HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

Had to come on here to wish you and yours a HAPPY NEW YEAR :)! I am sorry I haven't posted things in the past couple of days, not to worry I do have things to post...just have been very busy with family gatherings, trying to bring my children down off of cloud 9. I will be still mia for the next 2-3 days, but after that I will be back with LOTS to post :)! I might just do some blog candy too, so keep coming back you never know what I might do :p!

Hugs to you all,
catherine

A Christmas card for a friend

This card was made for a friend, I just stamped the image and colored it in and then it all seemed to fall together by itself. I just love this stamp, too cute, and I love how this card turned out :)!

Recipe

Cardstock:

I used some Bravo Burgandy, some Avacado flat cardstock, some watercolor paper, and my patterned paper is called "Luster Pinecones Galore" by Cloud9Design. I got the flat cardstock from Carousel, and the patterned paper from Photomemories store :)!

Ink:

I used Tombow markers, Black Brilliance ink pad

Tools:

Corner ticket punch for my corners and my Fiskars paper cutter for cutting out all the pieces of cardstock. I also used some White Perfect Puff for the snow on the branches :), and I got that at Carousel as well :)! I also used my heat gun too, to make the perfect puff go puffy :)!

Stamps:

I used "Cozy Roast" a house mouse stamp (Muzzy Friends) for this card, and also another stamp on the inside that said "Merry Christmas" from a Clear Design stamp set that I picked up the other day from Photomemories store.

My middle son

Here is an update on my middle son, all day yesterday he seemed back to his usual self but he still had his cough and this rash. He fell asleep mid afternoon, woke up with a temperature of 105 and so I gave him some Advil in hopes it would bring it down...I checked his temp 30 min after and it was down to 104 (still high). I put him in a lukewarm bath, but that just made it worse...not even 2 hours after giving him the Advil his temp was back up to 105. I took him in to see our duty dr. or dr. on call, and she thought she heard a rattle in his chest, told me it might be onset of Pneumonia or Bronchitis. She put him on anitbiotics, and told me to rotate between Advil and Tylenol every 4 hours (this is something new the dr's have discovered is more effective).
This morning he is fine, no fever, no cough, a rash, the runs and tummy pains (which ended this morning)...but other than that he is fine :)! I hope his fever doesn't come back and that this is the end of it so we can carry on getting ready for Christmas :)...will keep you posted...

A card for Shelli Gardner

This card is for Shelli Gardner, I saw on someone else's blog that she lost her mother not too long ago, she is part of the SU family (not sure how, she may be a demonstrator). Either way I thought it would be nice to send off a card to her and her family :)! I also have her addy, if you would like to send her and her family a card :):

Shelli Gardner

PO Box 550

Riverton, UT

84065

RECIPE

Cardstock:

I used Aloe Weave, Chocolate chip and also cream colored cardstock all from Carousel

Ink:

I used my Tombow markers and also my Brillance black ink pad, and my whisper white Dew Drop ink pad

Tools:

I used the corner ticket punch, and my fiskars paper cutter for this project :)!

Stamp set:

I used the stamp set called "Daisy" an older SU stamp set, and also a Deepest Sympathy stamp I had from Carousel.

I am sure I will have more projects to post over the next couple of days, and will post them as I make them :)! If you don't come here to view my blog until after Christmas, I just want to wish you and yours a VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR. Stay safe, stay warm, cherish family, and don't eat too much :)! Hugs from my family to yours :!) *my attempt at a cute snowman face*!

need to get things done and fast

I have to make 3 more cards for my box of cards gift set that I am making for someone, I seriously am in need of a kick in the pants to get in gear and get all my xmas projects done. I hope I can get all of them done, without pulling any all nighters :)! Once I get those projects done, I have to get doing a major cleaning job on my house, because we are having Christmas dinner here.

Before we do anything in terms getting our tree etc., we have to get our little guy feeling better :(! He started out with a weird rash on his lower back, then it went up to his armpit only on one side and I haven't looked at it this morning to see if it is still there or if it is worse. He has a high fever, his head hurts, he aches everywhere, has thrown up a few times, and he has a nasty cough too :(...poor guy! He laid out on the futon all day yesterday, he only moved to go to the bathroom and then he would be right back on the couch but at least this morning he wanted to help me sort the laundry.

