It's snowing again!

Well, it's really early in the morning and as you can see, it's snowing again! The tracks you see through the yard belong to our neighborhood deer! I was up at 3 with DH to check out the weather and decided to stay up, catch up on my blog hopping, and do some scrapping!

DH is off to make sure his railroad is running smoothly in the inclement weather. Winter is not a favorite time of year for him! The snow is pretty to look at, but it wreaks havoc for his railroad. Frozen switches and safety hazards...that's what the snow and ice mean to him! Having been the wife of a gandy dancer from way back, this is normal routine for me this time of year!



This is a recent LO that I did of our Christmas tree. In the past, we have always had a 12 foot Frasier Fir that we cut ourselves at the local tree farm. But for Christmas of 2008, we agreed that we needed to "think green" for future generations. Having a grandson has changed how we think about everything. It was a tough decision because we have always said, "that as long as we are physically able to drag a tree in and out of the house", we would have the "real" thing. But, times change. I have even purchased the recycled cloth totes at most of the places I shop. So, now we have an artificial beauty that stands tall at Christmas in our home. No matter what tree we have, the true spirit of Christmas is always in the air!

The journaling says it all!

"After 33 years of having a Frasier Fir in our home at Christmas, we decided to "go green". We invested in a 9 foot artificial tree as our part of "saving the environment". Not quite the same, but it was beautiful just the same!

The chandelier is one of my favorite embellishments. I have several different chandelier stamps, but this is a chipboard chandelier by Riff Raff. I embossed it with gold UTEE.

Pay it forward!

Well, it seems that when you give an award, you receive an award! I am honored to receive this blog award from my new friend Linda! Thank you, my friend!

Here are 7 of my favorite things...
1. My best friend and loving husband.
2. Our wonderful children and family.
3. The smell of leaves in the fall.
4. Chocolate ice cream with rainbox sprinkles.
5. Cappucino on Saturday mornings.
6. All of my scrappy toys.
7. Scrapping with my friends on Friday nights.

Well, I am going to think on who I will pass this along to and post it tomorrow!

Blog Award!

We are almost through the first month of the new year already! I have had the opportunity to make new friends and find new blogs in 2009, so I am going to pass along this award to some of those amazing blogs that I frequent! Ladies, just right click on your award, save it to your computer, and upload it to your blog. Please pass it along to 6 blogs that you love to frequent.

1. Toni

2. Debbie

3. Dolores

4. Jane

5. Lynn

6. Paulien

Finally!

This is a LO of my GS. He is just too sweet! I have been working on this for a while trying to decide how I wanted to put it together. I have to say that I am pleased with the results!

Look what I scored!

Sadly, our local rubber stamp store is closing it's doors! The owner has decided to retire her business so she can travel with her DH. Fortunately for me, she is selling everything, including shelving and display racks. I was lucky enough to score this wonderful stamp storage shelf and wire display heart. Not sure where I'm going with either of them, but I can assure you, they will have a different face and you will see them again in the future!!

Let's play tag!

I have been tagged by my fellow CT member and friend, Dalis. This is a different tag game than I have played before, so I thought I would do it and pass it on.

Here are the rules:
1. Navigate to where you keep your pictures, select the 6th folder, and the 6th picture in that folder.
2. Post the picture on your blog with an explanation about the picture.
3. Tag 6 others to do the same, and let them know they have been tagged!

Well, this would not have been a problem, except the 6th folder where I keep my pictures is the last one and contains my published work. I can't post any of those at the moment. So, I back tracked to the 6th picture in my 5th folder. Sorry, Dalis!

And, here it is...

This is a photo of one of the Christmas gifts we gave our GS! It's a Fisher Price, remote control,
dinosaur. His name is "Spike". Brenden was a little hesitant to play with Spike. It is amazing what this toy can do! However, Grandpa had no problem taking that remote in hand! It wasn't long til he had Spike eating the Christmas tree. Boys and their toys!

And here are the 6 friends that I have tagged!

