Merry Christmas to All

Merry Christmas to all of my readers! Hope you had a wonderful and blessed day!
My family had a wonderful few days. And my posts will be returning soon, as I got the gift of a new camera for Christmas. I ordered it online, and should be here soon! Yipee!!!!
If any of you got some holiday money and have a bit extra- please dont forget my orphan baby that I am trying to raise money for. There is still time for Angel Tree, although it will be ending next week.
Please visit my other blog for details. http://afamilyforme.blogspot.com.
Many thanks for stopping by...

Last Fair of the Year

Yesterday, Sharon and I had our second, and last Chhristmas Fair for the year. We would love to do more of them, but are having quite the time finding them. This one was about 2 hours away at Topsail Beach, in a Methodist Church there. We did this fair last year, and eveyone there is so nice and helpful, we decided to go again this year. Although, last year there were plenty of kids from the youth group there, with big carts and they helped loading and unloading all the stuff. Not sure what happened to them this time? And last year they made the best lunch that they called Chicken Pot Pie. It was more like a really thick soup- stew kind of thing, but it was delicious and I was looking forward to having it again yesterday. I had a Hot Dog instead- no chicken this time.
Anyhow, they give you a nice sized spot, we were near some windows, and right next to each other. After setting up, I took my money box out and proceeded to open it- where was my key?? After looking around, and then starting to panic after I realized it was left home, my sweet friend came to the rescue. I asked to try her key in the hopes it would work_ but she did not have her key either! Luckily though, her box is kept unlocked so she was able to get to her money. she lent me enough to get started and we were then fine.
As I has said in my last post, my camera fell on the floor and broke. Wont turn on- nothing. I borrowed my husbands camera, but not knowing how to work it too well, my photos are kinda crummy. But here is my space yesterday:

More tomorrow! Many thanks for stopping by...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FRIENDS!

A sincere wish for a very happy Thanksgiving day to all my readers and especially to my followers. May you all enjoy and cherish those around you that you love.
My camera dropped on the floor and is not not at all working. :(((
Must I brave those crazy black friday crowds to get a replacement?? LOL.
Many thanks for stopping by...

HAPPY VETERANS DAY

To all the servicemen both active and retired, their families, and all who love them~ Enjoy this special day!
This day means alot to me, as my Dad, a WW2 Veteran, a Marine, and a Purple Heart Recipient is my Hero! He joined the Marines during war time to be like his brothers, even changing his birth certificate to appear older than he was to valiently fight for our country. His was severly injured while lying in a foxhole, as he saw some of his frieinds killed that same day.
We love to hear all of his war stories.
To my Dad and all the other veterans- Thank You for offering your life so that we may have the wonderful life we live today. You are all heros~

PFC Stephen Richard Hudak   Sixth Marine Division. Love you Pop!!!!!

Craft Fair Photos Part 2

Here are some more of the photos from Saturdays Craft Fair.

These are the Santa Memo pads I made. They have a skinny legal pad inside with 50 lined sheets.

Tooth fairy boxes in pink, green, purple and blue. Only 1 or 2 sold. :((

These are my glass tile charms. I like making these and I have quite a few different designs. I sold about 12-14 of these. Last year I sold more than 25 of them at this fair. Is it the economy still? I'll have to take some closeups.
Many thanks for stopping by...

A QUICK AND EASY TUTORIAL

Hi all~ someone has asked me to do a tutorial on my post it note holders, so here it is.
Its very easy, and unfortunately, I didnt take any photos as I was going along, just of the finished product. but please ask if you have any questions.

