Merry Christmas!

Well, no projects to post, but I felt like saying Merry Christmas to everyone that visits my blog. I'm so excited for tomorrow, I LOVE giving presents and I think I got my husband a pretty good one that he wouldn't have expected, and I think the girls will like what they get. Most of their presents are from my parents, but Santa and Mommy and Daddy should score pretty well with them too :) I'm so thankful that we have been blessed such as we have to be able to provide gifts to our girls, and our friends and family. We have such wonderful family and friends, and we're so thankful for them. I hope that each of you is able to enjoy time this season with those that you love and care about. I also hope that each of us can really take our Saviour's example to heart and help those less fortunate, or those that just need a little lift in their day. Even the small gestures of kindness, compliments to others, or a helping hand can make a world of difference in the day of someone else. I am so thankful for my Savior, and the knowledge that I have of Him. I hope that the Spirit will touch each of you this season, and whether you believe in Him or not, we can all strive to be better people and to help others. That is how we can truly be happy. So, merry Christmas everyone!! I hope to post before the new year, but take care until then.

I'm Famous!

Well, kinda, sort of, not really, but maybe just a little! :) I sent in two cards to Stampin' Up!'s October contest under a "Ho, Ho, Holidays" theme, and while they didn't win, one (at least so far) made it onto Stamper's Showcase where they display some of the cards that are sent in to them. It sure made my day start off great! Here's what they displayed:

LOVELY AS A TREE STAMP SET (101223)

Stamps:
WARM WORDS STAMP SET
Paper:
CARD STOCK CRANBERRY CRISP 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK TRUE THYME 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK VERY VANILLA 8 1/2X11
CARD STOCK GLOSSY WHITE 8 1/2X11

Inks:
CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL CRANBERRY CRISP
CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD CRANBERRY CRISP
CLASSIC STAMPIN INK REFILL TRUE THYME
CLASSIC STAMPIN PAD TRUE THYME
ENCORE INK REFILL GOLD
VERSAMARK PAD

Accessories:
STAMPING SPONGES
STAMPIN EMBOSS POWDER DETAIL GOLD
PUNCH HANDHELD 1/16 INCH CIRCLE
BRADS GOLD
RIBBON STITCHED GROSGRAIN CRANBERRY CRISP 1/4 INCH

Comments:
Marbeling technique was used to create background image for card.

I know it seems silly, but it sure is exciting to be featured!!!

As promised, here are the projects we made in our Micro Bead class. I had a wide variety of experience with any kind of stamping in my class, so I tried to show different ways to use the micro beads, but not get too complicated so that everyone would have fun and enjoy the class. I'll describe each project. The first is the beaded pen we made. I use sticky sheet that I purchase at Penny Wise Arts and SU! paper and micro beads. These are fun projects, they're quick and easy, and end up so pretty!

The next project was a simple little card that we made featuring the small cards available in SU!'s Winter Mini catalog. We used Crystal Effects to adhere the micro beads to the heart that they stamped on Very Vanilla.

The next card we made featured placing micro beads (or any beads for that matter) on sticky strip to create a nice border or "strip" with texture, dimension and shine. I've used this card layout before and really like it, so I changed it up a bit by adding the beads for this class.

The last card we made was, of course, a shaker card. If you're going to use micro beads, you have to know how to make a shaker card with them or any other object that will fit between a foam layer and make that fun shaking sound! Here is the one that they made:

The last projects I'll show you today are a few more of the ornaments I made. I really like the darker colors best because the ball isn't as transparent with them. To answer Jenn's question, I use Classic Ink re-inkers, and basically after I turn them upside down (onto my stamp pad - carefully balanced) to drain - I figure why waste it in a glass? - then I immediately put in the glitter. I don't think you need to wait too long between draining and putting the glitter in, or you might not have as much glitter stick if the ink had dried some. Hope that helps!!!

This last picture is the best! It's my cute-girl Emma the day of her Christmas presentation at the Methodist Day-School where she goes to school 2 days per week. It was ADORABLE! They sang two songs, and it was just so cute!

Shameless Request

Well, I have a class that I'm getting ready for tonight - it's a Micro Bead class. I'll post what they're making tomorrow (hopefully). While I don't have any pictures to post now, I do have one request. I enjoyed the comments that were left when I first started my blog, and have noticed that even as people have subscribed in recent days, no one has left any comments. Now, I know people are reading because of my counter, but EVERYBODY likes to hear what people think about their work, or even just what they say, and I'm no different - especially when it's GOOD!!! So, if you have a second, when you view my different posts I would love it if you would take a second to let me know what you think - even if it's an older post. Thanks so much, take care, and wish me luck with my class tonight!!!

What I did ALL DAY today....

