Another year is almost over....!!

I was copying things over from my 2009 calendar today and realized that the year ends on Thursday!   It's amazing to think how fast the time seems to fly by.  I can hardly believe that 2010 is just days away.  It seems like yesterday when we were waiting for the year 2000, and I can't believe that was almost ten years ago already...YIKES!  Why does the time go by so fast now, it's almost scary at how fast that ten years flew by!    WOW!!

Today was a great day for staying in and getting things a  bit back to normal.  It was a very windy and rainly morning and I spent most of the time doing chores and also took some time to have tea with Julie, when she stopped by.  She gave me my Christmas gifts today and they were both awesome.  I now have another Gift Certificate to my LSS, (WooHoo)..and a really pretty gold ornament.  The ornament is really nice and one that you could hand up year round.  It think I will probably keep it out and hang it from one of the little shelves in my craft room.  It was nice to get to see her and see her new car too!  

After Jul left, I went back to work,  putting away all my Christmas Gifts and then moved on to my craft room.   I wanted to have DH hang up the Making Memories Embellishment Center he gave to me as on of my Christmas gifts.  But, it was not that simple, but it meant that I had to first have him move my "Ribbon Shelf", to a different area and also another shelf that I have been wanting to move for a few months.  I am happy to say that they have all been moved and my new unit is up.  Now I am in the process of cleaning up from everything that we had to move around and to put everything else back in it's place.  I am also in the process of filling up the embellishment center, which I'm sure won't take long.   I really like how moving a few things around turned out and it did give me some extra shelf space too, something I need.   It seems I NEVER have enough storage space in my room.  


It's taken me a long time to really admit it, but I do have TOO MUCH stuff and while moving things around today, I realized that I need to really use up a lot more and get back to crafting.  I have really missed it and can't wait for the new year to arrive, so that I can focus on nothing but crafting.  Once we have all the Christmas decor down and everything is put away, my new goal is to craft a lot more and also start sorting through my things and decide what I need and what I can either sell or give away.  I still need some more craft storage units and I'm thinking I will use my gift cards to buy some sort of storage units instead of MORE goodies!  I am OUT of space!  It's time to craft MORE and shop less! 



  While DH was doing all that for me...I starting writing out a few Thank You notes for all my awesome Christmas Gifts.  I used some cute store bought cards for most of them, but I will also make some for very special gifts.  I started on those this afternoon too and finished one.    It's one I created using some super cute images from Pink Cat Studio.   I picked a cute sledding image that is from the "Lily & Billy Winter Stamps" set.  I colored everything with my Copic markers and  then simply cut some various shapes for layers on my Cuttlebug.   I also colored the same image in totally different colors and will use those for cards too.
  

Here is one of my handmade  "Thank You" cards--

 

...and these are the extras I have colored for more cards!  

  I absolutely LOVE my Copic markers and am totally thrilled with how well they blend and how fabulous they are to color with.  Copics ROCK!!  It's so relaxing simply to stamp and color and I LOVE IT!!  I could color all day long I think and be very happy!!


  That's it for today!  We did get a lot done and I feel good about that!  As much as I LOVE Christmas, I am glad it's over.  Once we get the rest of the decorations down and put away I will be thrilled to have all my free time to craft!  Now I just hope I keep feeling okay and do NOT get sick again or have any bad Fibro flares!!

Merry Christmas!!

   ....And what a very nice Christmas I have had so far!  I am thrilled with all the wonderful gifts I have and the fact that many of them are craft related.  My DH and my boys were ALL very good to me and I'm looking forward to putting all my new things in my craft room and also to doing a whole lot of shopping too.

   They all not only bought me crafty  gifts, but they all gave me Gift Cards to my LSS, AC Moore and Michael's too!  I have plenty of money to spend in the new few weeks or months and plan to spend a little a time and really take my time to pick out things I have wanted!

   My other gifts were all awesome too, I also have a great new "Lambie" Robe from Bath & Body, along with some candles and a Gift Card, several bottles of WEN hair cleanser, which is my favorite, the B Set of Copic Spica Pens, a new SU Punch that was on my wish list, new stamps, 2 mini book, 3 new calenders,  lots of gorgeous new papers, a Making Memories Embellishment Center and all kinds of goodies for the house.  My Mom gave us new "Lavender Sheets" along with a matching Electric Blanket in a deeper hue of purple, which will be fabulous for me.   She and Don also gave us all money, gave DH and the boys new Jeans and Tees.  I also received a Pedicure Gift Certificate and a separate money envelope for Craft goodies!   We also received a Gift Certificate to one of our favorite restaurants and I won $20 on a Lottery ticket too!  It's been a very very generous Christmas here and I feel so blessed.

