Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

I am thankful today to be spending the day with my family .... including my daughter.  This year we are not having to "Skype" her on the computer to wish her a happy day.  We can hug her and love her in person! 

As I type this, Marianne is downstairs making the dressing and sweet potatoes; Ashley is making her deviled eggs; and "Girlfriend, aka Sharon R" is peeling the apples for me to make the apple pies.  The turkey is in the oven; the mashed potato casserole is made; the cranberry salad is made (thanks to Darcie for the recipe!); the pumpkin cheesecake is made; green casserole is made and we are waiting for the rest of the family to arrive.  We will have appetizers first - warm brie, buffalo chicken dip, pineapple cheese ball, pepper jelly over cream cheese and onion dip and chips (for Sonny who is too picky to try the other stuff!!)  

Hope you enjoy your family and give thanks for all the freedoms we have in this country!

These are the little turkey favors I made for everyone's place.

These have little chocolate nuggets inside.

Stamping Queens Sketch Wednesday

I made another sketch card this week for the Stamping Queens using My Digital Studio.  I really love the texture in this card.  I used a recent download, Frosty Days II.  Again, this could be easily duplicated without using MDS. 

The card base is Pool Party with Melon Mambo as the next layer.  Then the polka dot DSP layer.  The Pool Party rectangle DSP is matted with Soft Suede,  The white stamped rectangle is matted with Melon Mambo.  The snowflake is stamped with Pool Party and a brad inserted in the center.  After adding all the elements to the card, I used a background stamp in white over the whole card and reduced the opacity to give a snowy effect.  I love how this turned out!  Below is the sketch we had to use.  Hopefully, you will give this sketch a try - it's an easy one!  Show us what you create by posting your card HERE.

The Online Extravaganza is still going on (until Nov. 30) and it is a great time to get My Digital Studio Express.  Included in the promotion is the opportunity to receive a free bundle of preselected digital downloads (at least a $39.95 value) with the purchase of My Digital Studio Express.  The bundle options are:
Bundle #1: My Digital Studio Booster Pack (item #124484)
Bundle #2: Holiday Themed Downloads (item #129385)
    -Merry & Type Stamp Brush Set
    -Letters to Santa Designer Series Paper
    -Letters to Santa Embellishments
    -Baker's Twine
    -Dasher Stamp Brush
    -Holiday Harmony II Kit
    -Merry Delightful Digital Tape
    -25 & Counting Stamp Brush Set
    -Deck the Halls Designer Buttons
    -And a Happy New Year Photocard Template 
Bundle #3: Scrapbooking Themed Downloads (item #129386)
    -Day in the Lift Kit
    -Thoughtful Overlays Stamp Brush Set
    -Fun Flowers Shapes
    -Delightful Digital Tape
    -Sweet Details Alphabet & Numbers
    -Word Play Stamp Brush Set

To view a PDF of the images in each bundle, visit the online store under My Digital Studio Express.

While I had MDS opened on Monday, I created a couple of other things.

This would be great to give to someone as a gift (just change the name & date!).  Print it out, mat it and put it in a frame.  Voila!  A quick and easy gift of a family crest!

This picture is of Westminster Abbey in London.  It is from our trip last spring.  I just changed the photo effect to black and white and matted it in black on grey paper.  Added a few snippets of DSP on the side and the flourish from Baroque Motifs!  Easy peasy!

I am enjoying my time with Ashley.  We took a walk around the neighborhood yesterday morning, did a little creating in my stamp room, went to town for lunch and a quick (??) trip to WalMart and the Dollar Store.  Last night, she cooked dinner for us.  Food always tastes better when someone else does the cooking, doesn't it??  She loves to cook too.  Today Marianne is going to come over and we will play in my stamp room a while and then get some of our dishes ready for tomorrow's feast.

Let the Extravaganza Begin!

 

Today starts the Online Extravaganza!!
 
Check everything out HERE - then click on SHOP NOW. Then click on ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA on the left hand side.  Once you've added your item/items to your cart you'll see the reduced pricing !!!!!   SAVINGS GALORE or should I say SAVINGS EXTRAVAGANZA !!!!!!!  


