Happy New Year!

I feel like I should be all nostalgic and pouring over the last year's events, but naaa, don't think I will. :)

Instead, I'll just say that I'm looking forward to seeing where the new year will take me. I'm thinking it has to be good, right?

Looks like CNN is starting their '08 wrapup. I love those. This year I'll be watching the ball drop with Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Should be a couple of laughs in there! :) And is it just me or is watching the ball drop without Dick Clark just not the same?

Wishing you all a wonderful night tonight and a New Year '09 that's your best yet!

A few more cards...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and Santa brought you everything you asked for. :)

I had a nice Christmas and am looking forward to enjoying the rest of the season through New Year's! I always grew up with our Christmas tree up until New Year's and sometimes a day or two after that. That's how hubby and I do it in our house too. It seems to make the season last longer that way. ;) While driving home on Christmas night, after being with my in-laws, I saw that someone had already stripped their tree and threw it out on the boulevard, lol! I was like...aww, that poor tree! LOL! But, we all do things differently than the other and that's what makes the world go 'round, right? ;) It's all good.

Thought I'd share the cards I made for hubby's tellers this year. I made a little pocket on the inside of the card to hold a gift card. I used my Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder on the green paper and used up a package of Making Memories rubs. Yay for getting in the stash! I also found the wiggly eyes that are girlie - with eyelashes, lol! I had to use those! I kept the envies simple with a stamped tree and the girl's name.

And I've got to give credit to Lisa @ Hero Arts for the owl/scarf idea. It was too cute not to try myself. I ended up liking these cards so much that it might be choice for my general Christmas cards next year. We'll see if I still love owls like I do now...and if I feel like doing 120 of them. ;)








So, what do you think of my white background now? I've always had black but it seems like when I go to other blogs, the black background/white text is harder to read. I don't know. It it just me? I think I'll try it out and see how I like it. Change is always good. Also need to get those darn photos in my banner updated! I've been saying that forever it seems. I'm ready for some freshness.

I'll leave you with the reminder that my friend Maryfrances' "store closing sale" is still going on. The entire store is 50% off and there's still plenty of great funsies left to be bought! Check it out! Happy shopping!

Until the next time...

My Christmas Card Factory...

*Whew* Finito. 110+ Christmas cards this year. Handmade by moi and I took photos along the way. :) Click for a large view.

50+ pieces of cardstock
Tons of patterned paper - Scenic Route, American Crafts, My Mind's Eye
1+ roll of 3M ATG Gold adhesive
1 Jet Black StazOn ink pad
150"+ hemp cord and paper cord
Stampin' Up Curly Label Punch Set
Stampin' Up Spiral Notebook Punch
Art Declassified Photographic Bimbi Christmas stamp (their photograph stamps rock!)
Studio G "Tis The Season To Be Jolly" stamp
Studio G " Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" stamp
CI Art Warehouse/Danelle Johnson Holiday Interactive Circle Stamps
Fiskars "Season's Greeting" stamp
Marvy Giga Scalloped Circle Punch
Martha Stewart Scallop Dot Edge Punch (border punch)
American Crafts Slick Writers that never seem to run out! LOVE THEM!
Major use of my bone folder
Replacement trimmer blade - yep, dulled it right out
My envie stash completely depleted (I might have 4 envies left, lol)
Stamped sentiment on the inside (various)
"Handcrafted for you" stamp on the back

That's a lot of love from my scrap stash and like last year, I really enjoyed the process!

My international ones were sent out early last week and all my out-of-state and local ones were in the mail by last weekend.

Now I need to find the top of my table again. :)

Hope you're all enjoying the Christmas season!

Tis the season...

This week has been Christmas party week for us (okay, only two, lol). On Tuesday we went to hubby's work Christmas party. It was nice, but you know how it goes...it was a work party. ;) But, it was just fun being together, all dressed up and feeling the season happening around us.

This evening we went to my BIL and SIL's Christmas party. They have one every year and it's really nice. Tonight there were tall, lit candles surrounded with cranberries and nestled in a mason jars lining the steps up to the front door, a big, beautiful table full of finger foods, crock pots filled with yummy things, a house full of family and friends, talking and laughing, white lights, garland sprinkled with red, glittery balls and gold ribbon, mistletoe hanging in the archway and an all-around festive time. The only thing missing is a bit of snow. ;)

I also finished writing out my Christmas cards this week. I made around 110 this year and had a tough time nailing down my design, so I ended with like 5 different styles, lol! More to come about those in a future post. ;) I took photos along the way of my factory process, lol.

And while we're talking about crafty things, I also made this Christmas planner. It was super quick and I have all my family's Christmas lists inside and a receipt envie, waiting to finish my shopping. I haven't scrapped in a couple weeks, so it felt good to get into my stash. You can find the tutorial here.








*here comes the randomness*

I am so super excited because I'm typing this post up on my new laptop!! It came yesterday and I was able to set up my wireless connection, my email and have already loaded my Photoshop Elements and some other software that I often used on my desktop. I ordered a Dell on Black Friday weekend and got quite a deal! I haven't seen a better deal since then. Ohh...and I ordered it in Expresso Brown. It's gorgeous! :) Now I just need to see if I can get my printer in my wireless network. That might not be fun or easy, lol.

As I'm sitting here typing this, hubby has It's A Wonderful Life on tv. It's one of our favorite Christmas movies! Ahhh, George Bailey and Mary. We've already watched Elf (LOVE LOVE that movie!), Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph...well, I didn't watch Frosty or Rudolph all the way through, but they were on while I was fondling my new piece of technology. ;) Now we're just waiting to see A Christmas Story - you'll shoot your eye out! ROFL! It's not Christmas without watching that one!

Tonight before we went to the Christms party, I made a batch of Chocolate Toffee Almond Bark to take as a host/hostess gift and it turned out really good! It's super quick and even though you need a little patience (and a good candy thermometer) for the boiling process, it was worth it! I filled a clear cellophane bag and tied it with a couple different Christmas ribbons and it was good to go. I should have taken a photo, but didn't think of it. I saved a few pieces for us at home, of course. :)

Speaking of recipes, I made a batch of Magic Bars this week. I haven't had them since I was little as far as I can remember. They were really good and didn't last long! It sure puts me in the mood to do some Christmas baking!

Allright, that's it for me tonight. Night night!