Thankful for...

   Well, hello there!  If you were wondering...I am still around!  Did you miss me?!!  I certainly missed all of you! :)  I needed to step away for a while to deal with some things that are going on in our personal lives.  Sometimes life throws a fastball at you and you have to muster up all of your strength and courage and dive in with both feet to handle it.  Well that it exactly what we are doing!  It occurred to me though the other day that I missed spending time here!  I mean really missed it, so guess what?!  I am back!  I have lots to share so bear with me while I play catch up!

   I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We sure did!  My son and soon to be D-I-L were able to make the 4 hour drive down to spend it with us!  We actually had 3 big Thanksgivings!  I just love Thanksgiving (It is really and truly my very favorite holiday!!) so that made me pretty darn happy!  Turkey x 3...sweet potato casserole x 3...pumpkin pie x 3...plus friends and family x 3!  Doesn't get much better than that!

    As silly as it sounds one of my favorite things about this time of the year is pumpkins!  I really LOVE pumpkins!  They are just so pretty and fun (and yummy!!).  To me they signify the end of Summer and the beginning of Fall.  I would grow my own pumpkin patch if I could!!  Since that is not really an option for me (only thing I have ever successfully grown is my children!) I made my own!  I must have made 30+ of these this year:

   

Here are a few from my little home crafted pumpkin patch:

 
We go to hubby's aunts house on Thanksgiving day and I usually take a small thank you hostess gift to her.
She is a fellow chocolate-o-holic so it normally involves some of that good stuff!  This is what I made for her this year:

I have seen variations of this scarecrow guy around, but never with legs! (If he is your original brainstorm please let me know so I can throw some credit your way!!)  I added those and tweaked him around a bit and then just fell in love with him!  The crop that he is watching over is this little box of chocolate  happiness! :)  I wound up making a second one of these for my soon to be D-I-L's family because I wanted them to know we are thankful for her and them as well!!  (She is a keeper!)

For our first Thanksgiving meal I made little place card holders to set on everyone's plates.  These were really fun to make:

A turkey parade:

Side view:

 Inside view:

 
I am truly thankful for so very much, but this is what I am most thankful for:

I am pretty crazy about these guys! :) :) :) :)

Ok, I didn't give any details about any of these projects due to the crazy length of this post, but if you made it all the way to the bottom of this post and want details or have questions just leave me a comment or zap me an e mail and I will be happy to clarify!

I will be back tomorrow with lots more to share!  Have a wonderful day!  Big hug!!

Frosty with some yummy treats!

  Hello and happy Monday! :)  I have the busiest week ahead of me this week!  Seems like I have a stuff going on every day through next Monday!  My poor planner may actually be a bit heavier from all the ink!  LOL  We have four Halloween functions coming up (one of which I have to plan and throw!).  I have a Stamp Club  (woohoo!!  LOVE these!) meeting this week!  Gymnastics 4 x...soccer 3 x...a physical therapy appt (which I am not loving by the way!), a family dinner, a soccer end of  the season party and an anniversary!  Hubby and I have been married 20 years this week!  So if anyone would like to volunteer to come help make my life easier this week I will be happy to re-pay you in chocolate!  Big grin! :)

  Ok, on to the fun project I promised!!  We had the best time at my demo meeting this weekend!!  I just love this bunch of girls!!  Everyone is so fun and wonderful!  We always make the neatest things and this time was no exception!  Jo did our make and take and this is what she brought:

Is this not the cutest little snow guy you have ever seen????!!!!!  *thud...falls over!!!*  He is made from treat cups and a whole bunch of other fun SU! products!  But wait!!!  It gets better!!  Notice the gold cord?!  Take a look at this:

His hat brim comes off to reveal this:

And!!!! Then his whole hat comes off to reveal this:

And as if that were not enough!!  He lifts up to offer even more:

I just LOVED this project!  He was so fun to make!  Jo said that she found it on a blog, so if he is your original idea please let me know so I can give you credit!  He is just adorable!!

The particulars:
Paper: Basic Black, Old Olive and thick paper sheet from 12 x 12 packs fro base and hat brim
Ribbon: Real Red
Ink: Basic Black and Pumpkin Pie (nose and mouth)
Extras: Pearls, Black Rhinestones, buttons, 2 Step Bird punch (leaves), gold cording and treat cups (not SU!)
Adhesive: Sticky Strip, Mono, Glue Dots and Tombow

   Ok, I am off!  Have a wonderful day!  I will be back soonest with more to share! :)

Hello friend and some real beauties!

