CALENDAR AND NOTE PAD TIN HOLDERS

Hi Everyone,  It has been a busy week.  After today I don't have anything scheduled except doctor's app't's and my eldest granddaughter's birthday (next Sat.).  I spent this past week making 6 calendar/note pad tin holders for our camping friends and my hairdresser.  I used SU's tins (in the Clearance Rack) so the cost for making was minimal.  I ordered my 2011 calendars and notepads from Andrea (from Canada) which came in bundles of 5 each.  You can make your own calendars and note pads, but I didn't have time this year.

I made two of each design.  Oops I forgot to take picture of inside.

Oh well, I will take one later and add it on.  Inside is the calendar for this year (on the top half inside lid) and the bottom half has the lined note pad.  I didn't include the small ink pen this year but if I come across them next time I go to Office Max or Best Buy I will pick up a bunch so I have them on hand.



Not much more going on, it is toooo cold outside to go anywhere so we mostly stay in and watch movies that Dick has taped.  I try to go out to my work area about 3-4 hrs. after lunch but usually end up falling asleep at the computer around 2:30 and then go lay down on bed for a couple of hours.  We are thinking about going to Davison and renting a cabin for a week just to get out.  Also most of our camping friends live in that area so we could visit with them.  Okay it is only 7:20 pm but my eyes are drooping so I better get away from the computer before I doze off!!  Have a great evening and see you back here soon.

FIRST SCRAPBOOK PAGE USING MDS

Wow, I can't believe I finally did it.  I used MDS to do my top two layers of the page and then printed it out with my printer.  The colors really match good (I have a HP printer) and I like the finished look.  I then took a piece of 8 1/2"x11" Marine Mist cardstock and placed my printout on it.  I then used the corner punch (large corners) to do the Old Olive corners.  I used a piece of pewter hardware with the wide striped Old Olive ribbon at the bottom of page and then decided it needed something more.  Ahha, I got my snowflake stamp and the versamark to fill in around the MDS page.  I hope I explained it correctly.  I originally was going for an 8x8 page but it was too small for me so changed it to the 8 1/2 X 11" page.  I wanted to do some 8x8 pages to put into the new albums that SU is selling. I have 3 now that are all different colors.  So pretty.  Here is a picture of my completed project.(Click on picture to enlargen)

(I haven't put a title on this yet as this will be a 2 page layout)

Next is a picture of the birthday card I made for my sister, Sandi, last July.  I really like this stamp set (hat) and it was my first try at stamping on the envelope and then coloring it.

My brother-in-law's birthday is this Friday and I wanted to make a card using circles and some of the new in-colors.  I also wanted it to be bright as we have had nothing but gloomy gray skies for quite a while.  Now for the DUMB thing I did.  I do this almost every time I make a card.  I got the envelope addressed, put stamp on and then stuffed the card into the envelope and licked it shut.  Are you still following me...Yup, I forgot to take a pictue of the card.  So, I hurried up and opened it back up and took this picture.  So if you ever get a card from me and it looks like someone opened it...it happened again!!!

I also didn't put a dark background underneath the card before taking this picture so it is hard to tell this is a white card. DUH, maybe when I get my memory back I won't make this mistake again,  LOL  If you believe that than you don't know me!!  Have a good day and now I have to get supper on the table.  By the way both of these cards were cased from someone who posted it on SCS and when I printed out a copy, I forgot to write their name down.  Thank you whoever you are.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE

Well it is halftime for MSU and I am so disappointed in their game play that I even turned over to watch UofM (they managed to score two touchdowns in first half!!)  I decided maybe I need to NOT watch the second half and maybe they can pull it off-did I say that I am a believer in MIRCLES!!!

I thought I would show you some pictures of my granddaughters doing some great crafty stuff.  First I made up some cinnamon/applesauce dough and rolled it out and let them use the cookies cutters and put some gems on each of them for decorations.  When they cut out the dough I had them use a swizzle stick to make hole at top. Since I had to put in oven for 5 hrs. they didn't see the results until the next day.  Only a couple of the decorations set in the dough so I had to use my crystal effects.  I then put a ribbon into each hole and when they came over later that day, I gave all of them except one to put on their tree.  It was a lot of fun and I believe the dough made around 20 ornaments.  Great activity for children of all ages.

Our next activity was our yearly cookie decorating.  Grandpa makes some sugar (from a tube) cookies and then when the little darlings got here, they started in decorating.  It was fun watching how different they worked compared to last year.

Jenna And Kirsten really getting into it.

Jenna doing KP.  She is our little helper, always keeping

the kitchen counter clean.