This weekend, we have to go get our Christmas tree from our backyard (don't worry it isn't one of the one's that have fallen down from the past hurricane)...I am not one for Charlie Brown trees. Get some nice evergreen branches for my fireplace mantle, I got some berry garland to put all throughout the evergreen...we have to decorate the tree and just continue cleaning like a crazy lady. Oh yeah, I also have to wrap a few more gifts too and I need to get a few more stocking stuffers...I hope you all are a bit more ahead than I am :)!

Recipe for cards

Card 1:

Cardstock:

I used cardstock called Aloe Weave Cardstock from Carousel for the base of my card, and I also used a scrap piece of blush cardstock and creame cardstock from Carousel as well.

Stamp set:

I used "Carte Postale" stamp set for this card

Embellishment:

I used ribbon that I picked up from Michael's called Straight 'N' Narrow

Adhesives:

I used mini pop up dots and those photo stickers

Ink:

I used Bravo Burgandy ink pad, and also Niagra Mist Dew Drop VersaMagic ink pad

Card #2

Cardstock:

I used Aloe Weave cardstock from Carousel, some patterned paper from Michael's, and come cream/marbled colored cardstock

Stamp set:

I used "Carte Postale" stamp set

Ink:

I used "Mellow Moss" ink pad, and for the stitched look I used my sepia Martha Stewart Craft pen

Embellishments:

I used green colored brads

What is the name of this stamp set??

Just wondering what stamp set this is?? I purchased this from someone about a year ago, there was no sticker on it and they told me what it was but I don't remember. I am hoping that you can help me out :)!

my version of the framed collage

Thank you Nancy for letting me know that this project idea came from the blog called: http://www.pickledpaperdesigns.blogspot.com/ . It is a great blog, and they do amazing work...please, go check it out :)!

Okay now back to the frame I have :)! I became brave and I stamped the sentiments on my black picture frame, using my white VersaMagic "Cloud White" dew drop ink pad. It does wipe off, I tried it and so if I don't like it I can take it off :)! If I like it and you all think it looks ok, I will spray the frame with my acryllic spray so that it will stay on the frame and not be rubbed off.

This last image is of what the frame/collage looks like once I was done...unfortunately, my middle child didn't see the glass sitting on top of a bookcase ( a safe spot for it I thought) and he came bouncing in and it broke from falling off. I think it looks better without the glass in it anyways :)! Ok, so let me have it...please give me your opinions on what you think of this frame and collage because I may give it to a friend for a gift. The stamped sentiments do go all around the frame, just can't see them in this picture except on the bottom of the frame.

I thought this collage needed something in the bottom left corner so I stamped a snowflake, cut it out and then attached it using mini pop dots. I also shifted the "Happy Holidays sentiment over a bit, because it was being covered by the frame a bit. So this is the second picture of my framed collage picture...looks better I think :), what do you think now??

A question for you

I found this beautiful project on someone's blog yesterday, when I was browsing all my 1000+ some odd blog postings on Google Reader. If any of you know who's blog I got this from please let me know, because I want to give them credit for it. I was about to write down the blog name and who's blog it was on a piece of paper when my computer shut down out of the blue. When I went back online to go back to it, google reader had marked it as read so I couldn't find it again. I apologize for this!!

Anyways, I was wanting to do something like this but the picture frame that I have didn't come with a matt. I was wondering if it would look ok if I did the "sentiments" around the collage on the frame, and not on the matt?? Or do you think I should go get myself a matt to fit my frame?? Now that I sit here and am looking at the frame I have, I think it would weird if I had the sentiments on the frame and not the matt but I will see what you think. I would also love to know how this person managed to get their sentiments to all connect so nicely, and not all over the place...lol, because that is what would probably happen if I did it :p.

My Oma (Oma is German for grandmother)

I wanted to share with you a poem Oma wrote for a friend of hers, but it was read at her funeral and I wanted to share it with you all. Before I do that though, I wanted to share something with you that I learned about her at her funeral that I didn't know before. I learned that she was part of a weekly book club, I learned she was part of a peace movement group, I learned she wrote poems. These are things a lot of us only found out about at her funeral, because she was a very keep to yourself woman. She never talked about her daily life to us, or about her friends and I think that I have only met 3 of her friends...but I must say it was neat to learn these things about her. I just wish I knew about them before she passed away!!

Retreat

I retreat from the noisy life

to the stillness of the woods,

to the meadows and hills,

to the dunes by the sea,

and I hear the voices of the birds,

the wind in the trees

and the waves on the beach.

I retreat from the busy life

to the stillness of the past,

to my childhood and the places

that once I called home,

and I hear the voices of loved ones

who have left long ago

but still live in my heart.

