A Swanky gift card holder!

First some special little friends want to say hello!My Chrismoose was first shown in an earlier posting, but I forgot to add Frosty, so... Meet Frosty:

Unfortunately, after I had baked them, the kids so badly wanted to hold them, touch, them and play with them, I melted and gave in... And now, Frosty and Chris-moose are no more! Anywho, moving on to other projects I have been working on. Little stocking gift card holders. These will be available in my Etsy shop for sale soon, but I want to whip up a few more first. The first one is a vintage white with navy polka dot fabric with furry white trim. I used my library card instead of a gift card:

And the close-up:

This was more vintage fabric, but it was really thin, so I had to back it with a sturdy red burlap. The first fabric is a khaki ,red, green, and blue plaid and the contrast is a faux patchwork fabric. Very country, and just too cute:

Close up:

And finally my favorite, though the pictures are not great, is a raw silk in cream, pink, and green thick stripes, the cuff is actually lining material, but it looked great with the fabric. I accented with a white and pink ric rac:

This shot is a bit better:

So that, in a nutshell is what I have been busy doing lately. I made a list for the weekend, but it's already Sunday and we have been so busy doing family things, that I haven't gotten much accomplished craft-wise... :)

Delicious Blog Candy to check out, and new blogs to stalk...

Oooo... check out this blog http://katharina1704.blogspot.com/! It's the Whiff of Joy Advent calendar. The candy is nice, but her cards are exquisite! I really enjoyed tooling around this blog and you will too!
And then spin on over to http://bevscrafts.blogspot.com/ to check out what she's got in store for you!!
I found yet another blog and yummy candy too... http://clairebsd.blogspot.com/.

And last for today, but certainly not least, an ultimate giveaway over at: http://carlzcardz.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-blog-candy.html

So get busy hopping!!!!

2 Sketches for you... well actually three, cuz I didn't really like the first one I did...

I lumbered on over to http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/ earlier this week, and it has taken me some time, between the baby having pink eye and my being a little lazy with the computer... So this is a little flip-flopped, because I decided to do Hanneke's bonus sketch first, seen here:

And here is the card: ( I liked using pink and light green instead of the traditional red and bright green)

And that leads us to Kazan's Shetch 14:

This is actually the second card I did, but I liked it alot:

Check out the wicked cool puzzle pieces I pushed into some timber brown ink, and the cool fabric button with silvery thread:

And then the little metal tabs that spell out "thanks":

And this is the original card I had done:

It's nice, but kind of blah...

Although I did have fun with the sequin snowflakes:

And now on to the important stuff...

First off, Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I am so excited to spend some quality time with my family and also to not have to cook. You see in my family I am accustomed to cooking 3 meals a day seven days a week.... So on Thanksgiving, we make reservations for a swanky buffet near my parents house. I love it because I don't have to cook or do dishes or clean or anyt of that, and, well, neither does my mama, but the kids love it because they have a chocolate fountain. Basically it is an evening of bliss!!!

Don't forget too... The premium outlets open at midnight tonight and the Black Friday Shopping Extravaganza begins! Woot! Woot!

Anywho, moving on to things I am thankful for:

1. I am thankful that I still have both my parents, alive and well, and that my children have a very close relationship with them.

2. I am thankful for my children and that they are healthy, growing, and learning. And also for my Jimmy, I would be lost without him.

3. I am thankful for the oppurtunity to stay at home with my children and have the time to spend playing with them, helping with homework, reading to them, and just being there. It also gives me time to cook, clean, and create. :)

4. I am thankful for my friends. It has taken a long time for me to discover who I really valued as a friend, and there was a time when I measured friendship by the number of friends that I had and now I do so by the amoutn of love I have from my friends, they are like my sisters, and my brothers too, *wink*.

5. I am thankful for my country, and that I have the privilege to be an American citizen. So many people living in this country take that privilege for granted and do not understand how lucky they are to live in such a prosperous nation.

I could probably go on, but the post only called for 5 and I think those would be my top 5. I hope everyone has a chance to enjoy the holiday and reflect on what means the most to them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Tuesday!

Hello! Good morning! So yeah! Today is Tuesday, but not just any Tuesdasy... Jim is home from work this Wednesday, and well, obviously Thursday, so it's kinda like a Friday, Yeah!!! Anywho, here's some stuff I have been working on... First a card for a friend:I really liked it and thought it had a "Breakfast at Tiffany's" sort of feel to it...
Check out all the bling:

And a little more:

And even more:

I got this stamp at Michael's around Halloween time, and I think it looks awesome stamped in silver on the fuschia background:

And my little Chris-moose, who still needs some tweaking:

Anywho... I hope that everyone in cyber world is having a good day and getting siked fr the shopping extravaganza that is Black Friday!!! I never miss a Black Friday Sale!!!! :)

Catt's Scratching Post: BLOGAVERSARY... in 8 days!!!!#links#links

And Another... or maybe I already did this... I dunoo... Computer is acting wacky today... ARrrgghhhh!! Catt's Scratching Post: BLOGAVERSARY... in 8 days!!!!#links#links

Passion For Crafts#links#links

Did I do this right oh who knows... I may be blog deficient today.. yowza!!! Check out more blog candy: Passion For Crafts#links#links

The Crafting Pad

OOOoooo... more blog candy.... check out this... Totally and utterly awesome... Check out The Crafting Pad... I was blog hopping... (hmmm... I was just thinking that about 8 years ago, I was most likely out bar hoppping with Leen-Bean...) anywho, I stumbled across this blog... complete with a sweet treat!

