finally ... precious time to post

Sorry - I've been rather sporadic with my posts!  It's that time of year plus being a procrastinator doesn't help!!  Sonny & I offered to volunteer a few months ago with the Red Cross so we've been having to do training.  A few weeks ago, we took a CPR and First Aid class and last week we went to a Disaster training session.  Sonny also offered his services with their transportation so he has to do 20 hours of training for that!  Last Friday & today, he has had to go to the Red Cross in Charlotte to ride along with a guy there.  He should complete that training next Friday & then I guess he'll be on his own.  They really believe in training!!

On Monday, I went to my bridge Christmas party.  We played a little bridge and then had lunch.  Someone brought the most delicious pineapple casserole.  I think they said it was a Paula Deen recipe.  I am going to make it tonight to take to a party.  Here is the recipe if you are interested in trying it.

• 2 (20 oz.) pineapple tidbits, drained
• ¾ cup sugar (or Splenda)
• 6 Tbsp. juice from pineapple
• 6 Tbsp. flour
• ½ cup melted butter
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 cup Ritz crackers, crushed

Mix sugar and flour. Add pineapple, pineapple, juice, butter, and cheese. Mix well. *Place in 2qt casserole dish. Top with crushed crackers. Bake at 350 F for about 20 to 30 minutes or until bubbly.

Serves 8        *Note: rectangular casserole dish is best

After all the good food, we exchanged gifts via the Chinese Auction style (you can steal a gift from someone two times, etc.).  So, I have been working hard on my gift for this as well as for gifts for my Bunco Christmas party which was on Tuesday night and my Mahjong party which is next week!  Here are a few of the things I made for these:

This is a set of cards using my Nesties and my favorite SU Cardinal.

This is a box I made to hold some tags (seen below)

Set of tags using a clear stamp set and Deer Friends and my wonderful Big Note Die.

I also included in each basket one of the Season's Calendars shown on THIS post.

Let it Snow!

Think it will snow???? I'd love a white Christmas. Ashley called us yesterday morning from New Orleans. Seems she was looking out her window - 35th floor of the Marriott - and could barely see the street for the snow!! Whoda thunk it would snow in New Orleans???? Think I heard it was the first time in 7 years!! She is a snow freak so was really excited. Meanwhile, it has been in the 60's here and raining like crazy. I heard an old wives tale last week that if you have thunderstorms in December, you'll have snow in 7-10 days. Maybe ...... a white Christmas! In the meantime, you can sing this song while working on your Christmas presents -


(Let it Snow)

Oh the weather outside is frightful
But the inks look so delightful
So while the winter is cold and damp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!
It doesn't take much convincing
And I've brought a tool for crimping
Choose some paper, turn up the lamp
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!
When we carefully press just right
How we smile as the image unfolds
Add some color, so bold, so bright
The result is a sight to behold.
Our projects are quickly drying
And there's new techniques for trying
So until we get finger cramps
Let us stamp! Let us stamp! Let us stamp!

Jingle Bells

(Jingle Bells I )

Dashing through the snow
To the hostess house we go.
O'er the streets we pass
Anxious to spend cash.
Stamps are everywhere
Making spirits bright.
Oh what fun it is to sing,
The stamping song tonight!
Stampin' Up!, Stampin' Up!,
Stampin' all the way!
Oh, what fun it is to stamp
In the good old fashion way!S
tampin' Up!, Stampin' Up!,
Stampin's here to stay!
Oh, what fun it is to stamp
All the gifts you give today!

Winter Wonderland - stampin' style!

Here's a Christmas Carol for you today! Hum this is your head all day!

(Winter Wonderland)

Brayers roll....are you listening.
On the card... ink is glistening.
A beautiful sight... we're happy tonight, Stamping in a winter wonderland.
In the kitchen we can build a snowman.
Then add color to his carrot nose.
You'll say: Are you finished?
I'll say: No ma'am, I need to add some glitter to the snow.
When we stamp... ain't it thrilling.
Even when... the powders spilling.
We'll create and we'll play...the art stamper way,
Stamping in a winter wonderland.

