A Snowy January Ending.....

Here in my neck of the woods, we have had another snowy weekend. A winter weather advisory was issued for Friday evening and all day Saturday....we received about 9 inches of the fluffy stuff.

I made this card for LAST WEEK'S CPS challenge...yep, you're right...I am a week late in posting it :) Oh well, busy, busy, busy. I wanted to go ahead and post it because I love the teal and brown colors. I used DCWV Luxury Stack Papers, Heidi Gade Cardstok and Flowers, HL Ribbon and Fancy Pants Titles and Tags. Easy Peasy...oh yeah, and a couple of pearl beads.



Here is a picture of one of our grills with about 9 inches of snow covering it! It was beautiful....just a bit cold for me, but otherwise...just beautiful. *sigh*




Just had to share this silly Packer picture. He loves to visit my scraproom and my desk is his favorite spot. I just love the comic strip quality of his little face in this shot.



Well, off to get ready for another work week.....Happy scrapping to you all.

Sketch Girl and other cards

Hi blog friends and family. I have been busy in my scraproom this week. I didn't have to work on Thursday or Friday :), so I spent much needed "therapy" time creating. My first card is for this the Sketch Girl Design Challenge. I love their site! If you haven't visited them, do so. The ideas are so inspirational...and....since my sister (Bonnie) and my niece (Amber) are on their DT...I especially love going there.
For this card I used My Mind's Eye Papers, K&Co Flowers and KI Memories Chipboard. Loved this sketch and plan to use it again.



For this card I used supplies from my Little Red Scrapbook December Kit. Love this bright blue paper! All that I had to add was some HL ribbon and stamped my greeting with Inkadinkado stamp and MS ink.


One of my favorite gifts this Christmas was an Amber Goble Original Card Kit ;) (thanks Ber)....She had used her nesties and stamped all of my greetings, added cards, ribbon, buttons and flowers for embellies and viola....all that I have to do is sit down and whip up a card for any occasion.



I am off to lunch with my DH....our favorite Saturday pasttime...and then to Tractor Supply to check out the ASPCA pets up for adoption this week. NO, we are not adopting, just supporting the cause. Have a great Saturday.

Snowy Sunday

On this snowy Sunday, our Church services were cancelled due to ice and frigid temperatures, so I am up eary and in my scraproom! I joined the Little Red Scrapbook Monthly Kit Club and I am loving it! I wanted to share a couple of my creations from their supplies.
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the colors in this card! I used SEI papers, 7 gypsies sticker and this gorgeous bird from the kit. It was not labeled, so I am unsure of the manufacturer. I only added the tiny Heidi Grace flower and a scrap of my own ribbon! Viola! This is my first "kit" experience so you can imagine my excitement! Everything coordinates so well and none of the digging through all of my supplies to find just the right embellishements. This is from their November Kit.



On this LO, I must admit, I would probably have never purchased this sheet of paper. Pink and cream for winter....not in this "male dominated" house! But I LOVE IT! I have done several pages over the weekend and this is my FAVE!!!

It is Collage Press Joyride Collection, to it I added ONLY embellishements that came with my December Kit, including Bo Bunny Chipboard Flourishes and Journaling Tag, Kelly Panacci Snowflakes and a Collage Press Joyride Sticker. GORGEOUS!!!

I have sooo many more supplies to "play with" today, so I am going to settle in with a nice cup of hot chocolate, put on some praise and worship music and spend a much appreciated day in my scraproom. Thanks for dropping by and may your day be wonderfully blessed!

Lovin' Me Some Packer

Hey bloggers....I just thought that I would share some new pics of Packer Puppy. He is now 16 months old, weighs about 6.5 pounds, eats like a pig, plays like puppy and loves me like his Momma! LOL..actually, he really thinks that I AM his mom. We don't tell him any different. His psyche is a bit fragile :)

Here is a pic of him in his favorite orange and brown sweater. He sits at my feet constantly, so he is used to the camera flash by now and doesn't shy away. I wish I knew how to get rid of "green eye" on pet photos. The red eye reducer just doesn't work :)

I love this picture....it was taken a few days before Christmas and you probably can't tell, but he was feeling some EXTREME anxiety. We had some friends over and their two boys....ages 8 and 6 ('nuff said :) and my 80 year old Dad was staying with us also for a few days. Packer was a nervous wreck....and we quickly learned that he would take any "safe" spot that he could get. This one just happened to be on dear hubby's lap. From that night, I made this list:

Things Packer Loves: Me, his "dad" (dh) and his "brother"; his stuffed giraffe; liver treats; his "SNUGGIE"; and when company leaves. Things Packer Hates: When company comes, little boys who want to grab him, my Dad's oxygen concentrator and hoses ;); loud noises, cold weather and little boys who grab him...oh yeah, that one was worth repeating.



This is a picture of Packer's "big brother", Jay...my one and only "child" who is now an adult! I just love this picture of him. He was leaving for XTREME, a Youth Conference in Gatlinburg TN, the day before New Year's Eve. He called me on the EVE and was so thrilled. He said that there is NOTHING like worshipping in the New Year with 7000 other believers. I am so thankful that he got to make it again this year. Now, back to Packer, since I promised him that this post was all about him. Packer loves his big brother. He follows him from room to room, tries to get up in his bed when I go to work in the mornings, eats any food particles left in his wake and greets him each evening at the door as though the day has been years!




Today, Packer is wearing a sweater with his "Snuggie" on as well. He is a "freezy" little guy and loves to lay on the heating vent. He got a new toy Zebra today to go with is all time favorite giraffe. (His giraffe was his very first toy....it has a broken neck, but otherwise is none worse for the wear for a year and a half of puppy love.) Thanks for letting me ramble...I actually have been scrapping but haven't taken photos to post.....they will be coming soon! Have a great day....and stay warm.

