A couple more sketches and a RAK!

Hello Hello Hello! It's the last day of the year, how are you all celebrating? We're probably just going to relax and hope that the kids don't get too cranky from staying up so late! First off, I want to apologize to all my friends who have sent me cards. I haven't been saying thank you and posting the pics on here... my fault! Here is one fabulous Christmas card that I got from my dear blogging buddy, Gabby:Isn't that image adorable?!? Here is the card in whole:
It's an easel card! It's so cool. I think I need to try this myself. I've been admiring easel cards on blogs for awhile now, but now that I have one in person, I like it even more and I want to try one! Thank you so much Gabby! And for the other RAK's I've gotten, I still have to photo them...

Now here is another Sketch card I did for the 12 Days of Sketches over on the Greeting Farm Blog:
I used the Merry Tags stamp set again and cut out the little cookies to decorate all around the sentiment. The sentiment is from a Starving Artistamps set. Here is the card in whole:
This was for Sketch #4. Again, I had to alter the sketch a bit to make it fit in a long envelope. Living here in Italy, standard sized card envelopes are a little tough to come by! I would either have to order them online or make my own... Here is one of the adorable snowmen from the Keep Cozy set:
And here is the card I put him on:
I used Sketch #6, turned on it's side. I've done 5 of the sketches, only 7 more to go! I plan on getting them ALL done, and ON TIME too! We'll see how it goes. I hope your New Year's Celebration is wonderful, and that the Year 2010 is a Blessed one for you. See you NEXT Year!

Austria!

... didn't happen! lol! We had plans to go up to Austria for the weekend a couple weeks ago; had the hotel booked; plans made; bags packed... then we woke up to this:SNOW! This may not seem like much for some of you, but for us it was a BIG deal! And for where we live... well, this is not normal winter weather, lol! The kids thought it was absolutely fantastic, and even though it was still dark out and not even 7am, they had to go outside and play. Here is Ashton on our trampoline:
Well, after a lot of phone calls between all of us that were supposed to be driving up to Austria together, and a lot of stressful decision making... I headed out to our meeting spot. I didn't make it! I slid on the road, DID NOT crash, but scared myself so bad that I pulled over and refused to drive any further! Now, I admit it, I am a big fat wuss when it comes to driving in the snow. After all, it wasn't even that bad compared to some places, and our truck has 4-wheel drive, but it had just started snowing that night and the roads hadn't been cleared or salted and everything was slippery. I made a couple phone calls and our friends ended up driving our truck. In case you were wondering, David had to work so he wasn't going to be able to come to Austria, that's why he wasn't driving. So we finally got on the road and about an hour (or two) of driving in this:

And this:

And this:

We had to turn around and head back home! The Autostrada had been closed down in an area we needed to drive through because of an accident with some Semi trucks, and we decided that our trip really just wasn't going to happen. It was OK though! We ended up picking up David (who got the afternoon and evening off work because of the snow) and having dinner with our friends then staying over at their house that night. We still had a great time, and we loved the snow! Maybe we'll go to Austria in the Spring when everything is in bloom and it's warm. It is definitely one of our must see places while living here in Europe.

Be Blessed!

Deer Christmas

Hello again! I hope you are all having a great New Year's Week. Only a couple days left in this year. Do you have any plans for New Year's Celebrations? We don't usually do much. With three kiddos we don't party all night long, lol! Here is yet another Holiday card I did this year using the adorable Deer from Forest Friends set by TGF:

The holiday paper is from Making Memories I think and the ribbon is retired Stampin' Up ribbon.
I think this card came out well considering it's so tall! I used another TGF Sketch. This time it's Sketch #2. What do you all think?

I know I owe you all a story about Austria... that's coming up tomorrow! Hope to see you then and be blessed!

MORE Holiday Cards!

