SWU Challenge

Dontcha love the holidays....?

Well after giving up on the post Thanksgiving sales today (Not a great idea with a 13 yr old and a 9yr old in tow...!) I find that I have some spare time! The turkey hot-pot is in the slow cooker and the kids are plonked in front of yet another movie, happy with Pecan-chocolate-chunk bars and rice crispies treats (With CARAMEL marshmallows... Yum!) filling their never full bellies... So whats a girl to do? CRAFT!


This is a card I made for the SWU challenge this week... It was to use 1 Stamp, 2 Patterned Papers, and 3 brads.


My effort is nice and simple, easy to reproduce for all those thank you cards we will be needing after Christmas!. I stamped the main greeting onto cardstock and coloured the edges by swiping with a SU! Marker. Mat and layer and pop up on some dimensionals to give some height. The strip on the left is just scored and folded, then glued down for some texture.


Love the sentiment on this stamp. When you use pretty papers you really dont need to over-embellish a card.

Recipe All Stampin' Up!
Card: Kraft, Very Vanilla, Old Olive, So Saffron
Stamp: Simply Thanks
Ink: Always Artichoke Marker.
Papers: Brocade Backgrounds (Retired SU!)
Brads: SU!

Hope you enjoy!
Im off to fight for the last rice-crispy treat!

TTFN

C xx

Twelve Blogs Of Christmas...

Im really excited about this event... Over on ILWS we have organised a Christmas blog hop... Each of us in the hop have created some amazing Christmas Projects and shared them on our blogs. Each blog will have the '12 Blogs of Christmas' emblem which you just click on to take you to the next faberoonie stop on your travels where you will see more gorgeous projects. If you click the links on each blog (unfortunately due to illness there are only 11 blogs this time...Shhh dont tell!) eventually you will come full circle back to where you started, (Bit like the M25!) and your brain will be ready to explode with all the fabulousness you have just seen! Ha ha!

For those who have joined us from Debbi's Blog... WELCOME! Hope you are enjoying the inspiration...

So heres my little efforts...

Project 1.

Its all in the packaging!
Money is tight for us all this year so make the most of what you have... I found the templates (Anna Griffin) for the pillow box and the flowers hidden in my stash and decided to give it a go! Im lurving these!...


All made with Stampin' Up! (Bella Bleu) papers and cardstock (coz Ive got LOADS!!!) The bow is different but really easy. I tied 2 regular bows from ribbon, overlaid one across the other and tied with some silver elasic cord. I added some snowflake buttons from my stash and Ho Ho Ho!! There you go!


Just add some glitter and you are bling-i-licious baby!

Project 2.

My Christmas Survival Kit! How many times have you run out of cards 2 days before Christmas...? Lots! This box has 3 Christmas Cards and envelopes, 12 tags and of course CHOCOLATE!


This one is actually going to be a gift for someone (gosh I hope they dont read my blog!). Ive seen alot of these little boxes online recently so decided to try one for myself.. It was suprisingly easy! I simply measured the envelopes, chocolate and tags and after some sketching and some maths I had a box!

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US ON OUR BLOG TOUR... Your next stop on the tour will be lovely Jo who has a wicked sense of humour and makes some amazing things! Love ya Jo... CLICK HERE to be magically whizzed to her blog... (or click on the icon on the right.)

Please, please, please leave me some comments. Its always good to get some feedback and hear what people want to see from you! (Or not see as the case may be!)

Happy Hopping!

C xx

PS. I had so many people wanting to join in the hop that we made 2 groups... Click Here to jump to the other 12 days of Christmas Tour!.

Happy Thanksgiving

Just wanted to pop in and say a big Happy Thanksgiving to all me followers... Take some time today to think about all that you have to be thankful for. Health, family, friends, home.... I am thankful that Matt is actually here this year (although working nights and currently sleeping...!)

Spare a thought today for those who are not able to be with loved ones, those who are ill, friendless or homeless. Appreciate what you have.

Back over the weekend... Hitting the sales tomorrow, with 2 kids and grandma! OH FUN!

TTFN

C xx

Im Excited dot Com!

See the brand new pretty box on the right hand side...? Hmmmm what could that be..? Come visit over the weekend and you will have a fabulous time!

I and a few of my friends have got together for the '12 Blogs of Christmas' tour. We will be featuring 2 Christmas themed projects each and some people may offer some prizes and blog candy too! You can join the tour wherever you like but if you keep going you will come full circle - back to me! A bit like the M25 but without the roadworks!

The point? To provide you with some Christmas Cheer and share inspiration and ideas for the coming season and meet some new friends...