I'm a winner!!

I recently entered a contest on a blog to guess 10 stamp sets that would retire. I guessed 8 out of 10 correctly!! My first blog candy win!! She's going to stamp me 25 images and looks like she had lots of stamp sets. I've got to pick my 25 now - so many choices!!!

Here's the website if you want to check out her work - http://www.layinrubberink.blogspot.com/

I also did pretty good with the retiring stamps - I didn't lose too many this go around and there are not a bunch dying to get in my stash. Gonna order Crab & Company for my sister - she & I have been wanting it for a while and I figured it would retire. There were not a lot of surprises for me this time - mainly Wonderful Words. I also hate to see Riot of Petals leaving - I really like that background. Seems a lot of the backgrounds are retiring - Canvas, Paisley, Twill - interesting!

RETIRING!!

Stampin' Up has announced it's RETIRING stamp sets today. Check it out HERE. Dozens of stamp sets from the Fall-Winter 2008 Idea Book & Catalog are retiring. Now's the last chance to get them--these sets are only available through January 18, 2009 ... And they're 10 percent off from December 9-23, so don't wait to order! (Here is the list reflecting the 10% off during this time.)

Call me or e-mail me now to get your stamps!!

more calendar pages

As promised, here are the other calendar pages from my Alley Stampers meeting.  I shared my calendar pages on THIS post.  Well, turned out, I messed up - I was supposed to do January and July .... not August!  So we have 2 Augusts!  I just have to print out a July and paste it over August.  Anyway, here are the other months the gals created:

Patty did April, May, November & December.  She used Digital Paper.  I've never tried that but the pages are gorgeous!  Also the Snowflake and saying on December is a free download from Creative Memories (magazine) that she downloaded and printed on cardstock.

Getting in the spirit of the season

I've been busy today.   Sonny and I decided to buy a real tree this year instead of using our artificial one (really didn't want to drag it out of the attic, if truth be told!).   We bought a nice tree yesterday.  Sonny grew up with a long needle Christmas tree and that's what we've always had.  I grew up with the Fraser Fir (think that's what they're called) with the little compact short needles and that's all we could find in the lots we stopped at (which was about 6!).  So, that's what we got.  We decorated it today and it looks really pretty.  So far, that's as far as I've gotten with my Christmas decorations!!  I'll post pictures when my house gets more festive!

I also spent a lot of time working on Christmas presents.  I made this today using SU's Decor Elements, a tile that I got at Lowe's and the red striped ribbon that is in the Holiday catalog.   I really like the way it turned out.  Hope the recipient likes it!

Did you know?

Arthur Wynn, the man who invented crossword puzzles, originally called them "wordcross" puzzles but a printing error accidently transposed the words and created "crossword". Since "crossword" appeared as the title of the puzzle on it's first day in the newspaper, that's the name that stuck.

A man named Adi Dassler took his first name and combined it with the first three letters of his last name to create the moniker for his brand of shoes: Adidas.

Rolls-Royce automobiles were named after two British engineers - Charles Rolls and Henry Royce.

~Strange & Fascinating Facts about Famous Brands

Calendar Obsession

I think I'm obsessed with making calendars.  I have made every type of calendar I believe .... big ones, coasters; CD's; etc. .....  Today, this is the one I made and I think I like it the best!!  I saw it first on Splitcoast and then on several blogs.  The black card base is actually a folded card (8 1/2 x 5 1/2") with winter, spring, summer and fall each on different sides (front, back, and inside).  I made a base for it to stand up on (you can see it in the side view) that can be removed when it's time to flip it inside out and slide it back on to stand up.

I cut designer paper with my Top Note die on my Cuttlebug and used the front and back of the designer paper to coordinate.

This is Fall made with Autumn Vine designer paper found in the SU mini catalog and felt flowers.

