Let it Snow!

Well, it's November 29, and the ground is..... brown. Uggh.

So, here's wishing we get some white stuff sometime before too much longer. (As long as I don't have to drive in it).

There's a good idea--snow that falls only where you want it to. :D

Thanks for being patient with the lack of posts this week or so. I've been helping a dear friend who is 9 months pregnant (well not anymore since she had the baby today!)

She's done the baby thing before, but not with a broken kneecap (hence the reason she's needed extra help). Hopefully she'll be out of the brace in a couple of weeks (she was in a cast until a week ago). It's going to be a long road to recovery, but we're all trying to be as supportive as we can.

So, thanks again for understanding why there was a sudden drop in posts. I'll try to be a bit more frequent, but it might be hard until my friend is on her feet again.

Holiday Fun!

Wow, what a busy weekend. I fully intended on posting more blog entries, but time truly got away from me.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We spent a lot of it with my in-laws who came into town. We also put up the Christmas tree (no, it's not decorated yet), and did some "fall" cleaning. (Leaves, move mattresses around, etc). It's only just stated to calm down, and tomorrow we're back in school!

In any case, after so much vinyl, I thought I'd post a fun little holiday card I made a couple of years ago.

This card I used two different naturals paper. The gingerbread men were stamped on kraft paper, cut out, embellished with marker & a painty pen, then popped onto the card with dimensionals. I got the idea from some wood gingerbread men I made years ago. The real wooden gingerbread men I painted have holes in their hands and are tied together with jute. For my card version, I drew little bows between their hands with a zig pen. (I probably would have used wire, but I came up with this card before Stampin' Up! carried decorative wire.

Stay tuned for more fun projects.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone! I hope you get full of turkey and lots of yummy foods. I'm up late trying to bake somethings for our early dinner tomorrow (we're eating at 11:00 am). I'll try & have a card or some vinyl ready to post sometime tomorrow. I just didn't want to let another day go by without posting.

Thanks for stopping by, and Happy Thanksgiving!

We have a Winner!

Congrats to Tricia! Her comment was chosen by a random number generator. I'll be emailing you shortly, and we can arrange delivery of your new tile.

I just want to say thank you to all who have participated in this giveaway. You guys rock. Not only did I hit 500 views, but we got close to 700! I'm thrilled with all the nice comments, and I'm so glad to know you like what we're doing with vinyl. It's very encouraging.

I had so much fun with this blog candy, that I'm definitely going to be doing it again, so look for that in the future.

Thank you again everyone!

Tiffiny

Blog Candy!

Well, we've hit a couple of milestones. They're little ones, but hey--any excuse to celebrate, right? First of all, I hit 25 posts this week. When I first started, I thought that it would take me forever to get there. I had planned on updating only 1x week. I soon discovered though, that I have a lot more to say than that. (Who'd have thought?)

Second, as I've mentioned previously, its the Utah Chocolate show this weekend. Chocolate in an of itself is a reason to celebrate, right?

Third, and this is where you can help me out, I'm within a stone's throw of reaching 500 hits on my blog. I put in the counter about a month ago, and I'm so excited to see that people are coming to check out my blog. Soooooo, in anticipation of this third one, and in honor of the other two, I'm going to be giving away some blog candy. I'll be giving away the 8x8 tile pictured below. So what do you say? Leave a comment & I'll use a random number generator to pick the winner Monday Morning.

Thanks for playing, and thanks for visiting!

It's Friday!

It's Friday, and I'm so glad. (Of course it also means I have to tackle laundry, but we can't have everything, right)?

This new sign uses a fun font called Passion's Conflict. It's one of my favorite new fonts (along with Ma Sexy). I think this will work well for some of my scrapbooking titles as well.

Do you have a favorite font?

Wash Your Mouth Out.

What more needs to be said???

LOL. The chocolate show starts tomorrow, and we've had so much fun getting ready for it. Who knew there were so many great quotes about chocolate out there? I also just wanted to say thanks for your kind suggestions & complements.

I actually have managed to do a little scrapbooking and card making in the midst of all this. My friend Peggy hosted a 10-10-20 at her home, and we made some great cards. I'll be posting them over the next few weeks.

I also finally had a chance to work on my mini-scrapbooks from our craft day at the church. I'll be sure to post pictures of the finished product when it's done. It may take me a while, but I will get it done. :D

Have a great day!

Hand Over the Chocolate.

Well, it was a busy day today. One of my sweet kids got a cold & has been miserable. Fortunately the kidlet is feeling better tonight. I also sent off a "care package" to Jodee full of ready-to go vinyl quotes.

It looks like it will be a busy weekend for her too.

Is it Love?

So how many of us have secret stashes of chocolate? ::raising hand:: Guilty as charged. I have a secret stash of dark chocolate (my favorite) that I indulge in when I've had a rough day. What can I say? It makes me happy.

Apparently it makes my daughter happy too. When she was potty training, all she wanted for rewards for using the potty were chocolate truffles.

Now there's a girl after my own heart.