Come back over the weekend and see what we have made...!

C xx

Out of action.

Been felled by a nasty virus the last few days so no crafting. Trying desperately not to breathe on the Children so they dont get it... fingers crossed. Anyway Next week I will share with you all something Im really excited about. I hope it all works properly as Its my 'baby'... oooo, the pressure!

Stay tuned....!

C xx

Couple photos from the Parade...

Abbi is tired from rehearsals and after effects of the Flu Shot so we are going to veg out in front of the TV and watch girlie movies... Lewis is on his laptop and Matt is snoring away coz he's on nights...

Laters...

C xx

Santa's Doin the Hula!

Over on InLoveWithStamping this weekend we are having some Cinderella Effect Challenges... The reason being that those who were unable to go to the SU! Convention in Germany were feeling a little sad... So, swish and flick, behold! You shall go to the ball!

Well, Rachel gave us a great challenge yesterday, to make a modern Christmas Card. Modern image, modern colours, modern layout... She had one proviso, no Santas doin the Hula... Soooooooo...

Just for you Rachel!

YOU KNOW ME! How could I resist a challenge like that?
Well, it had to be done didnt it? Recipe to follow later...

Just got back from the Veterans Day Parade in town and it was great! So encouraging to see all the support for the military in this town... I have pictures to share but it will be a little while before I can edit them...

Bye for now,

C xx

Say a Prayer Please.

Please say a prayer today for those in Ft Hood, Texas who are injured or have loved ones who are affected by the diabolical act that one man did yesterday.

We are not far from Ft Hood which is near Abilene, about 2 hours away. Luckily we dont know anyone posted there who was involved but I find the whole thing sickening. As a Military Wife (Notice the Capital letters... It is a JOB!) I have supported my husband in his chosen career and ALL the enlisted boys & girls know that deploying is part of the job. Whether they like it or not. When its your turn, its your turn. You suck it up and deal with it.

NEVER in a milllion years would anyone have thought that this act could happen. On-base has always been thought of as a safe place, with no threat of violence from outside influences. NEVER in a million years would anyone have thought that murder and mayhem would be inflicted on innocents by one of our own.

Thats all for today. Shocked, horrified, apalled, puzzled.

TOmorrow is Veterans Day in the USA. Think on.

C xx

Happy Birthday Matt!

Today my old man is officially an 'OLD MAN'! for the next 25 days we are the same age, and boy do I give him schtick for it! Then after I turn a year older again he gives me schtick for the next 11 months... Fair huh?

I used this weeks MojoMonday layout for his card and got some inspiration from an old flannel shirt he used to wear ALL THE TIME when we first met.



So heres the card...


I love the way the background turned out! I just used some red and black card stock cut into 1" squares and lightly sponged some Grey ink on a few of the red squares to get the different tone...


The stamped image of the man has considerably more hair than Matt but I can dream!

Ill be back later with the details... I hear a-stirring from the bedroom and he hasnt opened this card yet... Shhhhhh!

C xx

Ok, I think were safe... The bear just grumbled and rolled over!

Recipe.
Stamps: Cheers to you from SU!, My Guy Ian from The Greeting Farm
Cardstock: All SU!. Basic Grey, Very Vanilla, Rose Red(!), Basic Black, Kraft.
Ink: StazOn Black. All others SU! Black, grey, image coloured with Markers and blender pens.
Buttons from stash.

Couple of the details Im lovin are the black brads... Theyre not brads! I couldnt find any black ones so I used my crop-o-dile and punched out some circles. I glued these down and added some highlights with a white gel pen. Did you notice the buttons are all 'threaded' well, thats not real thread either. I just cut a really thin strip of card and threaded through the holes... Cool huh? I saw this recently on somebodys blog, but for the life of me I cant remember who... Thanks whoever it was... coool tip!

We will be in and out most of the day today... I havnt bought gimpy anything yet coz the answer to the 'what do you want for your birthday' question was 'Uh Dunno'! We will be spending a few hours in Hastings I think! Then out for a family dinner tonight and who knows I might even have a spare 5 minutes to bake and decorate a birthday cake along the way...!

Enjoy...

C xx

Crafting today...

I WILL be crafting at some point today honest! I have a little shopping to do as its hubs birthday tomorrow and I have to make a card for him at some point today! What...? Me...? always leave it till the last minute...? Nah! Im planning a little something based around this horrible red check shirt he has had since before we met, kinda an inside joke... I will take piccies and let you have a peek.

Come on back y'all!
(d'ya like the texas drawl Ive picked up...?)

TTFN

C xx