Heading Overt to Pixie's Playground With a Ribbon-Image Card

Attention Shoppers!

If you had a to-do list or a list of resolutions for 2012, you can cerharmoniously tear it up.  Don't feel bad about yourself.  Take a clean piece of paper and write at the top:

2013

and start all over again.  There are no grades, only self-forgiveness.

~~~

I almost forgot I wanted to show you this.  Some of the Christmas cards I made this year had a ribbon image and my friend, Lolly, whose work I totally admire and respect, suggested I share it with all of you.  My Christmas card had a "merry & bright" sediment, but seeing as how it's the last year of the day, well you know what I mean, I changed the sediment to be more ah currante for this post.

Here's the beautiful ribbon I got from the giant $1-$1.99 bin at our local craft store:

I cut a section of the ribbon and wrapped it around a piece of card stock, blinging the corners with silver brads:

Here's the back where you can see it is secured with tape that may or may not be of Scottish descent:

And here's the finished card.  You can't tell, but the "happy new year" is embossed.

So there's another idea for using ribbons on cards.  Dig in the next time you walk by a cheapo bin of ribbons.  Notice I didn't say bin of cheapo ribbons.

Since the white card stock used in my card was from my mahoosive folder of snippity white card stock, and since I know Di and all my other girlfriends over at the Playground at Pixie's Crafty Snippets will be lighting New Year's sparklers and drinking them, too, I'm heading over!  I hope you can join us! 

~~~

We get the twins for a sleep-over on New Year's Eve, yippee!!  Then we have Stanford v. Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.  Since the twins' daddy got a degree from the University of Wisconsin and another one from Stanford, it's tough deciding which team to root for.  Maybe we will flip a coin or, better year, we should just applaud every time N.E. Body from either school does something applaudable!

~~~

Enjoy your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day, however you spend them! No, seriously, enjoy!

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!  See you next year!!

Paper:  SU! real red; PTI white

Stamp:  SU! itty bitty something?

Ink: WOW! Cable Car Red ep 

Ribbon:  Holiday Inspirations

Misc.: silver brads and pop dots

Freshly Made Sketch #66 ~ Happy New Year!

It's a New Day!

All buzzed up from yesterday's round of drinks, I needed to settle down and enjoy a quiet evening last night.  Trawling the web, I stopped at a favorite sketch challenge and made a serene, clean, and simple card to welcome the new year.

The sketch from Freshly Made Sketches is designed by the talented Tui Nathan.

I choose to portrait a new sunrise peeking over the mountains.

 

 

 

For me, it's a serious moment of card reflection.  Not my usual goofiness, it does happen now and then.  I watched too much news of the world and reflected on the evil therein this past year, which always impacts those deep places in the heart of my shallow, whimsy-loving self.  Places of prayer:

 

How wonderful it would be if we could all lay down our prejudi, our righteousness, our arms, and our hate and simply greet the sunrise on January 1st with humility and appreciation for the world we live in and for our fellow peeps, no matter what, forever and ever, amen.

 

Some would call that delusional: having false or unrealistic beliefs or opinions. 

 

I call it hopeful: having a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

 

We just have to put our minds to it.

 

~~~

 

Just in time for the Playhouse New Year's Eve celebration, please welcome Kylie of Kylie Is Addicted To Stamps.  This talented young woman brings with her loads of inspiration and ownership of two fun challenges, Addicted to Stamps and More and Addicted to CAS (clean and simple)!  She is happily an over-achiever, much to our benefit!  Welcome, Kylie, and thank you for joining our party!

