Merry Christmas!!

Wow! Was your holiday as crazy, hectic, and wonderful as ours was? I sure hope so. The kids had so much fun and got so many wonderful things. Jaydin was really into presents and lights this year. She loved Santa, even. I was a little surprised at how much she loved him.

Anyway, here's a paint can that I made for my mil and fil for Christmas. It was filled to the rim with lots of chocolate! What do you think? I used patterned paper behind the snowflake and a great snowflake brad for the center. The snowflake was cut using the new Cricut Design Studio Software and my Cricut. It's about 5.5 inches tall and cut from the Doodlecharms cart. I was able to not cut the other 3 snowflakes on that keystroke by enlarging the one to take up all of the space. I love that software!!!



Here's the top of the can ....



A couple of other pictures from the holidays .....

My family on Christmas Eve. Mark's family on Christmas Eve.




Jonah is helping Jaydin hold baby Caitlyn. Caitlyn looks like a little doll, doesn't she???? :)

Jared holding baby Caitlyn.

And Jonah holding baby Caitlyn, too.







One last picture .... The spirit of Christmas captured in a child's eyes.

Merry Christmas. May God bless each of you with a great, big, beautiful tomorrow. :)

Christmas Cards and Graduation ....

I've been working hard today. We have a graduation party to go to on Saturday. A friend is graduating and will be a 2nd grade teacher very soon!!! How exciting for her!! Anyway, here is her card .....
I used some designer paper from The Slab that I bought the other day. The image was gotten at Michael's (Big Idea, I think) and the Congrats was in one of the Studio G $1 stamp sets. It was stamped in Stazon and colored with Watercolor Wonder Crayons and the Aquapainter.


I won't get cards made for all of my friends and family, but I did get them done for the active Quackers and my Cricuteers. I sure hope they like them. They aren't very fancy, but I thought they turned out kind of neat. The vellum behind the image is embossed through the Cuttlebug (yeah, Robyn ..... I *AM* enjoying it .... :) ) with the snowflake folder. The image is stamped with Going Gray and Brillant Blue. I used stamps from 3 different sets - Solemn Stillness, City of David, and .... the one where you can make your own snowman. I can't remember the name. Sorry. The card base is the new Basic Gray.



And last, but definitely NOT least ... my elfee gift!!!!!! This is from Joan B. Such WONDERFUL goodies!!!!! Thank you SO much Joan. I can't wait to use all of the great things you sent. This picture doesn't show the cute little cards and envies that she sent, but they are in there. Everything is so cool.

I Apologize!!

It's been quite a while since I've blogged. I apologize!! Things have been a little nuts around here - along with a little drama on SCS. The drama is over, but the nutty life goes on. LOL!!

Sooooooo ... last week, we had our Quacker Secret Sister reveal night. Woohoo!! My QSS was Yami, and she did a great job! Here's my 'loot!' LOL!!


She made an awesome book box ..... opens like a book, but is box-like on the inside.


Great stuff, huh??? Yep. I totally agree.



Last Friday, my family went to Stone Mountain for their Christmas celebration. We had a great time .... see .......
Jaydin just marched herself right up to Santa and sat on his lap. We were really quite shocked.


Then, she told him she wanted a butterfly for Christmas. Can you see me rolling my eyes?????








Soooooo, who can resist this face????? She had a great time seeing all of the fun Christmas things. I'm LOVING these earmuffs on her. No, we did NOT buy them. We're in Georgia, people! How often would she wear *earmuffs*????






Yep ... 4D movie time. The Polar Express .... and she LOVED it. She kept her glasses on most of the time. She really enjoyed seeing Santa, but wasn't thrilled with them spitting water on us ....... *several* times.





The family gathered for a picture with Santa. As we did, the decorations on the mantle at Santa's house came tumbling down. At least we all smiled! LOL!! It was good to have Rachel in there with us. :)






Some time ago, I posted a card that I made for a friend having a birthday in November. I kept asking, but she never received the card. Well .... I found out why.
I guess she doesn't want it now. :(


Christmas is coming. More pictures, more cards, more fun! Will check in later. Have an awesome week.

Love The Challenges

I've gotten most of the things done for the Quackers' November challenges, but I had put off the vellum challenge. I worked on it last night. I used vellum cardstock - a bit thicker than regular vellum - and ran it through the Cuttlebug. I also use some of the new, SU, basic gray paper. Oooooh! I like that stuff!! Nice color and nice effect. With the vellum over it, the cards looks almost silver. That's kind of cool.



