Getting Ready For Holly Days!

When I first moved here, I looked for craft fairs so I could get a space in them for the next year. I thought it would be a good way to begin becoming part of my new community. It was a Christmas Fair called Holly Days that I met my wonderful friend Sharon- Oak Island Stamp Queen. I purchased some things from her that day, and thought she was very nice.
The next year I had a space in this fair, and who would be across the aisle form me?- but Sharon. Well, the rest is history.
Anyhow, that time is again drawing near, and I have been busy making things to sell. I have a sneak peak of one of them for you.

A table full of little Santa heads!

You may have seen something like this around blogland. These are made all from Stampin Up punches. They will sit on top of candy in a cellophane wrapper. Im not sure if I will use Twizzlers or M and Ms.

Here are the punches that I used to make them.

When I get further along in their production, I will post more photos.

I will leave you today with a photo of my sweet puppy Berklee. We have her 5 weeks already!
Many thanks for stopping by...

IN HONOR OF WORLD CARDMAKING DAY...

I made... a box???  Well, yes. I did make a box- but the box is for all the stamped images I use on my CARDS!
I found a dented old black index card box at a yard sale for maybe 50 cents. I took it home and thought long and hard about what I was going to do with this piece of junk. Why did I buy this when my garage is full of these yard sale finds, most of which my husband would love to throw out. Luckily for me, he just shakes his head and laughs when I come home all excited with more of the same.
But I was longing for some organization  when I start my cards. I had several piles of stamped images in different stages of completion~ and they were everywhere. So this box was perfect. I could store them in categories, telling me how far I got in completing each one. And the best part, they would all live together in my new box.
Now- to pretty it up!!

This is what I did to the top of the box. Everything can be made prettier with some seam binding in a great color.

A closeup to show you the pearl swirl. The paper is all Basic Grey  Capella collection.

Another view of the front. The stamp is from Magnolia of course.
Flowers are Prima. Colored with Copics.

The inside of the box with all the dividers in place.

I stamped a fairy from Red Lead stamps on each divider and used  theme related stamps from various companies to decorate each one.
Divider tab and coordinating stamp is from Taylored Expressions. Divider words are computer generated.

View of box with the lid open. Dont forget the little things like decorating all visible areas of your project.

Closeup of the bow... and distressing around the edges of the sentiment...

Side view, lace goes all the way around.

Back view. I used Mod Podge to adhere all the paper to the metal box. It worked great, no bubbling, and was super easy. I also inked all the edges of the paper with Chestnut Brown Chalk Ink- cats eye.

Detail closeup. I love how all the colors blend so well together.

Detail of one of the category dividers...

Oh, and by the way- this is what the metal box looked like when I bought it. Keep your eye out for these easily overpassed items next time you're out yardsaleing.
Many thanks for stopping by...

QUICK AND EASY CARDS

This week I had to make a bunch of cards, mostly thank yous, for my birthday gifts I received.
 Not having a lot of time to do this~ my new little puppy is taking up lots of my time, I had to go the quick route.
But that does not mean bad or boring. I think all of these cards came out adorable, amd are so pretty and colorful in real life.
If you will notice, there is not a bow, flower, or ribbon strip on any of them. The only embellishment- per say- is some pop dots.

And although each one is colored with my Copic Markers, the shading is just about non-existent.

And only 1 of them used a punched border. Martha Stewart Doily Punch of course.

Just wanted to show you that even if you dont have much time, or knowledge of Copics, or many supplies, you can still make beautiful and fun cards that the recipient will be happy to open.
Many thanks for stopping by...

MAKES MY HEART MELT~

I always feel so blessed and lucky to be able to parent my very special daughter. That I was chosen by God, although when she was first born I had strong doubts that I may not be the person for the job. Thank you for having the faith in me~ as I could not imagine even a day not having everything exactly the way it is now. My daughter, wondefully and fearfully made...
Take a few moments to watch this beautiful video..
(please scroll down and pause the blog music first)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdhkyJMgkTA&feature=player_embedded

A New Recipe For Sunday

One of my collections (and there are many) is pretty cookbooks. You know the the ones, with a photo for each recipe. I have tons of them. Many are stored on shelves in my kitchen, and some are in boxes in the garage. So, I really never need to buy another, yet I just did. I could never possibly cook all those recipes~ or could I??
Anyhow, I recently  (yesterday)  got a new cookbook of slow cooker recipes. Its made by Gooseberry Patch and every other page has a huge pretty photo of what your food is supposed to look like.
Today I thought I would try the Potato Soup recipe. Food Lion had B1G1 on baking potatos, so the timing was perfect. It made my house smell yummy all day, and was very easy to follow the few directions. I made some yeast rolls that were full of melting butter, and offered to make a salad- but had no takers for that.
Here is a bowl of the finished product~

And here are 2 happy, handsome recipients of that bowl of yummy goodness.

I love those guys!

My sweet girl has a bad cold and did not eat much today. Although she told me that she didnt think she would like my soup. Not so much for trying new things.

It made plenty for leftovers too. If anyone would like to try this recipe, just post me a comment and I'll get it to you.
Many thanks for stopping by..

Last Nites Class

A couple of posts ago, I showed you all a sneak peak of what I was working on for this months scrap class. The ladies had requested a Disney layout, and I had a great time making one. Below is the whole layout side by side. The colors are so bright and cheerful in person!

And since my group of ladies like layouts that can hold multiple photos, I thought this one was perfect- 10 photos in all!
It was made primarily with my Cricut Expression and the Mickey and Friends Cartridge. I have had that one for a few years? maybe and only used it once. But there are so many great images on there, I  will be reaching for it again before you know it!.
The letters however, are from the Robots cartridge, that was on sale at Michaels this summer for only $19.99. Since I dont own the Mickey Fonts Cart., I thought these looked pretty similar, and I already own Robots.

I think his smile is just so cute, and it looks like he is looking at whoever will be in that photo.

This is a shot of my drafting table when I was cutting all the layers for Mickey. Cute, huh?

Many thanks for stopping by...

SOMEONE NEW HAS JOINED OUR FAMILY!!

I would like to introduce you to our newest family member!!

Please meet Miss Berklee!! She is a Mal-Shih, which is a Maltese Shih Tzu mix.

We got her last Saturday, a birthday gift for me, and I could'nt be happier!

As you see, she also doubles as my Stampin Up demonstrator when I have other things that must be done. More cutness tomorrow!!
Many thanks for stopping by...