{Look at these beauties!}

OK----clearly, my last post was written and "edited" (and I use that quite loosely) with too little sleep. I wasn't using my computer---I was using Caitlin's and I'm not too familiar with a mac---I'd like to be, but for now, I'm not! Anyway, I wrote it LATE on Christmas Eve (or early Christmas morning) but couldn't get the pictures to go where I wanted them--so I waited until Christmas day to post. This meant that I needed to change it up a bit, because "last night" was no longer the 23rd, but the 24th and the morning was already over....etc. Anyway, I read through it today and was horrified---I'll do better, I promise!!!

So, back to these!!! These are Copic markers---they are a tool used in papercrafting that I've wanted for awhile, and my sweet husband bought them for me for Christmas! Did I mention that he was sweet? He's the best! These markers will make me color like Debbie Olson or Sharon Harnist. OK, OK, I know I won't color like them, but a girl can dream right? With so many stamp companies putting out stamps intended for coloring I have eyed these markers for a long time.

So, look for some coloring in a stamp project soon! I have over 40 thank you notes to write, so the coloring may have to take a back seat to my thank yous for awhile. I'd like to just knock those out tonight, but I don't think it will happen that quickly!! I hope you have a lovely evening! I'll be back soon!

Kathleen

{Merry Christmas!!}

WOW!!! It's finally here! Where did December go? I had so many lovely ideas to share with all of you---ok, the three of you, but I just couldn't find the time to get it on here. SO, I'll likely share some of our Christmas memories over the next few days when I have time to relax and rest.....and blog.

What a blessed time of year this is---it's always been my favorite time. Here's the Christmas card I sent this year---and no, none of you have gotten it yet because I just mailed them yesterday.....I won't go into details, but I just finally decided, "I MADE them and I will send them even if they are late"---so, they are late! I used PaperTrey Ink's Silent Night--I LOVE that beautiful flourish. I embossed the white cardstock with one of my square nestabilities dies. Then I just stamped the star in Ripe Avocado. I really liked the other star that is in the set, but I would have had to cut them out by hand and I just couldn't do it. I used this star and punched it out with my large star punch from Stampin' Up! I used the red ink until I ran out of ribbon, then I changed to Ocean Tides for the flourish. This card 

was really simple to do---and when you are making 80, simple is GOOD!

Here's a picture of my three babies with Santa's goodies last night! Yes, I know my 17 & 19 year olds have on matching pjs----I just COULDN'T resist! We always give one gift to open on Christmas Eve and it's always PJ's (to the great disappointment of my 7 year old this year, but, it's Christmas, and I don't want to talk about that!) Anyway, I was at Target and saw these satin pajamas and really liked them. I had two different patterns, but I just decided I'd get them matching ones like I always used to---and they just grinned and put them on! What great kids I have---wearing matching pjs just for mama at Christmas (OK, they just did it because they knew I'd whine if they didn't, but either way, it's DONE! And I have pictures forever!)

So, we got up this morning and to if Santa did in fact come to see us. Joshua is quite worried that he's on the naughty list....I really don't know why---I don't have to talk that way to him to get him to behave, but I think watching Elf last night just did him in! Anyway, what a lovely morning we will have around here! We will read the Christmas story from Luke 2---Joshua has actually memorized verses 8-20, so he wants to quote it for us---what a blessing to hear a child quote scripture.

I will leave you with Luke's account of Jesus' birth---Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift! Enjoy your day with your family---and thanks for stopping by!

Luke 2:1-20

The Birth of Jesus Christ

 In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed,who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!” 

 When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger. And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child. And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them. But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart. And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

{Some Christmas Stuff}

Here's a gift tag I made for some gifts I took to a Christmas party we had for David's work last night. We exchange gift with the people who attended. I was fortunate enough to find some beautiful platters last year the day after Christmas---half price. YEA!! I looked for bags and boxes to "gift" them in, but I didn't find anything I liked. I just decided to tie them up with tulle and attach a gift tag. I'm on my way out the door to teach this morning, so I won't go into a lot of details~the tag stamp is from PaperTrey Ink's 2008 gift tag collection---I love these. They make giving a gift more fun for me---I love beautiful presentation and these tags make that easy~

Here's a picture of the platter all tied up.

