Lovely box with bow...

Good morning all! Did you all have an amazing Christmas? Ours was very nice indeed. It was a wonderfully relaxing hang out day with Kyler, Scott and Ashley. Photos to come I promise! In the meantime here is a couple of photos of a box I made for the family that did child care at the church on Christmas Day. It was incredibly nice of them and I just wanted to show my appreciation.

This first photo is just of the box with bow closed.  It is a fabulous SVG file from SVG Cuts and it was FREE!!  It looks like it is still free so if you can cut SVG's with your cutting machine go grab the kit now!  The patterned paper I used is from Stampin' Up! a year or two ago.  I thought it was nice but not over the top Christmasy. 

I just loaded the inside with peanut butter cups, kisses and some tootsie rolls.  On the top (not shown in the photo) I added some coupons for ice cream cones from a local favorite place.  They fit just perfect under the bow on the corner!  The only think I wish I would have done differently was make the bow solid red instead of adding the one layer of opposite paper.  Such is life...it still looks nice!

And finally is a photo of one of my surprise Christmas gifts.  Well, a couple of them at least.  The ring and necklace are ruby and quite substantial which is great as I will wear them for Rigadoon as the only jewelry so I love the bigger size.  So, pretty huh?  My hubby sure does a great job at picking out gifts for me!


Anyway, I will be back again soon...I promise.  Thanks for hanging in there with me!

Thought of the day:  Smile...it confuses people.  :) 

Ouch and Awww....

Good morning friends!  It's Christmas Eve...are you all set for the big day tomorrow?  I think we are here at the Ames House!  It took me awhile but I finally got in the Christmas spirit last week and now I'm really excited about tomorrow.  I will definitely be missing Jon but I am thankful I will have Kyler and Scott here!


So, today I promised to show you a scrapbooking page but you are going to get two instead.  I am really enjoying the scrapbooking software and am looking forward to doing some more pages this afternoon.  What is great about using digital software is that it takes so much less time and mistakes are easily corrected (that is my favorite part).  I haven't had these pages printed yet as I want to send in several at a time but I will be using an online store for that.  I pre-bought their printing services but after I'm done with the pages I bought I've heard good things about Costco so I'll probably try there even though it is 45 minutes away from where I live.  Anyway, onto the pages!

I'm sure some of you remember when Kyler crashed his bike this last summer and went to the ER for his wrist and road rash.  While it was a painful time for him I wanted to be sure he remembered his first trip to the ER...I know that sounds weird but we are the sum total of our experiences and how we respond to them...he was quite the trooper that day, very brave!  The kit I used for this page is called I'm Sick by Albums to Remember. 

The above page I made yesterday for a challenge on the MyMemories blog.  It is the Christmas Fashion Fun challenge.  Of course your page doesn't have to be fancy like mine but cute with a favorite Christmas sweater or even an ugly sweater!  Anyway, this is a photo from when Todd and I went to Rigadoon a couple of weeks ago.  Yes, I love my dress!  I felt so pretty in it.  I dislike the way I'm standing though as it looks like I have a big hiney.  LOL!  Anyway, the kit I used for this page is Comfort and Joy by Connie Prince. 


Remember if you want to check out the MyMemories Suite Software just click on the MyMemories button in my right side bar to be taken to the store.  If you decide to purchase it and use the code I show over there you'll get $10 off the software...what a deal, huh?


Alright friends...have an amazing Christmas Eve with your family and friends!  I'll have a little something on my blog tomorrow so see ya then!


Thought of the day:  If you want to feel rich just count all the blessings you can't buy. 

Teddy Angel

Good morning! It's the day before the night before Christmas! Are you busy being good?  I know!  That can be so hard sometimes, huh?  LOL!

I wanted to make a special thank you card for someone who did something for us.  What an angel they were!  I used a pre-colored image from Meljen's Designs...this one is called Teddy Angel.  I think the image looks so comfy so I used some 'quilting' patterned paper and made some stitches with my white gel pen.  A couple of buttons to finish it off and I put it in the mail.  I'm pretty sure the recipient will love the card!


I'm just wondering...have you been to the Meljen's Designs blog recently?  It is a fabulous blog full of inspiration, freebies, and lots of great info!  I hope you'll go check it out soon!


I am excited to show you my digital scrapbook page tomorrow.  It is my official second digital page.  I'm loving the software that I have.  It truly does make it easier to scrapbook!  Hope to see you back tomorrow!


Thought of the day:  It's easy to stand in the crowd.  It takes courage to stand alone. 

