Fin-Tastic Birthday

Now that I am back from our annual cruise, I am starting to get rested up and I’m thinking about the upcoming holidays.  December is always a very special month for me because our family has several important celebrations going on this time of year.  Of course there is Christmas, which is my absolute favorite holiday, and there is New Year’s Eve because Mark and I always host a party with our friends, and there is also my birthday.

I used to do a lot of complaining about having a birthday sandwiched in between so many other holidays.  When I was younger, it always seemed like people either forgot my birthday, or I got less presents because everyone was spending their money on Christmas.  I even got more than a few “combination” presents, which really meant that you only get one present when you would normally have gotten two.  Apparently, my dear hubby Mark took all that complaining to heart because he has always spoiled me on my birthday – way more than I deserve.  And it’s always a bit of a surprise, too.  I never know what he’ll get me, but I know it will be good.  So I can’t wait to see what it will be this year!

Speaking of birthdays, here is a little birthday card I made for our swap on the cruise.

To make this card, I used the following:

Stampin’ Up cardstock; Bermuda Bay

Stampin’ Up cardstock; Whisper White

Fishbowl stamp by Rubber Stampede

Fishing for Details stamp by The Rubber Café

Assorted Copic markers

Mudd Puddles; Sand

That's it for today.  Come back tomorrow to see more projects from our recent scrapbooking cruise.

Exchange of Plans

The plan for today’s blog was to show you some of the door decorations we used on the cruise.  Unfortunately, at the time of writing this post, I am actually trying to get myself in bed so I can hit the road first thing in the morning, so I’m really tired, and wanted to do something quick instead.  So I thought this would be the perfect time to introduce you to one of our cruise swaps.

We always have some sort of swap or exchange on our cruises, sometimes several.  This year was no exception.  Since our cruise was during the holiday season, we thought it might be fun to do an ornament swap.  Here’s the ornament I made:

I started with an 88¢ plastic bulb I bought at Wal-Mart.  To that I added some peel-off stickers by Magenta Style.  The stickers are very easy to apply, and very forgiving if you get them stuck in the wrong spot.  Once I had all the stickers where I wanted them, I colored the negative space in the stickers with special markers which were also made by Magenta Style.  I tied a bow on the finished project (not pictured). 

It really was that simple, and I enjoyed it so much that I had to make a few more.  I hope you’ll enjoy it, too!

Ring in the New!

The end of our wonderful cruise is the end of our fun cruise through the year.  Our final pillow gift was a little goodie designed by Susie to help our guests keep track of the new year – a calendar.  Susie is a wiz at digital scrapbooking, and she used her skills to decorate the coaster backing of this fun little calendar.  I love how she incorporated the Crafty Neighbor color scheme into the design!  Everything on this coaster is digital with the exception of the calendar itself, which is a peel-off.

That’s it for our Cruising Through the Year pillow gifts, but have no fear!  Susie, Valerie and I have several more projects from this super-fun cruise to share with you over the next few weeks.  I can’t wait to share them with you and also to tell you all about our cruise!

Until next time….

Christmas Gifts

As with any cruise, our final day at sea is bitter sweet.  We’re still spending time scrapbooking and soaking up the sun, making new friends and new memories, and sometimes making plans to do it all again next year.  But at the same time, we all know that it’s almost over, that the magic will eventually fade, and we all have to go home.  It’s kind of like Christmas.  You spend all year looking forward to it, and when it gets here, it goes so fast that all you’re left with are a blur of memories.

Christmas was the topic of last night’s pillow gifts, and Susie treated everyone to some cute pendants she made featuring Santa Claus, Christmas trees, and even Snowmen.  Susie used a different illustration for each pendant and they are all very, very cute!

One of the things I found very interesting was the manner in which Susie attached the pendants to her card backing.  Basically, all she did was punch two holes in the chipboard and tied the pendant on with some twine.  Very clever!  This is a great way to present someone with jewelry when you don't have a jewelry box to put it in.

We are almost done with our cruise through the year.  I hope you’ll come back to see what the New Year will bring!