*Happy Friday the 13th*

Friday the 13th is feared by some, is nothing to others... and to Bruce and I, it is a day to celebrate! Bruce and I met on Friday, October 13, 1989 and got engaged six months later on Friday, April 13, 1990. We thought about getting married on a Friday the 13th as well but I wanted a summer wedding and there was no Friday the 13th in the summer of 1991. Five years after Bruce proposed, Alex was born.... on Thursday, April 13th.

Bruce and I have always celebrated Friday the 13th... and today has been no exception

It's Teachers' Convention here in Calgary so the kids had yesterday and today off. And so did I. Bruce got up without waking me this morning and came in to give me a kiss good-bye at 8. Little did I know he was heading off to the gym, not to work. He surprised the crap out of me by coming home at 10:30... a Purdy's bag in hand. After the gym, he went off to the mall to buy my favourite chocolate covered marshmallows and the book "Marly & Me" and a Valentine's card.

It took me about five minutes to notice that after his shower at the gym, the man shaved off his goatee!!! He's had facial hair for as long as I can think back in our relationship. Not the entire 19.5 years, but for a good chunk of it. He shaved it all off once about 10-12 years ago for a Halloween costume, but he grew it back right away.

I'm not sure how I feel about it... a non-prickly kiss felt pretty darn good, but I think I had gotten used to looking at him with a hairy face. I'm sure that after a few days I will be used to his nekkid face again.

I taught my February class at the Scrapbook Pantry over the last few days (Wednesday morning and Thursday evening). I think that the ladies had a good time at each class. I always enjoy seeing the regulars in my classes back each month and getting to know the new faces as well!

This is the last of the three cards we did this month in the class. I love the simplicity of this card. We were finally able to get some Blender Pens in at the store so we were able to play around with colouring with our ink pads and the blender pen for this class.

We will be enjoying a wonderful long weekend together.... like I mentioned, the kids and I had Thursday and Friday off.... and Monday is a provincial holiday. Five whole days!

Woohoo!!!

*I Am Tired*

It was one heck of an early morning, paired with a heck of a long day, after a long day on Sunday, after a hectic Saturday....

Saturday night I hosted a surprise party for my husband at a local pub. Back in July my husband turned 40... and we had a really difficult time trying to get friends together for a party so we ended up with just a family party. I felt bad. I thought his 40th birthday required something more. So I began to plan a surprise 40.5 birthday party! Saturday night I pulled off this big surprise.... and Bruce was floored. We had a great time on Saturday... a total of 30 people joined us to celebrate this big milestone.

Sunday morning we were up and at the Scrapbook Pantry by 10am to help do a huge re-organization of the entire store. Nothing is where it was other than the cash and the demo bar. It seemed overwhelming at 10am, but by 4pm we were seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. We left the shop around 7:30 on Sunday with the classroom still a mess, but the front of the store looking awesome.

And this morning I was back at the store at 6:30 as we were the "live on location" spot for CityTV Calgary Breakfast Television. We opened the store to customers at 6am and had a great time with the location crew. I was chosen to do a demo on-air using Copic Markers and while I was tired and nervous, I also had a good time... and apparently people thought I did a good job. Check out the store blog to see photos of our morning (I was taking the photos so there are none of me!)

Considering how long my day at work was, my day sure flew by!!!!

I created this card a few weeks ago for my January card class at the Pantry. I like to show the gals that a one layer card can be simple and good once in a a while. We used a white card, scored a 1/2" border on all four sides with the Scor-Pal. We then stamped the image (by Imaginisce) in the corner, coloured it with the Copic Spica pens, added some ribbon to the side and some DewDrops to the centres of the flowers. Poof, done. Quick and easy.

I teach my February class at the Pantry on Wednesday (morning) and Thursday (evening) later this week and am hoping to have my March classes designed and ready to take to class with me. I spent this afternoon and part of this evening cutting the kits for my February class and right now I think I am too tired to be creative... will see if I can come up with something after I am done this post.