Elisabeth

Fink

Linda

Marianne

Melissa

Rose

20 days into the New Year....

It's only 20 days into 2009 and I'm behind already! There was no point to the New Year's resolution that I made to finish everything that I started in 2008 before I worked on new projects in 2009. I just can't keep up! There are too many projects on the table already.

I was at an all day crop this past weekend and was able to finish 2 journals from a circle journal swap, a dozen ATCs for a swap, 2 desktop calendars (that were Christmas gifts!) and a couple of LOs. A third LO is waiting to be completed. Oh, I also made a cupcake mini book that I will be sharing soon. However, the day after the crop, I came down with a stomach virus that absolutely leveled me for 2 days. Today, I am feeling somewhat better, but still not 100%. So, once again, I am behind!!

This LO is of our youngest DD. It's hard to believe that this photo is almost 7 years old! It is one from her senior portfolio. She truly does shine...wherever she goes!
This is one of the dozen ATCs that I made for our January swap at Cropstop. I love how it turned out. I copied the page from a book and added mini photos of myself to the page. Then I just cut and inked!

This is a date reminder flip book that I made and will soon be posting a class on at Cropstop. So, if you are visiting from there, pretend you haven't seen this yet!

More Great Blog Candy!

I'm tellin' ya', everywhere I go, I am finding great blog candy! Seems everyone is getting in on the action. You have to stop by My Creative Cafe and check out the wonderful giveaway over there! You won't want to miss it.

My Creative Cafe

Three Clovers Designs

Kerry, over at Three Clovers Designs has some awesome blog candy up for grabs. I stumbled across her blog while visiting the blog of a friend. Her cards are awesome! You have to check back through her posts and see the beautiful Christmas cards that she made! Very inspiring!

Three Clovers Designs

New layout and give away!

Wow! For her first blog candy give away, Elisabeth is going all out! You need to check out her blog. January 21st is the deadline for a chance to win!

Lis-trations Art and Design

This is a recent layout that I finished while working on my Valentine projects. Our oldest DD about 10 years ago. I loved the Bo Bunny papers and Prima Swirls together around this photo.

Triple Toot!

Well, I had a couple of my favorite Valentine Layouts to upload along with a card that I made, but before I could get them in my blog, (actually, thanks to issues with blogger!), I received 3 e-mails telling me that they would be published! They will be in the Readysetcreate Ezine's February issue! I have been so forutnate this past year and a half while submitting for publication. My work has been published in several Ezines...ReadySetCreate, Scrappin' Trends, and Scrapstreet Ezine. Also, on the Fiskar's and Basic Grey websites. I had a shower invitation published in Scrapbook Trends Wedding Idea Book and a helpful hint in Creating Keepsake Magazine. So, this past year has been a very good year for me! I look forward to more creativity in 2009!

Toot! Toot!

I have been asked to be a permanent member of the Cropstop Creative Team! And, of course, I said, "yes!" I am so excited to be the Class and Technique Coordinator at Cropstop.com. Thanks, Haylie, for this wonderful opportunity.

Here are a couple of quick cards that I made for our weekly challenge at Cropstop.com. Stamping is the challenge and our sponsor is Marty at Pez-a-Doodle! The prize, along with some scrappy stuff from CS, will be a set of stamps from Pez-a-Doodle. So, stop by and take the challenge!

www.cropstop.com

Let it snow!

We recently had our first snowfall a week before Christmas! Our grandson was visiting with us and he was so excited to see all of the snow. Of course, he had to help his "Pop Pop" with the snow removal process. So, after bundling him up, off he went to do just that. He had his trusty shovel, which by the way, belonged to his mother quite a few years ago!

I have also added a few photos of our Christmas tree and mantle. After 32 years of having a live Frasier Fir, we decided to "Go Green" and purchased an artificial tree. It wasn't easy, but it was the right decision. Instead of the traditional 12 foot tree, we went with a 9 foot tree. Less room for ornaments, but we still had room for all of my collectibles and then some!