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Thursday, November 27, 2008

*Congratulations #19*

A big congratulations to Doris who was lucky #19 (actually, she's the 20th comment, but there were two comments by the same person before her, so her's is the 19th eligible comment).

Doris said...

My wish list isn't really for me - it's for peace and joy for alot of my friends who are struggling right now. I have enough stuff to play with - just want my friends to be happy so they have more time to play too.

DORIS, please email me at nancy at elrick dot ca and I will get your blog goodies out to you as soon as possible!

Cheers

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*Mixing Patterns*

I didn't realize what I had done until I went to post this card today.

Call the Fashion Police.

Get me help.

I mixed stripes with polka dots!

Oh my heavens!

LOL

I absolutely love snowmen of any shape and size.... and this is one of my favourites. He's just so happy! I coloured him up with my Copics, added some Imaginisce Snowy Jo patterned papers and a few Dew Drops... et voila.... another Christmas Card!
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Tuesday, November 25, 2008

*Beautiful Ornaments*

Have I mentioned 100 times yet, that I love these papers by Stamp It Australia? They have some of the most awesome papers with this amazing shimmer on them. At the Pantry, we have several different floral papers where there are 12 squares of different shots of the same flower. And for Christmas, the squares are slightly smaller... there are 16 squares of ornaments on one page (blues, reds and greens) and 16 squares of Pointsettias on the other sheet. They are absolutely beautiful!

And they make cards quick and easy. I've shared a few with you already, and am sharing another today.

For this card I used some Bazill Bling cardstock in blue, a little white to frame the image, some white ribbon edged in silver and finally some stickles in the bottom corner (which is hidden behind my watermark signature).

Another quick and easy card that turned out better than I had hoped for.
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Sunday, November 23, 2008

*Simple Joy*

Good Morning everyone... bright and sunny here in Calgary today. I am starting to feel the itch to get the house decorated for Christmas. I am doing my best to put it off until next weekend, which is still a week earlier than I would normally do it.... usually I decorate the first weekend of December. I figure next weekend is close enough since the 1st is a Monday.

Watch... we won't have time to do it next weekend LOL

This is another of the cards I created at the Calgary Classic last month. I believe Dianna had this stamp with her and as soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do.

I stamped and embossed the image in gold, added a scalloped oval in gold paper, a black band on a white card, accented with a few gold brads. Quick, easy, and elegant.

I wasn't sure how a black, white and gold Christmas card would look, but I ended up really being pleased with it.
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*New Display Idea For Christmas Cards*

At the Scrapbook Pantry (see the link in the side bar), we have two of these great "trees" in the store that we use to display card samples. They work really really well. The minute I saw them, I knew I needed one for my Christmas Cards. In years past, I have hung my Christmas cards in my horizontal blinds in my kitchen. Never really liked it, but with no mantel, it was a good place for them.

Yesterday I went to Paper Root Studio in Market Mall (in case you want one of your own) and for $60 (Canadian), I got myself one.... can't wait for the Christmas Cards to start rolling in now!

The product is by Umbra. I have it sitting in my living room/dining room.
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Thursday, November 20, 2008

*Offering My Own Blog Candy*

It's been a while since I offered up some blog candy, so I think it's time to do it again. What will you win? Well, I have a few duplicate Copic Markers that I will share as well as an Inkadinkadoo stamp set I won that just isn't my taste, and I'll probably add a little ribbon to the mix too.

To win, simply leave a comment on this post, telling me what is on your Christmas Wish List this year... whatever you want, papercrafting related or not!

I will draw a winner next week, on November 27th.

Cheers!
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*Holy Blog Candy, Batman!*

Check out the awesome blog candy that Debbie will be drawing for next week...
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*Lovely Snowmen*

Ahhh, the last day of my work week. I know I said it was going OK, being back from vacation... but let me tell you that the first week back to work after a week on the beach is long!! Made slightly longer by the fact that I have to teach tonight. My "Must See TV" has to be recorded to be watched at a later date.

Today is a special day in my heart.... my Dad passed away in May 2006.... today would have been his 76th birthday. I will be enjoying a grilled cheese sandwich in Dad's honour at some point today. Dad loved a good grilled cheese sandwich and my sisters, Mom and I all take a moment to think about Dad with a grilled cheese on his birthday and on the anniversary of his death. Miss you Dad.... and I love you so much.

This is another of the cards I created at the Calgary Classic. This is a Great Impressions image that I just love... I have a real "thing" for snowmen. I coloured the image with my Copics. The patterned paper is something I had in my stash from years ago... I have no earthly clue where it's from or who makes it. I added some sage coloured cardstock that I put through my Cuttlebug with the Swiss Dots folder and then put it all onto a red card.

I know that this was a sketch from somewhere, however I didn't take Post-It Notes to the Classic so I have no notes to tell me what the heck I was doing! It's on my list of what to take with me the next time I go to a crop!

