Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all of my blog friends!!  I am soooo sorry that I haven't posted in so long - life just gets away sometimes.  We have been busy working, shopping, wrapping, sending cards, going to parties, meetings, visiting, baking....you get the idea! Hopefully when the new year rolls around, things will slow down. 

I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a wonderful 2012!  I hope this next year is good to all of us and peace in the world.  God Bless all of you!



Remember the real reason for the season.

Gail S.

I'm in the mood for Christmas!

This weekend I played with some DSP Christmas paper and made some Christmas cards.  I saw this joy fold card on a blog and thought it was so pretty.  It is a very easy card to make and instructions and measurements can be found here.  Here is my version.

See the large brad in the bottom left corner?  That holds the smaller card in place.  Slip the corner of the card off of the brad and
this is how it opens to reveal the sentiment.

I used last years SU! DSP paper and the stamp set Bells and Boughs which is still available. This stamp set looks very vintage to me and works perfect with this paper.  The ink used is Always Artichoke.  It looks in the pictures as a lighter green but it is dark green in real life.  I had some pretty ruby red sparkles to add to the holly on the stamped image and I think it just adds to the holly DSP that is just behind the image. 

Let me know if you make a joy fold card and how yours turns out!

Gail S.

My Birthday Surprise!!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and are having a good weekend!

My birthday is Monday and my sweet daughter sent me a package in the mail!  I am one who waits until my birthday to open presents (even when they arrive early) but my daughter isn't.  She tracked the package and called just before they delivered it to my doorstep!  When they delivered it, she wanted me to open it right a way.  Sooooo....with her on the phone I opened it and this is what she sent me:

Yep - I'M GOING TO BE A GRANDMA!!!  (Insert BIG Happy Smile)  I was so happy, I started crying.  So happy for her and Bart, they will make great parents.  Expecting date is around the 4th of July.  
The frame she sent is beautiful and the sentiment is so sweet.

She also sent me a camera for the computer to we can keep in touch AND she each other (love modern technology!!)  I was real happy with this years birthday surprise! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Gail S.

Happy Monday!

It is a happy Monday because I got to spend an afternoon this weekend in my craft room!!!  I had fun just creating and unwinding.  I made this card I am happy to say that it is ALL Stampin UP! Colors of cardstock that I used are soft suede, pink pirouette,very vanilla and the DSP Beau Chateau.  I used the Beautiful Butterfly die for the Big Shot, the Beau Chateau Sidenotes and an antique brad.  For punches, I used the Eyelet and the Dotted Scalloped Ribbon border punches.

I really like the side notes!  I bought them quite awhile ago and never opened up the package!  There are quite a few in the package and all different.  This one says "Truly great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave, and impossible to forget"

I added the brad because behind it, on the side note, is a picture of a bee.  With the butterfly above, I didn't want the bee to show so I added a circle of pink and the brad but if you carefully, you can see his wings still showing.  After I took the pictures of my card, I noticed it and wanted to fix that so I added just a little accent from the Modern Label punch.

See....no more wings showing!  Now, this is what the front looks like:

Much better :)  For the inside of the card, I had to finish it so I used some scraps and this is what I ended up with.  I used the Photo Corner punch which is currently on clearance rake at SU! Let me know if you need any product and I can put an order in for you!

I hope you have a wonderful week.  If I don't get anything posted before Thursday - wishing you all a great, thankful Thanksgiving. 

Gail S.

Simple Butterfly

This weekend I did have a little time to whip up this simple card with some paper I had in my stash.

The butterfly is using the SU! die and my bigshot.  I love my bigshot - use it allllll the time to craft :)  This is the inside - simple and sweet. 

I left the card without any sentiment and will add something when I need it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Gail S.

Veterans Day!

Hello friends!

I have to share what I did on Veteran's Day this year to celebrate 11-11-11. 


Yep!  That's me kayaking in Nebraska in the middle of November!!  Haha! A lot of times in the middle of November, in Nebraska, the weather does not allow us to be out on the water but not this year!  The temperature when we started was 64 degrees!




