3 Weeks until Christmas!

Of course I can't believe it! Really? Three weeks? I really need to get shopping! Here's another Christmas card idea or any occasion...

Supplies

Stamps: Medallion

Paper: Black, White, Kraft

Ink: Versamark

Accessories: Ribbon, half pearl, white ep

Thanksgiving in Charleston

Last week we went to Charleston, SC for Thanksgiving. No, we don't have any family there. We have a tradition, since all our extended families are West, that we go someplace we've never been as a family together. We had such a great time! We went to Patriot's Point where you can tour a battle ship and submarine. We now know that if our children disobey, all we have to do is threaten them that we will send them to the military and ask for them to work on a submarine and they will quickly obey! Ha! We couldn't believe how small it was inside and how many men they would fit into it. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of that because I forgot my camera that day! Darn!

Thanksgiving day we had dinner at the Renaissance Hotel and it was delicious! All the good food and none of the prep! I'm sure I will be making a turkey dinner within the week just to have the leftovers though.

On Friday, the girls went to Magnolia Plantation and shopping while the boys went to an aquarium. The boys had the camera and we bought a little throw away camera so I don't have those pictures yet.

Saturday we went to Folly Beach. The water was soooooo cold but the kids still got in up to their knees. The sand there is so soft! We loved it!

Brady
Bryson

Carston

I just love these pictures of Lacie! Anyway, it was a great vacation and fun to be together!

Week ?

I know I'm way off, but here are a few of my latest Christmas creations! The tin is a gift I made for each of the women in my stamp club. Inside is a sampling of the vanilla hodgepodge hardware.

Supplies

Stamps: Holiday Trinkets, Lots of Thoughts

Paper: Christmas Cocoa, Pacific Point, White

Ink: Versamark

Accessories: chipboard, silver cord, big shot, stars #2 die, dazzling diamonds glitter, black ep

This card is very simple yet striking I think. The flower in the center is from the True Friend stamp set. It is easily cut out by stamping the flower twice, then cutting it out with the 5 petal flower punch. You then just layer them on top of each other and you're done!

Supplies

Stamps: True Friend, Best Yet

Paper: Black, White

Ink: Versamark, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: White ep, Riding Hood Red ribbon

Melanie's Birthday

My sister Melanie just had a birthday so I made her this card. Mark calls it my 1970's card. Hey, the '70's were great! Love ya Mel!

Supplies

Stamps: Eat Cake

Paper: Real Red, Summer Sun, White, Pink Flamingo DSP

Ink: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise

Accessories: Button, Ribbon

6 weeks until Christmas

Week number 6 is here and I'm starting to feel a little bit of anxiety. Really, only 6 weeks?!? This week I wanted to show the Apple Pie filling I made and how it, or anything like it, can easily be dressed up with a simple tag.

Supplies

Stamps: Patterned Pines, All Holidays

Paper: Real Red, White

Ink: Real Red, Garden Green

Nov. Club

The first card we made was simple yet elegant. I allowed everyone to pick what color card they would like to make with it. Some picked Soft Suede, others Ruby Red and one person picked Brocade Blue. They were all gorgeous!

Supplies

Stamps: Patterned Pines, Four the Holidays

Paper: Christmas Cocoa DSP, white, various colors

Ink: various

Accessories: Rhinestone brads, satin ribbon

The next card we made was MUCH more detailed. It wasn't that hard to put together, just a lot of cutting for me! I'm so pleased with the way it came together. I made it so the Wise Men were only stuck to the small front flap so the card can be displayed so you see all the images. Love the Bella Bleu DSP!

Cynthni had a great idea to stamp the star behind the wise men. I love it when you ladies improvise!

I think the best thing about this card is the fact that it incorporates stamped Christmas images and a family photo!

Supplies

Stamps: Season of Simple Grace

Paper: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Not Quite Navy, Bella Bleu

Ink: Not Quite Navy, Sahara Sand

Accessories: Kraft taffeta ribbon

Measurements? I promised I'd give the measurements for all those who want to make this card so here it goes...

Kraft - 4-1/4 x 11, scored at 5-1/2 and 9-3/8

Very Vanilla - Holy family 1-3/4 x 2-1/2, Wise men 2-1/8 x 3, Front 2-1/4 x 4, Inside 4 x 5-1/4 (you should end up with 4 pieces of cardstock)

Not Quite Navy - Holy family 2-1/4 x 3-1/8, Wise men 1-7/8 x 2-5/8, Inside bottom 5/8 x 5-1/4

Bella Bleu - Front 1-3/8 x 4, Inside bottom 1/2 x 5-1/4

That's a lot of numbers, but worth it! :)

For our bonus, we made Christmas tree triangle boxes. I love these things! Cardstock is cut 4x11 and scored at 5-1/2". On the short ends you mark the center (which is 2"). Score a line from the center mark diagonally to the 5-1/2" score line. Do this 4 times. Fold on score lines, punch holes at the top, tie with a ribbon and it should come together like this...

