New Look!

As you can tell, I’m going for a new look on the Blog. I’m still doing some tweaking, so bear with me a bit!

Also, it looks like I’ve hit 5000 Hits! WOOHOO!!! Over the next couple of days I’ll throw up a Blog Candy post and see what we can give away!!!! Stay Tuned for that!

Thought this was cute!

The Recipe for Tracy

3 parts Mischief   2 parts Happiness   1 part Grace   Splash of Craftiness   Shake vigorously

It snowed!!!!!!!!

So, I took my Dogs out for the last time tonight, and the snow was UNREAL! It started snowing earlier this afternoon, and just got heavier and heavier as the night went on. It’s stopped for now, but supposed to pick back up tomorrow and Saturday!!!

Here are some pics to show how deep it is (5-6 inches).

Picnic Table (sorry for the poor quality, it was taken through blinds, through glass and with no flash!):

Jack Plowing Snow - Poor Jack, he’s been on steroids for 2+ months now and has gained a lot of weight so his tummy is dragging - he truly is plowing snow!

And finally here is a picture of all the snow clinging to him. He had huge chunks of snow. I had to get as much of by hand as possible, then wrap him in a towel to keep him warm and get him dry! I kept the flash off to see the snow better.

Guest Artist!

So, you get some ramblings before the card.

I got a package in the mail yesterday … it was the 120 Prismacolor pencil set, some Gamsol and some paper stumps (all bought from Dick Blick). I was so excited.

A few months ago Kathi (over at Kathi’s Corner posted that she had purchased all these products. Ever since then I’ve been contemplating purchasing them. The Gamsol is used to help blend the colors. I played a little last night with them, but think I need a lot more practice. I’ve never been that great at coloring in stamps, so I’m hoping that with practice I can get the look that I’m looking for. I’ll post some of my progress this weekend!

On to my Guest Artist! One of the reasons I wanted to get the new pencil set was because of the Bella stamps, and some of these stamps … Magnolia’s! They are all the rage on the European blogs, and I’m starting to see them crop up over here in the US/Canada as well. Well, my Mom has fallen in love with them and has now ordered twice from them. The second time (just a couple of weeks ago) I had her throw in a few for me. She got them today, so I should be getting mine in a few days. I’m looking forward to playing with them!!!

Anyway, she’s had some for awhile, and her card that I’m posting was made with one of the Erwin’s (sorry I don’t know which one). She’s been making some very cute cards with them!!! Enjoy!

Happy Holidays!

Hello!

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! For those of you lucky enough to still be on vacation … I’m jealous! For those of us who had to go back to work today, at least tomorrow is Thursday already!

I had a really good long weekend. We had a lot of company, and a lot of good times. We technically celebrated Christmas Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Funnily enough, we did nothing yesterday! But it worked out good.

It seems like I made out like a bandit. I got Sirius radio for my car, which I was thrilled about. I wasn’t really expecting to get it. When Mom kept asking over and over again what I wanted, and I finally came up with this, she didn’t seem so enthused. But, voila, there it was! My Dad and brother got it hooked up and it’s great.

I got a couple of DVD’s (the latest Harry Potter and the last Pirates), and a Cricut Cartridge (50 States), a Fitness Monitor, plus a whole pile of other scrapbooking supplies and other stuff. I have a few gift cards to use up, and some cash as well! I have quite a few very thoughtful people in my life, that’s for sure.

Now I have several Thank You cards to make and send out (for sure need to do this since I was really lazy and didn’t get my Christmas cards out!!! OOPS!).

I thought I would share a couple of the funniest gifts I received this Holiday Season. The first is from my co-worker Char. I believe the pictures speak for themselves!

First, I got this:

Then these came out of the box:

I wonder what she’s trying to say?!?!?! LMAO! The funny thing is, she gave our manager the same thing! We always joke that the 3 of us working together is like a little witches coven, so I suppose it’s appropriate!

