Happy Birthday Grammy!

Really??  The weekend is over already??  I SWORE it just started!! :)

It's been a great weekend, filled with lots of work, AND lots of fun!!  We had a great time at the tree lighting last night, and then today, we continued celebrating!

This time, we switched gears from Christmas to birthday, as it was my Mother-in-Law's birthday Wednesday.  All of the kids and their children headed out to where my in-laws live, and surprised her by showing up to Mass at their church this morning, then we headed over to their house, and all of the kids made a HUGE brunch for the entire family (7 kids, plus spouses, and 15 grandchildren!)  It was an awesome day.  The kids all had a blast, and it was nice to spend time all together.

Here's Grammy's card, made with the new Stitches & Swirls stamp set from Papertrey Ink, and Signature Greetings, one of my FAVORITES of all time.  Both were stamped in SU! Elegant Eggplant.  I colored in the stitches and swirls with my copics, and it's hard to see, but I used my gold spica glitter pen to add some highlights and a little sparkle.

That's about it, easy peasy.  I hope you all enjoyed the weekend, I'm ready for bed, I swear those pancakes had tryptophan in them!! ha ha ha  :)  OH -- Here are the copic colors I used :)

So Merry...

Happy Saturday!!

All things Christmas are in full swing around here!  The tree is decorated, the outside lights are up, and we are all in the spirit...MOST of the time, anyway ;).

Tonight is our town's tree lighting ceremony and parade.  The kids are looking forward to it, and so am I. :)

I loved the Make it Monday challenge over on Nichole Heady's blog this week, the challenge was issued by my friend Dawn, who just loves ruffly ribbons :).

I pulled out a few of my new (or like new, as in, unused) Papertrey goodies, and got to work.

My base is Aqua Mist, covered with white 'lattice' made from the new Quaterfoil die.  Then I made my wreath with two pieces of Simply Chartreuse saddle stitched ribbon, cinched, and layered on each other.  I added some "berries" and a little red felt bow I found in my stash.

The sentiment is a die cut from the Wonderful Words: Holiday die set, and mounted on a strip of kraft CS that is stamped with the snowflakes from the SUPER cute Winter Penguin stamp set...c'mon $5??  AWESOME!

Thanks for dropping by today -- a few things to do before we head off to the festivities in town!!  What are some things YOU do in preparation for the holidays??

Have a great weekend!

Black Thursday????

I don't have any cards to share today, but I just really needed to share some thoughts on tomorrow's upcoming holiday...you know, Black Thursday.  What?  It's Thanksgiving you say???  Really???

It seems every year, stores are opening earlier and earlier for "Black Friday Sales" - well yeah, most of them are now open on THANKSGIVING to avoid someone getting trampled at the door, or riots. 

REALLY????  Is this what has become of society?

When I was younger, I always thought Black Friday sales were a bunch of hooey anyway - I'd rather sleep in if I had the day off, but I will admit to being out there at 5am in recent years to catch some deals at Kohl's, or Michaels.  They do have some great deals, but things are just getting out of hand now.

I read an article the other day about a guy who works for Target, who started a petition because he has to go into work at 10pm Thursday night, to be there when the store opens at midnight.  Some of the comments following the article really struck a nerve with me. 

I get that the economy sucks, despite what "the officials" say, trust me, I live it.  Paycheck to paycheck (or less), and luckily (one of the things I am grateful for this Thanksgiving) is that both my husband and I are both employed.  But to belittle this guy and begrudge him for wanting the day off to spend with his fiance making plans for their upcoming wedding with her family just seems downright awful.

Thanksgiving is SUPPOSED to be about spending time with family and friends, enjoying each other's company, and making memories.  Life has us all so busy during the REST of the year, the holidays are the only time some have to be together, and now THAT is being taken away, because we have to buy a big screen TV for $200...so that's where our priorities are, huh?  I think it's pretty disgraceful.

Ok, yeah, so you don't have family, and you want to score a great deal on a laptop - but the guy selling it to you had to miss dinner with his family the day before so he could get a few hours of sleep before he had to be in to work by 11pm, to be treated nasty by the people clawing over eachother to get the last one....

At this rate, why don't we forget about Thanksgiving, and just call it the National Day of Scoring a Good Deal on Useless Crap.

