Thanksgiving recap,and a Thankful Wine Tag from the Desk Clean Up Treasures!

It is a lazy Sunday afternoon, and I am hanging in the living room with my hubby while he plays Star Wars Battlefront on the XBox. Yes, that is his favorite activity :) When I say he is as excited for the next Star Wars movie as a 10 year old boy, I am not exaggerating! We have already checked to see if I work that day (I do not), and he has thought about pre-purchasing tickets for the movie on opening night. We live in Bemidji, people. I really don't think there is going to be a huge problem getting in to see the show... lines yes, maybe having to wait until the next showing, but I think it will be ok, lol! Now, if he decides we have to dress up as Princess Leia and Chewbacca, that might be a problem. I mean, I definitely have the hair for it (it is winter after all), but can you see Jamie in a dress?! ;) 

We had an absolutely lovely day on Thanksgiving as all of our kids, all of their significant others, my grandson, and my mom and her husband were all able to make it for at least the afternoon. This is a rarity! Our daughter lives 4 hours away and does not own a car, and hates to fly- plus it is expensive and requires planning to rent a car or fly in to the local airport. Our oldest son and his family live
 hours away, he works at a nursing home, and is going to school for nursing, so his work and school schedule make things a bit challenging.

We ate a wonderful, completely homemade dinner, played Scrabble with my mom (Nick kicked all of our butts), and took family photos. I was so excited to get that done!! I love to have pictures of everybody together!

Here is the whole gang! The camera must have shifted to one side a bit, unfortunately. Cameron was patting me on the back in this photo, busy little guy! And doesn't my mom look great?! She has lost about 50 pounds since starting a new diet plan about 10 months ago! She has not been this weight since I was a toddler!! She had already lost about 80 pounds after having a stroke about 9 years ago, but had remained a steady weight for the next several years and was having increased health and mobility problems, so she decided to try this "physician guided" diet plan in her town. She has done such a great job and I am very proud of her!

Here we are! I was quite disappointed to find that these photos all turned out pretty grainy. They might still be in our Christmas cards though.... And you may wonder how we got Cameron to hold still for these. Well, I would set the 12 second timer on my camera, dash over tot he couch to get into position, and then Cameron would be squirming to get away, even though his parent had just picked him up. Well, Jamie came up with the brilliant plan to get a cartoon playing on his cell phone and propped it up on the back of Geoffrey's neck. It worked long enough for us to get this shot, lol! We only got 2 others, because by this time we were all reasy to be done. None of us hold still very well :)
And the names, from left to right-(our kids bolded)
Back Row: Charlene and Nick, Dakota, Carrie
Middle Row: Me and Jamie, David and Cameron
Front Row: Amanda and Geoffrey

I have said it before, and I will say it again, lighting sucks in my house. We have to take the next family photo outside. I got a few rapid fire shots of just my kids too. I wish I had thought to have their partners in the pictures too.

Here is the obligatory rabbit ears and cheesy David grin shot.

Followed by the "He did it" and gusted sister face shot.

And the "are we done yet" shot!

 I am sure there is a great shot of them all together, but I haven't spent enough time pouring over the photos yet.

 

I do have a project to share with you. It is another project from the pile of treasures I found on my desk a few weeks ago. It is so fun to quickly throw together a project from the leftovers, don't you think? And totally appropriate for this weekend, one of the biggest leftovers weekends of the year!

The leaves were stamped on watercolor paper and die cut, then I used an Aqua-Painter to move the ink around and fill the color in more in places. I wasn't happy with the result for the original project, but this is cute. The wine tag was just me checking the fit of that die on a piece of scrap from a pile of scrap that is all the same size. I can get about 50 wine tags from that stack, lol! I don't think I need that many.... The burlap ribbon is scrap from another project, and the sentiment is a trial of a color combo from a card we made in Stamp Class in October. I think it would have looked better with a different colored wine tag, but this is cute enough, right?

Share your thoughts! I would love to hear about your Thanksgiving!


Product List

Thankful Forest Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139723]

$18.00

Thankful Forest Friends Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[139720]

$25.00

Vintage Leaves

[138802]

$26.00

Vintage Leaves Photopolymer Bundle

[140235]

$43.25

Watercolor Paper

[122959]

$5.00

Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

[101650]

$8.50

Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad

[126976]

$6.50

Hello Honey Classic Stampin' Pad

[133643]

$6.50

Cherry Cobbler Classic Stampin' Pad

[126966]

$6.50

2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers

[133654]

$15.00

Neutrals Stampin' Write Marker

[131261]

$23.00

Crumb Cake Stampin' Write Marker

[120967]

$3.50

Big Shot

[113439]

$110.00

Ovals Collection Framelits Die

[129381]

$27.00

1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon

[132140]

$8.00

Gold Metallic Thread

[138401]

$3.00

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[138995]

$7.00

Into the Woods and Thankful!

