In my stocking this year....

Well, once again, I was spoiled this year! Family, Friends, Feasts, Festivities... amazing memories created, and many photos taken.

I thought I would share one of the treasures that I received this year. I am quite excited about this. A friend from Victoria has started making delicious soaps. One found its way to my stocking (thanks mom :) - this is the peppermint bar from Carriage 44. Check them out on facebook, or click on the link for their website.

C is for Cookie!!!

Here's something new from Stampin' Up! I love the new cookie stamps from Stampin' Up!

Click on this link for more details and to see it in my online store: Sweet Pressed Cookie Stamps

I bought them last month, but didn't get a chance to try them until now. I finally put them to good use (in time for last Monday's class!!) I cheated a bit on the cookie dough, and bought it through the grade 5 fundraiser at my kids' school. But there are 2 fabulous recipes included in the cookie stamps, so next time I use them (when I have a bit more time....) I will try out those recipes and then report back on them! I also want to try these stamps with my mom's awesome shortbread cookie recipe. That was a favourite growing up.




You can see the Sweet Pressed Cookie stamps in action on the SU! channel on You Tube: VIDEO

Online Extravaganza!!!

ENDS TODAY... Last Chance for some amazing Christmas Deals!

Check out what Stampin' Up! has in store for you this holiday season....

Starting TODAY! Head to my online store and check out the great deals.

SHOP NOW!! 24/7 CLICK RIGHT HERE!

** please note: to get these deals you must place orders online. Click on the link above to get to my website store. Orders of $200 or more qualify for great hostess benefits!
Happy Shopping!!

Christmas Card Classes

My October 17th Christmas card class is now full.

To get in on the next 2, please sign up early.
The dates are November 14th, and December 5th.

Sign up now to save your spot!

MDS Calendar #5

Here are the last few pages of the calendars. I think I will have to make one for myself now!!

With the MDS program, you can change a photo to sepia right in your creating process, so you do not have to worry about editing that sort of thing ahead of time. Also, if you add a photo that you forgot to edit out the red eyes.... MDS will take care of that for you, too! Just click on the red eye correction option.

Until next time....

Christmas is done. I packed the last of it away this afternoon. The tree, the ornaments, the lights, the wreath on the door. But Christmas is so much more than the decorations. Christmas is a celebration. A season of giving, and the best gift is Jesus.


When my kids saw me putting stuff away, they got sad. One said, "I'm not done looking at it." I know how they feel. I love Christmas. But that's a good reason to put up my decorations in November so we can look at them for more than just the Christmas break. But then I said, "It's time to get on with the New Year." To that my child replied, "Well, Easter's coming!" That is something to be thankful all over again for! Easter is coming... what started at Christmas with a baby in a manger was completed at Easter with the Risen King!

We were away for the week after Christmas, so my decorations sat here unappreciated for 8 whole days. That justified it for me - I left them up until last night! This morning, the kids woke up to piles. Lots of them. I had sorted ornaments, and disembranched our tree (I know that's not a word, but you get the idea!).

But... I had to wait to put them away. My set wasn't complete. I have enough decorations, but every year, my collection grows by at least one thing. For the last 10 years, I have been collecting special little men. They tell a story and I love how they look on my piano. This year, I looked for a Nutcracker to complete my set for 2010, and I could not find one. I only started my search long after Christmas was over, because while we were on holidays I only looked in one store.

After searching through the Christmas clearance tables at 3 different stores, I ran into a relative in the parking lot. I told her what I was looking for, and she said, "Oh! Last night, I saw Nutcrackers at Home Outfitters for 70% off." I ran back to the truck and headed over to that store... I found him. He was the last one of his kind. I got him for about $4.00. This was my only Christmas decoration purchase for myself this year. The only one. I don't think that's happened before!

Here he is.....

I now have 13 Nutcrackers.

MDS Calendar #4

A few more pages...

MDS Pages #3

A few more pages to share using the MDS software. This is such a fun program to use, and the printing is exceptional. I opted to use Stampin' Up!'s professional printing studio for the final product, and the pages are so nice and thick and the colours are exactly what they are supposed to be when it comes to matching with SU! colours. I was also very impressed with how fast these calendars arrived at my door!


These next 2 pages are from 2 different calendars. I just had so many pictures to choose from in 2010, that I couldn't decide on which ones to use, and I ended up making 2 completely different calendars!!! It is so much fun to do.

The first page is of my kids all doing different sports, and it is in my parents' calendar. The page below shows various hobbies and personalities of my kids, and that is in Steve's parents' calendar. I like them both, so I also ordered individual pages of these exact pages to add to my kids' scrapbooks. I love that that is an option with MDS, as well. You can do a full project, or you can order individual pages from within that project.


Once again, I have used my own photo as the background for this page. The preset calendar template has gray letters and numbers, but since this is such a personalized program, you can change them to any colour you want. I chose white so they would stand out against the black of the photo.

Calendar Pages #2

I love how the MDS program allows you to use pre-made page layouts, or create your very own from scratch. This 9 square layout is one of the ready-to-go options.


