Some Christmas catch up......

Hello all, long time no talkey... sorry... December has been totally insane! But things have finally settled down and I finally have had a chance to get some pictures uploaded and edited.... Here are some pictures of the Christmas cards I made. I managed to get them all made this year, so I was pretty happy with that!


Supplies:
Paper: basic cardstock, My Minds Eye signature Christmas & the merry days of Christmas 6 x 6 pads (Thank you Christy!!! I loooovvveee those pads!) and some paper scraps I had 
Embellishments: Gems from dollar aisle at Michaels 
Sentiments: printed out on computer, stamps from dollar aisle at Michaels and acmoore, white ribbon from Dollar Tree, digi stamp from Damask Love blog, chipboard from Wal-Mart
Images: Christmas tree from Crafty Sentiments Designs blog, Caroling Reindeer from Pink Gem blog, Reindeer from stamp from Wal-Mart, Holly stamp in Joy to Your World images from Inkadinkoo Christmas tag set

Long time no post....

Sorry... I am creating.... just been so busy haven't had time to post pictures... or even take pictures in some cases!


I'll be back soon.... got a lot of things for church to take care of and gotta get some final things done for Christmas gifts and Christmas cards that need to be sent out in the mail. 

It's December!!!

You know what that means!!! Time to put up the Christmas decoration and Christmas tree!!!
I started switching out all the fall decorations in our apartment (there wasn't much) for Christmas decor on Sunday. We are holding off on the Christmas tree until hubby gets back from the Dominican, but I just couldn't wait to start decorating...  (What can I say... I'm like a raccoon... I'm attracted to shiny things that sparkle....)

I went to the Christmas Tree Store while I was in PA for Thanksgiving with my mom and I scored two lit silver Christmas trees for $1.99 a piece! I was very happy... and I found a container of mini blue Christmas bulbs at Ollie's for 1.49 (or 1.79 - I can't remember) Between that and the few things I found at Hobby Lobby, I only spent less than 10 dollars on adding to our Christmas collection and I love the added extra sparkle they give to our dining room!

I'm not finished with the dining room table yet... There are a can of silver spray paint and some old bronze napkin rings that have my name on them!!! 

Spanish Thank You

Next week my hubby is off to the Dominican Republic to teach in a Bible School and at some services/youth meetings. We're not sure who he will be staying with, but we wanted to send a Thank You card along to thank them for their hospitality, so last night I whipped up a Thank You card using my new Spellbinders die cuts (Sooooo much easier than trying to cut freehand!!!!!!!!) and some of my new goodies from my cousin. 

Supplies:
Paper: So Sophie 6x6 paper pad, Recollections 81/2x11 card stock
Embellishments:Twine, Q and Company gold pearls (thanks Christy!), and Spellbinders die cuts (sorry, can't remember which label pack it is), printed out and then layered over So Sophie patterned paper, used raised foam adhesive squares to adhere to card
Sentiment:Google Translate into Microsoft Word, printed out and taped onto card
Image: Microsoft Word - I just found an image I could work with and then used the image settings in Microsoft to adjust the color to match the color scheme of the rest of the card.

Re-purposed Christmas Candles

Good Morning All... This morning I wanted to share some pictures of some Christmas candles that I re-purposed. They used to be regular cream candles and candles that had red and white snowflakes on the outside of them. Well, I don't use red in my Christmas decorations, so I wanted to change them up so they would match the Christmas decorations, and could stay out all winter, matching the decor of my living room. For the base I used an existing candle holder - just storing away the normal candles and rocks for the rest of the Christmas/Winter season.

Supplies:
Paper: Basic card stock, My Minds Eye 6x6 Christmas pack
Embellishments: Shapes cut out with Spellbinders die cuts, foam sparkle snowflake stick-ons, twine, borders cut out with Recollections border punch

Thanksgiving Dinner set up

So, every year my family has a tradition.... We all gather at my mom and dad's for Thanksgiving dinner and some great fellowship... The fam usually doesn't leave until like 10 or 11 o'clock.... Since we were at my mom's I didn't do much fall/Thanksgiving day decorating at our own home, but I helped my mom do a little decorating in the dining room for Thanksgiving dinner there. I took some pics to share with you... The paper pumpkins are leftovers from what I didn't sell at the Holiday Expo.

