Thanksgiving

As Thanksgiving approached this week, I have been thinking of all I have to be thankful for. Foremost are my faith and my family. For loving parents and siblings, for an amazing husband, and for the wonderful children who bless my life. It is truly a miracle that we were blessed with 6.

Just a few others:

I am thankful for my old house with all it's beautiful old trees. And for the chickens, ducks, kitties, and dog that roam our little acreage. Just watching those ducks waddle brightens my days.

I am thankful for music, and for the joy that singing brings to me. I am even more thankful that my family finds joy in singing, too!

I am thankful for those who are lost to me now, and for the faith that I will see them again.

I am thankful for my amazing SA stamping sisters. They have become such an important part of my life, and they keep me smiling.

Please share what you are thankful for, if you feel so inclined!

Holiday Extravaganza Sale!

Stampin Up! has a great Black Friday sale going on NOW! Click the image above to order directly from my Stampin Up website, or contact me by email. Call or email me if you need any help. Because you KNOW I can help you spend your money, right? And the beauty of it is, this is Christmas stuff, so it doesn't have to come out of your stamp budget. :-) Don't miss out! Quantities are limited! If you'd like to see the bundle lists, click on the document below!

Lip Balm Holders

Somehow I forgot to take picture of the inside of these! LOL

I didn't do the very-cute-but-difficult cuts to hold the lip balm. Instead, the lip balms are just stuck to the binding with mini-glue dots! Much simpler, and still as cute--at least I think so!

Lots of these are going in Christmas stockings this year!

Stampin' Up is having a BIG sale that starts late tonight (midnight Tuesday night). Holiday gift bundles at 20% to 50% off. Just click over to my Stampin Up website to check out the specials and order!

Here comes Susie Snowflake

I can't post what I'm *really* working on these days, because it's for a Secret Sister 12 days of Christmas surprise! And if she saw it on my blog, well, it wouldn't really be a surprise *or* a secret, now would it? {wink}

This is an ornament sample I made from a round chipboard coaster. I saw the idea on a blog somewhere that the large scalloped circle *just* peeks out from behind those coasters! How fabulous is *that*????

I covered the coaster (4 inch circle, medium weight) with Designer Paper. Tombo Multi Glue 110755 is my favorite glue for this. Glue a ribbon hanger on the back of the coaster NOW. Don't wait till later, 'cause then you'll be cussing and . . . well, anyway. Trust me.

Then I cut the large scalloped circle (113468) from Old Olive cardstock to go behind it. Cut the larger scallop circle from Scallop Circle #2 (113469) in DSP and layer on top. I felt like my Snow Flurry needed some bling, so I dotted it with the Multi glue and gave it a bath in Dazzling Diamonds glitter (102023)! It's a little hard to see in the photo, but trust me. In fact, if you were the stampin' CSI, you would *still* find glitter all over me and my craft room. {smile}

More Christmas Tags!

We made these tags at Stamp Club! The Rudolph tag was designed by Mercedes Weber. The snowflake tag is all me. LOL

Still, still, still

This is the card we made (by request) last night at Stamp Club. It is totally cased from my friend Angie, whom I met at Convention! Thanks, Angie! You can't see it in the photo, but the trees are all glittery!

There are actually two techniques: shadow stamping and moonlighting. We first stamped the image from Lovely As a Tree in Night of Navy Craft ink, then applied Iridescent Ice EP and heated. Then we re-stamped the image (without re-inking) slightly offset, to give the shadow. Our mask is made from the 1 3/4" circle punch, and we applied it where we wanted our "moon." Then we added Navy Classic ink with a stampin sponge. We layered onto Basic Gray cardstock, added a ribbon to the card base, and popped up the focal image with dimensionals.

Wow, that's a big alphabet!

What kind of crazy person pays $150 for an alphabet die set??? You guessed it--ME! I have myself convinced that it will pay for itself soon, so we shall see. LOL

This is my first project with it--for December's Gift Buffet. Click on over to my other blog if you'd like to see the other projects. But most of them will appear here *eventually*. I love this frame! It's going to look really pretty on my wall in December.