When I retreat from life

to the stillness of death,

from suff'ring and pain

to eternal peace,

then I'll hear the voices of the sea

calling me to return

to the source of creation.

by Heidi (aka Oma)

Thank you so much Tracy H.

Yesterday afternoon I checked in my mailbox, and guess what I found?? I found a beautiful card made by Tracy, which was a nice treat and it brightened up my day :)! I just had to share it with all of you here :)! I just love the layout of this card, the patterned paper that you used and also the penguin stamp.

Frosty card

I was in need of several Christmas cards, so I used my new snowman stamp set from Carousel that I picked up the other day. Going to try something different for the recipe for this card...let me know what you think...I wasn't entirely happy with the way I was doing it before...it seemed to get kind of repetitive.

I also have a question for you, which markers do you prefer Tombow or Prisma color markers??

RECIPE

Stamp set:

Freezin Season stamp set (not sure if this is the actual name of this stamp set but it is what I am calling it .

Patterned paper:

Piece of paper from the Holiday Slab V from Provo Craft that I got from Michael's

Cardstock:

White flat cardstock, and Avacado flat cardstock

Coloring materials:

Tombow markers and Prisma Colored pencils

Adhesive:

Photo stickers

a gift from my other SIL

My other sister in law made these cute onesies, well she didn't make them but she sewed these cute little patches on the front of them (2 hearts, and a butterfly). I just had to share this with you, what a great idea for a baby shower gift or a bday gift eh??? You don't have to use onesies, you could use long sleeved shirts or tshirts...oh the possibilities :)! Thank you Alissa and family for this great gift, she has worn all 3 of them and they are too cute on her...will take a picture and send it to you.

My Sister in laws bday card for my dd

This card is from my sister in law, for my dd's first Bday :)! She makes really great cards herself, I am going to have to convince her to start her own blog so that we could all enjoy her cards too :)! She has made a lot of other great things, like mosaic tile coasters, altered picture frames...

She used the torn paper effect for this card, a technique I don't use often and so I think for the card for my Uncle (which I haven't made yet, and has to get made in the next few hours) will have some torn paper somewhere on it. Thank you Erin for this great card, and for the great gift of those long sleeved bibs :) !

Which card do you like??

Here is the first 60th wedding anniversary card that I made for my dh's Grandparents special day, but it just didn't look right to me...and so I had to make another one of course :)! So I have made 2 cards here for you to choose from, and the design isn't written in stone yet...so any changes had best come now. Would love your opinion as to which card you like best :), me personally I like the second card the best. The colors I used were avacado flat cardstock and also blush cardstock from Carousel, I used one of my cuttlebug folders on the blush cardstock.

I am especially hoping that Aunt Nancy and Aunt Diane are looking at this blog today to let me know which card that they like :)!

Blog candy over at California Stampin

Hurry over to California Stampin's blog, she has great blog candy up for grabs and all you have to do is leave your favorite holiday recipe... easy right?? Well, then get on over there and enter for this great candy :)!

Enabler here

I was at Carousel yesterday checking out their templates for little boxes, because I have been asked to make invitations and favors for my dh's Grandparents 60th wedding anniversary party (shhh it is a secret, they don't know what is going on). If you use the cardstock from Carousel then you can use their template machine for free, if you use other cardstock then it is $.25 *I think*. I found the perfect sized box for the party favors :)! So on to the next important reason I was there, lol, to ask if there were any new stamp sets around...tee hee, and there was. There are 3 new stamp sets, there was one with 2 pointsetta's and a few sentiments (beautiful set)! Then there were 2 different snowmen sets, with different sentiments too...very beatiful sets...mind you they weren't See D's they are made by Darcies. I couldn't leave one of the snowmen sets there, so I brought one home :)!

Then I was over at Michael's getting some acryllic spray, and some cork board because I was also asked to do a Intergenerational craft for my dh's Grandparents church for about 10 people. I am going to make coasters with about 10 people :D, so I am excited about this...it is going to take place this Sunday afternoon :)! So while I was at Michael's I was checking out the Studio G's hiding spots out to see if there were new stamp sets out (like the xmas one's). Sure enough lookie lookie what I found, I found a new stamp set out there and grabbed as many as I could. These sets are too cute, especially he kitty set, the family set, the pregant lady set, pretty princess set, the friends set, the thank you set..oh heck they are all great :). Can't wait to use some of these new sets :)!

