Gingerbread Cookie Kit

TGIF ~ Happy Friday! Just a few more weeks until Christmas and I know there are going to be lots of gift giving opportunities out there for you. This year I decided for one of my son's teachers, I would put together a cookie kit so she can make cookies with her grandchildren. I used the adorable gingerbread man single by Lizzie Anne Designs to decorate the bag & used the pretty paper by My Minds Eye (which you've already seen a bunch & will again). I am super excited with how this project came out!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Gingerbread Man); Ink ~ Palette, Copics, atyou Spica glitter pens; Nestabilities frame; Martha Stewart edge punch; pattern paper ~ My Mind's Eye.

Let's MIX thing up with a HOP!

Woohooo! Today is a super fun blog hop with Lizzie Anne Designs ~ it's a Monthly Mix HOP! You all know how much I love the Monthly Mix, so I couldn't wait to play along. To see a list of all the girls playing along today ~ check out the Lizzie Anne Blog. AND ~ leave a comment over there on the blog and you will be entered to win some fun stamps!

For my project today, I used the December Monthly Mix - Celebrate and used the little snowman tag from the set (which is one of my very favorite images). Just look how cute this little guy is & how well he matches the cups I found at Target! Gotta love the matchy~matchy stuff.

I just filled the cups with candy, put them in a cello bag, tied them closed with ric-rac and added the tag. Easy peasy Christmas gifts for teachers, the school nurse, the mail lady or the newspaper delivery person.

Now make sure you go look at all the other fun stuff you can make with the Monthly Mix stamps!

Christmas Tag Tin

Wrapping Christmas gifts is NOT one of my favorite things to do ~ unless I'm going to put some handmade touches on the package. So here is a little tin of stamped fun just waiting to dress up your packages.



I used the Deck the Halls set again today along with some pretty paper from My Mind's Eye. I paper pieced all the images on the cards and the tin cover and then added some gems for just a touch of bling.

And as an added bonus, click HERE step by step instructions for this project.

Supplies Used ~ Stamps: Deck the Halls, Love & Joy Labels, Monthly Mix December '09 Celebrate, Monthly Mix November '09 Christmas Wishes.Other: Green cardstock, My Minds Eye pattern paper, Nestabilities Labels 8, EK Success Edge Punch, Gems, ink, ribbon, nugget tin, 3x3 envelopes.

Deck the Halls

After my incredibly long post yesterday, today will be short and sweet. On this simple little Christmas card, I used the super cute Deck the Halls set by Lizzie Anne Designs along with some pretty pattern paper by My Minds Eye.

Have a Happy Day!

It's been 4 years...

As of today, it's been 4 years that I've been a breast cancer survivor. Being a survivor is a journey that doesn't really end, so here goes this year's chapter of where I am & how I'm feeling. My post today is from my heart because while the surgeries and treatments lasted about 9 months, the emotional part of having cancer will always be with me ~ which is one other reason for this post.

Yesterday I was browsing my blog and read my entry from last year on December 7th. While I was sitting here at the computer pondering/reflecting on the past 4 years, I have been trying to determine if I've made any progress, emotionally, since last year. I have to say, I think I have, even if just a little bit. For example, I don't think about cancer every day like I did before, I don't think every ache or pain is cancer coming back & I'm not afraid every single day. Now does that mean I have total peace about it ~ HECK NO! I still fear the unknown (maybe just not as often), I still cringe when I hear that someone had breast cancer return, and I can't stand the thought that someone died from a long battle with cancer. For me it's a day to day ~ step by step journey & today, I'm in a pretty good place. BUT ~ I never let myself completely forget or get too comfortable with my recovery.

As I reflect, I think about ~

* my husband ~ I was glued to his side for several months after my diagnosis and he constantly made me laugh;

* my kids ~ how well they came through this whole thing considering how young they were at the time (8 & 5 yrs);

* my amazing friends Michelle and Paula ~ who I still thank God for daily because they were there for me that horrible day;

* my Shistahs who picked me up on a daily basis;

* my neighbors, family and friends who constantly called, brought meals or took the kids for me; and,

* last, but certainly not least, my church family and my faith in God. I always knew He would get me through the situation and teach me something along the way.

There just aren't enough ways to say thank you to the people who cared in such big ways ~ I'm still overwhelmed and amazed when I think about it. So this entry ~ my words and this book, are just my small way of saying thank you to everyone who got me through the the worst days.

Now I know all my Shistahs are not in these next two pictures ~ but know that I love you all, pictured or not!

And a final note of thanks to Pastor Tim at River Oaks for your challenge yesterday to take time to ponder ~ it was so timely!

If you've made it this far ~ I appreciate it & for letting me share.

Out for a Spin!

Taking a break from Christmas creations today to show you a fun little card using a new set. Now I would love to go take a ride on this bike today, but since it's freezing COLD outside, I'll pass on that idea! The new set by Our Craft Lounge called Out For A Spin! There are tons of different options for this sweet bike ~ so go over to i{heart}papers and see the entire set.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Out for a Spin, Whispy Patterns); Cardstock ~ Bazzill, PTI; Ink ~ Palette, Copics, Versamark; Sparkly Fluff ~ Our Craft Lounge (Coffee Bean Brown); EK Success Edge Punch.

Brown paper packages, tied up with string...

