Evening everyone!  And what a lovely evening it is as we start our break for the long holiday.  This is truly a marvelous time of year.  I am grateful for so many things……….for friends and family, for my two wonderful kiddos, for our health and our home.  Life is good!  And with these warm thoughts in mind, I want to take a moment to thank all of you visitors and faithful readers of my blog.  You all mean the world to me!

As Thanksgiving sneaks closer and closer, I’m realizing how few days are left until Christmas is upon us.  I often have a tendency to put things off to the very last minute, but this year, I’m trying to be better.  I’ve been working on my annual ornaments and I came up with an idea for my neighbor gifts this year.  I’ve decided to give out sets of tags, as they are both useful and fairly easy to make.  And not only that, they use a minimum of supplies.  I’ve created 5 sets of tags so far from the images on two sheets of patterned paper, and I still have several sets yet to finish.

They are simple in design, but I think they make up a mighty cute package.  I cut the tag shape with a punch using up some old cardstock supplies that I have on hand.  This set was made with KI and My Mind’s Eye winter paper.  I also used some matching KI patterned paper to wrap up a small present for a friend.

After punching the tag, I simply adhered a Christmas tree cut out and then added a snowman cut out that’s been popped up for a touch of dimension.  I added some sparkly detail to the trees and snowmen using a glitter pen.  The effect is subtle, and doesn’t show well in the photos, but looks wonderful in real life.

Each tag is just a little bit different, with the various tree and snowmen images.  This individual quality makes them feel more homemade to me and special.  And heck, they just make me smile.

Well, I’m off to cut some more snowmen out!  Hope you have a wonderful evening.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hi everyone!  Here we are starting another new week with just a few days left until Thanksgiving.  I am constantly amazed at how quickly time passes.  To me it feels like November just began, and now in less than a week, I’ll be bringing home a Christmas tree. Life moves fast.

Today marks the last day of the Webster’s Pages 12 Days of Christmas Crop.  I hope you’ve had a chance to check out the beautiful projects.  I missed yesterday’s peek since I was out celebrating my birthday, but never fear.  Amy Tara’s beautiful gift wrap project is still up at inspireME for all to play along.  As a matter of fact, all 12 projects will remain up in the forum for quite some time.  Here is a little peek.

To see the full project and to view all the information about the crop, please go here.

We are closing out the crop with a very special project from guest designer Karola Witczak that you are going to love!  It is truly amazing.  Here is a little peek at her chipboard winter house.  You need to pop over to at least check out the photos of the inside!  Stunning!

To see Karola’s full project, please go here.

It has been a very cool and rainy day here today.  I’ve been spending time snuggled up on the couch looking at all my pretty Thanksgiving decorations.  I figure I need to really enjoy them since they will soon be packed away for another year.  I’ve of course added to my collection since last year. What a surprise, huh?   I have a new set of pilgrims and a new garland that are gracing my living room mantel.

I found the garland at a deep discount at Hobby Lobby, of all places. 85% off!  I practically giggle every time I look at it thinking about my amazing score.

I also have a few things on the coffee table in front of the mantel.  The dried grass arrangement was lovingly created by my sweet Nik, and we found the baby pine cones that are under the cloche together on one of our walks.  These are the kinds of things that really make me smile.

So what are your plans for Thanksgiving?  I’ve decided to stay home this year and cook.  Haven’t done that in about a decade!  Wish me luck, ok?

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Hi everyone!  We’re starting to wind down the 12 days of Christmas crop at inspireME.  Only a few days left of wonderful holiday projects.  I have been so inspired by all the beautiful things that the ladies have created for this crop.  Today’s project is no exception. It’s a beautiful holiday Tussie Mussie by design team member Amy Tara.  Here is a little peek.

To see the full project and to view all the details on the 12 day crop, please go here.

I just got back from a crop myself.  It’s always so great to hang out with the old Paper Playground gang.  I spent an awful lot of time yakking and eating, but I did make a few cards just for fun.  The first is for Laura’s sketch #39 at 2sketches4you.

Basic Grey patterned paper, Little Yellow Bicycle chipboard, rub-on by K&Co.  Trim is Making Memories and baker’s twine by Martha Stewart.

I also played along with CPS sketch #142.

Papers by Basic Grey and Making Memories.  Santa tag is K&Co.

Both sites have wonderful sketches if you’re looking for inspiration in card-making.  If you haven’t checked them out yet, DO!

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I always love to hear from you all!

Evening everyone!  Isn’t it lovely that it’s the start of another weekend already?  And this isn’t just any ol’ weekend, either.  Oh, no.  This is a special weekend.  It’s my birthday on Sunday! And as far as Nik is concerned, I’m having a big birthday this year.  I’m having a palindrome birthday.  Nik had her first palindrome birthday this year.  I’m not exactly having my first one, though.