Also, if you run over to PhotoMemories store you can get 10 sheets of paper for $1.oo and also there are things from 25-75% off...I am sure we can find some goodies over there (going to have to figure how to get over there to check things out). I tend to go over to that store to get really really good quality patterned paper, like if I am altering things that is where I get my patterned paper. Or the Gel-A-tin sets or other things too :)! Go over and check things out, you don't have to get anything...ok may be you do :)!

Today I am making a card or two for different people, and altering things, doing house work....and more crafty things :)! Gotta go put a few logs on the fire before I get frozen here in my crafty/computer area :P!

As I sit here uploading my images, and doing housework/playing peek a boo with my dd, I am starting to think that my son isn't feeling well. He fell asleep several hours ago, just woke up a few minutes ago and he came to see me and then he is back lying on the couch not doing anything. He didn't even ask to turn on a movie or his favorite show...weird!!

2 Christmas cards, one for my sons teacher and one for his student teacher

Last night was my older son's first Christmas concert, but he wanted to give his teacher her gift and then he decided that it would be nice to give his student teacher a gift too. I was going to do this anyways, but he wanted to do it last night at the concert :)! I luckily was able to give them their gifts last night, I made his teacher one of those altered boxes I made with cards inside. For his student teacher I gave her that tin that I altered last, I think I posted it yesterday or the day before. Their gifts needed cards though, so I whipped up two Christmas cards quickly and wrapped their gifts...

This first card I used a piece of patterned paper from the Christmas slab of patterned paper from Michael's, which I attached to white flat cardstock (my cards base). Then I cut out the 2 pieces of cardstock that I was going to use for my sentiment. Once I measured and cut out my 2 pieces, I used the SU ticket punch on the corners and stamped the sentiment from the Seasons of Joy set. I attached the white piece of carstock to the mellow moss cardstock with mini pop dots, and then attach that to the bottom corner of my cards base. Next, I stamped the nightengale image onto a piece of white flat cardstock using my black Brilliance ink pad and then I cut out around the bird leaving a bit of a white edge all around the bird. I attached the bird to my cards base using photo stickers, then I debated for a few minutes if I should color in the bird or leave it and in the end I chose to leave it.

For the next card I stamped the flower from the Season of Joy stamp set onto my card using versamark ink pad, and I stamped this image all over my cards base. For the cards base, I used Avacado flat cardstock that I picked up from Carousel Rubberstamp store and the swirly flower image is from the See D's stamp set called "Nightengale" which also came from Carousel. Then I stamped the swirly flower onto a piece of white cardstock, using my red dew drop ink pad and then I cut it out leaving bit of a white edge all around it. I then attached this swirly flower to my cards base using mini pop dots, and put this image in the center of my card :)!

The teacher was very touched that we took the time to think of them, and to make the gift rather than doing the usual thing. I was going to do the usual thing, tee hee, good thing I didn't :p! The student teacher said that we didn't have to do that for her, but I explained to her that she too was a teacher to my son, that my son thinks highly of her and wanted to do something special for her. She was almost in tears, she gave my son a HUGE hug!

Now that I have the extended family gifts done/out of the house, and the teachers gifts done/out of the house I now have to get on with other things...like stocking stuffers. Yep, I even have to get my own stocking stuffers, because one year my dh lacked big time with the stocking stuffers. It only took me a few seconds to get through my stocking, and most of the contents were nasty tasting pink candy canes. So from that day forward I have been getting things on behalf of my dh to help him a bit with the stocking stuffers, lol, ever since then he has been doing well with the stocking :p! I am worried though he hasn't asked me for a hint, usually by now he has asked me what I would like for Christmas...I just might have to go do my own Christmas shopping too :p!

Have a great day :D! For those of you who live in my area STAY INSIDE, I was out there this morning...yep, I was the crazy lady with her three children out walking her older son down to his bus stop. STAY INSIDE and STAY WARM :)!

Lizzie Anne Designs Projects of the month

Check out Lizzie Anne Designs project of the month page : http://www.lizzieannedesigns.com/potm_1207.html and take a look at all the great project ideas. Beautiful stuff here of course :)! Love the Hot cocoa kit :)!

I was thrilled when I opened my mailbox

Yesterday, I was thrilled when I opened my mailbox to find the Spring-Summer SU catty :D! I opened it up, slowly took in each page hoping to have a catty full of must have items but to be honest I was a bit disappointed. Here is my wish list from this wee catty:

~Rub on's ( am really really hoping that SU would make a stamp set to match this set of rub ons), I am also not one of rub ons because I have issues with getting all of the images off rhe sheet they come on and onto whatever I am wanting the images on.