Now I guess I had better show some of my cards made from swap samples or else my sister won't count this blog for meeting my challenge.  At one of Ronda's Retreats, I won the silent bid for a HUGE box of card swaps.  I then removed the bottom layer and attached what was left to a new cardstock and added  embellishments.  I don't have all the SU stamps so this makes it nice for me to be able to make over cards that someone else has made.  Some of my Xmas cards were my own design but the ones I sent out this year were mostly made overs.  Hope you like.

 This was for my sister, Kathleen

 This is for my sister, Sandi

This is for my sister-in-law, Wilma

Well that is all for now, have just a few more that I will post at a later date.  I am going to try and make some 8x8 album pages for SU's newest albums. Have a good day and keep smiling.

I HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED!!!

Hi Everyone,

Yup, I have been challenged by my sister, Sandi, to post something on my blog at least once a week!  My feeling is that challenges are a lot like New Year's Resolutions-they usually fizzle out. LOL  I need to take some of Ronda's motavational classes....Okay on to my latest creations.

I had all my cards mailed out by the first week in December and gifts all wrapped the following week and I had to make two dishes to pass at the Christmas Eve dinner and had a simple meal on Christmas Day (taco salad and tacos) so you ask what could possible make me rush around on the day before Christmas?  Well, I knew we were giving money to our children and grandchildren but for some reason I thought the elves would make the money card holders.  So around 2pm on Dec 24th I was sitting at my computer looking at different blogs and one of them had a gift card holder and I went into a tizzy!!!  I forgot to make my money holders...So I started and made two before we went to family gathering and after we came home finished the other three.  Here is what I came up with.  (I cut a piece of cardstock 7"x9" and then scored the long side at 2" and 6 1/2".
The first two are for Jenna and Kirsten (granddaughters).  Click on any photo to see in larger view

This is the back of each of their holders.  It was a lot of fun and very easy to make.  Since you only have 1/2" to lap over the closure on the back, I scored at 2" and 6".  That way I could have a better choice for a closure. 

Next is the ones I made for Michelle (daughter) and Jerry.

and last one was made for my daughter, Kellie.  The only thing I would change on this card would be to place the ribbon differently.

Last is a photo of our SMALL Christmas tree with the money holders on it. If you look rel close you can see the cinnamon ornament that the granddaughters made one day at our house. I will show you better pictures of them at a later date.

Alright, Sandi, does this fulfill my first challenge? LOL  Now I am going to play a very CHALLENGING game on my computer. (Solitaire...)

DINNER IN FRANKENMUTH, MI

Hi Everyone,

What a great day yesterday was.  Why, you say?  Well first of all, MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY won against Purdue!!! (now 10-1)  Dick taped the game for us to watch when we got back home.(around 5:00 pm) We went to Frankenmuth to meet some of our camping friends for a birthday celebration.  It was a perfect day for driving and to see all the Christmas decorations up in town.  I wished we could have stayed until dark so I could have seen the town all lit up and also see Bonner's decorations. If you have never been to this area, you need to seriously make plans no matter what season it is.  My favorite time is just before Christmas.  There are so many people that come to this small town year around.  We had reservations for 2:00 at Zehnder's restaurant so after we checked in, we strolled downstairs to check out the gift store and bakery.  Can you believe it, we didn't buy ANY bakery goods.  That has to be a first!!!  I didn't take a picture of the bakery since I didn't want to drool every time I looked at it. LOL  My family doctor will be so proud of us!!

We didn't stay downstairs very long as it was wall to wall people.  Not for me, I went upstairs (everyone else soon followed) and sat in the lounge area by the TV (which had the Uof M game on) and visited with our friends.   The birthday girls (Phyllis-Nov 24th and Mom (Donna)-Nov 17th) are just as young as the last time I saw them. LOL  We had a great time and decided to form a Birthday Club.  Below are some of the photos I took of the event:



Kathy had the cake made and added the camping decorations.
(canoe, tent, & campfire) These are recycled decorations (LOL)



The BIRTHDAY GIRLS - Phyllis and Mary

  

Donna, (Kathy's mother) chatting in the lounge area
and watching all the people waiting to get in.  It is about 1:00 p.m.

 


Phyllis





Bill (Phyllis' Husband)


 

Mike - Bill & Phyllis' grandson.  Such a cutie!




Dick (my HUNK!)



Mom and her daughters, Mary and Kathy

 

Birthday Girl with Mr. Chicken (Phyllis had left the
dining area and didn't get back until after he left.)



As you can see we had a great time and it was good to see some of our camping friends again.  We hadn't seen them since Labor Day.  We are hoping to go to the campgrounds in January (rent a cabin for a week) so we can go to Frankenmuth again for the ice sculptures and another birthday lunch.