I used some designer paper that I got yesterday to layer behind the whisper white. Such cute paper!!! It's the Flowers For You pack from SU. The stamp used is from Oh, So Lovely - an SU level 1 hostess set (also new). Last, but not least, I used the new, pretty in pink, taffeta ribbon from SU to embellish it and along with a little bit of Crystal Stickles around the edges of the flowers. Basically, I used a bunch of new stuff!! Tooooooo much fun! The flowers are colored with the Watercolor Wonder Crayons and the Aquapainter.

What do you think about it?


Hmmmmmm ..... that vellum would look really good embossed with snowflakes.........

Pay It Forward!!!!

Isn't it fun to get goodies in the mail???? Yeah, baby! Thanks to a friend's blog, I'm playing Pay It Forward. Here's the way it works ....

The first three people who comment on this blog will get a package of goodies from me. The catch - those people must be in the US, be willing to do the same for 3 other people, and have a blog on which you will share this opportunity with others. So ... if you want to play, simply comment on this post and include your email address and blog address. I will email you for your snail mail address and get a package out to you this week!! Then, when you get your package from me, play the game on your blog so that 3 others get some great goodies. That's all there is to it!


Now .... what did I get in my package?? I knew you'd want to know!! Here's a picture of all of my goodies from Robyn.



Let me tell you that the cards in the picture are ABSOLUTELY adorable!!!!! She probably means for me to actually USE them, but ....I really can't see it happening. They are so cute.


Later this week, I will post about Thanksgiving. I want all of you to be thinking of what you're thankful for!!!


Have a great week, my friends!!!!

Experimenting

Don't you just love the Cricut???? Another Quacker challenge needed to be met, so why should I meet it alone?? My Cricut joined me, and together, we made some cute little ornaments. These meet the non- card challenge on the thread and might be something that I can refine and use for other things. Please let me know what you think. I really thought they turned out pretty cute.


The snowman ornament was the first one. His base is cut from SU silver paper using Mini Monograms (the reason that I don't want the scallop punches!) at 4 1/2, I think. Before the snowman was cut, I used the Cricut marker to draw him out. I reloaded the paper, and the snowman was cut from Whisper White using Christmas cheer. It was cut at 3 1/2 and colored using the SU watercolor crayons and the AquaPainter. I used silver cord for the hanger and for a little band around his hat. Red grosgrain ribbon is tied on the bottom and snowflakes are stamped in Basic Black on the base.




The base for the tree ornament is cut the same as the snowman. I used the marker again before I cut the tree. I just love that effect. The tree is cut from Whisper White using Christmas Cheer and colored with SU watercolor crayons. Punched dots adorn the background to give it a little interest. Red grosgrain ribbon, white grosgrain ribbon, and silver cord are tied to the bottom. A few little dots of Stickles were used to make the tree sparkle just a little.



Let me know if these have any worth. I think that I would do a little more to them in the future, but I didn't have the energy tonight. The idea is set in my mind, though ...... :)


Have a good night's rest ..... and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

Buggy Birthdays

I'm not sure why, but I have just *had* to use my ladybugs lately. I didn't realize it until just now, but 3 of the 4 cards I've made in the last couple of days were with those little critters.


I made a birthday card for my cousin. I started with some watercolored flowers. I made them pink with a yellow center. The ladybug kind of ran a little bit, but it's fine. The flowery strip of paper on the side is a piece from DCWV. The mats start with night of navy in the back. White mulberry paper comes next. On top of that is pretty in pink. I think the mulberry really softens the overall look. Whisper white is used for the main image. Everything is stamped using watercolor wonder crayons (LOVE those things). Oh, a little bashful blue watercoloring is done around the edges of the main card.


Red ladybugs .... That's the way they are suppose to be, right?? Ok ... that's this card. It's watercolored, too ...... I'm sensing a trend here ..... but stamped in black Staz-On first. The set Because of You was retired last year from SU after only one year in the catty. It's a shame because it's such a great set. Real red and basic black were used for mats. The real red was stamped with the little flower backgrounds from Because of You. Topping off the card is a red ribbon and an adorable little ladybug brad.