~I LOVE the designer paper series on page 8, too beautiful :)!

~ I also LOVE the stamp set called "Embrace Life"

What's on your wish list???

Altered tins

For this tin, I used a piece of the patterned paper from the huge slab of Christmas paper that you can get at Michael's. I measured the paper so it was a bit smaller than what I would usually do, but I did this so that it would fit better

!! On the first two tins that I made I didn't do that, and I wish that I did because it would have saved me a lot of problems. The other thing I noticed was that the paper from SU "Wintergreen" collection wasn't cut square when it was being made. It was slightly off, so when I measured and cut out my 2 pieces out (for my first 2 tins) they went on straight to start but became wonky as I went along.

Once I attached my patterned paper onto my tin using the super tacky tape, I measured and cut out another strip of the patterned paper and then I attached it to the lid of the tin. Next, I stamped the Jolie's Fleurs large flower onto a white piece of cardstock and then I colored in the flower with my Tombow markers. I might add some ribbon, and a tag but I haven't decided yet!! I also filled this tin with some Christmas M&M's :)!

I recommend that you use a really good scrub brush on the inside before you alter the tin, because it has a indentation on the inside that has some grime that needs to be scraped out with lots of elbow grease.

Card for my Cardio Instructor

I was in need of a great little Christmas card, and so I cased this one from a great RAK I got the other day from Cindy Connell since I couldn't be creative in like 2 seconds flat. I was in need of a great Christmas card/thank you card for my Cardio Kickboxing instructor, by the way she opened it as soon as she got it and she LOVED it :)!

I used different colors for my card, I used Bravo Burgandy, Avacado Flat cardstock from Carousel, and also Mellow Moss but I did use the same stamp set "Seasons of Joy". I LOVE this stamp set too :), you can use it in so many different ways and I also have used it on some of my coasters. Oh yeah, I also used some scrap piece of the "Wintergreen" SU patterned paper too...sorta forgot that until I saw my picture of the card (tee hee)...

Okay, now last nights Cardio class is my second last one and it was pretty intense but I think the reason it was more intense was because the owner of the gym put up some mirrors on the wall. Unfortunatly these mirrors made you look think in some places wavy in others and wobbly too...it threw me off a few times since each mirror was framed either white or black, she didn't want to do the full length mirror as one mirror because it cost too much. Anywho, I came home with a sore back and sore legs/hips and so she worked us out really well last night! We did a lot of leg/shoulder work last night, and also a lot of streching which was nice to do :)! I signed up for another one of my Cardio instructors class in the new year, but my lips are sealed as to which one I signed up for...will tell you all later :)! Ok, so I will tell you this much...there is the word "cardio" in the next class I am taking...lol!

Have a great night :)!

run on over to...

Run over to this blog, they have some great blog candy up for grabs and the last day you can enter is the 14th....go go go:

http://destampincorner.blogspot.com

What are you still doing here?? Lol, if you are still reading this get going....now before it is too late!! Have a super day :D!

My dd First Birthday

The first picture is of my dh's Aunt bringing my dd her Birthday cake, my dh is holding our dd and her brothers are also in the picture.

This picture is of my dd eating some of the icing that she grabbed from her cake, she isn't too sure about it. Her Aunt let her put her hand into the cake, lol, I tried to get that shot but someone walked infront of me and when I took the shot I got nothing but blurr.

So the next picture is of her Birthday cake, it wasn't taken at the best angle and I apologize for that but I figured I wouldn't get a picture of the cake if I didn't click when I did. It is definitely a PINK cake :)!

This last picture is of my dd trying out her new "Shop and Grow" walker, lol, she has been walking all over the house with it all day long. She has put her dolly that she got from her Great Uncle Ray and Aunt Judy in the cart, and her favorite bear in the cart too. She has even tried to get a ride in the cart, the cart isn't even that big but it seems that children have to try things out at least once.

My walking 1 year old :)

This picture is of my dd walking, she decided that on her first Birthday she should be walking alot more and ever since Saturday morning she has been walking non stop. This picture was taken at my dh's Aunt's house at my dd's 1st Bday party :)! Not only was it a bday party for her, but it was the family's time to exchange all the gifts for Christmas...we didn't open any (don't worry) we just pack them into our cars and take them home to be opened Christmas day as hard as that is for our children. We had a lot of fun, a lot to eat, and had a great time with our family :)!

