough distress oxide ink (Tim Holtz)
Dies - Holiday Tag Along (PTI); Rounded Rectangle die (Verve)
Stamps - From My Cup 2 Yours digi stamps (Verve); Open Me Stamp&Cut (Hero Arts)

Favourite Places to Get My Tea Locally:

Purcell Organics - I love their Northstar Chai
Tigz Tea - Lavender Earl Gray is my fave!
KRC - they make a great London Fog
Timber Hitch - excellent iced Chai Lattes
Hot Shots - Chai Mist is my favourite drink there!
This week was a big first for me - I went in my first ever craft fair with my cards + tags! I have been working on a stash for awhile and was stoked to add a few more things with my favourite Christmas sentiment. I used this Freshly Made Sketches awesome layout to create this card and managed to make several. I love playing along with this challenge when I can to use their inspiring clean and simple sketches. They are having a DT call right now with this sketch and so I am entering in this card. I added a sprig of cedar and holly that I picked up from our beautiful local florist shop, MJs Floral, to make my pictures a little extra festive!

Paper - Colonial White, Black cardstock (CTMH); 
Sweater Weather ; Yes, Please (MME); Wood & Notebook Basics (Simple Stories)
Ink - Archival Black (CTMH)
Stamps - Quoted: Little Bit More (PTI)
Dies - Falling Leaves (Verve); Snowflakes (CTMH)


I also made up a few more tags.
Paper - Kraft, Black cardstock (CTMH)
Dies - Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS); Falling Leaves (Verve)
Stamps - Quoted: Little Bit More (PTI)
Ink - Archival Black (CTMH)
Twine - Poppy (PTI)
Here is my table at the craft fair!

Follow me on Instagram @allyouneedisloveinthekootenays
As the snow is softly falling peacefully around my house this card seems to emanate that same feeling. I hadn't thought to splatter acrylic white paint on a card until recently, even though I use it all the time at school with students, and I love the effect it gives! This card came together at a friend's request for some Christmas cards, so I really aimed to tailor it towards her likes. I intended to add a sentiment to the front, but thought once it came together that it might be too busy with one. I am linking this card up with the Lawn Fawnatics winter holiday challenge.

Paper - Juniper, Black, White Daisy, Watercolour cardstock (CTMH)
Ink - Archival Black, Clover (CTMH); Evergreen Bough, Hickory Smoke, Wilted Violet distress oxide ink (Tim Holtz)
Stamps - Cheery Christmas, Forest Feast, Hedgehugs (Lawn Fawn)
Dies - Cheery Christmas, Forest Feast, Hedgehugs, Stitched Mountain Borders, Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn)

When my friend, Nadine, asked for some Christmas cards I knew just the stamp set I wanted to incorporate. Nadine has an inspiring blog, Zero Waste Living in the Kootenays, that details her zero waste journey. She has been a huge influence in my plastic free journey and my goals to cut down on waste, plus she is an amazing friend that I am happy to have grown up with and now be living in the same town again! While she loves her coffee, and I love my tea, getting together for a walk or a chat indoors with some cozy beverages often leaves me inspired.

Paper - Sweater Weather (MME); Black, Clover, Chocolate cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - Quoted: Little Bit More (PTI)
Dies - Flourished Tag, Falling Leaves (Verve)
Cricut cartridge - Artistry (CTMH)

I am stoked to have another link up for the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop, too!


Here are some more tags that I made for my friend. She mentioned that she liked the Lawn Fawn raccoon and fox, so I set to incorporate them using the other side of the cozy Sweater Weather papers from My Mind's Eye. I also incorporated these awesome wooden slice tags that I found at the Farmer's Market awhile back. For the extra tag that I made for my stash I added an H to personalize it for my son, Harvey!

Paper - Sweater Weather (MME); White Daisy, Black cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - Cheery Christmas, Jump For Joy, Forest Feast (Lawn Fawn)
Dies - Cheery Christmas, Jump for Joy, Forest Feast (Lawn Fawn); Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS)
Ink - Clover, Archival Black (CTMH)

Christmas Tag Count: 42 + 1 = 43
One of my friends asked if I could make some tags for her and I have been itching to play with this paper so I thought it would be the perfect fit! It started snowing today, too! I combined a few different tag shapes on these so that I could write names on the front of them and use the cute little sayings, "your name is on the nice list" and "do not open until Dec 25" that came along with the Hero Arts sets.