How she thinks about these things is beyond me, but if she thinks this year is extra special, well, that’s ok with me.

I have a bunch of fun things planned for the weekend.  Time with friends and family, perhaps a movie on Sunday and dinner out, and a crop to go to tomorrow.  How fun is that?  And speaking of crops, we are still going strong with our 12 Days of Christmas Crop over at inspireME.  Today’s project is “1 design, 3 ways” by design team member Terri Hayes.  Here is a little peek for you.

To see Terri’s complete project and to view all the details on the crop, please go here.

Thought I would share with you all a few more of my Thanksgiving decorations since we are less than a week away now.  It won’t be long before they will come down and Christmas will start going up.  Incredible how quickly time flies.  Here is my dining room table with a few of my favorite things.

There’s my big turkey, Mr. 2008.  And the Mr. and the Mrs. from 2007.  A beautiful glass candle holder I got for my birthday last year (thank you, Kathie!)  A bit of ribbon, a few round glass ornaments, some scattered crepe paper leaves, and even a few junk store finds.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you have a fabulous Friday evening!

Hi everyone!  Happy Thursday!  Today is day 8 of our 12 Days of Christmas Crop over at Webster’s inspireME site.  I hope you’ve had a chance to check out some of the fabulous projects and be inspired by the amazing gallery.  Today’s project has me completely drooling.  I need to figure out a way to get Hilde to send her project to me.  I promise to take really good care of it!

Here is a little peek of her countdown calendar.

To see Hilde’s full project and to view all the details of the crop, please go here.

As for me, I thought I would share with you some of my homemade Thanksgiving treasures.  These have all been gifts that I’ve received over the years, mostly by my sweet daughter, and they bring me much happiness.  They are simple projects that you can make at home, and would be great for kid’s crafts, too.

These first guys are a set of pom-pom turkeys that Nik made me for my birthday last year.  They don’t sit up too well, so I had to get a little creative with their display.

A little white glue, some pom-poms, feathers, and pipe cleaners go a long way in this house. Nik glued a small red pom-pom onto a medium sized brown pom-pom, added a couple of feathers in the back, some googly eyes, and a beak and wattle made from pipe cleaners.

This next trio was made by a good friend of mine when she hosted Thanksgiving dinner several years ago.  These were her place card holders.

They have pine cone bodies and pipe cleaner legs and heads.  She created simple construction paper fans for the tails which she stapled together at the bottom and then hot glued to the backs.  She then made name cards which were stuck in the top of the pine cones.  We all got to take our turkeys home as party favors.

The last turkey is another version of the pine cone turkey.  Nik made this for me several years ago at school.

Pine cones, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, and fun foam.  SO cute, huh?  Now you know why we were searching for pine cones the other day.

Hope these give you some ideas for fun turkey crafts you can make at your home.  I’d love to hear about it if you try these out, or if you have other ideas to share!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Hey everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!  I’m very excited because today is my day to share my project for the Webster’s Pages 12 Days of Christmas Crop.  It’s been a long time in coming.  I’ve been waiting ever so patiently, and now it’s finally here!

One of my favorite things to do this time of the year is decorate my home for the holidays.  Every year, I slowly add to my collection of pretties with a combination of store bought items and hand-made projects.  And although I completely love my purchased goodies, it’s the home-made treasures that really warm my heart.  So for my 12 Days project, I made an altered wooden snowflake wall hanging that you, too, can make to brighten your homes this holiday season.

To see the full instructions for making this project, and to view all the details on the 12 Days of Christmas Crop, please go here.

And, I will be hosting a live chat at inspireME today at 5 pm EST.  Hope to see you all there!

Evening everyone!  I hope by now you have all had a chance to check out the fabulous and fun crop going on over at Webster’s Pages’ inspireME site. 12 days of great projects and inspiration to jump start the holidays.  Today’s project makes a wonderful holiday gift idea, or a fantastic everyday project, too.  Here is a peek of design team member, Jaz’s acrylic mini album.

I absolutely adore how she did her cover.  You all NEED to check it out!  Here is the link to see the complete instruction to today’s project.

I am up tomorrow with my special project.  So excited to share it with you.  I’ll also be hosting a live chat at the inspireME site tomorrow at 5 pm EST.  I hope to see you all there!

I’ve been busy lately creating a few things for my Etsy site.  Here’s a fun altered project I’ve been working on.

