What I've been up to ......

After the holidays last year, I did some soul searching and came to the conclusion that my life needed more balance. I was tired of the chaos and haphazardness of my daily life and felt a need to simplify and organize my home and thoughts. One area of need for us was preparedness. Although we have been blessed and not had a major natural disaster in our area that affected us, I wanted to be as ready as I could be if we did have an extended time that the electricity is off, or our food supply was diminished. Inspired by my daughter I started to work on an "extended pantry" Shopping at sales for items, storing, organizing, dating, and rotation of these items was first on the list. Canning, dehydrating and learning about cooking from food storage was next. I am not going to expound on these subjects as there are so many wonderful blogs and websites available that say it much better than me. I will show you a photo of part of my pantry area which is downstairs in the basement. I'm not finished, as it is an ongoing project, but I think I have a good start.

I'm back......

and so sorry I was gone for so long. I had a little burn out and just needed to regroup and recharge. I hope I still have some readers. Before I tell you what I have been up to the last few months, I want to make sure you don't miss out on the latest from Stampin' Up!

In order to make room for all the new products coming in July, hundreds of stamp sets, accessories, and home décor products are retiring! These last-chance items are only available June 1-30, so click the links below to get your favorites before they’re gone. Shop last-chance Wood-Mount Stamps Shop last-chance Clear-Mount Stamps Download the last-chance stamps PDF Shop last-chance Accessories Shop last-chance Definitely Decorative® Download the last-chance Definitely Decorative PDF Shop all discounted last-chance items

Christmas cards in January

Happy New Year, everyone!
Now that Christmas is over, I am posting some of my Christmas cards from the Holiday Happenings class. Sadly, I got sick before Christmas and sent out very few Christmas cards this year. I can't decide to keep them for next year or send them out this month. It seems like I should be thinking about Valentine cards and January birthdays instead.

 

Supplies all Stampin' Up!
Jolly Holiday designer paper pack. Old Olive, Basic Black, Cherry Cobbler, and Very Vanilla cardstock.  Basic Rhinestones Jewel Accents. Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, and the Contempo Christmas stamp set. Thanks for looking!

Family Holiday plans.....

Click on picture to enlarge

Graphics from the "Deer Friends" collection by
Mary Fran at NitWits Collections

Fall theme thank you....

I love the colors of fall! I find myself reaching for them a lot. This is a simple design that could be altered to fit a lot of thank you occasions by changing out the small leaf embellishment. I am going to try that and will post when I do. Feel free to copy my design and give it a try.

 Supplies: Stampin' Up! "So Many Thanks" (single) leaf from "Day of Gratitude" set. Crumb Cake mat, Pebble textured (CB embossing folder)  cut to 3  3/4  x  4  3/4 in. Very Vanilla for Image  cut to 2  1/2  x  3  1/4 inches. Cajun Craze mat  cut to 3 1/4  x  4 1/4 inches. Ink: Stampin' Up!  Early Espresso. Striped Ribbon from American Crafts. (Thank you, Susie!)

Sending hugs.....

I think the best kind of card is one that is totally unexpected, don't you? Such a nice thing to get something in the mail besides advertising or bills to pay. Here is one of those all occasion cards that we need for just those times. I really need to stamp some more of these.

Stampin' Up! products: Very Vanilla and Early Espresso card stock. Stamps: Teeny Tiny Wishes and Elements of Style set. SU rub-ons, Pretty In Pink button, Dotted pattern paper from the Subtles Designer Series Paper pack. Inks: Early Espresso, Pretty In Pink and Crumb Cake. Medium Jewelry Tag punch. Other supplies: embroidery thread, brown satin ribbon and Spica Glitter pens.

Love this little cutie....

I love this little girl digital image! She is so much fun to color. She also reminds me of my youngest granddaughter, Olivia, so of course I had to get her. I think the background could use a little color and my chalking is so pale I don't even know if you can see it. I finally bought the Copic air brush starter set but I haven't had time to give it a try yet. If you know of any air brush tutorials, leave me a comment and thanks for visiting my blog!

Supplies:
From Stampin' Up!  Basic black card stock,  Apricot Appeal Patterns paper. Black checked gingham ribbon, Modern Label and Word Window punches. Apricot brads. Happy Birthday stamp from "Teeny Tiny Wishes" set. Other supplies: Emma and the Butterfly digital image from "Fred She Said",  Copic markers, Nestibilities dies. GP white card stock.