Catching up on December...

and boy how the time flew! Working, baking (or at least trying), swapping, buying, wrapping, decorating (not too much) and gift making - and not necessarily in that order. Was so I tired by the time the New Year rang in!

The holidays seemed to go so fast! I guess I wanted to accomplish too much, but didn't have the time. It was more of a laid back year with the boys too. Markie worked alot, and me and my extra job, time was not on my side. This year the "men" were responsible for putting up the decorations - I know, YIKES!!! (but there was a reason for my madness!) Let me highlight for you....

My husband drug the reindeer out from the attic and put them in the yard and they sat there for about a week before I mentioned it would be nice to plug them in BEFORE Christmas! Then, one night I pulled into the driveway after work, I chuckled. I admired the reindeer that were standing in my front yard, all lit up, except one deer had no butt, and the other had no ear. (are you getting the picture here??)

The Christmas decorations were also hauled out of the attic and sat in boxes in my living room for over a week. Then the tree went up. It had no decorations on it until a week before Christmas. My husband brought home an ornament someone made him from work....this was the only ornament on the tree - a big silver ball with "Mark" written on it! (are you still chuckling, or am I feeling some pity coming my way?)

Beautiful or what?? This was not a typical year for decorating by no means. I guess I won't procrastinate next year and will start putting up the decorations the day after Thanksgiving!!

Now, let's see where I left off....hmmmm, oh ya, I neglected to post the wonderful swaps I received from the swaps I participated in during the holidays.

Here is the package I received from Donna at Under the Raven's Moon. We were partnered in the Snowflakes & Sparkles Christmas Swap hosted by Holly. Donna was definitely a great partner! The wonderful packaging...

A beautiful angel that I hung in my living room doorway, a number of cool handmade items and my favorite - a basket of chocolate!

This was the only postal tragedy...

Thanks Donna!! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I also participated in the Very Vintage Christmas Swap hosted by Holly's mom, Heidi at Foxgloves, Fabric and Folly. I was partnered with Kris at At Home at Lake Mac. What a wonderful partner! Here is the cool box of stuff she sent

I love the ornaments she made - they were way cool! I love the vintage apron - it actually fit around my big butt!! I wore it one day I was baking before work - LOVE IT!! Chocolate - always a goodie! And the tea - I love it- sooo yummy! I'm hooked! And she sent me a cool vintage Christmas book with ideas on a little bit of everything. I love the vintage ribbon and ornaments! The postal tragedy...one bulb didn't make the trip...

Thanks Kris!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I am also in another swap - Winter Whimsy Mitten Swap over at A Swap for All Seasons. This is such a cool bunch of participants! This swap is all about mittens.(no duh!) So the host decided to have anyone interested to sign up to make a mitten ornament. How cool - and yep, I signed up! She picked partners, and Chris was mine! Sweet!! She's over at Red Lead PaperWorks. I was so surprised when my package arrived. How cool is this?

I didn't want to open it. She used a vintage envelope and added her own special touch. At first I was like "did she try to mail it in this?" then I came back to the land of the living and was like "duh -idiot!!" I am so learning....

Here is another view...

Here is what was wrapped so tight inside... Then I realized I could open it....(another duh moment!) Whalla...she used a match box and did a shadow box like display inside...WAY COOL!!

You are probably falling asleep by now....so I will continue this post tomorrow...don't go away, I have some cool things to show!

Until tomorrow friends!

Swap Goodies!

Happy Autumn Everyone!!!

Oh, Happy day!! I got my Artsy Autumn Swap package in the mail from Kathy the other day and all I can say is WOW!!! She is one busy lady, but what a great job she did on my treats - even down to the wrapping! Here is a picture before everything was unwrapped...

And here is a pic of when I opened it....(I even waited to dig into the chocolate until AFTER I took the picture!)

I got a beautiful box, a handmade frog box with fall colored buttons, a WHITE pumpkin with a beautiful label, handmade acrylic tag, GODIVA CHOCOLATE, some die cuts, a cute little handmade button charm, and pumpkin/kat pipe cleaner figures, and a bunch of fake acorns, with a handmade card. Too cute!!

============================================================ This swap was so much fun! I love Autumn and Halloween and was in my glory creating things for Kathy. You had a sneak peek a few posts back of what I made...well, I added a few more handmade items to her box. I made a few more tags - these are the crow ones in the picture. And I also made her a small banner. Here is a pic of the box I sent her...

