It's all about the little things....

...and today is one of those days that even the little things can mean so much.   Today is a day I am having a wonderful day because I am crafting and also because my pain levels are down and I'm feeling good.  I am always so thankful for the good days and it's such a JOY to feel good.

   It's also one of those days that reminds me to be thankful for all the good things in life and to try and forgot those that are not so great.  Today I am especially thankful that Brian and Meghan are now on their final flight home and will be landing later tonight.  I'm also blessed to have Meghan join our family and am thrilled about their Engagement.

     On top of that I'm very grateful and thankful for my family and all my friends.  My local childhood freinds, friends that I've met at work and all the wonderful friends that I've met through crafting.  With the world of the internet and my blog, I've met lots of new friends and have learned so much from the blogs and groups I follow.

     I have two new cards to share today and they were both inspired and created with a whole Thank You theme in mind.  The first card is also the card I made to send to my Mom to thank her for all the awesome Christmas gifts that she gave to me.  I know she loves yellow, and that is the main color of my card.  She also loves ribbons and feminine looking cards, so I think she'll be very please with this one.   It was easy, yet fun to make and I'm also submitting it to the new "Greeting Card Challenge" that is being hosted at The Outlawz Group this week.   If you want to play along, please go HERE for all the details.

   My second card is also another Thank You card and this one was created especially to honor Dixie, who was the East Coast Shipper and my contact for all the cards I sent to OWH  in 2010 and 2011.   As some of you may know, Dixie has now retired after holding that position for two years!  It was my personal pleasure to have worked with her and I have always admired how much work she and ALL the shippers and members of OWH do.  It's a fabulous group and I am proud to be a small part of what they do.  One of my new goals for 2011 to create even more cards, specifically for OWH !   If you would like to create cards for this wonderful organization, please go HERE for all the details.

     As an extra special thank you for Dixie, today's Midweek Throwdown Challenge over at the Stars and Stamps Blog is to create a Thank You card in her Honor and this is the card that I came up for in honor of Dixie and all her hard work!   I'm sure she will be missed!  I am looking forward to working with Caro, who has taken on the role of East Coast Shipper!

    I also have am very excited about a brand new craft group that Suzanne Dean has opened over at her Color Me Creative Classroom.   It's called - "We R Smash Bookin', Scrapbookin & Journalin'"  and the group is open to all.   All you need to do is be a member apply for membership to the Main Classroom and join the fun.   If you already take part in the Copic Coloring Challenge Group and/or take any of the Classes at CMC you'll find it on the main page.  Suzanne's classes are all wonderful and there is a great variety now available, including a brand new (Level 5) Advanced Technique Copic Class.  That is the only one I have not taken yet, but I do hope to take it sometime this year.
 
    I bought a Smash Book (and accessories) a while back, when I first heard about them and saw the video that K&Company had put on You Tube.  I thought it would be really fun to use it as some sort of art journal, but then simply never started it.  I did start collection ideas and found some inspiration over at Pinterest, but that was as far as I made it.   Now, I'm thrilled to be a member of the new group and to start fresh for 2012.  I'm thinking I will make it more like a daily journal, but will also include lots of crafty goodies.    If this is something you've been thinking of doing, then come on over and join us.  I think we will all have fun and I can't wait to start working on my book!   Here is a link to see more a few more styles and some of the accessories!!  I have Blue one, but I had hoped they came in Purple, and sadly they did not. But, you can bet, they will be lots of purple in my book and I'm excited to get it started!

    I'm off now to see what Hubby is up too?  He's doing some project (yikes)...in our bathroom and I have been hearing lots of noise and he's been off to the hardware store once?   I have NO clue what's going on, and I'm almost afraid to look?  I do HOPE whatever he's doing is a good think and I also HOPE...maybe, just maybe, that he'll paint it when he's done?     I think I might be dreaming???

It's time to CREATE!!!

   I had a wonderful Christmas and my family treated me very well.   I am now the very happy and lucky owner of an iPad and I totally LOVE it.   It was a gift I had on my 'dream list' and I feel very fortunate to now have one.   Special thanks to Hubby and my Boys for making this dream come true.   I still have lots to learn, but it's been fun.  My friend, Patty also received one this year and it'll be fun to learn with her.   I think I might even take one of the free classes that Apple offers in their stores.    One of the best features I've use so far is FaceTime and that was a JOY for me on Christmas because I was able to talk live to Brian and Meghan in Portugal.   I am also very happy and excited to announce that they are Engaged!!  WooHoo!!   I could not be happier for them both and I already Love Meghan, so having her as my daughter, will be a wonderful gift!!  I can't wait for them to be back, so that we can celebrate another Christmas with them and I can give them each a big Hug and Kiss - I've missed them very much!

    I'm also blessed to have had both Alex and Acacia here to celebrate Christmas and they are also a wonderful couple.  Maybe some day they too will get engaged?  They are still both young and have plenty of time.  I really am so lucky that my boys each have such wonderful girls in their life.