Today is Stamp Class day! And I thought I would share a quick and easy card we did at last month's class. Thanksgiving is coming soon and I know there are lots of people I am thankful for, so why not let them know?!

This card is using the beautiful Designer Series Paper from the Into the Woods suite from the Holiday Mini. I just adore this paper! I took this fun and busy background, did some marker to stamp technique stamping, matted the die cut oval sentiment on Soft Suede, then adhered it to the card over some of the yummy Rich Razzleberry ribbon.

Inside got a little more detail with one of the smaller images from the set. There is plenty of room to write a personal message here.

I hope you liked this card, and that you will come back again soon to see what else I come up with :) Product List

Thankful Forest Friends Clear-Mount Stamp Set

[139723]

$18.00

Thankful Forest Friends Wood-Mount Stamp Set

[139720]

$25.00

Whisper White 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock

[140272]

$7.00

Into The Woods Designer Series Paper

[139586]

$11.00

Into The Woods 3/8" (1 Cm) Cotton Ribbon

[139612]

$6.00

Regals Stampin' Write Markers

[131262]

$29.00

2014-2016 In Color Stampin' Write Markers

[133654]

$15.00

Big Shot

[113439]

$110.00

Ovals Collection Framelits Die

[129381]

$27.00

Tear & Tape Adhesive

[138995]

$7.00

Stampin' Dimensionals

[104430]

$4.00

Watered Feathers

I am back again with another watercolor card! This was a card I made for a swap this fall and I got to indulge my love of blues here :)

My first step was to stamp the feather image repeatedly with Versamark ink on a panel of watercolor paper, then heat embossed with White embossing powder. Then I wet the watercolor paper with plain water, then added the stripes of different colors. After the colors died, I spritzed again with some Pearlized water (Perfect Pearls in Pearl color mixed in a water mister).
I think you got the rest :)

• Stamps: Four Feathers, Wetlands
• Ink: Smoky Slate, Pool Party, Lost Lagoon, Versamark
• Paper: Smoky Slate, Lost Lagoon, Watercolor
• Other: Big Shot with Ovals framelits, Occasions Paper Piercing Pack, Paper Piercer and Mat, Lost Lagoon Satin ribbon, Embossing Buddy, White embossing powder, Heat Tool, Aquapainter, Signo white gel pen, dimensionals, sewing machine and thread

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

 I stamped a feather in each color of ink on the inside edge and drew a border with my Signo white gel pen, of course!

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

Here are a few New Arrivals to the Stampin' Up scene, go check them out! I personally can't wait to get my hands on that new Photopolymer set!

I feel like doing a little more watercoloring, how about you? :)

Stamp Review Crew: Serene Silhouettes Edition

Here we again with another edition of the Stamp Review Crew. We are featuring Serene Silhouettes this time, and I am so excited! This set is by no means a new set, it has been around for at least 2-3 years, but it is a wonderfully easy set to work with. You can change the mood easily just with color choices, and get all kinds of projects from it, everything from Halloween and Sympathy, to birthdays and Spring, and Christmas! There are masculine and feminine features too :)

I hope you are enjoying all of the creations we are sharing. We sure enjoy pulling out some of our favorite sets to share with you :) If you have missed any of the past hops, be sure to go to the official Stamp Review Crew site and catch up!
You may have just arrived from Nancy Smith's blog, love her stuff! Or maybe you are jumping around. If you are on this hop and get lost at any time, you can get reoriented here.

For my first project, I made an over the hill card. I thought about making it a Halloween card but I don't really send many of those out :) I do have a co-worker who is turning 30 next weekend and she keeps going on about how she is feeling old now, lol! We all keep telling her she is still just a puppy :) She has a great sense of humor and would get a kick out of this card, so she is who is getting this card.
I took a 3"x5" piece of watercolor paper and sponged it with Cajun Craze and Basic Gray ink, then sprayed with Vanilla Shimmer Smooch Spritz. Then I die cut it with the large label from Apothecary Accents framelits, then paper pierced and outlined with the white gel pen.
The banner is a 1" wide strip of Cajun Craze that I embossed with Black embossing powder and this great sentiment from the photopolymer set Bombs Away.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

This one is with the same image, but with a completely different feel. A lovely soft Christmas card. First I embossed the birds and tree branches image in White embossing powder on watercolor paper, then I used an Aquapainter to add the Soft Sky background. Then Ovals framelits were used to cut out the focal point. The background panel is a Very Vanilla piece with Hardwood BG stamp stamped off once then on the Very Vanilla panel in Soft Sky ink.
I originally intended to emboss the sentiment with Gold embossing powder, but I apparently didn't swipe well enough with the Embossing Buddy because I had a finger shaped blob right next the sentiment that I couldn't stop getting embossing powder on. SO, I used some Gold Perfect Pearls instead.