The afternoon was just so beautiful and relaxing!  I went with three other women and we all had a great time.  Do you see the deer in this picture?




When we kayak we are only about 30 minutes away from the river so we take off in the afternoon and kayak for about 3 hours and then head home.

This is three of us (Deb is taking the picture) celebrating our trip out on the river and in memory of those who served our country.  God Bless Them!  Deb even furnished the wine that she got from South Dakota (yummy)



Thanks Deb for sharing your pictures of this wonderful afternoon!  Next time I need to take a camera and get some pictures of Deb in them!! She is always sharing pictures and we need to get some with HER in them. Great times, great friends, great memories!!

Thanks

Sometimes one of the hardest parts of posting (I think) is coming up with a title.  So I just titled this post "Thanks". November is a month to be thankful - although every month we should be thankful for all of the blessings we have living in this country and how fortunate we are.  I have been very blessed and count my blessings every evening!

I got my idea for this card while checking out other blogs.  Monica Gale from My many many passions posted this card on her blog Saturday.  She has so many beautiful cards - check out her blog if you have time!
                                                                                                                                                                      


She is a Stampin Up! demonstrator from England and they have some different stamp sets than we have in the United States so I couldn't use the exact items to make the card but this is my version:

I love the color combo used for this card!  I used cherry cobbler, crumb cake, very vanilla, and early espresso cardstock.  The stamp sets used are Elements of Style, Four Frames and Kindness Matters.

I need to remember to take my photos when the sun in out!  When I try to take pictures in the evening - even with my bright lights shining on the card- they turn out so dark!  If you have any helpful hints for taking better photos please leave me some!

This is the inside of the card.  Very simple and enough room to add a little note inside.

It is Wednesday so we are half way through the week.  I have off Friday for Veterans Day so I may have to craft while I am off although I do have to clean the house (I wonder which one I will pick, craft or clean house, haha)

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I am always thankful for the wonderful comments you leave!!

Gail S.

Happy "Mumday"!

I saw these great Halloween treats online and decided to try them out.  What do you think??

They are made from a rice crispie treat, white chocolate melts and mini chocolate chips for the eyes.  I think they are cute and real easy to make.

Each mummy is unique!  It took no time at all before I had a whole bunch of the little devils (oops mummies!!)

I hope you have a great day today!  Hard to believe that October has flown by and November is just around the corner!  Take some time to enjoy today - and Happy "Mumday"

Gail S.

Planning for Christmas!

While looking at other blogs last week, I saw several ladies that were making Christmas Planners to get organized with the Christmas holiday that is "just around the corner".  I fell in love with these planners and decided to make one for myself.....and also the ladies at work, sister and a special blog friend!  I got started by looking up "Christmas Planner" and got several tutorials on how to make them.  The one I chose to use was made from a plain, manila office folder. 

This is what the outside of one of them looks like.  I used retired SU! Christmas DSP to decorate this planner, along with some cute winter decorations that coordinated so well with this paper.  You may not be able to see in this photo but the red on the stripes has glitter on it and really sparkles.  I added some SU! rhinestones to the label that I printed off of the computer to add even more sparkle.  Blushing Bride and Bashful Blue cardstock matches perfect.

When you open the planner, you get this:

Again, I went to "Mr.Google" and searched Christmas Planner inserts and it brought me to a site that had calendars, gift list pages, Christmas card pages, shopping list pages, holiday party planning pages etc. You can pick and choose whatever you want to add to your personal planner.  For the ones I made I printed off the current October, November and December calendars (below the calendar is a spot for things to do this month), shopping list pages and gift list pages.  I had some snowflake embellishments that I purchased last year on sale that I added to some of the folders pockets.

The last pocket, I took an ordinary envelope and changed it into something to hold my receipts.  I added some scraps of my paper I was using and added a pretty red ribbon to the front.  I punched part of the top with a circle punch and added some pretty paper to the inside and printed off on the computer the word receipts.  I think this is a great addition because you can put all of your holiday receipts in one spot and have them if you need to return anything.  No more looking for the lost receipt!

