Lucy wishes everyone a Merry Christmas! And Eli does too! We are all enjoying being together for his very first Christmas. I will be taking time off to enjoy my first grandchild. I will start posting again on January 1. Take time to enjoy your family during this Holiday Season. 
I have not been able to get to my computer lately because of things just keep getting crazier. We had to take my Dad back to the Dr. because the swelling would not go down on his hand since his fall. It was finally discovered that he has a fracture of a small bone in his wrist. So they placed a soft cast on his hand.
Well my first Grandchild decided to make his grand entrance on Saturday morning! He arrived a week before his due date but believe me, he was ready for a while to meet everyone. He is one big boy as you can see from the picture. He is not a lightweight! Here I am with my husband with Eli with him being only 7 hours old! He is so cute and has chubby little cheeks. What a wonderful Christmas present he is for our family! We are all in love! 
I have been wanting to post these pictures right after the shower but the picture of the actual gift did not come out. I had to wait until I saw Lori to be able to get a picture of the actual gift. My side line and friend Susan made a gift for Lori for her Baby Shower. Susan had been working on this gift when we were together at Regionals. While working on it, she told us she needed to finish it for a woman she worked with, so it was a total surprise wen I saw she gave it to Lori. Susan started the gift off with a baby card she made along with the gift bag she made also. Here it is. Susan used an old retired favorite DSP of mine called "Afternoon Tea". It used former In-Colors-Groovy Guava and Soft Sky. I miss those 2 colors. Anyway, the friends and family attending the shower were impressed that she made everything, gift, card and gift bag. After the guests were awed by the handmade card and gift bag, Lori pulled a handmade crocheted baby bunting! Susan used the same colors to crochet the bunting that I used on the shower
invitation. And the final "Lori" touch was the Turtle buttons that she used on the bunting which I took a picture of also. What a perfect gift using the colors and the turtle which Lori loves. Thank you Susan.
Yes, I have been invited to yet another Baby Shower! This baby shower is for my close friend's daughter. Our children were very close when they were little and now they are both having Baby Boys! Her daughter is due in February and the shower they have planned will be held in January. I received the invitation today. So I decided I would show you what she has been working on. Her daughter loved the skunk from one of our stamp sets so we had to think of a way to get it on the card. I think using it on a Bib like card works perfect. The supplies that we used for this card were:
What a quick and easy way to make a gift card for someone! Just take one of our envelopes and fold it in half. Cut the open flap down to the envelope and lick/paste shut the other side. Where the flap is open, you can place the gift card inside. I just took scraps of the Jolly Holiday DSP and decorated the envelope. I used the "Jolly Old Saint Nick" stamp set for the outside picture. After I decorated the inside of the envelope with DSP, I stamped the ornament from "Delightful Decorations" and on the other side I used the sentiment from "Jolly Old Saint Nick". I think it is a great way to give someone a gift card! 
Today and tomorrow are the last 2 days to order from the Online Spectacular Sale. There are fantastic deals from 20%-50% off selected items. 
Yes, another Baby Shower but this time it was not for my daughter but my older daughter's best friend. She is due in January and her shower was held on Saturday. Deidre likes it when I make cards for her. She always appreciates the time and love that goes into a handmade card. I forgot to make her a card and an hour before the shower it hit me that I did not have a hand made card for her. So I quickly pulled out my supplies and made this card. Deidre and her husband have decided that they do not want to know before the baby is born what they are having so I tried to go with more baby gender neutral colors.
This is my "Grand-dog" Riley wearing his Thanksgiving sweater today. He is wearing it not only because it is Thanksgiving but it is also snowing here today. 
I have really gotten stuck on making on these hand sanitizer holders. I just really think they are a great way to present an inexpensive gift. I just love these things! So this time I came up with a winter theme. I used that cute snowman from the Jolly Old Saint Nick stamp set from the Holiday Mini. They really are not very hard to make but they make such a nice presentation. The supplies that I used for this project were:
Here is the last card that we will be making at this month's technique classes. This card uses the Faux Icicles technique. For the past 2 Winter's, I have wanted to use this technique but something else always came up. It is not like you can use this technique during the Summer months. I CASED this card from Jennifer Picard's blog. Of course I changed things around but it was a great way to showcase the Faux Icicles. They are so easy to make although it takes a while for the Crystal Effects that you use for this to dry. But what a statement the icicles make. A cute embellishment to add to a wintery card.
THis is the second card that we will be making during my Technique Classes this month. Last year I bought the Tree Trimmings stamp set and for some reason I did not use it as month as I had wanted. So this year, I decided to get it out again and try to come up with more cards using this vintage looking set. This card uses the 2 Toned Embossing technique. It is a unique twist to the normal embossing technique. 