Enjoy your Thursday!!
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Tuesday, November 18, 2008

*Love These Images*

It's not been nearly as tough as I feared it would be to get back into the swing of things after a week on the beach. Don't get me wrong, I wish I was still in the pool with my margarita, but it's also nice to be back in the routine, in my own bed, eating my own food.

And it isn't killing me to get out of bed each morning.

Have I mentioned I'm not a morning person?

I have almost gotten my life caught up after a week away. I worked hard on Sunday and a little more yesterday afternoon to get all of the kits cut up for the classes I am teaching at the Pantry this week (Christmas Cards #3). They are packed and ready for me to take to the store tomorrow morning. After work today I will pack up the other supplies I need. I have gotten through my 1000+ items in Google Reader although none of the posts got the attention they deserved. I got through a week's worth of snail mail and have it all filed away where it belongs.

What's left to do? Well, I have to compile all the documentation to take to the Accountant for our company Year End which was October 31st (and of course, we have a trial balance to work through). And of course there are the Christmas cards.... I want to come up with a great idea for a card that I will share closer to Christmas so that those who read my blog get a card they haven't seen before... those who don't read my blog will get a card I've already posted.

And then there's ALL of the Christmas shopping (I have done *none*) and doing at least a little Christmas baking since I am hosting my family for Christmas this year.

Perhaps I'll relax on December 26th.

Anyway... enough of my babble....

I created this card at the Calgary Classic a month ago (for those who asked, the Calgary Classic was an event organized through Splitcoast Stampers... it was a weekend-long crop here in Calgary and we had a great time!

The lovely Shannon gave me these four Stampendous images that she bought while she was in the US recently as a thank you for me going over to feed her kitty for a week. Good deal for me!!!

I coloured the images with my beautiful Copics and added some patterned paper from the Michael's Christmas Stack from last year. I added a snowflake brad and some Dew Drops and called it a day!

Such cute little images!
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Monday, November 17, 2008

*Did You Miss Me?*

I'm so sorry to have left you without any posts for the past week. I attempted to schedule some posts but thought that there was a problem with Blogger.... instead, it turns out that I messed up the date and it posted in October instead of November. So I didn't bother to post any more since I didn't see them posting.

Operator Error LOL

Anyway... we took off on Saturday morning for a week of fun in the sun in Puerto Vallarta. We tagged along with our TaeKwon Do instructor and his family. They head down there at this time every year with 13 family members. Usually they are a group of 17... this year the four of us and my sister from Ontario joined them making it a group of 22!

This was our first trip to Mexico and only our second tropical vacation. We had a wonderful time in the sun. We stayed at the brand new Riu Palace Pacifico. What a beautiful resort. The weather was hot and sunny.... absolutely perfect.

We arrived home around suppertime on Saturday and woke up on Sunday to snow... so this card kind of illustrates how I'm feeling these days. It's really tough to go from such wonderful hot weather to snow!

This image I took from Crystal at the Calgary Classic and coloured it up with my Copic markers. Nothing too exciting with the card, but it looks the way I feel LOL!

Cheers


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Tuesday, November 11, 2008

*Another Monday Morning*

Funny how Monday morning seems like a long ways off when you get home from work on a Friday afternoon.... but it sneaks up on you and BOOM, it's Monday again. I start dreading Monday morning around 3 on Sunday afternoon.... I just hate any morning that starts with an alarm clock.

While at the Calgary Classic a few weeks ago, I saw a card that another lady had made and loved how it looked.... so I used what I had to try to replicate her card. Mine didn't turn out nearly as nicely as hers did, but it's still OK. Not sure that I love it, but I don't hate it either.

Hope you have a good Monday!

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Friday, November 07, 2008

*Tired Friday*

I have not been sleeping really well at night. I don't wake up a lot, but I have been waking up about an hour before my alarm and not really falling back to sleep. That means an hour less of sleep each night. It sucks.

It also doesn't help that I've been waking up with a headache almost every morning. A pain in my neck (I need a new pillow I think) that then goes into my head as a headache. Hopefully the chiropractor can help me this afternoon.

I have to work this morning, but only for a couple of hours. I am then off to have tea at Starbucks with a good friend of mine.

I had a call from the girls at work last night and it sounds like our sale went really well yesterday. Today and tomorrow specific items at the store are 50% off. We're trying to make some room to be able to bring in some new products. We started this sale the day Crystal left and have been upping the discount by 2.5% every day since then.

And I think it helped yesterday that our order from Impression-Obsession showed up.... what beautiful Christmas stamps! I came home with nine of them LOL! I can't wait to find some time to create!

I can't believe that the Calgary Classic was 3 weeks ago.... time sure has flown! This was the first card that I created on the Friday night. I ran into a problem when I realized that I didn't take along any gold paper... so I ended up using a gold gel pen to colour the edges of a piece of white cardstock.