    Right now, I am baking two big pans of Stuffed Shells and just made a large green salad to take over to DH's Brothers house, for another gathering later this afternoon.  It's nice to have a little break in between to rest for a few hours.

   I wanted to THANK everyone for all the kindness and generous gifts I received from not only my family but from my wonderful friends.   I truly am a very lucky girl and very thankful for my family and awesome friends.

   Merry Christmas to you all and I HOPE your day is a nice as mine has been! 

Holiday HUGS!!

   It's almost here--it's Christmas Eve and I am actually done with everything I wanted and planned to do this year! 

   Today, I am not feeling so well and I am thankful that we are actually staying home tonight, as I don't really feel well enough to go out.  I am also thankful that DH and Alex are both home today and both are doing extra things to make it an easy day for me.

   I'm going to relax and rest, so that hopefully tomorrow will be much better!  I am happy that I have this extra day to rest!  

   Hoping you all have a wonderful day and lovely evening.  I hope you ALL feel well and will enjoy your time with family and friends!

   My very best wishes to everyone for a wonderful Christmas!  

Hugs and Love,

Lisa

Happy Wednesday!!

Yes....!!  Wednesday it is and I can hardly keep up lately.  At this point I really am anxious for Christmas Day to be here.  That way I know I will be ALL done with shopping, wrapping, baking and all the running around that goes with it all!

I wish you all a wonderful week and hope everyone has time to set back, relax and remember the true meaning of Christmas.  Enjoy time with family and friends and make it a day full of LOVE and Happiness!

Hugs to all my friends...please take care and be well!   

A Year In Cards - December 2009

  Today, I finally found some free time to craft and I decided to work on a challenge.   This particular challenge is one I do monthly and it's a Card-Making Challenge that I have been participating in ALL year.  I wanted to be sure to complete the  December Challenge for my monthly badge and was very pleased to have done all twelve this year!!

  If anyone wants to follow along you can find the Challenge - called - A Year in Cards - December 2009 - by Kristina Werner at this link -- CLICK HERE!!  This month the challenge is to make three cards using some 'buttons' from your stash.  As soon as I saw her cards, I thought they were really cute and it looked fun.  You will also find a Video along with a Printable PDF file with the instructions for each card and you can find those - HERE!

  These are the cards I made for the December Challenge --

 

and this next one, which ended up being my favorite...

 

  I actually really enjoyed this challenge and thought Kristina, had some great ideas.  I'm sure in some way I will use the ideas for other cards.  I do hope that this FREE class with be offered again in 2010, and if it is, I'll be joining in again!

   Tomorrow, I think I am going to work on the "COLOR" Challenge that is being hosted at the "Ch{all}enge Masters" website.  You can find that challenge at this link - Click Here!   There are actually several challenged this month, and every month, but the COLOR one is next for me!  To check out or participate in any of the other challenges, please go to this section - Click Here!  To see a fabulous 'Mini Book', created by my friend Sharon or to join in on her "Altered Group" Challenge, please go to her group - by clicking Here! 

  As Always!   Happy Crafting!!

My Christmas Baby!!

....Just about 23 years ago I had one of the absolute best Christmas Gifts ever.   That was the year that my oldest son, Brian was born and that was back on December 19, 1986.    I can still remember how excited I was when my doctor confirmed I was pregnant with my first child and that I would be having a "Christmas Baby".   My due date was December 23rd, but I was lucky and Brian wanted to be sure we were back home for Christmas, so he arrived 4 days early on December 19th.  What's even more ironic is that my second son, Alex is my "Easter" Baby and he was born on Holy Thursday back in 1992.   Seem my boys like to have their birthdays right around special Holidays!

   Below is a picture of Brian, on Christmas morning back in 1986.  I was 6 days old and you can barely see him in his tiny little "Santa" outfit lying against his big white Teddy Bear that Santa had brought for him.  I still remember that morning like it was yesterday, at times and it was a wonderful Christmas - one that will always be so special for me!  