I have several projects that I needed to finish today, so my poor little girls saw more t.v. today than they've seen all month!!! I finished up two baby journal/books for a friend that had asked me to make them for her. They are pictured first. I covered the front of one of SU!'s On Board Journals. I also covered the two chipboard flowers on the front. Inside on the cover is a sheet that has all kinds of baby "firsts" to fill in. The very first page has the baby's birth info. Then, depending on the number of tabs needed - I insert a piece of patterned paper at the beginning of each tab which also coordinates with each month for the baby's first year, or in the case of Madelyn's journal, since she's already two, her tabs say "2 years", "2 1/2 years", "3 years", "3 1/2 years" and so on, up to age 4 1/2 years. I printed out the tabs on the patterned paper on my computer and then used my Sizzix to die cut the little tabs. I love that die!!!!! Here they are- 2 views of each so that you can see the tabs a little. I sure hope that Nicole enjoys them and that her girls do too when they're older!!!

The next picture is of some ornaments I made to give to friends. I finally got around to using the tutorial I posted on here a little while ago on how to make glitter ornaments. Just FYI - it took me around 25 drops to get the color to adequately coat the inside of the ornament. 20 wouldn't cover it. They were pretty easy to make, are so pretty, and sparkle a lot more in real life.

These last two pictures are of the two cards I made (14 each of - it was a 12 + 1 swap and I wanted one for myself) for a swap I'm in on SplitCoastStampers hosted by SCS'er JoAnne (jreks). I sure hope that the other swappers like them!!! I used the upcoming Sell-A-Brations stamp set Happy Harmony. I really like the sayings that come with it. You may not be able to tell due to my picture quality, but the paper on the Ruby Red and Chocolate Chip card with the image stamped on it is actually Whisper White, not Very Vanilla. The saying in bottom right of that same card says "It's the little things that make life big." I was inspired for the colors of this card and the layout by Debbie. You can check out her card on her blog : Thinking Inking I changed it up a little bit, but I've always loved this color combo and haven't used it in a while. Something else you can't see is that the piece of Chocolate Chip CS that is pierced was stamped with the Canvas BG stamp too.

Shoebox Swap Card

Some of my friends who are demos in the area and I had the idea to do another shoebox swap with each other featuring the Winter Mini catalog items. Well, here's the card I made. I thought that featuring the new small tag punch and also the stamp set Tagger's Dozen would be fun. I made this card rather quickly, so it's not perfect. I got the chance to go to a friend's house when she was having a come-and-go scrap. I had several things to get done, and didn't bring my markers but I thought I could still make this card even though a few of the dots under the butterflies got inked when I tried to avoid them. I figured that the ladies in the shoebox swap, with the right tools (I would supply my markers) wouldn't have this problem and theirs would look perfect! Well, I ended up flaking out of going to the swap last night because I didn't want to spread my germs - that cold is still lingering - but almost everyone else had things come up too, and only 2 or 3 ladies of the original 7 made it to the swap. Hopefully next time hubbies will be home to watch kiddos and we'll all be well. Shoebox swaps are TONS of fun - you should try one!!! For those of you unfamiliar with them, what you do is instead of just making a bunch of cards yourself for a swap, you make one, and then bring everything needed for all the participants in the swap to make it themselves. Everything you need usually fits in a shoebox sized container, thus the name shoebox swap. Clear as mud? Well, I hope you like my card. I LOVE the new small punch that makes layering tags so easy! My husband cut out hundreds of tags for the little gift tag bags that I made for that craft fair in the beginning of December, and he sure would have liked to have had this punch then!!!! At least he helped me - even if it meant that much cutting!!!! So here's my suspended tag card. The little tag in the window spins around in a circle on the thread it's hanging on. These cards are fun to make, and not that hard either. Enjoy!

Emma and Sarah's Ornaments

I remember back in pre-school making an ornament out of some glue, toothpicks, paint and glitter. So, here's my attempt at re-creating that opportunity for my girls. They started with a pool of Elmer's glue on wax paper. They each did EVERYTHING themselves (I had to help Sarah squeeze the bottle hard enough, but I didn't direct its flow) and I'm so proud :) Next, they laid toothpics in the glue to resemble the rays of the sun, or as we call this ornament, like a star. We had to let it dry overnight. Then, with WASHABLE poster paint (it ended up everywhere!) they painted their stars, and chose from between the only two colors I had - green and red. Emma chose red and Sarah chose green. After painting, while the paint was still wet, they sprinkled (dumped in a pile in Sarah's case at first) glitter over the ornament. Again, we let it dry overnight, and tah-dah!!!! Here they are on the tree.

Emma's ornament:

Sarah's ornament (more amoeba-like than star-like) :

My projects and the girls see Santa arrive

The following projects are the things I've been working on since returning home from Thanksgiving. I am so sick of typing in recipes for the cookbook I'm compiling that I decided to take a break, take some pictures, and FINALLY update my blog. Here ya go:

This card is one that I was asked to make 18 of for my church. My church is giving some families Christmas baskets and asked me to make some cards for them. I thought I'd try a new layout for the Texas Snowman that I've done before. If I had had some more time, I would have pierced every scallop with my piercing tool and then outlined each hole left behind with my white Signo gel pen. I love that look! No time though....