 

~~~

 

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy your day.

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.   Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

Paper:  PTI rustic cream

Ink:  SU! not quite navy

Stamps:  All SU! unknown sets

Ribbon:  SU! not quite navy

LIM 99-100, OLW 120 and ATCAS 3 ~ Sahweet! Drinks Are On The House!

And we're back around to Friday!  Whoosh!!

 

Here's a little comical card I made in honor of today's post.

 

The expression "drinks are on the house" makes me giggle, because every time I hear it, I picture everyone scurrying out the doors and windows and up ladders to reach the free drinks.

 

Okay.  Okay.

 

It's a recipe challenge over at Less Is More and Chrissie and Jen (with best wishes from Mandi!) want us to make a project with "Drinks!"  Note that they are celebrating Weeks 99-100 at Less is More!  Cheers to that and many more!!

 

 

I made this card.  I was quite happy with it because when I found I didn't have any nicely striped peppermint candy paper for the background, I took out my red pen and I made my own.

 

 

 

So festive!  It say's "Let's Be Merry," which is rather Christmasy, sorry.  I had misplaced my "Happy New Year" stamp at this point.

 

Done and dusted, I sat back with a contented sigh.  Then light dawned behind my right eyeball and as I whacked myself there, I asked, "Where is your 'white space?'  Hmmm? Hmmm?"  Knowing this would never do, I begain again.

 

And made this card which is more appropopo for LIM.

 

 

 

Yes?  Good!

 

Wait.  It gets better.  Turns out I killed two challenges with those peppermint candies because it just so happens that my cards fit challenge #3 at Addicted to CAS (ATCAS), where Patrice has chosen this code word: 

 

 

What can I say?  Sahweet!

 

~~~

 

At this point, I noticed that this week's One Layer Wednesday (OLW) challenge was being hosted by Karen on her Snippets blog and the theme is, you guessed it, "Cheers!"  We are to create a one-layer card with some kind of drink on it.

Woo-Hoo.  Three challenges! 

Wait.  The whole idea at OLW is, duh, "one layer."  Which are neither of my two drinkie-poo cards.  Well, gee, shucks, as long as I had the beverages out, I made another card.  I also placed my Happy New Year stamp, which I had misplaced earlier.

It was super easy to make this card because it's made from a photo of me taken while I was having a cool one after a heavy workout tying my shoes.

 

 

Doncha love my hat?  I wear it sort of like a helmet, for safety reasons.  I find that if I wear it when I'm out jogging, cars tend to veer off the road opposite of where I am. 

I'm just kidding.  Cars don't actually veer.  After all, I live in California so no one even looks twice at my hat.
 

~~~

In spite of all the rush and jumble of the holidays, I am tickled to introduce you to a new friend.  When you get a minute, please help me welcome Nan G. of Froggy Designs!  Yup, Froggy Designs.  I don't know if Nan came across my Mr. Froggie while checking out the Playhouse, but I'm probably going to have to keep a close eye on him from now on! 

Thank you, Nan, and welcome!

 

~~~

 

Enjoy your day! No, seriously, enjoy your day.

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!


I'm suddenly so thirsty . . .

LIM and ATCAS card images
  are from stampingbella.com,
  jd100 and ks103
OLW card image is from
  Art Impressions T-2784
Lemmeno if you want other details

 

What's On Your Workdesk? Wednesday 186

Hi Peepers!

This is my second post today and my second hop!  Because of the excessive fun I had ~ wait.  What?  "Excessive fun" seems rather impossible!  But anyway, I was a pig the last few days so I'm moving slow and it's going to take me a while to get on and off the bus at all the stops between the two hops.  In case the rest of you are also moving slow today, I'm going to stop talking and just show you my desk, which like last week, has a message for you!

Happy New Year to everyone since we will meet again on the second of January!  Plus, Happy Boxing Day to all who celebrate this extra holiday on the day after Christmas!

