Christmas Present

Well I have to admit, on this blog only, that my husband actually does listen to me. Now that's are little secret. Don't you dare tell him I said that or I'll deny it. But I was pleasantly shocked when I opened one of my presents and found this...

It's a Singer Craft Sewing Machine. So now I can do those neat stitches that you see on all the cards now. It allows you to do 8 or 9 different types of stitching. I've tried it out a cuple of times on scrap paper and it looks so cute. Except for the crookedness. I have to get use to it. Of course I will post my first project.

Oh...and another one of my great gifts was a Kodak Easyshare digital camera. I have a lot to learn, I'm sure my pictures should be coming out a little clearer.

Jazzy Inspirations Challenge

Well I finished my card for the Jazzy Inspirations Challenge. Or should I say I finished 2 cards. When I first received the picture, by email, of the album cover I saw orange and black. So I went for it. Well can you imagine my confusion when I realized that everyone else's card was red and black? Am I color-blind or do I need to re-adjust some settng on my laptop? Probably both. So I did do another card for the challenge using black and red, of course. Here is a picture of both side-by-side.

Jazzy Inspirations

I thought my earlier post would have been the last one for the week but...

Guess what? I received an email telling me that I am the "Jazzy Cat of the Week". You'll remember from an earlier post that the Jazzy Inspirations Challenge was started by Tenia Nelson. Each challenge is inspired by a jazz album cover. How neat is that.

So check out the Jazzy Inspirations this Saturday for my first featured challenge. Doesn't that sound cool?

Happy Christmas Eve Everyone...

...Or better yet,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me! Yes it's my birthday. And yes I'm at work. This is the first time in about 8 years that I have worked on my birthday. I guess I shouldn't complain, it's not busy, my bosses are not here, and I'm surfing the web. LOL


I'll be heading over to my girlfriend's house later on this evening. She has a tradition where she invites her family over for lasagna and pre-Christmas fun. So since my family is not geting together this year on Christmas Eve like we normally do, I'll visit with her family. I'm sure my kids will love it, especially since our kids are the best of buddies. And our husbands are real good friends also so they'll have plenty to talk about.


Well a MERY CHRISTMAS to you all!!!

Christmas Countdown

Well it's December 23rd and the countdown to my last minute shopping has begun. I only have 2 gifts left; one for Kaira, my 10 year old neice and the other for Kennedy, my 5 year old neice. So I'll probably be with the rest of the nuts out on my lunch hour tomorrow fighting the crowds.

But I wanted to share 2 cards I did over the weekend:

This card is for a monthly card kit swap that I do over on SCS. If you have never participated in a card kit swap it really is a lot of fun. This particular swap is monthyl with 4 participants. Each month ine person gets to be the hostess. As hostess you send the other 3 participants enough materials(minus card base) to create 4 cards (one to keep for themselves). Then you mail your cards to each participant. It's really neat to see how different people come up with different cards using the same materials.

And this card was just a fun card to do. I had a scrap piece of SU's Ski Slope DSP and went from there. I actually used two different stamp sets to do the sentiment. The pretty curly design is from SU's "Friendship Blooms" and the sentiment is from "Best Yet". The cardstock is Old Olive and Real Red.

I hope to have one more post for you tomorrow, because of course I am a last-minute type of person and I have a few gift certificate holders to do tonight and maybe even a wine-bottle topper. I guess you have to tune in tomorrow to see what I come up with.

SCS Blogger Group

This is a quick post to introduce you to some ladies who have made the plunge into the blog-waters. I have listed these ladies and their blogs in the right column. Stop by, check them out, get some ideas, and send them a comment. I'm sure they would appreciate it.

I'm Pulling My Hair Out!!!

Have you ever had everything planned out in your head of exactly what you were going to do? Well I had all my Christmas crafting planned for this week; I knew which day I was doing teacher gifts, treats for class parties, and gifts and goodies for my bosses. Needless to say it all went up in smoke when I picked my boys up from school yesterday. They happily told me that school was cancelled for Friday! I couldn't believe it, the school had already made the decision to close on Friday because of a suspected snow and ice storm that is due to hit the Chicago area today. So there went all my plans. I was up all night finishing the boy's teacher gifts. So here is what I came up with:

This is for Mrs. Schreiber, my 5th grader's teacher

And this set is for Mrs. Relilly, my 3rd grader's teacher







Both sets I used retired DSP which I still love. I hate that I am running out. And I decorated a plain white gift bag that I bought from the dollar store. I was also able to do an altered paperclip for both teachers but was unable to get a picture last night because I didn't want to disturb them while they were drying and I didn't have time this morning before school to take a picture.

I guess this is a lesson learned about not waiting until the last minute. We'll see if I have actually learned this lesson for next year. LOL Oh, I won't have to wait that long, there is Valentine's Day and End-Of-The-Year gifts that I need to plan way ahead of time.

