Long Time, No Blog

Hello anyone! It has been almost two weeks since my last post. We had such a wonderful time in Massachusetts. Thanksgiving was beautiful! My whole family was together, so there was a lot of noise, but, honestly, I loved every minute of it. Here is a picture of one of the place settings I had for the kids.




Here is another photo of one of the girls working on her placemat.



They had a good time with those. My nephew plucked his turkey clean, though. It was really amusing. One of the highlights of the afternoon was the "Little Cousins Theater" production of "Caps for Sale." It was a big hit (I think).

I promise to be back very soon with some stamped goodness for all. AND... starting December 10 I can share some wonderful A Muse sneak peeks!!!!

One to Tide You Over

This will be my last post for a little while. We are headed north tomorrow and I don't know how much computer time I will have. I hope to be able to get some good pictures of our kids' table for Thanksgiving and I will share those with you when I return.



This is one of those cards where I had "a vision" and crossed my fingers that it would work out and it did. When I first saw the tall tree stamp I thought it was a great tree to have in the window, but then it would need a person standing back to look at it, you know, to make sure everything was straight and sparkly. That prego girl worked like a charm! *YAY* It really makes me so happy when I get one right.

card info: note card, images, sentiment, ribbon, papers by A Muse, tag and eyelet by Making Memories, Prismacolor markers - avocado, cinnamon toast, sunburst yellow, ballet pink, walnut, Copic marker - baby skin pink.

Jingle, Jingle...

Here's another quick and easy stamped card for the holidays. I had a package of these tiny bells for a kids' craft project leftover and thought I'd be able to incorporate these into a card design. This works fine, but I think that I will go back to tweak it a bit. I think I'd like the bells to be a different lengths, for one thing. I just wanted to make sure that I shared at least once before we leave for Thanksgiving. I don't know if I'll be able to post again, but I do have something else to share.

card info: papers, note card, ribbon, image and sentiment by A Muse, tag by Making Memories, bell from my craft supply, Signo silver pen, jump ring, pop dots.



Here is another card that was featured as part of last week's A Muse weekly newsletter. The stamping tip here was to remember that the main focus can be put on a sentiment. I made a background pattern of random images, then stamped the sentiment and placed it prominently on the card.

card info: notecard, images, sentiment and ribbon by A Muse, tag by Making Memories, Sakura quickie glue pen, pop dots, glitter by Stampendous.

Simple for Christmas

This is one of the easiest cards I've ever made! I had bought these pretty cream poinsettias last year after Christmas at a scrapbook store. I thought I'd use these for a mini Christmas album, but then decided against it. When A Muse came out with the clear Holiday Greetings stamps I knew I could use the flowers with Feliz Navidad. Some of you may wonder why, so check out The Legend of the Poinsettia to see why. There is a a lovely children's book by Tomie de Paola, too, with the same title. Super quick and easy!
card info: sentiment by A Muse, flower and brad by Making Memories, cardstock by Bazzill.

Are You Ready?

It is almost that time of year when the madness and flurry of holiday activities begins. There is always madness and a flurry of activity in my house, so it becomes much more exaggerated about mid-November. I am usually up to my arm pits in craft projects, decorating, baking and shopping, too. Last night I was busy stamping for some of my holiday cards. I am going to being sharing these with you throughout the next couple of weeks. Here is the one I did last night.



I love snowflake images - dainty and unique are some of my favorites. This showcases three snowflakes. The teeny one I found last year in a 40% off bin and it only cost me $1.20! Couldn't pass it up. The nice thing about this card is that it can be sent to anyone, regardless of which holiday they may or may not celebrate.

card info: images (except for teeny snowflake), paper and sentiment by A Muse, stickles, Sakura stardust pen, teeny snowflake by Peddler's pack, pop dots, ribbon by American Crafts.

Last week I had a card and stamping tip featured in the A Muse newsletter. I am going to be making these to send out this year, too. It is very simple to do, especially if you have lots of sentiments that fall into one category.



If you saw this last week, it mentioned to try this out and post a comment with a link to your version. Only one person did last I checked, but I would love to see any others that have tried it. Please post a comment if you do!

card info: images and sentiments by A Muse, brads by Making Memories, paper from my supply, Prismacolor markers-crimson red, dark green, Signo silver pen, stickles, pop dots.

