Two Very Special Birthdays!

Tomorrow our grandsons, Alex and Jason, turn 1! Our daughter and I have spent an incredible week together with the boys in Orlando, having been joined by my terrific mom-in-law, who flew down on Tuesday! Tonight, Gramp and Uncle Bryan will also join us so that tomorrow we can all go to the Disney Character Breakfast together! These boys are just so incredibly precious and have come such a long way in the last 12 months, when they were born 6 weeks early. I can't even imagine what life was like before they arrived - they bring so much joy and happiness to us all! I'll be posting photos of tomorrow's adventures as well but I thought I'd give you a sneak peak of Alex's birthday card (Jason's is exactly the same but has HIS name in it)! Hope they like them and all their presents and all the fun we're gonna have.....

Some of my Stamping Buddies - the SOS Jax Group!

SOS - Stamping Overcomes Stress! These are some of my SOS Jax friends (missing Lynn and Sharon and a few others). We have become good friends over the months we've been in Jacksonville and have such a great time together! Our fearless leader, Lee, is second from the left, and "it's ALL her fault"! She's the best! She's a great Stampin' Up demonstrator and a great friend as well. She inspires all of us! I'm really going to miss these special friends and hope to be able to stamp with them again soon!

It's tough to get enough of Fall!

A 3-D pumpkin makes a cute card, don't you think? I cut 5 ovals with my Nesties, ran them through my Cuttlebug to emboss with the dots, attached them back to back after folding them each in half, attached the flat side to the card, gave the pumpkin a stem and a few leaves and viola! My 3-D pumpkin card! I cut my leaves from c/s which I fold in half, and then run it through my crimper to give it dimension and "veins". I love how they turn out. Had this dp as our daughter gave me a bunch of her "I'm never going to use these" supplies (what a great day that was for me!) and it makes a great background! Since we don't get to see enough of Autumn because we live in Florida, we just have to make our own, don't we?

Inlaid Embossing - Autumn Style

I saw an example of "Inlaid Embossing" the other day (please forgive me, I don't remember who posted the technique) and decided to try it. French Foliage works perfectly, stamped first, and then embossed with the Square Lattice embossing folder. I dyed the jute by running it across my stamping pad, holding it with a piece of sponge. This went together quickly and made a card that I gave to a very special friend. I knew she had recently purchased this set and wanted to give her another idea of how to use it. Hope it helps you too!

Autumn Treats for my favorite Sweets!

I decided to make some treats for my family and had to share the photos with you. Sorry they didn't come out better but you'll get the idea, I'm sure! I made dipped pretzel rods and decorated them with fall leaf sprinkles. I found these cool cello bags at Michael's and they are the perfect size. I used my Nesties to cut toppers, and stamped some leaves from French Foliage, along with "Just for You" on each. Hope my family enjoys their treats! Happy Fall, Y'All!

All dressed up with a pretty fall bow!

Well, I made the 3 candle box and decided to decorate it with some beautiful ribbon that I found at Michael's. I also used the piece that I cut out of the top as a tag for the gift! I stamped the top first then had this tiny little piece after I cut out the spot for the clear sheet so I thought - why not make that the tag? We stampers tend to be resourceful and some of us have a very hard time getting rid of even tiny scraps of paper! I stamped on tissue and then applied the images to the candles with my heat gun (using wax paper, wax side down really helps). Even though I like the way they turned out, I think it's still easier to use white candles. These will look pretty in clear votive holders!

It's just around the corner, you know!

Christmas is just around the corner and the ideas are making my head spin! There's just not enough time between Thanksgiving and Christmas if you ask me! I love Autumn and the change of season means cooler temps, etc. With me, it means getting out those great "Fall" colors and stamps but then all too soon, it's time for the reds and greens and blues, etc. of Christmas! I'm so torn when I sit down to create these days - will it be for Autumn or Christmas? Well, this one is for Christmas and I love it! It went together so easily and can't wait to make some more! I will hopefully be sharing this with some friends in Orlando soon and I hope they'll like it too! The original idea came from Australia and from a SU demonstrator who brought it to Shelli. I found it somewhere online and had to duplicate it. Hope you like my version of the Star Card!



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Card Open!

It's Pumpkin Time!

I made several of these little pumpkins last year and remembered just how much I liked them when I saw one (that I had made) at the front desk of our hotel last week! I revised it a bit with the stem but it's so fun that they last for more than just one season! Want one? Drop me a note and I'll see if there are any left in the "Pumpkin Patch"!

Autumn Candles

I really like decorating candles with stamps and I recently found directions for a box to hold them! Carla Brasher's instructions were for a box to hold 3 candles but I revised it for 2 and it works perfectly! The little boxes can be so easily decorated with some jute and a twig for a touch of fall! These are perfect for any season so expect to see more soon as they'll make wonderful little Christmas gifts!

Here I am - waaaaaaaaaay behind on posting!

Well, it's been months since I've posted anything on here and there's so much new that I hardly know where to start! We've been really busy - traveling and getting ready for our temporary move to San Diego in January. However, I find that my NEED to create is what keeps me on track and things do not go as smoothly when I'm not able to create. (Guess I should have taken another look at my blog title - I chose it for a reason!) Anyway....I guess I'll start with a birthday card for Keith's brother. The card should have been in the mail already - what else is new? So I'll share it with you before he gets to see it! Happy Birthday, Lenny! 



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