"Hello. . .Remember Me?"

Hope everybody had a Merry Christmas and are planning on having a great New Year. Sorry I've been gone so long, but I'm fine, however, my computer is dead. As soon as I can get it fixed, I will be back posting.

Until then, thanks for being patient. I look forward to posting, again! Take care and God bless!

"Supporting Our Troops"

I almost forgot to post these cards. I made them awhile back, but they were in my batch of holiday cards to mail out today. These are part of a kit I got from Tammy at Lil Lamb's. She received kits from Prima Marketing, Inc., who were partnering with different scrapbook stores to create cards for the troops.

I thought it was cool that Tammy had these kits for us to send our wishes to the troops, so I made mine for the holidays. With the supplies in the kit, added with a few of my own, I came up with these, not so traditional, Christmas cards.

I have about three other cards from Alyssa and I to send to the troops, as well, so I contacted the Red Cross to verify a correct address of where they can be sent. So, if any of you are interested, the following address was given, however, the cards have to be postmarked by Wednesday, December 10th.

Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Thanks again, Tammy, for the kits! You are too sweet!!

"Money Holders"

This is an order I did for my sister's employer. I created 21 money holders for their Christmas party.

I found this great tutorial at Dawns Stampin Studio, you can check it out HERE. Thanks, Dawn, for the fabulous directions!

Since they were needing 21 and I wanted to have a little variety, I decided to break it down to 3 different styles, and 7 holders of each.

I used basic solid cardstock for the base of each holder, with a variety of misc. patterned papers on top. For the decorative edge across, I used a Fiskars border punch. I used white cardstock for the 'belly bands' on all holders; a variety of scalloped and circle punches; and, misc. stamped images to finish them off.

I hope they like how the money holders turned out!

"Playlist"

Hi, everyone! Hope you had a fabulous Thanksgiving!! Can you believe it is December!?! Sorry I've not posted lately. . .busy, busy! But, hopefully, I'll do better this week!

Anyhoo, just wanted to let you know that I've changed my playlist, for this month, to Christmas music. I will continue to build the song list up, but for now, I've got you about 8 songs to get you in the holiday crafting mood! Hope you enjoy!!

"Cookie Cutter Gifts"

These are the gifts I just finished for Alyssa to give to the office staff at school for Christmas. My stepmom, Linda, gave me this adorable cookie cutter gift idea last year and I thought it was too cute not to do.

The bag of Christmas-themed cookie cutters that I found at Target were trimmed with pale blue silicone, so I used that to set my color scheme. After printing my poem and punching it out, I layered it on a scalloped light blue circle. I, then added a coordinating color snowflake brad, by Creative Impressions, to each, and sprayed the poem with Glimmer Mist, by Tattered Angels, to give them a little shimmer. To finish the gifts off, I tied the poems to the cello bags with blue & white checked Offray ribbon.

This is an individual photo and below is the poem that I attached to each:
I made a plate of cookies,
And ate just one or two.
But started feeling guilty,
Because they were for you.
I went into a panic
And ordered on the phone,
This brand new cookie cutter
So you can make your very own!

"Alot 'O Tags"

These tags are like the ones my gal pal, Gina, and I made at Archiver's a couple of weekends ago as part of their make & takes.

After making them at the store, we thought they turned out cute, so we each decided to make some for ourselves at home.

Thanks to Gina help, she punched all the scalloped circles and adhered them, and then I got to do the fun stuff. . .attach the eyelets; ribbons; stickers; and, stamp the to and from sentiment. Now, I've got pre-made tags handy and ready to grab!

"Beautiful Christmas Card"

I wanted to post this card because it was done by my stepmom, Linda, as her Christmas card for this year.

She has only been stamping and cardmaking since spring/summer, so when she showed me this as her Christmas card for this year, I had to brag because I was so proud of her! I thought it turned out great!

Oh, by the way, my dad has already had to turn the spare closet into her a 'stamping' space and we all know what that leads too. . .heehee

"Girls, Girls, Girls!"

This is a photo of Alyssa and all of the "girls" from her party Friday night!! The only two that did not sleepover was precious little Amber (in front) and Alyssa's cousin, Lauren (on right).

Everyone had a blast! They ate pizza; watched movies; made crafts; and, when they got sleepy, they dropped like flies! heehee

The main thing to me was Alyssa loved her birthday party/sleepover and I survived!LOL

"Fun-Filled Friday!"

This is Alyssa's 12th birthday cake! Even though her birthday was last week, she came down with the flu and was unable to have her birthday party/sleepover until tonight.

So, I brought four girls home from school with Alyssa today and it has been wild ever since! heehee Tonight we'll be having a "Camp Rock" theme party, complete with the movie and popcorn.

Alyssa's adorable cake was decorated by Monica, the pastry chef/owner of Dumplins Restaurant in Jackson. I thought it turned out so cute with the guitars and music notes. Alyssa and her girlfriends definitely thought it was cool.

I've posted below a photo of the party favor cups I fixed for Alyssa and the girls. I found these adorable cone-like cups at the Dollar Tree and filled each with different lotions, candies, pencils, bath fizzies and a Camp Rock bracelet. The girls loved them!
















Lastly, I thought it would be fun to do some crafts with the girls. So, I've planned out three different ones, and below I've posted one. I got the small acetate holders from Clear Dollar Stamps, along with the Seal stamp. The holder hold exactly three Hershey's kisses. So, I made a tag for the girl's that reads: "Sealed with a kiss" and they can adhered the stamped seal at the bottom, before tying it to the holder. I thought it would make a cute gift for them to take home. The other two crafts they are doing are covering/decorating mini composition books and making homemade lipgloss.