Below are some pictures of Hannah's "barbershop" group..."The Bobby Pins". They sang at a local mall last Saturday. There are five of them and the girl in the green jacket on the end is their director. This is her first year of teaching and she's doing an amazing job.

These are a little blurry---I'm not sure why. I didn't notice until I uploaded them here--oh, and Kris, I'll send you some of what I took--


Details for the tag:
Stamps: 2008 Holiday Tag Collection
Paper:Gold Shimmer Cardstock, Pure Poppy Cardstock, Stamper's Select White Cardstock (PTI), Wild Wasabi Cardstock (SU!)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (SU!), Pure Poppy (PTI),
Accessories: Fiskars Threading Water Punch, EK Success 1 3/4" circle punch, Blue Marvy Scallop Circle punch, green, red, gold cord--Michael's, Pure Poppy grosgrain Ribbon (PTI), Crop-a-dile, 1/2" circle punch (SU!)

Hugs~Kathleen

{Super Quick Gift}

...and it has a little punch, too!! A few weeks ago I saw this post by Ali Edwards (LOVE HER BLOG!). She was showing us some of her Christmas gifts she did last year---I decided I HAD to make some of these Christmas ornaments. She did some monograms---and I'm going to do some of those, too, but I made these pinecones with someone in mind.

I made this in about 3 minutes---and that includes tying the bow....seriously....that's my kind of gift! I made this for my secret santa that we do at school. I've neglected her a bit, so I had to make sure to give her something nice tomorrow. Tomorrow is my Christmas Program at school, so I've been especially busy lately getting ready for that.

Anyway, if you need a quick gift, this is the one to make---very affordable and so nice. My secret santa was a forestry major, so she loves all things "trees". I made a tag for the bag, but I don't have a picture of it---I don't have time to get one in the morning--so just imagine a tag made on Kraft cardstock using the pinecone from First Fruits---love it~

Well, that's a quick post---I hope you have a great day!!!



Pinecone ornament:
Frosted balls from AC Moore
Noel Rub Ons Value Pack (me & my BIG ideas)
Hunter Organza Ribbon

{Blessed Thanksgiving}

I wrote this post the day after Thanksgiving, but I had left my camera at my parents' house---yes, my brain is in full Christmas mode, i.e., FORGETFUL! SO, even though Thanksgiving is over, here are a few highlights of our lovely day.

Ahhhhh, there's nothing like family, food and football---and mostly in that order!! We gathered at my parents house for Thanksgiving this year. My sister and her family drove in to town and we had two other friends who didn't have a place to spend Thanksgiving. One should definitely have the opportunity to spend Thanksgiving day with a family--even if it's not your own, so we started inviting students to Thanksgiving when we began to have Thanksgiving at our home---it's a lovely tradition. We actually try to do it for most family holidays.

We had the usual foods to eat---but my mama always makes everyone's favorite pie---so, for the 13 people we had at the dinner, there were 7 pies---YES, seven...that's my mom!!! Can you believe I forgot to take a picture of the pies? We were all zombies by then---struck with the mythological Tryptophan. So, you will have to imagine 1 pecan, 1 banana cream, 1 coconut cream, 1 cracker, 1 buttermilk, & 2 chocolate pies---all of them are amazing. Recipes upon request!!!

Wednesday morning I got up and decided that I had to make a Thanksgiving menu and place cards. I had intended to do this for a long time, but it just never happened in the midst of the Christmas Scrapbook and Christmas gifts I'm working on. So, with only a few hours before we were to go to my parents house I pulled up to the table and began cutting paper!
This is what I came up with. I was strongly influenced by Debbie Olson, one of my Stamping Idols from her post here. Joshua wanted his table art in the picture, too---so, there it is!

I have decided that anyone can papercraft---it's all about the right tools....so, I just keep buying "tools" because they make me look good! ; } I started with some Kraft cardstock and First Fruits patterened paper from PaperTrey Ink. This made it so fast and easy! I love this pineapple paper, so I used it to dress up the place cards before attaching the image. I stamped some fall leaves and the pineapple from First Fruits onto Vintage Cream cardstock using the rock and roll technique. Because of time, I punched out the leaves with the Giga Marvy oval punch, and layered it with the Giga Scallop Oval punch. I used my nestabilities dies for the pineapple. I was going to use the pineapple on my nametags, but it was so large that it seemed to overwhelm them, so I just used the leaf instead. For the name tags, I simply printed the names onto Very Vanilla cardstock and ran them through my cuttlebug using the ribbon tag dies from Spellbinders. I threaded some saddle stitch ribbon through them and used redline tape on the back to hold them in place. I wanted to ink up the edges, but I just didn't have time before we left.