    On another happy note, I have been pretty lucky again lately and I won three awesome prizes last week.  The first was from Operation Write Home and it's one of the brand new stamps sets, that Hero Arts created specifically for OWH.  I already own the 'Year Round Sentiment Set', and will now be adding the 'Right at Home' set which is adorable.    I hope to buy the last set, when I hit AE on Friday.

     My second wonderful surprise was part of a Giveaway,  at PoppyStamps website and I won a set of the adorable new PoppyStamps, which you can find HERE!    I totally LOVE Memory Box products and this new line is going to be another favorite.  I'm especially lucky as they are sold at my LSS!!   This set that I won is called Snowtime Fun and I won both the die and the matching stamp!   Sooooo Cute!   Thanks Dave!!

    My third wonderful prize was won from taking part in a wonderful Card Drive that I read about on Jennifer McGuire's Blog.  It's cards Cards that Care and I was happy to do my little part to create some card for such a great cause.  

    I never even thought about winning a thing and had even forgot that there were several sponsors -- so you can only imagine my surprise when I read on Jennifer's Blog that I was one of the lucky winners.   And the best part of ALL is that I won my choice of (6) Hero Arts Stamps, the absolute perfect prize for me, since I am such a fan of Hero Arts.  I've been drooling all over the brand new 2012 Catalog!   WooHoo!   My thanks to Jennifer and Vera for hosting the drive and also to all the companies who donated such awesome prizes!  THANK YOU!!!   I was also excited to see two craft friends also won -- Congratulations to Donna and Dixie!

    Today, I want to get back to creating and have really missed it, so it should be fun.  I do have a few cards that I created last week, but did not have time to post.  I'm happy to share them with you now:

  All three of these card were created for a variety of Challenges and they were all really fun to make.   These will also be the last of my Christmas Cards for this year and I'm very ready to move on and create some fun new themes.

   For anyone who LOVES to create CAS style cards, you still have time to sign up and take the Clean&Simple Card Making Workshop that Jennifer McGuire, Kristina Werner and Julie Ebersole are hosting online.    It starts on January 9th, and you can find all the details HERE!   I am very happy to be enrolled and look forward to learning this style!  I LOVE it, but find it a challenge, so this will be a great class for me.

   Phew!!   Took me two hours to get this done, but I had a lot to share!!  I want to wish you all a wonderful week and hope you all had a Christmas as special as mine!!   Hugs to all!!

   Afternoon Update:   I am back to share two new cards that I created today with the help of my wonderful Silhouette Cameo.  I really love all that I can do with this machine and I find it so much easier to use than my Cricuts, plus I Love that I can be used withe both SCAL and Make the Cut and that's such a bonus.  Now I can use any SVG file and cut it on my machine!!  WOOHOO!!

   My first card today was created for this week's CAS card challenge at The Outlawz and the theme for this week was Baby.  I do not have Grand-kids or young children, so I really did not have anything in my stash that seemed like it would work out for a cute Baby card?   That's when I thought about how easily I could use my Cameo and find a cute 'Baby' image from the Silhouette Store.   I actually added a few to my library so that I would have some on hand for any more baby cards.   The cute image was actually meant to be used as a card base, but I simply loved it as a little baby Onesie, so I changed it a bit and added the little buttons.  In the end, this is the card that I created and I think it's very sweet!

   I also finished up a second card and this one is for another challenge being hosted this week over at "The Outlawz".  This is for the new Color Combo Challenge, which you'll find HERE!   The colors this week are perfect for Valentine's cards and that was initially what I thought I would make.  But, after looking at the colors again, along with the adorable inspiration image (see below), I went back to the Silhouette Store, pick out some cute cupcakes files and made this fun card in that theme.

    I hope I have now inspired you to hop on over to The Outlawz and join in the fun challenges.   I had fun working on both these cards and my next goal today to is create a new Operation Write Home card based on the new Sketch, which I have shared below:

    I have always loved the way banner/pennant cards come out, but admit, I have always considered them to be Hard!  I am hoping I can come up with something that will look good and I'm off to work on that next!! Wish me luck...for this I need a LOT!!

    Woohoo!   I did it!  I found a wonderful pennant banner in the Silhouette Store.  I think it's perfect for OWH cards and is one that I can use again.  It originally had four pennants, so I copied one of them and attached it to the end, to have five.  I also loved that it was created with with Stars and Stripes that that's what drew me to the image.   Once I had it cut, I added some Baker's Twine and use that to tie it onto my card.  Here is the completed card and I hope you'll like it!!

  And that will be it for today!   Tomorrow will be another day spent creating and I can't wait!  

Christmas Hugs!!

...and best wishes to all for a wonderful weekend!   I'm taking off the next couple of days to finish up my last few Christmas preparations and to also take some time to rest and relax.


