Time to do a bit of Catching Up! Yikes!!!

This is my latest project with Scrapbooker's Paradise and I was showing how to use old bits of embossed metal that were all different colors and sizes. However, I loved the background so much for this card that I decided to make a 12 x 12 background page that I can use for a layout.

I LOVE how this turned out and I can't wait to use it for a Layout.

Just doing some catching up so here are the cards from the previous weeks.

Daryl had a Birthday so, of course, we got a Katrina Karina Cake.

His favorite movie is "The Big Lebowski"........

And what's and update without the babies.......I LOVE when we get to look after Lexi!

They are adorable together and two is easier than one. 

Mack is exhausted when she leaves but he has so much fun with her. 

Have a GREAT week!

Christmas Table Surprises!!!

I actually had a lot of fun making these Christmas crackers this year.  As soon as I saw the 'Candy Box Punch Board', I knew exactly what I would be doing with it.  We do Christmas Crackers every year and it was always hard to find some that matched nicely with the rest of the decor.  Mine were going to be filled with chocolate, candy, something personal and of course the jokes, riddles and another note that said exactly this:

"NOTE: There is no SILLY HAT in this cracker"

I love using 'Wordle' to personalize things so this is how I created my background paper. I've put up all of the instructions on my post for Scrapbooker's Paradise.  Finding the actual 'snaps' was an issue but Micheals brought some of these in for the Christmas season and you just can't have real crackers without the 'SNAP'.

The instructions for the 'Punch Board' say to trim your paper width to 7" and length to between 4" and 12". I changed the complete look for mine and added a 5^th side so I left my width at 8 ½ " and I cut an inch off of each end to keep my printing centered.  I simply followed the directions on the Board for the rest of the cracker.

Cardstock is a little thicker than the average cracker material and it still needs to 'pop' open without having to open each end so I ran a solid scor-line down each length at between 1 ¾ " and 2".  For this I just used a scoring blade in my trimmer and then I just had to make sure not to play around and tear this prematurely.  I just added a dab of glue to one side of the snap and cut the ends so that they lined up with my outer edge and finished the assembly portion and that was it!  Once I got the proper pattern figured out and my first one out of the way......it was super easy and fun to make the next dozen!

I forgot to take a picture when the table was completely set but here's how it looked with all of my crackers set out.  I just got a little busy with my guests and making sure that we didn't forget anything.  My wonderful husband cooked the entire meal!  Our awesome neighbors also brought some of the goodies and we had a fabulous meal as usual.  The 4 dogs were extremely well behaved and the 6 missing family members were missed and talked about. Traditions!!!

Give this a try for your next party or gathering.

Last Two Tags!!!

 Tag # 11

and Tag #12

And here are the boys posing under the Katie's Tree......Zeus looks kind of old and yet they're less than a year apart.  They really do play great together whenever they get together.

And here's my take on Koen telling Santa what he wants.  In every picture, Koen is hanging on to his thumb for dear life.  He was told that Santa would be checking to see if he's still sucking his thumb.

Have a Very Merry Christmas,

12 Tags of Christmas update!

12 Tags are almost done! Here are the 8th, 9th and 10th tags that I posted for the Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog.  Next Sunday will be the last tag post with the 11th and 12th tags........Yay!!!  As much fun as this has been, it's also nice to see a mission that is accomplished and completed as planned.  I think that now is time to come up with a new project for the New Year and I'll welcome any suggestions.

The 10th tag is double sided and you can pull on the strings to raise and lower the blinds so here are the three different views.  I also had to think of this one as the view of the window from inside on the one side and a view from the outside on the other side.

This is the same tag with the blind up showing the the scenery that was made for the 6th tag when you look out the window.

Hope you drop in next week,

Loads of Fun and Great Eats & Treats!!!

This is really such a busy time of year and I always have such ambition to get things done but it doesn't always work out quite the way I plan.  The 12 tags that I've been doing for work have been quite time consuming but I decided to work outside of my comfort zone so that I could learn even more tips to pass on.

These are the 6th and 7th tags and all of the instructions are on the Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog.

I recently got the We R Memory Keepers Gift Box Punch board and I knew what I would do with it as soon as I tried my first box.  I don't bake but my daughter has inherited that hidden baking gene from me and her cakes are amazing.  She loves decorating cakes and thinks that cupcakes are boring but I thought that these little boxes would be perfect for to hold a cupcake so I had her make me a batch of my favorites - banana cake with a cream cheese icing as gifts for our staff party.  The gifts all had to be homemade and the cost had to be under $3.00.  The gifts were all amazing!

I decorated my box and then I designed a little holder for the inside to hold my cupcake.

Here are a few more from Katrina Karina Cakes.  She even made a gluten free batch that was to die for :) I think those would make a fabulous Christmas Present.

And,.....here is the most amazing haul of hand made gifts that I've ever seen.  This was a truly great great idea for a bunch of crafty people and the pot luck lunch was equally impressive.

I've been dog sitting for the last week and a half and I now know that I will miss Lexi around all the time when she goes home.  Mack had taken up laying down in my desk chair every time I got up but it sure didn't take long for Lexi to join in.  I do have the most comfortable chair ever and I guess the pups figured it out.

Have a Great week everyone!

I Learn Something New Everyday!!!

I was so excited when Cindy from Monday Night Class told me about this little tip. When I was in Montreal in early October, I brought back some Maple Leaves with me because the colors were gorgeous and it's just not something we see a lot of in Calgary.  I knew that there were several ways to preserve the leaves but I wasn't sure which method would be the best and how much time or effort it would take.  

My leaves were starting to crumble and I'd only brought two back with me and didn't want to lose either of them so I was afraid to touch them at all but then Cindy told me that she'd done many so I thought I'd give her method a try...........Mod Podge.

Just cover the leaves with a generous layer of Mod Podge, let dry and do the other side.  Now the leaves are actually pliable and these were crumbling before.  My leaves were so dry that I had to be careful when i applied that 1st coat but the other side was really easy.  This would be easy and fun to do with kids.

Have you seen the New punch boards from We R Memory Keepers?  Here is something that I made with just scraps using the Candy Treat Box Punch Board.  I just made a few minor alterations to make this a Christmas Cracker that really works and now I can't wait to make the REAL ones!  Next week, I'll show you how I used my Gift Box punch board to make something really exciting!!!

I hope you were as excited as I was to find out about this great tip! Here are the two tags that I did for this week's 'Sunday with Sandy' at Scrapbooker's Paradise Blog.

 Have a Great Week,

3 down and 9 more Christmas Tags to go!

Hmmmm, Only 5 more weeks until Christmas and still 9 more tags to go so I will be doubling up for 4 of the next 5 weeks.  This means that next Sunday there will be two tags....and Yikes!...twice the work.

Here is the 3rd tag:

This week I will also add a couple pictures of my new project.  I finally found some crackers to make my own Christmas Crackers and I have an idea on how to make this work with my new Candy Box punch Board.  I can't wait to see if it works!