Where's January??

Hello!

So sorry I've been AWOL this past month. I haven't been doing any stamping, because I've been slowly working on organizing my stamping space. Not just the table I stamp on, but the closet where I store my things, the cupboards that house my stamps, Big Shot dies, punches, Christmas stamps, unfinished projects, 3-D items, and on and on....needless to say it is a huge undertaking! LOL I have so much stuff, I never realized how much I had! I found things I had forgotten about, and things I couldn't remember buying (shhhh....don't tell my husband! ;) )

At any rate, it is becoming more manageable with each passing day, and yesterday I actually saw the top of my stamping table (well, hello there, old friend!). I am now so close to being finished that I can almost taste it! I am sooooo looking forward to getting this job done! My goal is to have it completed by the weekend, which I think is reasonable. I then will have a nice, clean, organized area to stamp in. Doesn't that sound like a piece of heaven? *sigh*

Wish me luck, I'm headed back into the tornado in just a few minutes!

Have a great day!
Donna

Decor Elements

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great holiday, was spoiled, ate too much, spent time with loved ones, and had a lot of fun! (maybe even found a little stamping time?)

I had a great Christmas (I was spoiled!), and then we went skiing up north. Which, despite the falling, was still fun for me!

I did not find much time to stamp, as I was busy getting ready for Christmas and then for our trip up north, and once Christmas was over, I was very busy reading the third and fourth books of the Twilight series. Sooooo good! Oh my! I finished the fourth book last night, as I could not possibly go to bed with only 50 pages left to read! LOL It was worth staying up late and being a little slow to wake up this morning, just so I could find out what happens in the end. If you haven't read the fourth book, I won't ruin it for you, I will just say that the story is riveting to the end. You'll find it hard to put it down for the night with only 50 pages left to read-trust me!

Of course, now that I'm done....I have all kinds of time to catch up on the housework I've been neglecting while I read! Hopefully I'll get to squeeze in a little stamping time too. But since my stamping area is a mess waiting to be organized and tidied (hello, New Year's resolution!), I thought I'd finally post these pictures of the Decor Elements that I put up in Olivia's (my youngest) room. She really likes butterflies, so selecting these was a no-brainer. I'd been wanting to try my hand at the Decor Elements, but hadn't found any that I thought my hubby would approve of (he's our decorator-no, really! He has better taste than I do, and unfortunately, he knows it! LOL), so I was a happy girl when these came out. The picture above shows what the wall looked like in the middle of the process. I cut them out of the giant sheet, and taped them to the wall, so Olivia and I could see how it looked before we committed to anything. Some of the butterflies had two layers like the one below:

With this one I started with the Certainly Celery layer, and then added the Tempting Turquoise layer. This layer was supposed to appear just as polka dots outlining the wings. So what I had to do was carefully peel the strip, and make sure I left the dots behind:

See how the strip looks? It's dangling here, just so you could see how this looks in the middle of the process. The second layers really added a lot to the butterflies, and of course, more colour! (The wall in Olivia's room is a light purple, not quite as light as Almost Amethyst, but in the same colour family.)

This is what the butterfly wings look like, before and after peeling the strip.

This is the finished project. Olivia was very pleased with the way this turned out, and I was too. The good part about these is they take up more space on the wall than a picture would, so it really fills the space. And, I have to add, they are a lot more fun to put up than a picture!

Well that's about all for me today. I will be back soon! Have a great week!

Donna

Hello!

I just wanted to let you know I am still kickin' around, and that I've survived Christmas. I hope all of you had a great holiday and were able to spend some time with the ones you love. I got to do that, and I was spoiled with Christmas gifts too! I'm a very happy girl!

Currently we are up in Collingwood, visiting family and skiing. I went out skiing today for the first time in about 15 years. Uh huh, I am crazy...how did you guess? LOL Ok so I played it smart and I had a lesson today so I could remember what I am supposed to do on skis. It felt weird to have them on my feet-like my size 10's aren't big enough, now I had to contend with ski feet! I did ok at my lesson, and only fell four times. In an hour. That's once every 15 minutes. Is that bad? I actually had a headache when I was all done, because every time I fell on my tush, my head hurt a bit more. I guess we know where I keep my brains! That explains a lot, actually....

