Happy New Year!

Hope your New Year is a good one!  We are going to Marianne's home to celebrate 2015's arrival with friends and family.

2015 Calendar with My Digital Studio

As much as I loved the holidays and spending time with my family and friends - especially having Ashley here for almost two weeks not to mention Bogart for 4 months (!!), it was nice to get back to "normal" today.  Ashley was a sweetheart and helped Sonny and I take down the tree and all the house decorations before she left so I didn't have to bother with that.  Last night after taking her to rhe airport, I straightened up all the gift wrap paper, bags, ribbon, tags, gift card holders, tissue, etc. and put them away in the attic until next year.  So today was wide open for doing a little card making!  I have two swaps (Occasions catalog and Sale-a-Bration) due in two weeks plus a shoebox card to make for this Saturday so I knew I had to get busy.  It was great to do some stamping that wasn't in red and green or other Christmas colors!!  Don't get me wrong - I love Christmas but by New Year's I'm done with it!

As you can see, I changed my blog header to a simple one for now.  I'll probably work on a Valentine one later but this was good for now.  The pennants and dotted background piece is actually a sheet of Designer Paper that I just filled a rectangle punch with.  All was left was my text and I used an Alphabet Punch (Smitten) and paper filled it - easy, peasy!

I always make Ashley a calendar for Christmas and she does the same for me on My Digital Studio.  This year, with her being at Ft Belvoir, she wasn't able to get it done for Christmas.  So, on Sunday, she used my computer to create one and I should be receiving it in a week or two.  Here is the one I made for her this year (without the date pages).  They end up being like an album of our year.  I always keep mine to look back at the pictures.

JANUARY

APRIL - New Zealand road signs

MAY - New Zealand 

JUNE - still New Zealand

JULY - DC / Virginia in September

AUGUST - Pittsburgh October

Pittsburgh

OCTOBER - NYC

Don't forget the Stampin' Up Year End Sale.  You can shop by hitting "ORDER ONLINE" at the top of this post.  Please use my Hostess Code when ordering - N4KDHCAU

Hoping your Holidays were Good!

Hi friends!  I hope you have been enjoying the Holiday celebrations that this time of year brings.  I have been neglecting my blog but enjoying some nice relaxing time with my family.  I decided to  not worry about my blog  so I could enjoy Christmas and not stress out too much!  I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful time with your family and friends.  I did and am so thankful.

We went to Virginia / DC the week before Christmas to pick Ashley up after she had completed her course and took my mom.  We all had a good time.  We stopped at Monticello on our way to Ft Belvoir to tour Thomas Jefferson's home.  We visited DC taking the Metro and seeing the Christmas tree outside the White House.  It was really, really cold!!!!  We also went to the National Harbor and rode on the (climate controlled) ferris wheel.  I don't usually ride things that take me up in the air, but decided to be a sport.  It was really a lot of fun.  The view from the top was spectacular and it was a beautiful (cold) clear day.

National Harbor Christmas tree and Ferris Wheel

Selfie of Ashley and I at White House Christmas Tree

At Ashley's graduation ceremony - Ft Belvoir

The after-math of Christmas - Bogart is tired out!

Thanks for stopping by.  If you haven't already, stop by the Online Store and take a look at the year-end close outs.  There are a lot of good items as much as 80% off.

And beginning January 6, you can order from the New Spring Occasions Catalog and take advantage of the Sale-a-Bration Catalog.    During Sale-a--Bration, you can choose from a selection of great products FREE with every $50 you spend.   The Spring Catalog and SaleABration Catalog has already begun arriving in homes.  Let me know if you would like a copy.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

As of now, All Is Calm!!

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even the CATS

The stockings were hung by the chimney with care

in hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Ashley and the cats are nestled all snug in the bed

While visions of sugar plums (or clothes, books, gift certificates, etc. etc. etc.) dance in her head.

Mamma in her nightie and Sonny in his flannel 

Had just settled down for a long winter's night (with cats laying on our feet!)

Hope all is calm at your house and you enjoy a wonderful Christmas!

Part of my mantle decorations.  My son made the wood Mary, Joseph and Jesus piece for us last year.

Ashley and I in front of tree - Christmas Eve

Sonny and Ashley

Trying to steal a kiss!  No mistletoe in sight though.

Looks like Santa has filled these stockings!

My son and his family.  Missing them!!

Clearance and Weekly Deals Plus Christmas Trivia!