You can also click on this photo to enlarge it.
Start with an acrylic 4 by 6 horizontal photo frame. I got mine at Joannes, but there are pretty much readily available everywhere. Its important to get the frames that would hold a horizontal photo holder, because although you can make them with the vertical frames, they are not as strong. They may also snap when the recipient would lean on them to write on the post its.
Cut out a piece of designer paper in the pattern of your choice in a 4 by 6 size and insert where you would the picture.
I then stamped my images ( all from Vintage Postcard- a retired Stampin up set) in versamark and heat embossed with black embossing powder. Any image will do- childrens themes, kitchen, ideas for men such as golf balls, sports themes, etc. Just make sure its kinda on the small side so there is plenty of room for the post its. I used Spellbinders to cut it out in a square and them used another for the scallops behind it. I used pop dots to adhere this to the frame, and I centered it on the left side.
For the post its- you can get them in many pretty colors and  patterns, just keep your eye out when shopping! Look for sales and bundle packages. I use plenty of adhesive ( ATG gun or double stick tape) to attach the post its to the frame. These are also centered. When they are used up, you can just so the same with a new one.
Lastly, I tied a ribbon around the top portion and finished it with a bow. Enjoy!!! Your done~
Many thanks for stopping by...

ANOTHER HOLLY DAYS FAIR COME AND GONE

Its that time of year again- time for the annual holiday craft fair in my little town. Its called Holly Days, and its where, about 6 years ago, I met my very good friend Sharon (oki Stamp Queen). We met because my husband started talking to her as he was wandering around there that day. Anyone who knows him, knows that he loves to talk and meet new people~ but this time, he met a keeper. We exchanged phone numbers, and remain friends to this day.
This years fair had weather that didnt want to cooperate with us. It was chillier than usual for this time of year. But the worst thing was the wind. We had gusts of up to 30 MPH. That does not so well with the lite paper crafts that were sitting on my table. Sharon and I ran after them several times during the day. My husband had to anchor the canopy down with large cinder blocks- or that would have been long gone.
Secondly,I did not do as well at  the fair compared to last year. I was hoping to at least make about the same. But we had a fun day. My sister and my niece came by to hang with us for the afternoon. And then my son Michael came by, and Bob came back early.
I will now show you some of the
crafts I was selling.

These are some of my squash books. Last year I completely sold out of them.

Reindeer food- all gone.

Dog treats- also a sell out!

Sant Stix made with twizzlers and Stampin Up punches. These did not do as well as I would have liked, and they are absolutely adorable.
I will post a few more photos tomorrow.
Many thanks for stopping by...

PUT YOUR BEST FOOT FORWARD

Time for a Halloween post from me!
Here is this years card form the Forge Family (although I only made 4).
This is the first version.

It was alot of fun and was made with the Cricut cartridge  Happy Hauntings. You may have seen this witch shoe around blogland in different forms. Here are the rest:

They are all pretty much the same. All have a 6 inch base which is orange. All have a solid layer and then a patterned layer. This is topped with a holiday doily in bright orange.

The shoe itself is 5 inches and I used mt Expression machine to cut it. There are about 3 layers to it.
But to me the best part is the ribbon lacing. All I did was fold a piece of long ribbon in half, put it thru the bottom lacing hole, and wind it around and up the shoe. The othe half of the ribbon is held by mt fingers in the back of the lacing part of the shoe. You only need that piece when you get ready to tie your bow.
The shoes are pretty as is, or you can add some ruffled ribbon to the top and bottom, and some decorative edging with the Martha Stewart doily punch.
The sentiment is something I have had around my art studio forever.

 The sentiments inside are from Close to My Heart.  The set was their featured set of the month called Wicked. Its got some great images.

Many thanks for stopping by...

Time For The Dentist!!!

No, it wasnt for me~ although I am also due to go, but for my Pomeranian Kody. He is six years old and has been perfectly healthy up to now. But as we parents of toy dogs know- they are prone to bad teeth. At his yearly checkup last week, his Vet and I discussed his smelly breath and one tooth that I pointed out which didnt look too good. Upon further inspection, she found another and booked an appointment for him to have dental surgery.
I took him in on Tuesday morning before 8am, and he wasnt ready to be picked up till 4 pm.
They called me after the surgery and said that a total of 4 teeth had to be pulled. My poor boy!!
He was quite groggy when I went to get him, walking around like he was drunk.
Today he is feeling better. taking antibiotics and painkillers and eating scrambles eggs for breakfast and dinner. I do that for all my sick furbabies.
Many thanks for stopping by...

