Thanksgiving Fun in NYC!

OH MY GOODNESS! What a week we had in New York City!  The Concord Community High School Marching Minutemen had the honor of marching in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  There were a total of 365 band students, staff, directors, and family members that loaded into 8 charter buses, making the trip from Northern Indiana to New York City for 5 days of crazy busy fun!

I wanted to start out with one of my favorite photos of the trip ~ my daughter (and drum major), Megan.  I'm so proud of this gorgeous girl!

The buses pulled out of the high school on Monday evening and we traveled through the night.  We arrived at our hotel early on Tuesday morning with just enough time to freshen up and have some breakfast.   We headed out to NYC for a morning of guided sightseeing from our buses... we stopped in Central Park for a short visit and the kids from each bus climbed on the Alice In Wonderland statue for group pictures.

Next up ... Lunch in Midtown ~ 

so we walked over to Juniors for CHEESECAKE!

We all loved it!

Time Square

Rockefeller Center

In the afternoon, The Top of the Rock
It was rainy and foggy, but the views were still awesome!

Day #2: We awoke early (like usual) and headed to downtown to shop and lunch in the Macy's area.

and now it's time for the Christmas Spectacular
at Radio City Music Hall

On Thanksgiving Day, our kids woke up at 1:15am to start a very busy day.  They needed to be at their NBC rehearsal in front of Macy's at 3:20am.

FINALLY TIME FOR THE PARADE!!!

and I got to walk too (I'm pushing the student in the wheelchair)

Megan is on the right side of the Indiana banner. 

After the parade, we went on a Thanksgiving Dinner Cruise along the Hudson River.

It was a gorgeous day!

We were so fortunate that all 4 of us could go on this trip.  My son, Matt, is an 8th grader and will start Marching Band next summer.  Unfortunately, schools can only apply to march in the Macy's Parade every 5-7 years, so he won't get to participate as a band member.  So we thought it would be a great experience for him to be able to go on the trip!

Our final day in NYC... American Museum of Natural History

9.11 Memorial

and our final activity before the long trip home ... a Broadway show!

WHEW!  I'm tired just looking at the photos!
Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Chase Your Dreams...

This wonderful sentiment comes from the set called Memories are Made by Crafter's Companion.  These new sentiments sure make for some easy peasy cards!!!

Stitched Up Sentimentals

Another fun card using the new 4-set release that just came out from Crafter's Companion.  The collection is called Everyday Sentimentals and this is from the Friends & Family stamp set.  I also used a few other sets from the Sheena collections ~ Ageing Beautifully for the background on the sentiment & Ivy Borders from her Christmas collection for the top border.

We just got back from New York City and I can't wait to show you tons of pictures of our marching band kids in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade!  Stay tuned!

Love you to the Moon...

YES!  I'm obsessed with the new 4-set release that just came out from Crafter's Companion.  The collection is called Everyday Sentimentals and this is from the Love is All You Need stamp set.  I also used the Floral Frenzy Embossalicious Embossing Folder for the mat.

Christmas Tags

Today I'm sharing more projects using the new Creative Cafe Kit for November called T'was the Night.  Since it is that time of year again where we need start thinking about gift wrapping,  I thought I'd share some ways that I enjoy adding a little personal touchs to my packages.  A quick and easy way to do that is to add a homemade gift tag to your package or gift bag.

For my first gift tag, I trimmed my tag from a template and then used Spellbinder dies and the shapes for the sentiment (oval & big scallop oval).  I also trimmed a piece of pattern paper 2 1/2" x 2 3/4" for the background of the tag.

I placed the Splash of Color Chalkboard Label (from the kit) on the red oval & green mat cardstock pieces and then stamped the sentiment from the T'was the Night stamp set on the chalkboard label.  Then I added a snowflake embellishment with a red sequin and clear gem.  I set it aside to dry while I assembled the rest of the tag.

Finished Size: 4 1/4" x 2 3/4" 

For the ribbon hanger on the tag, I cut a piece of black seam binding ribbon about 14" long.  Then I tied a knot at the end, leaving about 1".  I trimmed the ends with my pinking sheers.

Then I threaded my knotted ribbon through the whole on the tag from the back and secured the ribbon with adhesive.  After that, I attached some jingle bells from the kit using black thread.

For my next tag, I used the same tag template on green cardstock and trimmed it with scissors.  I trimmed the red classic oval with my die cut and added the Chalkboard label and stamped the sentiment in white ink.  Then I added a few of the green Goosebump gems from Queen & Co (which also come with the kit).  I threaded and knotted the red sheer ribbon at the top of the tag and added the snowflake, sequin and clear gem embellishment.

For the background of my tag, I took some scraps of the Echo Park pattern paper and lined them up on my tag.  Then I trimmed them with scissors using the tag as a guide where to cut.

And here are 3 more tags that were super easy to make using scraps of paper, some ink, punches and ribbon.

The possibilities are endless for making beautiful Christmas tags using this kit.   

ENJOY and don't be afraid to mix things up a bit!

Supplies:

Stamps: The Rubber Cafe'-Creative Cafe' Kit: T'was the Night

Paper: The Rubber Cafe'-Creative Cafe' Kit: T'was the Night -featuring Echo Park's 'Tis the Season

Ink: Memento- Black; Bamboo Leaves; VersaMark; White Pigment Ink

Embellishments: Ribbon; snowflake gems; Queen & Co. red square, Green Goosebumps & clear gems, and jingle bells (all contained in the kit)
Splash of Color Chalkboard Labels (contained in the kit)
Dies: Spellbinders (Classic Ovals, Big Scallop Ovals, Labels 10); Sizzix Tag Dies

Scallop Edge Punch, Circle & Scallop Circle Punches: EK Success

Adhesive:  Kool Tac Foam
Markers

Hugs need no words...