Anyway, I didn't bring my stamping stuff up because I figured the car would be full enough with the girls' and my hubby's ski stuff(and when I pack stamping stuff, I am not a light packer!), and because for Christmas I received the last two books from the Twilight series, and I brought one with me. I should have brought both! I'm already 3/4 of the way through number 3 and I am going to want to read number 4 right away! And it is getting really good! I can hardly wait to see what happens, but I don't want to give anything away for anyone who hasn't read it but wants to. You have to hurry to read it so I can talk about it, ok? I am restless, not knowing what happens!

I would like to send out a big Happy Birthday to my friend Jacqui! Hope you had a great day! I've been thinking about you today-yeah, thinking about how hard you'd laugh watching me trying to ski! LOL I would have laughed at me too, I bet it would have been hilarious to watch! Anyway, I hope you were treated well and spoiled rotten!

Have a great day!

Festive Friday #3!

Happy Festive Friday! I hope you're having a great Friday so far...of course, Fridays get better with each passing minute, because you inch that much closer to the weekend! Even though I don't work outside the home, I love Fridays because it means my girls are here for the weekend, and every other weekend my husband is here Saturday and Sunday (not just Sunday). Also, on Friday mornings I volunteer at my girls' school with the reading program. Every Friday, I have the same 5 children, one at a time, who sit with me and we read. Of course, I also like to chat with them about their siblings, their plans for Christmas, what they're asking Santa for...and so on. I could just sit there with them for an hour and just chat, they are all so adorable! Now that I've been doing this for almost two months, they've started to come out of their shells a bit, so they open up more and have fun. I really look forward to my time with them every Friday.

So, for today's Festive Friday, I've decided to showcase a cased card I made. I know we've all seen a Christmas card or two, but I thought this one would be appropriate because it is elegant and quick to make, which doesn't always happen. I love the Dasher stamp that SU has this year, he is so beautiful. Of course, all of those swirly things around his antlers are just screaming for some kind of bling, which as you may know, I love to use! As you can see here:

I stamped Dasher in plain old Real Red, and didn't emboss him (because he looked pink by the time I was done with the embossing gun). The white embossed piece was done with SU's pointsettia embossing folder. I like SU's folder a lot (and hope they come out with many, many more!) because unlike some other folders, this one embosses the entire card, and there are no un-embossed borders left on the outer edges. It's true! I trimmed down the white piece for this card, but what I trimmed was all embossed!

Well, I'm done patting myself on the back for being on time this week, I'm off to run errands. Have a great weekend!

Donna

An Ode to Mugs...

I'm very sorry for not posting last Friday. I didn't forget, I just didn't have anything to show. The weekend was a bit of a blur, too. I'm just now catching my breath, and only because my youngest is ill, which makes me homebound for the day. Otherwise I'd be running about, working on my Christmas shopping. So it's stamping, cleaning and hopefully baking on the agenda for me today! Oh, and blogging!

The idea for this mug came from the SU mini. They had a picture of a nice white mug with a silver snowflake rub-on on it, and it looked gorgeous! So of course, the next time I was out and about, I checked out the coffee mugs to see if there was one that would fit a snowflake or two on it. I found these ones, and they weren't that costly-always a plus! So I picked up a couple, washed them, and put the rub-on snowflakes on them. The pictures above are of the front and the back of the mug.

This is what it looks like all decked out. Unfortunately, I still have to spray some acrylic (?) spray on it, so the mug can be washed without the snowflakes falling off. I think what I'll do is put tape around the top of mug so no one is putting their lips on the spray stuff, and then wrap it back up.

I'm thinking I'll put a gift card in it and the girls can give this to their bus driver. She is very sweet and the girls love her. When I rode the bus in elementary school (a loooong time ago!), my driver was this whacky lady who used to talk to herself! LOL And every once in a while she'd try to shift gear and the bus would groan loudly. I don't know if she forgot to use the clutch, or it was fussy and only worked when it wanted to.

