Pop Top Holiday Treat Tin!

I've wanted to make one of these clever little altered pop top tins forever and finally did! Not only is it a perfect gift container for candy, it would work perfectly for a gift card or CASH too! You could make it a birthday theme, Valentine's or whatever your heart desires.


Many of you have probably already tried this, but if not I'll give you the scoop... just take any pop top tin and instead of opening the top, open the bottom with a can opener that cuts the seal and doesn't destroy the can. (I have the Pampered Chef opener) Fill the tin and seal it back up. I used Stampin Up Crystal Effects. Decorate as desired and there you have it . . .a special handmade gift in a tin! :)

For mine, I've used designer paper from a DCWV Glitter Stack and the PaperTreyInk "Holiday Treats" set. The holiday ribbons are from Michaels. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Now I should be packing for our trip, but I'm trying to catch up on some Christmas thank yous. It's been so FUN to spend time stamping again!

Holiday Smiles,

"A brand new year is nearly here,

Open your heart and be of good cheer.

A year full of promise and good things to come.

In your list of resolutions, let good deeds be one.

Help one another and give of your love,

for that will be pleasing to the Father above."
~Author Unknown~

Christmas Cards from Stampin' Friends ~

It brings such joy and happiness to receive Christmas cards from friends, but when they are handmade it is even more special! I treasure them, appreciate all your creative effort and thank you so very much!

Please forgive me for not getting mine sent. How about a Valentine instead? :)

Scrabble Tile Pendants on Etsy!

Why didn't I think to create these?!

Have you seen these Scrabble Tile Pendants on Etsy.com? It just so happens that I read about them on someone's blog a few weeks ago and had to order a couple of them for the holidays. Mine are from seller: "Home Studio" and I have nothing but praise for their fast and professional service. Not only that, but the price is right! :) If you're interested, they are having an after Christmas clearance SALE and shipping is FREE!

Are you wondering why I'm advertising on my blog? With my order was a card for bloggers. If I post a link on my blog, they will send me a FREE pendant and chain. Whoo Hoo!

* my pendants came in these pretty satin gift bags.

* this is the back side... yes, they really are a Scrabble tile!

I'll be back later with photos of all the beautiful Christmas cards I've received from stamping friends. They are fabulous and I can't wait to share them with you!

Holiday Smiles,

Quote for Today ~

"Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right." ~Oprah Winfrey

Holiday Puppy Treats!

"Holiday Hi" to all my dear blog friends!

It's amazing how quickly Christmas has come and gone! I've found very little time for stamping and cardmaking this past month and regret the lack of blog posts too.

Now, I'm on VACATION until January 5th so hope to catch up a little this weekend before we fly out to VEGAS to spend New Year's with our daughter Katie and her fiance Warrick. Jim and I have never been there so it will be an "experience" for sure. We're not big gamblers, but hope to see the sights and take in a show or two. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate with no flight delays. I've heard there is an awesome rubber stamp store there so I plan to check it out. If you've been to Vegas and have any advice or recommendations, please let me know! :)

I do have a few little projects to share with you... this one is a little tag that I made to tie on a box of doggie treats from the "Three Dog Bakery". Have you ever heard of this place? The one I went to is in Omaha, NE at Village Point Mall. This place is amazing...a specialty bakery for dogs! Seriously, these treats look good enough to eat! I wish I could show you what I bought, but they had them all wrapped up and sealed. Next time, I'll take my camera in the store with me. ;) Our dachshund Lilly has two special puppy friends (Ava & Maggie) that like to bring her treats, so this was her gift to them.

Here's the "paw"ticulars on the tag... kraft paper from Stampin Up, layered on scrap piece of forest foliage green. The dachshund stamp is by Penny Black - "a romantic dog". There is a little flower in her mouth, but I covered it with the circle punch and made a balloon, stamped with the "holiday treats" stamp by Papertrey Ink.

And, of course, I had to include a photo of Lilly with her Santa hat that is now all chewed up. Needless to say, she did NOT like it! :) So, I'm happy I got at least one good photo of her.

Was SANTA good to you? I was spoiled, as always! My sweet DIL Jami & son Andy gave me two of the quilt stamp sets I've been wanting from Papertrey Ink. And also a wood-mounted stamp with the saying "All people SMILE in the same language". We did some stamping yesterday and it took us both a couple hours to create ONE card! I'll post those later...