Such a quick and easy card to create.... love it!
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Wednesday, November 05, 2008

*Hello Kitty*

I thought I should take a minute to post a photo of Miikka.... she's now been with us for 5 weeks and we're loving her. She loves to come sit on my lap while I'm at my stamp table either watching TV, working on my computer or actually stamping. When I won't let her sit with me, she's often on the chair on the other side of my table, all curled up.

Yesterday she decided I wasn't giving her enough attention..... so this is where she hung out!




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*Non-Traditional Christmas Colours*

One of the ladies who takes my classes at the Pantry came into the store this morning to show us several of the Christmas cards she has come up with this year. Brenda, your cards were wonderful! Thanks so much for sharing them with me.

While we were chatting, we were talking about how we like to throw in a few non-traditional coloured Christmas cards. She had a stunning one that was black, white and red. Beautiful.

While I was blog surfing today, I was inspired by two things.... first, was this card of Stephanie's. Second was the colours in the Colour Throwdown Challenge.

And then I got to thinking about my conversation with Brenda this morning and thought to myself, "why not?".

So, I give to you, a very non-traditional coloured Christmas card! The colours are white, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip and Pale Plum. I used my Cuttlebug and the Snowflakes embossing folder and my square Nestabilities (to make the Chocolate Chip frames). I also used two punches by EK Success, some chocolate satin ribbon and some bling.

I am so thrilled with how this card turned out!

Thanks to everyone for the ideas and inspiration!
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*Winter Wonderland*

We woke up to a bit of a winter wonderland this morning. It's at the freezing mark (so not too cold) but you can't see the grass in my yard anymore. Thankfully the streets are clear so I don't think driving will be much of an issue. I was wearing sandals on Monday... and by Wednesday we can build a snowman!

Let me know what you think of my new set up for taking photos. In the winter the window I usually use for natural light doesn't get nearly as much light, so I am trying a set up in my stamp space. Did it work out OK? I kind of like those beautiful markers as a backdrop!!

I absolutely *love* this card. It is so simple and elegant, at least to my eye. I used my snowflake Cuttlebug folder on some white cardstock and accented it all with navy blue cardstock, ribbon and ink. The image is a Longfellow quote, a stamp by PSX. I don't even know if PSX is still in business or not. This is one of my favourite Christmas sentiment stamps though. In case you can't read it, it says "Silent & Soft & Slow Descends the Snow".

A fitting card for today.
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Monday, November 03, 2008

*Not A Big Fan*

I don't know why I do it, but I show you all cards that I'm just not sure I love. It's not a bad card, it's just not one that packs a punch for me.

I used Bazill cardstockfor this one, and the new Fairest Of Them All line by Imaginisce.... stamp, papers, brads. I coloured the cute little froggie with my Copics.

I am toying with using this little guy in my January class at the Pantry.... for the gals who take my classes.... interested???

Have a wonderful Monday evening!
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Saturday, November 01, 2008

*November??*

WOW! Is it really November? The weather says no... it's still quite warm in Calgary. In fact, I am wearing sandals today. We went for a walk with all the friends and dogs in the dog park this morning and I ended up with my fleece off. Beautiful days. It will come to an end for sure, but for now, we will enjoy it.

Hubby is being smart and will be up on the roof this afternoon putting up our Christmas lights. They won't be turned on until December 1st, but it's a great idea to get them up when the weather is nice and there is no ice or snow on the roof.

While he is on the roof I will be out enjoying a pedicure and a new set of gel nails with some girlfriends! That's a great way to spend an afternoon in my books!

We had good Halloween. Alex had two friends over last night and I rented them what I remember to be scary movies... "Poltergeist" and "It"... we only had one scream all night. I watched for a while and was surprised at how cheesy they seemed. Matthew went out trick or treating with two friends and brought home a huge haul. And one friend spent the night. We had more kids at our door than last year, but fewer than I thought would show up since the weather was so nice.

I am a little strange and I keep track of how many kids show up at our house each year. It was something my Dad always did and for some reason, I feel the need to do it too. I then write the information (including the weather) on the back of the one skeleton decoration I hang on my front window. Just a little weird, I know!

I participated in a mingle on the Canadian Cuttlebug Crew YahooGroup last month. We had to use our Cuttlebug to create a sympathy card. I used the idea I have shown before with the wonderful Stamp It Australia papers, but changed things up a little.

I just love how elegant this paper makes a card look!

I am off to grab a quick bite before heading off to pick up my girlfriends.... I am SO looking forward to my nails being done.... I've had these gel nails for several months and it's time they get redone. Sometimes they just start to give and I require a whole new set... which is where I am now. I have lost four fake nails on my right hand and one on my left... with another that would come off without any work at all. My fingers look horrible!!!

Enjoy your Saturday (and don't forget to turn your clocks back tonight!)
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