25 Days Until Christmas 2008

If you're not interested in seeing a whole bunch of photos of my 25 Days Until Christmas book, I'll just say Happy New Year, and you can continue blog hopping right now! If you are interested, just keep scrolling, because there are a bunch of photos! I won't explain them all. They pretty much speak for themselves. You can click on the pages to see them larger. I'm very happy that I created this book! It was fun, and I'm already enjoying looking through it. Would I create one in 2009? Absolutely! One of the things I really enjoy is all of the different page sizes. I love how random it all is. Enjoy!!

I still need to label this page as Christmas Eve, and I need to finish up the rest of Christmas Eve. The next page is us opening our Secret Santa gifts. I also need to finish up with the Christmas Day page. I am really happy with the way this book turned out. Happy New Year to all of you! I'm so happy when you stop by to see what I'm up to, and I'm thrilled when you take the time to comment! I look forward to a very creative 2009! Thanks for stopping by!!

Huge Giveaway!

My blogging friend and fellow Creative Team member Tina at ScrapCity told us all about a huge giveaway at Rhonna Farrer's site. It's a chance to WIN your choice of Rhonna Farrer digital kits!! If you love digital design, or like me, you're intrigued by digital design, you should check it out!!

Valentine - February Calendar

Now, I can't stop myself! I posted a Valentine yesterday, and here's another one! I'm still blaming Regina, because I just HAD TO use the new files from The Cutting Cafe'!! They're wonderful!


I used another one of the new Valentine sets that Regina just released! I just LOVE this February calendar! Isn't it wonderful? I printed the calendar image from Valentine Set One directly on a cut from my Cricut. I added heart and small circle rhinestones. I also added cool white ribbon that I just got yesterday on clearance from Michael's. This is a 6x6 card. You can click on the card to see it larger. I'm THRILLED with the way this turned out! Head on over to The Cutting Cafe' to purchase these brand new Valentine images! You'll be glad you did!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy Valentine's Day

Already? Christmas just ended, it's not even the New Year, and I'm posting a Valentine? Well, it's Regina's fault, because she created THREE new AMAZING Valentine releases for The Cutting Cafe', and I couldn't wait to create with them!!


I used Valentine Borders, Valentine Circle Words, and Holiday Big Stamps! I LOVE IT!! It is so much fun creating with these PDF files! I just print the designs directly on my cardstock, cut them to size, layer them, and I'm done! I used my Nestabilities on the Holiday Big Stamp. The patterned cardstock is DCWV Old World. What do you think? You can click on the card to see it larger! Be sure to head on over to The Cutting Cafe' to get these fantastic Valentine designs!!

I hope you're enjoying your weekend! Thanks for stopping by!!

Christmas Day

I wanted to share a couple of photos from Christmas Day. Would you believe that I only took 4 photos the entire day? That's OK, because I took a whole bunch on Christmas Eve!


Emily and Jessica got these pajamas on Christmas Eve from their Aunt Kathy (my sister-in-law / my brother's wife). She always knows exactly what to buy the girls! Emily loves Jack Skellington, and Jessica loves Tweety! Their pajamas are so cute! They wore them to bed Christmas Eve, and they wore them pretty much all day on Christmas Day! CUTE!


Princess was a very good girl, so she got lots of presents! Her she is with all of her new toys! She got toys from my sister's family, my brother's family, and from my parents. She also got toys from us! She's very spoiled!! She just loves everything!!

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas!! We had a very quiet and relaxing day, and it was wonderful! We're really enjoying just spending time at home as a family! Thanks for stopping by!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!

From our family to yours, a very Merry Christmas!!
May your holiday be wonderful!

Gift Card Holders

I needed some gift card holders, so I just designed some myself! I used Cosmo Cricket paper, paper squares for the tags, and die cut words. These turned out so cute!


I got a bunch of 8x8 paper with my giant TSV kit off of QVC. I used 4x8 pieces, folded them, and I used my sewing machine to stitch them closed! CUTE!! Click on the photo to see them larger. I used a 7 gypsies to/from stamp for the tags. I added some ribbon and a jingle bell!


Here's a photo of the machine stitching! The gift card fits perfectly inside! What do you think? Quick and easy! I have to admit, I'm impressed with the way they turned out!

I cannot believe it's Christmas Eve! Have a wonderful holiday everyone! Much love, joy, and peace to you and your family!! HAPPY HOLIDAYS! MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR!! Thanks for stopping by!!