Jazzy Inspirations Challenge

O.K. I am back. The earlier post gave you the background behind this card I am posting. It didn't take long to put this card together either. And I know someone who has a birthday this week so I might just be putting this card in the mail tomorrow. Well here is my take on the first Jazzy Inspirations Challenge:

Picture Challenge:

My Take:

Stamp Set: SU Party Hearty
Cardstock: SU So Saffron & Basic Black
DSP: SU Junior Varsity
Ink: SU So Saffron Craft
Embellishments: SU So Saffron Brads
Other: SU Scallop Circle & Tag Punch, Nestabilities Oval Scallop Die

Card Challenge

Happy Sunday Everyone,

By doing some blog stalking this afternoon, I found out that two of my best "card inspirationers" (my own made-up term) are a part of a new design team called "Jazzy Inspirations". Teresa Payne-Neal, check out her blog here and Jackie Bowman, check out her blog here are excellent at what they do. These are two blogs I would definitely suggest you check out on a regular basis. Now since I was directed to Jazzy Inspirations I had to come up with my own take of their first challenge. So I'm off to do my first challenge. I'll post my creation a little later.

Work Grab Bag

Today was our Christmas Luncheon at work. We had a great lunch catered in from a local restaurant and it was great to be able to sit and talk with ladies you see on a daily basis, but are unable to enjoy their company because we are all going in our different directions. We also participated in a small $15 grab bag. Well I thought in these times a fuel gift card would be much appreciated. And being the paper crafter I am, I couldn't just give a gift card in the holder it came in. So here is a quick gift card I did last night. Check out this link to Gina K's blog for the directions, it's where I got my inspiration from.

This is the front view:









Here is an inside view"










Here is a peek with the Speedway gas card inside:

Countdown to Blogger Frequency...

O.K. I admit, there is no reason why I am not on this site more often. As much time as I spend in my craft room and participating in swaps, I have no excuse. So I have vowed to add on at least one element or post to improve this blog every other day.

I guess I'm off to the library...I heard there was a book called "Blogging for Dummies"

I'm among the living again...

Well today is the first day in about 4 days that I am starting to feel myself. I have been fighting a horrible cold and have actually been off work since Tuesday afternoon. But today I feel fine. I am itching to go outside. I'm restless and want to do some shoppin, of course. LOL

But being stuck in the house and not being able to sleep, I have completed cards for 2 swaps and I have finished a card to go to my Secret Sis on Splitcoaststampers (SCS). Confused? O.K. let me give you some background:

First, you can read a little about what exactly is Splitcoastampers on right column of my blog. There I have category for Splitcoaststampers.

Second, I am signed for a couple of different fun swaps on SCS. I am in a 4-month (Sep.-Dec.) swap that consist of 4 groups of 4. Each person takes a turn being the hostess for a month. Since I signed up for 2 groups I am the hostess for October and December. Well, as hostess you send the other 3 ladies a kit of the same stuff to make enough cards for 4 people. Each person uses their creativity and comes up with 4 of the same cards and send it out to the other 3 people in their group. It's really nice to see how different the cards are using the same materials. And I am in a Christmas Swap. I made 6 cards and send them to the hostess and she randomly sends back 5 different cards that other people did. The extra card is always for the hostess.

Now my Lil Sis is someone you receive randomly to send cards and little gifts to. It usually last 3 or 4 months and then you reveal yourself to them at the end. It's fun receiving cards in the mail throughout the month. You get really nice ideas.

Now for some pictures:

Here is a picture of the card I did for my Christmas Swap:

And here is the card I sent to my Lil Sis. I think I had some bad lighting on that one. I'll try to take another picture and reload.

And since I'm the Big Sis of a Lil Sis, it only is fair that I'm a Lil Sis for a Big Sis. So here is picture of a pretty card that I received from Big Sis.

Well it's Friday, so have a great weekend!

My First Blogger Advancement

Hey check out my signature. And I did it all by myself. It was pretty easy. Just go to http://www.mylivesignature.com/ and follow the directions. If I can do it - so can you. If you have a question on how to do it, just leave a comment and I will try to help you out.

Splitcoaststampers

For those of you who may not have heard of Splitcoaststampers (SCS), it is a gathering place where stampers meet and talk with other members of the stamping and scrapping community. Check them out here, where you'll find tons of samples, share your own stamping creations, catch up on the latest news, tips & techniques, or find out about upcoming events and happenings.

NOT Under Construction ANYMORE

Hello everyone in blogland, I am up and running. Today marks the 1st of many posts introducing you to the world of stamping, card-making, and scrapbooking. Check back regularly for exciting ideas, classes, workshops, and techniques.

Hope to see you around.