To join in the WOYWW hop, please click over to our beloved Ms. Julia's Stamping Ground and add your linkie winkie!

~~~

Enjoy your day!   No, seriously, enjoy your day.

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit. Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge

Good Welcome Morning!

It's the day after Christmas and I'm off to hop on the bus over at Nichole's sensational {capture the moment} Papertrey December Blog Hop.  She gave us lots of notice for this day-long challenge of "white & white," but I didn't get my act together until last night because I'm still getting inky and jiggy with Christmasy pepperminty red, which you'll see tomorrow.

For today's PTI hop, I stepped completely out of the holiday winter box and went with the purity of a little tiny baby white onesie:

I used a pair of kid-sized scallop-edged Fiskars skisskors to make the sleeve edge and the collar which doesn't show up as well as I'd like.  Below is a close-up showing the texture of the soft little onesie in 100% organic cotton.  Seems like it, anyway.  The texture is thanks to the PTI "Impressions and Canvas" plate.  It makes it quite touchable, but you have to wash your hands first. 

~~~

I hope you enjoyed the holidays!  I'll leave you with a couple of pick sures of ours. 

Cousins Seneca, Adam, and Henry.

Seneca is also 8 years old, so the twins enjoyed being triplers for a few days!  And, holy cow, these little people devoured the Christmas Eve shrimp and crab feed at Mister's sister's!  In fact, Seneca has her eyes blissfully closed, so here is a better picture of her sweet face:

~~~ 

And here I am, dressed as Mrs. Claus, holding Seneca's little sister, Isis. What a charmer she is! Papa and I tried to sneak her away and bring her home with us! We don't often get to play with little girl people!

~~~

I'm over-stuffed with sugar, adult beverages, chocolate, and food in that order.  My Impulse Control Button breaks up with me every year at this time, so we are disengaged.  Oof T. Meg, where's the recliner?! 

(Thesis question:  Why does it take 48 hours to gain ten pounds and 48 months to lose it?!!)

Enjoy your day!  No, seriously, enjoy your day.

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit. Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

Paper:  PTI white
Die:  PTI Shape Up Series "Onesie"
PTI "Impression and Canvas" plate
Cuttlebug flower EF
Ribbon:  Wrights Prestige 8054702
Fiskars Kiszors, scallop
Purple Cow deckle edge trimmer
Flower and pearls from stash

Wishing You Merry Christmas Happy Holly-Days! CFC #83 ~ We're Dashing Through The Holidays w/ 10-Minute Craft Dash #9

That's a Lotta Title!

And here, made especially for you, my online friend, is your Christmas card from me:

Just this once, I've put my card first, in case you only have a second . . .

It's made from really beautiful glossy card stock.  It looks quite like a decorated cake in real life and it's hard not to eat it with a spoon.

It took me eight minutes to make it, but only because I'm a little slow.  So I'm entering a challenge that is new to me, that I heard about through a challenge that's a favorite of mine.

That makes it a two-for-one challenge and you can't beat that when your rushing around doing ... oh, I can't fool you and pretend I'm rushing around.  The truth is I'm doing absolutely nothing but crafting in my Playhouse.  Soon we will leave to spend Christmas Eve eating and drinking and engaging in joviality at Mister's sister's and then the whole thing will be repeated on Christmas Day at the House of Twins.

So I have it made!  I'm the most blessed gurl in the wurld!

~~~

Here are the links for the challenge details:

CAS-ual Fridays (CFC83) ~ Dashing Thru The Holidays

10 Minute Craft Dash #9 ~ Holiday Theme

So, listen, both of these challenges are running extra trains so you have days and days left to play along.  I know you can find a spare ten minutes to join the fun!  Unless you are away at Aunt Edmar's and Uncle Flip's where you're having a different, but nevertheless, fun kind of fun!

~~~

Enjoy your holly-day!   No, seriously, enjoy your holly-day!!

As always, special thanks to all of you who have joined my little party as followers or subscribers and who consistently come by the Playhouse to visit and leave me love and support.  I appreciate you so much!

Mwah!  Merry Kissmas!!