    Today, I am back to trying to making him a really nice Birthday card and it's been a challenge to come up with one I really like.   I've spent almost the entire day working on this card,  but I thinkI finally have one that I am happy with.   I had made two others, but simply did Not like them...so they are now in my "scrap" pile.   Making "male/masculine" cards is pretty much always the hardest for me.  You would think with DH and two sons in my family, I would have plenty of experience, but I always struggle with them.  I had the same problem when I was working on DH's and Alex's Birthday cards this year too! 

   I started my day with some cleaning and was re-organizing some of my stamps in my craft room.  While I was organizing the Stamps, I was also looking for something to possibly use on Brian's card, that's when I found the "boxes of presents" stamp, that I used for the cards.  I thought I would use my Copics and make it all very vibrant, so I was then ready to try again.

  I stamped a few of  the images on white Card-stock with Memento Black Tuxedo Ink.  I had planned to color it with my Copic and began with my Copic Spica "Glitter" pens instead.  As it turned out, I liked the look of the sparkle from the Spicas so much, hat I ended up using ONLY those pens and really like the end result.  I then added some 3D Crystal Lacquer on a few parts of the colored image and dusted it with a layer of ultra fine glitter!  

  Next, while it was drying, I used my Cuttlebug cut some long scalloped rectangles in red and black and later cut the image out also in a scalloped rectangle shape.    I embossed each of the red layers and adhered them to a black 'DCWV' card.  I stamped "Happy Birthday" in Tuxedo Black and cut that out with my SU Label punch and adhered it to a black rectangle.  I then added two black "pearls" as accents.  I  created my inside sentiment on my computer and printed it out on white card-stock and then hand-signed it.

 

    Below are two pictures of the finished version of the card.  I also made a matching envelope and that is also in black and red.  I really think he will like it and I hope to be able to hand deliver it to him on Saturday....(pray we do NOT have a blizzard).  I am hoping to go down to the Pub, where he works and surprise him.   I also went with the Black and Red theme, because that is kind of the "theme" color of the Pub!  

And this is another view....

    I assembled the card (after everything was dry) and added a black and white polka-dot ribbon and I was done.   I sure hope he likes it!  He's my more artistic son, and is pretty creative himself.   I think it turned out to be a pretty well for a  "Male" Birthday card.  It's still so hard to believe that my son,  "My Christmas Baby" is now all grown-up!  

   Where does the time go?

I do NOT like this COLD WEATHER..........Brrrrrr!

Not one bit.....please bring Summer and warm weather back to me!  This is too cold for me...and it's ONLY December!  ARGH!  I dread the thought of how I am going to feel once January rolls in, as that tends to be our worst month.  YUK!!  Thank goodness for our wood stove and how fast and warm it keeps the whole house.  It's so much warmer than simply turning the heat up and up!  I LOVE it and can't imagine living in New England without one. 

Speaking of things I LOVE, I have fallen in love the Pink Cat Studio Stamps and I am very  excited that they are now being carried at Cutters Creek.   I think the images are adorable and had a great time coloring some of them with my Copics.   This is a picture of the first card I made with an image of "Itty Bitty Betty"--

 This image is one that is available from the "Itty Bitty Christmas" stamp set and just happens to be one of my favorites.   I colored her with my Copic Markers and as always, I made sure she had a "Purple" outfit, as I LOVE Purple!!    You can find the Pink Cat Stamps  in the store at this link - Click Here!  I have also ordered the "Limitless Limbs" set along with Doodle Garden Set and can't wait to make all kind of cute things with them.

Please stop over at the Cutters Creek Design Team Blog to see what the other design team members have been creating.  There are some really cute "Holiday" projects and we are all working to add new things, so check back often.   Please feel free to leave a comment if there is a project or idea you would like to see.

Other than lots of "coloring" it's been a day of rest for me.   I didn't manage to get any more wrapping done today, but I hope to do some tomorrow.   I still plan to go Christmas shopping with Alex for a couple hours too.  I just HOPE it's not as cold as it was today!  I had originally planned to go with Brian while he went out to shop around for a new vehicle today, but decided it was too cold for me to be outside at the car dealers-- and I passed on that.   I think he may have found an SUV "Nissan Pathfinder" that  he really seems to like.  Hopefully, he make his find decision this  weekend and then will have it early next week.  It'll be nice to have another SUV in the family and between his and Alex's Jeep, we should be all set for snow and getting around,in the worst of the winter weather!  Yippee!!

