2011 is Closing..... Welcome 2012!

With 2011 quickly coming to an end I can't quick help to reminisce and think of what I have been through, what I have accomplished and what I just didn't have time for.

On a personal level it has been a big year for growth, and I don't mean the negative kind. LOL I have made huge leaps in to creating a better self, someone I am actually very happy being, and someone I am actually proud of. There were a lot of ups and many downs to get to where I am, but in the end it was all worth it. I've learned to love me, and respect me, I've learned that heartache doesn't last forever, and that by allowing myself to love anything is possible. I've learned to enjoy being me and to take better care of me. I had spent a lot of time thinking and evaluating my life and I have even figured out what it is I want out of it, now 2012 is the year to figure out how to get it. :)

Now on to what's relevent for this blog.... my crafty side. Well, I must start by saying it has been an great year for the Cherry Pit, it seems I was always busy creating and making Decor items for myself and for others and I've had a lot of fun! There may have been times when I may have taken on more than I could hanlde at one time but I made it through and got the jobs done. I'd like to thank everyone for they support, whether it was in buying something or sharing words of encouragement, it was all very important to me and I greatly appreciate each and every one of you. THANK YOU!

As far as my personal crafts (aka my scrapbooking) I am pretty dissappointed in how little I've actually accomplished this year. My goal was to catch up on the pages I was behind and to hopefully not get too far behind in my 2011 pages. Well, I just updated my Excel sheet of what it is I have to do to become up to date and well, I did NOTHING with my 2011 year of photos :( I have a list of 250 pages that need to be completed to have 2011 in the books and that's close to 1000 photos to work with! YIKES!!! I did manage to get some pages does from 2010 this year, and even a few complete for the 2009 year, but I still have a long way to go to get those years complete... 115 Layouts for 2009 and 190 left for 2010.... yea if I ever what to get caught up I NEED to get to work, find my groove and NEVER lose it! LOL So with these winter months being the slow time of year, not many events or outings, not many photo opportunities I need to take advantage of this time, and crank out some pages while I'm not building up too much 'NEW' work for myself. It would be so nice to use my stuff again, and even more nice to get creative and sharpen up my scrappy skills. :)

So there's my 2011 in condensed form and my crafty goals for 2012. I wish you all the best in 2012 and hope to see and hear form you in the new year.

Scrap on! :)

~Jenn

National Card Making Day

Happy National Card Making Day!! I set out today, with the best intentions to get a whole lot of cards made. As the day went on, and I kept telling myself I needed to scrap, I needed to scrap, it just wasn't happening like I had hoped.... it was as if I lost my entire desire to get anything done. Don't you just hate those times? A day where you can do anything crafty you want and you just can't think of anything.... oh that scrappers block, you never cease to show at the wrong time. LOL

Oh well, it was the thought that counts I guess. On the up side, I do have a lot of Christmas cards that I need to make over the next little while, so hopefully real soon I'll have something done and ready to share with you.

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

For A Good Cause....

When I opened a Page on Facebook for the Cherry Pit, I immediately got a lot of positive feedback on my creations, and a few orders for items rolled in and I was even approached by a lady asking if I would be willing to make a few items as donations for her Fundraiser for Breast Cancer Awareness that will be happening in October. I agreed to do something because it's for a really great cause, and I was honored to be asked and able to help in any way that I could.

So, after talking with Karen, I decided to make one of my phrase pyramid signs, as well as a set of cards for the Silent Auction. So here is what I came up with:

A Phrase Pyramid done in neutral tones, with the Words, Faith, Family and Friends. I added some extras to this one, like the raffia and flower, just to make it a lil more special and give it a little more dimension.
Next, I made up a set of 4 cards specific to Breast Cancer Awareness. I kept them simple in design, but a bit busy and I could even say pretty with the pattern of paper I chose to use. This was my first time using my ribbon embossing folder (which I've had for years), and I really like how things turned out. I did use chalk and rubbed it over the ribbon shape just to make it stand out a little more.