Blue bugs???? Yeah, ok.... So they usually aren't blue, but I really thought this card turned out cute. I made it for a friend. I need to send her some goodies, and I thought this card might be nice to send with them. I really, really love how the mulberry paper looks on the brown behind the blue. I used Little Lady on this one with the SU inks bashful blue and close to cocoa. The little Primas made this card a little more special. I used little brown brads for the centers. This card fits for one of the November Quacker Challenges (use blue and brown on a card).




A little of my life.....I've been sick for the last week. I'm not sure what it is, but it's knocking me out. Unfortunately, Jaydin has gotten a little bit of it, too. She seems to be better today, though. I wanted to share a funny picture of her. I laugh every time I look at it.

The title for this picture is ..... Where's are you?? That's what Jaydin says when she's looking for someone. It's SO cute when kids come up with little things that aren't *quite* right.







One last shot - This one is "Whassup?!"









Ok ... that's it for today. Have an awesome night and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!!!

Baby, Baby, Baby!

I love babies - don't you?! So soft and sweet. Tomorrow, we're giving my niece (more like my sister, though) a shower for her coming baby girl. I have been working and working on the centerpieces and the guest book for tomorrow.


This is the guest book. I have designed it to also be a place to put the gifts she receives and a journal for baby Caitlyn. Her theme for everything is frogs, so I have a little frog on the front. I really, really hope she likes this. I made it with only her in mind. The frog, crown, circle and scalloped circle are all cut using the Cricut. I love that thing. I printed the title after I made a template. I used my computer and printer for that. The tabs on the inside mark the guest spot, gift registry, and baby journal portions. I printed the titles on the same colored cardstock as the title and punched them out using the SU round tab punch. I think I like the way it turned out.


These are the centerpieces. I used those green, florists' bricks. I covered them in pink tissue paper and used popsicle sticks to hold up the little baby things. I stuck more tissue paper in the bricks along with the sticks and the curling ribbon. All of the baby items were cut using the Cricut. I have some other things to put around the table, so it shouldn't look too barren. We'll see. I also have a button on there for the new mommy. It says "It's a Girl." We don't have a corsage for her, so I thought the button might be nice. I hope she has a great time.




Now ..... I cannot WAIT to hold that precious baby!!!!!!!!!!!


Have an awesome weekend.

Posting a Card!!!

Yep. I'm actually posting a *card* today! Yippee! I needed to make some for upcoming birthdays. I'll post one today and others later.



I made this card for a church friend of mine. She's our church pianist (AWESOME pianist, too!!!!!) and a high school choral teacher. I try to involve music in the cards that I do for her. Her birthday is today. This is a Criss Cross card (tutorial on SCS!!!) and is tons of fun to make. This one is fairly simple. I used Sahara Sand as the base and for the tab. Basic Black is the back for the Whisper White inside card. The treble clef (from Musical Masterpiece, I think??) is stamped in Going Grey on the Whisper White. I rounded all the corners on the inside piece and used the round tab punch for the pull-tab. A little, red button accents the tab along with a piece of white, organdy ribbon. A really cute music note brad accents the front of the pocket. I sure hope she likes it!!

The first time that I cut the designer-type paper for this, I cut it wrong. It wouldn't work any way that I did it. I'm still not sure what in the world I did wrong. LOL! Oh well. I will pay more attention next time! LOL!

Happy Stamping, my friends!!!

October Family Fun Day

Woohoo!! What *great* weather we had for our day this month. Jonah chose to go to Rock Ranch about an hour and a half south of us. It's owned by Truett Cathy and is an awesome place to go have some fun - for very little money. The kids had a great time - well, 2 of them, anyway. Jared was bored, but ... he *is* 16. This picture was made just after we got there. You can't tell what the weather is, yet, but you'll see ....

Jonah decided that first up was a volleyball game. Now, I've not played volleyball in *years* ... and YEARS. The funny thing, though, was that I owned the guys in the game!! In the beginning, it was Jonah and Mark against .... me. They never got a point!!! Then, Jared got in and took on Mark and me ..... he never got a point, either. It was fun, but I got pretty tired out pretty quick. I am SO outta shape. :( But .... in the picture, you can see how GREAT the day was. Pretty, huh??



So .... the Princess had a blast. She loved seeing - and touching all of the animals. She's looking through the fence at the miniature horses.





