A Glimpse of Christmas Cheer

Hello to all of my blogging buddies. Although I have been busy in the craft room, I decided today to just post a glimpse of what Christmas looks like at our house...I have been tweaking the decorations for the past week or so, and since I had today off...I added a few touches and had time to take a few photos.

This lighted garland lines the snack bar which separates my kitchen and dining area. Red, Gold, Brown and a splash here and there of white are my colors of choice this holiday season.

Little Packer Puppy is all geared up to celebrate his second Christmas. He has, so far, "killed" two bird ornaments and knocked a few apples and balls from the tree. (they are nonbreakable....I had a feeling :) When we came in the door from church last weekend, he met us at the door and was sooooo excited. He quickly ran from us to the tree and back again....so proudly showing us that he had taken care of at least 2 of those pesky birds that had somehow found their way into the branches of this tree that had suddenly sprung up in our living room. Really, I wonder what his little puppy mind is thinking? What in the world are they doing, planting a tree in the house? And what's with all of these twinkling light things...and boxes with pretty bows? How can a puppy resist. (hehe...okay, maybe he isn't thinking all of that...but the looks he gives me....sometimes, I wonder.)


We have had some really cold days, so this week, when we get home from work in the evenings, we have lit a fire....mmmmmm....I love it, the look, the feel. Nothing says "cozy" like a nice blazing log in the fireplace. And it adds to the Holiday Spirit of things ;)



Here are a couple of "close ups" of the theme of my tree this year. I am calling it my "recession tree" because I did not spend more than $1 for any ornament on it! I am the frugal shopper and I looovvve a bargain. Most of the ornaments were bought last year on clearance in January and put aside for "whenever." The others I have picked up at random shops this year. Although I have a storage closet FULL of decorations and ornaments collected over the past 26 years, hubby wasn't too keen on getting it all out, so when I mentioned a "woodland theme" with birds and pinecones, apples and all things glittery that I already had OUT of storage, he was immediately on board! LOL. Sometimes, change is good. Don't you love the clarity of these close up shots? Have you ever seen colors so vibrant? Red.....so red?



Aren't these pics so clear, so bright, so PERFECT? Well, (and I am truly SQUEALING here) They were taken with my NEW CAMERA which my wonderful, sweet, thoughtful hubby got me for Christmas and gifted me with it this week so that I would be able to study up on it and take good pics at Christmas! (Squealing again!!!!) Take a look...



Yep, he got a me a new CANON and I am LOVING it! Those of you who truly love to take pictures will understand this....my last camera, although still fairly new, was a DUD! Have you ever done that....wanted the NEWER, Better model and then been so disappointed? Well that was my case with my last Fugi. I had the previous model, you know, the new one's older brother, and it was a great camera. When the new one came out, boucing new baby camera, I thought, if the old one was good, this one will be great! Not so...and I spoke with a camera professional the other day and he informed me that I was not alone. That almost everyone who bought the updated version of my last camera, returned it...for the same reasons that I never liked it. So....long story short...(or maybe not so short :) Thank you dear hubby for taking my photo woes seriously and getting me something that I ADORE! And for all of my blogbuddies...that means MORE photos to post! Maybe next time, I will not bore you with my ramblings :)
Thanks for stopping by...until next time...

Winter Wonderland

Yesterday morning we awoke to 3 inches of beautiful snow. It was a heavy, wet snow and coated every tree branch, fence post and bird feeder in sight. Beautiful! Our lawn was a perfect sea of white, UNTIL the neighborhood dogs ran through it a few hundred times...then....not so pretty! LOL. Still, it did put me in the Christmas spirit.



Last night, hubby and I went to a Christmas Party....sometimes, getting all dressed up is fun!



Still working on my Christmas cards.....probably will not have them finished in time for this year :) Slow but Steady, that's my motto. Hope that you all have a great day.

A Page For All Seasons Contest....Becky Fleck

I have just discovered the pagemaps.com site and I LOVE IT! So many wonderful layout and card ideas! It is a must for any papercrafter and I am so glad that I stumbled upon it and can't believe that it took this long! This LO is for a current contest, "Becky Fleck....A Page For All Seasons." I have already created two LOs using this one sketch and have added it to my "keep" sketches.