I used my Crop-a-Dile to add some eyelets and used the same red ribbon that I had on my receipt envelope to go around my planner to keep it all closed up when not in use.

I had lots of Christmas paper that I bought on sale last year for 70% off and made 6 more planners:

This is the inside of one of the red and green planners:

I hope you enjoyed looking at all of my holiday planners and maybe I have inspired you to make one for yourself (or even a couple to give away!) 

Happy holiday planning :)

Gail S.

Halloween Treats!

I was busy this weekend making Halloween Treats to give out on Monday!

We live in the country (9 miles from the nearest town) and don't have very many trick-or-treaters come to our house so I make treats to deliver to co-workers, people that I know around town and my two little twin neices.  One of my neices is going to be a cat this year and the other a spider!  They are in the first grade this year and growing up way too fast.  For them I made some extra special treats :)

Aren't these guys scary looking? They are actually glasses that I filled with some goodies.  They can drink their spooky potions in them.  I think I picked these up from Walmart.  I also got the girls some scratch and color Halloween pictures and some tablets that you drop in warm water and they dissolve and expand into spooky Halloween objects.  They will love them.

For the people and work, sister, friends etc.  I used alot of retired SU! items and some old papers I have been hoarding and decided to use.

I used some SU! glassine sacks and filled them with candy and decorated the tops!  I made 25 of them while watching TV.  Below is one of the bags close-up.

I used SU! Top Note die, scallop punch, and the stamp set Batty for you.

I have been having a blast watching all of the scary movies that they have been showing on TV for the month of October. I don't like the bloody, gory movies (Freddie Kruger etc) but I like the ones that make you jump or listen for something outside that makes your skin crawl.  With hubby outside picking corn all day and half the night - I am alone in the house and it makes it even creepier! Love it!!  I have a DVR so I have recorded quite a few to watch later on.

I also worked on another project, while watching those scary movies, that I will share in a day or two...they are for Christmas!

Hope you are all having a good week - so far.  Thanks for stopping by.

Gail S.

Happy Halloween!

I don't make very many Halloween cards but I did decide to make a simple one this past weekend.

I just used some items that I had in my scraproom to make this and used a retired Stampin UP! stamp set.  I need to use up some of my stash before I buy some more!

Then I had to make a card to send to a friend this week:

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  I have to work this Saturday but I will have Sunday to enjoy.  

Gail S.

Abbey's Quilt and a Table Topper

 

Well, I finally have had time to get some pictures of Abbey's quilt - two years in the making!  I am happy it is finished and how it turned out.

This is showing the quilt laid out.  It is three blocks across and 4 blocks down.  This is a close up of one of the blocks:

The pattern is supposed to look like old wooden spools of thread - 4 spools per block.  Do you see the spools? Below is a close up of the stitching on the back of the quilt:

It is kind of a floral, leafy design.  Now sometime I have to get it to her :) Until then, I am enjoying it folded up and laying on my couch. 

While I was in the sewing mood - I made a quick and easy table topper in some pretty fabric I picked up in North Platte.

This is a close up of the topper:

Looking at the picture of the table topper on the table, I notice how green my lawn still it.  The weather forecast here says a HARD freeze tonight.  I have been covering my tomatoes in my garden every night and tonight I am going to say goodbye to them.  I picked some ripe tomatoes and quite a few green ones and am going to go try to wrap them in newspaper and and see if they will keep awhile longer.  Store bought tomatoes just don't have that wonderful taste like the home grown ones. 

My guys are out picking corn this evening so I am home alone in the quiet.  Pray we have a good harvest this year and no more breakdowns (we have had two already).  Our fall has just been beautiful - the trees in town are turning beautiful autumn colors of yellow, brown and red.  When I go for my walks during my lunch break I enjoy seeing the explosion of the colors.  I pass by an oak tree and have found quite a few acorns on the ground - soon the squirrels will be gathering them all up! 