Gosh, I've been rambling, haven't I? Wish we could all just get together and have a BIG StampFest for New Years! It would be such FUN to meet in person and get to know one another better. You are all such an inspiration and mean so much to me. Thank you for all your comments and words of encouragement.

Wishing you all joy & happiness...and a very blessed & peaceful New Year 2009!

Mojo Monday ~ A Very Merry Christmas to YOU!

Happy Monday Dear Friends!

Today's card was inspired by Julee Tilman's Mojo Monday sketch #64. If you haven't visited her blog "Poetic Artistry" you really must as her creations and sketches are exceptional and SO very inspiring!

This was a FUN card to make, starting with the whimsical Inkadinkado Christmas tree. It was stamped in old olive and embossed with a clear embossing powder to give it some shine and dimension. The background paper is Basic Grey "Fruitcake" layered on Stampin Up old olive cardstock. The distressed red piece is from my stash of scraps.

The bottom of the red cardstock was punched with the Stampin Up scallop punch then stitched to the designer paper. For the sentiment, again I stamped in old olive and clear embossed. It is punched with the large SU oval and then I cut off the right side. All the edges were sponged with Tim Holtz tea dye distress ink. I've added red eyelets and olive twill ribbon to embellish.


On the inside of the card is a sentiment by Stampendous and it reads "May your family enjoy a special season filled with love, joy and peace." The small manger stamp in the left inside corner is from Morning Star Stamps.

Sometimes it takes me awhile to find my "mojo" . . . especially since I haven't been stamping much lately. That's another reason why I appreciate these sketches so much! :)

Have a warm and wonderful week dear friends! Be sure to take time to relax and enjoy the reason for this special season!

Holiday Smiles!





Quote for Today ~
"Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall." - Larry Wilde, The Merry Book of Christmas

Make it Simple! ~ Party Invitations

Life is BUSY and we all try to find ways to SIMPLIFY! If you need a quick and easy party invitation, check this out . . .

Our sweet DIL Jami is graduating from college on December 19th and we are hosting an open house in her honor. {Summa cum Laude ~ WAY 2 GO Jami! We're SO proud of U!}

I created 25 of these, addressed the envelopes and had them all ready to mail in just a couple hours. That leaves more time for planning the menu, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, etc!

There is actually no stamping on the card, but I did stamp the envelopes. :) The invitation was printed with black ink on white cardstock (4 x 5-1/4") using my pc printer. I set up the document in Print Shop, using two columns, four to a page. After cutting them apart, I embossed the left edge of each one with the new Cuttlebug border template "Just My Type". After embossing, I layered it on a piece of black cardstock, 4-1/4 x 5-1/2".


The embossing goes very quickly, so I also embossed the left edge of the envelopes. The back flap of the envelopes were stamped them with "Party Time" from the Stampin Up "Lots of Thoughts" set.



My photos are rather gray because I took them at night and my lighting wasn't the best, but the invites are a bright white, actually "Whisper White" cardstock from Stampin' Up!

Today, I've been doing some laundry and housework and a little online Christmas shopping. I haven't stamped all week so I'm hoping to find my mojo and create a few birthday cards. If so, I'll post them later! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Wishing you all a blessed Holiday Season!
Smiles...





Thought for Today ~

I hope your dreams take you to the corners of your smiles, to the highest of your hopes, to the windows of your opportunities, and to the most special places your heart has ever known. ~Author Unknown

Checking In!

My, oh my, the days are flying by! And I know I've been neglecting all of you, my blog and my stamping hobby!

I hope you've all had a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends. We certainly did! Our daughter was home from Hawaii with her fiance so that made it extra extra special. Our son and daughter-in-law were here and a few of their friends joined us too. Such good times and GREAT memories!

We all got together last Friday at a local pub to watch the Nebraska Cornhuskers' exciting WIN over Colorado. GO BIG RED! Our daughter took this photo of us with her iphone and emailed it to me. Hubby and I both look really old and tired, but I thought I would share it with you anyway. :) The kids are SO much FUN to have around, but keep us up WAY too late!!!