Thank you for taking a peek at my day yesterday.  I made a card for Phyllis but, as par for the course, I didn't take a picture of it to share with you.  I am going to try and make some tags today and then get ready for this coming week.  Oh, almost forgot another great thing that happened yesterday, my niece, Tricia got married to Ethan.  So happy for both of them and wish them only the best.  Love to both of you.

Well if I don't get back on here before Thursday, "HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY FAMILY AND FRIENDS" See you next time.

For all of you who leave a comment below, "Thank YOU"

Christmas Card Stack for ONE!

Well, here it is November 1st and less than 2 months til Christmas!!!  I haven't been doing much craft stuff for the past 4 months so after attending Ronda Wade's Scrapbooking Retreat a week ago, I got my mojo back.  I love going to these retreats as Ronda & Melissa do such a great job of pampering us ladies (there were 60 in attendance).  This is only my second time at attending one for the whole weekend.  Last March I bunked with my sister, Kathleen and this time I bunked with another sister, Sandi (Dailey). I also signed up for all 5 classes this time.  Wow, was I busy!  We had a costume contest on our first night (friday) and I won 2nd place. WooHoo!! I got a real nice 8 1/2 x 8 1/2 album (new item in this year's catalog or maybe it was in the mini-not sure).  I also won some 12x12 cardstock in one of the raffles.  In the Silent Auction, I won the bid for 20 (12x12) pages that were completed.  The pages are real neat looking and I can still add embellishments if I want to. 

Okay enough about the retreat.  My BFF, Jacqie, wanted to do some Christmas cards like we did last year so she came over tonight.  I decided to do 16 cards (4 each of 4 different designs).  I cased 3 designs from the retreat and the 4th one I cased from LaDonna Johnson. Here are a few pictures I took:

Jacqie working hard. Completed all 16 in 2 hrs.

Jacqie with all her cards completed.

Cards she made. The bottom right one is not one of the cards I did at the retreat.

It was fun being with Jacqie again.  We have known each other about 35 yrs. through our jobs at MSU.  I haven't converted her to SU yet but she sure likes the products.  I told her tonight about My Digital Studio thinking she would like the program.  We didn't have enough time for me to show her the program but we have tentatively made plans to meet again so she can make some gifts.  I did something different this time while setting up the class.  I set my table up as 4 stations and had everything laid out that she would need.  I also cut all the paper ahead of time and stamped some of the ornaments that she had to punch. It worked out so much better than what I did last year.  It took only 2 hrs to complete all the cards and 1/2 hr to clean up after she left.  I didn't get flustered and had more time to work with her one on one.  I liked doing a class like this instead of 3-4 people attending. 

Okay, I will leave you with a picture of me in my winning costume.  Picture was taken by Ronda.

My lollipop was made with SU products (except the stick)

Click on any of the above pictures to enlargen the picture

Well, time to go for tonight.  Have a good day tomorrow and I am going to go raid the freeze!!!  Ice cream here I come. YUM YUM!!!



FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Yes, today was the first day of school for my granddaughters, Kirsten & Jenna.  Mommy took some cute pictures that I will share with you.

Jenna & Kirsten on their way to bus stop.

Jenna getting ready to ride the bus for the first time (well she had a practice ride last spring but that isn't the same)  

Kirsten in her cute outfit (love her headband) getting off bus at school.

  

Gosh, she isn't my little princess anymore.

 

I love this photo.  Jenna all smiles and big sister watching over her.  Kirsten sure has a serious face!

  

Jenna in her Kdg. classroom meeting her first friend. I am so proud of them and wish them both lots of happy and good times this school year.

This past Thursday, the girls spent a few days (and nights) with us and on Saturday they begged me to let them make a craft. So I tried to think of something that would take some time and would require minimum work for me. Jeanna has now graduated to the next level in crafting. She chose her own paper, deorations and bling. Here is her first attempt at making something other that pasting cutouts on papers. I did the lacing of the ribbon and gluing the bottom onto the sides. Didn't she do great?

This is Kirsten's box. She needed no help from me other than to show her how to put the paper on. She chose her embellishments and I was truly impressed with her selections and how it came together. I guess she will want to graduate to a higher level now. (like use my Big Shot!)  Don't you love how she did the flowers?

I had a lot of fun doing the project with them and it used up 5 1/2 hrs. of time. (so they wouldn't get bored or watch TV) I think I will have to find a simple Xmas card for them to make the next time and also make a gift for Mommy.

Well that is all for now. I will leave you with two of my favorite photos of the girls that I took after they completed the crafts.  Jenna reminds me so much of my niece when she was this age. Right, Trish?

 
 

This is the cutest one of Kirsten that I got. She has the most beautiful brown eyes and so into the latest fashions. We took her and Jenna school shopping and it was such an unbelievable experience.

Have a good evening and keep smiling.