I don't begrudge anyone a good deal, to make their budget stretch further (I've been eyeing the sales) but I am TRULY bothered by the stores who are open ON Thanksgiving, or those that are opening on or just before midnight, because "Polls show that people would like to go out shopping after Thanksgiving dinner".  PLEASE.  Stay home, watch some movies, eat another piece of pie, and get some sleep to start shopping at 5 am. 

To those that still truly VALUE the holiday tomorrow, and what it means, I wish you, from the bottom of my heart, a VERY HAPPY THANKSGIVING... I will be the one on the couch with a piece of pie, watching movies... and maybe I'll head out to the stores early Friday, to pick over what the vultures have left behind...to all the rest...enjoy Black Thursday, or Happy National Day of Scoring a Great Deal on Useless Crap!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Yep.  For real.  TWO posts in one week!  Ha ha ha ha.

My Dad's birthday was October 30th.  For those that didn't know, here in the Northeast we got WALLOPED with an early Winter storm on October 29th, complete with 18 inches of snow, and no electricity for 5 days.  We dug out to get out and wish Dad a Happy Birthday, and it was an ADVENTURE to say the least!!

My parents were at my brother's house, my brother had gone and 'rescued' them earlier in the day.  Just trying to get to my brother's house, which is usually a 5 minute drive (IF I get stuck at the light) took us 20+, because we had to go around the long way due to downed trees.  We finally got to his neighborhood, and had to re-route a few times there, as there were 2 telephone poles that the tops were snapped off and were hanging in the middle of the road by the power lines (EEK!)

ANYWAY -- we FINALLY got to my brother's house, and got to sing Happy Birthday to my Dad :).

Here's his card:

I took the photo with my phone, as it was very last  minute.  The '65' is actually a 'ribbon' that's tucked behind the 'Ad Sense' die cut and sentiment.  I put a basic grey magnet on it, and 'pinned' it to his shirt.

I took a piece of kraft CS and ran it through my Cuttlebug with the woodgrain impression plate from Papertrey, and then rubbed my Dark Chocolate ink pad all over it, to bring out the embossing.

And there you have it...Happy Birthday Dad!  Wishing you many more :)

Supplies:
All supplies Papertrey Ink unless otherwise noted
Stamps: Ad Sense
Ink: Aqua Mist, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Dark Chocolate
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Hawaiian Shores, Summer Sunrise
Accessories: Delightful Doilies Dies, Limitless Layers 1.75" dies, By the Numbers dies, Woodgrain impression plate, Hawaiian Shores ribbon, basic grey magnet

Don't FAINT! Thank Shoe Very Much!

I know, I know -- it's been a LONG time, thought I'd blow the dust off, and write a new post!

Life has been so busy it seems lately, and to say I haven't been all that creative is an understatement.  It seems as though a majority of my craftiness has taken a looooooong vacation, and I'm hoping it's coming back soon!

I was going through some photos, putting together a few photo books on Snapfish, and I came across this cute little project I did back in the Spring, and thought I'd share it with you all.

In our town, since I was very very little, we had this Mom & Pop shoe store, called Marshall's.  There was a corner in the back with toys for the kids to play with and "Mr. & Mrs. Marshall" were always there to greet you with a smile.  Mr. Marshall measured your feet (yes, really, even in 2011!) and it was just a real FAMILY place.

My Mom always brought us there as kids to get shoes for school each year, and she has continued to take all of her grandchildren there each year, too.  In April, much to my dismay, I saw this:

I couldnt' BELIEVE my eyes.  While I'm so glad that they will be moving on to the next chapter of their lives, I was just so sad to see the end of an era here in our little town.  So, I decided I would need to take my girls for one last pair of shoes, one last time in the toy corner, one last balloon on the way out of the store.

I found this AWESOME digi image (and now it has been SO long since I made this, I can't remember where I found it -- so if you know, please tell me, so I can give proper credit!) and decided to make a little thank you gift for our favorite shoe people :).

I even nabbed their logo from my photo of the closing sign, and added it to the sign post on the house. The image was colored with my Copics.  I made the sentiment in Photoshop Elements, and then die cut it using Papertrey's Mat Stack 4 die.  I wrote a little note on the back, thanking them for all the great memories, and wished them well on their new adventure.

The girls got their last pair of shoes, their last balloon, and their last time in the toy corner at Marshall's - and Mr. & Mrs. Marshall were touched by our gift, and shared with us that they had no idea how much they touched the community, until they put up those signs.

Be sure to thank those small shop owners for what they bring to you and your community, you never know when they might be gone.  Thanks for stopping by!