The first picture is the front of the card, the 2nd is the inside. As you'll notice, I used my large oval punch to punch a hole in the front of the card to reveal the words Texas Snowman which were mounted on the inside with dimensionals to make them "pop" even more. I got the "Barbed Wire" font (used on "Texas Snowman") and the "Susie's Hand" font (used to say "Happy Holidays") off of a really cool website that has free fonts that my friend Anne told me about. It's kind of hard to see in the picture. Here's the website: http://www.momscorner4kids.com/fonts/index.htm It has tons of fonts and it's very user friendly.

This next group of pictures are the ornaments that I made for my mom to give to some friends. I sent her one as part of a present for her birthday in November and she asked if I could make her 10 more. The ones with the snowman under the tree were easy enough. I stamped them with black StazOn and then colored them in (constantly dabbing the excess ink from my markers off of the domino so that it didn't bleed) with my SU! markers. After I let them dry, I sprayed them with a clear acrylic sealant and then used my two-way glue pen to apply the glitter at the bottom. Lastly, I used sticky tape to adhere the ribbon. The other two - the snowman ornament and the tree ornament needed lots of masking done to get the images to fit. I didn't want to cut off the snow - the glitter adds a nice glimmer to the ornaments - so I had to mask the bottoms in order to put it back in the picture. The same process was done coloring these dominos as I mentioned above.

The next set of pictures are some candles that I made that were supposed to be gifts, until each and every last one of them (there are four - 2 of the smaller hunter green ones) got dropped on the floor by a curious little 2-year old. I guess they'll be staying here!!! Candles are a fun and easy project. You simply stamp on tissue paper and then wrap it around the candle. Cover it with wax paper and then using your embossing heat tool, you gradually melt the tissue paper into the candle. You have to be VERY CAREFUL not to overheat in one spot or it will warp the candle. You can tell when it's melted properly because the tissue paper turns transparent - the color of the candle - instead of looking white. Instead of re-creating the wheel, here's a tutorial from SplitCoastStampers that I used over a year ago to teach myself how to do it: Stamping on Candles Tutorial

I am by no means a gifted scrapbooker. I still like to try it out every now and then, and here are the pages I made of the girls for Halloween. Sarah will need another page showing her whole costume, and Emma's I'm just not that fond of but I already cut up the pictures and will just leave it as it is instead of cutting up more :)

This last group of pictures is the girls and our whole family waiting for Santa to arrive at the base. We went to the Christmas Tree lighting and then had dinner at the Officer's Club afterwards. The girls were not interested in the camera at all, so the pics aren't that great. I also was not (as usual) in a photogenic mood, but it's not that awful of a picture of me, I guess :) The last picture is the worst picture with Santa in the history of the planet - okay maybe not THAT bad - Sarah was terrified of him, and you can see Peter's arm trying to hold her there for the picture. Even Santa took a bad picture - he didn't look at the camera!!! We'll probably try to go see Santa at our teeny tiny mall sometime this week or next. Maybe we'll have better luck there!

AHHHH!!!!

I'm SO SORRY that I've been so negligent in my postings! I have been very sick since Thanksgiving. I guess since it's going out in our Christmas letters, I might as well mention here that I'm pregnant. Just barely - 9 weeks along - but enough to have the worst morning sickness I've ever experienced. I've been sick ALL DAY long. I'm hoping the next few weeks as I close in on the 2nd trimester will bring some relief. Add in a cold that my girls and I have, and you've got one miserable house!

I've been working on projects when I can. I have a swap that I'm in twice, a shoebox swap with local demos, 2 baby books to make out of SU!'s journals before the 19th, 10 ornaments to finally put the ribbon on for my mom, AND a COOKBOOK to finish typing for my church. I told the ladies they would have it before Christmas, and because some of them didn't turn in their recipes to me until just 10 days ago, when you combine that with how awful I've been feeling, and 2 sick little girls that have to be tended to, it makes for some SLOW going!

I feel a bit overwhelmed, but I work best under pressure so I know everything will get done. The cookbook has to be done by tomorrow so that I can call for a price estimate and then collect all of the money from the purchasers Friday before we leave Friday afternoon/evening for San Antonio to get them made at an OfficeMax or similar place. Anybody have any recommendations for where to get them printed? Only the cover is color, and I want them spiral bound (the plastic coil type). They're not going to be too terribly long. Probably 50 pages or less. Let me know if you have any ideas on "national" stores where this can be done (ie OfficeMax, Office Depot, Kinko's, etc.).

Thanks so much for bearing with me. As soon as I can, I'll get some pictures up of what I've been working on. Take care, and have fun getting ready for Christmas!!!!