And here, she stands with her new friend, Mufasa. What a GORGEOUS dog. He's only a year old and soooooo soft. He's a show dog and such a sweetie. We really enjoyed seeing him. Jaydin doesn't like touching the head, though. She prefers the end with no teeth.... :)


And then, she got on the horse. She loves riding horses. I really need to start teaching her "heels down," though!!!! I'm hoping that will continue and that she and I can enjoy that when she's older (and I'm old....er). Now, keep in mind that each activity was included in the price of admission at this wonderful place - and it only cost $34 for all 5 of us to get in. Oh ... this horse's name was "Tot." His brother's name was .... "Tater." :)






Ah ... do I need to say anything about this one?? I just love seeing the boys interact with her. They are SO good with her, and she loves them so much.




I know ... you are quite tired of the pictures. I have a ton of them, though. I had so much fun taking pics on this gorgeous day, and I have so many that I can share. She's just being silly here. I love it.










What a serious face ... would you believe it was a prelude to laughter??? It really was. It took a little bit to get a smile, but the smile was more akin to giggles. LOL!!






Ok ..... last one. Here' she is ... my little pumpkin princess!!! One of the pumpkins in this patch was missing, so I filled the spot with one much cuter than the others. And what a face she made. Goodness.





Ok ... that's all the pictures for now. I will try to have some cards next time. I made one today, but sealed it up before I remembered that I wanted to post it here. Sorry!!! I'm hoping I can create some tonight after dinner - going out for my mom's birthday. Happy Birthday, Mom!!!!!

Have a great, big, beautiful tomorrow.

Challenged By Quacks

World Cardmaking Day!!! Woohoo!!! How fun can it get?

Several weeks ago, my Quacker friends on SCS came up with the idea to have several challenges for today's occasion. We came up with 7 challenges -

#1 Create a card using s
omething received in our last QSS (Quacker Secret Sister) swap or something you bought the last time you were at your local craft/scrapping/stamp store.

#2 Create a card using a die cut.

#3 Create a card using something that you've not used in a very long time.

#4 Create a card using the Reverse Masking technique.

#5 Create a card using just black, white, and *one* other color.

#6 Create a card depicting your favorite movie or TV show.

#7 Create a Criss Cross card.


These were *great* fun, and I am thrilled that I was able to be involved in the group and the challenges.

Ok ... so down to the actual creating!!

The first card that I made used die cuts. TI used Paper Dolls to cut the cute little crown and Mini Monograms to cut the "thanks". The faux ticket-punched corners were done using a small circle punch and only putting in part of the corner. Since I don't have the ticket corner punch, this works well for the effect. The adorable brad on the crown was gotten in a pack of 20 for $1 at the Target $ Spot. You can't tell it, but the eggplant background is stamped with Versamark using the Linen background stamp. I did 20 of these cards to use as thank you notes for Jaydin's birthday gifts.



This card meets three of the challenges - challenge #1, 3 and 5. I used just black, white, and pink on this card and did it with the fight against breast cancer on my mind. I used Loving Hearts and Hope Is (haven't used that one is a loooooong time!!!) for my stamp sets on this one. The circle was cut at 3 1/2 inches on my Cricut using the George cartridge. I punched slots for the ribbon on the heart, and I stamped only the word 'hope' from the sentiment in the Hope Is set. The beautiful rhinestone brad was one of several sent to me in the last QSS swap. I rounded off the right corners just to give it a little more interest.




The Reverse Masking card was fun. I first cut a template using my Cricut ... yeah, he got used a fair amount today!!! .... and the Mini Monograms cartridge. I chose the scalloped square, just to be a little different. I put the template over my piece of whisper white and held it down with temporary adhesive. Then, I stamped the tree on the right side using Old Olive ink and the horse on the left side using basic brown. I sponged the blue and green on the top and bottom to make the mask show a little more. Using the SU distressing tool, I distressed the white and used Creamy Caramel directly on the edges. Antique-type brads were used on the corners to hold the white to the brown mat. All of that was placed on the Garden Green and embellished with black hemp twine and an acorn (cut using the Cricut and the Doodlecharms cartridge at 1 1/2 - I think).




Wow. I had so many ideas running around in my head about the challenge depicting my favorite movie or TV show. I ended up with this ... concoction. I wasn't sure if I liked the way it look, but I think that I do now. I used a layer of Sahara Sand stamped with several stamp sets - Artifacts, an SU incentive set, Print Patterns, and Doodle That. They were stamped using Sahara Sand ink and Versamark. Sometimes I stamped off the Sahara Sand to get a lighter effect. The clock from Artifacts was stamped on acetate (non-SU) in Versamark and heat embossed in SU gold. When the heat hit the acetate, the acetate turned brown. I thought it was ruined, but when I put it over the Sahara Sand, I really liked the effect. I added the brads and beat them with the hammer a little bit and added the little lock (stamped on gold using basic brown ink) with another brad (again, beat with a hammer - GREAT when you're a little frustrated ....). This card depicts the new show "Journeyman" that comes on Monday nights. The main character travels through time - thus the time theme.