Scrapping Recipe Challenge #29 & The Girls' Kids Can Scrap Challenge Cards

This is my layout for Scrapping Recipe Challenge #29 at Sketches! {by Tamara}.

It was my turn to issue the challenge this week, and the three required elements are:

• really old patterned paper
• naked chipboard
• twill, twine, or raffia

I pulled out the oldest patterned paper I could find. This paper, both the border strip at the bottom, and the main sheet of paper, are both from a QVC Colorbok kit that I got a long, long, long time ago! I think it was called Memories in Minutes or something like that. I think it was purchased in 2002 or 2003? Something like that! The main sheet is colorblocked, and I pretty much just ignored that, and I border punched the other sheet. Old paper looks better when it's border punched, don't you think? The paper is double sided, so I used the solid side to mat the photos. The naked chipboard is by Basic Grey, and I used raffia that I got on a gift basket! So, I recycled too! All of the embellishments are from my QVC Cosmo Cricket TSV that I got. It's got about a million pieces in it! The "silly" letter, the "Hey Santa", the "hang your stockings", and the snowflake trio are all from that kit. The photos are from the first Christmas that we had Princess. Yes, she proudly posed by her stocking!

Next, Kids Can Scrap has a card challenge going on. Emily made these!



Jessica made these! They're such awesome cardmakers!!

Well, it's snowing . . . again! However, at least it's warmer out today. By warmer, I mean, it's 23 outside today. Better than the single digit temps and below zero wind chills we've been having! I'm not sure how much I'll be posting in the next few days. Have a great week! Happy Holidays! Make your holiday season be wonderful!! Thanks for stopping by!!

The Cutting Cafe' - Christmas Cards

I just had to create something with the printable Holiday Big Stamps at The Cutting Cafe'. Oh my goodness, I just LOVE these! Be sure to check out all of the wonderful designs that Regina has created!!


I used Basic Grey Christmas papers, and I printed the design directly on my BG cardstock. I then printed just the word "Christmas" on a contrasting sheet. I trimmed it, and mounted it over the other printed image. I used my Nestabilities on both of these cards! I've really wanted to put bells on a project, so both cards have a jingle bell! I just love the way these turned out!! Click on the photo to see them larger! The printable design is fantastic!!

It's below zero outside! It's scary cold! Emily actually has Jazz Band practice today. I'm not very happy with the teacher scheduling it over Winter Break, but what can I do. It is an optional practice, but it will definitely be better for her to attend the practice. So, while she's at the school, Jessica and I will do some grocery shopping, we'll pick Emily up, and then we will come home, stay in, and maybe we'll get some crafting time!! I hope you had a great weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

The Cutting Cafe'

I'm very excited to tell you that I am now on the Design Team for The Cutting Cafe'.

The Cutting Cafe' is a site by the very talented Regina Easter. I'm sure you know Regina from her popular Bitten By The Bug site! Now she is creating Cutting Designs and Printable Stamps. All of the cutting designs come in two formats. One design allows you to cut the files out using your cutting machine like the Pazzles Inspiration machine or any other machine that accepts the file type. There are also PDF files, where you can print the cuts using your home printer. I don't have a Pazzles, so I used the PDF files. I just printed the design right on the back of my cardstock and cut it out! I then scored it, folded it, and assembled it. Simple as that! Think of the PDF as being a template that you can use over and over again! The printable stamps that she designs are downloaded to you through email in the form of a PDF that you print out on your home printer. After you print the image you can color it in just like a regular stamp image! I hope to be working with some of the printable stamps when I get some time this week!

My first project that I made is this ADORABLE cupcake box! I used one of Regina's cutting files! I printed it directly to the back of my DCWV paper! This box is PERFECT for an actual cupcake, some cookies, or a small gift! I love the way it turned out! It took me just minutes to put this together! It was so easy!

Here's another view! Who wouldn't like to receive a sweet treat or a gift in this adorable box?

Here's the top view! I added a stamped 7 gypsies sentiment above my foam snowflake. What do you think? I love it! Sorry the photos are not the best, but it's been gloomy around here, and there isn't a lot of natural light coming in through the windows. You can click on the photographs to see them larger.

I'm thrilled to be on this design team, and I cannot wait to create more!! I hope you're having a great weekend! It's cold and WINDY here today! I'll be staying inside! Thanks for stopping by!

Our Day Off!

So Friday ended up being a fun day for us! The girls and I went outside to scrape off my van. Well, I scraped the van, and the girls goofed around with Princess. And, don't get me wrong, scraping the van isn't actually fun, but watching the girls goof around IS!