Now, I need to get busy creating invitations to our sweet DIL Jami's graduation party on December 19th! She's graduating that day from Wayne State College and we're planning an open house here to celebrate. Some of you know Jami from her blog "Crazy Daisy Creations" and may wonder where she's been. She's very busy with her student teaching and all the homework that goes with it. Hopefully, she'll get back to stamping and blogging after graduation. I would *love* to host a card shower for her. If you're interested, please email me for her address.

Have a wonderful week! Smiles,





Thought for Today ~

Faith is daring the soul to go beyond what the eyes can see.

A small town chamber of commerce once invited a man to address their annual banquet. The speaker was asked to be motivational, since the town’s economy had been bad that year and people were discouraged.

During his presentation, the speaker took a large piece of white paper and made a black dot in the center of it with a marking pen. He then held the paper up before the audience and asked, “What do you see?” One person replied, “I see a black dot.” The speaker said, “Fine. What else do you see?”

Others chimed in, “A black dot.” The speaker asked, “Don’t you see anything besides the dot?” The audience responded with a resounding “No!”

“But you’ve overlooked the most important thing,” the speaker replied. “You’ve missed seeing the sheet of paper!” He then went on to explain, “In our lives, we are often distracted by small, dot-like failures. They keep us from seeing the blessings, successes, and joys that are far more important than the disappointments that try to monopolize our energy and attention. I encourage all of us to focus on the big picture of what is right rather than the small view of what is wrong.”

Are we so preoccupied today with what is, that we’ve lost sight of what can be? Step back and see the bigger picture.

Owl Together Now . . .

Sketch Challenge
+
New Stamp Set
=
Happy Stampin'!


Today's card was created using Beate's "Fresh and Fun" Weekend Sketch Challenge #67. This layout is a keeper and one I will use often.








My Stampin' Up! order came yesterday and this is one of my favorite new sets "Owl Together Now". There are 4 different owlies, 5 sentiments ... whoo-la-la!, hoot hoot hooray!, guess whoo loves you!, something for you from owl of us, and the one I've used here... you're a hoot! In addition to all those, there is a balloon, flower, hearts, party hat and the branch for them to sit on! I can already think of many uses for this set and you'll probably get tired of seeing it.

Did you notice the embossed edge on the left side of the image? I am lovin' these new Cuttlebug embossing borders!

I hope you're all enjoying a nice, relaxing weekend. Thanks so much for blogging by and if you ever have any questions about my cards, please don't hesitate to ask!

Smiles,




Quote for Today ~
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel. ~Author Unknown

Another FUN Sketch for You to Try!

Many of you have been making Christmas cards for weeks now, but I'm just beginning to get into the holiday spirit.

The inspiration for this design came from Jen's recent sketch at I {heart} 2 Stamp. Be sure to check out all the cards others have made...they are FANTASTIC!

The other day when I was at Walmart, I had my hands on the Martha Stewart snowflake punch and put it back. What was I thinking?! I sure would have liked to have had snowflake punchies on this card, but since I didn't, I used the snowflake stamp from the Stampin Up "Perfect Presentation" set. I stamped it with Versamark and embossed with the Winter Wonderland powder.

The colors I've used may look a little "springy", but there really are snowflakes in this designer paper. It's from a pack of holiday prints I picked up on sale at Hobby Lobby. The base cardstock is chocolate chip and I've layered on certainly celery stamped with the linen background stamp in Versafine vintage sepia. The sentiment stamp is an oldie from the $1 Michaels bin. I'm not sure that I've ever used it before, but it just seems to fit on this card.

Today was a terrific mail day and I received stamped images from 3 of my generous Stamp Shack friends. {Thank U Nancy, Charity & Pascale!} I'm going to have a tough time deciding which ones to color first! :)

Smiles . . .

Quote for Today ~

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ~Norman Vincent Peale

Wrap it Up!

In my post earlier today, I mentioned that I was making up a gift bag of cards and would share my idea for recycled packaging with you.


















First of all, I took 4 cards of each design, stamped matching envelopes and put them all into a plastic sleeve, attaching a "hand stamped" scalloped tag on the back to secure. These were wrapped loosely with tissue paper and fit nicely in the little brown kraft paper bag. I "embellished" it with a stamped & embossed tag tied on with some jute twine, distressed the edges a bit and it's ready to go! If you look closely at the bag you can see that I embossed a band of dots around the middle. This was done with one of the new Cuttlebug embossing borders ~ "Just My Type".