 

This is the Winter side.  I used Ski Slope designer paper also from the SU mini catalog and some punched snowflakes.

Here is Spring using the Bella Blossoms paper and the Filigree brad.

This is the Summer page using Summer Picnic paper and a cherry stamped from the Tart and Tangy set.

This is the side view so you can see how it stands up.  I just made a stand cutting the kraft cardstock 4" x 3" and scoring it 1" on 2 sides and slid it in (I didn't put adhesive on the bottom of the page).

Hope you have a splendid weekend!!

Sharon

Holiday Indulgence

Well, we are into that time of the year where over-eating is a must!  I must confess I am going to have a tough time staying on my weight goal this month!!  I should have gone ahead yesterday and weighed in and gotten it over with!!  Today was my Newcomer's Coffee where we each brought a dish to share.   With about 100 people present, you can just imagine all the food!  Luckily, I was at the last table to be called, so a lot of it was gone.  Not to fear though, I just got more at the dessert table instead!!  I was almost sick when I left!!  But .... it was soooo delicious!

Tomorrow is my stamp club get-together.  There's only 5-6 or us in this group so I shouldn't over-indulge on this one.  I am taking my 5-Cup Salad.  I always have this salad at Thanksgiving and Christmas but didn't make it this year for Thanksgiving.  It's so easy - I got the recipe when I first got married from my next door neighbors who were also Ashley's god-parents.  You mix together:

• 1 can pineapple
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 can mandarin oranges
• 1 cup marshmallows
• 1 cup coconut

Yum!!

We are making calendars at stamp club.  We each took 2 months to decorate and we will be putting them all together tomorrow.  My months were January and August.  

I embossed the trees (from SU's Lovely As a Tree) with Holographic embossing powder (retired).  "Brr" is cut out with my Cuttlebug Alphabet.  The "ready, set, snow" saying is from SU's Best Wishes & More.

This one was fun!  The Sock Monkey with the inner-tube is from Life's A Breeze as is the flip flops in the sand!  The dolphin, fish and waves are from a Nestabilities I recently got.  I wheeled the sand and colored the shells with my Copics.  Everything is raised up with dimensional tape.

Can't wait to see the other pages of the calendar tomorrow.  Stay tuned!

Splitcoast Challenge Share

Here is a card that I did last week when my sister and her friend were over and we were doing marathon projects!  I found this challenge on Splitcoast called Decorative Circle Medallion.  I used a retired SU punch and the Nestabilities for the circles.  I used a Sizzix snowflake die for the snowflake with a brad in the center.  The paper is from a paper pack that I bought at Stamper's Alley. 

I was hoping to share the Christmas Planners that we made also but Marianne & Sharon both took theirs home to finish them.  So, I don't get to see the finished projects!!  Marianne used a Snowman theme with hers and spent most of the day either dry embossing snowmen or using the heat gun & embossing powder to make her snowmen shiny.  She now wants a "gun" .... a heat gun, that is!!  She's already bought back her Christmas present from our Mom.  I had gotten a Cuttlebug a few months ago for Mom to give to her for Christmas.  Of course, Marianne knew it because she had told me that was what she wanted.  She used mine so much last week that she told Mom to bring the Cuttlebug over on Thanksgiving & she'd pay her for it so she could use it NOW!!! 

The SU Bundle 3-Day Sale has been a big hit!! Unfortunately, several of the bundles are already sold out. They were only a limited amount available - SU mentioned putting about 10,000 of the Curly Label aside and they are SOLD OUT. Also sold out is the All In The Family, Star Struck and the Mission Embossable bundle. You can still order these items individually but just not at the bundle savings. When you click on the items (see link below), it will show whether it is still available or not.

Check HERE for pictures of the bundle items still available.

Rub-Ons are on sale HERE.

You can get the Country Living bundle HERE

Thankgiving foods .... start walking and a pie recipe

Below are listed some traditional Thanksgiving food Points. They sure add up fast.  I don't even want to tell you what mine were!!  Look out "Y" - I'll be there next week!!!