It's Tuesday and that means new Weekly Deals from Stampin' Up!  The Deals include one of my favorites - the Chalk Talk Framelits Die set.  Also, be sure to check out the YEAR END CLEARANCE items at my online store.  Items are only available while supplies last.





Here are some random Christmas facts that I got from someone!  Enjoy!

The Popular Poinsettia

Holiday Past
Poinsettias were first introduced into this country in 1828 by the U.S. ambassador to Mexico, Joel Poinsett.

Holiday Present
Poinsettias are now grown in all 50 states and represent over 85 percent of potted plant sales during the holidays. Over $220 million worth of poinsettias are sold during holiday season!

Kisses in Color

Holiday Past
Hershey's started wrapping their Kisses in red, green, and silver foil for the first time in 1962. The success of the holiday-wrapped Kisses led Hershey's to dress up their little chocolates for the Easter, Valentine's Day, and Fall Harvest seasons.

Holiday Present
Hershey's now wraps up to 1,300 Hershey's Kisses a minute. That gives them the capacity to make approximately 33 million Hershey's Kisses a day, or more than 12 billion a year!

A Tree of Lights

Holiday Past
In 1949, the tree at Rockefeller Center was strung with 7,500 bulbs.

Holiday Present
Now more than 25,000 bulbs are strung on the tree - that's more than 5 miles of lights!

Artificial Trees

Holiday Past
Artificial Christmas trees were on the market by 1900. They were available by mail from Sears, Roebuck and Company, and cost 50 cents for 33 limbs, or a dollar for 55 limbs.

Holiday Present
Most artificial trees are now manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong and contain non-biodegradable plastics and metals. They usually range in price from $200 to $2,000.

Holiday Mail

Holiday Past
The first Christmas card, created by a London businessman, was printed in England in 1843. Three years later, the first commercial Christmas cards were available to the public. One thousand cards in all were produced and they were an instant success.

Holiday Present
The holiday season is now the busiest time of the year for the US Postal Service. Last year, over 20 billion cards, letters, and packages were sent, causing the USPS to hire nearly 40,000 temporary workers and put thousands of additional trucks, trains, and planes in service.

MDS Monday 95

Time for my MDS Monday challenge.  This is my last week as guest designer for MDS Monday.  But you can believe I will continue to submit scrapbook designs for MDS Monday on my own.

This time I used a picture taken when we were in London several years ago.  It was so cool to see the Changing of the Guard up close and in person!!

Here is the sketch we were to use:



Make sure to check out the other designs submitted by the crew at MDS Monday.

Off to finish up my Christmas shopping!!

Tag Swap

I participated in a Christmas tag swap with some of the regular customers at Stamper's Alley and got some beautiful tags.

The tag on the right I think is by my friend, Judy.  She gave me some goodies in the little box on the left which she decorated.

This is my tag.

Paper Craft Crew Challenge

Here is the card I made for the Paper Craft Crew Challenge this week.  (Yay!  I remembered to submit it AND to blog about it!!)

Here is the sketch:

Check out the other cards made by the Design Team HERE.

Sneak Peek Thinlet

I got my pre-ordered goodies from the Occasions Catalog and the Sale-A-Bration catalog on Monday and had a little bit of time to play around with them.  You will be able to start ordering from the Occasions Catalog January 6th.  I am sharing a sneak peek of one of the new 15% off Bundles that will be available called Crazy About You and Hello You Thinlets.  The stamp set has 33 stamps (2 flowers that coordinate with punches - one of them is new), one leaf and 30 nice size greetings!!) The Thinlets are four dies - hello, thanks, happy, you.

I kept the card really simple.  Ashley needed some masculine thank you cards so I thought this was spot on using the Under the Tree DSP from the Holiday Catalog (one of my favorite DSPs).

Inside using the piece that was cut out from the thinlit.

Holiday Lodge MDS Christmas Card

I spent a lot of time last week working on My Digital Studio finishing up some projects.  I have made calendars (several different ones), tags, journals, cards, etc.  This time of year is when MDS is a life saver for me.  I designed all my pages for MDS Monday so I won't have to worry about that the next couple of weeks.  I even made the cards for the rest of the month for Paper Craft Crew's blog.  I made my card last week but forgot to put it on the site!  Here is last week's card - better late than never!:

I love using the traditional red and green colors.  The house is a retired stamp called Holiday Lodge. It really is a pretty one.