"These are a few of my favorite things..." I can hear Julie Andrews singing now! Today I wanted to show you a few Christmas packages I put together for my Dad & his wife. These were pretty easy packages to put together, but I think they look nicer than the normal Christmas wrapping paper and pre-made bows. Don't get me wrong, most of my packages will have those things on them ~ I just thought I do a few nicer ones too.

For both packages, I used my Lizzie Anne Designs Monthly Mix for December called Celebrate. I love this little snowman tag! LOOK AT THE WRAPPING PAPER ~ isn't it so cute??? I have more surprises to show you with this fun pattern, but you'll have to wait because some of them are still in the works.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Unity's Store Kit

Hi There Peeps! I've been stamping like crazy lately and have so much to show you in the coming weeks (and so much yet to do)... so keep coming back to take a look.

Today's creation is from the Unity Store Kit for December ~ carried by i{heart}papers. These kits are fun because they have such a variety of images and sentiments.



I used the pretty pattern paper collection from Basic Grey called Eskimo Kisses along with this gorgeous faux suede ruffled ribbon from May Arts and I added some extra texture to the background with the Distressed Dot Background stamp (also by Unity).

I didn't forget...

Oops ~ Yes I did. I forgot to get a post ready last night to go up today. I was on the road all day yesterday and when I got home, I was exhausted! So here I am trying to figure out what to post...


This cute little card is from the Lizzie Anne Monthly Mix and I also added the swirls from the Fancy Flourishes set.

So are you ready for the holidays? I ordered the supplies I need for my Christmas cards & the last of them arrived yesterday. I guess I have no excuses to put it off any longer ~ UGH! I am really NOT fond of mass producing. But I'll do a little at a time and this year I'm going to mix up the steps a bit so I don't get bored with it. I'll let you know how that works out!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ LAD Dec Monthly Mix (Celebrate), Fancy Flourishes; Cardstock ~ PTI; Ink ~ Palette, Versamark, Copics; Kaiser gems; Nestabilities.

Big Purple Birthday Celebration!

I know everyone is gearing up for the holidays, but I've been making Christmas cards for several months now & needed a break today, so I thought I'd show a birthday card. Once again, I've used the Lizzie Anne Designs December Monthly Mix - Celebrations. It's the perfect Mix for every celebration.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (December Monthly Mix - Celebrations & Background Basics); Cardstock ~ PTI, Prism; Ink ~ VersaMark, Palette, Copics, atyou Spica glitter pens; Kaiser Gems; Ribbon ~ May Arts.

Scrapling Snowflake...

IT'S DECEMBER!!!!! How in the world did that happen? Well here's a sweet little December/Christmas/Winter card for the first day of December using some of my scraps. I love the fun shape of this card & the my cool new scallop border punch I found at the store the other day ~ too cute! The images are all from the December Monthly Mix - Celebrate by Lizzie Anne Designs. I glittered up the snowflake by stamping it and then running it through my Xyron machine (stamped side down) and then dipped it in the glitter. It give the image lots of extra BLING!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Dec Monthly Mix - Celebrate); Cardstock & Ribbon ~ PTI; Ink ~ Palette; Edge Punch ~ Martha Stewart; Glitter ~ Our Craft Lounge.

Lizzie Anne Sketch Day

Today it's my turn for the Lizzie Anne weekly sketch challenge #105. Today's extra challenge is to use dry embossing on your card. Either templates or embossing folders are fine.

I changed up just a few things from the sketch on my card today ~ first I rounded all the corners of the card using my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper. I had a little extra time this weekend and went blog surfing. While doing that, I found tons of inspiration on Jennifer McGuire's blog & she rounds corners A LOT! {WARNING ~ you may see several cards in the upcoming days with rounded corners ~ LOL!} I also changed the shape for my stamped image from a square to a Nestabilities square label. Then for the embossing, I used an embossing folder for the background.

I'd love to see what you come up with for the challenge ~ make sure you link your card over on Lizzie Anne Land. It's a pretty simple sketch, so try and think outside the box!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (December Monthly Mix - Celebrate); Cardstock & Ribbon ~ PTI; Ink ~ Palette, Copics; Nestabilities ~ Label Dies; Quickuts Embossing Folder; Kaiser gems ~ brown.

But it's Christmas...

On my project for today, I used a Christmas set called Deck the Halls and the matching digital paper pack both from Lizzie Anne Designs. This is such a cute little retro set ~ I just love it!

On my card today, I didn't make a Christmas card but instead used the gift image for a birthday present. Also, for the digital paper, I changed the funky red design to a cool black and white paper. I love this background paper!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Deck the Halls, sentiment from December Monthly Mix Celebrate); Cardstock ~ PTI; Pattern Paper ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Deck the Halls Digital Paper Pack); Nestabilities; Copic Markers; Pigment ink (pink, black); Cuttlebug Embossing Folder; EK Success Edge Punch; Kaiser Gems).

Happy Jolly Holiday!

I was goofing around trying to come up with an idea for some store samples and this card suddenly came together. It didn't make the final cut as a store sample, but I do like how it came out.

I used the Jolly Ornaments & the Merry Wishes sets from Our Craft Lounge.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Our Craft Lounge (Jolly Ornaments, Merry Wishes); Cardstock ~ PTI; Ribbon ~ May Arts; Embossing Folder ~ Cuttlebug; Ink ~ Palette, PTI; Nestabilities.