A new little furball...

Let me start by saying that we had NO intention of getting another dog right now! About 3 years ago we lost our little dog named "Baby". She was a little terrier mutt and was a total sweetheart. Ever since Baby died, my husband always keeps his eye out for another little mutt that he knows I would love. We last Friday, he found her. She was at the local shelter. Her name at the shelter was Peco (which we are changing), she is 4 years old, weighs 15 lbs, is housebroken, spayed and doesn't chew on anything. She is total sweetness and super easy little dog. The best part ~ she and Jazz love to play! We are still trying to come up with a good name for her. So far: Rosey, Millie, Peek-a-boo (Peeks for short), Dixie, and Pixie have made the list. BTW ~ we don't name any of our kids or pets very fast. My son Matt was nameless for 2 days! My leading choice right now is Pixie. I'd love to hear your suggestions...

A Christmas Page...

My assignment this month for Lizzie Anne Designs was to use this fun retro-looking Christmas set called Holiday Cheer. This is one of my very favorite pictures of my daughter which I took last year at the holidays. Isn't she just gorgeous?

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Holiday Cheer by Lizzie Anne Designs; Cardstock ~ Real Red Textured, Green Galore, white; Ink ~ Real Red, Green Galore & Black (SU); Pattern Paper ~ Memory Box Christmas Pack; Other ~ Nestabilities Die Cuts; Velvet Ribbon (unknown); Jewels (K & Co); Circle Scallop punch (SU).

And the winner is....

The winner of my "Thankful" blog candy is.... Bluemoon.

I've written so many thankful comments, trying to differ in each...sooo here
goes...I am thankful for some fun and blog candy !! (wink wink)

Thank you everyone for playing.

Christmas Invitations...

Ahhhhhh... 65 invitations done! Each year I am asked to make invitations for this client's Christmas party. I finally finshed them and got them in the mailthis week. I've done a variety of things over the years for this group, but this year I decided to just do a front-panel post card type invite. I was pretty happy with the result considering I had so many to make. I really don't like mass producing in such large quantities, so I had to make them as easy as possible. I still made too many steps, but they are done and the client was happy ~ so it's all good.

Now I'm off to finish my Christmas cards in mass production ~ 90 of them ~ BLECH! I won't be able to bring myself to mass produce anything until next Christmas!!!!

Supplies Used: All Stampin' Up! Cardstock ~ Purley Pomegranate, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla; Pattern Paper ~ Holiday Harmony DS paper; Stamps ~ Priceless; Ribbon ~ Mellow Moss Taffeta; Eyelets ~ Always Artichoke; Cuttlebug Embossing Folder.

Some Thanksgiving Blog Candy ...

Hmmmm...what's this? Well, it's a little sneak peek of a new sentiment set called "Things Hanna Would Say" coming very soon from Hanna Stamps! There will be over 25 sentiments in this very cool set. Some of the sentiments are great basics while others coordinate with sets that have already been released or will be coming out in the next few months. Each person on the design team has picked a different sentiment for their sneak peek, so check out the other girls on the team if you want to see a few more {everyone is listed on the right}. ALSO, the official Hanna Stamps website will debut very soon!! So stay tuned for that too.

So are you just DYING to find out how you can win this awesome set? Well Kristi, the owner of Hanna Stamps has offered each person on the design team a chance to offer Thankful Blog Candy and she will send one winner from each site the brand new set! How cool is that???? So leave a comment on this post letting me know what you are Thankful for this holiday. I will randomly select the winner on Sunday at 6:00pm (ET).

Here are the Rules: (1) Leave your comment on this post; (2) post your comment before 6:00pm on Sunday, November 25, 2007; (3) only one comment per person; and, (4) you need to respond to me by email within 24 hours with your snail mail address and permission for me to pass your address to Kristi, and she will mail the winning set. If the winner doesn't email the information by the deadline, a new name will be randomly selected.

Chipboard Coaster Calendars...

I'm in full swing with making Christmas gifts right now. I seem to start collecting stuff all year and then try and figure out later what to do with everything. The other day, a friend sent me a link to Erika Martin's blog. As soon as I opened the link, I knew what I would do with my little calendars and chipboard coasters. I had everything in my stash that I needed to complete this cute little project. The little calendars are from the Michael's dollar spot. They came attached to a piece of cardboard along with a note pad. I ripped them apart and used the calendar and the magnet that was on the back of the cardboard and now I have a bunch of note pads that I can do something with as well ~ I still have to figure that part out.

And, some Birthday Tins...

While I was making the Christmas Tins, I decided to get ready for a few birthday girls too. Just so you know, you CANNOT give Christmas stuff to people with December birthdays. Believe me, I know! My birthday is the week after Christmas and I can't even begin to tell you how annoying it is to get birthday gifts wrapped in Christmas paper ~ {I'm sorry, was that my outside voice ~ LOL}. Anyway, all the details are written in my blog post from yesterday (November 19), except that the colors are Green Galore, Only Orange and Pink Passion, all from Stampin' Up!

