Dawn's Summer 2013 Summer CHA Picks

The summer CHA show was just held.  Because I have so much in my stash, this year, my "must have"-list was on the short side.  In alphabetical order (I'm a nerd...sometimes it shows more than others), here are the items that caught my fancy:

1. The Basic Grey 2014 Calendar

photo courtesy of kellygoree.blogspot.com

After skipping 2013, Basic Grey has brought back the calendar kit. Every year, I make my husband a calendar for his office at work, so this makes me especially happy.

2. Cosmo Cricket Show Toppers

photo courtesy of cosmocricket.typepad.com

I think these are so unique and clever.  I have a small collection of antique mason jars that are sitting in boxes because I just wasn't sure what to do with them...until now.  The inside of the lids also have hooks for hanging small items inside the jar.  So cool.

3.  Lawn Fawn Into the Woods

This is my favorite of all the fall lines I previewed online.  I think the mix of orange, blue, brown, and green is just perfect.  In fact, I already have this on order:

photo courtesy of lawnfawn.blogspot.com

4.  Lawn Fawn Peace Joy Love

Hands down, Lawn Fawn was my favorite this CHA; I'm only ordering two paper collections, and they make two of them (number three I'll introduce next).  I love Christmas lines, and this one just makes me happy.  I'm in love with that blue!

photo courtesy of lawnfawn.blogspot.com

5.  Simple Stories Say Cheese

My last pick is a line that's just perfect for documenting a Disney vacation.  And coincidentally, I happen to be going to Disney World later this year.  ;)

photo courtesy of simplestories.typepad.com

So, those are my top picks this year.  What lines or products have caught your eye?

Christmas in July

Maybe it's just me, but lately I've been feeling the urge to start my fall + Christmas projects.  Perhaps it's been all the CHA sneaks with the new product lines, or maybe my brain has finally realized that I need to start in the middle of summer if I even have a chance of finishing everything on my to-do list.  Either way, I've been starting my holiday crafting.

I'm almost finished a mini-album for my husband that will be either a Christmas or birthday gift for him (his b-day is early January, so it's not a long wait in between).

And I've just started my December Daily album.  I hope that doesn't seem to crazy.  :)

I ended up using Simple Stories' Handmade Holiday Collection from last year, along with one of their Sn@p binders.

I'm about halfway done so far, and I've really been enjoying the process.  It's definitely much less stressful working this far in advance.  Here are a couple peeks of the pages I've started (I've decided I'll add stickers + small embellishments later):

I think my next project will be for Halloween + Thanksgiving.  I'm sort of in love with pumpkins, and I've got my eye on this stacking chevron wood pumpkin from Pebbles in my Pocket.

How about you?  Are you working "out of season" on any crafty projects?

Nerdy Card + Video

Today I'm back with a how-to video.  This is my first time making a video with my new camera, so there's definitely a bit of a learning curve happening on my end.  :)

I'm currently enrolled in Summer Card Camp 2 at Online Card Classes and that inspired me to make a card for y'all today.

I've had this stamp set from Unity for a while now, and decided to create a card around it:

Here's the video walking through my process:

I hope you enjoy.  I'll see you next week here at the Nest!

4th of July Mini-Update

I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July celebration last week.  We had a special time: my nephew, my aunt, and my cousin and her two boys were all down visiting for the week.  There were six boys between the ages of almost 5 and 10 - it was crazy fun! :)

Happy Birthday America!