Christmas Thank You Cards

Wow, these cards actually got finished before the end of the year! That's a record for me. Usually it's mid-January and they still aren't made. Granted, they are not written out yet, but that's a good project for tomorrow, which is supposed to be cold and rainy. But can you believe when I went to the post office the other day they had NO rolls of regular stamps? How can the post office be out of stamps?!?!?! So I'll have to make another trip there later this week. Does anyone else dread the post office like they dread the dentist?

These are rather simple, as DS was clamoring for a playmate as I was trying to make them. I was able to produce a quick dozen of them in about 1 1/2 hours. The dp is from the same Holiday Slab V that I've been using this whole holiday season. The Thank You is from a sentiment set that I don't have a label for. Ribbon is from the craft store. Brads are pewter from Making Memories.

Happy New Year and Thanks for looking!

Baroque Primas

Baroque Motifs has been on my shelf and I have not used it nearly as much as I would like. Today I was playing with my embellishments, sorting brads and primas, and had a creative lightbulb moment. Here is the result:I used a premade ivory card from the craft store, which measures 4x5. The flourish is stamped in Handsome Hunter, and I scored a frame 1/4" from the edges of the card. The primas are attached with antique copper brads. I'm thinking of making a small set of these to send my grandmother as a small gift. She still writes letters and I'm sure she would enjoy them.

Time to go play with ds, who has been begging for a playmate all day. Sometimes I wish he would learn to play by himself, but I know I would be sad if he no longer wanted me!

Thanks for looking!

Look What Santa Brought!

We had guests all week, and I had to work the days after Christmas, so I have not had much of a chance to play with these new toys yet! I can't wait to, though! Maybe tomorrow I'll have some time...

Here also is a card I made for my dh for Christmas. I realized that this is our 10th Christmas together!

We had a wonderful day, ds was VERY excited about everything. Then, after dinner we celebrated his birthday. I don't think he realized there were also presents for his birthday, because all he wanted was to get to the cake! Then we brought out the box of birthday gifts, and he was so funny. Each one he opened, he held up and said "Just what I ALWAYS wanted!" Getting him to bed was a struggle, but he did nap the next day for a few hours. DH has been home with him all week, and with the grandparents visiting, he has had constant playmates. We will all be glad to get back into our routine next week, though. As much fun as the holidays are, it's always nice to return to our nice quiet (read: boring) daily life.

I have a question for everyone who uses Prisamcolor pencils: What do you use for a sharpener? I got a soft-lead sharpener in the art supply aisle, but wonder if there is some other magical sharpener I should look for.

Thanks for looking!

Blog Candy Winner!

Thanks to all of you who took the time to visit my blog and enter my blog candy drawing! It means a lot to me that you are interested in my work. I have just returned home from a lovely afternoon/evening with my dh and am getting ready to turn in. I do have to work tomorrow and am very tired!

However, I thought you would all like to know who is the lucky winner of the candy. After entering the data into random.org, the lucky number is 11:

Kathy W said...
I'll be unpacking. Just moved into a new house relocating from a different state and am surrounded by boxes! Thanks for the chance to win.
December 20, 2007 12:08 PM

Kathy, please email me with your details and I will get the goodies out to you on Saturday. If I don't hear from Kathy by midnight Saturday, I will draw another winner.

Thanks for looking!

I Feel the Need to Spread Some Cheer

ETA: I have moved this so that it stays at the top until the drawing is done.

After going to the ER for stitches on Saturday night, DS woke up in the middle of the night Sunday night with his first stomach virus. He was sick all night long, and just wanted to sleep, but as he started to drift off, he had to run to the bathroom again. Poor little thing curled up on the bathroom rug at one point so he could rest! It took until yesterday afternoon for him to get over it, and he watched more tv in the last two days than he as in his 4-year life! But today he is back at preschool - he couldn't miss Show and Tell!

Meanwhile, I got the Christmas cards mailed, teacher gifts made, and treats passed out to co-workers. All I have to do before guests arrive is clean the house and wrap gifts.

So let's have a Blog Candy giveaway, shall we? Goodies are yet to be determined. I will try to gather them up over the next few days and post a photo. But as I promised - no leftover Christmas supplies and no re-gifting!