This next gift came from my friend Jill and my mother. I’m not exactly sure what the point of it is, or the message they are trying to send (Yeah Right!!!!).

Anyway, overall … great Christmas! Got to spend time with a lot of my family and we had a lot of fun (and ate a lot of food, mostly sugar of course). And as much as I look forward to this time of year, I’m always glad it’s over, and I’m looking forward to 2008.

I was reading over at Marci’s Blog today and her post from today really made me think. She has for the last few years picked a word that defines the upcoming year for her basically. I love this idea. I’ve decided to pick a word for myself this year, and that word is persevere.

per·se·vere (Pronunciation Key: pur-suh-veer)

1. to persist in anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty, obstacles, or discouragement; continue steadfastly.
2. to persist in speech, interrogation, argument, etc.; insist.
3. to bolster, sustain, or uphold: unflagging faith that had persevered him.

When I look at this definition, the first one is the one I’m going for more than anything. I want to persevere in many areas of my life.

I have many goals for 2008, some craft related.

2008 Crafting Goals

1 - Post on my Blog a minimum of 3 new cards/layouts/projects a week.
2 - Create a minimum of 6 scrapbook layouts (completed!!!) a month
3 - Keep my crafting space clean and organized! (This is a big one!!!!)
4 - Reign in my spending. Use what I have. Stay within a defined budget for my crafting.

I’m sure there are more, but those are the basics.

I hope you all have a wonderful rest of 2007! I’ll post again in a day or two (the next 2 days are going to be super busy at work and I’ll be glad when it’s over!!!!!).

Bind it All: Coupon Book

Tonight I made a coupon book for my friend Char to give to her husband for Christmas.

I used my handy-dandy BIA, which I LOVE more and more everytime I use it.

I’ve covered up what the actual coupon is for because it’s a bit on the racy side, but I wanted to show how we used the perforation blade on the big fiskars cutter to make the coupons just tear out easily! She loved the outcome of it!

I was a bit embarassed to bring her to my house though. My current living arrangement makes for limited crafting-room space. So when you walk into my bedroom, all you see is stamping/scrapping stuff on all walls, except where the bed is. She walked in and her mouth dropped. And then when she realized that I didn’t even have clothes in my closet cause it’s filled with shelves full of product, I thought she was going to tip over. She asked me to estimate how much money I had invested … I told her it would give us both a headache, and I wasn’t even going to attempt it. When I told her I had AT LEAST 170+ acrylic stamp sets from CTMH, and explained to her the price range of each set, her eyes bugged out. I didn’t even get into the wood stamps I have left over and how much those cost (or the paper, ink pads, ribbon rolls, Cricut/cartridges, Cuttlebug/dies, Quickutz/dies, adhesive, accessories … oh my, the list goes on and on and on and on).

Anyway, on to the book:

Recipe:
Papers: Misc patterned paper
Stamps: CMTH - Heart Impressions, Love is a Gift (both retired I believe)
Ink: CTMH - Barn Red, Black
Accessories: CTMH - Olive Organdy Ribbon

Happy New Year

I think it’s time to get away from Christmas cards! I actually made this card last year.

I really liked the color combo on this, plus I had some fun with embossing powder to boot!!

Recipe:

Stamps: CMTH - Please Join Us
Paper: CMTH - Outdoor Denim, Lilac Mist, Key Lime, White
Accessories: CTMH - Gold Brads, Gold EP,
Ink: CMTH - Outdoor Denim

It finally feels like Christmas!

Well, it took me the better part of 12 hours, yes, 12 hours, but I finally got the Christmas tree put up today!

How in the world could it take me so long you ask? Well … let me tell you!

I got a new fake tree this year. A 7.5 Donner Fir. Not pre-lit. The fake tree I got rid of a couple of years ago was 2 pieces, plus the stand. All the branches were attached, they just folded up onto itself for storage. I assumed this was the same way. Imagine my surprise when I opened the box and found this:

Those branches are in piles by the way - by their color coded branches. You can’t tell from that picture - but there are 8 layers to this tree, not including the top - which is one piece. As I’m looking around I’m wondering what I’ve gotton myself into.