Hello again! After using the snowflake from TGF's Keep Cozy set on yesterday's card, I had to use the adorable little snowmen as well. I made this card for TGF's 1st Day of Sketches:
I know I am doing the sketches completely out of order, but I'm just going with it and getting them all done as quickly as I can. I also used Cosmo Cricket's DP and chipboard sticker on this card as well.

Next up is something I made to put on our gifts this year, but only ended up using one of.
I had a ton of fun making these little tags but they were a little more intensive than I thought they would be so I stopped at nine.
I used the Bell Cookie from Merry Tags on all of them and colored it a little differently for each one.

What do you guys think? I have a few more Holiday cards to show you so I hope you keep coming back!

Be Blessed!

Holiday Cards!

Wow, I really meant to post yesterday and the day before that but the Holidays just sorta kept me busy! Who knew? I realize Christmas is over, but I have lots of cards to show you. Here are two of the cards I made for the Holidays this year. First up, Santa and his treats:
I used the cookies from The Greeting Farm's Merry Tags:
And the digital image by Amy Young at All That Scraps called Cookie Break:
Next I have my Jingle card:
I made this card using the 3rd Day of Sketches over at the TGF Blog. I'm working on getting all the sketches done for the 12 days of sketches. The snowflakes that I embossed on the card are from TGF's stamp set called Keep Cozy and the adorable little elf is Vivi:

I hope you all enjoyed my cards. I have more to show you, so come on back! I hope you're not too sick of Christmasy stuff, cuz I'm not!

Be blessed!

It's Christmas Eve!!!

YEA! It's Christmas Eve! We're super excited here at our house, and yet the kiddos can't see to put on their "perfect kid" hats, lol! Regardless, we're having a nice relaxing day in preparation for all the fun we'll be having tomorrow with our new toys. Here's a picture of the three kiddos and Santa at the Children's Party David's squadron had a couple weeks ago:
The kids are in their natural glory. No special outfits, hairstyles, nothin'. I actually like these pictures best because it shows the "real" them. Angel would NOT sit on Santa's lap, that's why Andrew is holding her. lol! Here is another Christmas card that I made for a friend at work:
This is Santa Riley and I colored him last Christmastime, just never got around to putting him on a card until now.
I hope you all have a very festive holiday. I plan on posting all the rest of my holiday cards tomorrow, but in case I don't get around to it, I'll see you all after Christmas.

Have a BLESSED Christmas!

A Very Vivi Christmas

Hello! How are you all enjoying your Holiday Season? We didn't make it to Austria the other day, but that's a WHOLE nother post! I'll tell you more about it when I get the pics uploaded and edited. For today I want to show you a card I made for my friend. I used Vivi the Elf from the Wild Sprouts Series of Stamps:Here is a pic of the whole card:
I don't know where the DP came from, but the ribbon is American Crafts and the little spearmint charm is from a miniature ornament pack I bought YEARS ago that I totally forgot I had. I'm not too talkative tonight, I'm super tired. But I'll have more to tell you about tomorrow hopefully. hint: SNOW! lol!

Until then, I hope you are all blessed. OH, did you see how close it is until my Blogaversary? My big 3-0 birthday is coming up too! LOTS to celebrate... that means CANDY for you!!! I'll get more details together for you on another day. Hope to see you all back here soon!

Very Merry Last Day of School!

Hello HELLO! How are you all on this fine Friday? The boys are in school today, but as soon as that last bell rings, they will be off for two weeks for Winter Break! We are looking forward to lots of fun activities including a trip to Salzburg, Austria tomorrow, lots of baking and crafts, and a fun Christmas dinner party at a friend's house! We've started making coffee filter snowflakes for our windows, I bought a new pre-lit Christmas tree, and we're compiling lists of things we want to bake/make! We're so looking forward to this break! David even has the whole week of Christmas off to spend with us! Whoot Whoot!