And we have a winner....

I went on Random.org and the lucky winner is commenter # 3...Anita from The Other Side of Me who said:

I will  try to get your package out this week!!

Blessings to everyone this week!

PS - I do have some crafting projects to share... however I don't have pictures yet!!! And actually, some of it I never will because when I was in Erie I made up some simple hair pieces and two bouquets and a flower for the grooms lapel for a friend of my sister... They actually turned out really cute and I am bummed that I forgot to take pics!!

But I will have some pictures later this week... of the ubber generosity of my cousin and all the stuff she gave me and a present from another friend as well... that has great instructions and templates for creating awesome cards!!!

I also want to try hanging some garland around my dining room entrance (thanks Kim for the great idea!!! I had no idea what I was going to do with all of that garland now that I don't have stairs or a mantle!!!!) So after I get that up, I'll share some pics of that and the dining room that I am almost finished decorating for Christmas. Plus a project I did last night recovering several candles I have with some beautiful Christmas paper from my cousin.

Thank you ladies for thinking of me!! I am so blessed to have such wonderful friends!!!

**EDIT**


Since Anita has been so generous...instead of picking someone else, I have decided that there will be two winners!

The second winner is Hilachas who said:

The Joy planner is taken, but if you have a specific planner you like, please email me at agohl85 @ gmail DOT com and let me know!

Congratulations Ladies!!!

And this wraps up the Holiday Expo pics...

So this is a 1.5 day work week... SAWEET! We are leaving tomorrow for Erie, where my family lives. I can't wait!!!

Anyhoo, I just thought that I would wrap up the rest of the pictures I have to share of some close ups of the rest of the crafts I sold at the Holiday Expo last week. (Holy cow, was it only last week??? The last two weeks have been soooo long and yet flown by at the same time...)

Supplies:

Paper:Basic Recollections card stock, patterned paper from scraps, some are from a friend,some are from a K & Company mini paper pack, and the other snowflake paper (the paper used for the card sets) was handstamped by me.

Embellishments:Ribbon from a friend and from gifts that I saved the ribbon from, Used a Recollections edge puncher for some added dimension on some of the magnetic notepads, buttons on gift bows froma friend

Sentiments: All sentiments from a sticker pack that came with a paper crafting magazine last Christmas, typed out on my PC and the Season's Greeting snowflake is a digi image that I will have to post the origin of later...

Christmas Planners and a Giveaway

Good Afternoon All..... Guess what??? It's Friday!!!! Woohoo!!! And better yet it's Friday afternoon!!!!! Less than a week until Thanksgiving!!! (Is it just me or did November just fly by!?!?!?!)

Anyhoo, I just wanted to share some close up pictures of the Christmas Planners that I created for the Holiday Expo earlier this week... if you stick around until the end of this post you may find out that I'm giving one of them away. ;) 

Supplies:
Paper: Bazzil card stock, Recollections card stock, Studio G patterned paper, patterned paper from Dollar Aisle at Target, Recollections patterned paper
Embellishments: Studio G holiday chipboard set, buttons from dollar aisle at Michaels, snowflakes from a Secret Pal and from Michaels (sorry don't remember what brand - I bought them last year) Hero Arts gems, Ribbon from Inkadoo Christmas Stamp Set, Target dollar aisle, and Michaels
Sentiments: Sentiments either from Studio G holiday chipboard set or printed out on my computer with Microsoft Word
Digi Image: Digi image from Bugaboo Stamps

Now about that giveaway....I will be giving away one of the Christmas Planners above, plus a surprise present for whoever wins.

Rules: You will have 3 opportunities to post a comment to win
1. Must be a follower of this blog - if not please follow and then leave me a comment telling me you did!
2. Re-post this giveaway on your blog with a link back to here.
3. Tell me which one of the Christmas planners you like best and what your favorite organization tip for the holidays is.

I will leave take comments up until Friday, November 25 and will announce the winner on Monday, November 27.