Thanks again for popping by... I always love it when you come to visit!

*OMG! Big News In My Little World!!*

Check it out by going HERE......

Can you say "OMG"????

*I Stamped Tonight*

Now that I'm not doing TaeKwon Do (had to stop because of back issues), I have my Monday and Wednesday nights free. Bruce and Alex are still training, but Matthew and I are taking some time off. I am enjoying having some quiet time in my craft space more often now that I am home two more nights a week.

I was blog surfing this evening and decided I would work on the MojoMonday sketch for today... I started with the image (Verve) and then chose my patterned papers (Imaginisce)... matched some cardstock (Whisper White and a dark brown Bazzill) and my Copics and off I went. I also used my Nestabilities in my Cuttlebug as well as some flowers from Michaels (in the wedding section) and a little bling. I coloured the cream coloured flowers with my Copics... I love how the shimmer from the paper flowers shows through the Copic ink.

The only thing I would change would have been to stamp in dark brown instead of black.

I was back at work today for the first time since the 20th of January... was hard to get out of the house this morning but enjoyed being back in the swing of things. I'm really looking forward to all of the new items arriving in the Pantry over the next few months!

Thanks for popping by....

*A Long Break*

It sure seems like forever since I have posted something creative on my blog. I haven't been feeling nearly as creative in the last few weeks as I have in the past months so a card is slow to get out of my brain and in to reality. Of course, the week away at CHA kept me away from my craft table as well.

As much as I love having my laptop in my craft room for surfing and looking things up, it sure is a distraction when I am trying to craft.... reading emails, blog surfing, Facebook.... all distractions.

But I made the decision this afternoon to create a card if it killed me.... and it was painful... really... apparently I put my shoulder our while in California (I'm guessing it was lugging a wheeled tote for several days) so I am nursing a few aches and pains.

We all know how much I love the Mojo Monday sketches so I thought I would start there. I'm not disappointed with the card, but I'm not thrilled with it either.

I used images from Amuse and Unity (can't really see the Amuse in the photo but the blue and green are stamped with Versamark Dazzle Frost ink with an Amuse stamp). The colours are Whisper White, Basic Black, Taken With Teal and Green Galore. I got the colour combination from the ribbon I chose to use. The flowers are the white shimmer flowers from the wedding section at Michael's and I coloured them with my Stampin' Up Markers. I added a little bling to the centre of the flower (cuz I just love the bling!).

Thanks for popping by for a visit!!!

*Something Exciting for the Scrapbook Pantry*

If you're in the Calgary area, I have something you won't want to miss out on...

At CHA we spent some time at the Rusty Pickle booth and we have an exciting announcement... Lance from Rusty Pickle will be in Alberta in February and he has agreed to teach two classes at the Scrapbook Pantry on Tuesday, February 24th!!! He will be doing two different kits .... one during the day and one in the evening.

Now, you need to hurry.... but not that fast LOL! Space is limited for these two classes but we will not be accepting registrations for them until Friday, January 30th. You can stop into the store at 450 Country Hills Blvd NE or give us a call at (403)455-1558

Registration will be on a first come first served basis.

We are currently waiting for photos of the projects from the people at Rusty Pickle as well as information on the cost of these two classes.

We know that these will be such fun for all of our customers!

We really hope that you will help us welcome Lance to Calgary and support our efforts of bringing him to our store!

*I'm One of Cami's People!*

I know I will forget some of those who I have seen or met this trip, but let me tell you how cool it was to meet some of the people I "stalk" online.... these are the "stamping royalty" in many circles....

On my first day here I introduced myself to Jenn Shurkus.... she was shocked to find out she had a stalker LOL

Today I did a make and take with Cambria Turnbow at the Our Craft Planet booth... she was so genuine and wonderful. Lots of hugs later it was decided that I was on of her "people" That was cool. While there I also met Carolyn King and Emily Giovanni. At the Prism Paper booth I recognized and spoke to Keri Serika. These are all people who's work I follow and enjoy and it was great to meet them... even if I felt a little silly.