Busy, Busy, Busy on this Snowy Friday...

So the next challenge I attempt, not only inspired a card, but it also inspired me to get into the kitchen and bake up a batch of chocolate chip cookies to go along with my morning coffee. Don't they look yummy... I am afraid Allie is going to try to eat them all before Zachie gets home from school. Anywho, this is what had inspired the cookies, and well, the card, too... From Stampin' with Leah's Monthly challenge #2: http://stampinwithleah.blogspot.com/2008/11/leahs-monthly-challenge-2.html:

And this is what I cam up with:

I knew I wanted to stick with a Christmas theme and challenge myself to use a non-traditional color scheme. I used some random paper scraps I had lying around and just sort of pieced them together for the shape of the card. Immediately I thought of fuzzy warm mittens. I cut out the shapes out of red cardstock and added the chocolate furry yarn for depth:

Then I rummaged through the buttons I had and tried to represent each color and also add some variety and interst to the card. I think they sort of represent faux photo corners:

Just thought I'd give a little update. I am in the groove again today, especially since it's Friday. I simply love Friday! :)

It's Snowing!!!

It is snowing in good ole South Jersey this morning and it's actually sticking!!! And least on our balcony for now. We have had flurries for the last week or so, but this is bona fide snow!!! Check it out: Allie was getting ready to go outside.... Except I had just changed her diaper so she had no pants on... And those happen to be Jimmy's shoes... I thought this would give you a little giggle. :)

Moving on, these are the cards I did for two Color Challenges on Paper Craft Planet. The first you can find here: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/colorchallenges/forum/topics/ccnov1508-nov-15-2008 And here is me card:

I really like it!

Close up of the stamped sentiment, back white glittery white cardstock:

And here's the bows. White, Ivory, & White again:

Check out the olive mulberry paper against the ghost leaf:

Personally, I think it looks exquisite. :)

And now for the second Color Challenge found here: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/group/pcpcolorchallenge. I started with the ribbon and then did the flower.

Check out the crystals in the center:

And then I made the tag:

I love the way the colors meld together. I had fun with this and Jimmy actually liked it too. ( I think he has a natural aversion to all things crafty, whatever...) :)

I have a bust weekend ahead of me and lots of cleaning to do today, so I don't know if I will be work on anymore cards... We'll see if I can sneak some private time... Who knows...

A Christmas Card or Two Inspired by 2 Sketches 4 You

OK, OK... I promise no more ryhmes for the time being... hehehe... I was just reading Allie a Dr. Suess book, so, my apologies. Anywho, the next to cards were inspired by this weeks sketches on http://2sketches4you.blogspot.com/. I was a little intimidated when I first worked on these last night, but I think perhaps I was just overtired, because this morning, divine inspiration and some cool crafting wire at the bottom of one of my craft bins took over. The first is Laura's sketch #13, seen here:

Looks simple enough, but I had trouble with a good way to add the sentiment... It just didn't click for me until I found the craft wire... And VOILA!

Cute little trees with a silver epoxy star sticker:

And for the pièce de résistance, craft wire stringing the vellum letters stickers backed by blue cardstock. "I'm Lovin' It":

So, I moved onto Kristen's sketch:

I had cut out all the pieces last night minus the ornament, the ribbon, and the craft wire bit. But it looked flat, and kind of boring.

And you know me, it needed some glitz. Ah ha! Change the circle center into an ornament and edge all of the paper in silver ink and again... VOILA!

See... See....Perfecto!

Although the flash on the camera lighted the blue a little... It's more this color:

And so I am delighted with my creations... As I sit here now with a goofy little grin... I am moving onto more challenges... I have the bug today, and I just can't stop... Yowza!!!

Thank you so much for all of your wonderful comments!!!

A Birthday Card for Sydney

This is the envelope for Sydeney's card I drew last night while watching the beginning of Season One of Sex and the City:

Jim & I have decided that instead of going with cable we would do the whole Netflix thing. So, we watched the Sopranos series from beginning to end and have begun Sex and the City to be completed with the movie that came out a little while ago. After Sex and the City we are undecuded as to whether to watch OZ or Entourage... Decisions, Decisions. You see, watching these series is almost like watching regular TV every night, so who needs cable, for now anyway...

Anywho, here is the birthday card I made for Sydney to go inside the lovely envelope:

And a close up of the fabric "Make A Wish" embellishment:

And the strawberry, since the party has a Strawberry Shortcake theme:

I made this card for the Paper Craft Planet Sketch Challenge SK111508 which you can find here: http://www.papercraftplanet.com/photo/sydneys-strawberry-bday-card. Notice the yellow cardstock with the yellow stamped polka dot circles and bronze stamped flowers. And of course, the glittery cardstock. Gotta have my sparkles!

I hope to work on a few more challenges I found online last night, today. Especially since Zachary has half days starting tomorrow aand running right through the day before Thanksgiving due to report card conferences. I can't lie I am so excited to go to his conference. He is always so enthusiastic about school, I am curious what his teacher has to say.

Well that is all for now. Perhaps I will have more "excitement" for you later! TTFN! (That's Ta Ta For Now) :)