When I went to high school, I had the same lady, but she didn't seem so whacky. I came to understand that when she talked to herself it was a kind of road rage (I'd be lying if I said I never complained about other drivers, especially when I'm late for something. Which is always! People in glass houses, you know...). Of course, it was a mild, 80s version of road rage, not the scary kind we hear about now. She was, all in all, a sweet lady, and was complaining to herself more than anything else. I don't think I ever gave her a gift, which she would have definitely earned, dealing with some of the kids on our route! And because she came to know my sister and I, and how we were always late-even in high school I was not a morning person! There were many a morning my sister and I got in our workout for the day by running to the bus stop as she patiently waited for us! LOL My sister always got to the bus before me. I always blamed that on the fact that my books were heavier and I had to take home more of them, since I was older and had more homework! LOL That's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

So one gift down, lots more to go! I'll be posting some of my Christmas cards on here this week, too. So stay tuned! I will be back this week!

Take care!

Donna

Festive Friday #1

Welcome to Festive Friday! This is my first post in this series, so if you happened to stumble on this by chance, don't worry, you haven't missed any FF projects! ;)

This first one is a 6" x 6" Tag Pouch. It's very simple to make, and it makes a nice gift too!

What you need to make one of these:

-a piece of cardstock that measures 6 1/2" x 8 3/4", which is scored at 2" and 2 1/4"

-one 6" x 6" page protector, with the holes carefully cut off. You just have to be sure that you don't remove so much of the side that you're removing the part that keeps your pouch sealed shut.

-designer paper that measures 5 1/2" x 1 3/4", set to the right of the small flap of your pouch

-scallop circle punch

-snowflake rub-on

-velcro closure

-tags (I used my Big Shot and a tag die to cut mine)

-I used a Simply Scrappin' kit to create my tags and the centre of my scallop circle. I have to say I love how fast I could put this together with the kit!

-and finally, some gems and glitter, 'cause it's all about the sparkle!

Pretty simple wouldn't you say? Yeah I thought so too. Which is why it makes such a perfect gift. Who says your gifts have to be complicated and time-consuming? At this time of the year simple is good!

Ok, so the reason why this one is posted so late, is because I spent today volunteering at my girls' school, and then once we were all home, we had my nephews and niece over for Christmas photos in front of the Christmas tree (yes, it's up already! LOL) and then to dinner and then....here comes the best part of my day---my honey and I went to see New Moon! Oh yeah, baby!! I have to say, it was pretty mushy, but I loved it anyway! I don't want to give anything away, but I can tell you the special effects were awesome! Now I have to run out and buy the book so I can devour it. I saw Twilight and then read the book which was fun, because I loved the movie and reading the book was like a behind-the-scenes look. There was more detail in the book than any movie could offer, so it was interesting to learn some new stuff. So now, having loved the second movie, I am looking forward to the next behind-the-scenes look! I know, it's backward of me. Usually you read the book then go see the movie, right? I actually prefer it this way. Then I don't spend the movie comparing it to the book, I can just sit back and enjoy! And enjoy it, I most certainly did! I can hardly wait for the next one.....is it here yet??

Enjoy your weekend! I'll see you again next week!

Donna

A Couple of Announcements

Hello and Happy Monday!

I hope that everyone had a great weekend! Mine was great, first because I got to spend time with my girls and hubby. We have recently started playing a game called Blokus-have you ever heard of it? It makes you use your brain, it's a fun challenge! My husband is very competitive so I like to make sure I keep him humble by kicking his butt at games(this only works sometimes!). LOL Of course, our girls are both very smart and often show us up by kicking both of our butts, keeping me humble. Secondly, I had a great weekend because I had a fun stampin' day with my girls and some great ladies yesterday (see post below). And now, on Monday, my fun continues! I was informed by my friend Jacqui that her sister Diana had a special somethin'-somethin' on her blog that I should check out. You can see it here, but remember to come back for the second announcement. Ok go, I'll wait....