Today I also ran in to Nicky Manel who I haven't seen in *years*! It was wonderful to catch up with her for a few minutes. She also introduced me to Emily herself... the creator of Stamping Bella.

On Saturday I met the ladies from Hanna Stamps (Vicki and Kristi)

It's been a good week but I am ready to head home to my family...

If you want a few sneak peeks of stuff we've seen, please visit the Scrapbook Pantry blog (where I work)

Cheers

*Having Fun in California*

WOW.... what a week I have had so far. It all started at the Calgary airport at 7am on Wednesday and we've hardly stopped to take a breath.

I don't want to hash it all out again on my blog, so please pop over to the Scrapbook Pantry blog to see what we've been up to..... I know, I hate posts like this too, but I really need to get to bed!

The big news you can see on the sidebar.... I took Copic University today with Marianne (she's awesome!) and am now Copic Certified. I also got to meet Kristi Ferro and Vicki Garret at class today.

And I had a small world moment.... I sat at a table beside a woman I met at Stampendous on Friday.... on the other side of me were two ladies who, after we got to talking, I found out were Canadian.... they have two stores in Ontario (Mississauga and Oakville) and it turns out they own my sisters' favourite store! Of course they know her! Sing it with me........ "it's a small world after all...."

I will update when I can..... internet hasn't been treating me too well since we got here although yesterday we called the help desk and were upgraded to a Level 2 Ticket and now the problem seems to have been resolved (fingers crossed)

Cheers

*Not Accomplishing Much*

I sit down at my stamp table quite a bit... but end up doing nothing. I have so few cards finished and photographed waiting to share on my blog! It scares me!!!

But now there is no time to create more as I am leaving in the morning to fly to California to attend CHA. CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association... a huge trade show for craft and hobby manufacturers to showcase their new releases... which translates into a buying trip for my Boss and I. I am really excited to be going, although not so excited about the 5:45am wake up tomorrow! I am so not a morning person.

I have a few days off work when I get back from CHA next week and I hope to get some creating done then. I'll have lots of new ideas and information thanks to demos and make and takes as well as a day spent with Stampendous and a day doing Copic University.

If you check out the Scrapbook Pantry blog over the next week you'll see some fun updates from CHA (I hope!)

This card is one of the ones I designed for my January class at the Scrapbook Pantry This is a Z-fold card using Imaginsice Twitterpated paper and image. We used the ScorPal to create the Z-fold and some Nestabilities for the ovals. We coloured the image with Copic Spica pens. There are Dew Drops in the centres of the flowers and little dots of Stickles in each of the scallops.

Not sure how much time I will have to update my own blog over the next week, but I will try to pop by if I can. So glad that I have the laptop to take with me!

Cheers!

*I Used a Mojo Monday Sketch to Find My Mojo*

I ended up with an unexpected day off today and I had great plans of crafting it away. I ran out this morning to get a few groceries and to visit my chiropractor, came home and sat at my stamp table.... and found my Mojo was gone.

Christy admitted to stealing it on Facebook.... she's not very nice.

But Allison suggested I try a challenge to try to find my missing Mojo. She was much more helpful than Christy.

It took me about an hour to make and was difficult since some of my most used tools are at the Scrapbook Pantry (I taught a class yesterday morning and teach it again tonight and I didn't see the point in bringing all my stuff home). I had to make this card without my Cricut (my blade and mat are at the store), my ScorPal and my Nestabilities!!! How unfair!

Anyway, I chose to do the MojoMonday Challenge (#69) for this week. Tough to do circles when you sold all of your larger circle punches and have no Nestabilities with you!!! The patterned papers are by Magenta as are the little stickers on the three circles at the bottom of the card. The flower is by Bazzill (I think). I used Riding Hood Red and Basic Black cardstocks.

Thank you Allison for giving me an idea.... now to see if the Mojo is back or just stopped by for a quick visit!