Supplies

Stamps: Medallion (Love, love, love this stamp!)

Paper: Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red, Crushed Curry

Ink: Kiwi Kiss

Accessories: Heart to Heart punch, Stars #2 die

Halloween (better late than never)

The kids had a great time dressing up this year and going trick-or-treating. I love the dressing up part but when your children come home with 20lbs. (literally) of candy I wonder why we do it! Why don't we call it, "Let's all give our children diabetes day!" Ugh! Oh well, it is only once a year.

Bryson was a ninja, Lacie a '50's girl and Carston an army guy. Brady opted to go climbing with Mark and a friend and I sat at the top of the cul-de-sac with neighbors and gave out candy. It was the nicest evening, almost hot, unlike today which is cold and rainy.

Mark's Birthday

Mark's birthday was a couple of days ago so Bryson, Lacie, Carston and I snuck into his office while he was out to lunch and decorated with balloons, a sign and a candy bar cake that I made. We all hid under his desk and surprised him when he came in. (Too bad he saw our car in the parking lot! He was a good sport though!) The candy bar cake is made with paper from a kit that Stampin Up had last year. Love, love, love the paper!

This card is made with the new Sizzix cake pop-up die. It will definitely take some practice putting it together but the WOW factor was worth it!

The kids made the poster and he loved it! That night we went rock climbing and had a great time. I'm so grateful for such an amazing husband!

Witches Hat

I'm so upset I didn't get this uploaded earlier! Such a great Halloween give away. Oh well, here it is anyway!

I got this idea from another demo. and I just love it!!! So easy to put together...

Start with a piece of cardstock 4x11, fold in half. Mark it at 2" on each of the 4" sides. Score from the mark to each side of the fold, you'll do this 4 times. Fold on the score lines. Fold it up and you have your triangle. Then cut a piece of cardstock 1x7. Mark it 2" in on each side and cut a diagonal line from the mark to the corner. Adhere to the bottom of the triangle. Cut a piece of patterned paper about 3/4"x5", lay it above the hat brim and stick it on. Trim. Punch a square with your 1 3/8" square punch. Add glitter. Add a small piece of patterned paper to the center and adhere over the strip of patterned paper on the hat. Punch holes in the top with a hole punch or the Crop-a-dile and thread ribbon through. Fill with candy and tie ribbon. So cute!

Savannah's gift

I made this box for a friend who just adopted a little girl. Gotta love little girls! BTW, guess what?!? We just found out that Mark's brother and his wife are having a baby girl!!! Yea!! Out of 9 grandchildren, that's only 2 girls! Lacie will be so happy! Gotta go make something for the mom to let her know how excited we are!

8 Weeks Until Christmas

I know! I know! I'm a few days off, but it's all for a good reason. My friend Julie and I spent all day Friday canning apple pie filling. Holy cow! It is sooooo good! I've never made it before but I'm afraid this will be a new tradition. We canned 32 quarts, half of which are mine, and we used about 1 1/2 bushels of apples. I got one bushel of Pink Lady apples and 1/2 a bushel of Granny Smith apples from the farmers market. Yummy! I just love the farmers market.

Today's card is made with the Little Leaves Sizzlit and a hole punch.

Supplies

Stamps: All Holidays

Paper: Riding Hood Red, Kraft, Certainly Celery, Old Olive

Ink: Black

Accessories: Little Leaves Sizzlit, hole punch, pastels

Little Switzerland!

The fam at Linville Falls

Last week our family went to Little Switzerland, NC and had an amazing time! We hiked to four different waterfalls and all were so different and amazing!

On the river near Chimney Rock

The first day we went to Chimney Rock. We had a great time hiking and seeing the sights!

The Girls

The Boys

The Kids

Chimney Rock Falls

Lacie and Maddie at Chimney Rock Falls

Only some of us hiked to the waterfall at Chimney Rock. It's a huge drop off with a good amount of water.

That evening we went to Young's Mountain Music. It was a hoot! You get the best of North Carolina's Mountain music in a hall that changes bands about every 10 min. It also offers dancing to anyone who'd like to get up and strut their stuff. The average age of attendees is about 80. We had a ball!

Lacie and Me

Carston and Maddie

The next day we went to Linville Falls. We had a great time hiking above and down to the bottom of the falls.

Linville Falls

The kids @ Linville Falls

The Fam. @ Linville Falls

On Monday we went to an apple orchard, gem mining and we hiked to Roaring Fork Falls. This day I used my video camera to take pictures and I am still learning how to upload those so no pictures for that day.

On Tuesday we hiked Crabtree Falls, about a 3 mile hike with a beautiful waterfall in between.

Crabtree Falls

Bryson, Me, Carston and Lacie @ Crabtree Falls

I don't know if I could say which waterfall was the best, they were all so unique and beautiful! If you ever think of taking a waterfall trip, I highly recommend the book "North Carolina Waterfalls" by Kevin Adams. It's very detailed and was a great resource. Thanks to my friend Sarah for loaning it to us!