    I truly LOVE Christmas and will enjoy spending time with my family and friends.  I will also looking forward to talking to Brian and Meghan and hearing about how the celebrated their Christmas in Portugal, which by tradition, will be on the 24th.   I miss them both, but I know they are having a wonderful vacation and that makes me very happy.   


   Special wishes to all my friends for a very Merry Christmas!   I hope it's a day full of LOVE and that all of your dreams and wishes come true!    

Christmas Hugs to all!  

   I will be looking forward to lots of happy creative time, once the Holidays are over!  I have some really fun classes coming up in January and they will be the perfect way for me to spend time in my craft-room!   It will also be a wonderful way to get though those bitter cold winter days!   
  

Peace and Love!

A special day....

  Twenty-five years ago at 10:20 am, my life was forever changed with the birth of my first child, my son, Brian.   Becoming a mother will be be one of the greatest joys in my life and December 19th, 1986 was my very first day as a Mom a day I'll always cherish!

    I am truly blessed to have two amazing sons and can hardly believe that my first born turned 25 this morning.       I wish him a wonderful birthday and hope he and Meghan have a super trip.  They flew out this morning and will be spending the new 10 days celebrating his Birthday and Christmas in Portugal.   I know I'll miss them both terribly, but I'm also very happy they are off on this awesome journey.  They planned this trip months ago and both were so excited to be heading out this morning.    I'll look forward to keeping in touch and talking with them on Christmas.   They will actually celebrate Christmas on the 24th, as that is the tradition in Portugal and from what I've read it sounds like a very festive and magical day.   I can't wait to see all the pictures they'll have when they come home and I'll always look forward to having a second Christmas with them, after they are back.

     Today, having my son being away on a milestone birthday and over Christmas, makes me realize how lucky I have been to have had him with me every year for the past 24.  I know of many families who do not always have the chance to be together for the Holidays, especially many of our Troops service overseas.   My heart to goes out to them and I can't even being to imagine how hard it is to have your family away, for so much longer.  Thinking about our Troops and all they do for our country, is what drew me to Operation Write Home and the wonderful service they do for all the Troops, all year long.  I'm very honored and proud to do my little part in created cards for OWH and today that's the one card I have to share.  It is one that is based on this week's Sketch Challenge over at the Stars and Stamps Blog and it's also Sketch # 100!!!  WOOHOO!!  

Sketch # 100

     I named this card  - My Lucky Stars and I do feel so thankful for ALL the days I have with both of my boys and all the birthdays and holidays we'll have in the future.  This wonderful sentiment is from one of the  brand Clear Stamp Sets (Year Round Sentiments) that Hero Arts created especially for OWH and it worked out perfect for my card.

     I also Thank My Lucky Stars to all the Troops who serve and protect us each and every day!   May God Bless every one and may they all look forward to being back home with their families very soon!   I wish you all a very Happy Holiday Season!

     And one before I sign off, I also have one more special wish....

     Happy Birthday Brian - I love you !! 

Have a safe, happy and wonderful trip and be sure to give Meghan a big kiss from me on Christmas morning!  

XOXO,

Mom

Hugs and Hero Arts....

   Stopping by to quickly share some of the newest things I have been working on with the awesome new Hero Arts Stamps.  I have not had too much time to spend in my craft room but I could not resist at least trying a few of my newest stamps!  LOVE!!!

   All of these cards were created with Operation Write Home in mind and I'm also submitted this first one to their Happy Hour Blog Skip, which started yesterday!  I'm a bit late in getting my card done, but happy that I did finish it and can share it with you all now.

  This card was created with one of my new Hero Arts Background Stamps and it's fast becoming one of my favorites.   I combined a variety of Distress Inks directly onto the stamp, misted it in Perfect Pearls Mist and then stamped it directly onto a Pink Hero Arts Card Base.   The Hugs Sentiment is also from one of my new Sentiment Sets.
 
   If you are looking to add any of the new Hero Arts Stamps to your collection, you can see them a great selection of them HERE  at Simon Say Stamps!!    You can also find them at Ellen Hutson's store HERE and at Two Peas in a Bucket HERE, as well as at your local LSS!!  

     My next card is another card that I created with the same wonderful background stamp and technique, but simply changed some of my colors and my sentiment!

  I also have one more in progress, which you see here, as well as the start of a fourth card, which features their awesome new Owl Stamps (Big Eyes)...he's adorable!!!

  I'm now off to continue my Christmas Wrapping and HOPE, I can finish it up today.  I really want to make a few more cards with these awesome stamps and that will be my afternoon goal.  I hope I have inspired you to check out this wonderful new line and to also hop on over to the Stars and Stamps Blog, and take a peek at all the wonderful cards the gals have shared with their new HA Stamps!!  

Have a sensational Saturday and a wonderful weekend!   

 
   

Ten Days and Counting....