Here is a picture of the banner I made for Kathy. The first banner I had ever made. I worked on it during the weekend crop and it turned out just like I wanted it to. The only problem I had was the embelishments. There was either too little or not the right ones - I don't know. I painted some swirl die cuts for the top of the banner and used some foam letters that I won from Gypsy Rose Paperie. I hope Kathy liked it.

This was my first real "box" swap and I had such a great time putting one together. I think I will sign up for the "Winter Whimsey Mittens Swap".

There are also some other swaps I've been kinda stalking for Christmas. They are listed on this cool site I found, Swapadex. They have a list of tons of swaps so I suggest you check it out!!

Well, friends, it's getting late and I gotta head North after work tomorrow to check out the 2nd homestead and cut some grass - I mean hay!!

Have a great weekend friends....

Sneek Peek and So far behind....

Oh My! I don't know where all the time has gone....it's Friday tomorrow and I'm not ready! For what....My scrapbooking weekend without MEN!!! I don't have anything packed and UGH!!! Just UGH!!!

Well, I wanted to give y'all a sneek peek at what I created for my Artsy Autumn Swap partner. Needless to say, there WILL be lots more in the box - no more peekies! The Halloween Hanging was something new for me and I hope my partner likes it. I used some of the things I won from Gypsy Rose Paperie here. From GRP, I used the black furry material swatch with my Quickutz die to creat the large bat. I used the vintage ribbon, vintage sheet music, and the glitter. I also used a letter tile, fiber, small hanger, glittered a swirl die cut from American Crafts, vintage image, and a bingo number. Here is a sample of a set of tags I made for my partner....I used a large die to cut the tag from Bazzil cardstock, wide vintage velvet ribbon, buttons, fibers, and a vintage image I found on the internet. Simple.

Well, it's getting late and I was supposed to get SOMETHING done tonight....Like pack up my Swap box and get my Blog Candy out to Angela AND pack for my weekend.

Thanks for visiting! Until tomorrow friends....

Blog "Stalking" Winner!

All I have to say is WOW!! I guess I've been "Blog Stalking" more frequently lately, and as a result I have found several cool Swap sites, as well as some GREAT GIVEAWAYS!! I have even run into some old crop buddies along the way. You never know who belongs to a group or who is lurking behind that computer screen - such a small world!

I found this site Gypsy Rose Paperie. They are a new site who is going to offer kits which will include vintage pieces, new pieces, just neat stuff. The next few weeks, on Mondays, they will be offering a "tease" kit giveaway. Check out their site and follow their directions - drawing is on Wednesdays until their release. I won this from them last week...

Thanks girls - I can't wait to see what you have in the future!!

And here I found a couple of Autumn/Halloween Swaps: A Swap for all Seasons (I joined this one today) and Gypsy Mermaid Life Swap (cool music on their site). This swap signup ended today, but if you like Halloween, check it out!

I guess all in all, I'm trying to find my "niche" - where do I belong? Do I belong in the contemporary, new stamp company scene, Stampin' Up! stuff, or the vintage, whimsical set?? I guess I'm trying both at the moment, and maybe I might find that I am truely best in the middle of the road. I have a hard time deciding because I like doing a variety. Hmmm, I guess for only being in the "Blog World" for almost a year, I've got to give myself a little more time. Stay tuned to see what I come up with next!

5,000 hits and my blogaversary is right around the corner so I think I'll have to give some candy away.

In closing (FIN-AL-LEEEE! I think I'm taking after Joyce here! *wink*)I wanted to share this photo I took today when I was cleaning out our sunroom....I looked up that here it was....a baby deer in the Suburbs! I always treasure these moments....

Until tomorrow friends....

SwapsNMore Tags

Ok,Ok, I know I've been only getting to post maybe once a week now - part laziness, part weather, part chaufeur, part everything it seems, and not to mention part not-my-fault!

So I joined this group, SwapsNMore and it's soo much fun! So what do we do?? Well, the hostesses select a paper line, then you sign up for a part of a scrapbook page - i.e. title, photo mat, tag, altered item, embelishment bag, etc. You sign up for what piece you want to do, then when everyone fills the slots, the details are emailed to us. We also do basic swaps - I'm also signed up for a "die cut" swap. We picked our favorite die cut and will make 4 for each person in that same line of dies (Cuttlebut; Sizzix, Quickutz, etc.) who signed up.