And Rather than just putting the cards in a ziplock bag, I got a little fancier than that to make them appear that much more special. I really hope these help at the Bust A Move support for Breast Health in Nova Scotia fundraiser. If you are in the area and would like to check things out, it is being held on October 1st, at the New Beginnings Center in Greenwood until 2PM. There will also be a second show on October 8th at the Top Hat Lounge in Greenwood, same time. :)

Until Next Time..... Happy Scrappin'
~Jenn

Even more Layouts Still

I told ya I'd be back! and here I am again with even more layouts that have been sitting here in the Cherry Pit for at least a year waiting for titles to be added to them. It feels so good to finally get these pages finished and into their albums! and it's nice to have the shelf space back from where they were sitting in a pile waiting to be completed. :)

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

Another Quickie Layout Post

I really love these quickie layout posts, makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something when I get to post on my blog. LOL These pages are all ones that I had started last year, and then left them to sit with no titles. I have finally gotten around to posting these and there will be more to post under the same circumstances soon.

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

sweet cards

Hi folks!!! Just a quick drive by post while I have a few free minutes. I have been in quite a creative slump when it comes to playing with just paper, whether it's scrapping a page or just a couple of cards. Other projects have taken over, and I have so many great ideas in my head it's been hard to get them out one at a time.

I forced myself to sit down and play with paper however. I decided to start small and make a couple of cards. So I did! I have to say I think these are SO cute! I stuck with the ever popular Cupcake theme, pulled out my DCWV Sweet Stack, and had a lot of fun making these "twin" birthday cards.

Now I feel like I might be able to finally be creative again with paper. These lil cards have inspired me in a lots of ways, the important way being that I've learned I still have what it takes to make something as sweet as these cards.

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

Baby is Here!!

I'm a little late in posting this, but after helping new Momma adjust to new Baby, then getting back home which I had been away from for almost a month, I needed some time to get used to being back home, and get back in to the groove of my Mommy routine and get back to taking care of my own family again.

Here I am now though, announcing the arrival of Michael Levi Burrell, better known as Little Levi. He was born early in the morning on June 1st, and for the most part has been a very good baby so far. :) Not to mention cute! Holy Moly! So much hair for a new little person, and huge eyes, so alert right from the start. picture taken just after his 1st bath..... he's not even a whole day old yet.

It's hard to believe it wasn't that long ago I was going to Doctors appointments with my friend and here is a Digital page I made of that moment.

While I'm here posting and since I thought of it, here is the Thank You card I made for my friend to give out to everyone who came, or sent something to her for the Baby Shower.

It's been a great month so far, what a great way to start the summer season :)

Happy Memory Making!

~Jenn

Zoo Themed Baby Ablum

I was asked to make a baby album for my Cousin in law for her baby shower. It was fun to do, but I found it to be a challenge. First off, not knowing the sex of the baby had to be the most difficult part of this album. I didn't want it to lean more one way than the other, but I didn't want it to be "blah" either. Luckily Mommy had a theme for the Nursery (Jungle) so I was able to find fun papers to work with (the DCWV Animal Crackers Stack), and went straight to work.

Second issue, it was HARD to not go over board!!! I've done 3 baby albums in the past (one for each of my boys), and I swear I had a page for every move they made, narrowing it down, to not only fit in 1 album (without adding extra pages), but with trying to allow space for all the important moments. I finally settled on doing a page for before baby was born, a double of the day baby was born, and then 1 page for each month in baby's life. Knowing that not every month can be crammed on one page, I also did a double specifically for putting "baby's firsts", now I left those pages pretty open, cause I know how hard it is to capture every moment on camera.

Finally I ended the album with a double of baby's 1st birthday, and a single for Baby at age 1 to complete the first year album. Below are the pages that I came up with.

I actually really liked how this album turned out (these pictures do it no justice!!). Every time I look at these photos I find a different page I like more, so I'm going to take that to mean I like them all equally and I just have a hard time choose which is my favorite.

Thank for stopping by, until next time......

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

Quickie Layout Shout Out!

I have just beeing playing around wit some old pictures I have had printed for a very long time and thought I'd finally get them their own layouts and get them in the books. :)

Thanks for stopping by!!

Happy Scrappin'!

~Jenn

Baby Shower Time - Part 2

Wow, Still can't believe I needed two posts to get everything I've done for this baby shower on here. Today I'm going to quickly show you the things I have done for games & decorations.

