Happy Hanukkah!

I know I am a bit late in posting this, but better late than never, right? This card is available in a pack of 8, each card with a different design and different holiday! You could have a years worth of holiday cards right at hand, whenever you need them. Come check us out at the Holiday in the Vineyards Celebration this weekend to see this card and many others, in person! We look forward to seeing you!

Elizabethan Birthday

As soon as I saw the new catalog I fell in love with the Elizabeth a la carte stamp and purchased it right away. I really love the way this card turned out - maybe it's the subtle elegance or perhaps the "vintage" look is finally winning me over?? A la carte stamps are also a great way to ease in to stamping as they are very inexpensive and can be used in a variety of ways.

Other supplies used on this card include: Sahara Sand, Marina Mist & Whisper White cardstock; Sahara Sand classic ink; Vintage Vogue and Short & Sweet stamp sets; scallop oval XL & 1 3/4"x7/8" oval punches; cutter kit; stamping sponges.

Happy Birthday Mom!

I love the black glitter on this card! I think it "dresses it up" a bit! This simple card is so pretty and elegant, I think! Yesterday was my Mom's birthday, so...Happy Birthday Mom! I don't think she'll mind that the post is a day late, haha! This card is available as part of a set of 8 birthday cards available for purchase. How nice and convenient to have birthday cards ready to be sent to your loved ones!

2010 Holidays in the Vineyards

COME SEE US in the Barrel Room at Wente Vineyards (5565 Tesla Rd) December 4-5 from 12:00pm-5:00pm! This is our first craft booth at Holidays in the Vineyards and we are really excited to be a part of this event. There will be several other vendors to peruse, snacks, and of course lots of delicious wine.

Click here for more information on Holidays in the Vineyards.

Stationery gift set

This would be a fantastic gift for that hard to buy for person on your holiday shopping gift list! Or maybe you want to treat yourself to keep track of all your "to-do's" and correspondence! It consists of a journal, 2011 datebook, 8 note cards and a matching pen. All items coordinate with each other and make a lovely gift! This set was purchased to be raffled off as "blog candy". I hope the winner loves this set.

E-I-E-I-O

While we normally tend to come up with card layouts that we can easily produce in larger quantities, we could not pass up the opportunity to let our slightly more creative sides flourish when we created these 2 cards for Emi's little twin cousins. The invitation to their birthday party featured various farm animals, so we thought we'd try to create some punch art farm animals to mimic the invite.

It was so fun creating these cards and in the end we had a hard time parting with them because they came out so darn cute (and were a bit time consuming haha)!

If you want to learn how to make cute punch art cards like these, or are interested in placing custom orders, feel free to contact us at macraelynndesigns@gmail.com

Thank You Soccer Mom!

This card was made as a custom order. The request was for a thank you card for the team mom for a soccer team. The team's colors are blue and white. The inside of the card simply says "Thank You", so there is plenty of room for each player on the team to sign.

How nice to give a customized card to thank someone! Really makes it extra special and heartfelt! Do you have a special occasion coming up or need to thank someone for their kindness? Let us know and we can work on some custom cards for you!

Happy Birthday Bro!

Ok, so realistically.......there is very little chance that my brother will actually see this. But, it's a good excuse to post, right? This card is very simple and features patterned paper with a transportation theme. I even popped up the sentiment on a "loose" version of a stop sign. My brother works for Mercedes Benz, so I thought it was appropriate. Although, I don't think Mercedes sells bicycles or airplanes....haha! So Happy Birthday to my little brother, Andy! If, by chance you read this, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Shimmer Spritzed Manhattan Flowers

Here is a super quick and easy card I made the other day. I ran the cardstock through my Big Shot using the Manhattan Flower embossing folder from Stampin' Up, spritzed them with a combo of rubbing alcohol and Platinum Shimmer Paint, and then added a rhinestone and some ribbon to finish it off.

Now it's definitely not my favorite card, but I loved how the shimmer paint looked on the gray cardstock!


This set of 8 cards is very versatile and contains the following sentiments: Miss You, Good Luck, With Sympathy, Friendship, Congratulations, Get Well Soon, Thinking of You, and Happy Thoughts Make Happy Days.

Friendship

I am so lucky to have wonderful friends! I was inspired to post this card today by my creative "other half". We actually were working together when I made this card. I love our "work" days. We chat and laugh and actually get A LOT done......most of the time! It's a nice break from the day to day grind, and very productive too! So much more fun to create with someone else, definitely helps the mojo! This card comes in a set of 8, same design, different sentiment.

Fall Circle Circus

This card is part of a set of 8 that includes the following sentiments: With Sympathy, Good Luck, Friendship, Congratulations, Get Well Soon, Thinking of You, and Happy Thoughts Make Happy Days.

At one point in time Circle Circus was my go-to set for quick and easy cards, so when I was going through my sets the other day I pulled it out and was determined to use it once again. This set of cards was created using quite a few "retired" items that I couldn't bear to give up. Some of the products I used were Dusty Durango cardstock, Soft Suede textured cardstock, scraps from the Welcome Neighbor DSP pack, and the polka dot Soft Suede ribbon. I never really liked Dusty Durango when it was an In Color, but maybe it's the change in weather that has me reaching for it quite a bit lately.

This color combination definitely makes me want to curl up in front of the fireplace with a fuzzy blanket and a good book!