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...

To Honor Patriots Day

Today holds so much meaning for people everywhere. For me, its the first ( and hopefully only) huge historic day that I actually lived thru and remember so vividly. Living in New York then, where I had lived my whole life up to that point, made the event so much larger.
I was driving to work in the opposite direction of NYC when I heard  the local radio station describe what they thought was happening.  Almost instantly, many, many police cars, fire trucks and emergency vehicles went flying by towards the city on the Southern State Parkway. To say it was scary does not even come close.From my Parents house, the air was so thick with smoke and a heavy smell, it sometimes seemed like it would never go away. I lost several friends from childhood and high school that day, most of whom where emergency responders to the scene. Thoughts and prayers go out to all who were affected that day and in the days to come.
I am proud to say that my Brother In Law has been one of the men hard at work on the Freedom Tower, and will be there till its done.
I thought it was appropriate to share half of my Fourth of July layout today with you. We had the pleasure of having the 9/11 flag as the parade marshall this year. It was quite an honor to watch it go by, proudly held by many of our local responders. A wonderful couple who had lost their son in the tragedy were instrumental in bringing the flag to our little seaside town.

I took the idea for this layout from a Cricut idea book. I am pleased with how it came out.

As today comes to a close, prayers for peace are still in order.

Many thanks for stopping by...

I Think I'm Back...

Yea!!!! Happy Day!!! I think Im finally back on track with this blog. I still am not sure what happened to my other background and header. And what makes it more frustrating is when its something I had paid for, and when I try to get help form this woman- I instead got no response whatsoever. I will certainly never recommend anything she has to do  with.
But on to bigger and better things~ out with the bad karma.
This past week I had a birthday. We had a wonderful time. I got to go to Mrytle Beach and my sister took me to a Chris Young concert at The House Of Blues. He is so cute, sings great and we had an awesome time. Thats besides the fact that A woman screamed  " WHOOOO" at the top of her lungs for the entire show, and then proceeded to spill her beer all over me. And then apologized in her own drunken way for another 20 minutes, and last but not least- spit gum in my hair while yelling one of her "WHOOOOS".
There were about 7 or 8 pieces of green minty gum stuck in my hair. I kept feeling her touch my hair, but since we were standing so close, I kinda thought she was leaning on me. When I touched my hair, I felt something sticky- to which my sister starting laughing and trying to get the gum out at the same time. She did get out the small pieces, but it took the conceirge at the hotel we were staying at to get out her big scissor and start cutting away at my hair.
Good thing at this point we thought it was pretty funny. Yes, I watched the rest of the concert like that- yes, I drove to the hotel like that- and yes, I even got Wendys and walked into a really nice hotel like that. Full of bright green ABC gum. (already been chewed). LOL.  My pineapple rum drink must have been a bit stronger than I thought.  Only kidding- at $7.50 for a tiny paper cup, I did not get much rum.
And there was much more birthday fun to come.
More tomorrow.
Many thanks for stopping by...

A PEAK AT MY NEXT CLASS!

While I'm still trying to find out where my blog background went, I will share a sneak peak with you. As many of you may know, I, along with the Oak Island Stamp Queen teach cardmaking and scrapbooking classes locally. We typically alternate teaching, and September is my month to teach.
The women requested a Disney layout class and I was more happy to oblige. Its really colorful and cute. I love it even though its not fully done yet. Our group also likes to have layouts that can hold many photos. This layout will be able to have 10 !!! photos in it!
I think they will be happy.
For now~ here is a sneak peak.

Many thanks for stopping by...