2014-2015 The last six months of crafting

 I have been so lazy about updating this blog, but oddly enough I have been doing quite a few fun crafty projects.  I thought I would summarize the last few months in this post.  Here are some gift bags I made for Christmas for my co-workers.  I filled them with decorated notebooks and post-it holders.  I used this treat bag tutorial by Cosmo Cricket to make the bags.  Such a super easy way to use a 12"x12" piece of paper to make a cute gift bag.
Below are the Valentine's cards I mailed out this year.  I used the Pebbles Inc "We Go Together" line, some twine and some basic card blanks to design these cards. I especially like the coffee and donut card.

 I made a sign to decorate for the annual chili cook-off at work.  A co-worker and I took 1st Place for chili and for theme.  I used mostly October Afternoon's Sasparilla line to make the sign. 

I watched a number of tutorials on YouTube on how to make shaker cards and this was my first attempt on the left.  The cards are super fun to make, but take a little bit of patience.  Sequins tend to get a bit of static and stick to everything!   I feel like I will be making a number of these types of cards in the future, so I stocked up on a ton of mini-sequin packs from Impress. 
My dad turned seventy-seven and this is a personalized birthday card I made for him.  I was also hired by my husband's team at work to make birthday cards for their monthly celebrations.  I however forgot to take pictures of those cards :(

Most recently, I hosted a bridal shower for my best friend of over 20 years.  I used my We R Memory Keepers L Letterpress and the Whimsy plates to create these bridal shower invitations.  It was a little tricky to line up all the different plates together, but I was so happy with the finished result.  You just have to be extra careful and wipe any excess ink off the edges of the plates to keep the image nice and clean.  It didn't take long at all to letterpress twenty invites.  I mixed the teal blue and white inks to make this custom color. I also suggest buying a larger ink brayer to make inking invitations easier.  The brayer that is included with the L Letterpress is a bit small.
Finally, below is a picture of the marquee letters I painted as part of the décor for the shower.  The bride is also planning to use them for decorations at the reception.  I purchased the Heidi Swapp Marquee Letters from Michaels and painted them using Martha Stewart Metallic Pearl craft paint.  It took several coats to get complete coverage, but I really like how they turned out.  I would suggest using both small sponge brushes and also a  They look like metal, but are paper!  The LED battery operated lights are perfectly bright and run on AAA batteries (which are not included).  At $11.99 a piece full price they are a great way to get into the lighted letter trend.