Princess was enjoying munching on chunks of ice that I was scraping off of my van! Silly dog!

Isn't this gorgeous? I don't like having the ice, but you have to admit . . . this is really pretty!

Here are my girls! Jessica closed her eyes, but it's still such a cute photo!! It constantly cracks me up that Princess poses for photos!!



Once again . . . this is just so pretty! Look at that ice on the trees!




This isn't so pretty! The ice was SO THICK on the van!




After we were in for a while, we made cookies before dinner. Jessica made peanut butter. Yum!



Emily made a cookie with M&M mini's and small semi-sweet chocolate chips. Yummy again!

Princess is on the rug in front of the kitchen sink. She hopes that something falls on the floor!!

Look at my bakers!! Aren't they cute? We had fun baking!

Then, during dinner, Jessica mentioned that she thought it would be fun for the four of us to do "Secret Santa". We picked names, and we then decided that we would each spend up to $20 on our Secret Santa pick. We all went to Target, split up, and shopped for our pick. It was so much fun! We cannot wait to see what everyone picked out!

I hope you're having a great weekend so far! Thanks for stopping by!

Miscellaneous and School's Closed

I have some crafty stuff to show you, but it's too gloomy and dark to take photos, so I'll have to show it to you later. The girls had their Winter Concert last night. It was great!! They are both in choir, Jessica is in Concert Band, and Emily is in Symphonic Band. All three groups were fantastic! Here are my girls! Aren't they CUTE?



Now for the bad news? School was canceled because of the weather. I guess the school was having a problem with the power. (Thank goodness our power is fine.) We had a winter storm last night, and it's continuing into today. Freezing rain and sleet have been coming down. Yuck! So, school was canceled. The girls were all ready this morning before the call came in. I told them, and they were NOT happy about it. This would have been the last day before Winter Break, and the school has a HUGE assembly today, and because they're in choir and band, they would have been having a lot of fun performing for the entire school. They were really looking forward to it. I'm sad for them because they miss their favorite day at school, but I'm happy that I don't have to worry about them out in a school bus on messy / potentially slippery roads! So, we'll just have to have some holiday fun today, don't you think? BTW, I did not make my girls pose for a "sad" photo -- they wanted me to take it! We're putting it in the 25 Days Until Christmas book!

More miscellaneous . . . I had my van in for front brakes, and of course, something else was wrong with it! After spending about $850, the van is good to go. Could the timing be any worse on spending that much money on a vehicle? I don't think so! Then yesterday, I took it in for an oil change, so it's truly good to go! (I have lifetime free oil changes at the dealer where I bought it, so that's why the oil didn't get changed when it was in for repair.) So, that's all done! Well, I need to figure out what we're doing today, and I should probably go scrape all of the ice off my van before the temps drop more and make it worse! I hope you all have a wonderful Friday. How are those holiday preparations going? Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!!

ScrapCity Cosmo Cricket

The sponsor this month at ScrapCity is Cosmo Cricket! The entire Creative Team received Jack's World goodies to create with! I've already shown you the four layouts that I created, and now, I'm happy to show you the two cards that I made!


Cosmo Cricket has acrylic stamp sets! Did you know that? They're wonderful, and they stamp GREAT! Would you just look at that cute little bear? Love it! The papers on this card and the stamped image are Cosmo Cricket Jack's World! I added three rhinestone and pretty red sheer ribbon! A simple card, but I love it!


The lion is roaring a big "Thank You". I think that stamp is so cute! The heart is also a stamp in the set, and I used it in a trio lineup on the top and the bottom of the card. Once again, Cosmo Cricket Jack's World papers. I also added some dew drops and red ribbon. Cute and simple!

Now, you can WIN amazing Cosmo Cricket Jack's World goodies if you participate in at least ONE challenge over at ScrapCity. It just takes one challenge to get your name in the hat for the drawing! We are giving away the paper collection, the ribbon, and the acrylic stamp set!! All Cosmo Cricket! All Jack's World! It's an amazing prize for this month!! Go! Create! Enter! You might win!!

Unfortunately, my van went in yesterday for brakes, but it also had a few other things wrong with it! It was quite the HUGE price tag by the time it was done! Not a good time of year for a big price tag on a repair, but what can you do? We also got a bunch of snow. Snow doesn't really bother me, but the freezing rain that they're predicting for tomorrow? THAT bothers me! I hope they're wrong! I hope you're doing well getting ready for the holidays! Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!