  WOW!   Can you believe that Christmas is now only 10 days away!   Why is it that the time seems to fly by all of a sudden and you realize you have soooo much more to do!  That's where I am today and also why I didn't find any time to post yesterday.

    Yesterday, I did make one day card and that for the Valentine Challenge over at the Stars & Stripes Blog, which you'll fine HERE!!   This was another of those very easy cards, thanks to the adorable Die Cuts I bought from Lily of the Valley!!   The sweet little image on this is card one of those wonder die cuts and whenever I find I need to make a card quickly, these are perfect!

    I had hoped to play along in quite a few more challenges this week, but it's not looking like I'm gong to have much time for crafts!    As much as I LOVE to create, I also do not like to stress out over the Holidays, so I'm taking each days as it comes and trying very hard to accomplish all I need to do.   Today, I did some more of my wrapping and made a pretty good dent in the pile.  I also opened more packages that had arrived in the past couple of days and put those gifts into gift bags.  Tomorrow, I will wrap more and add tissue and ribbons to those bags.

   This weekend will be spend wrapping more and picking up a few last minute gifts that I need.  On Sunday, I'll be heading down to the Pub to celebrate my son Brian's 25th Birthday!  I can hardly believe that I have a son who is now 25....!   Those years have passed so fast and have been a JOY!   I'm looking forward to spending the afternoon with him and Meg and I hope they have a fabulous time on their trip.  I'm going to miss them both so much, but will be happy to keep in touch via the Internet!!   They fly out on Monday, morning and I'l be happy when I know they have arrived safe and sound in Portugal!!

   Next, week is the final countdown and I also have a Chiro appointment and Nail appointment to get in.  That's also my week to bake and make my candies!  I have everything bought and I'm all set, it's just a matter of picking my good days and get going.   Most of what I have to do, will be towards the end of the week and I'll be done on Christmas Eve, with a nice night of relaxation here at home awaiting Santa's arrival and a wonderful Christmas morning spent with my family!  

   I do hope to stop in every now and then with an update, but if not, it's because I'm resting and/or making some goodies for Christmas!  I wish all my wonderful crafty friends, a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday Season.  I hope you all have a fabulous time with friends and family and that each day if full of fun, happiness and lots of LOVE!!

      

Did you hear about the SALE???

  Well if you know me, then you'll know that SALE is one of my favorite words.  Not only is there a sale at Ellen Hutson's store, but it's for the BIG 2012 Debut Preview Party with  Hero Arts!!   WOOHOO!!

  And yes, despite the fact that I was at my LSS yesterday and bought some of the new stamps, I had to share my money with Ellen, as well!  It worked our perfect, as I was able to pick up three new goodies that had already sold out here locally.

   Do you want to see what I bought?  I'll share one image, it's  this adorable OWL named Big Eyes!      

  If you want to see more, I have two cards below and both were created with some of the brand new stamps.  The first one, I created last night and it's a sweet 'Thinking of You' card.  It features two of the stamps I picked up yesterday, along with one I already owned.   You'll see this wonderful new Cling Stamp, as well as this new Die Cut set!    Love Love Love!!

   I am also sharing the Make and Take card I created yesterday while at AE, (my LSS).    This one also includes two new stamps from the Debut and they are the Cling Watch Gears Stamp, as well as the Fancy Keys Background Stamp.    The more I look at this card, the more I think that I'll be planning to buy both of these stamps, sometime after Christmas!  I think it's perfect for any of the hard to make "Male" cards and would also be fantastic for OWH!

  Another set I did buy and really love is one of the Sentiment Stamps that was designed along with  Operation Write Home!    It's called Year Round Sentiments and you'll find it at Ellen's store!!    

   Happy SHOPPING!!!
And hurry --  the sale ends on December 15th!!

Another super day....

...and today was another great day to get a lot done and still have some time to create.  After finishing up my typical morning chores, I also finished up decorating my tree and then caught up on a bunch of paperwork and bills that had been sitting on my desk.  I love it when I can file them all away and be done that that task for another week.

   Once I did all my chores my Mom stopped by, so that I could go online for her and pre-register them for the Cruise they're taking after the Holidays.   What a pain it is to do that for people who do not have or understand computers.   I was very surprised at all the information I had to provide to the Cruise Line and would have through the travel agency would have done a lot more.  On a happy note it's all done now and she also have print-out of all the papers and such that she needs.   I often wonder what happens to he many senior citizens who do have have access to a computer and never will.  It's just something my Mom has no interest in and as many times as I've tried to show her basic things....she just does NOT get it and wants NO part of it.  

   Once we had the done, it was time for me to work on organizing some of my Christmas gifts and that went pretty well.  I finally sorted through the bags I had sitting around since Friday and some of the most recent packages that have arrived.  I made a nice dent in that task and then moved into my craft room for some fun.