Inside, I used Versamark again with Gold Perfect Pearls on the rest of the sentiment, so it matches the front.

Built for Free Using: My Stampin Blog

I hope you enjoyed my projects! Now it is time to continue on to Kerry's blog where she is using the digital version of this set to amaze us :)

Grateful For Brown Sugar!

What is better than some brown sugar and steel cut oats with craisins on a crisp autumn morning? Not much, I can tell you! The slightly chewy goodness of the oats makes me crave breakfast anytime! While there are no craisins in this card, I still think it is delicious :)
I made this card while on vacation in August. You would have been quite impressed with my packing skills for this trip :) I brought quite an array of stamping supplies in only the Demo Business Bag, the Sizzix Drs Bag, and a Scrapfolio paper file.

We frequently go on weekend trips to visit family, and I always have things I need to get done for my stamping assignments. So I have started keeping a Go-Bag of sorts for travel stamping. I got this bag at convention in 2011, I think. Here is how I keep it stocked.
I have almost all of the main colors in Stampin' Spots, and I continue to fill in with the spots from My Paper Pumpkin kits each month. I keep all of the spots in this bag, making sure they are good and juicy about twice a year. So when we travel, I just add the ink pads I need that I don't have in spots to the bag.
 I also took some pieces of chipboard and wound a yard each of the current ribbons that I have on them and put them in baggies. I stock this bag with a package each of rhinestones and pearls, a bottle of Tombow adhesive, some Sticky Strip, scissors, paper piercer and mat, white gel pen, pencil, black pen, dimensionals, and a lighter for sealing the ends of ribbon. There is a bottle of stamp cleaning solution and a rag tucked in there too.  I have an older paper trimmer and a ruler tucked in the back pocket and keep extra cutting blades in the front zipper panel.
When we are going somewhere, I decide what sets I need to bring with. By consolidating stamp sets in the cases, I was able to get 28 sets in just 7 clear mount and 2 wood mount cases! Wow, huh! Then I load it all in the bag. I can usually slip some extra stuff in here like Washi tape and other embellishments. Oh, and I load my clear blocks in the side pockets. This little bag gets QUITE heavy by the time I am done loading it :)

Then, there is the Big Shot. I feel like I can't live without this thing, lol! In this bag, I can fit my machine, the magnetic platform, the multipurpose platform and cutting plates, and a variety of other items. I stick all of my embossing folders into a wood mount case and tuck that in there. I have taken all of my framelits out of the plastic envelopes they come in, and put them on magnetic sheets cut to no more than 5"x7". I can fit about 10 sets of framelits into a wood mount case this way. I also end up adding a few punches, and all of the small punches fit in another wood mount case. Sometimes my Blendas and SU markers go in a couple gallon baggies and get thrown in here too.

Now, this puppy has at least 4 sheets of every color paper we carry in it, at all times. There are 7 pockets in it, and I divide the paper into the color families. I put scads of extra neutrals in though, since I use a ton of them. I also have watercolor, vellum, glimmer, and foil paper in here.

So when it is time to go out of town for the weekend, it still takes me longer to pack my stamping stuff than my suitcase. But not much! Since I am awake for most of the night even on my days off, I find I have a lot of time on my hands when everyone else is sleeping. I just can't get to sleep before 5am most of the time. And when we are out of town, I usually am back up again by 9am.

Ok, now do you want to see the card?

I was going to feature the Gratitude For Days set on the Fall 2014 SA hop, but the person that signed up to use Four Feathers had to back out, so I switched to Four Feathers. But before I knew I could switch, I started working on some ideas with this set. I combined it with the starburst image from Kinda Eclectic, and went with some cool autumn colors. You can't really see them, but I stmped the leaves in Blackberry Bliss on the same colored paper. The Gold Encore ink sows up marvelously well though! This card absolutely needed some texture to liven it up, and Zig Zag did the trick.

I had to add some of those cute little acorns on the inside. 

So, what do you think? I would love to hear your take on this card, or how you pack your stamping stuff to travel!

Gratitude For Days Photopolymer Stamp Set

$15.95

Kinda Eclectic Clear-Mount Stamp Set

$19.95

Naturals Ivory 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$7.50

Blackberry Bliss 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Mossy Meadow 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock

$6.95

Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Card Stock

$6.95

Blackberry Bliss Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Mossy Meadow Classic Stampin' Pad

$5.95

Gold Sequin Trim

$4.95

1-1/4" Burlap Ribbon

$7.95

Metallic Gold Encore Pad

$9.95

White Signo Uni-Ball Gel Pen

$3.95

Zig Zag Textured Impressions Embossing Folder

$7.95

Circles Collection Framelits Die

$26.95

Big Shot

$99.95

Stampin' Dimensionals

$3.95

Project Life Cards & Labels Framelits

$24.95

Crystal Effects

$6.25

Sticky Strip

$6.95

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