• Green bean casserole (¾ cup) *4
• Candied sweet potatoes (1 cup) *8
• Garlic mashed potatoes (¾ cup) *6
• Mashed sweet potatoes, canned (½ cup) *2
• Cranberry sauce, canned (1/3 cup) *3
• Bread stuffing (1 cup) *8
• Pumpkin pie (1 slice) *9
• Apple pie, 1 slice (store-bought) *7
• Pecan pie, 1 slice (store-bought) *10
• White meat turkey, 4 oz, no skin *4
• Turkey leg, 4 oz, with skin *4
• Wine, 2 fl oz *1
• Vodka, 2 fl oz *3

Here's a Thanksgiving calculator to see how far you need to walk next week!!  For example ....

1 piece pecan pie (1/8 of 9-in pie)   -   480 calories

1 piece pumpkin pie (1/8 of 9-in pie)   -  180 calories

A slice of pecan pie, A slice of pumpkin pie, ...that comes to 660 calories. You will need to walk 6.6 miles, 10.64 kilometers, or 13200 steps, assuming you cover one mile in 2,000 steps.

While we're talking about pies, I tried a new pie recipe Thanksgiving and it was really good!  It was in the Charlotte Observer & called a Twofer Pie because it was a combination pumpkin and pecan pie.  It's definitely NOT a Weight Watcher's recipe!!

If you want to try it, here's the recipe:

• 1 (9") single pie crust, partially baked & cooled
• Pumpkin filling:
• 1 C canned unsweetened pumpkin puree
• 2/3 c heavy cream
• 1/2 c packed light brown sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2 tsp dark rum (or flavoring)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/4 tsp salt
• Pecan filling:
• 1/2 c corn syrup
• 1/4 c packed light brown sugar
• 2 Tbs unsalted butter, melted & cooled (I just used marg.)
• 1 large egg
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C pecan halves or pieces

Position oven rack in center of oven & preheat to 450.  Put pie plate w/crust on a baking sheet lined w/parchment paper or silicon baking mat.

Combine all pumpkin filling ingredients in food processor & process, stopping to scrape down sides as needed, for 2 minutes.  Leave filling in processor for a minute.

Place all pecan filling ingredients - except pecans - in mixing bowl & whisk until smooth.

Give pumpkin filling a final pulse in food processor; then rap the bowl on counter a few times to release air bubbles.  Pour into the crust.  Spread nuts evenly over the pumpkin layer.  Pour the pecan filling over the top, pushing any nuts that float back down.

Bake 10 minutes.  Reduce oven temp. to 300 & bake 350-40 minutes longer, until top is puffy & a think knife inserted in middle comes out clean.

Thanksgiving is just a memory

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and I am still stuffed!!  We had a very nice Thanksgiving at my home yesterday.  My sister spent the night with us on Wednesday so she & I got a head start on our cooking when we woke up.  We had done most of the work beforehand so just had to make a couple of salads, pies and casseroles and figure out the timing of cooking it all!  This is the only time of the year I wish I had a double stove!!  We cooked the turkey on high heat and it only took a little over 3 hours .... the only drawback is every time the oven was opened, it got smokey in the house!  We had the doors open and a fan in the window.  Luckily, it was in the 60's and a beautiful day.  Our friends and relatives started arriving about noon and we munched on hors-doerves cheese and crackers - while waiting for dinner.  The guys went outside and played a little football.  After dinner, we sat around the table and played "Table Talk", a tradition I started last year.  It's a game of thought provoking questions.  I put 3 under each person's plate and they can pick one of them to answer or answer them all if they so choose.  The questions are like "What event in the past, present or future would you like to witness?"  What is your favorite childhood memory?"  It's a great way to get to know someone and sometimes you find out more than you wanted to know!!

Here's a pictorial tour of Thanksgiving at my house!

Our table setting .... BEFORE all the food!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isn't this centerpiece gorgeous?!!  Our friends, Sharon & Bob always order the centerpiece for the table since Sharon doesn't cook!!