Birdie and Bells

Good morning all!  Yep, I'm still here preparing for Christmas.  Things are so hectic.  I'm also learning the new scrapbooking software so I've been playing in that but not really able to show you anything.  Soon though!

I was hired to make two more beverage holders so you are getting to see those today.  I used Jolly by Golly from Cosmo Cricket for these holders.  I have the chipboard pack that came with that paper so I used some of the pieces from that pack to finish off the front.  Aren't they fun?  I really like the bird in his hat.  And, I think the yellow looks so bright and cheery!  I'm entering this into the Creative Inspirations challenge this week which is, anything goes. 


Just a short post for ya today.  Tomorrow I'll show you the other beverage holder I made...this one for our neighbor.  Friday I have a Meljen's card to share and then on Saturday I'm going to share a scrapbooking page so I hope you'll stop back!


Thought of the day:  Accept what you can't change.  Change what you can't accept. 

It's Your Day!

Good morning!  Yay, it is Saturday!  Who is ready for the weekend?  Me!  Today I have several fun things planned so I'm up and at 'em early, well, early for a Saturday. 


Before we left to see Jon I made this card for Todd's sister's birthday.  Todd and his sister have the same birthday exactly one year apart.  It makes her birthday easier to remember for sure!  Michelle is a hard working, do anything for you gal who forgets that it is okay to take some for herself so that is why I made this card with this image.  On the inside it says '-spoil yourself silly!'  I hope she did take some time to do that!


The patterned paper is from an old Tayolered Expressions kit.  There is lots of shimmer on the bubbles and on the floor.  I really enjoyed making this card. 


This sketch is a sketch with a spin which is to use chipboard.  Well, my little banner that says 'It's your day' is a piece of chipboard from Jenni Bowlin.  (I also used a different shape of chipboard on Thursday for the Meljen's card.)

Cathy

Chris

Janice

Kim

Monika

Shannon

Shelby

Wendy

I have a really exciting day ahead.  This morning (in about 20 minutes) I'm taking a webinar on how to use MyMemories Scrapbooking software (link in my right sidebar).  I already know how to do several things but I thought that some extra hits and tips would be a good thing.  Then, after the webinar a friend is coming over to transfer stuff from my desk top to my new laptop.  Yep, I got a laptop for my craft room.  I'm SO excited that it won't take up as much room!  And then this evening we are heading out to Rigadoon, a dance club we belong too.  I have a fabulous new green dress and sparkly shoes and Todd has a really nice cranberry colored shirt for his tux so we are going to be all Christmas-y! 

Thought of the day:  Bloom where you are planted.

Hot, Hot, Hot!

Good morning friends!  I can't believe it is almost the end of the week again!  Tomorrow is a half day for Kyler and then two glorious weeks off!  I can't wait for Christmas Break! 

Today I get to share with you a new image from Meljen's Designs.  This one is call Holiday Chili Pepper.  From the time I saw the image I knew I wanted to make Todd's Christmas card with it (shhh...don't tell!).  It reminds me of the time we spent in Cabo this last spring.  I'm not sure why it does but it does.  I used paper from MME's The Merry Days of Christmas pack and tried to focus on the blue in the patterned paper as I was so reminded of the water from our trip (which was a cruise).  While the weather was not hot on the boat it sure was beautiful on shore.  We definitely plan on going back to Cabo to vacation one day (sooner rather than later I hope!).  Oh, and the challenge for this week is anything but a rectangle shaped card.  I don't get outside of my comfort zone when it comes to card shape so I just went with a square, 5x5, card. The layout for this card is from the month long Sketches by Carly challenge. 


Anyway, all three of today's new releases are super fun so make sure you hop on over HERE to check them out and see what the rest of the design team has to show you!  I'm also entering this is 4 Crafty Chicks Challenge this week which is Christmas Cards. 

OH!  I almost forgot to announce the winner of my black Friday/Cyber Monday sale.  So, without further ado...Jerusha, you win!  Just contact me and I'll get you the code for your $5 coupon!  Congrats girl!

Thought of the day:  Get up and go.  Take a chance and be strong.  Today is your day...go for it!

Mmmm...

Good morning!  I hope you are having a wonderful week so far!  Thanks for coming back to visit.  I'm excited to show you my Meljen's Designs new release card tomorrow so hopefully you'll stop back then, too.

I must apologize for the bad photos.  Unfortunately we've had over a week of fog and I am having a horrible time getting decent photos.  Same thing today as yesterday on these beverage holders just different papers and embellishment.  I actually have an order for two more of these so be ready to see more!  LOL!