   I have two new cards to share and the first card was created and inspired by two new challenges.  The first is the new Sketch Challenge from the Stars and Stamps (OWH) blog and this is a copy of this week's Sketch, which is number 99!   Next, Sunday it'll be the 100th Sketch -- how cool is that!!

  And this is the card that I created that will also be submitted to today's new Greeting Card Challenge at The Outlawz.  It's a cute little die cut image that I bought during a fabulous sale at Lily of the Valley.  I think these images are so sweet and always make a fun and easy card.  This one worked perfect, as the name of the challenge this week at The Outlawz is "Let it Snow".

   Once I had that card done I decided to make one more and I simply wanted to use up some cut little Die Cut trees that were sitting on my desk.  I added Glitter to a couple and cut one more to add some variety.  I then took a piece of White Glittered Cardstock and cut it down to look like a hill of snow.  I then added my tree assortment and finished it off by tying on a Ribbon and Bow!   So easy, but it came out kind of cute too! I have quite a few spare Christmas cards on hand and most will be saved for next year and/or donated to special causes, like Operation Write Home.

    My next goal is to continue on wrapping my gifts and then start working on some tins of Hersey Nuggets.  I like to wrap each of the Nuggets in cute Holiday paper and then place 12 in each tin.  They make nice little ad on gifts and are very easy to make!   Here is a picture of one of the tins I made last year!

   Tomorrow, I have to go back to see my doctor for a follow-up and then hope to head to my LSS - Absolutely Everything for their awesome Hero Arts Special.   They are part of the new Catalog Release Party and are offering all the new Stamps and Goodies at a special price for this one week only.    I think it will be fun to head to the store one last time before Christmas, see the girls and also do some of the Freebie Make and Takes!   I am excited to go and may sign up for one of the January classes too!  

   That's it for today -- if you don't see me posting tomorrow, you'll know I'm having a great time shopping and continuing to get ready for Christmas!!  

A Sensational Sunday!!

  Life is Good!!!   I have had a wonderful day and it's also been a low pain day, which is so nice.  I feel good today and that's always such a blessing and the kind of day I LOVE.   I'm also so happy to have a really good day and one that has been full of fun and happy things.

    This morning DH and I did our Christmas decorating and it all went really well and the house is looking a lot more festive.  We did scale back quite a bit on how much decor I put out, but we are happy with the outcome and this will make things much easier for us both, especially when it comes time to put it all back in the attic.

   Once we had that done, it was time to me to head to my craft room and that's where I've been for the rest of the day.  I had three cards that I had started last night to finish and also now have completed three more, all of which I'm happy to share with you now.  It's been such a joy to also have so much crafting time and to be enjoying it so much.   Another wonderful bonus of feeling well!!

   My first three cards were all created in a Santa theme and that inspiration came from this week's Challenge over at Catch the Bug - Bugaboo's Challenge Blog, which you'll find here.   I'm sad that I missed out on their wonderful Twelve days of Christmas and that's because I was not feeling well during most of the it!  I really enjoy creating with Bugaboo Images and all three of these Santa cards contain Bugaboo images!!

   These are the cards I created for the Santa Baby Challenge and since I am allowed to enter two, I will be submitting the first two Santa Cards!

   And my third card is Santa with his adorable little Christmas Tree!   This card was inspired by today's new (Day 10) "Ten Lords a Leaping' Challenge over at Bugaboo, as well as this week's  Come and Get it Challenge, that you'll find HERE!!  Their challenge is a color challenge called Red, Green and Your Pick and I chose to use Yellow, for the stars on my tree!

   My next card was created and inspired by this week's Copic Color Challenge over at The Outlawz Group. Their challenge this week is to create a Christmas/Holiday card using Non-Traditional colors, something I love to do and actually do quite often for many of my cards.

     This sweet card was colored with my Copics and Glitter and contains an sweet and adorable digi image from DigiStamp Boutique.  This cutie is Lucy and she's one my newest digi stamps and I think she's as cute as can be.  She is also part of a set of three images that are the Offer of the month at DSB for December.   In addition to the Challenge at The Outlawz, I am also submitting her to the Customer Challenge over at the DSB blog HERE!!

      My next card also was created with the same idea in mind and also is another of my new digi images.  This sweetie, (Paige) is one created by Hannah Boyd, the very talented daughter of Lori Boyd.  It's part of Hannah's Bug & Roo Limited Edition Bundle, which you'll find HERE!   You can also find all kinds of wonderful inspiration over at the store HERE!!    I am a big fan of both Lori and Hannah, as well and just LOVE fun, cute and whimsical images!   They make me smile!!

    This card is being submitted to these fun Challenges:

• The Pink Elephant - # 128 Snowflakes and Sparkle
• The Squirrel & The Fox - # 7 - Christmas
• Creative Inspiration Paints - Non Traditional Colors

     And last, but not least, my final card today was created for today's new CAS Challenge over at The Outlawz.  This week's challenge is all about Glitter!!    You can find some wonderful inspiration from the DT by going HERE!!

