A is for Ally...

I have been wanting to alter one of these paper mache letters from JoAnn fabrics for a while now, and finally found time to give one a try~
I did this one for my daughters friend for a Christmas present, they were Advent Angels at Church.

It was actually challenging to get the paper placed nicely on it! I had started out with one idea in my head, and of course, another came as a result of my constant mind changing.

I personally am not a fan of this print, so I am not overall excited about the end result...However, I am told that for a 5 year old who likes girly stuff, she was very happy. Could be the GINORMOUS prima also.
Something about it doesn't appeal to me...weird huh?
Ever make something for someone who loved it, but you weren't happy with it?

The back side is covered with the flip side of this paper which is the pink polka dots.
I hope I got enough bling and sparkle!! Each small prima has stickles, the center brad to the big flower is covered in stickles, I lined the edges with stickles, did rows of glitter and stickles, one row of microbeads, and the various rows of blingy brads. At the bottom right corner I stamped the definition You from define your life, and the miscellaneous flowers and butterflies.

I managed to pick a larger W and L to do for my kids, when time permits. This A is maybe a foot tall, the letters I got for my kids are just about 2 feet tall. Much more space to screw up if I don't like it! Pin It Now!

Merry it was!

We had a great Christmas, and are still trying to come down from the energy high it created!

Here are my future rockers! My daughter is *really* getting into it! Santa brought them rock band. I think my oldest (the husband *wink*) loves it the most!

I am busy with kids, cleaning/organizing, putting away Christmas, and tearing down my stamp room. My husband plans on putting in a new window which just happens to be right in the middle of my space. This is forcing me to do the ultimate cleaning and organizing I so desperately need to do in there! It's a good thing to do while we wait for the fore casted 1-4" of snow!!!

So, hopefully you are all enjoying your down time after the holidays!! Pin It Now!

Another birdie card

I really am enjoying this bird~ it does remind me of the hero arts birdie everyone was using recently (which I couldn't find!) and the sayings are great.
This one went out int the mail the other day~ hoping to get to someone's house in time for her birthday... *wink* any guesses???

I am on a stickles kick lately. Everything has been getting sparkly around here! This bird is stamped in palette noir and then lightly colored in with river rock, and covered with stickles and popped up with dimensionals.
Even with using my SAMJ, my sentiment looks a tad crooked. If you agree with me, don't look at the sentiment!

Have a fabulous 2 days before Christmas!! I cannot believe tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and am busy cleaning my house in anticipation of 25 people coming for dinner on Tuesday!!!

Details: A little birdie told me, So swirly wheel; WW, River Rock, Choc Chip CS. River Rock, Palette Noir, & Choc Chip classic inks. Choc satin ribbon, brads, punches, dimensionals, & mat pack all SU! Stickles is star dust. Pin It Now!

Some holiday happiness in the kitchen

I love to cook and bake, and my daughter loves to do the same. She is always wanting to help.
Here she is adding some vanilla in to our dough, and wants to know what she can do next!!

She would rather bake than taste test, I had to bribe her to try one, she was worried she was going to miss out on something else if she stopped to eat!



The first batch of cookies are holiday snowballs (they remind me of Russian tea cakes) that we made for my husbands work. They are really easy and yummy!! I love cookies that are like 5 ingredients!


The last batch is the easiest little treat you can make~ I am not sure if there is a name form them, but we make them about 8 different ways. These happen to be pretzels with the candy cane Hershey kisses *slightly* melted on top. YUM!! Everyone in our house loves these!! You can add regular kisses and then an M&M on top, or I use rolos occasionally. (YUM-caramel) It's that mix of sweet/salty. This candy cane one seems to be the fave this year. And they are kind of festive looking! Note~ the candy cane Hersheys kisses melt like 10 times faster than the regular, so about 3 minutes in the oven at 250 is plenty!

Well day number two of winter break, and the kids have started the day the way I had hoped for....fighting!! We went and saw Alvin & the Chipmunks yesterday....it was cute. A teeny bit funny. The kids really enjoyed it. Mr. Magoriums Magic Emporium is at our dollar theater already, we may head up there to take it in today~
Have a super day! Pin It Now!

Can't ever have too much sparkle...

And one more from Big On Christmas~ What a fun set~ You know how some sets just work well for you, this is one for me!! These are a tad un-traditional colors for a Christmas card, but I like how it turned out.