Thanks for stopping to look at my projects. I hope you enjoyed them. I did get some cards made and will post them next :o) 

Gail S.

Friend

Last week was a blog friends birthday.  Vicki Crisman has "This art that makes me happy" blog and is another from Nebraska. I have been following her blog for a couple of years.  We have never met...yet... but we have visited via the computer quite a bit.

I sent Vicki a birthday card for her special day and thought I would share it with you.

I love this card layout.  It can be so versitile and think I will have to use this again. 

I also made another card:

Aren't the colors of this card just beautiful?  I got the idea for this card from the blog Simple and Sincere.  

I have Abbey's quilt all done (yeah!!).  I just have to find some time to get some pictures of it and then I will post it.  

The mystery quilt bus trip this past weekend was a lot of fun!  We went to Valentine, Ne and stopped at two quilt shops and two fall craft fairs!  Had a great time.  I will post what treasures I bought while on that trip.

Thanks for stopping by!  Gail S. 

I've Been Quilting!!

Besides making cards, when the weather gets colder I like to break out the sewing machine and quilt!  I have been finishing up on Abbey's quilt and as soon and I get done with it, I will share. 

Meanwhile....a few years ago I purchased a "quilt block of the month" pattern. You are to make a quilt block that goes with that month and display it.  A wood holder came with the project.  I have made exactly TWO BLOCKS in the past few years!!!  This weekend I finally finished "October's" block!

 What do you think?  I like the colors!  Cute buttons were added.

I better get started on Novembers block - maybe I will get that done by NEXT November! 

This Saturday, a local quilt guild is hosting a mystery bus trip.  My sister and I are signed up to go on it.  We leave at 7:45 am and we arrive back at our starting spot about 7:00 pm.  We have no idea where we are going but they always end up being lots of fun!! Past spots that we have gone to are Cambridge, McCook, and O'Neill, Nebraska.



Thanks for stopping by! 

Gail

Field Flowers

I had to play with the stamp set Field of Flowers once again.  I used some different colors together and like how they look.  I used Baja Breeze and Cajun Craze with a dash of very vanilla! (sounds like a recipe -hehe)

What do you think? Like the color combo? 

I have more to share so stay tuned....it has been crazy busy here at home and at work.

Gail

Junk Jaunt in Central Nebraska!

Junk Jaunt is in full swing in Central Nebraska!  The fun began on Friday and goes through Sunday (actually, some sites opened Thursday and earlier!)

Junk Jaunt started several years ago and it is about 300 miles of garage sales, antique sales, junk sales. People from all over invade central Nebraska and take home treasures.  I have seen cars from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas Missouri and even California go by our home. Most have trailers behind them hauling their treasures with them.

Our little town of 600 people is bursting at the seams with "jaunters" and there are stops on about every corner of town.  A new antique store just opened in town called "The Butter Factory" and it is good to see LOTS of people checking them out.

I made just a few purchases on the jaunt.  I honestly need to get rid of some things and don't need to bring home more :). 

I got this really cheap!  It is an old mop bucket and I want to use it as a planter.  I thought next year, I would plant it full of petunias that will spill over the sides but for now I added some mums and a couple of scarecrows for fall.

I am usually not one of those people that can see an item for something other that was is supposed to be used for. Normally, I would just see this as an old mop bucket but somehow I thought I could see planter instead of bucket!  This purchase is going in my craft room:

It is an old meat cutters paper holder.  I just thought it would look great in my room :) The paper is old in it and it would be fun to find a big roll of Christmas paper and I could just tear off what I would need to wrap gifts.

This is the patent label on the top of the cutter:

I Googled the E. O. Bulman Company and they are still in business, selling to deparment stores, schools etc. and you can purchase paper to fit their holders!

If you are ever interested in learning more about the Junk Jaunt click HERE and you can learn more.  Believe me, it is a lot of fun!!

Thanks for stopping by today!

Gail