Well, my boy heads back to Afghanistan today.  I didn't get to spend nearly as much time with him as I would have liked and honestly feel a little cheated by it but I will work past it.  I can't imagine how he must feel going back.  He wants to be there for his friends but it is not a fun place to be.  Such conflicting feelings I'm sure. 


Anyway, have a wonderful day today.  See ya tomorrow!

More Beverages

Good morning!I hope you had a marvelous Monday and have fun plans for your Tuesday.  I actually did some creating yesterday so you'll have some fun stuff to see the next couple of days...yay!

I was excited to be hired to make a couple of more beverage holders.   The customer wanted four of them so I got right to work.  I have to tell you it only took me just over an hour to make all four.  Cutting the holder out with the Cricut sure makes them easy!

The paper I used on all four of these holders are from Imaginisce called Snowy Jo.  I like to use it for this type of thing because this paper pad has 66 chipboard shapes and the sticker toppers to go with making embellishing super easy.  The paper is also very varied.  You can see in this photo the cute snowman on one and the poinsettia on the other.  Two completely different looks  Love it!  I just added different types of ribbon to hold everything all in and they were all ready.

Tomorrow I'll show you the other two and then on Thursday is it new release time with Meljen's Designs for which I have a super 'hot' card for ya so make sure you come on back!

Thought of the day:  A good deed brightens a dark world. 

Birthday Wishes

Good Saturday morning friends!  This morning I'm really wishing my dog would know that it is Saturday and would let me sleep in a little.  5:45 am is just too early on a Saturday!

Today is The Sweet Stop sketch day though so I do have a fun card to show you.  This is another card that I made prior to leaving for our trip and I made it to give to my dad (I'm blessed to have three dads...how cool is that?) for his birthday.  The boys and I haven't been with him for his birthday in 10 years so it was really neat to get to be part of the celebration.

Anyway, this image is from Clear Dollar stamps and is part of their Birthday Fall Critters outlines set.  The paper is from Jillibean's Spotted Owl Soup pack and the rest is pretty self explanatory I think.  I do have to tell you that I really like this card.  I think it is fun, bright and super happy!

So...off you go to see the other design team members creations!

Cathy

Chris

Janice

Kim

Monika

Shannon

Shelby

Wendy

Thought of the day:  Just had to add the thought of the day with the little picture:

Sketches by Carly Day!

Good morning friends!  I know, it has been a long time or at least it feels like it!  I'm back today to share a fun card and sketch from Sketches by Carly.  I made this card before I left to go see my son and I still love it today as much as when I made it!

Our sponsor for the month long challenge is Paper Shelter and we were provided with some super cute images to use.  I chose Santa Cute Helper.  I did NOT color this image but instead took advantage of the pre-color version that Paper Shelter offers.  I used MME 12 Days of Christmas pattered papers on this card and then just added all sorts of fun embellies.  I love it when Carly's sketches has lots of little pieces to it as it if fun to be fussy sometimes!

Here are the details of this challenge:  This challenge will go for the entire month of December (Dec 9 - Jan 5) so you will be able to enter as many times as you'd like.  The random winner will receive a $20 Paper Shelter gift certificate! 

Here are the rest of the design team gals. Make sure you check out all of the amazing work they've done!

Jerusha

Julie 

Danni

Ceal

Margreet

Genevieve

Sarah

Shakira

Kathy

Kris

Carly

I will be back probably tomorrow to share a photo or two (or maybe a digi scrapbook page) of my boys.  It never gets old thinking your kids are the most handsome around!  See you then!

Thought of the day:  I'd rather be a Proverbs 31 woman than a Victoria's Secret model!

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Challenge

*This will be at the top until 12/9.  Please scroll down to see my most recent blog update.*

Good Black Friday morning friends!  How many of you were out and about to brave the crowds last night/this morning?  Not me!  I prefer to to shop Black Friday from my computer and have found that I can get just as many good deal online on Black Friday as I could at the store.  Add that to Cyber Monday and I'm one happy person!

I thought it would be fun to have a little challenge this week to celebrate the great deals you get on your crafting goodness either today, Black Friday or Monday Cyber Monday.  Okay, so you can use anything new, that you have never used before for this challenge.