Items are limited and are while supplies last and there is a 24 hour sale on the Cookie Press so don't miss out !!!!! 

Click HERE to see a list of all items on sale.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!! :)

She's here!

Ashley arrived safe and sound Friday night.  She even got here early - 30 minutes early!  Although it didn't do any good since we got stuck in traffic trying to get to the airport.  Her plane arrived at 6 pm and we didn't get there until 7 pm to pick her up.  There was a wreck on Hwy 150 so it took us almost an hour just to get from our house to Mooresville onto the interstate.  And the I-77 was like a parking lot and we had to sit in traffic on the interstate.  So frustrating!  We met the family at Galway Hooker.  It was a nice reunion.  Saturday we drove up to the mountains and spent the night in Blowing Rock.  We wandered around Main Street in Blowing Rock on Saturday going in and out of the shops.  We both got a little Christmas shopping done.  Today we visited the Tanger Outlets in Blowing Rock and bought a few more things.  Sonny was a good sport - while we were going in and out of the shops for 2 hours, he sat outside at a table and read his book!

My posts may be pretty sporadic this week.  I am working on making a project for our Thanksgiving table.  Marianne will be coming over also to work on our 2012 calendars! 

I will post in the morning information about the ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA that Stampin' Up is having.  So don't miss the big announcement!!

ONLINE EXTRAVAGANZA!!

 
Stampin' Up has announced that their Online Extravaganza is coming next week! It's the annual sale to kick off the holiday shopping season and will begin Monday, November 21, 2011, and run through Wednesday, November 30, 2011. While this promotion is perfect for online orders during an especially busy time of year, you can also contact me to order for you.

I will be sharing the direct link on MONDAY so you can see exactly what is on sale then.  They are hinting that these items will be part of the sale:

• FREE digital downloads valued at $40 when you buy My Digital Studio Express
• 30 percent off an exclusive ribbon bundle
• 60 percent off select designer fabrics.
  
• In addition, there will be two items on sale for 24 hours only (November 21, 12:01 AM - 11:59 PM [MT])

 So make sure you check my blog for the link right away on Monday morning so you don't miss these one-day only specials.

If you are a long distance customer, you can order online or on my WEBSITE.  (click Shop at top right)  If you want me to order for you, call or e-mail me to add your order to the one I will place as a group order.

November Club Projects

I had my Stampin' Club meeting this week and I think everyone enjoyed the projects we made.  I did it a little different this month mainly for my Thursday group which is larger than Tuesday's group.  They all made the 3D project and a shaker card but were able to pick the 3rd card they wanted to make.  I had made 4-5 cards with instructions and they chose their favorite.  At the next club meeting, I will have the same kits available (except for the Christmas cards) for their choice as well as doing a couple of projects that all will make together.  I am trying to eliminate the problem of everyone sitting around and waiting for the punch, stamp, ink, etc.  If I can just train them to read the instructions that are sent to them and printed out, it would be a snap!  

I haven't taken a picture yet of the 3D project that we did so I will share it later.

The shaker card is taken from the mini catalog because it is just so cute!!  They did have an option of including another stamp image inside the card but most used the little girl from Gift Givers.  Using the Shaker Rounds from the mini sure makes this an easy card to make.

Here are a few of the cards my gals chose:

Lovely As A Tree - done in purple and in Not Quite Navy and glittered.

This one looks so much better in real life.  The medallion in the middle is cut out and popped up and the whole thing is glittered with Dazzling Details

A great fall card but we will make this also in the winter and just substitute the saying for something else.  The Crumb Cake rectangle is stamped using my E clear block.  The stamp set is French Foliage.

I'm excited!  We will be going to the airport tonight to pick Ashley up.  She will be here for 10 days which I am sure will fly by.  We are having a family dinner at an Irish pub/restaurant with my mom, my sister, Angela, Marianne and her family.  I was hoping my brother could come but he will be working tomorrow in the mountains somewhere.

Sketch Challenge #13

Oops - almost forgot the Sketch Challenge today!!  But I got "er done!!