And, finally, I completely forgot to share a picture of my trick or treaters last week. The Hogwarts robes came out fine and the kids were pleased to have so many people "recognize" them. My little ducky, Clare, stayed home and just dressed up for photos. That costume was worn by my eldest daughter 5 years ago!




I hope that you all have a great weekend. Find some time to stamp!

The Kids Table Finale!

As promised, here is my last little project for the Thanksgiving Day kids' table. I thought a cute napkin holder or utensil holder would be fun. Then, I thought, maybe name cards. So what I did was incorporate the two!



This, obviously, doesn't show napkins or utensils, but that was because I was in a hurry to take a picture of it. The ends of the paper tube are not covered, so I can easily slip a rolled napkin or a fork and spoon inside. I was thinking that it could even be a little holder for some Hershey Kisses or some such treat. It ended up fairly versatile. I have two more empty paper tubes, but I still need three more. I also used the back of an old notepad to back the paper for the feathers, so I think I've done my duty to "go green" for Thanksgiving, too! And, while this stuff isn't as cute as what you'd find a Pottery Barn, it is MUCH cheaper ;) which is good for big families.

Up next, some Christmas/Winter cards! I've got a few to share soon.

info: paper and Alpha stamps by A Muse, googly eyes from Target, recycled paper tube and chipboard.

Activity Place Mat for Thanksgiving

Hi everyone. It has been a long and exhausting day here due to the NFL. My Redskins forced overtime (and won!) and my husband's Patriots rallied to beat the Colts in the waning minutes of that game. My kids have off of school for the next two days, so I figured I should post this now. I have been trying to think of other ideas to occupy the kiddos on Thanksgiving day, just in case it is too cold to be outside for a long time. Then I thought, place mats with fun activities just like restaurants would be great. **This also qualifies for the Addicts weekly challenge #14.** A Muse stamps are great for this because the images are smaller and I could put a variety of items on one piece of paper.



I found the maze on a "free printables" website (great for teachers) and made up the rest on my own. I stamped everything then determined where I needed printed instructions, typed it up on the Mac, and printed it. Then I looked for any adjustments that needed to be made, then ran the stamped piece of paper through the printer. It worked like a charm! I've got to make five more of these, but the hardest part is done. I can't wait to place these on the kids' table with some crayons or colored pencils. I still have one more table item to share; check back soon!

A Very Martha Thanksgiving

If you are in the Martha Stewart camp for entertaining, you've got to have place cards, right? I don't think we've ever had place cards at any of our family get togethers. But this year, maybe we will. It is up to my sister and mom (*ahem* you've got to let me know if you want these or not!) to decide if they want some. Here is a sample place card.



These are pretty easy to make. I stamped the corn first, masked it, then stamped the oval, using a stamp positioner as a guide. Then, I used my kindergarten basics: color, cut, fold and glue! Super easy. Plus, I used up scrap paper to make this one and I have LOADS more scraps, so I can make as many as necessary. For another place card idea, check out Melinda's. Hope you have a great weekend everyone. Make sure to check back in soon, I've got a couple more kids table ideas for Thanksgiving for you.

info: images by A Muse, Prismacolor markers - sunburst yellow, pumpkin orange, cinnamon toast, crimson red, scrap paper, black pen.

Dia de los Muertos - Stamped Sugar Skulls

Sugar skulls are another tradition for Dia de los Muertos. These skulls can be painted very elaborately and I am amazed at the talented artists who can paint on such small surfaces. You can click here for more info and some pictures of sugar skulls. Since I don't have the skull molds, I stamped skulls (from the poison bottle stamp) and tried to draw designs on those. Here is my sugar skull card:




Again, I used lots of flowers because you see lots of flowers for Dia de los Muertos. I added some black stickles to the eyes and noses for a little extra sparkle, too.

My kids had a great time last night out in our neighborhood. I will try to post a photo of them next time. This afternoon I have the tedious task of making my annual "Cookie List" for our cookie party in December. Do you have a favorite Christmas/holiday cookie? I love candy cane cookies and peanut blossoms. Who am I kidding? I love all the cookies!!!! Hope you have a great day!

card info: notecard and images by A Muse, brad by Making Memories, stickles, flowers by Prima and Doodlebug, fine tip markers.