Christmas Gifts...

These cute little Nugget Tins are a perfect little holiday gift for teachers, bus drivers, mail delivery person, or the piano teacher. I just love how they turned out! You can fit 12 little Hersey Nuggets in each tin (note: Hersey Nuggets fit better than Nestle Treasures). I used the Spooky Sweets set from Papertrey Ink. Nichole Heady is brilliant when it comes to designing stamp sets (among other things I'm sure). She designed a stamp that fits into an Avery Label. So I used the one from my set and then wrapped a label around each little Nugget. BTW, this is NOT a new idea ~ it's been done for years. Then I took odds and ends of coordinating ribbons to tie around the boxes. To finish off the tins, I stamped "Holiday Goodies" from the Lizzie Anne Designs set called Holiday Cheer, and made little round tags for the top of each tin. In all, I made 10 of these Christmas tin. Now I can just grab and go when I need a quick gift!

Supplies Used: Tins ~ Nugget Tins; Ink ~ Real Red, Green Galore, and black; Pattern Paper ~ Doodle Bug Christmas Dots, Real Red Textured Paper, white; Ribbon ~ May Arts & Michael's; Punches ~ SU Scalloped circle & 1 3/8" circle; Other ~ Avery Labels (#5160).

I just had to share this picture...

My son was playing the piano the other day and our kitty, Ally, decided to sit and listen. She just loves when the kids play the piano. I thought this was a cute shot.

I also wanted to thank everyone for all the nice comments about our sweet Kayla. Your words and sentiments were so comforting to us this weekend.

OK ~ back to stamping! I promise I will have some fun stuff to show tomorrow. I've been a busy girl.

Our Sweet Kayla Nichole...

Our hearts are heavy in the Wietstock household today. Yesterday, our 14 1/2 year old Golden Retriever died. She was a wonderful dog that had a long and pampered life. She was our kid trainer and then as she aged, our parent trainer. She knew our kids from the day they were born and was always so gentle with them. Our younger Golden, Jazz, adored her and is a bit lost right now, but I know she will adjust to being the only dog (for the time being). It was her time, but that never really makes it easier when it happens. I know we will all move on because this is part of having a pet and we will always have at least one. Kayla was part of our family and she really touched our hearts. Anyway, I just wanted to share this sweet picture of our Kayla that I took last winter. I'm sure you will see it again on a scrapbook page.

One more Hanna Peek...

Tonight is the night (at midnight) that the new Hanna set goes on sale over at www.hannastamps.com. It should be a super fun release. I'll have some new cards up soon with some of the other images in this set. You have got to see the little worm!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Hanna Stamps; Cardstock ~ Bazzill & Crate Paper (Cowgirl); Markers ~ Copic & SU; Ink ~ Black Craft.

More from the new Hanna...

Today Hanna is decked out is a lovely Ruby Red raincoat and boots. While her stylish More Mustard dress and matching umbrella make her look fabulous for dodging those pesky raindrops. Her little red hair bow made out of grosgrain ribbon, completes the coordinating outfit.

I hope you enjoy my newest Hanna creation. She will be available from Hanna Stamps on Friday, November 16th.

Hanna is Singing in the Rain...

Hanna's back and this time she is playing in the rain. So here is a little peek at the new set from Hanna Stamps called Rain, Rain, Come This Way! and it will be available this Friday, November 16th from http://www.hannastamps.com/. You can't really see it in the photo, but I used Stampin' Up's Crystal Effects on the puddle to make it shine.

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Hanna Stamps; Cardstock ~ SU Tempting Turquoise, Cool Caribbean, White; Markers ~ Copic (#B000, BG45, Y15, Y17, YR23); Pattern Paper ~ Mat Pack from Fancy Pants; Ribbon ~ unknown; Other ~ Crystal Effects.

The last bunch...

Well here are the rest of the pages. The one on top is my favorite ~ it's simple but I just love this photo of Matt exploring on his island. You can see the full story of "Matt's Island" in my July 3rd entry ~ Ketchikan, Alaska

More Calendar Pages...

LOOK AT THAT FACE! I just love that picture of my son hugging the dogs after we took a dog sledding trip in Juneau. It was his 8th birthday and I'm sure it will be a hard one to top!

These are the next 4 pages of my family calendar this year. You can see all details in my post from yesterday.






Tune in tomorrow for the last 4

pages!

Calendar Time...

Each year at Christmas, I make photo calendars for members of our family. It's the perfect gift for grandparents because each month they see a picture of their favorite grandchildred ~ LOL! These calendars have been such a big hit over the years that I think if I ever stop doing them, I will have a rebellion on my hands.

So here are the details ~ I bought an inexpensive calendar program at the local office supply store and I input all the family birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. I made them a custom size of 7 1/2" x 7 1/2" and I print them out on cardstock. Then I use my Rubi-Coil machine and spiral bind them. (You can also take them to the office supply store to have them done for about $2 or so).