A Weekend of Celebration & Summer Card Camp! - Part Deux :)

After "Grandma's" party, we switched gears and headed to my dear friend and co-worker's house for her daughter's high school graduation party.  Lots and lots of teenagers, gave me an idea of what's to come! (and I just might be a wee bit scared, lol) Seriously though -- I've watched Leslie grow from a sweet little girl, into a beautiful young woman, and I'm so happy for her, and look forward to seeing her grow even more in this next chapter in her life.

Here's Leslie's card:

Lots of bold bright colors.  For this one, I used Kraft for a base, then some Raspberry Fizz, and Hawaiian Shores CS, and then Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores, Royal Velvet and Orange Zest felt for the flowers.

I stamped a background with Turning a New Leaf in Versamark, and then embossed with clear EP.  The flowers are topped off with some gems from Doodlebug (I LOVE their gems with all of those lovely facets!)  This card also uses Wonderful Words dies and the Wonderful Words Additions stamp set.

Today -- I'm off to a retirement party for my Mom!  But that will be a post for another day...Thanks for stopping by!!! :)

Supplies:

All Supplies are PTI unless otherwise noted

Hooray for You:

Stamps: Wonderful Words Additions, Turning a New Leaf

Ink: Fresh Snow, Versamark

Paper: Kraft, Raspberry Fizz, Hawaiian Shores

Accessories: Wonderful Words Dies, Beautiful Blooms II #3 dies, Felt in Raspberry Fizz, Royal Velvet, Hawaiian Shores and Orange Zest, Clear EP, Gems (Doodlebug)

A Weekend of Celebration & Summer Card Camp!

"JANE! STOP THIS CRAZY THIIIING!!!!"  ha ha ha...

What a weekend!  Friday happened to be my birthday, I was greeted after work with a family of balloon people my daughters made with my sister-in-law, and a BIG banner that they decorated for me :).  That night, my older daughter (7 years old) earned her orange belt at Taekwondo.  I'm so proud of her!! However, my post today is more about our celebrations yesterday.

The first party is for a close family friend, who recently celebrated her 90th Birthday.  Yep - she's an amazing lady, and I'm glad she is part of my life!  To make her card, I looked to the extra color combos from the Friday part of the online Summer Card Camp, being held by Jennifer McGuire, and Kristina Werner.  Here's what I made:

This card uses the Wonderful Words dies from PTI, as well as the By The Numbers dies, and the Wonderful Words Additions stamp set.  Though the middle 'happy' looks black in my photo, I used PTI's Royal Velvet...such a rich purple color -- it's gorgeous!  A few pearls scattered here and there kind of remind me of confetti.

Supplies:
All Supplies PTI unless otherwise noted

Happy 90th:
Stamps: Wonderful Words Additions
Ink: Plum Pudding
Paper: Stampers Select White, Plum Pudding, Simply Chartreuse, Kraft, Royal Velvet
Accessories: Wonderful Words Dies, Pearls (Basic Gray, Recollections)

Summer Card Camp!!

I don't seem to have time to breathe this Summer, always running here or there, BUT -- I decided to go ahead and participate in the Summer Card Camp, being held by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner.  I needed something to jump start my mojo, as it's been in it's dormant stage for a while, lol.  This week, the colors are warm and summery, oranges, reds, and greens...gorgeous. 

 
I was short on time, and went completely simple, but, mission accomplished.  I used a Kraft base, and just layered torn pieces of CS up the front.  The colors I used are Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Simply Chartreuse, and New Leaf.  The sentiment (from Think Big Favorites #4) was stamped in fresh snow ink.

I'm certainly hoping to get to give this color combo another whirl, maybe a little more creatively this time!  all of the inspiration with the card camp has been AWESOME to say the least.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Stamps: Think Big Favorites #4
Ink: Fresh Snow
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Orange Zest, Summer Sunrise, Simply Chartreuse, New Leaf
All supplies are from Papertrey Ink

All Because Two People Fell in Love...

WHEW!!  It's been a busy, yet SUPER FAST weekend.  WHERE did it go???  We've been busy here with some house projects, hoping to get them wrapped up in our "spare" time, lol.  Making progress, but still a ways to go.

Anyway -- onto my post.  A few months ago, my in-laws celebrated their 45th Wedding Anniversary.  A pretty big deal, especially now a days.  I decided to make a card that would emphasize the importance of that 45.