Cheers

*Hey Brenda*

This one is for you, Brenda... just because you asked, I have put the list of "labels" back on my blog...

Cheers

*The Original*

I had several people help me out with being able to share the original Christmas Card with you... if you'll recall from a few posts down, I didn't take any photos of the original colour combination of the Christmas Card I sent out this year. I ended up making several different variations on a theme as I didn't have enough of the original papers to make them all and I needed to use up some of the patterned paper in my stash.

I had a few people email me with photos and Bonnie dropped her card off so I could photograph it.

So there you have it, the original of the set of Christmas Cards I sent out this year.

*Another Card Class*

My apologies for the lack of posts in almost a week.... it's been a crazy few days including the first Birthday celebration at the store.... which went awesome!!!

I am teaching at the Pantry again this week.... both Wednesday morning and Thursday evening. I am kind of happy to get to design something other than Christmas cards this time around. I love Christmas stamping, but I think I was just done with that phase, at least for now.

Since I got an Expressions for Christmas, I thought it would be fun to use one in this class. If you are a member at the Scrapbook Pantry, you can come in to use our Cricut or Expressions and the cartridges we have and I want to promote that with the members who are taking my class.

This card was done using the Wild Card cartridge on a sheet of BlackMagic cardstock by Coredinations. The sentiment is cut with the same cartridge and says "Bloom where you're planted".

I love how the BlackMagic cardstock is coloured on one side and black on the other, which really makes the flower pop out.

A few dots with a black marker and some ribbon and voila!

By the way.... if you're interested.... the Scrapbook Pantry now has a Blog too!!! It's still in it's beginning stages but please be sure to check back with us often!

*Happy First Birthday*

It's hard to believe, but it's almost been a year since the Scrapbook Pantry opened in Calgary.

I invite anyone who lives in the Calgary area to join us on Saturday, January 10th from 10am to 6pm for our First Birthday Celebration! There will be balloons, cake, demos, make and takes, specials, door prizes and goodie bags! Not to mention a sale better than any other sale we've ever had!!!

The store is located at 450 Country Hills Blvd NE... we are a few kilometers west of the Deerfoot. You'll find a large shopping complex consisting of several small strip malls... we're in the strip mall directly west of the Sobey's (same strip mall as the TD Canada Trust).

We hope to see you on Saturday!

*A Challenge Card*

For those of you keeping track, I am still sick and still coughing like crazy. Today, by the end of my shift at the store, I could barely get out two or three words before I started coughing and couldn't stop without some water. It's worse at night which means I'm not really sleeping.

I'm done. Someone tell my cough that I'm done... it's no longer listening to me LOL!

A couple of days ago I was blog surfing and saw a link to the new Mojo Monday Blog... Julee and her girls have set up a new blog for the weekly challenge. Many of my favourite layouts have been Mojo Monday sketches.

I figured, what better way to get myself stamping for me again than to do a challenge. And, true to it's name, it was a bit challenging for me, but I am SO thrilled with the results!!!

This is my take on Mojo Monday Sketch 68.

I am really happy with how this card turned out. I started knowing that I wanted to use these two coordinating papers by My Minds Eye. I added to it some Chocolate Chip and Soft Sky ink. The brad is an SU Circle Brad, the flowers are the paper flowers from Michaels (in the wedding section). I also pulled out my Nestabilities, some Dew Drops and some bling bling. The stamp is one of my favourites, by Stampabilities.

I hope you like this card as much as I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

*First Card of 2009*

I'm back quicker than I thought I would be... but it will have to be a quick post as I need to leave for work soon....

This is not one of the cards I made after work yesterday.... this is truly my first card of 2009.

I got this new stamp in the mail just after Christmas along with a few others from Unity Stamp Company. The image arrived, not as I am used to their images mounted on cling foam. This stamp had foam and this strange wood mount... almost like a piece of plywood. I was actually sure this baby would give me a good image, so right after I got the stamps, I was sitting down at my stamp table doing nothing and thought I would try it. I happened to have a piece of Almost Amethyst cardstock sitting on my table (no idea how or why) so I grabbed my Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender pad and inked up the stamp. Lo and behold, it stamped beautifully.