I used a photo of our friends taken last month at Church. My supply list includes: Heidi Grace Clear Word "JOY" Sticker, K&Co Papers, Karen Foster Autumn Papers, Die Cuts With a View Papers, Pebbles Inc Sticker, Raffia and Thickers. I put some extra TLC into this one, I covered my Thickers Title Brackets with cardstock, sanded the edges and inked them all over to "age" them. I also "hand stitched" (yes, I sewed....sigh.....) across the bottom of the photo and covered one of the Heidi Grace Hearts with cardstock, sanded the edges and wrapped it with raffia! I love this page and I am sure that when I look at it many years from now...it will spark a memory....afterall, isn't that WHY we scrapbook?

I hope that you enjoy my LO half as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Fall is Fading....

Hi all. I am feeling a bit blue....Fall is fading fast in my neck of the woods, and we all know "what" comes next! I am a warm blooded person living in a all season climate. DH and I often joke about flying south for the winter and never coming back ;) I guess that loving 3 out of 4 seasons is enough to be thankful for....so we will just stay here...firmly entrenched in the hills of Eastern Kentucky :)

I have been busy in my craft room again....and just when I started this post, I realized that I don't have my supply list with me. (hehe)...I guess that I can show my LO and card now and give credit later :)




















This is my ALL TIME FAVE layout! I absolutely love, love, love the way this page came together. The orange, browns and greens just make me happy....all Fall feeling and warm! And of course, I love the subjects...my son and his finacee! I snapped this photo on a Sunday afternoon at Church and knew that I would create a page around it somewhere down the road. I just LOVE the big green Petaloo flower! I makes sense of the butterflies flitting all around and gives the page a POP of color.











More business around here....we are celebrating an "early Christmas/Thanksgiving" this coming weekend with my inlaws. Can't wait to see the family traveling in for a few days...and everyone loves and early Christmas, right!

Thanks for stopping by....have a great, scrappy day!

CPS 142 Weekly Challenge

Hello and happy Sunday to you all! Today is my son's 22nd birthday....whew....the years have flown! We had a wonderful church service followed by an early Thanksgiving Dinner there which we combined with a birthday dinner for Jay! He spends most of his time there, so it was only fitting that all of our church family celebrate his big day with him!

I have become addicted to the CPS Blog! What great sketched and ideas! This is my take on this week's challenge. This is sketch #142 and I was inspired for a Fall design.


















It promises to be a busy week, so I have scrapped and created every available minute this weekend. I have finished several LO's and have a new alltime fave! I will post it later this week when the lighting is better :) Now that it is dark by 6pm, I don't have much evening light to grab for natural light photos.

Hope that you all have a great day and a wonderful week! Until next time....

I'm Crafting....

Hello all! I am excited to post today. I have been working on a couple of projects and FINALLY have a big one completed! But first, I have to tell you, I have found the perfect pie for those of us watching our "girlish figures" ;) It is called "Pie In A Jar!" That's right, an 8 oz serving of any kind of pie that tickles your fancy. Not only are they so cute...they are so simple!!!! and soooo yummy!

Aren't they adorable? I fixed peach and apple and both were wonderfully received! You can go to ourbestbites.com to find the instructions for these goodies! I simpy used store bought pie crusts (gasp!) and found that 2 9" pie crusts made 6 pies in jar. I also used canned pie filling and after filling the jars, placed them on a baking sheet and baked in a 350* oven for 50-60 minutes. Viola! A single serving dessert perfect for these fall days.

I was inspired by Melissa Phillips to do a chipboard Christmas Memory Album and thoroughly enjoyed this project. I cut my album to suit my design ideas and the rest, as they say, is history.













There are pages for pictures, pockets for favorite recipes, small embellies EVERYWHERE....just right for making me smile when I look back year after year.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope that you enjoy a glance into my crafty world. Until next time....happy scrapping.

CPS 141 Weekly Challenge and Other Crafty Things...

I am loving CPS (Card Positioning Challenge) sketches! If you've never visited them for inspiration, do so....it is a must. I love the simplicity of this sketch and since I was in a Christmas "Creating" Mood...viola! A simply divine card for someone special....stamped inside with "Make a Wish."



(supplies for this card were Nature Preserve Green Cardstock, Scrap Holly Berry Paper, Michael's Celebrate Christmas Holly and Berry, HL Ribbon and Kirby Polosa Layered Sticker)



I was in a glittery mood for this card. I love the cream and green with a touch of gold...so elegant. The K and Co. Ancestory Paper with the cream flourish was perfect for what I had in mind. (other supplies: Hallmark Ribbon, Michael's Leaves and Holiday Berries, Kirby Polosa Layered Stickers.)






I have also been busy with a group of Country Christmas Cards and a couple of other things, which I will show you later :) My work schedule returns to fulltime this week, so I am getting in each and every scrap moment possible.

Hope that you all have a great Sunday!

Tammie