Merry Christmas Bloggers!

Ian and I are leaving after lunch to go home to Saskatchewan for a week. So, this is probably my last post until the new year unless I get creative in Regina.

This is the Christmas card for my family this year. The set is from PaperTrey and all the paper from Stampin' Up - last years in colours, Cranberry Crisp and True Thyme. I absolutely love those colors together.

I hope everyone has a great Holiday season - stay safe!

I will be back in the new year with some exciting Hanna Stamp releases and Kristi has a ton in store for everyone in the new year.

Supplies:
Stamps: PaperTrey
Paper: cranberry crisp, true thyme, chocolate chip, natural white
Ink: cranberry crisp, true thyme, chocolate chip, craft white
Accessories: true thyme stitched ribbon, cuttlebug snowflake folder, memories pebbles, 1 3/8 circle punch, 1 1/4 circle punch

Birthday Gift Giving and

Its release day for Hanna Stamps. Yesterday, I showed a Christmas card using this set today a birthday card. I did stamp 'Your the perfect package' inside this card but using the new word set released today as well - it would be perfect to have 'Happy Birthday' punched out with the word windown punch. However, my 'Things Hanna would say' set isn't here yet and I don't have the word window punch (its on my next order!).





Supplies
Stamps: Gift Giving - Hanna Stamps
Paper: soft sky, pretty in pink, very vanilla
Patterned Paper: soft sky designer prints - SU!
Ink: Palette Noir, SU markers for watercoloring (creamy caramel, close to cocoa, blush blossom, regal rose)
Accessories: Blush glitter dots, Cotton Candy Stickles, Prima espirit pink flowers, bazzill pink mono brads

Holiday Gift Giving

I should be taking pointer from Hanna on wrapping Christmas presents. 12 days to Christmas, 8 days until I leave to my home province of Saskatchewan and all I have wrapped are Ian's presents and that is just so that he wouldn't see them when he came home on Tuesday.

This is a sneak peek to the latest set that is being released from Kristi Ferro and Hanna Stamps on Friday (tomorrow). This set is fabulous and isn't just for the holidays as you will see tomorrow when I show you how I used the set for a birthday card.

There are actually two releases tomorrow, this set called 'Gift Giving' as well as the set that we used for Thankful for Hanna blog candy at the end of November called 'Things Hanna Would Say'! All the sayings in the word set fit in the SU! word window, however, I don't have that punch.

I'd also like to welcome two new members to the Hanna Stamps Design Team, Jeanne Seriff and Sherry Cheever. Make sure to check out their blogs, though if your a blog reader you probably see these ladies great work everyday. I have updated the links for all the design team members on my sidebar.

One other thing is that the Design Team page is complete at the Hanna Stamps website, Kristi did the bios and I was touched by what she had to say about me. The picture of me she used is from my wedding day, it was a close up after the makeup artist was done before I cried joyful tears. I wish I could get my makeup to look like this everyday but it might be a little too dramatic for the office.

Supplies:
Stamps: Gift Giving - Hanna Stamps
Paper: real red, old olive, very vanilla
Patterned paper: Dashing - SU!
Ink: Palette Noir, SU! markers to watercolour (certainly celery, close to cocoa, chocolate chip, real red, blush blossom, going gray)
Accessories: Red polka dot ribbon - Michael's

Old, Tired Dog

I got this story via email and had to share. I sometimes feel like a tired, old dog.

An old, tired-looking dog wandered into the yard. I could tell from his collar and well-fed belly that he had a home . He followed me into the house, down the hall, and fell asleep in a corner .

An hour later, he went to the door, and I let him out . The next day he was back, resumed his position in the hall, and slept for an hour . This continued for several weeks.

Curious, I pinned a note to his collar: "Every afternoon your dog comes to my house for a nap."

The next day he arrived with a different note pinned to his collar:
"He lives in a home with ten children -- he's trying to catch up on his sleep."

7 Things Tag

I've been tagged by my fellow Hanna Stamps Design Team member, Bev aka Tex at Savour the Journey! Make sure to visit her blog plus the other Hanna Stamps Design Team for some sneak peeks of the Hanna Stamps sets to be released this Friday, Dec 14th. You can find all their web addresses on my HSDT blog roll on my right side bar!