Another fun thing is the "opacity" scale. On the pages below, I used my own photos for background papers, but on the part of the calendar that has the days laid out, I didn't want it to be such a bold image, so I faded out the photo with the opacity option.

MDS Calendars

I made 2 calendars using MDS (My Digital Studio) for Christmas gifts this year. One for Steve's parents and one for my parents. I love how they both turned out. I thought I would share some of the pages with you on here over the next week.

Here's the first set (not really in any particular order!)... The calendars are 12X12 size.




The next two pics are the calendar covers.



I'll share a few pages from the calendars every day this week. Thanks for stopping by!

Quilt as you go...

This is a cool runner idea. Rhonda introduced this pattern on her blog a few months ago, from THIS post on another quilter's blog. I have done a couple of these, but I like this one the best out of the ones I've done. You'll notice that mine looks absolutely nothing like the one in the post I've linked to, but I'm just giving reference to what I did to make this! It's only about the size of a regular place mat, but I only made one, so I intend for it to be a table centre square. They are super easy to make, but I found it helpful to double check how straight I was with each piece of fabric, and not wait until the end. I am not the best at keeping things squared up, so my handy dandy sewing grid was put to good use for this project.


Once again, the fabric is from last year's stash from Fabricland :)

Christmas Table Music!

Here is a little more holiday sewing that I did. This one was for my mom. The small squares measure about 2.5 X 2.5 inches. The fabric is all from Fabricland, and I picked it up last year. I fell in love with their patterns last year, and ended up with metre upon metre of Christmas fabric. I didn't have to buy anymore this year. Actually, truth be told, I wouldn't let myself buy anymore until I used up all the fabric I bought last year!!!

Some Sewing Gifts

This year, I tried to make things to give. Not everything I gave was handmade, but many more things than in previous years....

For my Mother-in-Law, I made this table mat. The fabric is mainly from Stampin' Up!, the "Deck the Halls" collection, but the solid red is from Fabricland.

Angels we have heard on high....

Elise was an angel, along with the other preschool girls, in our church Christmas play last Sunday.

Although she sang when she was supposed to, I noticed she wasn't so good at watching her teacher!!
IThe waiting is always hard, eh?! She looks like an angel waiting for her assignment. Notice her halo falling off.... the other moms must have put their little girls' halos on better than I did!

Ahhh, melts my heart. Here they are singing "Go Tell it on the Mountain." How many times do you think I've heard that song this week?! She knows the words!!!

Luke 2:8-14

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel,
praising God and saying,

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and blessings for a happy, healthy New Year.

I am planning on posting a few of the Christmas gifts I made this year over the next few days, but other than that, I will not be on here much until 2011... sounds so far away, but Christmas is in 2 sleeps :) If you are traveling, I pray for your safety, and if you are spending time with family and friends, I hope you create wonderful, long-lasting memories. Take lots of pictures! You'll want something to scrapbook in the long cold months of January and February!

Remember the real reason we celebrate this season -

Isaiah 9:6 For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I just have to share...

I stumbled across a very fun Christmas project this morning. This little advent calendar idea is so cute. I wouldn't have ever thought of using my front door like this. Gather up your little tins... you're going to want to put them to use for next Christmas!!

Click here to see a great idea.

Ladies Who Lunch got together for Brunch!!

We just had our 2nd annual Ladies Who Lunch Brunch this past Wednesday. It was a great time together, with much laughter, beautiful friends, and... because it's Christmas - amazing gift exchange prezzies!!!

I seriously think I scored the biggest this year! Rhonda SPOILED me absolutely rotten with this gorgeous quilt. To say "I LOVE it" is an understatement - it is so beautiful! Thank you, Rhonda, I have displayed it on my wall with pride! (photo borrowed from Rhonda's blog)

The other gifts were truly beautiful, too. Cindy made Rhonda some gorgeous fingerless gloves, and gave her a host of other goodies. Andrea gave Cindy a gorgeous Christmas quilt that she made with intricate little squares and embroidered Christmas words around the outside. Jill created a "Traditions" album for Andrea to put her Christmas traditions in each year and display. And I already posted about the place mats I made for Jill. She loved them!! I have to make a correction in what I called the 5th thing, though. Since it is not long an narrow, it should just be called a "table mat" instead of a runner. Oops. I'm still learning all the lingo!

Andrea was our host this year, and her home was decorated so perfectly. Christmas trees everywhere, and so many beautifully hand crafted items. This lady has some serious talent!!

This is the kind of fireplace that makes it onto the front of a Christmas card!!

And I love this idea... a bowl of ornaments as decoration. So cute.


The food this year... WOW! Amazing. Desserts, bread (and more bread!) and the dips, and appies.... yum yum yummy.


What do you get when you put 5 bloggers in the same room for a Christmas function? A WHOLE LOT OF PHOTOS!!! There were hundreds snapped this day, I am sure. You can click on the highlighted names above to go read the other gals' accounts of the day on their blogs.

These are wonderful ladies, and have become very dear friends over the past couple years. I appreciate each and every one of you! So blessed to call you friends.