It's Christmas Eve!

Have you been following the Advent Box Project on the A Muse blog? They have featured a box each day designed by one of the Muses. I chose to do the 19th because it's my birthday. I used the Party Chick and made the party hat into a Santa hat ( I even flocked the rim and pom). I stamped it in black ink onto the Vintage Red scalloped square then stamped again on white paper and colored it in with Copics. I cut out the body, then 3D mounted it over my black stamped image. Inside the box I put a holiday cupcake ornament and added the sentiment "Merry Birthday" using 2 different stamps. The picture doesn't show it but on the other side of the box, I stamped a cupcake to match the ornament using the Cupcake Builder set. I added a hanger to my box by wrapping a thin piece of cardstock around it and pleating it at the top so I could punch a hole and add a ribbon hanger. I think these would be fun to hang from the tree or string across a fireplace mantle.

It is definitely going to be a white Christmas in the Pacific Northwest. We already have over a foot of snow and I woke up to the flakes falling again this morning. It is very beautiful but doesn't make getting around for holiday shopping and family gatherings very easy. I am hosting Christmas tomorrow and sure hope we don't have to postpone it because nobody can get here.
I know the snow won't slow Santa down though! (I wish I had a flying sleigh to get around in this stuff)


The kids love playing in the snow but Cadet's not too sure what to think about it. We dug him a path and a "potty pad" so he could go out and do his "business" because apparently there are some jobs too big to do in a foot of snow.


Wishing you all a joyous and peaceful holiday!

A Chip off the Ol' Block

My son Sam(8 yrs old) is very creative. He recently discovered that he can learn how to do all sorts of things by watching tutorials on YouTube. It all started with a stick man animation program called "Pivot". He spends hours animating that guy and browsing tutorials to figure out how to get the most out of the program. Once he figured out that online tutorials were a great resource, he decided to teach himself to do card tricks. Now he carries his cards with him everywhere waiting for the opportunity to show off his new skill. I'm really looking forward to seeing family over the holidays so he'll have a new audience because it seems I can't even use the bathroom without him trying to show me a card trick!

A few mornings ago my feet had barely hit the floor as I was waking up and he was there, all excited to tell me what he'd discovered that morning on YouTube. "I found some craft tutorials, Momma!. This lady taught me how to make a wallet out of paper!" and then he proceeded to name off the supplies he'd need to make his project (Gimme a break kid, can I at least have some coffee first?).


The night before he had asked me if he could try my special markers (gasp! My Copics?). I had just received these new stamps in the mail from Pink Poison and was busy coloring away. I caved but not until after I lectured him a bit on just how "special" (expensive) my markers were and that he could only use them with permission. He did an awesome job! Here is the paper wallet he made and the the Quarterback Ian from Pink Poison that he colored to put on the front, isn't he cute?

I'm in love with these new stamps. I have several of the Anyas and all of the Ians so far. I think my current favorites are the Mermaid and Rock Girl Anya's. Here are some cards I made using those images. You can also check out my SCS gallery for more Anya and Ian fun!

Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts

Tonight I participated in my first VMAA and had so much fun! They post new challenges every 30 minutes and you have that much time to make a card in that theme. Normally I don't do these sort of events because I don't stamp well under pressure but A Muse images are so easy to work with that I decided to play. Here are my cards:





This first challenge (A Christmas Story) was to make a card for a child.
















The "Polar Express" challenge was to make a wintery card in whites and blues with lots of glitter.
















The"Scrooged" challenge was to make a card with staples. This one ended up very plain but was the hardest to make. First I couldn't find my stapler, then I messed up the staples (twice). I was going for surgery staples.......












This challenge was called "Home Alone" and it was to make a card that reminds you of when you were a kid. We didn't have much money through some of my childhood so we had a few "Charlie Brown" Christmas trees and that's what this image reminds me of. There was always plenty of love to go around though.












All of the challenges were based on holiday movies so it's appropriate that the bonus and final round was to create a card based on your favorite holiday movie. This was tough because I knew of a lot of stamps I could've used but I didn't own them. I ended up punching out and glittering Frosty the Snowman and this sentiment was perfect!


Check out the A Muse Addicts site and the SCS gallery for more VMAA fun!

Beauty and the Beast, Twilight and life.........

As some of you know, my kids go to a school that has an extracurricular children's theater program. Each year they put on a fabulous musical performance. They rehearse 2-3 times a week for 3 months until "tech week" and then they are at the theater late every night until opening night. The kids learn all aspects of the theater and many choose to work backstage rather than act. They learn about props, lighting, sound, sets, etc. The camaraderie is amazing and they have a great time. The school is K-8 but you have to be in 4th grade to be part of the production and have to keep good grades. This is Kayla's 4th year participating and she absolutely loves it. This year they are performing Beauty and the Beast and Kayla has the role of Mrs. Potts! She's very excited to have a lead role and she'll be singing quite a bit. They always do a fabulous job with costumes so it will interesting to see how they will incorporate her wheelchair into this role.

