Cards, Cards & More Cards!

These are two sets of cards from my Hobby Lobby classes!!! The first set are birthday cards and the 2nd set are get well, sympathy and thinking of you cards.

Gotta LOVE that snowman card.....Cold Play is retiring at the end of the month....I'm sooooooo sad!





















The Thinking of You class is on January 9th at 10am or 6pm at Hobby Lobby in Oshkosh. This class will teach some great layouts and a few techniques.....stamping with baby wipes, rock-n-roll, masking and highlighting. Give me a call or pop me an email if you'd like to join me!

Cards from my buds!

Here's a few pictures of the handstamped cards I received from my stampin' buds!!!! Aren't they outstanding???? I'm ashamed to say....I didn't make much for Christmas cards this year....I went to my stash of cards that I had made and grabbed the envelopes from friends and family that sent me cards early (I'll explain this later) and I sent them out.......then I kept the envelopes from the next batch of cards I got and I still have them! I ran out of time....as usual....I promise myself every year that I'll start my cards in July so this doesn't happen....but it never works out that way!



Thanks to all my stampin' pals!

Sue - I'm sorry your card isn't in here....Hailey took it to school and didn't bring it back - it was a HOOT! Thanks Denise for the goodies that went with your gift bag - really made my day!!!

These are some thank you cards I made!

8x8 Scrapbook Gift for a Special Papa

My incredibly talented, scrapbooking 13 year old daugher, Hailey, made her grandfather one of the BEST gifts he could get.....an 8x8 scrapbook of pictures of them together from the day she was born until her 4th year. She's planning on adding to the scrapbook for future celebrations - his birthday, grandparents day and next Christmas too. They've always had a VERY special bond.....and she was born on his birthday - July 1st!

Here she is with her Christmas present....yes she's into snowboarding and I made sure she's all set up! Check out the background on this picture.....this was the view from the kitchen patio on Christmas morning - all the trees were covered with a heavy frost - it's was a magical view!





Here's a picture of my father - looking over his prized book for the 1st time....I'm pretty sure he had some tears welling up! Oh and that's my mom's butt on the left....searching for more presents!!! Sorry mom!

WOW - isn't that something????? She made this all by herself! I would come home from a class and find her in my stampin' dungeon - working away! She loves to use the Becky Higgins layout books......that's where she gets her inspiration from. Sometimes.....only sometimes, she'll ask my opinion.....I give it to her....and she RARELY ever uses it! LOL

Christmas Recipes & Cards

This was the scene in my kitchen last Wednesday.....I finally got to make some cookies and candies!!! I had previously made some cut-out cookies - a lost art....I've learned! Why doesn't anyone make these anymore??? They are the best....well....I shouldn't be so quick with that statement! After buying a variety of cookies at a bake sale....I don't understand how people can ruin cut-out cookies - BUT THEY CAN!!!!

I know it's a little late to be sharing cookie recipes....but what can I say? My life is a lot less stressed now and I have a little time to share with you! These cookies are good for any time of the year - especially the cut-out cookies. I make these for Valentines Day, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween and Thanksgiving too!

So - to save the poor souls out there that have crumby cut-out recipes.....and out of the goodness of my heart....and for all those poor children that have never had the fabulous pleasure of getting themselves and everything else covered with frosting and sprinkles - here's my recipe:

Kelly's Cut-Out Cookies

11/2 c powdered sugar
1 cut butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 c flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cream of tartar
1/2 tsp almond extract

Mix powdered sugar, butter, egg, vanilla and almond extract. Mix in flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Put dough in a gallon ziplock bag, flattened out and refrigerate at least 2 hours. (I usually refrigerate over night). Preheat oven to 375. Break off chunks of dough and squeeze in your hands until it is workable - on a floured surface, roll out to about 3/16" and cut with cookie cutters (see tip below). Bake 6-7 minutes untile edges are light brown. Cool and frost.

Here's where the cheating comes in....I LOVE cream cheese frosting...so I buy a can at the grocery story and use that for my cookies.

TIP: Here's how I think people ruin their cut-out cookies....they work too much flour into them when they are rolling and re-rolling them out....this is very important. Try not to roll them out more than twice - this will make sure that you are working as little flour into them as possible.

ANOTHER TIP: I always double the batch - I've only listed a single batch above - double everything. If you don't - this recipe is so small, you won't get many cookies.

I know - I know...I don't have any pictures of my cut-out cookies - that's because I made them on an earlier day and they are ALL GONE!!!!

















Here's a picture of my Andes Chocolate Cookies - these are my daughter's favorites! I've listed the recipe below.


















Andes Chocolate Cookies

3/4 c butter
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 T water
2 c chocolate chips (12 oz bag)
2 eggs
2 1/2 c flour
1 1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Andes Mints

In your microwave, melt together 1st four ingredients - I do this on 50% so the chocolate doesn't burn. Stir. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in dry ingredients, except the mints. Refrigerate 1 hour. Roll into balls. Place on cookies sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. As soon as you get them off the cookie sheet, put 1/2 a mint on each cookie. Wait a couple minutes and then swirl the mint on top of the cookie with the back of a spoon.

Snowman Soup Poem

I had several requests for the snowman soup poem that I posted in my daughters' teacher gift...so here it is:

"Was told you've been good this year,
Always good to hear it.
With freezing weather drawing near,
You'll need to warm the spirit.
So here's a little snowman soup,
Complete with stirring stick.
Just add hot water, sip it slow,
It's sure to do the trick!"

And ANOTHER ONE!!!!

