Joy...and The Hunt

This year I decided to include a card with my annual Christmas story...because the card's sentiment is exactly how I feel when I retell this year after year...

For the past 3 years, I have shared a story here on my blog. It is about the Christmas spirit and trust me, it will be worth the read! It is my favorite Holiday story ever...and one that I never tire of telling! I hope you will take the time to read it. :)

Historically I get a lot of comments asking if readers can share the link to this post. In short: Absolutely!

It was December 22, 2001. We were living in Utah at the time. I was 8 months pregnant with my second child, had a 22 month old baby running around, my husband was living in Egypt for a year (for work), and we had our house up for sale. Yes, life was a little chaotic, but good!

Due to my husband's inability to make it home for Christmas, our dear friends had invited my son and I over for Christmas dinner. Awesome! My son is the pickiest eater EVER, so making turkey and the fixings only for myself would have been depressing.

At 6:30 pm on the 22nd, my doorbell rang. I answered it and was greeted by some overly cheerful people wearing reindeer antlers and Santa hats.

"Hello!" they exclaimed, "We are on a Christmas Scavenger Hunt and hope you can help us!"

"Sure," I said, intrigued by this proposal, "what are you looking for?"

"Well," the lady replied, "We are trying to provide a needy family with enough food for Christmas breakfast and dinner. Do you happen to have some green beans, a pound of bacon, or rolls?"

I excused myself and went to check. Opening the pantry door, I was reminded of the fact I was not cooking anything this year! No green beans...no rolls in the fridge...and no bacon. Darn! This was such a cool scavenger hunt and I really wanted to help!

"Sorry," I sadly said to the cheerful hunters, "I don't have any of those items."

"Oh, that's OK," she gleefully replied. "We are also taking donations to buy the family a gift card from Target so they can do some Christmas shopping. Would you care to donate to that?"

I ran to my purse as well as I could being so pregnant! Opening my wallet I realized I literally had NO money. Nope...not even a dollar. How embarrassing!

I sulked back to the door and had to tell them how sorry I was I could not help. "But good luck to you," I exclaimed!

About 8:45 pm my doorbell rang yet again. Oh my...now it is getting late. Who could this be? I opened the door to see 25 people on my porch spilling onto the walkway and into my front yard. Candles were lit and carols were being sung. Before I could react, they were in my house, delivering boxes upon boxes of toys and food.

"Merry Christmas," the same jolly lady replied, "Part of our scavenger hunt was finding the needy family...and YOU are it!"

I was literally speechless. Of course, being hormonal, I started to cry. What a dismal sight I must have been...BIG pregnant, young child, house up for sale, no husband in sight! All I could do was stand there. There was no telling them to stop! They were SO HAPPY to have found me! I could not bear to tell them I was NOT the needy family!

They only stayed for a few minutes, finishing a beautiful rendition of Silent Night and Joy to the World, ending with a round of hugs from all. After they left, I stood there with a tear stained face just looking at the boxes upon boxes of things, wondering what I should do with it all.

The next morning, I called our church office and relayed my story of the night before. By divine intervention just hours before my call, 2 needy families contacted my church asking for immediate help. I quickly loaded my Ford Excursion, which was FULL to the brim with boxes, and drove over to make my special delivery. It felt so good passing this wonderful gift on to someone else who truly needed it.

Our pastor shared this story with each church service that day. It put a smile on our congregation's face and led to many jokes about my "neediness" and inability to keep anything in the pantry or a dollar in my wallet!

I love this story. Whenever I retell it, I get the same feeling in my heart as the day it happened. It is truly a testament to the generosity of strangers and the true meaning of Christmas.

May the joy of the season bring warmth to your heart as it did mine.

Kite Marks the Spot

Today I saw snow flurries from my office window...I am already thinking about spring and next summer! A girl can dream, no? Hence this bookmark that will allow me to escape winter while reading one of my favorite authors...

Speaking of, who is your favorite author? I think my all time favorite for "beach reads" is Janet Evanovich! What a riot...her books always put a smile on my face and more often than not, I end up with a full-up belly laugh out loud!