Speaking of cold...I think it's time to add another log to the fire...so I'm off to do that and make some dinner!

Snowflakes, Gifts and more....

   Woohoo!  We lucked out again and the snow that was due here, turned out to be ALL rain and makes me a Happy Girl.  It's a very nasty, windy and wet day, but I will take rain over snow any day.  The only time I really like to see SNOW is a nice fresh layer on Christmas morning, and if it that was it, all winter.  I would be a happy girl. 

   Speaking of snow and snowflakes, I made some more really cute "Gift Tags" out of some snowflakes I cut with my Cricut yesterday.  I used the  "When It's Cold Outside" for this set --

   And I also used the same cartridge to cut these gorgeous "Purple" snowflakes for two of my Christmas Cards.  These snowflakes, along with some pretty paper and some bling make very easy cards.  I use Bazzill Swiss Dot Card-stock for them all, to give them an extra bit of texture. 

For this card, I also used my Cuttlebug and some A2 Embossing Folders to add another element to the card.   This has quickly become one of my favorite Cricut Cartridges.

   It's from the new line of  Limited Edition Mini Cartrdiges,   I own all three of the Christmas editions, which are available now at Cutters Creek.   Plus, I have already pre-ordered the next set which will be coming our soon and will out in time for Valentine's Day, Easter and Mother's Day.  Those new Minis are available now for  Pre-Order and are only $19.99 each, which is a fabulous price.  If you want any of these adorable cartridges, please hop over to  Cutters Creek and place your orders!  These are really fun cartridges at great prices.

   Once I finished with my Snowflakes, I created some different tags, using my Cuttlebug and some of the holiday-themed Embossing folders.    I added some "bling" -- glitter, ribbon and"Twinkle Jewels", which I adhered with Glossy Accents .  These were also very easy to make and you can create them in a wide variety of colors and styles...it's all up to your imagination!

 

      If you don't have a Cuttlebug, I highly suggest you try one, I think you'll LOVE it and how much you can do with it.  I use mine with Spellbinder Dies to cut shapes and also with Cuttlebug Dies and Embossing Folders.  It's very easy to use and you can do so much with it.  I use mine pretty much every time I craft and I LOVE it.  My hubby bought it for me from my Wish List, last Christmas.  Thanks HUN!!



    And one more bit of fun news before I sign off...I plan to start adding some little contests and challenges for all my friends who FOLLOW my blog.   I also like to find new blogs to follow and this will be a fun way for me to find new blogs that I can follow too.   I  enjoy seeing other blogs and find lots of really cute and fun ideas from following them.    I plan to be posting more often and to keep ideas fun things, so please follow along.  I love having people stop by and visit and love comments.    There will be BLOG CANDY coming soon and you could be the first winner, simply by following me.  Stop back soon for more details! 

   Wishing you all and fabulous day......full of fun, love and happiness!    As always, HAPPY CRAFTING!!

WooHOO! I won Blog Candy Today!!

YIPPEE!!

If you look back on my post from Saturday, you find out more about the Jingle Bell Blog Hop that I was following this weekend.  It ended up being really fun and I found some great blogs and saw some wonderful creations.  I also found out  today that I won some awesome Blog Candy from "Jamilie", one of the Challenge Masters that took part in the blog hop.   Please check out her blog to see my wonderful prize and her awesome creations. - Click Here!   I wanted to post in my blog to personally thank Jamilie for her generous gift.  I'm very excited to have won and will be looking forward to having these new goodies to craft with!  Thank you again, I am very happy and excited to have won your prize!

Jamilie is a Design Master for the Ch{all}enge Masters and is a very talented crafter.  I also belong to this group and enjoy taking part in the monthly challenges.  Jamilie is the Design Master for their Card Group and since I absolutely LOVE card-making I took part in her challenge last month, and will happily try again this month.

This is the card I made for her "Circle Card" Challenge in November -- Click Here -- then scroll down to the second card.  It's also posted here on my blog over the right and a few cards down from the top.

  

If you want to play along the new Challenge for December is already up and you can find it at this link - Click Here!

Happy Friday!

  Another week has flown by and as of today we only have three weeks to go until Christmas.  I can hardly believe how close it is.  I still have a little bit of shopping to do, but I think I pretty much am finally done and know exactly what I have left to do.