In addition to the cards, I also wrapped up a book and a couple other little items. For one of them, I used some brown textured paper that had come in the box with my hubby's new work boots. I wish I had an entire roll of that stuff as it is so soft and easy to use. All the tags were created by stamping with Versamark and embossing with Stampin Up copper embossing powder.

You should have seen my craft table when I was done with all these cards and wrapping. It was a major MESS! But, I did force myself to clean it up and decided to make a Christmas card with Jen's recent sketch at I {heart} 2 Stamp. I'm happy with how it turned out and I'm anxious it to show you. But, not until tomorrow! :)

Thanks so much for blogging by today...wishing you all a week filled with happy moments!
Smiles,

If You're Feeling Blue ~

... try painting yourself a different color.


Those profound words are taken right from the mouth of Hannah, age 8, and made into this adorable wood mounted stamp by Inkadinkadoo.














More mass production today and I'm thoroughly enjoying the feeling of accomplishment!

I'm putting together two sets of get well cards, a book, calendar and some other goodies for someone very special. (sorry, I can't say who in case she might be reading this!) When I get everything wrapped up, I'll take a few photos so you can see how I've recycled some brown paper packaging, added stamped tags and made a really nice gift.

More later....





Quote for Today ~

Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A beauty bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn't go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination. ~Robert Fulghum

Elzybell "Feel Better" Weekend Sketch Challenge ~

Nothing can make us FEEL BETTER than a little stamping and cardmaking. It's one of my favorite stress reducing pasttimes! With all the negative press lately about the economy it is essential that we continue to THINK POSITIVE!

Usually stress breeds negative thinking and negative thinking breeds stress. It's a vicious circle, but it doesn't have to be that way. If you look at the bright side of things...if you can laugh and enjoy life...your positive thinking can help chase away stress and restore peace of mind.


Today I'm mass-producing again and making a few get well cards with my adorable little Elzybell Art Stamp. This Elzy is titled "Feeling Poorly" and I'm using it with the little "feel better" sentiment stamp. Please give me your opinion on this...do you like the sentiment on the front or should I put it on the inside? I'm being indecisive and think I prefer the Elzy image alone on the front. Maybe because it's rather "busy" as it is. What do you think? ? ? :)



The inspiration for the layout of this card came from Beate's Weekend Sketch Challenge. Her layouts are fantastic and make cardmaking even more FUN! :)

In case you're interested, I've used Stampin up chocolate chip and close to cocoa cardstock. The designer paper is by the Paper Studio. I've colored my Elzy's with prismacolor pencils. For added dimension, I've cuttlebugged the choc chip piece with swiss dots and stitched it on the base layer. You'll notice my zig zag stitch really zagged around the brads. Next time, I will add the brads after the stitching! :)

MW has gone duck hunting again this weekend so I'm enjoying doing my own thing. This morning I had a nail appointment and then a massage. Oh my, I forgot how absolutely heavenly it is to get a massage! Its not something I do often...usually only when I have a gift certificate. This may be my new favorite gift! :) The spa was all decorated for Christmas already and it made me want to decorate too. Maybe I'll just make a few Christmas cards instead. :)

Have a wonderful weekend and happy stamping! Smiles...





Quote for Today ~
A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book. ~Irish Proverb

Simple Heartfelt Sympathy Cards ~

Sad to say, but I probably send out more sympathy
cards than any other and it seems that I never have enough on hand when I need them. So, this past weekend I selected one of my favorite layouts and did some mass-production.











Most of the products used are from Stampin' Up! The cardstock is barely banana and basic black. In the past, I've made this same card with river rock and black and really like it too. Obviously, you could use any color.

I've stamped two different backgrounds...filigree and simple stripes. The flowers are from the "Happy Harmony" set. "In Sympathy & Friendship" is from an Innie & Outie double stamp by My Sentiments Exactly. The other half of the stamp says "Our hearts, our prayers and our love are with you." (S146-IO) The inside sentiment that I've used on these is from Morning Star Stamps. It reads, "May you have comfort in each happy memory and in the assurance of Heaven."

