Christmas Eve...

The countdown begins... I have alot to do today. We are having turkey and trimmings today and steak and seafood tomorrow. I want to enjoy my boys, enjoy my grandson, my husband and the rest of my extended family! I look forward to having a good time with them all. I have posted a few pics of my work for now and will post the slide show when my brother arrives as well as take some more pictures after Christmas to post! I would like to post some more info and updates today, later on, after some rest and more food prep has taken place. I plan to go to mass tomorrow and I'm looking forward to it. My blog has been in more of a personal style right now while I get in the habit of posting random thoughts and ideas. My focus is to get used to going on site to post something everyday so that I am prepared to get more to the task of posting my work and talking paper crafts in future. Again, more random thoughts coming soon to a blog near you!

Okay... some technical difficulties.

Hello again... I am busy with our final preparations for Christmas. I did not get to play in my craft area at all in the last 2 weeks. Well, ever since the craft show I did on the 5th of December come to think of it. I did a great craft show in a neighboring small town and I had alot of people go by my booth and fill out ballots for my raffle draw. I gave alot of business cards out and made some great contacts. I will follow up with them all by getting them on my email contact list and then send out an email to announce my new blog and my position as the newest member of Stamping and Scrapping design team. I can't seem to get my slideshow to work with some major technical difficulties. I am going to post the pics one at the time for now and then my brother will help with the slideshow when he arrives for his Christmas visit. I am excited to set my blog up with even better widgets and options and learn more tricks to blogging. more later...

A lot of water has gone under the bridge....

I have accomplished so much in the last little while in preparation for Christmas. Two of the boys are home and they are pitching in which is great for us!! There is a little snow, enough for them to go snowmobiling.... the lights are up and look very nice. Most of the shopping is done. I am happier each day and counting down til my little buddy gets here for christmas. I am thinking the festivities are going to be wonderful. I just want to enjoy the boys this year and we have our little Cass joining us for the first time. Pics are coming, I feel like I can get them done and posted....

Got the meat pies out of the way~~

Still busy with Christmas prep and getting ready for company! I am still hoping to get pics taken of my current cards. I made some nice christmas cards with a little sewing detail on them. I really enjoyed creating them using the sewing machine too. I have alot of plans for the sewing machine as a value added to creating cards.. I have some ideas on textures too as I love the 3 dimensional look and I love different textures on my work. Or at least that is what I visualize...
I love color and try to provide it on my work using various mediums. I love Michelle Zindorff's creations that she achieves with her brayer work. I love the Copic coloring technique as well and I am always trying to improve my work there but have not done a true copic course yet. I love using paint, and glitter - especially the glitter you can heat set so that it doesn't come off your work all over. I love heat embossing with stamps and using acrylic paint on chipboard - I love my cricut and all that it can do with it. I love my spellbinders for working on cards and the cuttlebug to emboss for that unique background sophisticated look. I try to think outside of the box with all my tools but that takes muse and time to just sit with various product and just play... more on my cards later.

Another day of preparations for the holidays...

It seems like the wheels are spinning. So much to do, so little time! I must get my ducks in a row.. I have the best intentions but sometimes that is just not enough. More later...

I am wanting to get some of my cards Posted...

Wow, here it is Monday evening and I still don't have card pics posted yet. I am going to work on that tonight a bit. Hopefully I will get some pics of some of my nicer cards and then post them on my blog here. I need to get to work here... I was a bit busy with my community interests today and that took up a fair bit of time. Later....

Seems clear enough today!

Phew! It seems like it will remain clear today and I am glad for it as I am going to a little gathering tonight about 20 miles away. Calling for more snow for tomorrow though. I am getting ready for christmas here - wrapping gifts and cleaning house in preparation for our children coming home. Cooking and baking and putting away food so that when the rush comes, we can enjoy our family and not be constantly in the kitchen cooking. I just want to have an easy going christmas with my boys and my husband and no pressures. With surgery coming after the New Year, I just want to have fun! Alot of my fun is making cards and scrappin' pages of my family but I have not had alot of time to do that this month. Last month I did a little more work on cards than anything else. I really like to stamp and I am just learning to color with copics and other markers. It does take a practiced hand to accomplish a beautiful and finished result. I have some great Just Rite stamps and I have to say that I love them. With the right cardstock and archival ink they stamp an amazing crisp image. Perfect for coloring! I have a great collection of Spellbinders and I have a good size collection of Cricut Cartridges - around 48 of them. I have both the Cricut Create and the Expression which I bring out to my crop clubs and card workshops. I have not had any problems with the Provocraft products-- they wear well and are used consistently by over 100 people. I have the cuttlebug and over 30 to 40 folders so I have some great product to work with. I am currently working on Wedding invites for my Nephew's wedding. I must have 175 invites completed for April 1st, 2010. All of the templates are made and now it is time for production as I am dividing the cards into about 5 different designs but keeping them all in the same paper collection. I will do a slew of them at my sister's while I am getting stronger in January after surgery as she is the mother of the groom and wants to be involved too. I have to take some pics some of my cards and find the pictures I have already taken. I will post them soon but Christmas prep and all the dates to keep leading up to Christmas comes first! More later, I promise.... k