Here's a snowglobe I made for my neice for Christmas. She was up north when I had a little fun figuring these out and she told me she wanted one for Christmas....my first one didn't turn out too good. I had some trouble getting the acetate cut in a circle that would fit in the glass ornament....and being up north, I had limited supplies, so I got it figured out when I got home. She's going to love it!

There is a complete tutorial on SCS in the Holiday Showcase gallery.

Another Christmas Gift!

I made this for my daugher's teacher - I also included a gift card with it.

Flip Book Christmas Present!

I made this for my FAVORITE nephew for Christmas!!!! I'm going to do a class on this one soon!!! I promise!!!

Valentine Cards!!!!

OK - so I should be working on my Christmas cards!!! LOL But.....I got my new Preview Brochure stamp set and I just HAD to play last night!!!!!

This stamp set is called Happy Hearts Day - it will be in the new Spring/Summer catalog coming out later this month.....and I MUST say....the anticipation is killing me!!!! The heck with the Christmas presents - I WANT MY NEW CATTY!!!

So anywhoo.....here's what I came up with....the left side of this card is simply folded back - so it makes it a trifold. I used Perfect Plum and Pale Plum cardstock:

















This card uses the Dotted Background stamp - I love that background stamp!!! Real Red & Gable Green cardstock and both the small and large Tag Punch.

















I used the Whimsey Jumbo wheel for the background here and the Key Tag Punch to punch out the saying area at the bottom - so when you open the card the butterfly is on the inside....don't you LOVE that effect??? I also used the White Gel Pen to color in the butterfly.

















YES - this is SU ribbon - it's from one of the Ribbon Originals packs!!! And the little flower on the background is a stamp from the Little Pieces stamp set.














And last, but definately not least....this is my FAVORITE!!!! I know...I know....it's the same color as the card above - but don't you LOVE those colors together??? It's Apricot Appeal and Tempting Turquoise! And you HAVE to love the use of the Round Tab Punch at the bottom!!!!!! The "Happy Birthday" on that layer is from the Circle of Friendship stamp set - one of my fav's! I popped up the flower with a Dimensional too.

I used an Aqua Painter and Watercolor Crayons to color in all the big areas, i.e. the elephant and mouse heart. I LOVE my Aqua Painter and Watercolor Crayons - you get a much smoother coverage when coloring in bigger areas! For all the small stuff - I used markers.

More fabulous cards!

Here's a few more of my favorites - by some VERY talented stampers!

Merry Christmas!

Here's a little elfin' jig from my family to yours! Turn up your volume to get the full effect!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1294673726

Merry Christmas from Kelly, Hailey, Steve & Rudy!

1st Birthday Card

Is this the cutest thing you've ever seen???? I made this for my granddaughter for her 1st birthday!!! How doesn't HAVE TO HAVE Silly Sealife?????

Scrapbook Challenge!

Scrapbooker's Corner

Are you going to spend the extra time you have off for the holidays working on scrapbooking?? If so, give this template a try.

It is a super simple beginning to your scrapbooking. The main image can be filled with one large picture or a couple smaller ones. Add some ribbon, eyelets or brads and you have a GREAT page!

Create a scrapbook page using this template and send me a picture of your page. You must use at least some SU! supplies. I'll post all entries on my blog for everyone to view!

On December 30th, I will pick a name at random from the entries and that person will receive a spool of 5/8" Grosgrain Ribbon in their color choice - pg 190 of the Fall/Winter Catalog!

Retirement Therapy!

The RETIREMENT list came and HIT ME LIKE A BUS!!!! So this is going to be a little "retirement list therapy" for all of us....

I lost 46 stamp sets to this one! I'm mourning.......

Here's some sets that I'm outraged by:
Carved & Candlelit
Booglie Eyes
Looks Like Spring
All About U

Here's some sets that make me say "WHAT COULD THEY POSSIBLY BE THINKING!!!!":
Linen Background
Letterpress Alphabet
Headline Alphabet

And I just used my Silly Sealife for the first time last week - now it's retiring - where's the justice in that???

And even worse.....I have NEVER used my Farm Fever set!!!!

What's got you cryin? Let me know in the comment section below! It's better to be bitter in numbers - don't ya think?

On the brighter side....there is AWLAYS a brighter side.....I can't wait to see what's in the new Spring/Summer Collection catalog! It's going to be arriving on my doorstep in cases and cases later this month!!!!

Here's some GREAT cards by some very talented stampers - with some of my "cryin' over" stamp sets:

Bless His Heart!

The big blizzard came Saturday afternoon! I LOVE SNOW!!!!! If it's gonna be cold outside - I want it to be pretty too!

It was snowin like crazy - and my CRAZY hubby was out on a ladder puttin' up the NEW decorations! This is when his "inner child" comes out - well - it never really goes away! LOL LOVE that camo Santa hat????

I bought blue lights this year - he's requested them for the last few years and I finally bit the bullet and did it!

You can't really see the lights through all the snow - but just trust me - they look GREAT! Now for the inside of the house - ughhhhhhhhhhhhh

Retirement Contest

WOO HOO!!!! We have a WINNER!!!!

Holly of Appleton, WI and Rachael of Menasha, WI tied in the Retirement Contest - they each guessed 7 retiring stamp sets correctly.....I put both names in a bowl and my lovely daughter - I called her "Vanna" - drew the winning name..........HOLLY!!!!!

Holly wins the Exclusive Level 1 Hostess Stamp Set - Party Punch shown here!!!!

Thanks to all who participated! This was a lot of fun.....watch for more contests in the near future!