Here are the guidelines for this challenge...
1.  Your creation must have one brand new, never used by you before element to it and it should be one of the main elements to your creation.  
2.  You must link back to this post in your blog post.
3.  You must link your card up to the inlinkz tool at the bottom of this post.  Please link to the blog post itself and not just your blog or your link will be removed.
4.  For each place you share (your blog, Facebook, etc) this challenge (and come back to tell me about it...one comment for each share) you will get an extra entry into the challenge.  However, you must link up a creation for your extra entries to count.
5.  If you don't have a blog just e-mail me a photo of your creation.
6.  you have two weeks to participate in this challenge.  The inlinkz tool will close on 12-8 at midnight.  

Now, what do you have the chance to win if you follow all 5 of those rules?  Well...the fabulous Laurie, from Doodle Pantry has graciously donated a $5 gift certificate to her store!  I'm so excited for the person who will win as you know how much I love Doodle Pantry!

Well? What are you waiting for?  Get shopping and creating ladies!  Let me know if you have any questions!

Brave

Good morning!  Remember I told you that I was going to be absent from my blog quite a bit this month, right?  Well, this is part of the reason.  My son is home on mid-tour leave and we are enjoying spending some time with him!

This is the very first page I have made in my new digi scrapping software called MyMemories Suite.  I have never been a digi scrapper before as my brain just cannot wrap around Photoshop but this MyMemories Suite?  So intuitive!

I've actually had the program for about a month but I've been working on a couple of things before using it.

One, I wanted to purchase some digi kits so I had plenty to chose from when I started.  I was VERY successful at that thanks to Black Friday weekend.  Next, I wanted to be sure to have a list of all the sets I bought so I made an Excel spreadsheet, alphabatized the kits, and listed who the designer is.  Finally, because I am a visual person I needed to have a photo of the kits that I had purchased so I could see all the elements in the kit in one place. So...I now have about 23 pages of colored collage sheets in a 3-ring binder that shows what is in each kit/quick page/or whatever.  It is perfect for me! 

So, when I decided it was time to play with the program this picture of Jon seemed perfect.  The MyMemories Facebook page has something called a Speed Scrap every Sunday.  One of the DT members posts the elements that she would like to see on the page and then we take it from there.  Now, mine does not fit the speed scrap exactly but I think it is a pretty good first page.  I see some things I'd like to fix on it so I will go back and do that or I may just start all over again...who knows.  The point is I can do either and it is okay because it is all digital and I've not wasted a bit of paper or embellishments...yay!

If you are interested in checking out the program for yourself I have a link in my left side bar for ya.  If you decide to purchase it and use the code that I have (STMMMS8) you will even get $10 off the program!  Let me know if you decide to give it a try!

Thought of the day:  Class is about know what to say, when to say it, and when to stop.

Beary Merry Christmas

Good morning friends!  Are you having a great weekend?  I hope you are getting lots accomplished.  I can hardly believe we are only about 3 weeks away from Christmas!

Today is Sweet Stop sketch day and it is a wonderful one!  I chose to use candy cane Rhubarb this morning and pair it with papers from MME Holly Jolly which had that perfect candy can paper in it!  I love peppermint so the candy cane theme is right up my alley!

I think this card will be so cute to send to a family that has little kiddos as they are sure to love Rhubarb!

Well, that is it from me today.  Make sure you head on over to my design team sisters blogs to see their creations and leave 'em some love!

Cathy

Chris

Janice

Kim

Monika

Shannon

Shelby

Wendy

Thought of the day:  It's a good day to have a good day!

I'll be back again Someday!

Good morning!  No, I did not disappear...this has just been an incredibly busy week so far!  I have two bits of VERY exciting info.  One crafting related and one personal.

First, up crafting related very exciting announcement.  I am, officially, a member of the Meljen's Designs DT..  I am SO excited!  I applied thinking I would never be selected so I put it out of my mind.  And then, an e-mailed arrived that I had been chosen for the team.  I am so thrilled!  I love the cute, whimsical images that Meljen's has and am excited to share them with you!  That said...today is my first challenge with them. The theme is Inspired by a Christmas Song and the newest set, 'Christmas Carols', is so perfect for this challenge!  There is something about Frosty the Snowman that is so endearing so I had to chose this image.  I added it to MME Be Merry papers, snowflakes, and a lovely bow to make this card.  I hope you'll play along with this fun challenge!  I'll be checking, and commenting, on the entries for the challenge so I'll see ya there!

So, what is my other bit of exciting news?  Well, my son, Jon, is back int he states for his mid-tour leave!  Woohoo!  This blog will be pretty silent for the next week as I spend some time with him.  I don't even feel like I need to 'do' anything with him.  Just being in his presence will be more than enough!

Thought of the day: Yeah, my son's experience is way more like the one on the right.  Please pray for our soldiers!