Christmas 2009

Oh my! Tomorrow is Christmas Eve. Where has this year gone? I had so many plans to work on my blog at least once a week, but, the best laid plans of mice and men! We will be going to our youngest son's tomorrow to spend the night, enjoy a Christmas dinner, watch our three little granddaughters open their presents and share a wonderful day with this small portion of our family.

Our youngest daughter spent last night with us as they headed for Yellowstone for Christmas. When we woke up this morning it was snowing and continued to snow most of the day. We love it when there is fresh snow as it is so pristine and beautiful. The trees are covered with white and look as if they are ready to be brought in and decorated. We worried about their trip on to Yellowstone, but they made it safely and are hoping to have a great time. It is nice that we live between them and Yellowstone. We enjoyed their brief visit.

I spent a little time today working on my dear husband's Christmas card and wanted to show you what I did. I never know exactly what I will do, but when I found the designer paper, I knew how it should look. I think it turned out beautifully and I hope he will like it too. Of course, I wrote a special message to him on the inside. I hope you like it.

I have also been working on Birthday cards and I like how this one turned out. As I mentioned before, I make all the birthday card for the ladies in my Church and I enjoy that so much. This was one that I made for these beautiful ladies. I found a pack of paper that I had purchased some time ago and the papers all coordinated so well. I had been on a brown kick for a while and it was refreshing to work with this purple/lavender layout.

I would like to thank those who have chosen to follow my blog. I really had not expected more than my family to enjoy seeing my work, but it has been wonderful to find that others are enjoying it too. In just one week I will be celebrating my 72nd Birthday! When I was in High School I didn't think I could possible live to the year 2000 and here it is 2010 in just 8 more days. The fun part of having my birthday on December 31st is that the whole world celebrates with me!!

I want to wish each and every one of you a Very Merry Christmas and may your New Year be filled with wonders and joyful happenings. I feel so blessed by my Savior and pray that he will continue to bless not only me, but also each of you.

L Letterpress - Fantastic new tool for crafters!!

Wow! I cannot believe I have JUST discovered this marvelous new tool for crafters everywhere. I thought I was doing so good by owning a few Spellbinders, my Cuttlebug, etc., but "you ain't seen nothin' yet" till you see the new L Letterpress put out by Quickutz! OMG! What an awesome piece of equipment!

They are offering a chance to win this unbelievable new tool and you can find out all the details by checking it out here:

L Letterpress Giveaway!

In the spirit of the holiday season, we here at L are giving away an L Letterpress Combo Kit , valued at $150, plus your own custom printing plate, valued at $39.99. Included in the kit is everything you need to be on your way to letterpress bliss.

Here's what's on the table:
L Letterpress
Epic Six Letterpress and Die-cutting Tool
Clear Packing Mat with Grid
Paper Placement Guides
Ink Base
Brayer
Ten A2 flat cards
Nine Printing Plates
Tube of Black Ink
Circle Cutting Dies

PLUS

One Custom Printing Plate

HOW TO ENTER

There are a whopping 3 ways you could win. Yes, you may have to do a little work, but this combo kit is so worth it.

1. Leave one comment in the comments section if you become a follower of the L Blog.
2. Leave one comment in the comments section if you become a fan/follower of L on Facebook or Twitter.
3. Leave one comment in the comments section if you post this giveaway on your own blog and link to us.

So for each of the things you do listed above, leave a separate comment in the comments section. Got it? Do all three things listed and you up your chances.

THE RULES

No entries after midnight Pacific Time, Monday December 21.
Please no more than three entries per person.
We wouldn't want you to be on the naughty list this year, now would we?

The winner will be randomly selected from the entries and announced Tuesday, December 22.

Happy Holidays from L!
and...Good Luck.

Now, isn't this exciting and impressive?

This is number one on my wishlist for Christmas (or my Birthday).