Ok, ok, now I want to share a card with you. Remember my last post when I said I needed to get my mojo flowing? I made "the List" from the last post and this card:
And guess what? BOTH projects got recognition from The Greeting Farm and Club Anya!!! My "the List" was picked as an honorable mention during the Customer Holiday Blog Hop and this card won the K.I.S.S. challenge on the TGF blog! I can not believe my blessings right now. These wins are especially special to me since I had been in a BIG, no, HUGE-A-MONGOUS stamping rut for oh so long! I even contemplated hanging up my stamping hat indefinitely! I am so glad I didn't though, and now I have new motivation, inspiration, and encouragement to keep crafting. I have all kinds of ideas floating in my head right now for cards and projects. I just hope I can actually get them out of my head and made. Here is a close up of one of the little elves:
She is actually Tink the Fairy but I cut off her wings and gave her this cute little Santa hat to make her an elf. I did the same with Fairy Chloe as you can see here:
I used felt Thickers for the words and the DP is some off brand that I found at an Office Supply store last year. Well, I'm off to my stamp room! I have too many ideas floating around my noggin and I need to make some notes before they dissipate into nothingness. lol! Sorry for my big-wordiness, I'm just in a great mood and I tend to use silly words when I'm happy!

In case I don't "see" you all until next week, have a BLESSED weekend!

CLUB ANYA HOLIDAY BLOG HOP!

Hello there my friends! Well, it's been just about 2 weeks and I'm back. I actually have a project to show you! I decided to sign up to be a part of the Customer blog hop with Club Anya (cuz we all know how much I love my TGF!) and that motivation was just what I needed to get my mojo flowing again! I used Santa Ian from the Xmas Sweeties set to make this:
I colored Ian with my copic markers, used some American Crafts Thickers for the word "list",white gel pen for "the", TGF patterned papers on the bottom, old olive and kraft card stock, and waalaa! Here is a pic of the inside:
The words are from the same stamp set and the candy cane/peppermint candy are cut out from the same patterned paper. I love this project and I am so glad I've been able to create again! I missed it SOOOOOO much. If you have stopped by as part of the Blog Hop, thanks for coming by and I hope you enjoy the rest of the hop!

In other news, we're going to Austria this weekend! The hotel is booked and plans are made! We'll be going to Salzburg to check out the Christmas Market; it's supposed to be awesome and I can't wait. Hopefully I'll have lots of fun pictures to share with you next week!

Thank you all so much for stopping by! I hope I haven't lost ALL my readers in these last 2 weeks of being MIA. Have a blessed week!

Yummy Cake

I'm going to be taking a week or two off from blogging. I need to get my head on straight, hire a bookkeeper, get my Christmas cards done (started;) and get over this nasty cold. Hope you all come back! In the meantime, enjoy this pic of my Angel Baby chowing down on her birthday cake:Be blessed!

Amy's done it again!

Amy Young never ceases to amaze me! She is so incredibly talented that her creations will literally take my breath away. For example:Is it not GORGEOUS?!? I want to be Amy when I grow up, lol! The adorable fairy that you see on the card she made is Mistletoe Snowhill and she is one of the Sweet November Fairies that Amy illustrates and sells through All That Scraps. If you want to win her and this loot:
...then pop over to her blog and leave her some love!

Since I don't have anything crafty today, I will let Amy's fabulousness inspire you and hope to see you all next time!

Oh, I still have lots of stamps for sale, click on the link on the sidebar. Thanks!

Until next post, be blessed.

I should be sleeping

But I'm not! I owe you all a Scenic Sunday post, so here it is. The pics are quite random, but I hope you enjoy them.

Me and my boys in front of the Tritan Fountain in Florence(don't know it's real name):
Uncle Nathan meeting Angel Baby for the first time:
Me and my bro!
Angel Baby being cute on the step of our cabin in Camp Darby:

Happy Sunday friends and have a blessed week!