Before I forget, I am going to post this question here in this post because I am in need of some help. See my oldest son, took it upon himself (this is totally not something my older son would do, it is out of character for him) to make a picture with markers on the back of my middle son's seat in the van. Guess how thrilled I was when I found this?? I nearly blew a gasket or two, I couldn't believe he did it...it was something my 3 year old would do but not him...anyways, I am in serious need of advice on how to get this washable marker off the seat in the car. Any advice or ideas?? I am sure I am NOT the first to have this experience, lol!

This next set of pictures is of my dd talking on her toy phone, she is at the nonsense babble stage but is doing well holding up the phone to her head and is a pro at pushing all the buttons. She got that phone, because she was dialing out on our cordless phone and programing our phone to do odd things...so we got her this phone to play with. At first she wasn't into this phone, she kind of pushed it aside...but now that she is 1 she is LOVING the phone as any girl would :p! Whenever someone calls now, she always has to have me put the phone to her ear so she can listen in...sometimes she looks over her shoulder to see who is talking to her but she doesn't realize they are on the phone talking to her. Other times she will smile and giggle for some people when they call and when they talk to her or sing her songs, I forgot how fun this age is. This next picture is of my dd looking like she is having a very intense conversation, lol, or is trying to think of something (too cute eh?) and she even was crawling around the kitchen like she was pacing. If only she could walk better, I am sure she would be pacing like we do as adults when we are on the phone :)!

My Aunts gift to my dd for her 1st bday

My Aunt gave my dd a old fashioned sled for her 1st Birthday (which was on Saturday), this is the wooden sled with the red metal/wood back rest on the back of it. I gave my Aunt this hint, because I needed something for my dd to ride in when there is snow on the ground when we walk my oldest son to the bus stop. Lol, in these pictures my dd is getting pulled up and down our long hallway in ur house about 15 times or more! She refused to get out, she's get out then get right back in again to cry until someone would come along to pull her and she'd even wave as she was being pulled down the hall.

We used the slide for the first time this morning, we were all bundled up to walk my oldest son down to his bus stop and my dd was sitting in her sled. She sat there the whole way down to the bus stop and back with a huge smile on her face, giggling anytime she would go over a bump. The smile in the picture is the same one she had on to and from the bus stop, lol, too cute. She also lay all the way back with her head resting on the back of the backrest, I think she was watching the birds fly by and clouds move.

My dh's family had a Birthday party for her yesterday afternoon, which was nice since we had to put her Birthday on hold since my parents booked my Grandmother's funeral on my dd's bday (forgetting that the 8th was their Granddaughter's bday). My family will have a bday party for her next week along with my dh's bday, my nephews bday and my Uncle's bday, when things with the funeral have calmed down a bit!

Here is the card I made for my dd, I made it the other night when I was at Julie's house...once the girls were asleep I was able to get some things made and this was one of the things I made that night. I used a piece of blush cardstock for the cards base, then I cut out a piece of patterned paper from my slab of Autumn leaves paper from the slab called "Smitten" and attached it to the base using photo stickers. I then cut a piece of mellow moss cardstock out, used the ticket punch on the corners and then stamped a star frame around the outside edge of the cardstock using the versamark ink pad. The star stamp that I used, was from a Christmas border clear acryllic stamp set by Stampendous from Michael's about 2 months ago and thought this was the perfect time to use this set. I then used a piece of white cardstock, I stamped the little girl from the "Tu tu- terrific" SU stamp set and I colored her in using my Tombow markers. Next, I attached a piece of my light green "Straight 'n' Narrow" ribbon across the center of the card and then I attached the green piece of cardstock over top of the ribbon in the center of the card. I then took my cardstock with the little girl stamped on it and I attached it to the green framed cardstock using my photo stickers again :) ( you can never have enough of those photo stickers)!