     

  This was another fun, yet easy card to create, thanks to one of the awesome new Dies from Memory Box.  I picked the "Winterland Tree" die and used Green Glittered cardstock (by DCWV) and my Big Shot to cut out this delicate tree.   I then adhered that onto black cardstock and added several black flat back pearls as my ornaments.  I then matted that layer on the same green glittered cardstock and put it all together on a light olive card base and added a piece of pretty black trim that I bought from this wonderful Etsy Store!!

  I'm off now to rest and relax for the rest of the day and will be back tomorrow, hopefully with some new cards.   My next goal to to work on this week's Sketch Challenge over at the Stars & Stamps Blog.   Oh, and speaking of that challenge, have you seen the wonderful new Stamps that Hero Arts created along with Operation Write Home?   They are all part of the brand new release and I have already ordered my first two sets.   You can go to Jennifer McGuire's Blog and check out her fabulous post about the new catalog release!!   If you read carefully, you might even find a way to buy yours and save some money!   Hint Hint!!!

  These are the two sets I have already ordered and the first one is called "Year Round Sentiments" and is one that will be perfect for OWH Cards.  I also just love the "Newspaper Flower" and have a few more on my wish list.  My LSS is running a special on the new releases and they will all be 15% off for the next week.  I hope to try and get up there on Tuesday and pick up another set or two!    I'd hate to miss a SALE!!!

   I just LOVE so many of the new stamps and I'll bet we'll be using some of them in the upcoming Clean & Simple Card Making Class that Jennifer and Kristina Werner will be offering in January!   I was able to enroll early after taking the "Holiday Boot Camp Class".  I believe the enrollment for all crafters starts tomorrow (December 12th).   You can find more details over on their Classroom Site HERE!!    Based on all the classes I have already taken, I know it'll be fantastic and I'll be looking forward to it during the cold month of January !  

   I hope I have now inspired you to create some fun new cards, play in the challenges, do a little shopping and maybe even make some cards to send off to Operation Write Home.    Whatever you do, I hope your day turns out to be as awesome as mine has been!!  

  

Pink is pretty....

...and today I'm back to share some new cards that I created for a variety of new challenges.   The funny thing is that they all turned out to be in a Pink theme, although that was not my intention when I started.

   My first card was created for using one of my newest digi images from DigiStamp Boutique.  I think she (Hattie)  is so sweet and makes a very special card.  You can find this adorable little image HERE!   I'm also excited to be entering this card to this week's to the December Customer Challenge over at DigiStamp Boutique Blog!

  My next card also features lots of pink and a wonderful digi image by Hannah Lynn.  I think her images are truly amazing and have added quite a few to my collection.  This one is called 'Irish Christmas Fae' and I thought she would look pretty all done in pink.  I also created her specifically for the Copic Coloring Challenge over at the Color Me Creative Classroom.

   And also in a pink theme was this CAS card that I created mostly for FUN and because I am already longing for SPRING.   As most of you know, I am not at ALL a fan of winter of the cold, and once the cold weather hits, my Fibro really seems to flare.  When I was really feeling lousy last week, this was one of the only cards I managed to create and all I wanted was some warm sunshine!   On a happy note, we had a very mild November and so far December has not been bad, which is very good for me.   For those of you who LOVE snow, feel free to have all of ours and keep in in your hometowns!!

     My next card was created today and this one is being submitted to three new challenge.  The first is the current challenge over at Through The Craftroom Door and it's also being submitted to the new Paper a la Mode Challenge at The Outlawz, as well as today's new 'Anything Goes' challenge over at the Creating by Designs Group!   Everyone is welcome to play in one or all of these challenge and I would LOVE to see you!

    My sweet little Primitive Angel image is a new digi from Bugaboo, which you can find in the store HERE and buy now during the huge 50% off Sale!!

   I am off now to work on some new challenge cards and then will make an attempt to start on some of my Christmas Wrapping.  I think I am almost done with my shopping and had a great time at the Mall finishing up yesterday.  I was very happy to easily find parking spaces and to find lots of great sales and deals.  I'm also so happy to be feeling better and looking forward more and more to Christmas!!

  Special thanks to everyone who has been so supportive, kind and caring and left me such sweet comments for the past couple of weeks.  I hope now that this flare is gone, that I can slow get back to more time in my craft room and also stay well!   Tomorrow is going to be our decorating day and although I'm going to scale back quite a bit, I'm still looking forward to making my house look a bit more festive!!

  Have a wonderful weekend and as always --- Happy Crafting!!

Holiday Hugs!!!

..... I am very happy to finally be feeling a bit more like myself, but I'm also very busy in trying to catch up on the days I lost last week.    I've decided to take a little break from my blog as I continue to prepare for Christmas, my favorite holiday!!  I will try to check in every couple of days and say hi, but if you don't see me, you'll know I'm decorating, wrapping gifts, making chocolates and doing all the fun stuff that makes Christmas so special.