Marianne's oldest son, Derek, catching the football!

Harrison going for the ball .... if he doesn't lose his pants first!!

This beer's for ..... Marianne!!  Go Steelers!! 

My daughter, Ashley and her friend, Drew who joined us.

My sister & my husband.

Girlfriends!

 

Both my sisters on clean-up detail!!

After dinner snooze!!  My daughter's friend Drew and my mom.

Some Interesting Thanksgiving Trivia!

Three towns in the U.S. take their name from the traditional Thanksgiving bird, including Turkey, Texas (pop. 465); Turkey Creek, Louisiana (pop. 363); and Turkey, North Carolina (pop. 270).

Originally known as Macy's Christmas Parade—to signify the launch of the Christmas shopping season—the first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in New York City in 1924. It was launched by Macy's employees and featured animals from the Central Park Zoo. Today, some 3 million people attend the annual parade and another 44 million watch it on television.
Tony Sarg, a children's book illustrator and puppeteer, designed the first giant hot air balloons for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1927. He later created the elaborate mechanically animated window displays that grace the façade of the New York store from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

Snoopy has appeared as a giant balloon in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade more times than any other character in history. As the Flying Ace, Snoopy made his sixth appearance in the 2006 parade.

The first time the Detroit Lions played football on Thanksgiving Day was in 1934, when they hosted the Chicago Bears at the University of Detroit stadium, in front of 26,000 fans. The NBC radio network broadcast the game on 94 stations across the country--the first national Thanksgiving football broadcast. Since that time, the Lions have played a game every Thanksgiving (except between 1939 and 1944); in 1956, fans watched the game on television for the first time.

Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.

Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Minnesota is the top turkey-producing state in America, with a planned production total of 49 million in 2008. Just six states—Minnesota, North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri and Indiana—will probably produce two-thirds of the estimated 271 million birds that will be raised in the U.S. this year.

The cranberry is one of only three fruits—the others are the blueberry and the Concord grape—that are entirely native to North American soil, according to the Cape Cod Cranberry Growers' Association.

According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest pumpkin pie ever baked weighed 2,020 pounds and measured just over 12 feet long. It was baked on October 8, 2005 by the New Bremen Giant Pumpkin Growers in Ohio, and included 900 pounds of pumpkin, 62 gallons of evaporated milk, 155 dozen eggs, 300 pounds of sugar, 3.5 pounds of salt, 7 pounds of cinnamon, 2 pounds of pumpkin spice and 250 pounds of crust.

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving wherever you plan to spend it. I hope that you are with friends and family who appreciate you.

I will have a full house tomorrow and just hope my turkey is thawed in the a.m.!! I spent today making my potatoes, apple pie, green bean casserole (2 different kinds!) and tomorrow will work on the cranberry salad and pumpkin/pecan pie. I'll let you know how it all turns out!

Stuffing the Turkey

Before you stuff your turkey ....... read this!

The Turkey Shot out of the Oven
by Jack Prelutsky

The turkey shot out of the oven
and rocketed into the air,
it knocked every plate off the table
and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner
and burst with deafening boom,
then splattered all over the kitchen,
completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows,
it totally coated the floor,
there was turkey attached to the ceiling,
where there'd never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance,
it smeared every saucer and bowl,
there wasn't a way I could stop it,
that turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure,
and thought with chagrin as I mopped,
that I'd never again stuff a turkey
with popcorn that hadn't been popped.

Holiday Extravaganza Sale

Stampin' Up has tons of bundles on sale. Click HERE to see the flyer. Start making your list as these bundles are only available while supplies last. Check it out & give me a call or e-mail me with your wish lists. This sale starts Nov. 26 and will end Dec. 1 so there's not much time to take advantage of these great prices!