Hello! I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend! We have had a very full, but very nice weekend so far! We were on the soccer field at 8am yesterday...brrrrrrr!!!!! It was an awesome game though! We won 2-1 and all of the kids played really great! Gotta love that!

Then I had my monthly SU! demo meeting! It is always so nice to get together with this group of ladies! They are a lot of fun and there is so much talent in the group! I have the cutest project from the meeting to share with you tomorrow! For now though I have some other fun things to share!

This is a card that I made for a very sweet friend! I used the Top Note die and the Polka Dot embossing folder. These are two of my favorites toys tools! :) I also used the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder. I topped a few of the flowers with the pretty new Pearls from SU! Lots of textures on the card to give it interest!

The deets:

Stamps: Water Color Trio
Paper: Wild Wasabi, Pink Pirouette and Whisper White
Ink: Wild Wasabi
Extras: Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Elegant Bouquet Embossing Folder and  Pearls

   This is a bag topper minus its bag!  I did not have a project in mind when I put this together!  I was just playing with some of the scraps on my table and this came together!  It will grow up to top a bag one day soon though! :) It  uses the same colors as above plus the Scallop Circle, 2 Step Bird and Three Flower punches.  Funny how something so simple can require so many toys  tools!

  This next photo is of my oldest daughter!  She was out snapping pictures of our driveway (which is just screaming Fall right now!!) and took a self portrait!  Isn't she beautiful?!

   Finally, here are a couple of the photos she snapped of our driveway:

I happen to think she has a great eye for photography!  It is amazing to me how some people see the world through different eyes!  She gets her talent from my amazing mom who happens to be the WORLD'S BEST photographer!

   Ok, well I have about a ba-zillion things to do today so I am off!  I hope you thoroughly enjoy the rest of the weekend! :)  I will be back tomorrow with an adorable project to share!

Paper Princess October Challenge!!!

Hey there! Happy Wednesday! It is time for another Paper Princess Challenge! One group of paper Princesses faces off against the other group in a card challenge! It was my turn to host for our group and so I sent everyone a card kit to assemble! The hostesses from each group coordinate the theme together and Melina (waves like mad!!) and I decided on punch art! I assembled these cute puppies for everyone in my group. She is not my original design so if you happen to be the creator please let me know so I can give you credit! She is adorable!! Here is my card:



Check out the cards of the other lovely ladies on my team:

Moira
April
Colleen
Lesley

And the lovely ladies we are competing against:

Nancy
Melanie
Terria
Melina

Lots of talent in these groups! Be sure to check them all out! Ok, I am off to get my day started! Going to be a full one! Have a wonderful day! I will be back soonest!

New Toy!

Hello! Hello! Hello! So sorry to be MIA, but I dropped my laptop and it began to die a slow sad death! I am so excited to share though that I have a shiny new one and the super exciting part is that it is PINK!! I love, love, love it! Hubby thought I was a fruit loop for wanting pink, but it is oh so pretty and it makes me so happy! He has been sweet enough to migrate all my goodies over from my old laptop to my new one and get everything all caught up and updated! (Thank you, Cory!)
I added some bling (because well...that is what I doooooo!) and am in love! Here is my new toy:



Also, thought I would share a little card I made for a friend who is having a tough time. It is a simple card so I am going to skip the details, but if you have any questions just holler! Here is my card:



Hope it helps to brighten her day! I will be back soonest with more to share! Have a wonderful night!

All About Me...

Hello! Quick post tonight! I worked on a challenge today that is way over due in one of my challenge groups! The challenge was to make a 6 X 6 scrapbook page "All About Me!". I went with one of my favorite color combos and added a puppy and kitty on the bottom corner. I ran the background through the polka dot embossing folder and added lots of sparkle and fluttering butterflies. Then added my initial with a pink gingham bow and a couple of bright pink brads to pull it all together! Here is my all about me page:



A close up of the butterfly:


Hope that you have a wonderful night! I will be back soonest!

A simple thanks!

Hello and Happy Monday! I have a simple card to share today! I made it because I am feeling especially thankful. I am very fortunate to have so many wonderful people in my life and today I am feeling the need to stop and smell those roses! There are lots of little mini disasters that happen in our every day lives and we learn to deal with them and move on, but sometimes big, bad, scary things happen and they are harder to deal with and move on. I have been following the blog of a woman who I have never met, but who I 'feel' like I know. ((Isn't it funny how attached to people we get that we have never even met?!)) She is having a rough time right now due to some personal issues and my heart is breaking for her. It has made me appreciate things in my own life even more than I try to a regular old day. So, today I am feeling simply thankful for so very many reasons and this is my card:



Also, happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!! Enjoy the day!! I will be back soonest with more to share!