And I walked away to be with my family.

Then I finally had a day I felt like crafting and had the time to do it.... the test piece was still sitting on my desk so I thought "what the hell" and off I went. I used another Unity stamp from my first time purchasing from them. My colours are one of the SU Greys, Almost Amethyst and Whisper White. The three brads are Filigree Brads from Stampin' Up.

I don't know where I got the idea for this card.... but it worked! I hope it happens again!!

Thanks for coming by!

*Thanks Guys*

I just wanted to take a minute to everyone who commented and emailed me after my post yesterday. I didn't start out writing an "Oh woe is me" post, but that is certainly how it ended up. Part of me is proud of where I've been and what I was involved in back in the beginning. And I should be. Part of me is just sad, missing those days and realizing that things are different now.

But good has come from this.... I did a lot of thinking with each of the emails I read yesterday and I have decided that I need to do what I do because I want to and because I love to.... and not because I think there is someone out there watching.

To that end, I made two cards yesterday evening.

And I will post them once I get them off my camera and altered.

Thanks again guys!

*OMG. I Think I'm A Has-Been*

I was doing some thinking this morning while I was doing my regular blog surfing... and an ugly thought came to mind.

Back, 12 years ago, stamping was *so* new in Canada. It was hard to find supplies. The internet isn't what it is today so it was hard to find information and ideas. Even harder to find like-minded individuals.

Ten years ago, things were changing and I was near the front of the heap of stampers in Canada. I don't mean I was the best stamper out there, but a lot of people knew who I was. A lot of people wanted information from me. A lot of people looked to me to find out about trends and resources. With that in mind, I started the paper crafting list known as CST (stands for Canadian Stamp Talk) over at eGroups, which later became YahooGroups. The list was slow to grow, but it was an active list of people just dying to know more. People in the industry knew my name.

And while there are still people who are out there who know my name, it's different. I am no longer a trendsetter. I am no longer the go-to girl. People who have been stamping a lot less time than me are taking me over by leaps and bounds. People that I know, that have known from my "real life" who have become stampers seem to not even give me the time of day (don't return my emails and things like that).

I have become, a has-been in the grand scheme of stamping things. And that makes me sad.

*Are You A Canadian Paper Crafting Blogger?*

I was thinking of putting a list of Canadian Paper Crafting bloggers on my sidebar.... if you fit the criteria (live in Canada, are a paper crafter, have a blog), please email me and I will add you to the list!

Please include your name, a link to your blog and the city you live in!

Also, could you help pass the word around?? Include a post on your blog about what I'm attempting to do and include a link back to my blog.

Cheers

*The End*

It's not only the end of another year, but the end of my Christmas Cards. And I have not a thing created to show you left after this. I think I will drag my Mom down to the basement today and we'll craft for a little bit.

This is one variation of the cards I mailed out this year. I got my original idea from a colour combination I saw at work (the Scrapbook Pantry) and my original card was in shades of blues and greens. Unfortunately, by the time I had made my decision, there wasn't enough of that patterned paper left to make all of my cards. So I did what I could with that paper and then made the rest of my cards using other Christmas papers I had in my stash. The cards were the same except for the colours used (obviously I had to change the ribbons as well). And, silly me... I didn't take a photo of one of the green and blue ones before I mailed them all off.

The image is a great one from Impression Obsession. My family all loved the stamp and I knew I had to use it for my cards this year. We are all big Calvin and Hobbes fans and this reminded us of several of the cartoons where Calvin created his snow people. I stamped the image in black ink on white cardstock, coloured them with my Copics and then covered it all in VersaMark ink and then in Iridescent Ice embossing powder.

I had a lot of complements on my card this year.... they were a little more expensive to make because of their size, but I think it was worth it!