TMITA Recipe Card

Okay, I am about to do something I have never done before. For the first time ever I am actually participating in a blog challenge. "There is Magic in the Air" has a blog hop going on right now, from December 9 through December 13, 2009.

AND NOW FOR THE....."RECIPE CHALLENGE"

To be eligible for the give-a-ways and the chance of a being a Guest Designer for February. You must have:

1. Started here and left a comment on all 10 blogs including this one.
2. Completed the “secret sentence” challenge by Dec. 13th
3. Participate in this “Recipe Challenge” with your project linked back here by Dec. 13th. 10:00 PM EST.

The "Recipe Challenge" consists of using the free image "Fancy Surprise" ( provided by TMITA) and... ... you MUST follow this "Recipe" to make a card:

Use 1 tag
Add 2 textures
Mix in 3 pattern papers
fold in 4 pieces of ribbon
and sprinkle with 5 brads or 5 buttons

You may also use one color card stock outside the color of the base of your card if you like, but only one.

You have until Sunday, Dec. 13th to link your card back here to Mr. Linky and to fulfill the requirements. If you are not sure about the requirements for all the give-a-ways you can find them here. All winners will be posted on TMITA’s blog on Saturday, December 19th. Good Luck and mostly just have fun!!

So, I decided that I really wanted to try this one. I have already completed items 1 and 2. The secret sentence was: Paper Cupcakes where the main ingredient is Love! Isn't that adorable? So now here is my card creation (in fact, I am actually going to post two of them, but the first one is the my entry for this fun challenge.) I made the other one first and wasn't thrilled with the results, so I tried it again and am much happier with the results.

I started with Stampin' Up's new In Color cardstock, Dusty Durango. I used a Martha Stewart wide punch for the center and dry embossed the upper part with Cuttlebugs Embossing Folder, Swiss Dots, for my first texture. I printed my cupcake and mouse image on white cardstock at 2 1/2 inches wide, then I use my Labels One Nestabilites to cut him out and cut the companion piece from Stampin' Up's Dusty Durango Designer Series Paper, my first patterned paper. I colored the image with Copic markers. I also used a gold pen to trace around the embossed edge of the DSP and SU Chocolate Chip marker to trace around the cupcake image. I placed my first brad in the bottom corner.

I cut another half inch wide piece of patterned paper from SU DSP, my second patterned paper, and added three star brads (the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of five brads) then adhered this to the top of the card. I placed the punched and embossed white paper beneath this patterned paper and I used my third piece of SU DSP under the punched out area. (I am disappointed that it doesn't show up, it is a stripe that is just hidden behind the punch pattern.) I placed my first piece of ribbon across the bottom of the embossed area, just above the punched out piece.

For my tag I used a tag stamp from Stampology! I just got that today and am so in love with it already! I trimmed it and used my corner rounder to clean it up. My 5th brad went on the tag. I also attached the 2nd and 3rd pieces of ribbon, using the brad to hold them on the tag. Then I added a tiny brown ribbon bow just under the image for my 4th piece of ribbon. The final touch, don't forget I had to use two textures, I sprayed gold glitter on the entire card. I am afraid it doesn't show up on my photo. But all in all I think it turned out fairly good.

This is the second card. Same basic idea only done on blue cardstock, with a larger tag (also from the Stampology tag set) and a smaller image. Otherwise pretty much the same. But I think the other card turned out much, much better. I hope you enjoy seeing what I did.

TMITA

There's Magic in the Air is having a Recipe Blog Hop. What fun to participate in this blog hop. There are a bunch of great recipes, some truly awesome projects and you have the chance to win some awesome prizes! http://theresmagicintheair.blogspot.com/

I just finished Nina's Blog hop and the secret sentence was: Paper Cupcakes, where the main ingredient is Love! The blog hop runs from December 9th through 13th, 2009. Hop on over to check it out!!!

Thanks for such a fun hop.