I pulled out the Papertrey Ink By the Numbers dies, and cut a 4 and a 5, ran them through my xyron and then poured glitter all over them...I mean really, aside from blinking lights (which could come in the future, I'll have to top this in 5 years, HA!) what better than glitter to catch your eye??

Layered the 45 onto some die cuts (1.75" limitless layers, and Mat Stack 4) - and accented with the largest flourish from Fancy Flourishes that was embossed with clear ep.  Finished it off with the sentiment 'amazing years'. From Big Birthday Wishes.

I say amazing, because we ALL got together that day, and took a photo of the whole family...take a look at what has been accomplished in 45 years...and smile.

Have a great day!!

June PTI Blog Hop!!

When I saw the inspiration photo for today's blog hop...I was...well, inspired ;).  What a FUN picture, full of color and life.  Of course, my daughters want their room painted like this now...

I decided to play with my copics and my airbrush, and made my take on the "wall".  I added a piece of white, cut with Mat Stack #4, with my sentiment from Think Big Favorites #1 stamped in Basic Gray ink.  Then gave it a splash of interest with some felt flowers cut with my Beautiful Blooms II #3 dies and a little bling.

Thanks for dropping by, have a GREAT weekend!!

Happy Birthday Waltzingmouse!!

WHEW!!!  I just made it. :)

I started this the other day, and all of the sudden, this morning, I realized that I never posted!!  So, I ran outside, thank goodness for a beautiful sunny day.

This is quick, because I'm unfortunately off to a funeral, but I wish Claire continued success always!!  I ♥ her company, and hope it continues strong for a long LONG time! :)

Happy Saturday!


Supplies:
Stamps: Way Out West, Back in the Saddle
Ink: Memento Black, PTI distress cubes, fresh snow
Paper: water color paper (SU!), Dark Chocolate, Vintage Cream (PTI)
Accessories: Sakura stardust pen, WMS tea baggie template, PTI button, DMC floss

Long time...

No speak!!

It's been a loooooong time since I last posted -- nearly 2 MONTHS ago!!  eesh.  I've been a busy bee, not so much in the craft department, but busy, none the less.  I went on a trip to PA to meet some of my favorite people, my PSFs.  I've been chatting with these ladies for YEARS, and finally got to meet some of them IRL. How cool is that?!?!?  I'll tell you.  It was VERY cool.  The weather was unfortunately rotten, but we had a great time, and lot of laughs, despite the nasty weather!  Here are a few pics:

Here's Pam and Sharon working nicely together...

OH!  How'd that get in there??  You see, remember that nasty weather I spoke of??  Well, a few of us were stuck at the hotel while there was a severe storm blowing through the area, complete with flash flood warnings, and a tornado watch (cool, right?)  Well, we made sure we were safe in the lower floor of the building, away from any windows, and lookee at what we found!  What luck.

This is Pam - I ♥ this picture...don't you??  You should go here and tell her! 

This is Laura and I -- we were getting a little giddy at this point...it was late, and we were up waaaaaaayyyy past our bedtime. 

and this is Sharon and Renee...these are 2 of the sweetest people you will ever meet.  EVER.  Unfortunately I didn't get a whole group shot of all of us.  Barb tried, but that's a story for another day ;).  I'm blessed to have such great stamping friends that I can now call REAL Stampin' Friends!!

Fun Foam Make it Monday!

Happy Sunday!  WHEW!  I can't believe another weekend is almost over!!  We've had a great weekend of celebration, I'll share more about that a little later this week, but for today, I've got the card I made for PTI's Make it Monday challenge this week :).

This week's challenge was to use die cut fun foam.  We have no shortage of fun foam in my house, with two little girls who love to do projects, so that was the easy part.  I decided to do some of those fun little rolled flowers, using the foam.  So I broke out my 1.75" Limitless Layer dies, and die cut some foam, then cut a spiral into each one, and rolled them into little flowers, that I positioned on the large leafy image from Turning a New Leaf.

Finished off with a sentiment from Round and Round, some Hibiscus satin ribbon, and a few harvest gold buttons.  Thanks for stopping by, off to prepare for the work week!!

Have a great day!!

Supplies:
Stamps: Turning a New Leaf, Round and Round
Ink: New Leaf, Hibiscus Burst
Paper: Select White, True Black
Accessories: 1.75" Limitless Layers dies, Hibiscus Burst Satin Ribbon, Harvest Gold Vintage Buttons

February PTI Blog Hop!