For the menu, I printed it out in brown ink and glued it onto Kraft cardstock. This was really a fast table embellishment and it made me happy!

Oh, and did I forget football? Of course, football was on all day long after the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Some pro games were on, but my little family really doesn't care about professional football. (My dad does---this is why it was on all day!!) But we LOVE College football. My husband and oldest daughter will watch ANY college football game. But at 8:00pm EST, one of the biggest game in our family every year came on---University of Texas vs. Texas A&M. BIG game!!! SO, we really enjoyed that game---since UT won!! We haven't really enjoyed it quite so much the last few years!! I won't go on about the mourning for UT after the BSC polls came out on Sunday, although I could---but I digress into places that most of you care nothing about.

Before our family ate, my dad had us sit at the table and he told us of a quote he read years ago by a theologian. I can't remember exactly what it said, but it was something about this theologian writing about his "last chapter" of his life being his best. So, my dad proceeded to tell us of all the different chapters in his life--comparing them to those around the table---telling us about his life at the age of 7, as a teenager, at 19, in his forties, etc. Then he talked about the chapter he's in now---his "final chapter" and how he knew that it would be his best---because that's just the way the Lord is. He doesn't leave us because we grow old, or lose our job, or get sick, or whatever "bad" thing is going on in our lives. My dad has had a hard time with retirement---he's felt unfulfilled and sometimes useless---what a blessing that he is starting to see that this chapter, his "final chapter" can be his best. I hope his final chapter is a LONG and fulfilling chapter for him. This left me thinking that whatever chapter we are in, we should strive to make it our best chapter. To remember whom we serve and that HE is able to make our chapter the best. I hope you will make this day a great day, remembering how blessed you are.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (ESV)

Hugs~
Kathleen

Placecard/Menu stuff:
Stamps: First Fruits (PTI)
Paper: Kraft, Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, Vintage Cream, First Fruits Patterned Paper (PTI), Pumpkin Pie (SU!)
Ink: Pure Poppy, Summer Sunrise, Ripe Avocado, Dark Chocolate
Tools: Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Giga oval and scallop oval punches (Marvy), Corner Rounder (SU!)
Accessories: Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitch ribbon

{Note to self}

Don't wash your camera battery in the washing machine---especially if you don't have an extra...I hope to be back to posting when I get a new battery---which will likely be tomorrow---I'm quite dependent on my camera~~~

Have a good one---oh, and no laughing at me!

Kathleen

{A "Big" Birthday!}

I love birthdays!!! And I really love "BIG" birthdays---unless I'm having one!!! So, a friend of our's is having a "BIG" birthday, and I needed to make her a card. I used one of my favorite stamps---Leaning Tower of Stella from Stamping Bella---Emily draws the greatest characters! I LOVE this one---of course, it probably has something to do with the fact that I love cupcakes, but that's for another post!

I used Beate's sketch(WSC65) from last week. I hadn't gotten to it yet, but I really liked it. Here's the sketch: I turned it on it's side. I used the patterened paper as my inspiration---it's from the Basic Grey's Cupcake Pad. When I saw the swirls in the paper, I knew I had to use the swirl stamp in the Silent Night set by Papertrey. I love how this flourish took the embossing powder. I stamped it with a Versamark pad and then used clear embossing powder on it. The detail is so nice---I didn't know how it would actually come out, but I like it.

Anyway, I used Ripe Avocado for my background. I stamped Stella on PTI white cardstock and colored her in with my SU markers---and a little aquapainter here and there. I went a little crazy with the Dazzling Diamond's glitter! I just love that stuff---I don't use it very often, but when I do I always tell myself I should use it more. It's nice and fine and sticks well. I mounted Stella on Pure poppy cardstock. I added Crystal Effects on the cherry. I stamped and colored two more cupcakes and cut them out. I used one more for the accent on the card and one on the inside. I stamped Yummalicious on white cardstock and punched it out with the word window punch. I attached it to my card using an American Crafts brad.