  I mailed out all my Christmas Cards earlier this week and I was happy to have that done.  I worked hard on them and I hope every one likes them.  I also started a bit of wrapping, but boy is wrapping tough on Fibro, needless to say, I did too much one day and paid dearly for it yesterday.  From now one, it's a couple a packages a day, so I do not have another pain day like that!  AWFUL!  
   Luckily, I have everything ready and most things are now in big bags and need only tissues and ribbons, so it will move along and it'll get done or get DH and Alex to help out, if I have too!  I did ship out all the things that need to go, so that was another plus! 

  My next task is to do some decorating and then work on making some more 'Hershey Nugget Tins".  Then right before Christmas, I plan to try make some chocolates and I bought a Candy Making Set at Michael's last week, along with some melting chocolate and chocolate molds.    I thought I would try some Chocolate lollipops and maybe some chocolate dipped pretzels.

   I had a terrible Fibro day yesterday and could NOT do a thing, it was one of the worst flares I have had in a long time.  The highest pain level I've had in months.  It was a very rough way to remember to slow down!

  

Woohoo! I finished my Christmas Cards!!

...And what a great feeling that is.  I have literally been working on my cards off and on and of since mid-summer.  It's a lot of work to make all your own cards, and I am already planning ahead for next year and going to make them all year long, so I'm not "swamped" this late again!

  But, my 2009 cards cards are FINALLY all made, addressed, stamped and totally ready to go.  A huge accomplishment and one that I am truly happy to have done.  I also managed to wrap up three special Christmas gifts and also packaged them, so that all ready to ship out tomorrow too.    It did, amazingly, take me the last three days to get this DONE, but I am thrilled that I have finished. 

Now---I can concentrate on wrapping the gifts that need to be hand delivered locally and then finish up with the ones that stay here!  It's still quite a bit, but having my cards and mailing packages done, is awesome. 

I am also going to start looking to see if I can find a new "smaller" tree to buy and give away or donate our big tree.  Its' simply too heavy, to hard to get in/out every year and I think it's time we scaled down a bit.  The kids are older and I'm the ONLY one who does the decorating...and I simply can not do it all anymore.  Having Fibro just make it much too hard...and I am way too tired.

Today, I feel pretty good consider how much I have done in the past three days--I HOPE I can continue to feel okay and if so, I'll manage!    Now...to focus on finding a TREE is my next task!   If not...we may be "treeless" this year and scale back on the other decorations too, which is kind of a bummer!!

Wiped out....

I can't believe that another weekend is over and another month too.  I can hardly believe how close we actually are to Christmas!  I still have NOT finished my shopping and haven't' wrapped much either...so that is what I need to do this week for sure and I feel way behind, but I simply can not do it as fast as I once did and get tired so easily!  ARGH!!


Luckily,  the rest of my shopping should be fairly easy and I should be able to buy here locally or on-line,   I do NOT plan to go near the Malls now that we are in the final weeks.  I'm not a huge fan of lines or crowds, so I HOPE I can stay in town.  But...t never, say never!  One thing I did notice on Friday, was how bad the economy still is...!   It's the first Black Friday that I've see such a small amount of people shopping and it was very easy to shop too.  I didn't have any problem at all with parking, lines or crowds, it could easily have been an average week day, but with fantastic deals.



Today, I started the project writing out my Christmas Cards and I made a huge dent in that project, only to realize that I did NOT make enough cards.  I make each card a bit different, so it takes me a long time to make the 40 or so, that I mail out.  I thought this year, I would make less and then mail store bought cards to some of my list, but I can't seem to do that.  Tomorrow, I will have to make another 5 or 6 cards and hopefully have them all in the mail by the end of the week.  I also made a card for my God-Daughter who turns 33 on December 1st.  Yikes!  I can still remember being at the hospital the night she was born and it sure does NOT seem like it was 33 years ago.  WOW!


 I have been really tired this week and also just realized that I did NOT do a Project 365 page this week, so I still need to get that done too!   I've been so good about make one every week and will not stop now.  I think this week will be another page about my Copics and the online coloring class I took, along with some Digi Stamps I have been practicing with.  I have found a NEW love in Digi Stamps and found a bunch of freebies, and then some super cute ones from Pink Cat Studio.  Melissa, (the owner) was very friendly and nice, so I know I will want tos  hop there again.  She has a Craft Store too, but right now I'm really into her Digi Stamps.  I bought them on Black Friday, and that day, as a bonus I received a super cute "Sugar Plum Fairy" stamp, (click here) for free.   Isn't she adorable.  I can tell I'll be looking more and more into this type of stamp.  Love them!!