Games First.... my friend said she liked the "cheesey" Shower games, however, told me not to go over board. So I kept it simple with a Memory Game (a tray loaded with a number of baby items), the classic Clothes Pin game (where if you say Baby someone gets to steal your pin),

and a Diaper Pull Game (I cut mini diapers, everyone chose one as if they were choose a game card, and they opened their Diapers, who ever had the "dirty" one won the game. See, all very simple games, but they kept the activities and conversation going.
For Decorations, we also kept it very simple, my firend and I are BOTH very frugal, and find some things (such as balloons, flowers etc.) to be not neccisarily a 'waste' of money, but that money could be better spent elsewhere.

So I made her a Diaper cake that doubled as a decorative center piece. This was really fun to make, but can be very costly if you don't plan it out.

I have seen some VERY extensive Diaper cakes be made and all I can say is WOW! What little I put on this one cost a fortune! but I think it still turned out really cute, and for my first Diaper cake, it was fun learning how to make it.
Finally, on the other side of the room, to spread the theme around I used baby sleepers and onsies in the colors of the baby's room and decor and hung them on a line as a sort of banner.

Over all I was happy, didn't go over board with the spending, the guests ha d a great time and Mommy to Be was happy too.

Happy Craftin'!

~Jenn

Baby Shower Time!!! Part 1

Yay! Finally I have a Baby Shower to plan!!!! This is all new to me, I'm so used to being the one to have the kids, it's actually quite exciting for me to be on the other side of waiting for a new baby. :)

My best friend is having a baby, and she has chosen a color pallet of Chocolate Brown, Bright Greens (more of the lime family), and random blue things for a slight color change here and there (yes it's a Boy!!), and she also like frogs, so there are frogs all in the room, and on some of the gifts I bought too.

So here is the Invitation I came up with for the Shower. For the most part we used a group in facebook to invite people to the event, but for those not on there, and that wanted the keepsake invite this is what they got. I used a Sweet Shoppe Designs digital scrap kit to make this, and just sent it off to a photo lab to be printed in a large quantity.

I made for her a Baby Block Sign to go in the babies room in the colors she chose.

I also altered this wooden basket to match (when I found it at a thrift store it was really scratched up, white and with a lot of purple flowers painted on it, so it got quite a transformation). In the basket I put the brand of soaps, lotions and creams she wants to use on baby.

I also made her a set of framed photos (again that match the items above), to put on the wall in the babies room. 4 of them in total.... with a photo of each of my boys on their first day, and the 4th is for a photo of her little guy once he gets here.

Then I made this card to go in one of the bags with her gifts (there were more, lots of cute blankets, sheets, and that rag quilt I showed you in an earlier post). Anyway, I used the scrap pieces of paper from the above projects to make this card, so again, matchy matchy.

So I can say I'm excited all I want, but I think with all the spoils posted it really shows. There will be more to share, so stay tuned.

Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

Cupcakes.... They aren't just for eating anymore.

Cupcakes seem to be all the rage in the crafting world... (or at least one of them), and I've seen these cute lil guys on blogs all over the web so when I knew I would be planning a baby shower, I thought these would make great prizes for some of the games.

These were super easy to make, I managed to find some .svg files to use with my Cricut to cut the Cupcake Wrappers, and I must say, locating the files (which was fairly easy) was the hardest part of this entire project. lol

Next, I took a pair of fleece socks (that I was able to purchase at the Dollarstore), and Rolled them up, and shaped them a little to make them look like a frosted cupcake.I topped each sock cupcake with a little red pom pom, and then packaged them in a clear bag and that was it.... easy huh???
So looky at that, a new way for Cupcakes to give you that warm & fuzzy feeling. Cupcakes: They aren't just for Eating Anymore. :)
Happy Scrappin'

~Jenn

Baseball Season has Begun!

Baseball Season is here!!! It's a great time of year, when spring comes after a long winter season and we can finally get back to doing and enjoying our outdoor activities! Well, the kids get to enjoy doing them, I get to enjoy washing uniforms, driving them to their games and practices, and of course take LOTS of pictures!!! :)

This year I helped design and create a display board for the league to use during the recruiting and sign up days. It was a lot of fun playing around with my cricut and the files I had to cut items so as the baseballs, gloves, and bats.
I created my own files to cut for the team logos (and I tell ya, that Jays one had a LOT of detail and was pretty hard to piece together all the little parts.)

I also cut a bunch of titles and words, and for hours layed out the items I had and tried to make them not only fit on the board, but look neat and presentable also.

In the end it turned out awesome, and I had a lot of fun!

Happy Craftin'

~Jenn