My first card for 2008

I am in the process of getting my CCE 2 cards made, and here is my first card for 2008 and for the 2008 CCE :)! While I was into my favorite rubberstamping store (Carousel) over the weekend, making 50 party favor boxes for my dh's Grandparents 60th Wedding anniversary I just had to spend some of my xmas money. I got 3 stamps, 3 more Tombow Markers to add to my collection and some cardstock too :)! I just love this stamp, it is very beautiful and elegant looking...I actually got this stamp to use for the CCE (Canadian Card Exchange). Can't wait to see what else I can do with this stamp :)!

For Christmas I got a storage bag (that I picked out for my dh to give me since he had no idea what to get me), and I LOVED the look of this bag. However, the other day a new catty came from our local Mountain Equipment Co-op store...and I found one that I like the look of a whole lot better. I don't have the reciept to return it, my dh lost it. I am hoping that Michael's will take it back, because I am in love with this other bag I found...even though this other bag isn't a storage bag for crafts. I will let you know what happens :)!

RECIPE

Stamp:

All Night Media stamp

Cardstock:

Barely Banana for the base of my card and Avacado flat cardstock was used under my stamped image

Coloring supplies:

I used my Tombow markers to color in this image.

Family Hike 2008

Myself, my dh, our 3 children, my mil, fil, sil, bil, 2nd sil, her hubby, their 2 children, my dh's Aunt and her fiance all went on a wonderful New Years hike. Here are some of the pictures that I took while we were hiking on this beautiful cold winters day :)! This first picture is of a stream (some might have even called it a river), that was near the beginning of the hike and there were lots of people out enjoying the beautiful day.

Here is a great candid shot that I got of my dh, my dd in her MEC carrier and one of my sister in laws :)! It was the first time we used this carrier with my dd, she won't fit in her Snuggli and so we let my niece who is 10 mos old use the Snuggli carrier for the hike since she is a lot smaller. My dd, actually enjoyed and sat quite contently in this new carrier...but that didn't surprise me at all since she is pretty content and easy going anyways.

Here is my dh's Aunt and her fiance, I just love this picture of them...it turned out great :)! It is hard to get pictures of these two, because they don't really like to have their pictures taken...so I snapped this one quickly.

Crafty afternoon with the cousins

Here are the pictures that should have gone with the Crafty afternoon post, tee hee...how organized am I today :p! I will blame it on lack of sleep, my dd has decided to see how many all nighters she can do in a row and how many mommy will put up with :p!

This first picture is of cousin April, and my older son (they even had a team name, which I think was team "Bumblebee" from the movie Transformers of course). Their wooden project to work on was a birdhouse!

This next picture is cousin Nathan's girlfriend Stephanie, and my middle son working on their wooden project which was a helicopter (my son is a huge helicopter fan). Stephanie put it together with the help of my son, then he was to paint it...well, someone put food on the table and that was it for him. Forget the project, I am eating and I will paint later!

This next picture is of my mother in law (aka, Nana), my nephew who is visiting with his parents and sister for Christmas. My mil and my nephew were working on a police car, I believe that Nana did most of the work on it and my nephew was basically the cheering section. Plus, he was enjoying the snack someone had put on the table with one of my sons...what can I say they love their food/snack times :)!

Here is cousin April again, hanging out with my 2 boys, while we were waiting for the rest of the cousins to arrive...not all of the cousins could come due to 2 of them having chicken pox and one other cousin was exposed to the other two. This crafty afternoon was at Great Aunt Nancy's house, she is my dh's Aunt...thank you Aunt Nancy for this fun afternoon :)! We will have to try to do this again sometime when the other cousins are well...

Christmas at our house

Lol, again I know I am late posting these pics but I was busy with family things and now I am busy trying to clean up my house so that my parents can come for a sleepover tonight. Here's a picture of our tree that we cut from our backyard, and no it wasn't one of the trees that fell down in the last hurricane or in Juan. What a great tree :), and it was free...that was the best part because we weren't about to pay $30.oo for a tree...although I do still like the look of the farmed trees, but at the same time you don't know what they are spraying on them.

This next picture is of all our stockings hung by the chiminey with care :), my dh made those stocking holders since there were no hooks to put them on and I must say that he did a super job at making them too. My dh also cut off some branches for my mom and myself to use around the house, like on our mantles :)! I got the long strings of berry's from Wicker Emporium, a lot cheaper than Michael's, I got 4 long strands and some sprigs all for $20...where at Michael's you can't even get one for $20.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

I know, I know, I know this is late but that's the way it is :)! Better late than never, besides which I think one can wish it to people for the first week after New Years...I still hear people saying it. Anyways, here is my middle child being silly with a hat he got from one of those crackers that you pop at Christmas...we were at my dh's Aunts house for a "crafty afternoon" for all the cousins. By a "crafty afternoon", I mean to actually sit down at a table and work on a wood project...one you put together and then paint...it was interesting that is for sure and I think the children liked it too. However, they weren't built well and the glue that came with it didn't hold any of the pieces together at all!! I thought this was the perfect picture for wishing you and your loved one's a HAPPY NEW YEAR :)!

blankie for my dd

I made this blanket for my dd to have around her when she is in the sled my Aunt gave her, I use this sled quite a bit (every morning actually) when I take my oldest son down to the bus stop. She has a cover that is fleece that came with the sled, but it isn't enough on these really cold days, and so this is what I made for her. Plus, I wanted a blanket for her to have on her at night because I am using the one that came with her crib for a bottom layer in her playpen for nap time. I found this beautiful fleece material at my local fabric store, will have to get more of this stuff fast, to make my sil's lil one who is on the way in May one.

I am being crafty, just not paper crafting...but not to fear I am going to be making lots of cards today I think :)!

"You thought you couldn't just have one before, what about now??"

I found my dd walking around our kitchen with this bag of "Lays", holding them as if they were her best friend. I think she was also trying to get someone to open them for her, because she would come up to you say a bunch of nonsense babble then hold up the chips. As if to say "Ok, I would like some of these please open this bag for me!" I think she would be a great spokes person for "Lays", lol!