  Here are a couple pics of some of the stamps I bought from Pink Cat Studio.  I have had a blast coloring them with my Copics and every image I color is more practice at shading and blending!  It's actually FUN and RELAXING too! 

And these cuties...

and this is the one I'm working on...

 

  I thing they all will be really awesome  for cards and I LOVE how easy it is to buy them and the fact that you have them "Instantly" and can also size to to any size you want!  Sure is easy!!  I really think this is something I will start to do more often!   This could very well become my newest craft obsession! 

 Well..that' sit for me...!

    Have a  good night and hope everyone enjoyed their Holiday Weekend!!

I LOVE Black Friday!!

....What a great day to SHOP and I had a wonderful day, even though I ONLY actually made it to two stores.

    I was up early and out early and left the house at 6AM headed to my LSS, I arrived there about 6:45, which was great, because the line wasn't too long and it was only going to be another 25 minutes before we could SHOP!!  There were only about 10 gals ahead of me in line, and we all managed to say under the overhang and avoid the heavy drizzle!   Within 5 minutes, the line quickly grew to about 30+ ladies and one Hubby that had came along with his wife! (What a great guy)!   Kate, the store owner appeared next to hand out Donut Holes, (a tradition) and also gave us each a Raffle ticket and drew a ticket for the first drawing of the morning.  Luckily, it was then time to open and we hit the "classroom" which is were all the BEST bargains are.

  I loaded up on shopping bag fairly quickly, and left that room to hand it off to the girls who work there.  They were holding our bags for us at the register, until we were ready to check out.  My next plan was to use my "Copic" chart and pick out 12 new colors.  They had a great Copic Special and with their Buy 5/Get 1 Free and an additional 20% off, it ended up being $3.96 for each Sketch Marker...a super price.  After I picked out my Copics I browsed around the front room and picked up some of the new things out from Prima.  I bought some of the Butterflies, some flowers and some bling.  I really love Prima, so that was a deal with the 20% off.   I then headed back into the backroom to get some more goodies.  By then it was a bit less crowded and I stocked up on Designer Papers, Bling, Acrylic and Rubber Stamps and anything that was a really great deal.  The designer papers were 10 cents or 15 for $1 ...a fabulous deal.  I bought over 60 sheets, 20 'something' Rubber Stamps, about 10 sets of Acrylic Stamps, a dozen new Sketch Copics and lots of other crafting goodies.   My grand total with all the discounts was only $141...and I'll bet I have at least $300-$400 worth of stuff, if NOT more.  I also earned a $20 off coupon for my next visit!  WooHOO!

 My next venture was to head to Michael's and see what I could find to use with my 25% off Coupon.  The best part about this coupon, was that it worked on Sale and Regular priced items, so that was better than normal.   I bought (4) Purple Iris Storage bins ofor only $3.99 each (before the discount).  Two sets of really cute organizers/boxes that were all bright pink with white, purple and black polka dots.  Then I even found the matching tote/organizer, which was really cute and that entire set/line was 55% off.  I also picked up some things from the $1 bin for stocking stuffers, some bling, some American Crafts card stock on Clearance and lastly, I bought a "Stretch Your Imagination" cartridge for my Cricut, which was on sale for $27.95.  They had everything in stock (amazing) and even the New Exclusive cartridges.  But, I had been wanting this one for a long time, so that was my choice.  I left there with a trunk full of goodies, a total of 7 large and stuffed bags and headed home.  I was happily home before 11 am and have a whole BUNCH of great new things and even a little cash to spare.

  I'm browsing my emails now to see if there are any really good deals before I stop shopping for the day.  I'm too tired to put away everything, but I want to organize it all and take some pics too to make a Project 365 page for the week.  I'll do a Black Friday Shopping page and includes some pics of my new goodies!

  All in all a very nice little spree and I had been saving for it for a while now, so I did NOT charge anything!  Yippee!  Tons of new STUFF and it didn't' break the bank!  I have always LOVED shopping on Black Friday and this year was kind of fun...since its' mostly ALL craft things, which means "Merry Christmas" to me!  Luckily, the rest of my Christmas Shopping is pretty much done and what isn't' done, will be gift certificates and/or money!  