So, I stamped the 'Happy' on shimmery white using versafine onyx. Stamped the tree again, cut, colored, adhered rhinestones to it, and mounted it with dimensionals. I used the "in" colors to color in the rest of the letters, and then went over with the stickles again. WOW! love the sparkle!!

The main blue bayou ds paper is pierced all around the edge, and the smaller is soft sky~ not sure if the lighting shows it well. Both are matted on black, (which makes everything pop!) and the sentiment is popped up on dimensionals.

Well, today we are making cookies to take up to the police department, and I am hoping to get some wrapping done as well. I would *love* to have all presents wrapped by Wednesday- that's my sons last day of school.
Have a super day!!


Details: Big on Christmas. WW, Black, & Shimmery CS. Blue Bayou & Soft Sky DS papers. black versafine, guava, wasabi, blue bayou, & soft sky classic inks. Brads, Ribbon, paper piercing tool/mat pack, dimensionals- all SU! Stickles are star dust, & rhinestones are Darice brand. Pin It Now!

This is such a fun set to work with!

Too bad I *just* now got it! I will be using it in some of my scrap books though~
I just love how it makes a simple yet fabulous card as well.

I stamped the Noel in versafine onyx and colored in with real red, bashful, and olive. I stamped the ornament a second time, cut it out and adhered it to the card front with a dimensional, (which is also holding my gold cord down)
I went over the letters with my stickles in a very nice thick line to achieve the awesome glittery look!! I put a little stickles on the ornaments hangy-ma-bobber thing. *wink*
What is that thing called that holds the hook???

Thanks for all of your fabulously kind words about my cruddy day yesterday~ I was all geared up to attend a banquet for my husbands work last night, relax and forget about my day, and then bam, he gets called out to a barricaded subject. Happy Holidays~ the crazies are coming out!! Needless to say, we arrived a tad bit late... Pin It Now!

Ugh...slow down and enjoy the season!!!

Some days are just rough. Nothing like feeling stressed and rushed throughout what is supposed to be a joyous time of year. I was driving today to pick up a stamp set I won, and BAM!!! A HUGE rock came right at my windshield and left a crack the size and shape of a basketball! :( not cool.
Scared the bejeebers out of me, and my poor little daughter!! So, I am a bit frazzled at this point in the day.
Then, we go to have lunch with some friends, and I left the keys in the front seat, shut the door and went around to let Lauren out. Door was locked. Ugh. She was not happy. So I ask her to unbuckle and unlock her door. Not gonna happen. She can't do the bottom potion of her car seat buckle. She starts to panic and starts crying.

So far I have now traumatized my daughter not once, but twice today! Thankfully, I had the thought to have my girlfriend check my door again, and sure enough, it was not locked! Thank God! I was a nervous stressed out wreck by this point of my morning!
Lesson learned.....slow it down.

Hopefully you can stop and smell the flowers today... :) Pin It Now!

Another Christmas card to share

I love quick and easy cards...I think I have said this before. Here is another from fast and fun notes. *LOVE* that set!!

I matted the wintergreen ds paper and the focal image with artichoke, colored in the dots on the tree with sage, and used celery brads for ornaments.

I think there is *someone* looking for this card out there...I couldn't hold out any longer with keeping the secret. *wink*

Oh~ and the funnies from yesterday have gone around my Church now, *most* people seemed to have enjoyed it. Merry Christmas!!!
Have a super day! Pin It Now!

EK Success Advisory Board

So, I recently was put on to the EK Success Advisory board. I thought it would be fun!

So, I go this sample in the mail. It's temp and re-positionable. It is along the lines of your mono adhesive. Along with it comes a survey asking you to go to their link and fill it out, let them know, you know, blah, blah, blah.

Ugh~ it's terrible. I couldn't get it to glide and let the tape adhere to anything, and it is gummy beyond belief.

My recommendation....Don't waste you $$. Told the advisory board the same thing~ would use it if ya paid me to!!

There is a larger size, and a permanent type, still wouldn't use those either!! Sticking with my mono multi and my ATG!!


Well~ back to prepping for the holidays...A few more days of getting it all done before both kids are home all day long for two full weeks. Not that I don't love my kids, I am just thoroughly concerned for their educational needs and am a firm believer that they should go to school year round!!! *wink*!! Pin It Now!

Here's another one

Like the other one....
This paper is quite bright and cheery. I usually am a little more subdued in my color choices, but at least I am using the colors up! ;) The actual colors in the paper are teal, olive, pumpkin and rose red, but I used turquoise and pom~ close enough!!!
I really like these birds, I am looking forward to having more time to play with them after the Holidays. Too many things around here that need my attention....the house is a wreck!