Someone say a prayer, I have a feeling it is going to be a long night! LOL

*permission was granted for the cake photo to be posted*

"Christmas Memories"

I took this 10-page decorative album by American Crafts and added ribbon and a metal embellishment by Making Memories, then. . .Viola!

It's now a gift ready to fill with all those Christmas photos!

"Neighbor Gifts"

This is what I am making to give out to our neighbors for Christmas.

I took an actetate card holder that I got from Papertrey and decorated it with medium blue and Bo Bunny sage dot paper. The stamped sentiments are also from Papertrey. I then added sage Offray ribbon around the top; a snowflake brad from Bo Bunny; and, a stamped snowman by Autumn Leaves.

I filled the inside with individually wrapped cream carmel chews. Yum!

"Christmas Magic"

This is a Christmas order I finished for my gal pal, Randee. These two special items are for her cutie pie daughter, Sara Blake!

First, in this gorgeous tin is Santa's Magic Key. Sara will be able to set this out for Santa every year!

Second, I made her some Magic Reindeer Food! Every kid needs to sprinkle reindeer food on Christmas Eve! If you're going to leave Santa cookies & milk, then you've got to leave something special for the reindeer, too! Plus, there's magic in it!! The stamped reindeer image is in the gift tags set from The Angel Company. Isn't it just adorable?!?!

**If you click on my image, you get a much clearer & closer view**

"Teacher's Notes"

I thought I would delve into my scrap room today and make some Christmas gifts. This one is for Alyssa's homeroom teacher, Ms. Graves.

I took a small notepad from Target, and covered the front and back with this fun school themed paper from KI Memories. I added a KI Memories epoxy apple sticker to the corner and finished off the notepad with misc. Offray ribbons.

Next, I made a card. I stayed with the school theme, instead of Christmas, to coordinate. However inside, Alyssa and I will wish her a wonderful holiday season!

"Happy Birthday, Alyssa!"

Today is my baby's 12th birthday!! I cannot believe she's almost a teenager!! She is growing into such an awesome young woman. I am so proud of her!

I took this picture this morning before school. She opened a few presents before breakfast, and my mom is planning on visiting her at school, during lunch, with treats. So, I'm hoping she'll have a fabulous day!

Her birthday party/sleepover is planned for this weekend!

"Make and Take"

These are the two 'make & take' items that my friend, Gina, and I made at Archiver's today!

We made the trip to Memphis for Archiver's 'holiday extravaganza' weekend. You could do these make & takes for free and they also had someone teaching how to create acrylic block frames for $10.

The store was packed with shoppers; Christmas music was playing; and, holiday ideas were everywhere! Needless to say, Gina and I were there for several hours! LOL We enjoyed ourselves, like we always do, when we're together!! Thanks for a fun day, Gina! Love ya!!

"Decorative Tins"

These are recycled tins that had prima flowers in them. After the tins were empty, my friend was just going to throw them away, so I ask for them. I knew I could decorate them up for Christmas!

After adding some ribbon, decorative paper and prima embellishments, they are ready to fill with treats for the perfect gifts!

For my scallop circles on top, I used new papers from the Christmas collections of Cosmo Cricket and Basic Grey. The Prima embellishments are from their Christmas collection, as well.

"Happy Harvest"

These are the treat bags I created for Alyssa to give to the principal, vice-principal, and office staff at school on Friday.

I love this style treat bag! The possibilities are endless!

On these, my main cardstock was orange with an accent of chocolate brown. I colored the stamped pumpkin image with Prismacolor pencils and blended with gamsol and a stump. The "Happy Harvest" sentiment on the front, at the bottom, is from Papertrey. Lastly, I used brown checked Offray ribbon for the 'handles'.

I filled each bag with candy corn taffy. I hope they like them!!

"Fall Clip"

I decorated this wooden, jumbo clip for Alyssa to take to school for her homeroom teacher. I wanted to make it 'fallish' so she would be able to get plenty of use out of it for weeks to come.

I painted it with white acrylic paint, then adhered dimensional stickers to the front. It was quick and easy to create and will be a cute addition to her desk!

I am going to tie it up in a cello bag with some candy and send it on it's way! I hope she likes it!

"Pizza, Anyone?"

I have seen these mini pizza boxes all over blogland and they have been so cute, so I thought I'd give one a try!

You can find many, many instructions for these on SCS, and after clicking on a zillion different blogs, I ended up using one by Jen del Muro. (*Thanks so much, Jen -- your instructions were great and easy to follow!*)

I used kraft cardstock for the box and decorated the top by layering dark brown and burgundy. I, also, adhered brown checked Offray ribbon and a stamped image and sentiment by Papertrey.

I made this one for my gal pal, Jennifer, that is coming over Thursday to scrap with me while the kiddos are at school. (Now, I've just got to get some yummy treats for inside.)

I have also included a smaller photo of the side view of the box below:

"Hello, Monday!"

I hope everyone had a great weekend! Saturday, I went to the Mission Crop at the Vineyard, and, as always, had a wonderful time. I usually set up a booth and vend, but I decided to just crop this time.

Michael & Jennifer Hickerson, along with the Mission team, put together another fabulous day. They always treat us to an enjoyable day of fun, filled with games & prizes; wonderful food; fellowship and relaxation!! Great job, everyone involved!!

One of the things I put together was this adorable SU Create-A-Calendar '09. I thought it turn out too cute! It was so easy, also! Everything you need is in the kit, and I ordered it out of the SU Holiday Mini Catalog. These will be great tied up in cello to give as a quick gift this Christmas!!

Oh, on a quick note, I wanted to plug one of the vendors that I met Saturday. Her name is Tammy Lambeth and she has Lil Lamb's Boutique. I loved her selection of scrapbooking products and was so excited to learn that she was in Jackson!!