The frame is from Walmart, although I can't seem to find anymore, which could be a problem. The letters are cut from textured Real Red cardstock, then rubbed in Versamark and embossed with Iridescent Ice embossing powder. I added some Dazzling Diamonds glitter to the snowflakes with my Mono Multi glue. the little snowflake has Chunky Glitter in the middle. The "snow" at the bottom of the frame is Martha Stewart Snow Glitter, applied with Crystal Effects.

Another Birthday!

Nine years ago, after a long wait, our sweet baby Madelyn was born! She was our first homebirth, and my easiest birth by far. She weighed exactly 7 pounds!



Now she is practically grown up--she loves High School Musical and Little House on the Prairie. {grin} Her best friend is Hailey, and their favorite thing to do is have tea parties! We are so glad to have our Maddy!

Bag o' Tags

I am really enjoying the Level 2 hostess set Deer Friends this time of year! It is so easy to make adorable tags with it! This was a hostess gift for last month's stamp club meeting. And isn't that striped ribbon YUMMY????


Stamps: Deer Friends
Paper: Whisper White, Riding Hood Red, Old Olive, Ski Slope DSP
Ink: Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Old Olive
Accessories: Scallop Circle punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, slot punch, Word Window punch, dimensionals, small cello bag, 1 1/4" striped grosgrain, gold cord

What's on your plate for Christmas???

It was harder than I thought to get a decent picture of this! But I think it would look even better with cookies on it. :-) This will be one of the projects for the Christmas Gift Buffet!

Stamps: Snow Swirled
Ink: Staz On White
Accessories: Clear plate

I bet you didn't know I was SWISS

Sorry, I've been a bad blogger and haven't posted in a few days. I did post twice last Wednesday, though, so maybe that gave me extra credit. {wink} I used to love extra credit. It's a lot harder to come by at my age. LOL

One reason I've been "away" is that we held our Southwest Idaho Splitcoast Swap (SWISS) last night! It was great fun, and we always have wonderful projects. Twenty of us got together for pizza, chocolate, and stamping. What could be better? Here is my uber-simple card for SWISS. You can't see it in this photo, but there's a strip of Kiwi Kiss along the bottom of the inside of the card.




Stamps: Thank You Kindly
Paper: Tangerine Tango, Chocolate Chip, Kiwi Kiss, Frosty Day DSP
Ink: Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Chocolate Chip 1/4" grosgrain, Scallop Edge punch, Paper Piercer

It's a birthday girl!

This is Emily. She is child #3 out of 6. She is strong. She is beautiful. She is funny. And now, she is 14 years old! She loves theater--she was in "Once Upon a Mattress" this past summer, and she is in rehearsals for Laura Ingalls in "A Laura Ingalls Christmas." She has also developed quite a gift for photography, so she requested a camera for her birthday! I wonder if I can talk her into doing all my pictures from now on. {wink}

My little baby Emily. It's always so sad to see my kids grow out of being my babies, but so exciting to see them become young adults with abilities and interests I could never have anticipated. Love you, Emma!

Time for Swaps, and Time for Cheer

I love Christmas! Right up until about December 15 or so, and then I'm done. LOL But in October and November, Christmas is at the top of my list! So of course, I couldn't resist joining Jami's Christmas Swap! And who doesn't love a Christmas pocket card???



I cut out the holly stamp and covered the "berries" with Real Red brads. Then the holly is popped up with dimensionals on the tab. On the pocket, I used Jumbo Brads and then secured the flap to the pocket with dimensionals.


Stamps: Christmas Classics
Paper: Baja Blue, Real Red, Old Olive, Whisper White, Ski Slope DSP
Ink: Versamark, Old Olive
Accessories: Silver EP, Scallop Edge punch, paper piercer, Jumbo Brads--pewter, Old Olive 5/8" grosgrain, silver cord, silver brads, Real Red brads, Round Tab punch, corner rounder, dimensionals

Star Light, Star Bright, first ornaments I see tonite . . .

Have you checked out the Star Bright Ornament kit??? It's very fun! The members of my stamp club got to make at least one of each ornament, just for fun! There are different sizes and shapes of stars, which I plan to use to decorate presents. They are so easy--just fold on the score lines, and you're ready to go. The other ornaments are just as fun. Give this kit a try! It would make a great ornament party for kids or adults!