Last night I went to see the Nutcracker with my mom and sister, it was fabulous! (with the exception of the couple behind me eating their bag of peanuts, come on...this is not the movies!) Then we had a late dinner at the melting pot...Just what I needed after my extremely long and miserable week!

Someone please tell me that my 8 year old will learn to make better choices in the near future....

Anyhow, it's Saturday, and it's beautiful out! I will *try* and accomplish what I can today with regards to holiday preparations....and then it's off to a work Christmas party! Yea, another break! Tomorrow we're running the jingle bell run at Westlake~ wish me luck! (I haven't had great success running in extreme cold temps!) The weather is calling for around 28 degrees when we start! Have a great one~

Details: A little birdie told me; Turquoise, Olive, Pumpkin, Pomegranite, & Shimmery white paper. Black stazon, pumpkin and going gray classic inks ; Sherbert ribbon, photo corner punch, oval punches, paper piercer and mat pack, brads & dimensionals. Pin It Now!

Gotta love new rubber!!!

I had my day all planned yesterday~ get on the treadmill for my 3 miles, run some errands, clean, go through clothes to give to Goodwill, drop them off, etc. blah, blah, blah.

Then my package showed up on my doorstep, and well, I was having a cruddy day dealing with the kiddos....so I caved and stamped!!! I really like these birdies! They are so great! And they were perfect to do the paper piecing technique with! The main panel is popped up on dimensionals.

New rubber makes people smile, doesn't it??? Or just me? I only ordered this set, and the 'A Beautiful thing' set. I am going to wait and take a looksee at the catty before I decide on if I want any others....
Anyhoo....just thought I would share! ;)

Details: A little birdie told me. Naturals White CS, Cocoa, and linen prints ds paper. Black stazon, tab punch, brads, dimensionals, taffeta ribbon in choc chip. Pin It Now!

I'm here, just slow!

I have been trying to get up each morning and run, which seems to be affecting my stamping time(that and the fact that I can not find my desk in my office!). However, yesterday I seemed to have shaved 5 minutes off of my time! yea!
I definitely need to spend like a day and clean and organize, it's just that the rest of the house needs it also!!!
We have our whole family over fro Christmas, and I am working on getting all the decorations up.

Back to this card~ another quick one. December is a definite quick card month! This is from my class last week, and can you believe this is like the second time I have inked up this set!? They are slow stampers, and I keep it real basic for them~

I do get new items today, so maybe I will take a day off from the holidays and play!

Have a fabulous day!!

Details: Peaceful wishes; eggplant, olive, naturals white cs. Olive, eggplant classic inks. Olive wide grosgrain. Pin It Now!

Another short & sweet.

This card was inspired by Becky's card which I just loved! I love it when a card can be created quickly and is still a good design.

This is a self explanatory one, but I will lay it out for ya....The snowflakes are from short and sweet, and are done in the new "in" colors. The cord is tied through the button and glued on with a glue dot. Layered it onto red, and stamped my sentiment. I used the same layout (leftovers from a class) and turned it into a thank you card using the flower from the set instead.

I have been quiet around here lately...I am trying to get my butt in shape on the treadmill each morning and it's hindering my stamping time!! I am doing a 5K on Sunday and was *hoping* to be able to run it all....time will tell, today my legs are a tad, what's the word.....SORE!!!! I am taking a break from the treadmill today to work on Christmas stuff....if I can stand up long enough to do it!!
Have a fantastic day! Pin It Now!

In Loving Memory...

While he may be due to be leaving us, I do *sort* of think I will miss him!! He is a classic!

Well here is my tribute to Frosty~ This card I did at my Christmas Card class last week. Nothing to fancy here, a bit on the basic side, to ensure stampers went home at a reasonable hour! This is a perfect card that could be kicked up a notch if you were at home (not in my kitchen!!!) and wanted to add more to it.

We had a crazy day of weather yesterday~ it snowed all day off and on. The kids were so excited to see it, and decided to fight the whole way to the birthday party about whose side had more snow.

Every time my daughter saw white, she yelled out "Look out my side" and every time my son saw white, he yelled the same. (a tad louder though!!)
I was a bit relieved to see it rain finally, I knew the snow rush would finally dissipate!

Off to bake about 13 dozen cookies for our annual Christmas Cookie Exchange party! Pin It Now!