Many Thanks!

Christmas was amazing! I have such a wonderful family, and my friends - well, you're just the BEST! I thought I'd better get started on all my "thank-you's" to start my new year off right. I dry embossed vellum with my Cuttlebug - I just LOVE this elegant look! - and layered onto DCWV sage metallic cardstock using vellum glue dots. I wrapped the layer with Martha Stewart silver sage ribbon adorned with a shrink plastic charm stamped with "Thanks". I had to try my new Bella Baubles on the lower right corner - thanks Becky, I now have a new addiction! The completed front was layered onto brown Bazzill Bling cardstock.

B-day Rolodex

Well, I've had some requests to show the birthday rolodex that I did last year. So, here it is.....

I took a small Rolodex and altered it using patterned paper, ribbons, stamps, and embellishments. It is divided by month - each containing index cards for birthdays and anniversaries for the month. Each index card has the name and date on the front and contact info on the back. It has really helped to keep me organized and on top of all those special occasions!

They say it's your birthday....

In an effort to be a little more organized this year, I'm trying to get a jump start on birthday cards. My hubby has a large extended family, and with all my friends & angels, it can be a little challenging. Last year I made a birthday rolodex organized by month. Each month has index cards for each person's b-day that falls within the month. On the front is their name and birthday; on the back is their address. I started the year off great last year, but started slacking around August. This year, my goal will be to stay 2 months ahead - Yeah, we'll see how long that lasts!!!!! LOL :)
This will be the card I use for my January and February birthdays. I used a plain crimson red cardstock, layered with a cream cardstock, and the Admire pattern from Basic Grey's Blush. I then stamped a floral florish in umber on birch cardstock (all TAC). I embellished using a loopy brad, ribbon, bitty Prima flowers and a little bling. The edges of the image and mat are distressed using the Heidi Swapp edge distresser and umber ink.

Lucky Travel

Many of you know that I travel to Ireland every other year with one of my best Irish friends. It's just one of those things that I do for me! This next year (2008), we will have 10 travelers! I've never traveled with more than 6 women at a time - it will be interesting, but FUN! We decided to rent a 5-bedroom castle in the southwest area of the country. I've never been to that section of the country, so I'm jazzed!
I wanted to give the gals a little something to take with them, and Kris and I learned the first year to journal our trip. It was so hard to remember even from day-to-day where we'd been and what we'd seen - much less wait to get home and try to remember. I bought a Bind-it-All about 6 months ago and hadn't even touched it yet. So, I thought I'd give it a try. I came up with these adorable little journals. They are 6" X 6" with 40 linen paper pages. I added a couple of coordinating envelops in the back in case the gals wanted to save little mementos. The paper is "Stroke of Luck" and "Run of Luck" by Reminisce. It is an iridescent paper. I will stamp each person's initial on front inside the stationery circle using the alphabet stamps, both by Inkadinkado. The spines are embellished with ribbon - of course, and I made a matching beaded pen.

Jessie's Box

A friend of mine, Jessie, asked if I could make a decorative gift box for her mother's Christmas gift. I LOVE to help people out while challenging my creativity, so I agreed. When asked what she would like, she said her mother's favorite character was Betty Boop. I didn't think it would be a problem. Well, it was....

I could NOT find Betty Boop anything - paper, stickers, fabric - nothing! Perhaps if we lived in a bigger town and I had access to different stores. But, in Clovis, nothing and I didn't have time to order anything. Now what? I asked Jessie what would be second best. She said her mother's favorite color was purple. Okay, now that I can work with! I found this Daisy D's paper at the local craft store. I cover a pencil box and adorned it with a flower and a ribbon/button closure. PERFECT! Jessie was thrilled!

It's Here!