    In the meantime, I'm going to do my best to rest, relax and look forward to a wonderful Christmas -- Full of Fun, Happiness and lots of LOVE!!

Still recovering....

......taking a few more days off to rest and hopefully finally recover from this flare.

   It's been a long week and ended on a sad note, as one of my best friend's (Kim),  lost her Dad early this morning.  He had been battling cancer along with heart disease for the past several months, but we certainly never saw this coming so soon.   I am  happy to know that they all had a nice Thanksgiving at home last week and that he was feeling pretty good that day.    It's still always heartbreaking to lose anyone you love and I am heartbroken for the family.   I can still remember when my Dad died how supportive Kim and her parents were to me and my family.   I can still picture her at my Dad's services arm in arm with both her Mom and Dad--that thought brought back fond memories today -- but very sad thoughts too!

   Life is very short at times, as this is another of those times.  I pray that Hank is now pain free and is in Heaven being reunited with those we have already lost.   My love goes out to all of his family.... I feel their pain and know he will be missed very much!!  God Bless -- May he now Rest in Peace.

Pain is not a happy thing.....

....and today is another day of PAIN!   I'm on my fourth day of a new med and so far, there is NO change, other than even MORE fatigue.  It does seem to knock me out at night and I take it at bedtime, but boy is it hard to get up in the morning.  I wake up feeling exhausted and this morning I 'snoozed' my alarm, at least five times. I literally am dragging today and my pain level is also UP?    UGH!!

    Hoping tomorrow will be better and sending out Happy Wishes to all my friends!

  Later.....I have a little bit of GOOD NEWS to share!!   I was one of the lucky winners this month over at 'The Outlawz' challenge group.   I won the prize from the Color Combo Group, which is perfect for me.  It's 20 sheets of Cryogen Cardstock from The Paper Temptress.

    

   What a wonderful surprise and a little happiness for an otherwise - crappy day!  My thanks to Colleen, Patricia,   the (Paper Temptress) and all the DT Girlz for all the fun challenges and inspiration.

    Afternoon Update:    I'm back with an afternoon update and feeling a bit more upbeat!  I really do try VERY hard NOT to let this illness get to me, but there are times, I just want to scream and this morning that was me venting, thanks for listening and also for taking time to stop by and wish me well.   It really does help and I appreciate you and ALL of your kind comments so much!  

   I have two new projects to share and both were inspired by ideas I found online.  My first card was inspired by one that Kristina Werner shared on her blog and it also features some of my favorite stamps and techniques that I learned from her and Jennifer McGuire.  

    Mine was created in different colors, but I used a lot of the ideas that Kristina shared in this VIDEO.  I used the new Seasonal Distress Inks and also was able to find the same Wreath Die Cut in the Silhouette Store.  Having my new Silhouette Cameo makes it so much fun now, as it opens up all kinds of new things!   Here is my card -- hope you like it. 

  My second project today was inspired today's new Twisted Thursday Challenge over at The Outlawz and also with the infamous "Twelve Tags of Christmas" that Tim Holtz creates every year.  I had the idea of trying to make each one this year, but quickly realized on Day One that I just do NOT have all of the dies and goodies that Tim uses and as much as I love his talent, some of his projects are a bit too "Masculine" for me.  It was then that I decided to use some of his inspiration, but to also make these more my style and go for a more feminine and whimsical look!   I hope you'll like what I came up with!

  I started by picking out some cardstock that was very close in color to the Iced Spruce Distress Ink and cut it into a tag shape.    I then picked out a cute snowman image (from Bugaboo) and colored it up in shades to match the cardstock.  Next, I grabbed one of my newer snowflake embossing folders and inked it with the Iced Spruce ink, placed my tag inside and ran it through my Big Shot.  I then added on my new image, and punched a whole and added a grommet for ribbons.  I finished it off by added a Sentiment that was stamped in Black and then glittered in Silver!    And here it is...................

   Once I got started I really enjoyed making both projects and I'm so happy that I pushed myself and did not give into the pain.  It's so much nicer to do anything I can to forget it and crafting has always been my escape!   I find that I almost always feel a bit better, if I can focus on my crafts and it really does keep my mind of the pain.   I also am now looking forward to seeing what Tim will come up with each day and I'm going to make it my goal to try and create at least one project each day, based on inspiration from his Tag series!  Maybe you'll play along too -- I think it will be fun!!

The end of a nice month!!

  It's very unusual for November to turn out to be one of our better weather months, but we really did luck out this year and today is another nice mild November day.  I'm very thankful for each and every day that continues to be warmer and normal, and it's so nice to still be heading outside and wearing my flip flops!  Woohoo!!