Christmas cards

Wow! It has definitely been a long time since I posted anything. I have been so busy with making my Christmas cards and getting presents made that I haven't had time to think about posting. So here goes. I think I finally have all my Christmas cards finished. Though I probably will think of a few more before Christmas. I figured that I need about 40 cards this year.

I also was able to finally get some cards created to put in a local book store. I hear that I have sold one already, but was certainly hoping to sell a few more before Christmas. It is just so exciting to know that I have been invited to make cards for the store. This was by invitation and it is so exciting.

Well, without further ado, here are the cards I have made for this Christmas:



This card was CASEd from a card I fell in love with by Selma Stevenson at http://selmasstampingcorner.blogspot.com/. Her card was done in silver and white, but I didn't have any silver paper, so I used the Pure Luxury Good as Gold metallic cardstock from Gina K. The Merry Christmas stamp I picked up at Michaels, but I have no idea where I picked up the little Christmas tree. I used two cuttlebug embossing folders, the Dotted Swiss and the new Candy Cane stripes. The little embellishments were picked up when I was at Archiver's in Orem, UT last summer. The ribbon was picked up at Hobby Lobby. The ovals were cut out using the Spellbinder's Nestabilities Petite Scallop oval die cuts. This is stunning in silver as well as the gold.




This is one of my favorites too. A dear friend gave me the stamp she had picked up at an Estate sale. Wasn't that a wonderful treat? The cardstock is Gina K's All Spruced Up. Isn't it such a gorgeous shade of green? The ribbon is also from Gina K and is the Christmas Stripe. I also made this one in red, using Gina K's Rocket Red and the ribbon is Christmas Plaid, also from Gina K. I cannot remember where I got the sentiment stamp from, but I used the matching Vintage Green by Vivid. I also used a gold pen to outline the inside green cardstock. I then colored the nativity scene with Copic markers. It turned out so wonderful.




For this one I used Stampin' Up's new In Color Rich Razzleberry. It was fun to use a non-traditional color for a Christmas card. The stamps are from Gina K's design team member
Theresa Momber, called A Very Merry Christmas. Isn't that fireplace just so warm and cozy? I colored it with colored pencils by EK Success. I used glossy photo paper for the embossed background sheet. That is a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The ribbon is also from Stampin' Up's new In Color Rich Razzleberry. I also had fun using my Spellbinder's Nestabilities Classic Rectangle Scallop and Regular die cuts. That is one tool everyone should have.

Well, I wish a Merry Christmas to everyone and pray you will have family and friends to celebrate this special day that we remember the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

Breast Cancer Research

Check out Cutting Above! They are giving away a free Provo Craft, Pink Journey cartridge. For each machine purchased, fifty dollars will be donated to the Susan B. Komen foundation for breast cancer research. Now this is such a worthy cause. Who hasn't been affected in some way by breast cancer? Just click on the Cutting Above blinkie and it will take you to the information for how to win that cartridge.

Welcome to our newest granddaughter!

Wow! Our 4th great-granddaughter is over one month old already. Then, on September 29th, our 25th granddaughter, Katherine Nicolle, entered this crazy world. We are worried about her, as she was born three weeks early because Mommy "failed" the Stress test! Her little lungs hadn't developed properly and she has to be on oxygen for at least one month. She spent a whole week in the hospital because she had developed Strep B and pneumonia. But on Monday she was able to go home, after Mommy spent a night at the hospital learning how to handle the monitor going off during the night. We are so excited that she is able to be home with her family!

She has a two big brothers, Derek, who is 17 years old, Ben, who just turned 5, and three "big" sisters, Tasha, 14 years old, Cassie, 10 years old and Lizzy who is now about 16 months old. The boys were hoping for another brother, but will love Katie anyway! We live more than one days drive away so we won't get to see her for a while. However, our son has posted some pictures on his webpage and she is such a cutie. Lots and lots of black hair, she weighed 6 lbs. 12 ozs and 19 1/2 inches long. Life just keeps getting busier and busier. There are now 12 grandsons and 13 granddaughters. My husband promised when we got married that he would keep life interesting and it sure is that!