Paper:  unknown glossy and
  handmade textured green
Stamp:  Cas-ual Friday Stamps,
  "Merry Kiss-Mas"
Ink:  SU! Real Red
Ribbon:  SU! Real Red
Die:   Christmas Holly
Jingle bells:  Darice, Inc.
Aileen's glue and pop dots

CASology #24 ~ Oh My Stars! and Pixie's Pals

Check it out!  Look at what I found!

In my container of Christmas bags and boxes and bows, I have a stash of tissue paper.  Picture me wrapping my Hootycreeks for gifts.  I had wrapped two containers in this beautiful green paper with gold stars when suddenly, I had one of those m.o.m.e.n.t.s.

 

One of those wait-a-cotton-pickin-what-the-heckity-heck moments.  I stopped wrapping and singing along with Nat King Cole and focused.  Hey!  That's not tissue paper!  That's mulberry paper!

 

Raise your hand if you know what mulberry paper is.  Then this post is for you!

 

And it's for all my crafty friends on the talented design team over at CASology where the cue word this week is "STAR."  How could I not stop what I was doing and use it to play along with a clean and simple card?!!  I can't even remember the last time I had fun with fuzzy pullable mulberry paper.

 

 

So, Melissa and Ardyth and Jen and Rosemary and Tracey, this is for you!  Happiest, Merriest, Joyiest Wishes to you!!

 

And the same to all my rowdy, rascally, crafty-sister friends at Pixie's Crafty Workshop!  It may be damp on the playground, but it doesn't dampen our spirits, does it girls?  Pass the egg nog! 

(In all seriousness, my thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the terrible rains and flooding which is causing havoc and ruining travel plans.)

 

To all of you and to all who venture by, here's my starring mulberry paper card!

 

If you are hitting the highways, byways, skyways, or just tittering down the walkways, do be careful and be safe, and Oh, my Stars, do enjoy!  No, seriously, enjoy!!

 

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit.  Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

Paper:  PTI white and
  mulberry green, unknown
Stamp:  PTI "Glory Be"
Ink:  Brilliance Galaxy Gold
Brad:  Star stud from stash

A Mason Jar Recipe, a Cool Food Website, and Ramblings

Hi There!

 

You are either up to your eyeballs in alligators still prepping and preening and fretting and fussing to get everything done for Christmas and you'll never see this post, or you are taking a break, or you are calling it quits, game over, good enough, and you're putting your feet up and blog-hopping.  Hello!

 

Food Matters

 

I wrapped the last present yesterday, the cards are sent, and I actually got some baking done for the neighbors!  (Truth be told, I baked several times in the last week, but Mister has eaten all the treats as fast as I can bake them!  Not counting the twenty two I had to eat strictly in the interest of poison prevention science.) 

 

I wanted to find a recipe to make up some cute mason jars and I came across Cranberry Hootycreek Cookies In a Jar.  Here is one of my cute finished quart jars.

 

Since that recipe only makes 18-24 cookies, I went to find a website with a full-size recipe because I flunked math.  Well, girl, I have to share the remarkable website where I found my recipe!  It's called Beth's Favorite Recipes and oh my chowder and crumpets, she is quite the proliftic cook!!  You'll want to visit!

 

So here are my "Cranberry Hootycreek Cookies."

 

Seriously, Hootycreek!  Not named by me, it already existed.  I don't know where it came from, although it probably has some meaning.  If I didn't already want to talk about other things today, you know I would make up an exciting background history!  They are sooo yummo!  You can click on the link above to get the recipe.