How can it be the 25th already????  WOW that went fast!!

Welcome to my little stop on the blog hop :).  I'm here to share a quick, clean and simple card with you today...with...yes, scallops.

The sentiment is from Birthday Bash Sentiments, stamped in New Leaf ink, on Select White CS.  The image from Damask Designs is stamped in Fresh Snow ink onto Hawaiian Shores CS.  That layer is trimmed with a scalloped piece of New Leaf CS (punched with my EK Success Single Embossed Curve punch) and a bit of Hawaiian Shores Grosgrain. TA-DAAAH!

Easy to whip up a bunch to have on hand for when you need them, too!

Thanks for popping by (told you I'd be quick!) - make it a great day!

Supplies:
Stamps: Damask Designs, Birthday Bash Sentiments
Ink: Fresh Snow, New Leaf
Paper: Select White, Hawaiian Shores
Accessories: EK Success Single Embossed Curve Punch, Hawaiian Shores Grosgrain

Make it Monday with Chick Lil'

Heeellloooooooooooo...in my best "Uncle Leo" (RIP Len Lesser) from Seinfeld voice :)

It's been a while since I've shared some papercrafted goodness with you all.  I've got a fun little card to share with you today that incorporates not one, but TWO challenges going on right now.

The first is Papertrey's Make it Monday challenge, which was to add glitter lines to your project using scor-tape.

The second is a challenge hosted by my friend Pam...well, her daughter actually...she issued a throwdown, and I decided I was up for it :).  The challenge is to create a card inspired by this photo:

What a beauty, right??  Sooo, I sat and stared at my stamp table for a while...and then I went to bed.  I just couldn't figure out what I could do that would pull the two challenges together.  And then, while I was at work yesterday, I suddenly had it!  Of course, so inconveniently in the middle of the day, when I'm away from stampland...but I had it.  So last night, I didn't even turn on the computer, as I knew I'd get sucked in to a round (or 200) of Bejeweled Blitz or Oregon Trail (such a silly game, but brings me back to my childhood).

Here's what I came up with:

I know my flower has more red than yellow...but while my intentions were good, I think I got a little carried away with my cherry cobbler ink pad.  The flower was made using PTI's Beautiful Blooms II #1 die collection.  I folded a single sheet of yellow tissue paper, so that there were 16 layers of tissue, and ran the 3 dies through my Cuttlebug together...talk about a time saver!  Then I stacked them, fluffed them, inked them, fluffed them some more...but the final thing that made it work was a spritzed it with a little water, and THEN fluffed some more.  Now -- the water may have done NOTHING, but I felt like it did something, so I'm sticking to that story.

Oh, "what's that" you say??  Look at that yummy glitter frame around the outside.  Yes, there's my scor-tape with glitter!  My card is 5"x5".  There is a scored frame (though kind of hard to see) at the 4" mark.  Just to the outside of that was a penned border, and then my fabulous glitter border.  Really dresses up that white base.

That cute little sentiment is from Flower Garden Sentiments, I'm so punny sometimes ;).

Thanks for stopping by for a look!  Make it a great day!

Supplies:

Stamps: Flower Garden Sentiments

Ink: Fresh Snow (PTI), Cherry Cobbler (SU!)

Paper: One Sheet Wonder (Cardstock Couture), True Black (PTI)

Accessories: Tissue Paper, Copic Multiliner 0.1, Scor-tape 1/2" width, Dazzling Diamonds glitter, chartreuse felt, scarlet jewel button, embroidery floss 

A Quick Comparison...

I was going through some pictures on my computer...and I found a few that I thought really showed off how much snow we got here this Winter...  This first picture shows my house, the day after Christmas...we were just getting our first "real" snowfall that day...

We have gotten near, if not record snowfall this January...here's what the front of my house looks like as of the beginning of February...

Remember the train in the front yard??  Yeah - it's still there...it's just buried under snow...oh and the little pathway Christmas trees????  take a look at this picture

These are my girls, but see that dark spot below her feet???  YEP -- the trees!  We're getting some warmer temps this week -- and I'm SO thankful...maybe some of the ice will start melting off of our roof!!!  Here's some icicle shots I took a few weeks ago we've had some incredible ones this year - some are at my house, some are at my Mom's...

Here's to warmer temps!! :)  Have a great day!