The rules of the game:

* Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
* Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself on your blog, we all want to know them.
* Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
* Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

7 things about me:
1. I wear my pajamas at all times when I am home. The first thing I do no matter the time of day is change into my comfy clothes.
2. I'm an engineer for a major oil and gas company in North America. Bet you didn't know I could craft and talk techo!
3. My mom is my best friend. Not a weird fact, just the truth.
4. I didn't swim in the ocean until I was 30. It was my mission to swim in the ocean by the time I was 30, so I went to Mexico 5 days before my birthday.
5. I got engaged on my 30th birthday and wasn't expecting it but apparently everyone else was as when I called from Mexico to tell my family, everyone replied with 'I figured you guys would'.
6. I have dreams/nightmares that I end up having twin or triple boys. (not pregnant but hope one day)
7. No one can spell 'Tompkins' right, there is no H but yet yes there is a P. I have spent the last 2 months correcting people and I image I'll spend the rest of my days saying that. Grant was so easy ... why'd I change my name. Could have been worse, I dated a guy with the name of Armentrout for a long while and once a long time ago thought he was the 'one'..... oh how I was young and dumb!

Now, I have to tag 7 people. I've decided to tag 6 Canadian gal blogs and 1 from the Great White North that I read faithfully!
1. Nancy - Nancy's Creative Mess - Nancy is the chief enabler according to Allison and is the host of our monthly stamping though I don't think she is going to invite Allison back again as she was a big meanie!
2. Allison - Stampin' When I Can - Everyone knows Allison, blogger queen herself - She is just keeping it 'pretend'! You have to stamp with us at Nancy's to get it!
3. Tracy - Tracy's Happy Place - Tracy also is part of the stamping at Nancy's and she is such a sweetheart. I'm glad I've meet her this year.
4. Kelly - Diaries of a Stamper - Kelly's name has been everywhere lately. I love her style and reading about her life.
5. Jason - I Made This - Jason is Kelly's better half or is Kelly, Jason's better half. Either way this couple is how I hope Ian and I are after several years of marriage and children. Though I doubt I'll get Ian to stamp with me.
6. Julie - Mutch to Stamp - I met Julie back in May when we were visiting my in-laws in Halifax. I'm so happy to have somewhere to escape to on my Nova Scotian visits.
7. Nancy G - Inkcicles - Not to be confused with Calgary Nancy, Nancy Grant - who bares my maiden name. Boy, I miss that easy spelling! Nancy does great work and as much as I complian about the winter, she has it way worse.

I got one!

I bought one of these with some money I got for my birthday from my family. I read everything I could on SCS on the ATG (adhesive tape gun) and the tape refills, and where to buy. After much reading, I purchased. I decided to get the 1/4" tape or 924 brand and the ATG 914 model. A lot of the US sites for these don't ship to Canada so I found a good Canadian source and bought from National Hardware Sales. Shipping was also very reasonable, I ordered on a Thursday and got it on the following Tuesday, Ontario to Alberta.

So far, I love it. The tape sticks well and is very easy to use. It is a tad big but I never lose it on my desk and it is very lightweight.

Here is some information I found out about the 924 tape vs the 908 Gold (acid free) tape, both fit in the 714 model that holds 1/4" tape:

Thank you for contacting 3M. The "Gold" version is the only ATG tape that
is acid free. However, 924 contains only trace amounts of acid. Tape 924
has been tested by outside testing labs to see if it's suitable for use
with photos. It has been determined that it is safe for photos. However,
some people were still a bit unconfortable with it, so we came out with the
"Gold" version which is truly acid-free.

Trace amounts is good enough for me!

First Altered Tin from the past .......

I made this tin back in April and I'm not sure why I never uploaded it. It was the first tin I made and started my Basic Grey obsession. For months, I never stored a single card in it just had it on the shelf to look at. I now have my Christmas cards in it - perhaps that is why I realized I never posted it.

Supplies
Tin - Mikes with 40% off coupon
Patterned Paper: Perhaps - Basic Grey
Accessories: Prima flowers, SU pretty in pink ribbon, acrylic paint to paint the top, flower bling - unknown
Chipboard letters: Once Upon a Time - Pink Letters, DCWV

Three Ornaments

Another internet purchase.... I must stay off my computer but back in October Lizzie Anne Designs offered free shipping so I bought two sets to see how I liked the stamps. I got this Merry and Bright set along with the flower set Jolies Fleurs that my friend, Nancy had that I had to have too. I like that these stamps are red rubber, come already mounted in a CD case so all I have to do is add ink!

I've made several one layer cards recently and really like how elegant and simple they look - its a good place to start when I first sit down to stamp to get my creative juices going.

Supplies
Stamps: Merry and Bright - Lizzie Anne Designs
Paper: PTI white
Ink: SU markers, real red, always artichoke, brocade blue, ballet blue, going grey
Rub-on: Joy - Imaginisce
Accessories: SU real red grosgrain

Socks .....

You Are Socks!

Cozy and warm... but easily lost. You make a good puppet.

What Crappy Christmas Gift Are You?

Fluffles gets coal

I love these Fluffles stamps. I have a couple of them now. A few more are Christmas so I am sure there will be more Fluffles posted over the next few weeks.