Paper - Sweater Weather (MME); Black, Colonial White cardstock (CTMH)
Dies - Merry Stamp & Cut, Open Me Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts); Basic Tags (CTMH); 
Stitched Dress Up Tags (SSS); Best Ever (Studio Katia)
Stamps - Open Me Stamp & Cut, Merry Stamp & Cut (Hero Arts)
Twine from PTI

I managed to make a couple extra of these to add to my own stash, too!

Christmas Tag Count: 40 + 2 = 42
It's the Fall/Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm SO EXCITED! Even though I LOVE tea instead. I love all of the inspiration that is out there and I cannot seem to resist a fun coffee set. I found these wood slice tags at our Farmer's Market this year and thought they would be amazing for Christmas tags. I really wanted to see how my Verve coffee stamps would turn out on these and loved them using Memento ink. I'm hoping to find some more time to participate in this hop, too. Fingers crossed :)

Stamps - Coffee Helps, Holiday Treats (Verve)
Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Marker - 451 (Tombow)


Christmas Tag Count: 37 + 3 = 40

I've been wanting to play with the Really Rainbow Christmas paper for awhile and finally pulled it out for some colourful tags. I was inspired by Beverley Brown on Day 8 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags with her use of vellum over a small patterned paper. I decided to use a colourful snowflake die to go along with my colourful snowflake background paper.

Paper - Really Rainbow Christmas (Lawn Fawn); Vellum, coloured cardstock (CTMH)
Ink - Archival Black (CTMH)
Stamps - Glad Tidings (Verve)
Dies - Tag (Verve); Snowflakes (CTMH)
Embellishments - Black Metallic twine, Stitched Peacock ribbon (CTMH)

Christmas Tag Count: 31 + 6 = 37
I have been working on these particular tags for quite some time...inspired by tags on Day 4 of Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags! Oops! It took awhile for them to come together, but I think they are cute! I was originally inspired by Audrey Tokach's colourful tag. The stamps and sentiment I wanted to use were a little big for this tag so I added a tab above it and finished it off by reusing some fun twine that was wrapped around my Lawn Fawn order. I also found this beautiful branch with pinecones on my driveway the other day and thought it would be perfect to stage some photos!

Paper - Oh What Fun paper collection; Clover, Cranberry cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - Cheery Christmas (Lawn Fawn)
Ink - Clover, Archival Black (CTMH); 
Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain, Mowed Lawn, Mustard Seed, Fired Brick distress ink (Tim Holtz)
Dies - Cheery Christmas (Lawn Fawn); Flourished Tag (Verve)

Christmas Tag Count: 28 +3 = 31
Why I'm aiming to shop small and shop locally made this holiday season:

- Made in Canada supports our local economy
- Helps Canadian Mamas (and sometimes Dads too) stay home with their family
- Quality over Quantity; better fit and often for longer
- More environmentally friendly and sustainable options
- Unique and often one of a kind, customizable and creative options

For awhile now, I have been fascinated and excited when I can find something locally made. Even something made in Canada seems to be few and far between these days in the popular big box stores. I have come to learn that items that are "made in Canada" can have major differences among them, however. For example, you could be supporting a handmade maker in Canada, a Canadian designer that finds ethical manufacturing options for their products within Canada, a company that designs in Canada and manufactures overseas (which may or may not be ethically manufactured), or a company that simply has a warehouse in Canada that ships out the items they have received from overseas...MAJOR DIFFERENCES! I did not use to think about the differences in these options and the impact they have on our economy and our environment.

As I have continued my journey in cutting out plastic in my life where I can and aiming to be less wasteful, I have come to think more and more about the purchases I make every day, as well as those purchases that I make for my family and friends. Since my son has been born, I have started paying more attention to where his clothes and toys are made and how they are made. As a maker myself, I can appreciate the time spent designing something, gathering the right supplies, and putting it all together. Through doing some research this year, I have come to find many small shops around me, in BC and across Canada, who are aligning their practices with qualities I have come to admire and appreciate.