Crafty Monday

My sister and her girlfriend came over this morning and we played in my stamp room ALL DAY!!  So much fun!!  To begin with, we each picked out a Color Challenge from Splitcoast and a Sketch Challenge.  I gave them my notebook full of stamp sets & let them pick any one they wanted and we sat down and each made a card!!  They turned out great and they learned they don't need my guidance every step of the way and they could do it on their own!  Here are our cards -

 

This is Sharon's card (Girlfriend!).  She is sending this to a friend who is her final fight with cancer.  Very simple but pretty, don't you think? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is my sister's card.  She used a stamp set from Great Impressions.  (She loves snowmen cards!!

This last card is mine.  The stampset is actually one Marianne brought over that I thought was soooo cute!!  And the "Happy Holidays" is a retired SU set that I bought at a sale this summer.

After doing our challenges, they made several Christmas cards from my Tuesday night class.  When I put away all my supplies from my class this week, I kept out 2 sets of each card kit just for this purpose.  So, they were able to work on the cards while I finished up some calendars I am trying to get done by Thursday!!   My sister also went through some of my card samples and found a snowman one (done by Wanda!) and made about 5 cards like it.   It's so cute and easy to do.  We used my Nesties for the Snowman circles and Dazzling Diamonds embossing powder for the sparkle.

 

I snapped this picture while they were working.  They didn't even know I was taking it - not real flattering but you can tell they are hard at work!  I kept trying to clean up their table for them and put things away but they liked cluttered like that .... would have driven me nuts!  Also, notice the quilts in their chairs!  I like to keep my house a lot cooler than most people and they usually freeze & complain!!  I just tell them to put their woolies on and come prepared!!  I actually turned the heat up today for them and I had on short sleeves!!

 

Tomorrow they will be back and we will be working on Christmas Organizers.  I'll post the finished product. 

Sharon

Whew am I tired! Marianne, "Girlfriend" (her friend, Sharon) & I spent ALL day at the Southern Living Christmas Show today. It is a tradition with Marianne to attend the Christmas show every year. She used to take our Mom, but she is just not able for us to drag her around that place. She wants to stop in every booth and "touch & feel"!! We arrived at the Merchandise Mart at 10 a.m. and left around 5!! Boy, do my feet hurt - that darned old plantar fascitis is acting up again and that concrete floor did not help it! But, I got a few items toward Christmas - a few things for Ashley and my grandkids. I got Jayce a book that will be written with his name in the book - all about animals. Can't wait to see it - they were out of it at the show and will mail it to me.

Speaking of Jayce, Darcie had the funniest story on her blog this week. It seems whenever Jeff goes out of town, something seems to happen to her. They live in Tucson so it usually has something to do with the animals in their area. This time, she was jogging with Jayce in his jogger stroller & he spotted a snake. Turns out, it was a baby rattler ... fortunately, a dead one. But, Darcie thought if theirs a baby, there's probably a mama around somewhere close. Later in the day, she was returning from taking Cassidy to school on one of the desert backroads she has to take & a "cat-like" creature crossed in front of her car. She stopped and saw it staring back at her in the woods (or I guess there it's the cactus!). She thought it might be a bobcat. When she got home, she googled it and it didn't look like a bobcat, so she googled another animal, and guess what it was!! A baby Mountain Lion!!! Seems she's always telling Jeff she's afraid to jog in the morning alone in case a mountain lion gets her and he laughs at her and tells her they don't have mountain lions in their neighborhood, but she better watch out because the sky might fall on her. Guess who's having the last laugh this weekend????

Tomorrow, I need to finish up the Calendars I'm making for the gals for Thanksgiving - 3 down & 5 to go!! And next week, Marianne & Sharon will be coming over for Cardmaking 101 so I have to come up with a few projects for them. PLUS .... get working on my Thanksgiving placecards & napking rings, PLUS my menu & grocery shopping.

Have a wonderful weekend!

These cute little boxes are easy to make. Here's the pattern to make the box. Wouldn't they be cute with some little Christmas candy in them? What are you waiting for? Get busy - select your paper - cut out your pattern!!!