I won, I won, I won

I am so excited! I won the "A Very Merry Christmas" stamp set from Gina K.!! It has already come in the mail and I have been having so much fun working with the set. I will have a card ready to post soon. I have tried several things and am deciding which way I want to go with it for my Christmas cards this year. There are so many possibilities and I just can't decide how to do it. I am also waiting until I have some extra cash so I can order some of her new paper, ink and ribbon. Check out the Gina K. Designs blog! Gina K. rocks! I love the stamptv.ning blog site too. She has so many terrific video tutorials. I don't know how she does it all! What a fantastic woman.

Cutting Above/Gypsy

Check out HSN September 24th. Watch the HSN/Provo Craft launch on September 24th starting at 12 AM. Be sure to DVR or TIVO the show if you will not be home. While watching see if you can spot our very own Maggie and friends doing a 10 second infomercial using the Gypsy!! Gypsy is the new, fantastic tool that will expand the value of your Cricut cartridges.

More exciting news!! Cutting Above is THE new place for industry news, review information, tutorials, videos and just about anything else related to scrapbooking and die cut machines!! They are even offering you a chance to win a new Gypsy. Check out the debut of the new Cutting Above blog at http://cuttingabove.blogspot.com/2009/09/cutting-above-gypsy-giveaway.html.

Odds and ends

What a long time since I last posted. I have been very busy this summer. We decided to plant our first ever garden this year and it has been fun, as well as lots of work. We opted for the square foot garden and it has been an interesting experiment. We only have one box this year and will definitely add a couple more for next year, even though it wasn't very productive this year. The first mistake was in deciding to do this too late in the summer. Next year we will get started earlier and be a little more diligent in what we plant. We did have a few good items, like some great tomatoes, a few zucchini and yellow crookneck squash. But the big item was our trash barrel of Yukon Gold potatoes! Next year we will have three barrels and plant three different types of potatoes.

We have also made a couple of trips this summer. First to visit our oldest son and his family in North Logan, UT. Their second son returned from two years in Barcelona Spain! He served a mission there and it was really great to have him back home. The next trip was to meet our newest great-grandchild. Elena was born on August 26th and we enjoyed getting acquainted with her. She is the fourth great-grandchild, but first girl. Next up will be a trip to see my sister and her husband in Anaconda, MT. They are going to be there for a week and then follow us back home to finally see our new home in Billings. In October, we hope we will be able to go down to Orem, UT and meet our 25th grandchild.

I also keep very busy with my cardmaking. I have been asked to make all the birthday cards for the ladies in our church. That amounts to more than 100 cards a year. Then there are about 60 or so members of the family. Add to that all the new babies, anniversaries, weddings and holidays, you can see that this keeps me very busy. But this is my first love (after my husband and family) and I treasure every moment spent in my craft room. I also spend a lot of time online, checking out all the cardmaking blogs to get new ideas. I will try and be more diligent about posting.
Here are a couple of my recent cards.

Black & White

This card was inspired by Gina K. She had a
challenge to create something in black and white.
I had seen a card on another blog that caught my eye with three panels. So I decided to incorporate the two ideas and came up with this beauty. My card is black and I used my CuttleBug Swiss Dots Embossing folder for the white background.

I then used my Stampin' Up ticket corner punch as I think it gives that card some personality. I stamped three panels with the retired Stampin' Up set "Long Stemmed" from the year 2000.

I was also interested in Gina's challenge to do something on the diagonal. So I used the black and white ribbon from corner to corner. To stay with the effect I also used the ticket punch on the black matting behind the flowers and on the flowers. These would also look beautiful if they were colored, but I think that the black and white effect is very elegant and the swiss dots really add to that effect.

I am very happy with the way this turned out and hope you like it too.