Supplies
Stamps: Fluffles - Stampendous
Paper: real red, always artichoke, watercolor paper
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding (6x6) - Basic Grey
Ink: Palette Noir, SU markers
Accessories: Prima flowers, Soft Sky double stitched ribbon, pewter brads

Santa Baby

This stamp reminds me of the Christmas song - I saw Momma kissing Santa Claus! - Really simple one layer card. I might save it to give to my husband for Christmas but I think I might use the stamp again and a stamp I have that says 'got mistletoe?'

I've been using the PaperTrey white for my one layer cards - it is so much thicker than SU whisper white at 110 lbs and if you select the standard usps shipping it is really reasonable to get it from PTI - be careful not to select the priority international shipping as it is over $20 and I don't like to pay that much for shipping. Using the other shipping an order takes about 2 weeks outside of the holiday season. Right now I am waiting on my birthday present from the Nov 15 release and its not here yet - I'm dying for the snowflake set!

Supplies
Stamps: Stampendous
Paper: PTI white
Ink: Palette Noir
Accessories: Ribbon - $1.50 bin Mike's, Poinsettia - Imaginisce, black brad

Fireside Holidays

I think a couple of the altered bottle cocoa would be in order to curl up in front of this fire. I bought a few sets of My Favorite Things in November from All That Scraps. (I love the free shipping to us, Canucks for orders over $100 - however, then I want to spend a $100!) They are clear stamps but very high quality. I really like the headless people on these stamps. I have some others ones that will be inked once the Christmas card season is over.

Supplies:
Stamps: Home for the Holidays - MFT Stamps
Paper: real red, Bazzill smooth - coconut swirl, always artichoke
Patterned paper: Figgy Pudding (6x6) - Basic Grey
Ink: Palette Noir, SU markers for watercoloring
Accessories: 1 1/4 and 1 3/8 SU punches, Poinsetta Felt - Queen & Co.

More Hot Cocoa and some Tickleberry's

These next two glass jars I am sending to my in-laws in Halifax. I am just getting together the box that has to be send this week for Ian's Mom, Dad, brother and sister. The above pictures is another Ikea bottle I got today for $1.99 it has almost 3 bags of the Fantastic Fudge Hot Chocolate from Ultimate Gourmet. I tried to do rub ons at first but didn't work on the curved surface very well then they rubbed right off - I wanted to do a belly band but it was curved and too big for 12 inch paper so I opted for a ribbon band instead with some punches.

Supplies:
Stamps: Let it Snow- Inkadinkado
Rub-ons: Cosmo cricket
Paper: very vanilla - SU
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding - Basic Grey
Ink: cool carribbean - SU (retired)
Accessories: Marvy and SU, Ribbon - Mike's $1.50 bins




The second glass jar has Tickleberry's in it - 2 packs of Dark Chocolate Raspberries and 1 pack of Milk Chocolate Cherries. I love Tickleberry's - when we were in the Okanagan for our honeymoon I actually went to the Tickleberry's store at Okanagan Falls. I absolutely love the cherries ... so good .... I look forward to Christmas and the craft shows so I can get my hands on these. The papers you see inside the jar

Supplies:
Stamps: Riveting - SU (retired)
Rub-ons: Making Memories
Paper: whisper white, always artichoke - SU
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding - Basic Grey
Ink: always artichoke - SU
Accessories: Marvy and SU, Ribbon - Mike's $1.50 bins

It's not easy being GREEN!

You Are Kermit

Hi, ho! Lovable and friendly, you get along well with everyone you know. You're a big thinker, and sometimes you over think life's problems. Don't worry - everyone know's it's not easy being green. Just remember, time's fun when you're having flies!

The Muppet Personality Test

However, last weekend when the Saskatchewan Roughriders won the Grey Cup it was pretty easy to be green. Before, I did this I thought I'd be Kermit and I was! He was always my favorite.

Something warm for Christmas

I bought some packages of different hot chocolate from the Art Market in Calgary back in mid November with the intention of putting them in a bottle and giving them as gifts. I got to this project tonight after going to Ikea today to get some little bottles. The hot chocolate is from the Ultimate Gourmet - the brown one is French Vanilla (Merry Christmas) and the white one is White Chocolate Mint (poinsettia). I got a larger container to package a couple Fudge ones in to send to Halifax and Ian's family however, that one is the next one I will do. I really like how these turned out.

Supplies:
Container: Ikea
Stamps: Poinsettia - Lizzie Anne Designs, Party Punch - SU
Paper: real red, whisper white, always artichoke
Patterned Paper: Figgy Pudding - Basic Grey
Accessories: 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" circle punches, scallop punch, designer punch - SU, real red + always artichoke ribbon - SU, bling - Mike's dollar bins