To enter, please leave me a comment on this post and tell me what you will be doing the day after Christmas. Shopping for bargains? Spending gift cards? Fighting with your kids for a turn at the WII? Eating cookies for breakfast? I will be at work.

Thanks for looking!

A Christmas RAK and Birthday Cards

Allison, queen blogger herself, sent me a Christmas RAK! How sweet is this card? The beaded garland on the tree didn't make it through the post so well, but the card is still so cute! Thanks, Allison!We also have a few birthdays to celebrate this week. My DS turns 4 tomorrow. Yikes! And my nephew turns 1 on the 29th. It's hard to believe how fast they are growing! Both cards are similar since I'm short on time these days. The paper is from the DCWV Mini Stack 3. Stamps are Hambo (train) and SU! Toy Box (race car), Greetings 4 You (Happy Birthday), All Year Cheer II (Happy Happy Birthday) and The Cat's Pajamas (stack o' presents). The stack of presents is colored with metallic and regular gel pens. The trains are colored with markers and also with pencils blended with OMS. I like the pencil colored one better - the lines from markers drive me bananas becuse I like a smooth finish!Well, time to go so the camera batteries can charge and I can bake a birthday cake for tomorrow. He wants a Green Goblin cake, but I think he's getting a hamburger cake. I'll share photos if it's not too embarassing. I'm a stamper, not a cake decorator!

Don't forget to enter blog candy a few posts below!!

Happy Holidays to you all and Thanks for Looking :)

Teacher Gifts, Yankee Swap Gift

Here are the beaded pens and altered notebooks I made for the teachers at ds' preschool. It's hard because there are soooo many teachers and assistants! I decided to just give gifts to the three that spend the most time with him. I got the tutorials for these gifts at Emily's blog. They were so much fun to make! It was my first time with Mod Podge, and now I'm ready to alter the other things I have been collecting - frames, more notebooks, paint cans...I also made a few matching notecards for one of the teachers. The others got gift cards in these adorable little holders. I found the instructions for these little cuties HERE. SOOOOOOOOO easy and better than the generic rectangle holders you get at the store.

The final item is a Criss-Cross Box that I found through Nichole Heady's blog. The instructions and template are HERE. My DH needed a quick Yankee Swap gift for work, so I whipped up this box, filled it with chocolates and another gift card in a holder. They loved it!

Phew! This is the last of the Christmas postings for me! I'm going to spend the weekend cleaning and getting the house ready for guests. And we still have all our wrapping to do, so I'll be getting all that done, too. We still have to put up the tree, which will probably be done on Sunday when the guests arrive. And ds has requested a Green Goblin birthday cake, so I'll be hunting for pictures for that! Is it January yet?

Merry Christmas to all of you and thanks for looking!

Here's a Picture of the Blog Candy

I realize that I forgot to state when this candy will be given away! Because lots of people are taking a blogging break for the next few days, I will choose a winner by random draw on Thursday, December 27th. That means you have until 5pm, EST on the 27th to post a comment on THIS POST! After ds goes to bed, I will announce the winner.

Here's what you're hoping to win: some clear stamps from Michael's, some large eyelets, flower brads and primas, some friendship rubons and also an assortment of spring-y papers. Sorry about the glare in the picture - I can't seem to be home during daylight hours to get a good photo lately, and it's going to be gray and rainy all weekend!

Thanks for looking!

Who Else is Tired of Christmas Cards?

This is not the first year for me to send out homemade Christmas cards, but this year was the most difficult. I think the problem was that I have too many stamps now! Seriously, in the past, I didn't have the collection I have now, so was limited to which images to use. This year, I have stepped up the shopping for supplies and never settled on one design for cards. As a result, I will be sending a hodgepodge of 40 cards, with about 20 different designs! No wonder my stamping brain is tired...

Here are a few of the last designs. I am addressing cards tonight during the Survivor finale (I'm rooting for Denise, the Lunch Lady, how about you?) and will mail them tomorrow. Luckily I work across the street from the post office and don't have to make a special trip :)

This weekend, my girlfriend and her daughter came over for a cookie-baking fest. It proved a little too much stimulation for ds, who ended up throwing a tantrum. When dh took him into a corner to speak to him and try to calm him down, he threw his head back and smacked into the door hinge. Soooo off to the ER we went and he now has his first stitches!