A Sympathy Card from Julie

Thank you Julie, for this sympathy card that you made for us and for the card/meal that you made my parents it was really sweet of you :)!! I also must apologize for not posting this card sooner, I kind of got caught up in doing other things, and getting ready for my Grandmother's funeral etc. So here it is now, better late than never...but still should have been posted sooner! My Grandmother's funeral was on Saturday morning at 10 a.m., it was a really nice service and my dad gave a wonderful eulogy (not sure of spelling here)...I was dried eyed until my dad got to the middle of his talk. He ended it starting each sentence with : "I see her hands...." for instance, "I see her hands knitting sweaters for us children, I see her hands making meals, I see her hands washing our clothes, I see her hands in mine as she breathed her last breath..." There wasn't a dry eye in the place! It was interesting because my grandmother kept her everyday life to herself, so when I heard she was part of a weekly book club and was part of some peace movement thing I was shocked. I have only ever met 2 of her friends, but there at her funeral they came out of the wood work and I only knew half of the people if that there. All in all the funeral went well, it was different from the other funerals that I have attended because my Grandmother was a Unitarian. I have never been to a Unitarian service or to a funeral by that denomination before, so that too was interesting...they lit a candle at the beginning of the service to signify life, then at the end the blew it out signifying death and life continuing on. Which I thought was neat, but at the same time I found it hard to watch the candle get snuffed out...even though my Grandmother had passed away a week ago, seeing that candle being blown out was almost making it more real. Make sense???

My first altered tin

The other day a catty came in the mail for my dh, the catty was for a store called Princess Auto...it has everything imaginable in this place which is probably something you wouldn't think with a name like that. Anyways, I was looking through this catty and I found larger tins that everyone has been using for their advent calendars :D but I wasn't sure how much bigger...so I sent my dh on a mission. He called me on Friday afternoon when he was on his way home he stopped in at this store to check it out for me, sure enough these tins are about a size of a can of soup or Jam jar. I was thrilled to pieces because this was the exact size that I was looking for :)! They wanted $1.88 each for these larger tins, going to send my dh back there to get me more, he only got me 6 the other day but I don't know how long they will be $1.88 :).

Saturday night, I was over at Julie's house babysitting her 2 dd's and I brought all my crafty things along with since I had to get 2 of these tins altered and 2 cards made for Sunday afternoon. So I used the SU patterned paper called Wintergreen for the sides of the tins, that I measured and cut out...then had to re-cut 2 more times. I then cut out 2 pieces of scrap Bravo Burgandy and Mellow Moss cardstock small rectangles, I used the ticket punches on the corners, then I attached the two colors together using some super tacky tape and some mini pop dots. Next, I cut out some white cardstock in a small rectangle, I then stamped the "Flaky Friends" stamp set tag onto the white cardstock and then I attached it to the other two layers using the mini dots. I cut out a circle out of some dark green cardstock, then I stamped the large Jolie's Fleurs flower stamp onto some white cardstock. I colored in my flower using my Tombow red and green markers, making the flower look like a Christmas flower (I stamped out several flowers and colored them in differently until I came up with the style I liked best). Next, I attached the flower to the circle using the mini pop dots and then I sort of bent up the edges of the petals of the flower. I also got some light green "Straight 'n' Narrow" ribbon from Michael's that was on sale the other day, and thought that it would be the perfect ribbon to use on this tin. I put the ribbon on one tin just below the lip of the lid, then the second tin I altered I put the ribbon on the lid of the tin and to be honest both places looked great with the ribbon where I had put it.

I made these tins for two of my dh's cousins for Christmas, I thought these tins filled up with the Christmas M&M's would be perfect for them! I am going to make some more tins today, and some more cards too. I will post these as I make them :)!

Hope all of you are staying warm, and that you had a great weekend :)!

My middle child...poor guy

This morning I had a doctor's appointment with my family doctor for my middle child, because when he has certain foods he has an emotional break down...his reaction to these foods is a complete melt down. He just cries uncontrollably, he becomes loud, he becomes frustrated...just a mess! Usually it is chocolate (we've eliminated that from our house), milk (hasn't been on that since he was younger), and food coloring like in Cheesies ( just found that out at Julie's dd Birthday party. Anyways, we don't know what to do with him when he has a reaction and we would like to know what else he is allergic to. My family doctor has heard of children with behavioural allergic reactions, but she didn't know much about it...so she has referred us to a ped's dr. Our dr. said that if this dr. didn't know what was going on that they have loads of connections to help us figure out what can be done. It just breaks my heart when I see him have a reaction to food like he does, or when he has a break down in a store we are in...and I am sure that if we knew what was going on with him he probably wouldn't have alot of the behavioural issues. So now I am just waiting for a call to find out when he can be seen by this Ped's doctor, I hope it is soon because my dh isn't able to handle our son when he is like that. My dh has hardly any patience when it comes to this issue...so we hopefully will be able to fix this soon...or at least get put on the right path!!

I was a little disappointed by our doctor visit, guess I had higher expectations...and thought we would get referred to a allergist right away or something...didn't think we would have to goto another dr. Gotta look on the bright side, we are getting help...just not as fast as we were hoping for!