Here's another fabulous sentiment from the new 4-set release that just came out from Crafter's Companion.  The collection is called Everyday Sentimentals and this is from the Love is All You Need stamp set.  I also used the Best Friend Swirls stamp set for the background on my sentiment and inked that up with Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.

Pattern Paper ~ Crate Paper 
Ribbon ~ Maya Roads
Embossalicious Embossing Folder ~ Petite Dots

Sending Hambo Smiles

Happy Day!!!  I'm here today sending you some smiles with a few cute digital images from Hambo Stamps.  I used the Cat digi and a sweet sentiment from the Bailey Flower digital set.

Have a great weekend!

Supplies:
Digital Images ~ Cat digi, Bailey Flower digital set
Cardstock ~ Bazzill
Markers ~ Spectrum Noir (TN1, TN2, TN3, TN5, TN7)
Pattern Paper ~ My Minds Eye
Misc Button, Twine and Charm.

Beautiful Things

Here's another fabulous sentiment from the new 4-set release that just came out from Crafter's Companion.  The collection is called Everyday Sentimentals and this is from the Love is All You Need stamp set.  I also used the Best Friend Swirls stamp set for the background on my sentiment and inked that up with Toffee Crunch Memento Ink.

Pattern Paper ~ October Afternoon 
Ribbon ~ May Arts & Maya Roads

see you next spring...

Ahhhh...the pretty summer flowers are gone and the colors of fall have almost completely disappeared from the trees.   This gorgeous digital image called Geranium reminds me that Spring will be here again!

For my card today, I also participated in the Splitcoast Stampers Free 4 All Challenge this week which is called Have A Heart (F4A196).  So I included a heart button on my project.  Play Along!!!

Supplies:
Digital Image ~ Hambo Stamps - Geranium
Rubber Stamp ~ Hambo Stamps - Sunshine & Happiness
Spectrum Noir Markers ~ DG2, DG4, GB1, GB4, GB6
Miscellaneous ribbon and buttons

Sweet Little Lucy Mouse

Hi Friends ~ I'm here today with a new card to share using this adorable little mouse image from Whimsy and Stars Studios.  Her name is Lucy Christmas and she is so adorable and puts you right in the mood for Christmas!  And the best news...she is available for Instant Download, so you can buy the image and start coloring immediately!

The pattern paper is from My Mind's Eye new Christmas collection and I colored sweet Lucy with my Spectrum Noir Markers ~ PP1, PP2, PP4, PP5, DG2, IG1, IG2, IG3, TN4, CT4.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

Hi There! I'm here today with another Christmas card using the November Creative Cafe Kit called Twas the Night from The Rubber Cafe.

The first thing I did was cut all of my cardstock and pattern paper pieces (measurements below):

* Black card base - 4 1/4" x 11" (scored at 5.5")

* Green card panel - 4 1/8" x 5 3/8"

* Black mat - 3 1/4" x 3 3/4"

* Snowflake pattern paper - 3 1/8" x 3 5/8" 

* Red pattern paper - 2" x 5" 

* Black mat - 2 1/8" x 5 1/8"

Step 1: I wanted to add some texture to the green card panel, so I used all of the small snowflakes from the Let It Snow Background Add-On stamp set.  I used a small acrylic stamping block and scattered the snowflakes on the block.  Then I used VersaMark ink to stamp a background.

Step 2: Once the background was stamped, I attached the green card panel to the black card base.  Next, I attached the snowflake pattern paper to the black mat and attached that on top of the green card panel.

Step 3: The next step is to make a banner out of the red pattern paper.  One of the easiest ways to do this is to take a square punch and line up the bottom edge in a perfect diagonal in the punch and then trim the edge.  Then I matted the red pattern paper with a black mat and trimmed the black cardstock.  You can trim it with scissors (using the pattern paper as a guide) or the square punch.  Then attach the matted banner to the card base.

Step 4: Next, I stamped the Santa sleigh image on black cardstock with white pigment ink.  This has a great chalkboard look to it.

Step 5:  A great paper saving tip is to cut your image out a little larger than needed using a decorative edge die.  Then using a smaller die, cut the image again (I used an oval).  I trimmed a piece of green cardstock with a slightly larger oval die as a mat and then put that on top of my decorative edge die shape. Once they are stacked together, no one has any clue that the shape on the bottom has a big hole in it. VOILÁ!  Easy Peasy!

Step 6: Attach the stamped image to the card using Kool Tac Foam squares and then add a bow with the black seam binding.  I also added a snowflake embellishment with a red square gem (all part of the Creative Cafe Kit).

Hoping you have a happy holiday season!

Supplies:
Creative Cafe Kit ~ Twas the Night (November 2013 Kit) ~ The Rubber Cafe
Snowflake Background Stamps ~ Let It Snow Add-On set for the Creative Cafe Kit

Cardstock ~ Bazzill (contained in the kit)
Pattern Paper ~ Echo Park (contained in the kit)
Ribbon ~ Black Seam Binding (contained in the kit)

Snowflake & Sequins ~ contained in the kit
Clear Gems ~ Queen & Co.  (contained in the kit)

Adhesive ~ Kool Tac Foam
Ink ~ Memories Pigment Ink (white); VersaMark
Dies ~ Spellbinder (Oblong Ovals; Labels 25)
Square Punch ~ EK Success