Often, it is difficult to know exactly what to write in a sympathy card. The purpose is to offer comfort and inspire hope so I try to write a personal heartfelt message of remembrance, if appropriate. Or, you could enclose a poem or scripture that has personal meaning to you. Years ago, when my wonderful Dad passed away, one of our dear friends gave me a beautiful book by Helen Steiner Rice. She had written a personal message inside the cover with reference to this particular poem:

When I Must Leave You

When I must leave you
For a little while,
Please do not grieve
And shed wild tears
And hug your sorrow to you
Through the years,
But start out bravely
With a smile.
And for my sake
And in my name,
Live on and do
All the things the same.
Feed not your loneliness
On empty days,
But fill each waking hour
In useful ways.
Reach out your hand in comfort
And in cheer,
And I, in turn, will comfort you
And hold you near.
And never, never
Be afraid to die,
For I am waiting for you
In the sky.
~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

Thanks so much for blogging by...and to all of you who've left comments. I read each and every one and appreciate you all SO much!

May your week be filled with happy moments!
Smiles,

Mr. Turkey & Mr. Twigster ~

Today I want to show you the other two projects
from our Stampin Up workshop yesterday.

The first card is with our fine feathered friend...Mr. Turkey. Our SU demonstrator (Hi Jason!) said the instructions for this cute "Thankful Card" were published in her Stampin' Success magazine.

This cute and festive turkey was created by using a variety of different SU punches and a special fold with the scallop circle punch. I was supposed to leave room on the bottom for the sentiment, but stamped "Happy Thanksgiving" on the inside of the card instead.





Now, check out this super "Mr. Twigster" gift bag we made...

We started with a 4-1/2" square for the bottom, scored each edge at 1" and folded it in to make the box bottom. Then we wrapped the striped paper around, added the scalloped edging, the tabs...and finally, Mr Twigster himself framed in a scalloped circle! They really are quite easy to make and perfect packaging for a small gift!

I hope you're all enjoying a nice relaxing weekend with time to do as you please. Happy Stamping!

Smiles,






I've got another YUMMY recipe to share with you today. It's a quick and easy one to make for your next stampin' up get together with friends. I got it from a coworker years ago and have made it often. With or without the apples, it's delicious!

Streusel Coffee Cake
1 yellow cake mix
¼ cup firm margarine
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup chopped nuts
3 eggs
1-1/2 cup sour crème

Measure 2/3 cup of the cake mix and blend together with the margarine, brown sugar & nuts. Set this aside.

Beat eggs and blend in sour crème and the rest of the cake mix. Mixture will be quite thick. Spread ½ of this batter in a 9 x 13” greased & floured cake pan. Sprinkle on ½ of the other mixture, the rest of the batter, then the other ½ of the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Optional: add 2 diced apples to the batter for a yummy Apple Streusel Cake!

Sharing a "Vintage" Wedding Photo ~

Dear friends, please don't laugh too hard and choke on your coffee... and remember, this was the 70's ... back when styles were a bit unusual, to say the least! LOL :)

There is a thread at The Stamp Shack asking all of us to share one of our wedding photos. Obviously, ours were taken WAY before digital was invented so I found our old wedding album in a storage box layered with dust on the top shelf of our closet. I vacuumed it off and took a digital photo...after I stopped laughing. :)

Do we look YOUNG? Well, we were! I was only 19 and Jim was just 21. We had jobs, but no savings, one car and a whole lot of growing up to do. I'm happy to say he's still my best friend and "Mr Wonderful". We celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary this past June.

You'll get a kick out of this...I saved all our wedding receipts and found them in my album. My dress cost more than my ring. It was $110, which was pricey for back then...and the ring was $67.25!!! How funny is that? {You'll be glad to know that I got a REAL diamond for our 30th anniversary.}

This post was totally spontaneous and hopefully you've enjoyed it. Would anyone else like to share your wedding photos with all of us? If you do decide to post them, please leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can see.

Have a great Sunday! I'll be back later to post the other projects from our fun Stampin Up workshop yesterday. Smiles...

Quote for Today ~

"I love being married. It's so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life." ~Rita Rudner

ETA: Oh my, this makes my post even funnier yet......someone just unsubscribed from my blog because of it!!! Yikes! I better stick to cardmaking... LOL :)
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