At any rate, I had fun with this one...made the background sky paper from scratch using a sponge dauber which was like magic! The kite is paper pieced and elevated using a dimensional. And...I actually used that horded jumbo brad...**sigh** It is difficult to let go sometimes!!

And...I made this for the following challenges:
-Use It Tuesday: Metal
-Crafts and Me: Orange
-Art Impressions: make a tag or bookmark
-Stamp Insanity: Anything but a card
-Crafty Cardmakers: Anything Goes
-Heartsong Inspirations: Sponged background
-Hooked on Craft Challenges: Anything but a Card
-Make it Monday: Anything Goes
-Woodware: Anything Goes
-Sentimental Sundays: Anything Goes + a sentiment
-Stampin' Sisters in Christ: Anything Goes

May you all have a blessed week! Thanks for stopping by!

SSDS Sparkle!

Oh, how I love any challenge that includes the words "glitter, bling or sparkle"! This week at Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturdays, we want you to do just that!

I chose classic classy colors: red, black and white. Originally I wanted to do a card all about the 'little black dress', but decided the splash of color would be fun to work with. :)

I hope you play along this week! We would love to see how your life sparkles!

Stamps: image is TAC, sentiment PTI
Paper: PTI White, Black, Real Red, pattern paper from my stash
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, Rhinestones, SU Ribbon

SSDS Cup of Tea

The theme this week at Scrap, Stamp & Doodle Saturdays is an Inspiration Challenge! Just make whatever inspires you after seeing this gorgeous picture!

I ended up being inspired by the teapot. I happen to love a great cup of tea...ironically enough, and only because I am sure you are dying to know (HA!), my favorite tea is one you can find easily at any grocery store: Lipton Island Mango and Peach White Tea. Add a little touch of honey and some sugar = a little cup of heaven! See, I don't have expensive taste with everything in my life...just my hobbies! :)

So, I used a die cutter to cut my teapot and decorated it with some old Creative Memories paper I had in my stash. I also used some gorgeous flowers I had been hoarding. My friend Becki made them for me...and I could not bear to use them until now! Dressed the pot up with some liquid pearls and ribbon. I also stamped the background of the paper with a retired TAC set...Tea Time.

I hope you find this inspiration challenge is your cup of tea and decide to join us this week at SSDS! :)

Stamps: Tea Time (TAC)
Paper: CM retired patterned paper, SU Early Espresso
Ink: Crumb Cake
Accessories: Liquid Pearls, SU Ribbon, Button, White Twine, Bo Bunny Acrylic Swirls, Brown Lace, MS Butterfly & Branch Punch, Flowers from my friend, Prima flower, Half-backed Pearl

Love is in the Air

The challenge this week at Scrap, Stamp & Doodle Saturdays is to make a card about love. Very fitting for the week, no?

I am in the mode of using sets that have yet to see ink, so I went to my stash of TAC sets and found this darling little girl holding a balloon! With a little help of the Hearts & Brackets Sizzix die, I changed the shape of her balloon. :) Much better for the occasion!

Stamps: main image is TAC, sentiment Timeless Love (Paper Pretties)
Paper: PTI Stampers Select White, Poppy Parade, Daffodil Delight, Tempting Turquoise, Wild Asparagus patterned paper
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copics to color
Accessories: Poppy Parade ribbon, skittles, Hearts & Brackets Sizzix die, stickles. Glassy Glaze, white gel pen, SU Scallop Edge punch

Hope you have a fabulous long weekend!

PWCO Sketch Harvesting Love

Guess what? I found a new-to-me fun stamp line, Paper Works Co,...and the icing on the cake...they do weekly blog challenges! Woo Hoo! Of course, when I saw this sketch, I knew I had to participate this week. I love sketches!

And alright, I have a little admission to make...I have a good bit of ric rac. That. Has. Never. Been. Used. Yeah. I know. Sad...but the good news is that I got to use it on this sketch, hence why I think it was calling my name. :)

My card was guided by the color of my ric rac, which happened to coordinate perfectly with this TAC patterned paper. A little match made in heaven!