I found this wooden reindeer cut out at my local craft store.  It measures approximately 11″ x 12″.  Covered it with some cheery BoBunny holiday paper.  I added reins using blue pompom trim from Webster’s Pages and then added a poinsettia die-cut from K&Co. for the “saddle”.  To give the poinsettia a bit of strength and stability, I layered it on some chipboard first.

Lastly I added a multi-layered bow at the neckline using several ribbons and tulle.  Added a K&Co. rub-on directly to the sheer ribbon.  Also added a piece of a holiday pick, a blue snowflake eyelet with gemstone center, and some baker’s twine.

This guy was so much fun to make.  I’ve really been loving the altered projects lately.  Be sure to stop by tomorrow to seek some peeks of the altered project I did for the Webster’s crop.

Have a great evening everyone!  Thanks for stopping by!

Hi everyone!  It’s been another beautiful day here in NC today.  Sunshine and temps into the mid 70’s.  I spent the day with my good friend, shopping in quaint little downtown Wake Forest.  What cute shops there were to stroll through.  One of my favorites was an old fashioned tea house where we even saw a group of ladies in fancy hats.  How fun is that?  I sure wish we could bottle days like these.

The 12 Days of Christmas crop continues at Webster’s Pages with design team member Dena Coe’s holiday layout.  Here is a little peek.

Take a gander at that fun tinsel trim Webster’s has just come out with!  And if you want to see Dena’s full project, along with all the crop information, please go here.

And for a scrappy project from me, I have my card for the current sketch at the Sketch This blog to share.  I’m working on my holiday cards.

Dug into my stash for this older KI paper.  Paired that with some Little Yellow Bicycle 25 Days of Christmas chipboard pieces, some trim from Melissa Frances, and a rub-on greeting from Deja Views.

I rubbed the greeting directly onto the trim and threaded some smaller satin ribbon through the lace, as well.

Layered the chipboard snowflakes over a button which is over a circle of pink Heidi Swapp bling.  Added a gemstone eye to the reindeer, too.

Here is the sketch for you.  It’s the last sketch of the year, so I do hope you’ll all have a chance to play along.

Thanks for stopping by everyone!

Hi everyone!  The crop is still going strong over at Webster’s Pages inspireME blog site.  Day 4’s project is brought to us by design team member, Iris.  She’s got a glass frame with easel project that you all are sure to love.  Great idea for displaying that precious family photo.  Here’s a little peek.

For complete details on this project and to see all the information on the crop, please go here.

I’ve been enjoying the beautiful weekend we are having here in NC.  Looks like the rain has finally stopped from Ida and we can get back to some normal weather.  Tried to spend some time outdoors today, as we reached temperatures into the mid 70’s.  Sigh……………

Nik and I took a walk, searching for some pine cones to make some turkey place-cards with.  And wouldn’t you know it…when you want to find a good pine cone, they are impossible to find. We searched high and low and just couldn’t come up with anything suitable, so the search will continue.  At least we got some fresh air.

I finished my pumpkin  head project over the weekend, and although it’s after Halloween, I wanted to share how he finally turned out.

I found the fall picks and the bucket container on sale at my local craft store.  Filled the bottom of the container with scrunched up newspaper which I hot glued in place.  That gave me a base to set the pumpkin head on.  I glued the picks against the back inside of the bucket and then put down a circle of patterned paper to hide the newspaper.  The last step was to hot glue Mr. Pumpkin in place.

Pretty cute, huh?  Too bad he’s got to go live in a box now until next Halloween.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend!

Hi everyone!  Today’s Webster’s Pages Christmas Crop project is being hosted by guest designer, Wendy Kwok.  I have fallen in love with her family frame in a big way, and can’t wait to try out this technique myself.  After joining her in the chat this morning, visions of frame projects are swimming in my head.  I can see lots of Christmas gifts in my future with this one.  Here’s a little peek of Wendy’s project.

For complete instructions on this project and to see all the crop information, go here.   I will be showing my holiday project on Wednesday the 18th.  I hope to see all of you over at inspireME then.  I will be hosting a chat at 5 pm EST on the 18th to answer any questions you all might have.  We also will be giving away a prize!  Good enough reason to stop by!

And for a quick scrappy item from me, I have my card for the Cardalicious blog to share.  The new challenge is to create a Thank-You card using flowers and the colors red and black.

I used a combination of patterned papers from Pink Paislee, Basic Grey, and Jillibean on this card.  Made my first accordion pleated flower and topped it with a touch of trim and some red berries from a holiday pick.  The die-cut shape is from the Pink Paislee journaling card sheet that I cut out from its background.  I added two rows of Heidi Swapp bling and a simple thank you rub on from Pebbles, Inc.

Be sure to check out the Cardalicious blog for more great inspiration from the other designers.

Have a great evening, everyone!