   I HOPE everyone who went shopping today, founds some great deals like it did!  Even though I only managed two stores...I did well and I'm VERY HAPPY!  I can't wait to 'play' with all my new goodies all weekend!!

Happy Thanksgiiving!!

  Wishing everyone a nice Thanksgiving!

Are you ready?

Are you all ready for Thanksgiving?  Do you have your goodies all baked or are you going out this year?  Whatever you do, I really hope you enjoy it and that you are safe and well.

  We are staying home and will be cooking the traditional Thanksgiving Day meal, complete the Hot Apple pie and French Vanilla Ice cream for dessert.  I am actually looking forward to being able to sleep in tomorrow and catch up on some much needed rest.   I'm still not feeling great and really want to be okay to SHOP on Friday.  It'll be nice to have our quite little Thanksgiving tomorrow and take the day to rest and relax.  I'm actually happy that we do NOT have to go out this year.  Both DH and Alex are working on Friday and I'll be off at 6 AM to head to my LSS for their Annual Black Friday sale., something I really enjoy and have been looking forward to for weeks.

  I do HOPE that everyone who is traveling has a very safe and enjoyable trip and I also hope you all enjoy spending time in the company of family and friends.

   Hugs and Happy wishes to all - May it be a day full of smiles, fun and love!  Happy Thanksgiving!!

...Just another "Manic Monday"...

....And that's kind of how I am feeling today....Still wish it was Sunday!!

I did not want to get up and my whole body is aching!  ARGH!!  I have a feeling I will not be very productive or get much accomplished today! 

   The ONLY thing I really care about is my Copics Class and the new weekly class should be available later this morning.  Once I download the new files, I am simply going to relax and practice my coloring.  Luckily, I stamped a bunch of cute images over the weekend and I can color them, as practice for class.

  I bought some new stamps from Whipper Snapper Design and when they arrived on Saturday, I couldn't wait to stamp out some of the images.   Whipper Snapper is one of my many "stamp" stores where I like to shop for cute and whimsical stamps.  They also have a nice gallery for card ideas and the they color all their images with Copics too, which make it a great for me, now I have fallen in love with Copics.

    It's a typical cool gray November day here in Massachusetts, but luckily not too cold.  We really have had some warmer than normal temps, so I am very thankful for that and that I have not been freezing too much lately.  I haven't had to light a fire, which is a nice break too.  

   I hope you ALL have a WONDERFUL week and hope every one has a really nice Thanksgiving.  I sure hope I feel good on Friday, so I can make it to the huge Black Friday sale at my LSS, that's the ONE thing I really want to be able to do this week!  

Happy Saturday....

 Today is another day I plan to craft as much as I can.  Unfortunately, my Fibro is acting up and my right shoulder and back are both really sore today!  Grrrrr!!

 If it doesn't improve quickly, I think I'll plan on practicing coloring for my Copic Class!  I am loving this class and very happy I found it.  I also need to finish up the assignments we have for the week, before the new class starts on Monday.  It's been really fun and I've also learned a lot.  The best part is that I have now put together an entire 'sketch book' of instructions, tips, coloring charts and some samples of the assignment.  I plan to slow add some of the images I color and then in time, hope to go back and see how much I have 'hopefully' improved.

These are a few pics of some of the practice sheets I have in my book and a couple images I colored already -

 

 

 

    And that's it for now -- I'm off to try and work on page for my Project 365 book and then move on to coloring...!!

    Have a great Saturday and Happy Crafting!!

A fun day...

 Today I am determined to spend a lot of time making cards and organizing some things in my craft room.  I started early this morning and the first thing I did was to organize ALL my Copic Markers by colors/numbers and to make sure my color charts were all up-dated.   That went well and I'm glad I finally finished that project.  Now, I simply have to figure out what kind of cases or storage I really want to use.  I have been using the plastic cases from Copic and have two of these "clear box style" and one more on order from Cutters Creek, but I realized after I organized them today, that I will need at least ONE more or change to some other type storage.  I now have over 100 Markers!  YIPPEE!  I can't believe how fast my collection has grown and I think I'm pretty close to be done buying them  Alex came home while I was working on that (today was an early release day from school)..and he told me that he would buy me some more and/or a new case as my Christmas Gift.  We browsed a few sights and I found a really neat storage unit that I LOVE, but its' expensive.  I want to see if I can find one like this - CLICK HERE, but at a better price.  That case would be perfect and I could keep it right at my workstation and still be able to add a few more!  Hum?  I'll think about this more and then decide.