The last card that I made today was the Criss Cross card. What fun!!! I used the tutorial on SCS (made by the fantastic Beate) and had a blast! I started out planning to do a Christmas card, but thought about some great paper that I picked up at Michael's a while back. The ladybug/dotted paper is Martha Stewart paper, and I love it!! It's so cute!!! I also used the Little Lady set by Papertrey Ink and some wonderful Prima flowers. The base of my card is Chocolate Chip, and the base of the insert is Creamy Caramel. I used the round tab punch, corner rounder, and the word window punch on the insert, too. This one might have just been my favorite ..... Too much fun!


I hope that all of you celebrated World Cardmaking Day by making lots of cards. If not, start tomorrow with the challenges the Quackers used! I'd love to see what you come up with!! If you take the challenge - Comment on this post with a link to your creations.



Happy WCMD!!!!

Blog Candy for a Cause

Please check out this blog for information on a family in need of some special prayer and some special cards. There's some great blog candy, too .... but that's not why I'm posting this. I think that sending the cards is so important. I can't imagine what this family is going through.

I pray for those 2 precious little girls and their family.

Blog Candy For A Cause

I pray for those 2 precious little girls and their family.

FIGHT Breast Cancer

You may have noticed my little button over to the right - I hope you have! So very many of us have been affected by cancer, and particularly breast cancer. I would bet that anyone that reads this has had or knows someone that has had breast cancer. If you want to help, just click under the button where it says "Join the fight" and copy the code into the template or profile of your blog. We need everyone to fight. I joined because Kathy Ostvig had the button on her site.

My 'someone' is my mom. She's the greatest!! In 1995, she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a radical mastectomy. It was SO hard on her, but she did it and got through it. I believe that she's a stronger person because of it, too. She doesn't like to talk about it (guess I can't blame her there), but I believe all of us should be aware of it and do whatever it takes to get rid of it for us and for our children. My mom has completely recovered from her experience with the cancer and certainly didn't let it beat her. She's a 12 year survivor - this month. Hooray for my mom!!!!! She's stronger than she ever knew and will ever admit.

I love you, Mom.

So .... for my mom and for the other incredible women out there, will you help FIGHT breast cancer?????








I think I will go make a pink card .......

What did you create this weekend?

Well, my little princess turned 2 on Saturday..... I spent the whole week last week planning and creating for her party. The picture up above is the birthday girl with the princess hat that she decorated at the party. The boys had crowns to do.


I had an area set up for the kids to build with blocks or to play dress up. There was a whole box full of fun dress up things for them. Jaydin seemed to love the hat, gloves and scarves. I think she looks mahhhh-velous!



This is her 'throne.' It seems that the little ones always want to help the birthday child unwrap gifts and explore his/her new treasures. This was the solution I came up with. Jaydin sat on her throne to unwrap, and the other kids stayed on the floor. It worked pretty well.





Last year, we showed a slideshow of pictures from her first year. This year, I decided to make a collage board of pictures from the last year. Wow. She has changed so much. She's not a baby anymore.




Goody, goody!!! The goody bags were personalized with a crown. With the ribbon on them, the crowns can be used for a door hanger or something similar. Along with the frames, treasure boxes, and hats/crowns they made, they had candy, a fairy princess (or a frog for the boys!!), and crayons in their bags.









The cakes ..... I hope you can tell that they are crowns. They are made out of cupcakes and iced as 2 full cakes. We ended up with only a few cupcakes left (especially after my pregnant niece took some home!!! LOL!!) and started with 68 on the two cakes combined. What do you think?? I thought they were pretty good for the first time I've ever made something like this. Now, keep in mind that I'm the Queen bee ... NOT the royal cake decorator....



Now ... it's time for us to rest. Jaydin slept for over 3 hours today. She's a tired little girl. I'd love to get time to make the thank you cards done this week, but there are other things that I need to do first. If I manage to get them designed, I will post them on here.



I forgot to mention ...... we had *50* people at this party ..... yes, at a 2 year old's party ......

Have a great night - and a great, big, beautiful tomorrow!