 

~~~

 

Help Out If You Can

 

I've been working on cards for children to send to Amber's Damask Love "Drawn Together" love-raiser mentioned in my post here.  Some may feel that sending cards is just a burden to the town, because the cards all have to be surveiled.  The Drawn Together program will amass the cards and Amber will take care of sending them to Newtown in a large package. I was really moved by the underlying idea Amber had when she formulated her Drawn Together program. 

This program is not about sending sympathy cards to the families of the slain children (which, please, can be nothing more than a blessing to them).  This program is about the surviving children of the town~the other elementary school children who went to Sandy Hook Elementary School and survived the massacre, but whose friends were killed.  If there is enough participation, the program will reach out to other impacted children in the surrounding Newtown school districts.  All of these surviving children will live with this trauma for the rest of their lives.  It cannot be a burden to send cards and art kits to these children to help them articulate their feelings and to let them know that they are special, too, and that they are in our thoughts and prayers as they struggle in the months to come.  IMHO.

Here are a couple of the cards I've made so far.  I'm making four of each card.

 

 

I think some little girls like froggies, but I am going to make a few non-froggie ones as well.

~~~
 

Helping Our Package Employees (HOPE)

 

Besides baking, and making cards, and other random acts of kindness, I am starting an international program of HOPE to help our package delivery personnel.  Over the years, I have become more and more aware of a need for a fund-raiser to supply our Postal, UPS, and Fed-Ex workers with sports equipment.  Day-in and night-out, these hardworking people move our packages so that they arrive safely at our homes or places of business.  These workers spend their breaks on loading docks or in windowless rooms in the backs of buildings.  As such, is it any wonder that they recourse to using our packages as sports projectiles as a way to blow off steam and get some exercise?  To wit:

 

 

Whoot can blame them?  Please click on this stink to send money or new or used hard balls, soft balls, soccer balls, footballs, foosballs, and yarn balls.  Your support is appreciated!  Your fragile purchases will henceforth arrive in tacked. 

 

As time and volunteers allow, there are future plans for a subchapter to be formed focusing on "Front Door Accuracy," in the hope that you will no longer have to dive into the nettle bushes to retrieve your packages.  We will be looking for experts in DRT (Doorknob-Recognition Therapy) as evidence is wide-spread that all doors have some kind of doorknob / handle.  It is unclear in the medical community why delivery persons are lacking this normally innate knowledge and eyeball-focus recognition.  I will provide further updates in the new year and, again, thank you for your support.

~~~

 

Madge

 

Our friend Madge never fails to rock the "What It IS, Man" humor!  And I'd like to thank my friend, Sandee, from In The Hills of North Carolina for posting this funny, which I have lifted to share with you in the event you didn't see it at her place:

 

 

Of course, IRL, Christmas is not weird when we pause to remember the true meaning.

~~~

 

Okee-doodle, poodle!  That's quite enough ranting and rambling for today.  I'm going to go finish off my kid cards on this rainy day and be thankful that the Mayans got it wrong!!  They got it so wrong, I just looked out the window to find a faint rainbow arcing from sill to sill.  Awwwwww.

 

I hope you, in whatever level of chaos you are in, will enjoy your day.  No, seriously, enjoy your day!

 

As always, thank you for stopping by to visit. Special thanks to you if you take the time to join as a follower or leave a comment!

How We Can Help Newtown's Families

To all my friends and family:

 

Thanks to my friend, Jean, I have just become aware of a way that we can all help the children of Newtown, Connecticut as they try to cope with the devastation they are enduring.  Here is the graphic for this "love-raiser," as I'm calling it, and the link:  Drawn Together

~~~

I know that you are all in a bit of a tizzy with your own busyness of this holiday season, but I also know that you are having a difficult time even attempting to process what the holidays will be like for the surviving children and the families of Newtown.  I also know that your pain will be diminished if you take a few minutes to try and diminish the pain of others.  It's how it works.

 

Drawn Together is initiated by Amber Kemp-Gerstel and her proposal and request is articulate, thoughtful, and moving.  I want to thank Amber with all my heart for putting this together for us.  The work involved in making the kits is going to be enormous.  You are a beatitude, Amber.  Mwah!

 

Thank you, all, for any way you can help.  As your own young children or grandchildren are home from school for the holidays, perhaps they, too, would like to get involved and make sweet cards to send to the little children of Newtown.  All of the information is on Amber's blog.

 

Please help spread the word about this.

 

Blessings,