  Today my goal was to finish up my Christmas Cards, which I am very happy to say, is done!!   Another thing I can check off my 'To Do' List.    It's really nice to be on track and to have them all set to go out in the mail.  I think I will plan to send them on Monday, if not sooner.   Last year, I was so late that a few cards did not arrive on time, which is awful.  I do not know what is going on with the mail lately, but I am sad to say that it has been very slow.  I received a Thanksgiving card today from a dear friend who live in Connecticut.  It was post-marked on the 22nd, yet it took 8 days to arrive from CT and that's awful.  Talk about "Snail Mail"...and that was a first class card?   WHY did it take so long?     On top of that the card I sent to Brian and Meg, was returned stating it was a vacant address ....WRONG!  It's not vacant and is truly their valid address??   I have no clue why, but I'm putting it right back in the mail again, as all the information is right.  I know the Post Office seems to be hurting, but if the service is this bad, it will only get people upset and keep them from using the USPS services and that will NOT help!!   I hope both these were flukes, but again, why did it also take 8 days for the card to be returned to me?  Something is very wrong and if that is the way the PO is running now, it's a shame!!

  On a happier note, I did also make a fun new card today and it was inspired by today's new Challenge at the Stars and Stamps Blog.  The challenge this week is to create a card using a digi image and I picked this adorable image from By Lori Designs.  I think Lori's images are always adorable and they always brighten my day.   These cuties were part of one of Lori's Summer Collection and I chose to add two images together for my 'Miss You' Card.

  I hope you like it and hope you'll be inspired to create a card for the challenge too.   If you plan to sent it off to OWH, keep in mind that OWH has already sent out all the Christmas/Holidays cards for this year, so please choose another theme for your card.  You can find the current need list HERE!!

   I'm off now to see what else I can get done today and hopefully, it will be some more Christmas shopping.  I did place a large order from Amazon this morning and that one put a nice dent in my list, but I will have a long way to go!   I am starting to feel a bit more festive and I think that really helps.  I'm signing off for a bit and will be listening to some fun Christmas song via my iTunes!  Music always makes me happy and helps keep me moving too....I LOVE to dance and only wish it didn't hurt quite so much!

Santa's Friend!!

   Today has flown by for me, and part is the reason is that I slept late, but also slept pretty well.  I'm also not feeling too bad today and LOVE these mild temperatures that we've had this month.  This has to be one of the mildest November's we have had in a long time, and this girl is very happy that winter is staying away.

  Once it did get up and finished up the typical morning chores, I knew my next goal was to focus on my Christmas Card list and start printing the labels and writing out my cards.   That task went very well and I have quite a few done and almost all set to mail.  I was also very happy to see that I have more than enough cards already created and that was great news.

   I also received my Shopping Spree code today from Hero Arts and will be looking forward to shopping in the store for some new goodies.  This time of year, I try very hard NOT to buy anything for myself and instead focus on my buying Christmas gifts for my family.  It will be nice to have this spree, but I'm in no hurry and may save it to use for the CAS Card Class I'm taking in January!  Between that and the new release Preview Party on December 10th,  I'm sure I will have a great time shopping!   If you want to join in on the new Preview Party, please go HERE for all the details, or simply click on the link below.

   I have one new card to share today and it was inspired by the brand new Color Combo Challenge being hosted over at 'The Outlawz'.   Below I am sharing a copy of the swatch for this week's challenge.  The twist for this week is to also include Button(s) on your projects.

   I had a lot of fun with this card and started with this cute little Santa and Rudolph digi that I picked up today over at DigiStamp Boutique.   I was just about to start looking for an image to use, found an email from DSB in my inbox and knew I wanted to use one of the Santa's from this collection on my card.  This cute set has a total of six different images and it's awesome!  You can find in the store HERE!!   I'm also planning to submit this card to the monthly Customer Competition challenge over on the DigiStamp Boutique Blog.

   In addition to those two challenges, I am also entering this card to this week's Anything Goes Challenge over at Party Time Tuesdays!  I hope you'll come on over and join the fun!  :)

  Before I sign off, I'd like to also invite your all to take part in the challenge that I came up with as the Guest Designer this week, over at Crafting by Designs.  It's also a color combo challenge and you can find all the details HERE or on my blog post HERE!!  I would LOVE to see some of you join the fun and want to thank the girls that have already created some awesome cards for the challenge!!   THANK YOU Sharon, Gwen and Mo -- All of your cards look fabulous and I'm so happy you played along!!

  And now I'm signing off and will have some dinner and then get back to work on finishing up my Christmas Cards.  I like to mail mine early and will be very happy to make that goal this year.  Last year, I was much farther behind and then also ended up having to buy cards, as I did not make enough.  It's nice to be ahead on something and I hope I can continue to stay on track.  If all goes well, I would like to start on a little bit of Christmas decorating on Saturday.   How about you?  Did you already start your decorating or do you start later?   Have you scaled back this year or do you still go all out??