I wanted to make some cards with these poinsettias from The Greetery that did not necessarily need to be used for Christmas. I kept the sentiments to just "warm wishes" and "just for you". I also wanted to try out the poinsettia envelope stencil to pair with these cards. I couldn't decide which colour I liked best - aged mahogany or festive berries!

Here is my first set of cards that I made using the beautiful poinsettia arrangement from The Greetery. I used a bunch of coordinating Close To My Heart colours to achieve this beautiful layered look. I couldn't help but try out this colour combination used by the talented Heather Nichols during the release on the lovely toffee cardstock from Taylored Expressions.


Christmas Card Count: 74 + 8 = 82

Can you tell how much I am loving this paper collection yet?! I decided to make up some simple Christmas cards to add to my stash with this gorgeous paper and a stamp set from the Close To My Heart holiday catalogue. I am linking up with the "anything goes" challenge over at Heart2Heart.


Christmas Card Count: 64 + 10 = 74

It's my baby's 2nd birthday today! I wanted to make him a special birthday card so I pulled out some of my Lawn Fawn favourites. My goal was to create a scene similar to our yard. Harvey gets very excited these days watching the deer in our yard. We have some beautiful poplar trees all over our yard amidst a mountain view so I tried to recreate that with these Lawn Fawn die cuts. I'm pretty happy with how this card turned out :).

Here is the birthday invitation I designed this year for my son's 2nd birthday. I really wanted this picture to take place outside but the light that day really threw off these colours and editing does not seem to help! Oh well, I still love how the invitation turned out :). I have learned that it is much more practical for me to enjoy making one elaborate invitation and take a picture to send out to everyone to invite.

Halloween does not have to be an event riddled with tons of waste. Here are a few ways that you can go green this Halloween.

Costumes

Candy

Candy can be one of the most wasteful components of Halloween with all of the tiny wrappers that are often non-recyclable. Consider buying candy in bulk at places like Bulk Barn if you are giving to family and friends. Here, you can bring in your own reusable containers. Another option could be bringing your own containers to your local chocolate shoppe to save on the packaging. For younger children, you could even skip the candy altogether and go for a Halloween themed book. Below are a couple of options through affiliate Amazon links.

Trick-or-Treat Bags + Baskets

 

Some stores, like Save On Foods, are even offering reusable Halloween bags with grocery purchases this month. These can be used for trick-or-treating and then as grocery bags during the rest of the year. Other options include using a pillowcase or making your own fabric bag.

Check out this amazing paper collection now available at Close To My Heart - Cedar & Pine! When I was prepping for another project and cutting this paper I happened to set it on top of a pile of kraft. It looked really lovely together so I decided to make another project with this pairing! I started out with Freshly Made Sketches. I added in some pine boughs behind the 'Merry' sentiment. I haven't decided which embellishments I like best or if I need any at all! I used both kraft and paper bag backgrounds. There is a slight difference to these Lawn Fawn cardstocks and I like them both :).



Christmas Card Count: 52 + 12 = 64

Taking a look at my paper stash I came across these old beautiful Close To My Heart papers that looked stunning with some gold embossing. I kept the cards fairly simple to show off the lovely designs. I finally got to try out the new envelope stencils from The Greetery and love how they pair well with gold embossing and these cards. I am linking up with the 'sparkle' challenge over at Heart2Heart.


Christmas Card Count: 46 + 6 = 52

I have been posting on instagram regularly but have not updated my blog with a few of my latest cards! I liked the layout I used for some Christmas cards I made earlier so I paired it with some older papers in my stash. I coloured the sentiments in green this time and added some sparkly snowflakes :).


Christmas Card Count: 34 + 12 = 46

I was able to put together a few of these sympathy cards to have on hand. I was inspired by all of the bone folding accents that Laurie Willison has been using with some of her cards using the amazing products from The Greetery, so I decided to give it a try myself! I just love these cotton sprigs that I picked up from MJ's Florals in town to match with this beautiful set.