Well I start in … it’s not that hard really. It’s hard on my hands and arms - my forearms have a ton of tiny scratches on them right now. So, I finally get all the branches in, and shaped close to how I want them. So I start stringing the lights. Since this tree is HUGE (I clearly didn’t have a good understanding of how big 7.5 feet tall would be), I decided that I’m going to wrap the branches with the light strands so that there is good coverage. Well … I get the 6th strand put on, and go looking for another one. Yep, you got it … I have no more lights. I can’t believe it. I have a good 3.5 foot of tree left, and no more lights.

It’s about 4pm at this point (I started this little project at Noon). So I contemplate. The nearest store is 35 miles. I go. I can’t leave it, and I can’t decorate until the lights are all on (well, I probably could, but it’s just not right).

So, I finally get back, finishing stringing lights. Take a break, and then hang ornaments for awhile.

This is the final product. I’m pretty happy with it. There are 800 lights on it, and thankfully I didn’t miss a blinker lightbulb (I was pulling them out cause the blinking drives me CRAZY). It’s a little blurry, but it’s the best pic I could get of it. My camera really wants to focus on the lights and I don’t have the patience to figure out what setting I need to change it to tonight!

Guest Artist!

It’s Guest Artist time!!

This card was made by a good friend of mine, Judy. Here’s what she says about this card:

“I had a whole different idea when I started but couldn’t find those gold swirl clips anywhere. So I tried the ornament hooks. I think it turned out nice. I haven’t a clue as to the paper, it was a sheet of ornaments and I cut them out. Then I backed it and punched a hole so I could hook the ornament. Added glitter to the ornament top and a ’swirl’ to ‘hang’ from.”

I really love how this turned out Judy! Thanks for sharing!!!

Altered Tin - Recipe Box

Here is another completed Christmas present!

I used the CTMH Recipe Card kit. I really like - it made the cards inside SOOO easy. Then all I had to do was complete the tin.

I went for simple. The person I’m giving it to doesn’t have a lot of storage space, and things can be cramped. So I didn’t want to put too many things that stuck out on the outside of the tin either.

Recipe:

Paper: CMTH Life Delights
Accessories: CTMH - Chipboard Alpha, Cranberry ribbon, Cranberry Eyelets; Misc - Ribbon; Heidi Swapp Bling

Monogram Altered Mini-Composition Books

I was about to finish some Christmas gifts this weekend! WOOHOO!

I’m just about done with Christmas gifts. Now I just need to wrap presents and put up my tree!! That should all be done this week.

These are some mini-comp books I altered for my co-workers. The pattered paper is from the Kelly Panacci Holiday Collection. I love this paper too!! I’m also going to put some matching pens with this to make a set (to make them match I’ll stitch a piece of matching DP inside a clear Pentel pen).

Recipe:

Papers - DP: Kelly Panacci; CS: Bazzill
Accessories - CTMH: Chipboard Alpha; Misc: Ribbon, MM Paint

Figgy Pudding anyone?

I’m so excited!! I finally got some Basicgrey Figgy Pudding. The store I was at was all out of the Paper Pack, so I just went ahead and bought 2 of each pattern. That was cheap (hahaha)! Now I need to figure out what I’m going to use it on … most likely I’ll just save to look at for awhile. I’m a true-blue paper horder it seems!

Glitter Ornament

Here’s a quick post.

This just took me a few minutes to make.

I just added a mixture of water and reinker into the ornament. Swirl it around to get complete coverage (don’t shake, you’ll end up with bubbles). Let the excess liquid drain out the top. Then add some fine glitter and shake! Done!

I’m also working on a couple of other ornaments that I hope to post in the next few days!

Recipe:
Glass Ornament (Purchases at JoAnn’s)
Misc: CTMH - Sweet Leaf Reinker; Ribbon