Happy New Moon Friday

Hello! Since I haven't made anything crafty in over two weeks, I thought I'd show you some stuff I made a year ago! I went into my archives and clicked on 11/20/08 and found these projects. First is a notepad I made for my dear friend Carin:The image reminds me of us so I had to make her something with it. Here is a closeup of us:
Also, my son Andrew and I collaborated and made this get well card for a Blogging Friend's son last year:
We used Kim Hughes' stamp images and Stampin Up papers. Here is the inside since we finished that too:
I know a lot of people are going to be watching the New Moon Movie today! I hope you all enjoy it. Truth be told, I read all the books then watched Twilight and the movie let me down. I guess I was expecting more because I liked the books, heard a ton of rave reviews... and it just couldn't live up to the hype for me. That being said, I don't expect to love this next movie either. So I have no plans to see it anytime soon. Maybe when it comes out on video? I've gotta get moving with my day, tons to do, so little time!

Be blessed!

Monterosso

Gorgeous...

I can't wait to go back.

Happy Veteran's Day!

I love this holiday. It's not my favorite, but I love that there is a day set aside for us all to remember our military members, past and present. The military has always been a HUGE part in my life. I grew up an Army brat, and now I am an Air Force Spouse. I truly love our United States Military and the people who serve in it. Thank you to all our Veteran's! I would like to say a special thanks to MY veteran's.

Thank you David, my husband. I love you and I am truly proud and honored to be your wife. Not only are you supporting our family through your military service, but you are serving the rest of our country as well.

Thank you Mom! You are one of the strongest women I have ever known and I know that your years of military service helped shape you into that SUPER woman that you are. You are a wonderful role model to me.

Thank you Grandpa Ed! Your years of service in the military make me so proud to say that we are a third generation military family!

Thank you Dad! If you hadn't joined the Army, Mom would've never been your supervisor and I wouldn't be here! lol! I love that I can say both my parents were in the Army and served our country!

Thank you Brothers! To Nathan, Joe, and Patrick. You all joined the military to better your lives and you all set great examples for me and my children.

Thank you Grandpa Pete for your service and sacrifice for our country. I am honored that I was able to know you and call you Grandpa.

And last but not least, to all the wonderful Spouses, Children, Moms and Dads of our Veteran's. Without you, our soldiers wouldn't have the support they need to keep serving our country.

Now I wish I had a patriotic project to show you, but I don't, lol! I hope you all like this card that I made a little while ago. It's happy and festive!

I made it for a TGF challenge called "Home is where the.... is" and my home is where the PARTY is! lol! Between our 3 kiddos and their friends and all the events/occasions/things we have going on, it feels like a party sometimes.

On another note, I am finally cleaning out my stamps! I have a link on my right panel that you can click on to go to my Sale Blog and see what's available! Please check it out and help me pay off some of my Credit Card debt. I have a New Year's Resolution... scratch that... a GOAL. To be credit card debt free by the end of 2010! I'm getting an early start. lol.

I hope you all have a BLESSED VETERAN's DAY!

Scenic Sunday

Oops! I'm late! Sorry about that. For some reason I totally blanked out on getting my Scenic Sunday post up! Well, this week I wanted to share something with you that Europe in INSANE over! HELLO KITTY! Seriously, she is EVERYWHERE. I didn't quite realize how much Hello Kitty has infiltrated this country until we went on our little "touristy" trips with my Mom and Brother last month. Here is a picture of a window display to show you what I mean:

This was just ONE picture of the TONS of displays that we saw! And in a similar display, here's another kitty:
Isn't it cute? This kitty was just hanging out in his basket while hundreds of tourists walked through the little market! And to leave you all with a smile:
LOL! I love this! I shoulda bought one, but I'd never wear it. Could've gifted it to a friend of mine as a gag gift, but I didn't! lol! I hope you all have a wonderful week. Hopefully I'll be posting more this week since it's a short one with Veteran's day smack-dab in the middle. The kids only go to school 2 days this week, then they have a 5 day weekend! SHEESH! With parent/teacher conferences thrown in on Thursday, and some other non-eventful events, I hope this week is a smooth one... we'll see. I'm waiting for some BIG news today, but I'll share more on that later. Just pray for God's Will, please!

Have a Blessed day!