Our New Years Eve plans are pretty simple. We've invited friends of ours to join us for a night of cards. The kids will either watch movies or play video games and we'll hopefully finish off some of the Christmas baking that is left over. Pretty low key, but that's OK. I'm not feeling 100%, neither is my Mom and after my behaviour at the big party last year (at the house of the couple who are joining us tonight) I need to ring in 2009 in a more quiet way LOL!

I hope that 2009 brings you good health, much happiness, lots of laughter, and a whole year full of mojo and inspiration!

Happy New Year!

*Almost Done*

Yes, the Holiday Season is almost over for 2008. I find it funny (now) how stressed I was in about mid to late November... I was so far behind on my Christmas preparations. I wasn't honestly sure I would ever be ready. I know I only work 20 hours a week, but the hours I work are during the time I would have usually been out shopping (while the kids are at school). I was totally freaking out and poor Bruce probably thought I was losing it.

But, I got it all done... with time to spare even! Shocking, I know. I had time in the days leading up to Christmas to actually enjoy the sights, sounds and smells.

We had a good Christmas this year... a little too cold, a lot of snow.... but good times with friends and family.

I created this card for a young friend who has a December 20th birthday. I wore the beautiful and soft scarf that Cindy made for me a few years ago to the TaeKwon Do testing night on the 17th and Tatianna loved it.... so I decided to make her one for her birthday (they go together really quick). I thought that a wintery card would be suitable for her birthday.... especially if it wasn't in typical winter/Christmas colours.

I used all Bazzill Bling cardstock on this card.... did a panel with the Cuttlebug and the Snowflakes embossing folder. The snowflakes are Marvy punches, held together with a small silver brad.

I could see this being an awesome Christmas card... although I'd probably do it in shades of blues and white instead.

One more Christmas card to share with you.... in a few days1

*Happy Boxing Day*

Here in Canada, the 26th of December is known as "Boxing Day". Not exactly sure where the term comes from as there are lots of different interpretations of it, but these days, it's typically a big shopping day, much like the day after Thanksgiving in the US. I would love to see some of the sales on Boxing Day but there has never really been anything we've been looking for or wanting so we don't bother. Instead it's a day in our house to enjoy the new things you received for Christmas.

We had a wonderful Christmas.... I am so glad that my Mom, sister and niece were able to make the trip to see us (unfortunately, my other sister and her family were unable to come due to work). Chistmas Eve we all had a little running around to do so we went off in two separate cars to take care of that. We had an easy supper of pizza buns (a family favourite) and then went off to our friends' house for a few drinks and a visit (this was the group we went to Mexico with). We got home about 11 and sent the kids to bed. No pretending about Santa this year.... but of course Santa still comes. We set up Santa presents (a PS3 for the boys) and filled stockings and went to bed.

My Father in Law joined us for gift opening and brunch on Christmas Morning. There were some great presents under the tree for all of us.... I was lucky enough to receive a Cricut Expressions from my Mom and husband as well as a body pillow from one son and Mama Mia from the other. And some books and stuff from Bath and Bodyworks from my sister and niece (they have one where they live, but none near me). My Mom was thrilled with a scrapbook my sister did of their trip to Amsterdam this past October and was more than surprised when she opened the gift from all three of her girls.... at the bottom of the box was a piece of paper telling her that her three girls are treating her to a trip to Vegas in April to celebrate her 70th birthday.

My Mother in Law and her husband as well as Bruce's brother joined us later in the afternoon, had dinner with us and stayed to play Wii Bowling with the family. We had a great evening of fun!

One of my last Christmas posts for you today... I think I have two more to share after this....

I created this Christmas balls and cards for the ladies I work with for our Staff Christmas Party. I saw the video tutorials on Angie Kennedy Juda's blog and I just had to try them.... they sure went together quickly and easily! I used some of the scraps of paper left over from the majority of my Christmas cards and the two Marvy snowflake punches for the cards. For the ornaments, I used whatever double-sided patterned Christmas papers I could find in my stash.