I make the base of the scrapbook page 7" x 7" so that once the year is over, it can be removed and slipped inside the 8" x 8" scrapbook that I gave to each grandparent a few years ago. It's great because not only do they have a calendar to enjoy each year, but they also have a scrapbook to enjoy for years to come that show the kids getting older.
This year I decided to use pictures from our Alaska trip last summer. So I got all my pictures printed & started working on my pages. I decided to use up some of my retired Stampin' Up! scrapbook kits because the colors are perfect for my Alaska pictures.

So here is the first installment of pictures - January through April. Stay tuned for May through August tomorrow.

A Prayer Journal...

I made this prayer journal a few weeks ago for a sweet friend. Her husband was being deployed overseas for an 8-month assignment. My friend Kookie and I decided we wanted to put a smile on her face so Kookie made her a wonderful purple quilted bag and I made this journal to go inside. Well she called me yesterday & it arrived! Woohoo! She loves it! So now I can post it!

Supplies Used: Cardstock & Paper ~ Stampin' Up! Perfect Plum, Pale Plum, Designer Series Paper (retired). Punches ~ label punch, tab punch (Stampin' Up!); Ribbon ~ Cream Organdy; Label Holder ~ Hodgepodge Hardware (Stampin' Up!); Flowers ~ Prima; and, I used the computer for the writing on all the labels.

A little twist for Christmas...

I LOVE putting a little twist on my Christmas cards each year. Last year I had a peeking pocket card and this year it's a slider. Now I'm not going to show you the inside slider just yet because too many people on Christmas card list also visit my blog! Something has to be a surprise! Boy oh boy, let me tell you though, I've been trying to come up with an idea for months this year and I was so happy yesterday when I figured out what I was going to do.

Since I didn't have a blog last year at Christmas, I thought I would share what I came up with last year. I guess I like interactive cards, because it seems like every year there is something you need to pull out or move ~ LOL!



I know lots of people, even lots of stampers/cardmakers, don't take the time to make Christmas cards. And that's OK. However, I personally feel that it is the one time of year, I honestly have to make the effort. Our friends and family know that crafting is a big part of my life and many want to see a little something I've created. I always tell my husband, "You can't underestimate the power of a handmade card." {Of course, he likes to use that line on me at just the right moment to be a smart mouth} But I really do feel like it makes a difference sometimes & of course, I love the creative process. So don't forget to reach out to someone with a card or a little note, regardless of the time of year or occasion ~ I'll bet you put a smile on their face when they open the envelope.

Supplies Used (Card #1 - All supplies are from Stampin' Up!): Stamps ~ Snow Jumbo Wheel, Season of Joy; Paper ~ Soft Sky, Old Olive, Fall Flowers DS paper, Sahara Sand; Ink ~ Soft Sky, Sahara Sand; Punches: Scallop Circle, 3/4" circle, 1 1/4" circle, 1 3/8" circle, small oval circle; Ribbon ~ Soft Sky; Scissor - Mini Scallop (Fiskers).

Supplies Used (Card #2 - All supplies are from Stampin' Up!): Stamps ~ Snowflake Jumbo Wheel, Tags So Much & Warmest Regards Hostess sets from 2006 (retired); Cardstock ~ True Thyme, Canberry Crisp, Holiday Thyme DS paper (all retired); Ribbon ~ Cranberry Crisp Stitched Ribbon (retired); Hodgepodge Hardware (clip & brad).

Wooohoooo ~ Lots of Stampin' goin' on...

I've spent the better part of the last 2 days stamping and creating. WOW ~ did that feel good! Unfortunately, all the stamping that I got done were for design team assignments & I can't show you any of it ~ not yet anyway. Sorry for the tease! But believe me when I tell you that I will have LOTS to share!

I did, however, manage to get this card made a few weeks ago. So I thought I would post it. I had to scan it because its so light that the details wouldn't show up in a photograph. I sure wish Stampin' Up! would come out with Craft ink for the In Colors ~ oh well. Oh, by the way, I don't actually want it to snow, but I do love stamping & creating snow cards and pages.

So do you have your Christmas cards and gifts planned out this year? I've got sketches galore done, now I just need to implement some of those ideas with ink and paper. I'm excited because I came up with a new twist for my cards this year, all my pictures and calendars printed, and I have a huge amount of tins ready to cover. Ideas are flowing like crazy, now if only I could implement all these brilliant ideas ~ I would be considered wonder woman ~ and that will never happen! Get planning and stamping girls, the holidays are just around the corner!

Supplies Used: Stamps ~ Lizzie Anne Designs (Christmas in the City); Cardstock ~ Stampin' Up! (Soft Sky & White); Ink ~ Soft Sky; Ribbon ~ Soft Sky; Cuttlebug Embossing Folder; Punches ~ Stampin' Up!; Brad ~ Making Memories; Pen ~ Signo Gel Pen (Stampin' Up!).