I then hung up my new hanging storage organizers that I ordered from HSN last week.  As soon as I started filling them with my stamps, I realized how great these are, so I went right back online and ordered two more sets.  They are currently only $19.99 (set of two) with FREE Shipping.  I had a 15% off code for one item and used that too!  These are going to make organizing ALL my stamps, so much easier.  Plus, it's so easy to see them all at a glance and pick out which one I want to use!  A great value and buy, thanks to the Gals in n my Craft Group who had recommended them!  I had a similar set (for shoes) that I am using in my craft room closet, but I prefer this size.  The pockets are smaller and much more sized for Stamps or embellishments!   Here is a picture of the the one I am working on quickly filling today.  I have this hanging on my craft room door, with a second one behind it.  The second one, has even smaller pockets, which is great for smaller stamps.  

 

 After that little project, I started making some cards.    I wanted to use some of the snowflakes I had cut on my Cricut with the NEW Mini cartridge and I also wanted to use some really pretty SU paper that I had bought.  I just LOVE using non-traditional colors on my Christmas cards.  There are some of the cards I made this morning.  All basically using the same set of SU Paper (I can't remember the name, but hopefully Cindy will, because I LOVE it and want to order more).  There are the cards I'm working on today....

 

  I ended up making a few every day cards, while I had this paper out...it's so pretty and I love how it can be used in so many ways.

  ...A very nice and productive day for me.  I'm off again to hopefully keep going and try some new colors.  I am feeling really good today, which with Fibro is something I can't say all that often.  I am taking full advantage of having a low pain day!  I hope it lasts ALL day!  It's so wonderful when you have a day that you feel this good, they don't come often with Fibro.  I feel very blessed when I do have a day this good!   It's so hard to describe to anyone who doesn't have this illness...but to actually feel good, is truly heavenly.  Today, I almost feel like my  'old self' again...like a normal person pretty much feels every day.  I love it!

A chilly and busy week....

Brrr....was it cold earlier this morning....only 24, which is already too cold  for me.  We had a very hard frost last night too and our deck was covered in ice this morning.  Not good!  Alex when out to start his Jeep and immediately feel...poor kid...,, poor kid.  But, then again, better him than me.  We'll need to get some of the de-icer out and have it ready again for these cold morning.  Our deck is always very slippery in the cold month!  YUK!

Today, I need to get organizing and working on some ongoing projects.  I did finish up three cards for the Two Peas - A Year In Cards challenge and here they are --

 And this is another "Tilda Card" I made over the weekend!

 

    I also found an online class that I am now taking to learn to Color and Blend a whole lot better with my Copic Markers.  The class is at a website called My Creative Classroom and I really LOVE it.  It's a sex segment class and I started a bit later, but since I have been using Copics for a while, I think I will be able to catch up.  The best part is that I can go to the "classroom" whenever I want and work at my own pace.  There are also tons of great handouts and I've already learned quiet a bit about blending and lots of other techniques you can do with the markers.  The instructor, Colleen Schaan is a Copic Certified Instructor and is awesome.  She also has a blog, called Distinctive Touches which is really nice.  I think I can learn a lot from her and I'm really excited to be trying this.  This is the first time I've ever tried an online class.   We have certain things to practice each week and then upload them to the student gallery.  There she will view them and help us discover how to fix our errors and gives us lots of inspiriting criticism.   Most of the classes with be winding down shortly for the Holidays, but will start again in February.

  It's really a great way to learn new craft ideas and techniques and I do plan to take other classes, down the road. This link will take you to a page that lists all the different classes that are offered and they are lots that I think I would like.  -Click Here-  to see the courses.   I think some of the Cricut Classes and  General Coloring classes would be really good.  I already have learned quite a bit from this class and I know it's will be well worth the price. 

  Now, I am off to try getting some things organized in my Craft Room, I bought some new Organizers from HSN and also a new printer, that arrived yesterday.  I've been so busy and tired, that I haven't even opened the boxes, but I do hope to get started today.  My Fibro has been acting up, so it's been hard to get much done, and that is frustrating, but it is also part of life for me.  

.....I just keep hoping for a CURE...