I think I'll be glad when January is here and we can settle back into our routine. DS thrives on routine and not that we shelter him, but it's easier to keep him on track if he knows what to expect and what is expected of him! Ahhhhhhhhh, Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend, and those in the snow belt are safe and warm. My counter is creeping up on 2000 hits so there will be some pre-Christmas blog candy coming up later this week. And I promise, I won't be giving away my leftover Christmas scraps :)

Thanks for looking!

I'm Subscribable!

Just another quick entry to say...I hope you've noticed I added a Subscribe button to my sidebar. Because I love statistics and love to stalk my stalkers, I decided to add this function.

Thanks for looking!

The Secret Elf Swap and a RAK

Robyn, who's wonderful blog is The Pink Stamper, coordinated a Secret Elf Swap just after Thanksgiving, and my Elf package arrived today. My Elf was Michelle, who's blog is Whimsical Creations. Check out the goodies she sent me! (Sorry about the glare on the photo - I can't seem to be home during daylight hours to get a good photo these days) Hanna Stamps, Studio G Series 6 stamps, Primas, eyelets, mini-glitter, brads, some diecuts, and a flower set for the Cuttlebug. What great fun it will be to create with these items - I can't wait for the weekend to get started... And she sent a card with an image of a woman looking behind her, with the best sentiment: "How did my mom's butt get back there?" ROFL!!!! I love it! I may just send it to my mom - she won't get offended.

Also, I have been remiss to not post this Thank You RAK from Allison that I received a few weeks ago. She won a round of blog candy from me and sent this cute note as thanks. I love the color scheme and the curvy sentiment.

But wait, there's more... Bobbie (Inspired by Ink) sent me this wonderful package of treats for winning her blog candy (way back). I should have enough supplies to keep me out of the craft store till Spring! Yeah, right, you know I'll sneak there on my lunch break after the Christmas rush dies away ;)Hopefully if you are in the midst of this newest round of winter storms, you are safe and warm in your stamping rooms! We are getting another horrid batch of weather Saturday into Sunday. DH is supposed to fly out Sunday for another business trip (really, honey the last of the year!), so let's hope he gets out safely.

Thanks for looking!

The Bella Da Library

Did everyone spend some time at the Bella Ball on Splitcoast Stampers Friday night? The challenges were fun, although I only got to complete one of them. Here she is: Bookwormabella colored with pencils and blended with OMS (still my favorite method of coloring!). The dp is from a DCWV Mini Stack and the ribbon is from American Crafts. The technique is the triangle tri-fold card. It is the first one I've made, but it was fun and I will have to keep that tutorial in the stash!

Today I am home with a sick ds. He had croup again! Its the second time in 3 weeks, so we are going to the doctor this afternoon. I had a TON of things I wanted to accomplish this morning before going to work, and of course very few of them are getting done now. I did get to mail my Secret Elf presents though! Robyn at The Pink Stamper set up this fun game. I hope they arrive safely and bring my Elfee some joy :)

PLEASE don't forget about my PIF #2! I mailed the items for PIF #1 today, and need 2 players for #2. I know it's getting close to the holidays, and everyone is busy, but this is a fun way to share the goodies and get a surprise pack in mail. Don't you need another reason to stalk the mailman?

Thanks for looking!

Pile O' Snow(men)

As it creeps closer to Christmas, I have decided to try to creat simple cards to send that won't take a lot of time. And won't take a lot of extra postage! So here's a batch of snowman cards. Minimal stamping here! Only the sentiment, which is Greetings 4 You, and old SU! set. I stamped it in Ruby Red. IF you look closely, no two cards are alike. A few have a tie on the ribbon, most have just a band of ribbon and the snowflakes. Simple, cute, easy!I have been laid up on the couch the past two days with cold/yuckiness. I actually went to work this morning (silly me) and ended up coming home before noon. But now I'm feeling a bit better and am getting restless, so may tackle another pile of cards. I already have the design in mind, just have to execute.

First, though, I have to gather the gifts for the Salvation Army tree at preschool. It breaks my heart that some kids out there need UNDERWEAR for Christmas! Each year, I take a few tags from the tree and buy the necessities and a small toy for those unfortunate kids. It really makes me thankful for all that we have.