I am off to go feed one friends' fish, another friends' cat and shovel a driveway (house #2). Good thing house #1 (the fish) is on the way to house #2 (the cat and driveway)!!

*Thank You Merlie!!!*

My friend Merlie rocks!!! I got to know her as she was (and still is) a customer at the Scrapbook Pantry. Her daughters, Lexiss and Madison are two of my favourite customers... both so cute (but each is a total monkey!). A few months ago, I invited Merlie to join the CalGals at my house for a night of stamping and she fit in perfectly.

She came by the store last week to bring my a Christmas present since Thursday was my last day of work. She totally spoiled me by altering a container to hold my Copic Markers!!! I think that the girls had a hand in decorating it for me.

Merlie, I absolutely LOVE it.... the only problem.... I don't think all of my Copics will fit!!!!!!

LOL

*Bad Bad Blogger*

I have been very remiss about blogging lately. I haven't had much crafty time with working and preparations for hosting Christmas. I've been busy shopping, wrapping, visiting, working and then trying to find some time to just relax as well.

I only have a few cards left in my stash to share with you... so posts will be few and far between until my family is gone again in the New Year. Please don't give up on me.... I promise I will be back!

My Mom arrived on Friday afternoon and we've been busy shopping, baking and getting the groceries bought. We think we are pretty much done, at least we will be once the cinnamon buns have risen and can be baked. My sister and niece arrive tomorrow morning, although I suspect their flight will be late because of bad weather out east.

It's still cold cold cold here in Calgary, but the long term forecast is showing some improvement by next Saturday. Right now it's -21C... was -29C when I got up this morning. And of course, since this is Calgary, there's always a wind to worry about!

I created this card for the each of the CalGals at the end of November. I found the tutorial for using the corner punches to make medallion on Becca's Blog and just had to give them a try. They are SO easy once you know what you're doing.

I used Bazill Bling cardstock for the entire card... the blue snowflake is actually just the bling cardstock turned over. I added a little bling crystal to the tip of each end of the blue snowflake as well as the centre of each of the corner punches and a dew drop to the centre of the snowflake.

I really like this card a lot!

*Spellbinders Paper Arts Design Team Contest*

Do you love your Spellbinders products? Do you want to try to earn a spot on their Design Team? Then check out their BLOG!!!

*A Short Break from Christmas Cards*

OMG! Winter has hit Calgary people!!! This past Sunday we received our first good dump of snow. The weather wasn't too cold which was good. Then yesterday we were under another Winter Storm Warning. There is probably about 40cms out there now (about 16 inches or so) and the temperature has dropped drastically. It is currently -23C (-9F) and feels more like -35C (-31F) with the windchill.

We were supposed to go to Bruce's work Christmas Party last night but decided that it wasn't worth the risk on the roads. And wait times for cabs were huge thanks to the weather, Christmas Parties and a Flames Game. Instead, we enjoyed a quiet night in front of the TV catching up on shows we recorded but didn't have a chance to watch this past week.

This afternoon we do have to brave the cold and slippery conditions to go to Alex's piano recital. We're looking forward to the recital, but not being outside!!

So today we are taking a quick break from the Christmas cards.... instead I am sharing with you a card I made for a friend of Alex's for his birthday. I don't often make cards for the kids to take to parties, but I knew I wasn't going to get out to buy one.

The image (Stampendous) is stamped with Memento black ink on Papertrey cardstock and coloured with my Copic markers. I did some layering on some different blues and voila... card for a teenage boy. Sort of LOL

I hope everyone manages to stay warm and safe today!!!

*Second of Two Today*

Since you all had to endure that ugly card, here's another attempt at a one layer Christmas card. I used my idea from these thank you cards I made a few months ago.

Looking at the photo, I think I should have added some bling or something to the card. I have no idea what colours I used on this but I am pretty sure I used Brilliance inks. The sentiment is AMuse, the swirl is Stampin Up and I don't remember what snowflake I used.

