Memorable moments from Thanksgiving 2008...

Thanksgiving entertainment patrol. Save a horse, and a cowboy, ride a dog.

This is the look I have when I have been beat by a seven year old playing scrabble. However, he did have help from his mother. Yes, this makes me feel much better.

Celebrating my brothers 38th birthday. He had two little turkeys to help him blow out the candles.

I took the two oldest boys to the Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Park Rapids. It was a lot of fun. What beats free food, Christmas caroling, nativity scene and a visit from the jolly old man, himself?

Oh, my gosh! I loved this movie! I have not laughed so hard in a long time. A must see.

I ended the day so thankful for all of our many blessings on this very Happy Thanksgiving!

"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
~G.K. Chesterton~

Take time to be thankful for all of the great things in life...and eat a lot of turkey! If you are one of those people who shies away from stuffing, I highly suggest giving it a try. It's my favorite part....oh, along with everything else. =)

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Here Comes Santa....

Brr...it is freezing out, that chill sure is in the air. I think winter is here to stay. So, if winter is here, you know what that means...yep the holidays, too. I really look forward to this time of year. I can't wait! This year I know, some people are really stressed out over not having much money...so I say make it a homemade Christmas y'all. I LOVE receiving gifts that people put their time and sweat into...it's the BEST!!!! So, starting out I made some tags to put on my presents. Don't you think he is going to look GREAT on the gifts under my tree?
I used Laurie's nestabilities to make his face, hat, and beard. Then added circle punches to make his face and then the Three for You flower punch to add fluff to his cap. Finished him off by adding stickles to his cap. I think he is sweet. Thanks for looking today and have a happy Friday.

Merry Christmas, Baby...

About a month ago the Cabala's Christmas catalog came in the mail and memories started flooding back to me. I started to recall how I spent hours as a child studying, circling, and wishing for toys from the Sears and JcPenney Wish Books. Were you one of them wishers, too? So, I paged through the catalog and started noticing some things that I would like to have. Of course, I circled the wanted goods and placed the size accordingly next to the product. After finishing I thought it was kind of fun reminiscing about years past. However, not much more thought went into it. So, about a week and a half ago I came home to find a small brown box on the kitchen floor. I figured Mack must have ordered more stuff for himself and left it at that. The next day he asked me if I got my package from UPS. I said "no, cause I'm not expecting anything". He told me to look again, cause the package was mine. So, I went and looked at the package and this is what I found.



My friends, this is huge. I couldn't hardly believe my eyes. I was speechless. The pair of sneakers that I had wished for, showed up at my door.



What a thoughtful jester. I think I'm going to have to start circling more items in catalogs and leave them laying around. Wink, wink. =) Have a good day everyone.

November Techniques Class...

Last nights class was titled "Surprise Class of the Year" and it lived up to its title. The first person who came into the stamp room received the cutest little Santa that Yvonne made using the Big Shot. Audrey (first order) and Gail (drove alone)also received one. Santa was made using the scallop die for his beard and the pillow box die as the backing/hat/holder for the treats. He was just adorable, and I'm sad that my picture did not turn out better.



We made three Christmas cards, which I adore. The first one we made was using the "Top Note Die". I love this die, you can use it for so many things. We embellished it with a felt flurry, rhinestone brad and the new Riding Hood Red ribbon. Love it! Of course, I had to buy some of that ribbon...I just like it.



The second card used some of the new Ski Slope DS Paper. We stamped our image onto Craft paper. I have never used SU craft paper, but I really liked it. I just love the color combination of this card. The picture looks so inviting.



The last card is very professional looking. All of us, just loved it. More Ski Slope DS paper and the tree is from the Snow Swirled set. I added some stickles to my card when I got home, so it glistens ever so gently. We also used the Cuttlebug on the envelope flap, what a neat idea.



Lastly, this cute little sour cream container contains M&M's. Yum, chocolate! The container is made out of vellum card stock. The tree is the same tree as the card above, but is embossed in silver powder. This picture does not do justice either, sorry.



I had another fabulous night, thanks ladies for all that you do. Job well done!

Who Let the Mice Out....

I can remember as a child how fun it was to receive crafty things made out of candy canes. Do you all remember the candy cane reindeer? I remember the first time I got one from my dance instructor, I just loved it. It meant a lot to me and I still have it. So, when I saw this little mouse on Dawn's blog, I knew that I just had to make some. How cute of an idea for the candy cane to be his tail. Love it. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great day.

Stamp Camp....

What a fun time I had the last two days. A group of us ladies got together to stamp, or as Peg's husband related to it as a "hen party", I just love that. I will have to remember that saying and start using it. We started out at school for a craft fair. I just love the sounds, aromas, lights and of course the vendors. I think this is my switch that gets turned on and says "lets get into the Christmas spirit". After partaking in the craft fair, we headed over to the old Sew-n-Sew building to begin our camp experience. Waiting for each of us was an adorable bag of goodies Peg made for us.



Inside my bag was chocolate, Kleenex, paper, and card candy...and of course all decorated so cute with the help from her Cricut. Way to go Peg, you ROCK!

I took a few pictures of different projects made by camp attendees. First, I would like to say that Diane, should receive an award for "most productive". Just look at all she did. Just amazing! Way to go Diane!





I did not get a chance to take a picture of Laurie's or Audrey's goodies that they made. However, they also deserve an award. AC you should get an award for "going home the most and bringing back stuff" and LS you should get an award for "bringing the most stuff and all the stuff everyone wants to use (or at least me =o)". Thanks for letting me use your stuff ladies. I appreciate your willingness to help a girl out.

I made a few projects and started a bunch more. My award should be for "starting something and then stopping and starting something new" =) Here is some pictures of the goodies that I made. I want to make more stocking boxes to put little trinkets that I have picked up for different kids. I think this will work perfect.








The last picture I have to share with you all is what Judy made. She gets the award for "thinking outside the box". She used different colors than the rest of us, and the outcome was fabulous. This holder would work great for hot chocolate or cider. Very cute!



So, thanks again Peg for all the fun and festivities! You definitely get the award for "best hostess in town".

Ahoy, Matey...

A couple of days ago I went shopping at Wal-mart and saw that their left over Halloween merchandise was at least 75% off. So, being the bargain shopper that I am, I thought I would cruise the isles. Of course most of the good stuff was already gone, including the candy. Bummer. However, something else caught my eye just as pleasing. Okay, so I may be a little corny but I always thought it would be fun to dress up my Dory dog. So for a mere buck, I purchased an innocent little costume. Nothing to flashy or racy. Just an island hopping, gold stealing, water lovin' pirate. So, when I got home I immediately proceeded to dress up the dog. I just could not wait to see her and take her picture. Well, getting the attire on and making it stay on was another story. Not to mention the dog was not thrilled, in fact she gave me attitude and lots of it. I have never seen a dog get so pissy in all my life. Oh, how I got my dollars worth. I loved it, in fact I'm still busting a gut over it. I hope you enjoy it to. Her face tells it all. If she could talk, I'm sure she would have said something like this "Arrr, this sucks".