I've been working tons of overtime this week - staying from 7:30 am - at least 8:00 pm. I came home on Thursday evening to a WONDERFUL surprise! My secret santa package had arrived!!!! My hubby had loving set it in my chair in the living room just awaiting my arrival. Of course, I had to open it right away - I already had a "hint" as to who my Santa was! My very good friend Awna had drawn my name this year! I couldn't wait to rip into the box. It was filled with crumpled pieces of wrapping paper - so I just kept digging! I came across two wrapped gifts - now, do I put them under the tree for Christmas, open one and put the other under the tree, or open them both? Of course, I chose the latter of the three! The first one I opened was an adorable altered frame in shades of retro Christmas - pink and lime. It was adorned with ribbons and a little tag at the bottom - "priceless". I LOVE it! The next gift was a little larger and oddly shaped. As I began to open it, I realized it was an altered wooden purse. Awna had coordinated the papers on it to the frame. The front had "XMAS" in large letters at the bottom. I'm thinking, "wow, these are AWESOME gifts". Then, I opened the purse - NO WAY! - it was FILLED with even more goodies. Tons of embellishments, glitter pens, ribbon, some stamps, and even a hand-made album the shape of the box. Girl - I LOVE it all - you outdid yourself! I had the BEST santa a girl could ask for! Enjoy the pix!

Down to the Wire!

Well, I've never waited this long to send out my Christmas cards! But, they are finally finished and went postal this afternoon! My cards are usually in the mail the weekend following Thanksgiving; not this year. I have no idea how I got so far behind, except for the little trips I've taken this year, and probably trying to keep up with the blog! My hubby and I were joking around that maybe I should start next year's NOW. LOL! Maybe it's not such a bad idea.....

When you send about 200, it takes quite some time. The cardstock is DCWV, the yorkie stamp is from JessicaLynn Originals, the patterned paper is Cosmo Cricket, and the remaining stamps are TAC. I think they turned out very cute - we had to include our favorite girl, Tinkerbell!

Criss-Cross

I used Nichole's Criss-Cross template to make these cute little boxes for last minute stocking stuffers. The paper is Cosmo Cricket, and I used the Holiday Treats stamp set from PaperTrey for the front. They are embellished with some simple ribbon and of course a little bling! I filled them with shredding and then some goodies for the gals.

Secret Santa

Well, I've finally finished everything! I'm so excited to be a part of a VERY special monthly swap!!! We normally swap a themed card front each month. But, December is extra special! We take the month off from card swaps and exchange names for a Secret Santa. This year, I had a BALL! I am Santa to a precious person with an amazing spirit! I couldn't surprise her too much, as she is the hostess, and had to post the partners. She loves hard candy, crazy socks and her favorite colors are pink, brown and green. I hope she LOVES her gifts!
The frame and calendar were both created using Basic Grey's Infuse collection. I embellished with coordinating ribbon and a little bling using LadyBug Jewels from Doodlebug Designs. The candy is held in an acetate box I created using Lauren's Ghiradelli template. The tag was stamped using Holiday Treats by PaperTrey. The little embellishment box is filled with some adorable socks that I picked up at Target! Enjoy, my friend!

Last Weekend

This last weekend was a blur! Saturday was Dad's 66th birthday. I made this simple outdoorsy card for him using Mountain Scenery from TAC, some brown and birch cardstock, layered with Infuse from Basic Grey. I embellished it using some brown gingham ribbon. To have my Dad with us for the last 5 years have truly been a blessing! He survived a massive heart attack in 2002, and only has about 25% function of his heart left. Every day is a gift!
We also took my sister's kids to see the Nutcracker in Amarillo, Texas. Rilee is 9, Sophie 5, and Corbin 4. They had a wonderful time! The two younger ones fell asleep during the second set, but to be expected after a long morning of travel!

Jessica's Birthday

Brody's girlfriend, Jessica aka "Jess", turns 17 tomorrow. Her favorite color is red and she asked Brody for an initial necklace. Since he's a high school student with no job or money, we had to improvise a little. I made the pendant using a picture pebble from TAC, some Basic Grey paper, ribbon, and an "S" shaped clip. The box was the Chris box from B.E. I painted it using red acrylic paint and embellished it with Basic Grey paper and a coordinating die cut. Of course I had to add a little bling with Doodlebug jewels! I sure hope she likes it!