I used My Digital Studio to make this card BUT you don't have to do that.  Here are the supplies so you can make it yourself without MDS:

Stamp:  French Foilage, Simple Friendship
Cardstock:  Pool Party, Soft Suede, River Rock, Spice Cake DSP
Ink:  More Mustard, Soft Suede, River Rock
Access:  Brads

The sentiment and the "squiggly" swirls on the Pool Party cardstock came from a retired set, Simple Friendship.  But these could easily be replaced by any other sentiment and a set that has some swirls in it (maybe Baroque Motifs) or you could easily leave them off.   So even though I used MDS to make this card, it is easily reproducible (is that a word?) using your own supplies.

We had friends here for too short a time this week.  Margaret and Graham flew to NC Friday and were at their daughter's house in Charlotte until Monday when they came to visit us.  Unfortunately, as they were driving here, their daughter called and had been in a minor fender-bender so they only stayed long enough to have a cup of tea and turned around and went back to Charlotte.  But they returned on Tuesday morning and Margaret and I spent the day visiting and stamping while the guys went to the gun range.  This was the first visit we have had with them since last March!!  Hard to believe!  But it was nice for Margaret to be here for Stamp Club.  They left this morning.  We were hoping for a longer visit but they are planning to fly home to England to visit Margaret's parents Sunday so they had to head back to Texas to get ready.

Fall Colors

I think FALL is my favorite season.  I just love the colors of the trees here in North Carolina.  I think this year has been one of the best for colors.  I just wish we had driven up to the mountains a few weeks ago and seen the trees at their peak there.  Every year, I have plans to do that but never seem to get it done.  Maybe next year!  Here are a few pictures I took this weekend.

These trees (above and below) are in the parking lot of the grocery store!

Another grocery store - this time BJ's Wholesale Store!!  But look at all the different colors.

These trees are at Queen's Landing in Mooresville. 

Sonny finished painting the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room this weekend.  Only one more room to go downstairs and then it's the bedrooms upstairs.  Don't know how much he'll get done this week.  Ashley is coming Friday (for 10 days!!) so I'm hoping he'll at least get her bedroom (or the room she always sleeps in when she's visiting) painted.  We'll see!

He (jokingly) asked me if we should paint the cabinets black so we'd have black and gold in the kitchen ... for the STEELERS!!  If there weren't so many cabinet knobs, I'd consider taking them all off and replacing them with black - that would look pretty cool!

It's amazing what a little paint can do for a house.  It's like a totally new place.

Shake It Up

I had a fun day of stamping today.  I haven't stamped anything in a couple of weeks!  It took me a while to get going but once I did, I was on a roll.  I am getting things ready for my Stamp Clubs next week.  We are going to do shaker cards using Stampin' Up's new shaker frames. They are double-sided adhesive foam circles that let you make any card a shaker card!  Five of the foam circles are sized to coordinate with a variety of SU's Circle Punches.  You get 36 total circles: 6 of ea. size.  I haven't done a shaker card in several years and when I used to make them, I used bits of foam tape on the image.  The shaker frames make it so much easier!

I was trying not to use the larger frames since I want to save them for my clubs.  So I took a couple of the smaller frames and cut them and made them into a larger circle. Just make sure you make the ends meet so your filler doesn't fall out. 

Here's the finished card.  I used Gift Givers stamp set along with Serene Snowflakes.  I used Mica Flakes for the filler.



Close up of the shaker.



Here is another shaker card that I made also.  This time I used Holiday Lineup, one of my all time favorite sets. 

close up of shaker part.

Another stamp set that will work good for a Christmas shaker is Snow Much Fun.   I want to make a shaker of just the snowman's belly!  Maybe tomorrow!!

Meanwhile, my kitchen should be finished tomorrow!!  Sonny did a lot of the painting yesterday and he hopes to finish tomorrow.  Here are a few before and after pictures.

This side of the room has not seen the paint yet - tomorrow though

FINISHED side

Watercoloring with My Digital Studio

I made this card today using My Digital Studio.  I saw something similar that someone else had done and thought I'd give it a whirl. 

What do you think?