Thanks for looking!

Check Out This NON-Stamping (But FUN) Contest!

One of the non-stamping blogs I read is called "Mommy Needs A Cocktail" and it is very funny, indeed. If you've ever had one of THOSE days, go over and check out Kristen's writing....

She is running a contest right now to come up with sayings for a new line of shirts for tots. So bring your sarcasm, your wit and your words and run over to enter. Who doesn't want a chance to win free stuff? Gift cards around Christmas, how perfect?

Have fun and check out her store. It's fun and shipping is CHEAP!

Thanks for looking

Presenting Presentahbella!

This card combines Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge 152 and one of the Bella images I received from Tracy. I had the dp (Provo Craft Holiday Slab V) out from working on the Knut cards, and was trying to use up every last scrap of it. I colored the present and Bella's dress with my aquapainter and Almost Amethyst, Sage Shadow and Handsome Hunter. I used Mellow Moss for the ribbon, I think, and went over it with Stickles, because every Bella needs a little bling. The ribbon is the last of the craft store ribbon. I'll have to snag more when it goes on sale again. The sentiment is from Wonderful Wishes from Verve Visual.This weekend, I also finished up the nugget boxes for my co-workers and made a few other Christmas cards that I will post through the week. My camera was having some trouble focusing and I can't figure out why. Hopefully it's not on it's way out, since it's not that old. Maybe I just use the focus too much!

Thanks for looking!

A Perfect Weekend for Stamping and Another PIF

Today was a snowy, rainy, cold day. I got up, showered, got back into my jammies and had a very lazy day with my family. Also, while ds worked on the computer, I got to stamp. It was very nice. DH is off on another business trip, so it will be another week of quiet evenings after ds goes to bed. Our kitchen counter is coming tomorrow, so we will soon be able to cook again! I'm soooooooo ready to have a real kitchen again.

Here's my desk after today's session. Maria is running a contest and she wants readers to post pics of their calming items. Mine is not actually on my desk (as you can see, there's no room), but it is in my office. It is my ficus plant that I purchased as a mere twig a few years ago. It is slow to grow, but I love seeing it's progress. I also happen to have some "lucky" bamboo, but I have managed to almost kill it, so I'm sure it's lucky powers are gone... I think I may be the only one in the world to have killed bamboo! But I have hope that it will come back to green. On the cabinet with the ficus is also a picture of my grandparents with my son and a photo of a tiny village in England we visited on vacation.

This next photo is a bunch of goodies I received from Tracy's Pay It Forward game. She sent some great Bella images, that I looooooooooove and some primas, along with great ribbon, too. And check out the Snowbunnybella card she made. It's gorgeous IRL. I've gotta get me some more Bella stamps!

To carry on the Pay It Forward, I need 2 more players. Please comment here and the first two will receive some goodies from me and get to play along! It's really fun, please join!!

I hope you all stayed warm and cozy if you were in the belt of that nasty storm that swept the country. Let's hope it doesn't mean a long and snowy winter! Thanks for looking!

Mixed Knuts

Can you tell what my favorite stamp is this week? Also, I'm trying to see how many cards I can eke out of those two 12x12 sheets of dp I had... Quite a few!

These two cards are variations on the last batch of Christmas cards I posted. I am in love with that Glacial Blue cs from the Paper Company. I should have bought a lot more than I did, but I've already been back to buy more twice! Of course the image is from The Cat's Pajamas, and the sentiment is Verve Visual. Other details are in the previous post.

Did anyone else shop the We R Memory Keepers online sale? What a great selection of 75% off items! I will have a huge box of goodies arriving soon. Merry early Christmas to me! Maybe I should hand it over to my dh to wrap? Nah, I am way too impatient for that!

I snuck out by myself this morning to hit a craft fair nearby and was very surprised to find NO papercrafting booths. Lots of jewelry, painted glass items, fabric crafts, but no papercrafts. How did those of you who did fairs do this year? Is it worth pursuing or just a waste of energy? I'm just curious...

Ok, ds is resting quietly in his room and dh is installing the new dishwasher, so I have time to stamp. Have a great weekend! Thanks for looking!