You're back already? Did you see me? I was the very smiley girl in the top centre photo. Not a bad picture for me, considering how un-photogenic I am usually. These pics were taken at Victopia which I attended in the spring of this year, which you may remember from posts I made in April.

Ok, on to the second announcement. I have decided to commit myself (no, not to an institution! Although....) to a special series of posts about Christmas-only creations. Being the person I am, I had to come up with something catchy so I could remember what day I committed to, so I've decided to call the series "Festive Fridays"! See how even I could remember that? So be sure to check in on Fridays, where I will post pictures, and in some cases tutorials, on certain creations I've come up with for Christmas! There will be ideas for Christmas gifts, cards, and fun stuff, so check in with me this Friday for the first one!

I will be posting on other days as well, so you won't have to wait for Fridays with bated breath for me to make a post! (ha ha) But for sure I'll have Christmas ideas on Friday.

Have a Happy Monday!

Donna

Stamp-a-Stack Sunday

This afternoon, Jacqui, Tami, Laurie, Kim and I hosted a Christmas-themed Stamp-a-Stack. We used the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit so we could demonstrate how simple and easy it is to create cards from a scrapbooking kit. Out of one half of a kit, the ladies attending made 8 cards and 8-3" x 3" note cards. These were the cards I designed for today's event, and I can finally show them to you!

On the top card, the large ornament was covered in versamark then I used a mixture of embossing powder and dazzling diamonds to cover it, embossed it and adhered it to the card with dimensionals. The ornaments on the second card were decorated using 2-way glue and dazzling diamonds.

As you can see, I made smudges on both of these cards with the red ink. I did that on purpose, you see, so when the ladies made their cards, they wouldn't have to worry about accidentally picking up my card and taking it home. Wasn't that nice of me? ;)

Hope you had a great weekend! I'll be back this week with some more!

Top Note Purse

Isn't this so adorable????
My friend Kim and I went to the Creative Festival in Toronto a few weeks ago. There were a lot of great vendors and samples too! I saw this Top Note purse idea there at a Stampin Up display(I believe it was Caroline LeBel's) and knew I had to try it! Fortunately, I was headed from the Festival, straight to Jacqtopia, where I spent the weekend stamping, so I had plenty of time to make this. Not only do I love this idea because it is yet another awesome use for the Top Note, but also because it was a perfect excuse to use my build-a-brads, which I've owned for over a year and never used! LOL
I have been trying to make this card in a smaller version (this one measures 5"x5") so it would fit into a regular envelope. I like this size better because it gives me the room to mat the main part of the card with a complementary colour. Hmmm....I'll have to keep trying!
I know I haven't posted the picture of the Hallowe'en treats I made for my daughter's class. I'm sorry. I spent this last week preparing for this weekend. I am currently in Frankenmuth, Michigan, on my yearly family trip. Every year my honey and me pack up the girls and head out with his mom and her hubby, and his brother and family, and we head out here to see not only Bronner's Christmas Store, but also to head over to nearby Birch Run to shop at an outlet mall. A huge outlet mall. I usually get a fair chunk of my Christmas shopping done here, which is great, because then I don't have so much on my list when I head back home. I love it! And of course, you can't help but get into the Christmas spirit once you've strolled through the Christmas store. They have everything there. And by that I mean everything. You want to decorate a tree with birds? Fruits? Sesame Street characters? No problem!! Oh my gosh, it's awesome there! Can you tell I've already been? LOL
Ok so now I am headed off to go shopping at the outlet mall, but I wanted to post something, and to apologize for the lack of posts this week. It's a lot of work to get ready for this weekend, especially when I let the housework and laundry slide the week before!
I will post again this week. And stay tuned for my Christmas post series....I'm brewing up some fantabulous ideas!
Have a great weekend!
Donna

My Friday

I'm sorry I didn't post my last Hallowe'en project today. My oldest girl was home sick with a fever today, so my plans were changed a bit...I will try to post tomorrow. I had made little somethings for my youngest daughter's class which I wanted to show you, but I sent her off to school with all of them, so I had to wait until she came home from school. Hopefully I will be able to show you tomorrow.
Happy Hallowe'en!
Donna