Paper Crafting -Long post

I have quite a list of hobbies that I enjoy and most of them require me to follow a chart, if I'm stitching or knitting, a draft, if I'm weaving, or a pattern if I'm sewing.  I could certainly create my own designs for either of those but there's so many talented designers out there who've already invested their time in making wonderful charts and patterns available to us, I prefer (and enjoy) supporting them.  There is one exception though that does allow me to be fully engaged from design to finish...Paper crafting.

I have to admit I have not done a lot of paper crafting compared to my other interests but I love visiting the blogs of paper crafters and being amazed at their creativity.  There are a few things I've come to realize as I learn more and more about this hobby.  It requires you to be a "gatherer", it requires you to be (somewhat) organized, it is very addictive. 

At the start of each year, I always like to either learn something new or dedicate more time to perfecting a skill.  This year I decided to spend more time creating with paper.  I've been having so much fun getting to know this hobby that I've not updated this blog in a while.  But, no excuses, I'll just show a few pics of what I'm doing.

My daughter's birthday was February 24, she turned 22.  She is very much the "girly girl" and still loves a bit of whimsy.  She asked for cupcakes for her birthday so I thought this would be a great opportunity for me to create something whimsical and fun with the cupcake theme.

I cut these with my cricut expression, memory box inc., and spellbinders dies. I am so happy with how they turned out.  I was a little bit uncertain of how the cupcake box would hold up...Why?  Because of this...

Yeppers, that's a real cupcake in there; put a little strain on the box corners (note to self -- use tacky tape next time).  Krista was tickled with her treats.  With our celebration at home and dinner with her friends that evening, she said it was the best birthday ever.  And just in case you were wondering, she did not eat the icing :-)

Ok, so up next is my attempt at making gift tags...I love tags; so much creativity can be crammed into such a small space.  I've joined my first paper crafting network (told you I'm serious about this) they have a tag swap open so I thought it would be good for me to join in and get some practice creating tags.  I've completed three so far but I'm showing only one of them because this is the tag that I'm sharing with The Shabby Tea Room Colorful Confections Challenge.  What a wonderful blog, please stop by and visit them.

I was going for a watercolour affect.  I used fabric and ribbon from my stash, some doodlebug brads, and K and Company embellies.  The tag and tag pocket were cut on the cricut expression.  ( By the way, I have a new cutter on the way...More about that later).  I so enjoyed creating this tag.  I like the option that I can either place a little journaling tag in the pocket or a tea packet.  Perfect for gift giving.

I hope you enjoyed seeing my latest creations.  I've been so busy crafting that I have not spent a lot of time decorating and hunting for those wonderful finds to add to my deco collections.  I shared my blue and white room with you in my last post.  I like it so much that I'm going to leave it through the spring.  This will give me more time to work on changing out my kitchen for the spring.  On that note, I will leave you with a few more pics of the blue and white that I did not share last time.

Thanks for taking the time to visit with me, I really appreciate your visits and comments.  Have a great week.