A New Year.....2010

Happy New Year....2010! I am not one to make resolutions, but I am one to make changes. This year, I hope to make several basic changes to the foundation of my life. My biggest plan is to SIMPLIFY! I want to clear the "junk" from my life and concentrate on the important things. I plan to spend more time in the Word of God and less time in the "words of man." I plan to pray more and worry less. I plan to trust that I am in GOOD hands and nothing that I can attempt or do will be nearly as great as what God has in store for me. Jeremiah 29:11 says "For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans of peace and not evil, to give you hope and a future." and Jeremiah 17:7, "Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord and whose hope is in the Lord."


This candle was a Christmas gift from a friend.....it says simply, FAITH, FAMILY, FRIENDS. Those are my goals for this year.....to concentrate more on each of these three vital areas of my life. With God's help....I plan to make great changes and in turn, see change in myself.

I also plan to spend more time creating...but creating with a purpose. I hope to gift more people with my creations as a part of my outreach to others. More notes and cards of encouragement, more handmade, love filled gifts to those who need a kindness shown to them, more focus on the "needs" of others...less focus the "wants" of me. I am sharing all of this to help keep myself accountable. It is easy to make big plans internally.....but when you actually share those plans with others, it becomes more difficult to "forget" our lofty intentions. I will keep you updated as the year progresses...

I had a friend call me yesterday and ask me to make a special birthday card for her sister's birthday. I consider that an honor. I couldn't decide which she would like best, so I gave her both of these. I made this first one with some of my favorite country accents. I just LOVE these rusted stars and did not feel one ounce of remorse as I cut them from an old wreath....reuse...repurpose...recycle. I am always thinking of ways to use something in a different way than it was intended.




This second one was made from a Melissa Phillips kit that my sister gave me for Christmas. (Thanks Bon) The kit was very well put together and making the card was almost like assembling a puzzle...of course, I had to add a few of my own touches ;)




So here's to the New Year....may it bring you abundant blessings and joy. Until next time...

Where Does It Go?

I am thinking tonight of how fast Christmas comes and goes. All of the weeks of preparation, shopping, wrapping, baking....searching for that perfect present...and then, in a matter of minutes...POOF, it is all over! I always feel a bit of post Christmas let down, but this year, I didn't! Perhaps because it was the oddest Christmas that I can remember....due in part to a LARGE snowstorm we had Christmas week.


Our area was hit with about 10-16 inches of heavy, wet snow and a week of power outages! Fortunately, my home did not lose power, but my Dad and sister did for 6 days! My Dad, due to health issues, stayed for a couple of nights at my house. My brother's family didn't make it in to celebrate with us this year due to the storm, so it was an odd....kinda "off" holiday for us. Still, we were all safe, fairly healthy and blessed.





Even with all of the problems that the storm brought with it....the snow was beautiful...it was so quiet and still.....and outages made everyone slow down and really take stock of what is important. I have decided that all of our future Christmases will be simpler. My goal is that somehow...someway we will concentrate on the REAL meaning of the season and celebrate that. So as I put away the pretty paper and bows, take down the greenery and the wreaths, I am thankful for another Christmas spent with those I love (at least some of them :)

Altered Frames

I have been busy this week....all of the Christmas preparations....candy making and cookie baking....last minute shopping, wrapping, still tweaking my decorations, along with working. Shew....I am tired but pleasantly so.

I have been altering a few picture frames for gifts this week...and altering anything is one of my fave projects to do. I love taking something that is intended for one use and creating something totally different. Below, I made a set of Christmas frames using my favorite Christmas Bible verse..."For unto us a child is born..." and on the other, simply "Believe."



I then found a "four picture" frame and love what it became! I used my favorite sheet of Christmas Paper to cover the front, a coordinating sheet on the inside and embellished with Walmart Holiday Time stickers. The red reindeer and poinsetta set off the cream and gold ribbon. I had a wooden easel which matched perfectly. Viola, a gift for my friend for Christmas.





This is what my dining table looks like tonight.....any guesses?

My Dad was born in 1929, right in time to grow up in The Great Depression. Christmas at his house was nothing like it is for us and our children. They lived on a working farm, and believe me, they all worked! He was taken to the fields at 5 years old and taught to hoe with his parents and older brothers and sisters. Not much time for "childish" things when your entire family literally "works" to live. My Dad turned 80 years old this year, and he can only recall getting a toy for Christmas ONE time! Usually, they were given a "sock" (their version of a stocking) filled with fruit and nuts. THAT was their gifts...and like most things in those days, it was all food which they had harvested in the Fall. When our children were small, he began fixing all of his grandchildren a "treat bag" filled with fruit and candy, reminiscent of his childhood holidays. This year, we are all getting one, children and grandchildren alike. In a world so consumed with materialistic visions and goals, this may seem simple and silly. To us, it is a sweet reminder of where we come from and how deeply our "country" roots grow. Faith, family and food....much of our southern culture revolves around these three things. And although we do have gifts all wrapped in their pretty paper to exchange, my 22 year old son looked at me tonight and said, "you know, now that I'm not a little kid, this treat bag is my favorite part to Christmas at Papaw's. The fruit and candy taste so good when he gives it to us." Due to age and frail health, I had the privilege of shopping for and putting the bags together this year for my Dad. I thought of who he is and who he has taught us to be...and I said a little prayer of thanks for this strong, sweet man of faith who has given us everything that he has to give.
Aren't traditions wonderful....they anchor us...they comfort us....they tie to together from one generation to the next. If you haven't, why don't you start one this year with your family? It doesn't have to be elaborate....just heartfelt. Until next time...God bless you and those you love.