This is the swap I joined. It was Basic Grey's new lines - Archaic and Cupcake. I figured Archaic for the boys and Cupcake for someone's B-day. So I signed up to do tags - there were 7 slots and I had to do two different tags for everyone. I took the approach of a fancy tag and a plain one.

So here is the "fancy" Archaic tag: I call it my Dino Bag Tag. It's a tag that I made from a mini brown bag. I used the following:

Basic Grey Archaic "Dino" and "Ancient" patterned paper; I cut the dino which was a repeated pattern 2 1/8" x 2 1/8"; mini brown paper bag (2 5/8" x 3 7/8"); 7"twine; Bazzill cardstock Bottleglass; Pixie Press brad; Colorbox chalk ink dark brown.

And this is my "plain" Archaic tag:

This is what I used:

Cut repeated pattern of the palm tree from Basic Grey Archaic "Dino" 1 1/4" circle; May Arts 3/8" twill ivory 8" piece; Bazzill cardstock Bottleglass (green), Hazard (orange), and Windy Blue; We Are Memory Keepers eyelet; Colorbox Chalk ink dark brown; Quickutz nesting tags.

Now for the Cupcake tags - Here is the "fancy" Cupcake tag:

Here are the ingredients...

Basic Grey Cupcake "Cake and Ice Cream" patterned paper; Bazzill cardstock -Sunbeam(yellow) and Evening Surf (blue); American Crafts ribbon (cupcake #6); Provo Craft Bradletz Big Flowers; Stickles; Colorbox Chalk ink dark brown; We Are Memory Keepers eyelet;

I used a corner rounder for the patterned paper; Sizzix Super Scallop tag and Ellison Design Scallop tag.

And last, but not least, the "plain" Cupcake tag:

What I used:

Basic Grey Cupcake Cake and Ice Cream patterned paper - I cut the small blue cupcake that repeated; Bazzill cardstock Evening Surf (blue), Lava (red) and Sunbeam (yellow); Brass eyelet; Colorbox chalk ink dark brown; May Art Red 3/8" sheer polka dot ribbon.

I used my Cuttlebug long tag die that came in one of my alphabet sets. It's 5 1/2" x 1 1/2"

They are due to the hostess by June 1st so if you think I need to add a little extra something to those "plain" tags, please post a comment.

See, I've been busy - not too lazy, just too lazy to post!! LOL!!

Thanks for reading.....oh ya, your in for a treat - 2 posts today!!

Bella ATCs

I've been hard at work makin' up my 20 ATCs for the swap I'm in. These are becoming easier - much better than the one I did last year...boy was that one lame!!! I think that these are real cool to make and give a sort of challenge especially when the stamp is bigger than the base.

Here is my Fella ATC. It's Fishafella with Bazzill cardstock as the two bases, Rusty Pickle patterned paper, two brown brads and the sentiment from MFT.

This is my Snowbunnybella. I used Bazzill as the two bases (green & pink) and Memory Box Sugar Collection patterned cardstock. I used pink ribbon, this "snow stuff", a pink button, and pink bling dot.

I tried to find the popular liquid applique - to no avail. So I thought that this "snow" stuff would work the same - Not! Although it was puffy, it was a little grainey. But it did the job. I did, however went out yesterday and got the real stuff!! Now all I have to do is try it out!

Let me know if you like them. Don't forget to reply to the Tag -Your it! blog so I can draw names tomorrow before our adult overnight stay somewhere. My husband is refusing to tell me where he's taking me for my B-day/Valentine's present.

Keep posted for the winner!

Birthday Bella Cards

Yes, I'm still here!! I was on a weekend trip with Mark at baseball camp in Erie and Alan tagged along. Husband had issues and stayed home - enough said with that! Glad we came home early as I drove the 2 hrs in the snow/sleet/rain and wound up with a migraine and sleep deprivation. I had to call off work on Monday and slept in till 11:00!!

Well, you should know by know I can't sit still - yes, I took some card projects to take with me on the overnight trip. I finished my birthday cards I wanted to do.

I did both of these for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge #17.

This one is for my niece Kelsey for her 14th birthday - boy does she like to shop!!

And this one I made for my other niece's daughter who turns one this month.