Helpful, eh?

Well, that's it for today.... I need to find some time to craft so I can share more with you!!!

Enjoy your day!

*First of Two Today*

I'm going to give you two posts today. First, I am sharing card I made a few weeks ago that I haven't been sure about sharing ... It just didn't turn out the way I wanted it to. In fact, I don't honestly like it at all. It will probably hit the garbage instead of being sent out.

I was inspired by a card in this post by Dawn.... her execution of the technique is so much better so please go have a look at it. I stamped the swirls in green, the snowflakes in white and I embossed them in white as well... and then I sponged lighter green ink over it all. I don't recall which colours I used.

Maybe the biggest problem is the sentiment... not the right size or colour. Maybe I will have to play and make this one layer card into something else. If I find the time to do that, I promise I will share.

*Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr*

Winter has arrived in Calgary. We still only a little dusting of snow, but the temperature has dropped. Right now it is -15C....

We have had a busy week... Monday night the four of us packed into the car and went to see Great Big Sea in concert at the Jubilee. This was my second time to see Great Big Sea and they did not disappoint. They are by far my favourite band and they put on a spectacular show. I sang along to every song they sang, as did the majority of the sold out audience. I would go to see them again in a heartbeat!

Last night we were out again. This time to Alex's school for the first band concert of the year. I assumed it would be a Christmas concert, however there were only a couple of Christmas songs played. I think they are working harder on performance pieces for the band trips they are doing this year. This was our first concert as band parents as Alex didn't join the band last year. All of the bands (grade 7 (first year), grade 8 & 9 and then the senior high band) were very good.

I am *this* close to being done my Christmas cards. I am waiting for snowflake brads to arrive from Scrappin Great Deals as well as Iridescent Ice embossing powder from Stampin' Up. I only had about 12 of the brads and couldn't find them locally and I ran out of the embossing powder with 15 cards left to do. I have done all that I can without these items... all of the cards are fully assembled except the last 15 waiting to be embossed... those 15 are stamped, coloured and all but the embossed layer are put together. All the holes are punched for the brads. The insides are all stamped. The envelopes are all addressed. If the items don't show up today, I will start writing the insides tonight while Bruce and Alex are out.

This card was in the running for "the" Christmas card this year. I really love how it turned out. The flowers were white ones from Petaloo... I just coloured them with my Copics, which the paper flowers absorbed beautifully.

I love how the very thin black layer sets off the white against the red so well.

And don't get me started on how much I love the Merry and bright stamp by Hero Arts.

I think I need to find a sweater to wear to work today.... enjoy your day!

*Day 1 of Santa Hat*

Happy December everyone! We are all festive-looking for Christmas around our house... the tree was decorated last night, most of my snowmen are out, the outside lights are on.... ahhh....

I had a great time at the Festival of Crafts on Saturday with my friend Sam. I did a lot of my Christmas shopping while we were there. So many awesome ideas!!! I still have shopping to do, but I made a good dent in it.

I was at the Scrapbook Pantry on Friday night and all day Sunday to craft. Friday night the CalGals minus Allion and Tracy had our final gathering before Christmas. I managed to get 12 of my Christmas cards done. Yesterday we had our staff Christmas party at the store... we were there crafting from 10am until 5pm! We stopped long enough to wish Sharon a Happy Birthday (and eat some cake of course), do a fun gift exchange, and eat Chinese Food.

I am off to work today... for the month of December, the staff will be wearing Santa Hats at the store. I don't mind wearing them, but I do find my head gets itchy after a while!

This is another card created with that beautifl Stamp It Australia Christmas paper. These cards really do go together quickly and easily... and look so wonderful!

I used a Bazill Bling red card, accented the patterned paper with black cardstock and added some silver stickles in the blank spots.

With all of the work I have been doing on my Christmas cards (which I will share with you after they are mailed off), I haven't had a lot of time to stamp things to share.... I am slowly running out of my stash of cards to show you!

I gotta find some time!

Enjoy your day!