Stamps: Treasure Life(CTMH)
Paper: SU Pixie Pink, Cool Caribbean, Soft Suede, Whisper White, TAC Patterned Paper Rustic Chic
Ink: Versamark, Soft Suede, Cool Caribbean
Accessories: Clear Embossing Powder, MS Butterfly Punch, Robin's Nest Dew Drops, Stickles, SU Ric Rac, Nestabilities

Thanks for stopping by my little slice of the web today. :) I hope your day is fabulous!

SSDS A Colorless Holiday

OK, so this is not really colorless, but the challenge this week at Scrap, Stamp, & Doodle Saturdays was to create a Holiday card sans red or green! You have no idea how difficult it was for me to omit a red, sparkly button on that ribbon!

Anyway, here you have it! Black, white, & gold...with some sparkle on the button and snowflakes for good measure!

Stamps: Vintage Santa (TAC)
Paper: Whisper White, Brushed Gold, Basic Black (SU)
Ink: Versafine Black
Accessories: Ribbon (CTMH), Button (SU), Stickles, Gold Cord (SU)

This was a fast, fun, and easy card to put together...and I have to admit, I kind of like it without any real color. But you know, if I remake a few, I can't say that red button won't make it on there! ;)

SSDS Sketch: Holiday Quilt

Oh my word. Ever have those times where you can't make anything work for you? Well, that was me playing with this week's sketch at Scrap, Stamp and Doodle Saturdays! Mercy me, this sketch was my nemesis! I am not sure why I could not find my mojo!

I did have fun once I got my idea rolling...this was my 3rd attempt with different stamps/themes/papers! ;) My favorite part was playing with the Bo Bunny swirl! I rarely add flourishes to my cards...and I just love the added dimension.

I am not 100% certain I love the tree with the crystal effects on it. I am bummed that it seemed to smear the ink a bit underneath. On the other hand, since it is up on dimensionals, the crystal effects seems to strengthen the design.

Stamps: Season of Joy and sentiment (TAC)
Paper: Retired SU DSP, Whisper White, Old Olive, Real Red, Chocolate Chip, Vellum
Ink: Old Olive, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: SU Ribbon, Bo Bunny Flourish, Crystal Effects, CTMH Rhinestones, Stickles, Glue Dots, Dimensionals, corner rounder

Are you floored? I am actually posting Holiday cards in October! We won't mention that I have yet to post a Thanksgiving card. ;) Thanks for dropping in! Have a wonderful weekend!!

Spring Wishes

Wow...I must be yearning for spring by the looks of this card! ;) Darn it, I have a longggg time to wait!

This card was made from a sketch at Clean & Simple Stamping. I just love their blog! You should really check it out for some yummy CAS inspiration.

My ribbon choice guided the entire card...I love the colors together! And I had yet to use that really cool TAC set for the border.

Stamps: Edge Designs (TAC), Celebration of Thanks (Verve)
Paper: Gable Green, Early Espresso, Whisper White (SU)
Ink: Versamark, Early Espresso, Pumpkin Pie
Accessories: Clear EP, Prima Flower, Brad (Making Memories), Ribbon (American Crafts), Glue Dots

I hope you are having a wonderfully crafty week!

Holiday Tags

The turkey had settled in. I was feeling lazy, so I decided to check Facebook. Mistake #1!

Now, it was not Facebook's fault, but my laptop started acting "funny". Hearing the primal scream, my DH rushed in to see what was the matter.

Yes, dear friends, I had the black screen of death.

**sigh**

After many, many hours with Sony online support (useless), DH managed to get it operating again! He is my computer Superman! XOXO

The irony of the whole situation is that Santa was bringing me an external hard drive for Christmas! Needless to say, that was a gift that got opened early!

As I was sitting here waiting for all my files to back-up, I decided to pop out a few little gift cards. You know, the kind you just put on a gift bag. I thought they would be perfect for those teacher and bus driver gifts.

I am happy to report I used a rainbow of product to make these tags! All of the paper is SU, but the stamps are CTMH, TAC and SU. It is like one big happy family in my craft room!

I hope all my American friends enjoyed their Holiday weekend! Thanks for stopping by!

Giddy Up!