Tag...you're it!

Hello! Another successful weekend under our belts! Lots going on and lots accomplished! I love productivity almost as much as I love creativity! :)

I wanted to share the birthday tag I made to go with yesterdays birthday card. I used the carnation flower technique but with the X-Large flower punch instead of the spiral circle. Worked like a charm! Not sure whose idea it was originally, but I love it!! 8 layers and a brad later I had a beautiful flower! I mixed the colors to give it some pop and I used Cuttlebug dies to cut the letters out. Here is the finished tag:



A close up of the flower:


I have made an effort to spend a little bit of time every day this month doing some sort of craft project! I think it has been good for me! Being creative is good therapy! If you haven't done anything crafty today I encourage you to take some time out of your day and go for it! Set a 20 minute timer and make someone special a card or work on a scrapbook page! You will be glad you did! :) Have a crafty day! I will be back soonest!

Hey there! How is your Saturday going? Very well, I hope! We have had a really good day here! My kids had a soccer game this morning and then we spent most of the day hanging out with friends that were having a yard sale. My youngest daughter set up shop to sell some of her crafts! She is quite the little entrepreneur and has started her own earring making business! I am super proud of her! She had a very lucrative day!!

I had just enough time to come home and make a birthday card for a party my kids will be attending tomorrow. The bday girl is a very happy, sweet, bouncy, bubbly girl so I wanted her card to be happy and sunshine-y too! Her favorite color is green so I used green as the base and used the Daisy #2 die to add some bright, happy flowers! I added one to the inside too! Here is her card:



The inside:


Paper: Garden Green, Certainly Celery, Daffodil Delight and Whisper White
Extras: Daisy #2 die, Polka Dot Embossing Folder, Daffodil delight ribbon and Pop Dots

Enjoy your Saturday! :) I will be back tomorrow with another project!

A happy Fall day at 65 mph!!

Hello! Friday...yay!! I was determined to squeeze making a card into my very full day today and I am giddy to say that I was able to do it!! So what that I had to make it going down the road at 65mph! LOL I wasn't driving though so it was ok! We have gymnastics tonight which meant a 50 minute drive to get there and then we are headed to a college soccer game after wards so you see my only choice was to stamp on the run!! I discovered that it can be done! I literally grabbed a handful of stuff heading out the door and just went for it when I got in the car! This is what I came up with:



I sponged the oval cut outs with Tangerine Tango and used the word window punch for the pumpkin stems and the cross pieces of fence. The vertical fence pieces are from the Modern Label punch. I sponged the ground from a green marker rather than stamp pad because that is what I had. Worked out ok! The sentiment is from the Apple Blossom stamp set. This card feels like Fall to me and that makes me happy! :)

Ok, I am blogging from a coffee shop and my cup is about empty so that is my cue to pack it up! I hope that you have a wonderful start to your weekend! Enjoy the day to it's fullest and do something you love (even if you have to do it at 65mph!). I will be back soonest! :)

Proud of you!

Hello there! Happy Thursday! What a week! Wowzers! We have been on the go all week long! Between gymnastics and soccer and home schooling and it's activities and doctors visits and general running and errands and stamping (a girl has to have some fun!) we have been in a tizzy! LOL Not quite sure which way is up anymore!

I did manage to eek out just a few minutes today to make a little something! My oldest daughter is taking college classes along with finishing up her senior year in high school. She has been working really hard lately and doing really well with her studies! I am especially proud of her and wanted to make her a teeny little something to let her know! I thought a little book marker would be perfect! She really likes penguins so I chose a stamp from Tag Along and covered the "to and from" with tape when I dipped it onto the ink pad and peeled off the tape before I stamped it! Worked like a charm! :) I stamped the little pink penguin twice and added the second one on top with a pop dot to really make her stand out! Here is the book mark I made for her:



Stamps: Tag Along
Paper: Basic Black, Rose Red and Whisper White
Ink: Basic Black and Pretty in Pink
Extras: Pop dots

Tyler, I love you oodles and am very proud of you!

Have a wonderful night! I will be back soonest! :)

Another thank you or two!

Hello! Happy Wednesday! I needed to make some happy, fun little thank you cards to put in my stamp club orders and this is what I came up with:





I used the polka dot folder for the background and the center of the flower. I used the Top Note die for the folding part of the card and the Daisy #2 die for the flower. I like the way they came out and plan to use the design again.

Stamps: Happy Occasions
Paper: Cherry Cobbler, Whisper White and Daffodil Delight
Ink: Cherry Cobbler

Have a great night! I will be back soonest! :)