I stamped the inside with one of my favorite sentiments from Stamping Bella. I made a matching bag but forgot to photograph it---I thought of it when she commented on it last night. It made me sad. Oh well, you can imagine it---

Well, I'm heading into my room to create something---I'm not sure what! I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Thanks for looking~

Kathleen

Charlotte's Stella:
Stamps: Leaning Tower of Stella, Yummalicious, It's a Cupcake Thing (Stamping Bella), Silent Night (PTI)
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI) Cupcake 6x6 pad (Basic Grey)
Ink: Palette Noir, Versamark, Chocolate Chip, Close to Cocoa, Blush Blossom (SU!)
Accessories: Brocade Blue, Real Red, Summer Sun, Blush Blossom, Close to Cocoa, Old Olive Markers, Stampin' Dimensionals, Mini Glue Dots, Word Window Punch, Dazzling Diamonds Glitter, Two Way Glue, Crystal Effects, Aquapainter (SU!), Cherry Medium Brad (American Crafts)

{Kristina Werner's Color Inspiration Challenge 30}

Kristina Werner does this great color challenge every week---every week I look at it and think..."Hmmmm, I'm going to get to that this week"....and most week's I don't. This week I did. I needed a couple thank you notes FAST. So, I decided to make them using these colors---here they are---what do you think?

If you are a stamper, you should check out her challenges--she's one of my favorites!

The details are below! Have a great day!
Kathleen~

Color Inspiration Thank you's:
Stamps: Remember, First Fruits, Mixed Messages (PTI)
Paper: Old Olive, Certainly Celery, Sahara Sand (SU!) Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Old Olive, Certainly Celery (SU!)
Accessories: 3-D Glue Dots, Mini Glue Dots, Foof-a-la Buttons, 5/8" grosgrain ribbon in Certainly Celery, & Old Olive, (SU!) Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Cuttlebug (Provocraft)

{Advent Calendar}

I love this advent calendar idea that Beate Johns created last year and showed us on Splitcoast. You can find the tutorial here. I made one last year and wanted to make one this year as a gift. I had a terrible time photographing it---I tried it numerous times. Finally I decided that perfectionism never got anything posted, so I'd just deal with the pictures I had and post them anyway!!!

I started out with a canvas from AC Moore and painted it red. I used Ripe Avocado cardstock and Holiday Vintage Prints patterned paper from Papertrey Ink. (I had originally intended to show this for the PTI October Blog Hop, but I got messed up on the days and missed it---oh well! But, the polka dots would have been perfect!!!)
I used my square nestabilities dies and scallop squares to cut the paper uniformly. The tins are covered with a different pattern from the same paper pack....and the background piece for the words on top is yet another piece.
I stamped the wreath with Rustic Branches and added crystal effects to the berries for some texture. The brads are some medium cherry brads from American Crafts. The letters are from Tall Tales Alphabet. I stamped them in Versamark ink on Ripe Avocado cardstock and embossed them with clear embossing powder from Ranger.The numbers and border are from Just Rite stampers--again I stamped them using Versamark and then embossed them with Filigree Detail Gold Embossing Powder. I added a piece of Ripe Avocado Saddle Stitch ribbon to each side of the canvas and tied it in a ribbon at the top as a hanger.

The project is actually an easy one. I like the size of the tins because the gifts inside have to be small to fit! Last year, I typed a list of some of the items for the month--like tickets to the Nutcracker for the whole family, or Christmas Movie night to make it possible to present things that were a little bigger than the tin. It really helped my 7 year old get through some of those LONG, LONG days until Christmas. If you don't have a calendar---you should try this one--if I can do it, anyone can!

Have a great day!
Kathleen

Calendar stuff:
Stamps: Tall Tales Alphabet (SU!), Rustic Branches (PTI), Just Rite Medium/Large Number set
Paper: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy, Holiday Vintage Paper (PTI)
Ink: Ripe Avocado, Pure Poppy (PTI), Versamark
Tools: Cuttlebug (Provocraft), Circle, Scallop Circle, Square, Scallop Square Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Heat Tool (Marvy),
Accessories: Medium Cherry Brads (American Craft) Favor Tins (Wilton), Crystal Effects (SU!), Velcro Dots, Zots 3-D adhesive dots