I was finally able to get some time yesterday to get my cards together for this month. This card uses the "Frosted Impressions" technique. It is very hard to see with this picture but the technique is used on the left side with the Petals A Plenty Embossing Folder. This card looks so nice in person and this picture really does not do it justice. On the right side of the card, I used Shimmery Paint Spray. I could not believe how shimmery it shows on this picture. I really have to seriously think about getting a new camera. I was disappointed with the shower pictures and I get more disappointed with each picture I take. Perhaps with the new baby coming, this is the right time to invest in a better camera.
I told you that I would post another picture from the shower on Saturday. I wanted you to see the cake. Of course Andria made sure the turtle theme was carried throughout the shower. So the cake had a turtle on top. I decided that I would place Chris and Lori's baby pictures out so we could see what they both looked like when they were about 2. We could also only wonder what the new little boy will look like when he arrives.
Well, I can finally relax, the shower is over! Being the mother, of course I thought everything went well and was beautiful! My oldest daughter planned the shower for her sister and what a great job she did! 
I am sure that you have seen these Baby Shower cans before. A few of my sidelines make these all the time for their friends who are having babies and also they make them for their friends to give to their friends who are having babies. So after seeing these cans for years and thinking how cute they are, I decided to make one for my daughter for her baby shower tomorrow. Since I had not made one before, Susan helped me last Saturday with the dimensions and directions. A baby can is an empty paint can which you decorate and place a cute poem on the front of the can. The poem basically explains that sometimes it is so hard to take time to write down important moments into a baby book. But you can just quickly jot down a date or picture of an important event and toss it into the can to keep as a reminder. On the top of the can, you document the baby's name, date born, weight and length of the baby. 
This is a project we made at our Shoebox Swap at our downline meeting. This design came from Buffy's downline, Jen Campbell. It is made from the Fancy Favor Die and is so easy to put together and embellish. The theme for our swap was Thank You cards. 
I have been so busy lately with little time left to do what I love, stamping. So when I went to find a project today that was Halloween themed, I realized that I had posted all of them. I then decided I would go back into my archives to find a card I had done previously. I did this card last year but thought I would post it today. The supplies that I used for this card were:
Here is another card that Kim designed and we made from the "Just Believe" stamp set that Kim gave us. She used very earthy colors for this card. The supplies that she used for this card were:
On Sunday, I attended Kim's downline meeting at Erin's place. We did things a bit differently at this meeting and did a shoebox swap. This was the card that I made. It is a Triangle Trifold card. I had not made one of these for years. Buffy taught me how to do one when I first started with the group. I decided for this meeting, I wanted to do something that I had not done in a while. So after some thought, I came up with this card. As you can see, it is a card that fold up into a small square, It is a unique way to send a sentiment to someone. For this card I used"
Just a quick post today. Here is another quick and simple card to use at the Holiday Season. This card was made with the stamp set, "Angelic Joy" which can be found in the new Holiday Mini catalog. this is a perfect card to send out to friends and family who like receiving religious cards. I colored the angel by using Aquapainters. Shimmery Paint was used to create the shimmery angel wings, halo, and robe. I think it highlights the angel quite well. he supplies that I used for this card were: 
I have told you many times that I do not like to make bags. I get so nervous making them. My friend Buffy, loves to make bags and makes them all the time. I wish I felt more confident when it comes to making bags. Susan and Buffy keep telling me that I should practice more and it would come more easy to me. This was the bag that I made in Stamford when Cindyrae showed us how to make them. The supplies that I used for this bag were:
This is the last card in my October Technique Classes. This card was created by using the Colored Soot technique. I use this technique in the Fall because it just seems to lend itself more to Fall cards. The only thing using this technique is that you have to be very careful when doing it, otherwise you can have some very serious consequences. To get that soot, you must use a burning candle. So this is something that you do do not want young children trying. Sometimes I wonder if I should be trying it! I really like the effect that the it gives those colored leaves. I used the "French Foliage" stamp set. The technique piece is the dark patch on the left hand side of the card. I know that it is difficult to see . This was the fifth picture that I took of this card. It was very hard to get a good picture of this card. But I know if you would see it in person, you would love it.
I had such a good time at Regionals in Baltimore the other week. The best part of Regionals is that I was one of the winners of the Prize Patrol. Here I am with the stamp set that I won, "French Foliage". That is such a beautiful stamp set which is available in the Holiday Mini. Several times during Regional, they post 9 Demonstrator names and their Demo number up on the screen. Of course if you are a winner, you get to stand up, jump around and scream until they come over with your prize. Kim was able to get my picture with the girl who gave me my prize. Do I look happy here or what! What a great day! 
The technique that I used on this card was Serigraph. That was used in that large multi-colored rectangle on the card. I used the "Days of Gratitude" stamp set on this card. Serigraph is a collage looking technique which means there is a lot of different pieces , colors, and shapes. A collage is very busy and that is why for this card I purposely made the rest of the card more simple. By keeping the rest of the card more simple, your eye focuses more on the more decorative collage part. For this card I tried to stick with the traditional colors that are normally used to convey an autumn feel. 