In addition to the craft fairs in my local area and the small shops who are also carrying made in Canada products, I have found many small BC and Canadian shops online. Here are some I will be supporting this holiday season:


ROWE Kids
Calgary, AB: the zomper has become our go-to outfit with an ankle-ankle zipper convenient for easy diaper changes

Olive.me.handmade
Fernie, BC: organic cotton leggings and toques made in beautiful wilderness designs

Lilly & Frank
Surrey, BC: organic handmade cloth diapers

Josiah & Co.
Hamilton, ON: not only are these crocheted booties beautifully handmade but they are"handmade with heaven babies in mind", something near and dear to my heart

The Baby Niche
Lethbridge, AB: wooden and silicone teething toys handmade by a wife & husband team

Trae Designs
Squamish, BC: handcrafted wooden toys

Timber Child
Okanagon, BC: natural lifestyle products for children such as wooden plates and toys

LoveBird Sewing Co.
Armstrong, BC: coziest blankets, but also home of the baby nest, one of the best and most used purchases we have made for our son

Peaks & Valleys Baby
Smithers, BC: swaddles, blankets, changepad covers, and crib sheets in beautiful organic fabrics

Snuglee Bug Knits
Surrey, BC: cozy knit toques (and she used to make baskets, too)


Why am I posting about this? Because I really did not use to think about the impact of my choices on the environment and the economy, because I want to support small Canadian businesses and people wanting to stay home with their children, and because I appreciate a good quality handmade product. You may pay a little bit more up front to buy locally handmade, but if you do your research, you will often end up buying less and buying something that will last, which is far more sustainable for us and for our environment.
I have been itching to get this cute Lawn Fawn set out and thought it would be perfect for my friend's birthday today who appreciates a good pun :). I was excited to do some more ink blending and was happy I still had some purple (her favourite colour) plaid left to use for the background as well as a little bit for the alpaca's scarf! I also used a tiny bit of vintage photo distress ink to give my alpaca a little dimension and colour. I used the Freshly Made Sketches layout, and am also linking up with the colour inspiration challenge over at Lawn Fawnatics and the "all that glitters is gold" challenge over at Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge, who just happens to be featuring Lawn Fawn this week, too!
Paper - Watercolour; Black, White Glitter (CTMH); Rainbow Plaid (Lawn Fawn);
Stamps - Winter Alpaca (Lawn Fawn)
Dies - Winter Alpaca, Stitched Hillside Borders (Lawn Fawn)
Ink - Archival Black (CTMH); Tuxedo Black (Memento); 
Vintage Photo distress ink; Hickory Smoke, Evergreen Bough, Peacock Feathers distress oxide ink (Tim Holtz)


I have managed to get in some good crafty time lately to build up my Christmas tag stash! I'm loving all of the fantastic inspiration over at Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags. These particular tags were inspired by Zsofia Molnar on Day 9. I pulled out some of my favourite Verve and loved how these came together.

Paper - Black cardstock (CTMH)
Stamps - Holiday Treats (Verve)
Ink - White Daisy (CTMH)
Embossing Powder - Seafoam White (Ranger)
Dies - Sweet Scallop Tag Die (Verve)
Ribbon - Polka Dot (Verve)

Christmas Tag Count: 16 + 12 = 28
It was Studio Katia day over at Tracey McNeely's 25 Days of Christmas Tags yesterday so I set out to create some tags with some of my favourite products from there. Going along with my goal to shop more locally this year, Studio Katia is a Canadian brand that I am very happy to support! I love their high quality products and beautiful designs. I was inspired by the colours in Dana Gong's fun tags. I added a Lawn Fawn critter that I had coloured up with some distress inks and found a glittery red gem to add to his nose (thanks for the suggestion, Auntie Karen!). I am also linking up with the Lawn Fawnatics color inspiration challenge. I then added some fun iridescent ice flakes to finish the tag.

Paper - White Daisy, Black cardstock (CTMH)
Ink - Tuxedo Black (Memento); Archival Black (CTMH); 
Antique Linen, Vintage Photo, Walnut Stain distress ink; Peacock Feathers distress oxide ink (Tim Holtz)
Stamps - Cheery Christmas (Lawn Fawn)
Dies - Cheery Christmas (Lawn Fawn); Best Ever, Shaker Tag 1 (Studio Katia)
Embellishments - Iridescent Ice Flakes (Studio Katia); Red glitter gems (CTMH); Aqua twine (PTI)

Christmas Tag Count: 12 + 4 = 16
This card came together with the Freshly Made Sketches layout and the beautiful Grateful Heart paper collection. I love how our stitched heart dies pair so nicely with our basic heart dies.
Kraft Paper

Thin Cuts - Basic Hearts

Thin Cuts - Stitched Hearts

Grateful Heart Paper Collection
© Allie's Adventures in the Kitchen, Crafting, and the Kootenays! · THEME BY WATDESIGNEXPRESS