I had this vision in my head of how I wanted this card to turn out. Unfortunately, this was the end result! LOL

No matter what I do, I just can't work it for some reason. I think it is the horseshoes. I wish I had some horseshoe brads...shocking there is something I don't already own! :)

Good news is that my 7 year old DD absolutely loves this card, so it has a loving home!

Stamps: TAC Happy Trails, SU Sanded

Paper: Kraft, Chocolate Chip

Ink: Chocolate Chip, Versamark

Accessories: Brads, Hemp, the obnoxious blue embossing powder

Thanks for stopping by!

I Did It!

I finally made a CAS card! And you know what? I love it! It used to be scary to me, as I felt this need to have the space filled. It was very freeing and I really enjoyed the simplicity of it.

I actually sent this card out to my blog buddies (who are on the RAK list) and pen pals who had birthdays recently. :) I hope they liked it!

Stamps: TAC Bella Fleur, sentiment Stamping Bella
Paper: PTI white, Pixie Pink
Ink: Nick Bantock Lamp Black (Ranger), Copics, Versafine Black
Accessories: Ribbon from Stamping Bella, Stickles

Thanks for visiting!

It's a Challenge!

My Ocean's 11 blog group participates in weekly challenges and it is my opportunity to host!

In honor of my fall off the wagon, please make a card with something you hoard. It can be paper (not that I know about that!), ribbon, a new stamp, buttons... whatever! Just be sure to tell us what it is when you post your creation!

Here is my card:



I found the image appropriate considering my challenge! This is a new stamp I recently purchased that had yet to see ink.

Stamps: G327 from Great Impressions, TAC sentiment
Paper: PTI white, Real Red
Ink: Nick Bantock Lamp Black, Copics (C1, C3, C5, R22, R25, R27, R29, Y13,YR12, YR16, B14, B18, G5, G7, G14, RV23, V06, V09)
Accessories: SU Ribbon, Stickles

Thanks for looking and I hope you get to play along with the challenge! Everyone is welcome to join in!

My Favorite Flower

These cards are what did it...they made me fall in love with Prisma pencils! I had a difficult time with the pencils, then it just clicked! This was also a fun set to make as I tried some without coloring them and I liked them all just the same.

Stamps: Gerbera Daisy (TAC), Upsy Daisy (SU), Script BG (SU)

Paper: Very Vanilla (SU), Juliette (TAC)

Ink: Palette Burnt Umber, Creamy Caramel, Cat's Eye Chestnut, Basic Brown (SU)

Accessories: Juliette Ribbon (TAC)

This was the first time I masked an image and I LOVED it! I need to get some of that super big post-it note stuff so I can do this more easily next time. :)

We are back from Sapporo...and thawed enough so I can type again! I hope to get our pictures uploaded soon; the snow sculptures were AMAZING!

Thanks for looking!

Meg's Sketch

My "invisible friend" Laura's daughter likes to make sketches! When Laura posted the latest "Meg creation", I new I had to join in the fun! Meg, this is for you!

My daughter needed a birthday card for a party this weekend. Since I know cats and cute girls are a hit with the 6 year old population, I chose this stamp from Stamping Bella!

After I stamped the words, I decided to bling the card up a little. I mean, you know me, I must have something sparkle on a card! So, after I decorated the hair bows, I moved on thinking it would be cute to bling up the "just be" sentiment. Uhhhh...NO! Let's just say it was not pretty and turned into a blurry set of words. It was almost as if you needed 3D glasses to read it! So, I decided to stamp it again, frame it and pop it up on dimensionals. Does it look intentional or like I tried to cover my mistake?!




Stamps: cuddlycat (StampingBella.com), JustBe (TAC)
Paper: Cool Caribbean, Certainly Celery, Pink Pirouette, PTI White
Ink: Nick Bantock Lamp Black (Ranger), Close to Cocoa, Regal Rose, Certainly Celery, Copics (C1, 0, RV11, RV10, E00, E93, E47, E43, BG15)
Accessories: Silver Brads, Ribbon from Ms., Stickles

Meg would love to have you join in the fun! Check out Laura's blog for the details!

Thanks for looking!