This is one of the cards that we will be making this month at my Technique classes. This is called a Shadow Card. It is a quick and easy way to make a three dimensional card which will fold flat and fit in an envelope. It is fun card to give and your friends and family will love to display it. The set that I used for this card is an older set but still in the catalog. I loved this set as soon as I saw it. It reminds me of all the older farms in Fall that are in the area that I live. I actually used 3 different stamp sets for this card even though there is not much stamping on the card. The stamp sets that I used for this card were "Days of Gratitude" ( the acorn ), "Harvest Home" ( the farm scene ), and "Autumn Days" (the leaves ). 
This started out as a project that we worked on at Regionals. One of the projects in our Make & Take packets was a scrapbook page. Of course the "Day of Gratitude" stamp set was used to create this project. Being the creative people that we are, we all stamped and placed our leaves and sentiment in different places making each page very special. Doing that made each one of our pages looked different except for the photo. If you look closely, you can see all of us from the group who attended Regionals. Seven of us were able to attend and what a good time we had! Our upline Kim is sitting in the middle of the picture. For this project we used:
This is the second project that we made at Regionals during the Make & Take sessions. this card was also made with the "Day of Gratitude" stamp set. This is a very quick and simple card to make. I love the colors that were used because it oozes that it is Fall. The supplies used for this card were:
Sorry I have not posted lately. I have been busy running Dad to the Doctor, trying to get Baby Shower centerpieces done and looking for a new stove. While I was in Baltimore at Regionals, my stove stopped working AGAIN! Since we bought it 6 years ago, it has had this one part replaced 5 times! This stove has been a real lemon. And although it is not that old, we felt now was the time to replace it instead of having it fixed again. We decided that we did not want to keep dumping money into something was never going to be fixed properly. So after a very busy week, I just had to sit down and post something.
Well I am back from Regionals and we all had a WONDERFUL time! It is amazing how talented these people are. I got a lot of great swaps. I can not believe all the different ideas that everyone comes up with. I always come back from a Regional with so many new and good ideas. Can't wait to share them with my customers.
This is one of my 2 swaps that I made for Regionals in Baltimore. I thought this would be an easy card but it used more supplies than my other swap! I think that I have a lot going on but it is more subtle. I really like this card and I might just make this for my Christmas card for my friends and family. The part that took me the longest to do was coloring the bells. The supplies that I used for this swap were:
When we went to Pennie's a few weeks ago, I took her a small thank you gift for having us there. I posted the gift a few weeks ago. It was a gift holder for those small anti-bacterial gels. Pennie loves the new Owl Punch and I had decorated the gift holder with an owl sitting on a branch in front of an Autumn moon. Well yesterday when I got my mail, I opened this beautiful thank you card from Pennie. I love the color combination. She used the stamp set Nature's Nest. The color combination she used was Kraft, Not Quite Navy, and Early Espresso. This card is absolutely stunning! Thank YOU Pennie for all you do and how you support all of us.
Isn't this the cutest way to give someone chocolate bars? Sallie demonstrated this at Pennie's on Saturday. Check out the three dimensional flower on the front. Isn't it just the cutest? Buffy, Susan and I thought that it was so cute, that Buffy had us do this as our Make & Take on Sunday. It such an easy way to spice up a small gift. The supplies that we used for this were:
Just had to show you what I won at Pennie's raffle on Saturday. And what made it more special is that this is the raffle prize that Pennie made! It is just so gosh darn cute! This was one of the many raffle prizes that people were wishing they would win. Everyone that attended on Saturday was asked to bring a hand made-hand stamped gift. It was unbelievable what people made for it. What a unbelievable talented group of people that were there! It was such a nice day being able to all gather together and share ideas and techniques.
Isn't this ADORABLE!!!. My friend and sideline, Buffy made it for her Raffle Gift for Pennie's event on Saturday. This was made with the "Wicked Fun Specialty" Paper. Since Stamford when Cindyrae reintroduced making gift bags to us, Buffy has been creating all types of gift bags and each bag gets better and better. The supplies that she used for the bag were:
Yesterday, the "Love at First Stamp" group met at Buffy's house. Since Kim moved, we are taking turns having the meetings at our homes. Since Buffy histed the meeting this month, she got to pick the theme for the swap. Buffy picked "Fall" for the theme this month. This is my card for the swap and I used the stamp set"FALL FOLIAGE". When I first saw this stamp set in the Holiday Mini, I knew I had to have it. This was such an easy card to make but very impressive to look at. The supplies that I used for this card were:
Yesterday I went to Pennie's. Buffy, Susan and I drove down to her house for a wonderful day of stamping, swaps, and friendship. The day started out with an unexpected surprise. As I was going out the door to meet the others, I kept hearing a wooshing sound. I looked up and saw a Hot Air Balloon going right over the top of our house. It was so beautiful in the clear blue sky. So I grabbed my camera and took a picture. After seeing that, I knew the rest of the day would just get better.