{Making Memories}

Here are a few pictures from the last week in the Nelson family. David came home from Africa on Monday after being gone for nearly two weeks. His requests were---Mexican food, an American Coca-cola and a hot shower. He had had a cold shower 6 days straight, so he would have been happy with a luke warm one! We went to On The Border when he got in. Caitlin and "the boy" met us there---I would tell you that I would elaborate in another post about "the boy", but she'd likely kill me, so just know that there is "a boy" (and I really like him!). We love it when the whole family gets together---this doesn't happen as often as we'd like. I remember when I had toddlers and older women would tell me "enjoy this time because it will go by so fast". I would think---"yeah, you don't know what I'm going through everyday!!!"--- my life was so hard!!! ; } But, it's so true--and I know it makes me appreciate all the little things in my children/family even more now that I've had one leave for college. Life flies by and we need to LOVE the moment we are in--even if it's filled with diapers and spilled cheerios---OK---enough of that!

Here are some pumpkin carving pictures! Until I learn to digiscrap or get back into scrapbooking, you'll have to indulge me while I "scrapbook" on my posts!!!

David making the initial cut to begin the process!

I love this part of pumpkin carving! I titled this picture "Ewww!"

Hannah and Joshua beginning the "cleaning out" process! Hannah had to babysit, so she missed most of this~

Joshua enjoying the slime!

David cutting Joshua's design. He decided he wanted to carve a happy face on the front of the pumpkin and a scary/sad face on the back. We thought that was a cool idea.


Joshua with the happy face

Joshua with the mean face---the nasty part was there intentionally--"he looks scarier that way."
The name of Joshua's jack-o-lantern
Cuburbita hypocrita or "two-faced pumpkin"
We took the teachable moment to explain what this Latin term means--that Classical education at work---and what that means in our lives as Christians

Carving a pumpkin with your dad~priceless!!

Here are a few pictures of Commander Cody/Joshua for Halloween. We had a low key night---ran out of candy too fast and just enjoyed the moment. I'm not sure how much longer he'll want to do this, so I want to capture every moment in my mind!

Have a great day!

{For Nathan}

So sorry for the poor quality of this shot. I've taken it several different times in different light and this is the best I could do.

This is for my sweet nephew's birthday---I'm late, but I did get it done. This was such a quick card. I used the Unfrogettable set from SU! I was going to color it with my Prismacolor markers, but I ended up opting for my SU! markers and did it quickly. I'm just a slow stamper, so trying something that I don't do often takes me forever. I started out using my aquapainter, but I'm just awful with it, so I just colored (and not too well, either, so don't look too close!) I added the crowns at the last minute because it just seemed so plain. I used my Deco-Color Gold Extra Fine Paint pen to color the crowns---my son thought that was soooo cool. He wanted to do his homework with the pen, but I decided that his teacher might not appreciate it! To give a little something to this card I added the google eyes---everything is more fun with google eyes! I scalloped some paper from the Summer Picnic designer paper from SU! and called it done!

For the gift, I got a Target giftcard---he lives out of town and this is something I know he'll like.
Again, I used the Kristina Werner giftcard holder, which by now you have seen no less than 5 times, but for the amount of time I have, I just can't beat it. It's simple and versatile! I used more paper from Summer picnic and used my nestabilities dies to cut the oval and scalloped oval.
So, there it is, a quick post and a fast gift (we won't mention the late part again)---I already have enough guilt! ; }


Have a great day~

Unfrogettable Nathan:
Stamps: Unfrogettable (SU!)
Paper: Old Olive, Summer Picnic DP (SU!), Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI)
Ink: Palette Noir, Old Olive (SU!)
Accessories: Google Eyes, Deco-Color Gold Extra Fine Paint pen, oval and scallop oval nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Cuttlebug (Provocraft) Old Olive marker (SU!), Mini glue dots, 3-D Glue dots (Zots), 20% Warm Grey Marker (Prismacolor)

{Gift for Coach}

Joshua has his last soccer game today. It's raining, but this is a make up from a rained out game earlier in the season, so I guess they decided rain or shine, it had to be played. SOOOOOO, we are headed to a game today in the nastiness---of course, if you are a seven year old boy, this is like heaven to you!!! Playing in the rain without your mom complaining about it---what a great day!

I'm the "team mom"--which in this league just consists of sending a weekly e-mail and buying the trophy and coach's gift for the last game. This is can do---being the team mom of these traveling teams and all the arrangements that go into that---not for me!