Speaking of Beasts.......I have been sucked into the Twilight Saga vortex! All the teens are reading this series so Kayla wanted to read it to. I asked around and got mixed reviews about it so I decided to read it myself to see if it was appropriate for her (she's 12). It surprised me that she'd even want to read this type of book, it's not her normal style (nor mine) but I decided to try to get through the them.....for her sake. Can you say addicted? Even though these are written for teens and there are some flaws in the writing and story line, I am hopelessly addicted to them! As soon as one is finished, I rush to get the bookstore for the next. I was hoping to save them for my Christmas/Birthday list but I won't be able to last that long. It's crazy! My chores are slipping....I'm not even stamping! *gasp*. I need to finish them so I can get back to my regularly schedule life or figure out how to hold and book and fold laundry at the same time! LOL!

Hopefully, I'll be back soon with some crafty goodness. I just got some new rubber in the mail that I'm dying to show off. I'm also planning to participate in VMAA (Virtual Meeting of the A Muse Addicts) this friday night. I don't usually stamp well under pressure so we'll see how things turn out. Check out the A Muse Addicts site and come play with us!

Got leftovers?

I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving filled with family and good food, I know I did! I cooked 2 turkeys this year, one in the roaster and one in the deep fryer. Both turned out very moist and tender but I have lots of leftovers even though we had 15 for dinner. I thought I'd share with you my favorite turkey leftover recipe. It's yummy and easy, who could ask for more?

Turkey Tetrazzini
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 -10 3/4 oz can chicken broth
1 - 8 oz pkg cream cheese, cut into cubes
7 ozs spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 cup cooked turkey, chopped
1 - 4 oz can mushrooms, drained
2 Tbs Pimiento, chopped
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Saute onion and celery in butter. Add chicken broth and cream cheese, stirring until cream cheese is melted. Add the remaining ingredients except Parmesan cheese and toss lightly. Pour into a casserole dish and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

**note: I can never follow a recipe "exactly" so I usually add more turkey and Parmesan cheese than this calls for

I'd love to hear your favorite recipes for leftover turkey. Please comment and/or leave a link to share.

You won't find me out shopping today. I am a bargain hunter but I can't stand the crowds and rudeness of the shoppers that are out today so I'm content to stay home and clean up the rest of yesterday's mess and browse the ads. I finished the first book in Twilight series so I can pass it on to my daughter, Kayla (I wanted to preview it before letting her read it) . We are looking forward to seeing the Wizard of Oz tonight at the Children's Theater and making our Christmas shopping and wish lists.

An award for my new blog!

My sweet and very creative friend, Rhonda, sent me this award for my new blog. I don't necessarily think I deserve it since I've only just begun but it makes me feel good to know that my blogging adventure has been well received so far. Thank you, Rhonda!

Here are the rules:

~The winner may put the logo on their blog

~Put a link to the person who sent you the award

~Nominate 5 blogs

~Put links to their blogs

~Leave a message for your nominees

The hard part is figuring out who else to nominate because I've seen so many awesome blogs and some that I want to nominate have already received this award. Here goes:


Novell
Kimme
Geeta
Heather
Nicole

Be sure to check out these creative blogs for some crafty inspiration!

In the mood for cooking?

I made this card for a friend in my monthly RAK group. She loves to cook so I knew this would be perfect for her. It also happens to fit the challenge on the A Muse Addicts site for last week, "Old Meets New". The mixing bowl, mixer and apron are from the new clear Baking Set and the sentiment is a older wood mounted stamp that is so versatile.

This card measures 4 x 8 inches. I just happened to have some red envelopes that were 4 1/2 x 8 1/2 so I made the card to fit in them. I used SU Real Red for the base and A Muse Brown Kitchen patterned paper on the layer. I cut the edge with the scallop blade of my Marvy paper cutter.

I just love the brown and red combination, it just feels warm and cozy to me. It's getting me in the mood to cook up a big meal next week!

Learning can be frustrating

As you can see, I'm new to this blogging thing. I was doing okay and having fun playing around with widgets, gadgets and templates for awhile. Then I decided I wanted something cooler so I surfed for other templates to use. I found one that I liked, downloaded it and followed the instructions to a "t", even backed up my old template "just in case". Well, it turns out I didn't like the template and when I tried to restore my old one, it deleted all of my gadgets (links, lists, photos, etc)! Ugh! So, now I have to start over.....bear with me as I stumble and learn.

Snow already?

I know it's not even Thanksgiving yet and I'm posting about snow! I can't help myself.....I just got this new Martha Stewart icicle edge punch and couldn't wait to play with it! I just signed my kids up for ski and snowboard lessons, so wishing for snow isn't so far fetched, right?

Stamps, paper and ribbon are A Muse. I colored the Alpine Hut with Copic Markers and used a Spica pen and some diamond Stickles on the sentiment for some extra sparkle.

Look at me, I'm bloggin'!

I've debated about this for a long time and finally decided to take the plunge. I hope to share some family and crafty fun with you so stay tuned!