Ty, Cindy Connell

Thank you Cindy Connell for the very beautiful Christmas card RAK, it arrived in my mailbox today and it made my day :)! I love all the colors you chose and the layout, I have to say that I also really like what you did with the flower. Beautiful work :)!

Will have more cards posted later for you to see :)!

a baby card for a little girl

This is another card that I will be using for the set of cards for one of the boxes of cards I will be giving to someone for Christmas :)! I used a piece of blush cardstock from Carousel as my cards base, then I cut out a piece of patterned piece of cardstock so that it would only cover half of my card. I attached it to the bottom part of my card using the photo stickers, and the patterned paper came from the large slab of patterned paper that I picked up from Walmart (called "Smitten"). I then used a piece of Mellow Moss scrap piece of cardstock ( I also used the ticket punch on the corners), attached it to the center of my card and then I stamped the bunny from the set called "A Birthday Wish" from CTMH. I stamped the image onto a white piece of cardstock, colored it in using my Tombow markers and then I attached it to the piece of Mellow Moss cardstock using my mini pop dots. I was going to stamp an image onto the top portion of my cards base on the Blush cardstock and also the Versamark ink pad, but then I thought it would make the card look too busy.

I have to make a few more cards (okay a bit more than a few cards), and then I am done...then I am onto another project that I have to finnish before Sunday. I found large metal stainless steel containers at a place called Princess Auto (it is one of those stores that has everything that you can imagine in it ), that resemble the wedding favor tins that everyone is using for their Advent calendars on their blogs. These one's I found are larger, not too sure of the size, but can let you know tonight when my dh brings them home :)! I thought they would be a perfect size to alter, and to add xmas candy inside to give to people for Christmas...you know those people in your life like the mailman, the bus driver or if someone you weren't expecting to give you a gift does give you one..then you can whip one of these beauties out :). I am trying to give the people who are recieving my greeting cards and boxes a variety of cards, not to give them one set theme...so far so good :)!

Beautiful Sympathy card

I used Mellow Moss cardstock for my cards base, then I stamped the leaf images all over the card using my Versamark stamp pad. The stamp set I used is a clear set from Stampendous that I had picked up from Michael's several months ago when they first came out ( love this stamp set). Next I attached a strip of Chocolate Chip cardstock across the center of the card, and then I attached a piece of cream colored (almost marbled) cardstock to the center of the card. I then stamped 2 single leaves on either side of the center stamped image using the white dew drop ink pad, which I thought made the card more like a sympathy card. I stamped the center images on the cardstock using the Niagra Mist dew drop ink pad , and added the sentiment "Comfort" in the bottom corner of my center stamped image using the Bravo Burgandy SU ink pad. This card isn't for anyone inparticular, it is just going to be part of a card set that I am making for my sister in law or my son's teacher, that will go in the altered boxes I posted earlier. Am impressed how this card turned out, at first I wasn't sure as to how this card was going to turn out...it was iffy for a few hours :)!

Not sure about this card I made

I used a piece of blush cardstock from Carousel as my cards base, then stamped the Baroque Motif swirls across the top of the card. Next, I took a piece of Mellow Moss and I attached a piece of white cardstock to it using my photo stickers! Then I stamped the leaf sprig from the Best Blossom set using the Niagra Mist Dew drop ink pad, and I stamped the larger flower from the Best blossom set, using the Malted Mauve Dew drop stamp pad. Next, I stamped the flowers stem (from the Best Blossom set) just under the flower and then I attached them to the cards base using the photo stickers. I added some brown ribbon across the center of the card, just over a bit of the Baroque motif swirl stamped images, I then placed the flowers stamped image in the center of my card, just over part of the Baroque Motif stamped images. I then made a little tag using Mellow moss, a piece of white cardstock and I used the ticket punch for the corners. Then I used the mini photo dots to raise up the tag on the cards base, and I also stamped the sentiment "Cherish" onto the little tag to make it look a little more elegant. As I said in my title box, I am not too sure about this card...I just am not too happy with it :(! What do you think about it???

Here is another question for you, what kind of glue do you use on your cards?? The reason I am asking is because I have been told that after awhile (a short while) that the layers or ribbon that I have glued onto the cards has come undone. So I am in need of some good quality glue, that will ensure my cards won't fall apart...the glue that I was using was said to be really good and won't loose it's adhesiveness (lol, or whatever you call that). That was a totally misleading statement!!!