We got the coach a giftcard, so I just made a giftcard holder (Kristin Werner's again---I know, I've made a bunch, but they are SOOOOO quick and easy and that's what I love!) for him and a card that has room for everyone to sign. I also had this bag that I added some paper to and voila, a "gift ensemble". Doesn't that sound a lot nicer than it is!? :)

I made this card using the only "soccer" thing I have--this ball is from Stampin' Up!'s Good Sport. I'm pretty sure it's retired. I still use it for all things "sporty", so I can't get rid of it. I used some paper from my stash. I looked on the back and it said Bo Bunny Press, Romance Dots. I just needed the color scheme so I went with the paper. I used these colors because the team colors are black and red and white, so this paper made it easy. I also embossed some basic black with the spots & dots embossing folder for some texture. The layout was a spin on Jen delMuro's Sketch for You to Try from last week.

I stamped the ball on Basic Black paper with Craft White ink and then heat embossed it with some Ranger white embossing powder.

I made the tag with Nestabilities tag dies and used the sentiments from Rustic Branches. I tied some ribbon on there---is that too much for a man's card? Do you use ribbon on cards for men?

I added white paper with stamped soccer balls on the inside of the card. I don't usually decorate the inside, but I wanted to make sure we had enough space for everyone to sign it. Of course, I should have had this card at practice on Thursday, but that's not how I operate---sadly. But, it will get done either way!The gift card holder is very much like the card. The link I gave you above --(Kristina Werner's)
will take you to her blog which has a link to her template for these giftcard holders---these are honestly so fast and you could whip out a bunch of them quickly for Christmas gifts if you needed to.

Well, I'm positive this is WAY more information than you wanted to know! Thanks for peeking in today---I hope your Saturday is a great one.

I hope to be back tomorrow with my Papertrey Blog Hop project---if I can get it finished and photographed! I should be able to work on it tonight.

Hugs~
Kathleen

Gift Ensemble Stuff:
Stamps: Good Sport (SU!), Rustic Branches (PTI)
Paper: Pure Poppy, Stamper's Select White (PTI), Basic Black (SU!) Romance Dots (Bo Bunny Press), Pious-Scarlett's Letter (Basic Grey) (on bag)
Ink: Craft White (SU!) Palette Noir,
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spots & Dots Embossing Folder, Heat tool
(Provocraft), Nestabilities Tag die (Spellbinders)
Accessories: Vintage Brads (SU!), Pure Poppy grosgrain ribbon (PTI). White Embossing Powder (Ranger)

{SFYTT Snowman}

Hello all---

YIKES! Another week has gone by without a post---I can't believe it! I'm working on a lot of Christmas presents, so I haven't gotten much done that I can post yet!

I did decide to do Jen's Sketch for You to Try this week. I always like her sketches, but I hadn't done one in awhile.

I LOVE this little snowman and I had been itching to use this new Papertrey Ink Patterned Paper Polka Dot Parade. I thought the pattern with Ripe Avocado, Ocean Tides and Aqua Mist were perfect for this little guy.

I need to run an errand before I pick up Joshua, so this will be short (OK, as short as I can do!) I used Jen's sketch and the patterned paper, so I already had a layout and a color scheme---what else did I need?



I stamped the snowman and then paper pieced his hat and his gloves. I glued his gloves onto linen thread and stuck them to the dimensional glue dot on the back of the snowman. I used buttons as my accents and I didn't use ribbon---it's a miracle! I decided that linen thread could pass as a ribbon---of sorts---yeah, that's my story! So, there it is--a quick card---just for fun!















Snowman stuff:
Stamps: Made of Snow Paper: Ocean Tides, Ripe Avocado, Aqua Mist, Polka dot Parade Ink: Palette Noir, Ripe Acocado, Ocean Tides Accessories: Foof-a-la buttons, Corner Rounder, Linen thread (SU!), 3-D glue dots (Zots), Swiss Dot CB embossing folder, Cuttlebug

If you are still here---I have to show these two pictures---the first one is honestly just minutes after Joshua woke up on Monday morning--remember he had been to church the day before, so he had the leftover "gel" in his hair. I knew it was time for a haircut---but WOW---nothing tells the truth like a picture. SO, what do you think? Should I have left it?Or, should I have done this? It's really too late to ask, but I just thought I'd get your thoughts!! Ahhh, much better!
Have a great day~
Kathleen