Ribbon Substitute

Well, I didn't have the right color ribbon to go with this simple Thank You card, so I had to improvise. Ta-Da! I used a strip of paper. Ok, now I know that it doesn't take a genius to figure that one out.....but there are days that problem solving like that makes me happy. haha! Anyway,I like how simple this card is and I love this color combination. I think it's sort of unexpected! I hope you like it!

Cottage Wall Inspired Elegant Lines

The very first card I ever made was at a Stampin' Up! Garage Sale and it was made using Cottage Wall DSP. Purple is one of my favorite colors and I absolutely fell in love with this DSP and color combination right away. Another favorite of mine has been the Stampin' Up Elegant Lines embossing folder, but believe it or not, I had yet to actually use it before this set of cards - laziness, lack of inspiration, a little of both possibly. Well last week my awesome Upline, Niki Toll, demonstrated a brayer and embossing folder technique to us and I immediately wanted to try it myself using my Elegant Lines embossing folder.

Notice there isn't a sentiment on this card - it feels kind of odd not stamping a sentiment on there but I have received some requests for blank cards lately so I better get used to it!

Now I must admit that sometimes the ideas in my head don't always translate to finished products that I am very fond of...but I am actually liking the way this card turned out quite a bit =)

Who needs a vacation?

I need a vacation. Just some time to lounge and sip a fruity cocktail! Probably not in the cards (haha) anytime soon, but a girl can dream! I love this designer series paper just makes me want to make a drink with an umbrella in it! This set of Thank You cards would be perfect to give as a gift to anyone, or to use for yourself! Guaranteed to make you start dreaming of your next vacation! Enjoy!

Happy Halloween!

I have always loved Halloween! All the spookiness is so much fun! This year I am seeing Halloween through the eyes of a 2 year old, and boy does that change everything! It's amazing to me that my brave little wild man gets scared by some of these things, like spiders, cobwebs and skeletons. So for this year, and probably a few more to come, I will be going with the "cute" Halloween decor, not the spooky. That's OK, I like that too! Here is the Halloween card I made with my little guy in mind.....perfect to send to a family with little kids that may be experiencing the same thing. I hope you like it!

Happy Holidays!

Can you believe Christmas is in less than 3 months??? It seems that every year my goal is to be ready for Christmas by Thanksgiving. That way I can just enjoy all the fun events celebrating the holidays......NEVER HAPPENS. Maybe this year I can at least have some cards ready to go!! This set is available for purchase, that way you can get a jump start too! Contact us if you are interested in this set or any other set you see here!

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

I found these cute felt reindeer at last months Scrapbook Expo. There were about 18 felt reindeer in a row for only $1 a sheet!!! I bought a few and added the little red half pearl (also only $1 for a sheet of about 25). I actually looked past both of these items until I saw an example of using them together! I thought it was adorable and went back and added them to my basket. I'm happy with how the card turned out, what do you think?

Harvest Festival Happenings

Well we survived our 1st Harvest Festival and will definitely be back next year!! Despite the heat (why is Labor Day weekend in Livermore ALWAYS so frickin' hot?!), we had a great time and met a lot of awesome people. It was a bit nerve-racking to have our handmade creations on display for the first time, but overall the reaction from customers was very supportive and encouraging. Here are a few close-ups of some of the items we had for sale:

We owe a HUGE Thank you to Crooked Vine Winery for allowing us to be a part of this event!

...Oh and be sure to also check out our new friends at The Bracelet Bar at Serenity for super cute jewelry at FANTASTIC prices and Serenity Stoneworks for gorgeous fountains and garden accessories in downtown Pleasanton. It was great getting to know you both!!

Christmas is only 4 months away?!

Can you believe that Christmas is only 4 short months away?? Not sure about you, but we are in a bit of denial and have been finding it really hard to focus on the holidays when it's still 80+ degrees outside. But it's definitely time to dig out your holiday stamps and get started on your holiday cards now so that they don't sneak up on you and leave you unprepared.

We made these quick and simple cards with the super adorable Dasher stamp and some fun glitter. You can never have enough *sparkle*, can you? This set of 8 cards will be available for purchase THIS weekend at Crooked Vine winery in Livermore. Come visit us and drink some wine Sunday and Monday from 12pm-5pm.

Feel free to contact us at macraelynndesigns@gmail.com if you are interested in pre-ordering holiday cards!

Rough around the edges?

Masculine cards are always a challenge for us, what about you? We used a couple of different distressing techniques on the edges of the different layers of this card. We are happy with the way this one turned out, what do you think? This card also has an extra layer added to the inside of the card to make it easier for your Dad to read your note! (The inside layer is also "distressed".) This card will be available as part of some of our Family Celebrations sets.

Thanks a Bunch!

We thought this card would be perfect for the Harvest Festival! We liked the effect of the glitter on each grape. We used one of our favorite colors, Rich Razzleberry, and kept the card simple. This card comes in a set of 8 identical cards. Of course, we use the word "identical" loosely, as each card is individually handmade, therefore, there may be some slight differences.

29th Annual Harvest Wine Celebration

Come see us Sunday and Monday of Labor Day weekend at Crooked Vine Winery in Livermore! We are honored to be a part of this event and look forward to seeing you there.

Click here for more information on the Harvest Festival.