I am still working on a few more projects. Some of the girls from the store invited me to be a part of their Valentine swap. I am so excited!!! Finally some friends!!! (LOL!!) We have to fill a 12" Valentine heart with goodies-in 20 cupcake papers - and decorate the box. I have almost all my stuff ready to go inside - I have a cupcake pan on the dining room table and I fill it with stuff everyday. (HA HA Joyce - I'm not going to spill the beans!!) Going to Erie, I was able to shop at A.C. Moore and pick up a few things that we don't have here - YIPPEE!! You know I had fun there!!!

I received my "Tag your it" package from Michelle at Mish Mash. The post man crushed one of the bling dots, so I had to replace it. I am in the process of making my sets, so stay tuned. I think I might have some blog candy soon!!!

Well, getting kinda late and wanted to do some tag coloring....Thanks for visiting.

Cards made of: Memory Box cardstock; Stamping Bella images;Fiskars sentiment; Studio G stamp; ribbon; Prima flowers; $1 Darcie crystals from Pat Catan's.

No Coloring Required

Hey Sistahs...

I had to make this card for the Color of the Rainbow swap with the Stamping Bellas. I came up with the idea by perusing a cool magazine I ran across while gift card shopping at Barnes & Noble. The magazine is called Stampers Samplers Take Ten. It is geared towards cards/projects made in 10 minutes or less. There was a round bella card and it wasn't colored....so I thought - COOL!! (and it saved time!!LOL!!)

Well, as a newbie, it surely took me more than 10 minutes to make this and it definitely looks better in person.

I just loved the idea of not coloring it....Thanks for stopping by to look!

I used the following:

STAMP: Javabella; Sentiment by InkaInkaDoo

INK: was my 15 +yr old SU stamp pad Close to Cocoa - no lie!!, and antiqued with Cat's Eye Dark Brown

$1 Ribbon; Marvy Scallop oval punch; an orange flower brad

PAPER: Joann's package of orange card/envies; cardstock from Pat Catans

Sneak Peek..

Here is a sneak peak for those of you in the "All Through the Year Swap" with Angie and the Bellaholicsanonymous's ending soon. All who signed up - 12 people with one image for their month - you make 12 cards. Then when swapped, we will have a Bella card for every month of the year. I finally finished mine tonight and just had to post a pic as I have been slacking lately in posting - not creating!!! Nervous now...my class is in two days...no wonder why I can't sleep!! Well, I gotta get to bed now for sure. Can't wait to hear from Charmaine and Joyce - both are expecting new ones in the family. Joyce will be a GRANNY!!! Hope all goes well and all are healthy. Thanks for looking - Good night!

Swaps

Sorry all for not posting lately, but I have been quite busy. You see, I jumped right into 3 swaps....YES 3!!! Like I'm not busy enough right?? Uh-oh, I forgot I just signed up for one more today....

Well, it started with the Bellas. Got an email from Shannon Roberts with the Bellaholicsanonymous and they had an image swap. So I signed up....32 images of Chefabella went out on Oct 18th. Easy enough!

Next, I was blog hopping and found that Taylor Van Bruggen was hosting an ENORMOUS ATC (artist trading card) SWAP with a bunch popular stamp vendors. I had just received a holiday set from The Cat's Pajamas. I didn't even know what ATC meant (LOL!!)...she posted a tutorial from SCS and I was set. Last night I just finished my 10 cards (all the same) - they came out pretty good in my opinion for my first time. I mailed them today...here it is... Again, pretty easy.

Then an email came across the wire for an All Through the Year Swap with my Bella gals. For this swap, you sign up for a month of the year, create 12 get 12, full cards (no envelopes). Sounded like fun with a bunch of different Bellas. I obviously signed up for November (all that was left cause my list of Bellas are limited). I have been working on these at lunch at work. Maybe I'll work on them more tomorrow.

I was pondering doing another image swap for a couple days now, this time with a different one of my bellas -Feelabella. So I jumped right in again...this one is make images for the #of people signed up by 11/10 +1 and send to the host by Dec 10. Again, it seems pretty easy cause all you do is stamp the image on white cardstock w/black ink. These Bella girls are busy people!!!

I will have to post more swap images when I complete them.

Well, just finished watching 2 movies (which I NEVER do), so it's time for the news.

Also, I want to let everyone know that since I have been doing all this blogging, swapping, emailing, and creating I HAVE LOST 10 lbs(I think only in my big toe though-LOL)!!! I can't believe it (I had to weigh myself twice)!!! I guess because I haven't been bored and been keeping busy at night - no time for snacking!

Thanks for looking - Have a great weekend!!