I guess you can say Like Mother, Like Daughter.

Balanced Diet

It's been a very long day, so I will make this a quick post with one of my favorite quotes. (See above). Let me clarify right now that I'm definitely a chocolate lover. I just adore chocolate--especially dark chocolate... mmmm. And I'm one of those people who think a lot of things taste better dipped in chocolate. Things like pretzels, nuts, & strawberries, as well as raisins, & peanut butter (so long as it is a butterfinger).

Afterall,

There are four basic food groups-milk chocolate, dark chocolate, white chocolate, and chocolate truffles.
-Anonymous

Have a great chocolate day.

(Oh & in case you are wondering, I will be posting chocolate quotes all week--I'll do two tomorrow to make up for missing yesterday. On Saturday I'll be giving away some blog candy in celebration of the Utah Chocolate Show).

Hot Chocolate...mmmm

Well, yesterday I mentioned the hot cocoa mugs we sold at the Utah Chocolate Show, so I thought I'd post a picture of them here. We used a different grade vinyl than what we normally use for the walls. (It's a stickier vinyl which adheres better when the mugs are washed--handwash

only). We also did a mug & plate set with "Santa's Cocoa" and "Santa's Cookies" on them.

Jodee came up with this idea, and it's been really popular. Last year I offered them at a few holiday craft boutiques locally & personalized a several for teacher gifts. And one of the craft day projects we did this year were mugs with Mommy, Daddy, Grandma, Grandpa, Santa & Teacher's cocoa on them. They all turned out really cute.

In my own family, my kids like having their own mugs. It means no fighting over which mug belongs to whom--much like the personalized Trick-or-Treat buckets. (I love doing things that cut down on fighting). Last year we started having hot chocolate as their after school treat. It's cold walking home from school!

Chocolate anyone?

One of the nice things about fall and early winter is that chocolate seems to be in abundance. Those yummy truffles at Costco come back (they are covered in cocoa powder and literally melt in your mouth). There is also hot chocolate, homemade fudge for the holidays, and cookie exchanges (the more chocolate the better).

Next weekend is the Utah Chocolate Show in Salt Lake City. We did some signage for them last year and sold some of our cocoa mugs at a booth. This year we're making up some 2 ft. long quotes for boards or for your wall (personal choice). We've found some hilarious chocolate quotes, and as I prepare them, I'll be posting pictures.

This one I've prepped the vinyl, but I haven't applied the application tape just yet. I'll be sending these unmounted to Salt Lake, where Jodee (my friend who started this business with me) will be putting some on boards and selling some as unmounted quotes. I'll definitely post pictures of any finished products I've got. Afterall, who doesn't love chocolate?

Count Your Blessings

Since November is the month of Thanksgiving, I thought it was appropriate to post this vinyl project. I think that in the whirl of being a mom & coordinating all of our family's activities, I get so busy that I forget that the best things in life are not "things," but the family I live with everyday.

My friend put this above her kitchen table. It's her way of reminding herself that what we do as moms is important. Above my kitchen table I have, "Laughter is our favorite recipe." It's what my parents are quoted saying when a friend of theirs wrote a cookbook. It reminds me of the dinnertimes of my childhood and how much we all need to laugh and create good memories together.

It's time to make your Christmas Cards

I was clearing out the set samplers again and I came across this Christmas card I created. I used the embossing gun on the ribbon to make it shrink & shrivel the way it does. It is a simple, yet elegant touch. You have to be careful though—if you hold the heat gun in one place too long you can melt a hole into the ribbon. You can see what I mean in the close-up. The hole in the ribbon and the frayed edges are why I hung on to this card--I didn't want to send a damaged one to a friend.

If you want to try shriveling your own ribbon, I recommend trying the heat gun on a test sample first to make sure you don’t end up with a ribbon that pulls too tight on your cardstock. (I found it easiest to tie the ribbon first, then use the heat gun).

I also don't recommend sending too many of these through the mail. The year I did these I discovered I had to pay extra postage due to the bulk they created in the envelope.

All materials are Stampin’ Up!

World Card Making Day Card

Well, things have finally slowed down enough for me to finish assembling my WCMD card & take a picture of it. I used High Hellos from Lizzie Anne Designs & Stampin' Up! inks. I was sitting in the dentist office waiting for my kids to get their check-ups done, when this idea came to me. I love this color combination--it's very earthy and organic to me.

I love High Hellos from Lizzie Anne Designs. It is light & whimsical--perfect for the fun stamper in me.

Do you have a favorite Lizzie Anne stamp set?

Take a Breath

Wow. It's November already. (Where did October go?) Have you figured out your holiday presents yet? What about your cards? Are you making them, buying them??

Well, I've started buying presents already, but they are not anywhere near being finished.

Before the bustle of the holidays hit (I saw Christmas and Hanukkah items in the store 2 weeks ago--before you know it, we'll be leaving them up all year long--oh wait, some things I already do, like my holiday lights), :) take a deep breath and focus.

Remember what is truly important in your life. Count your blessings. It really will help you focus on what absolutely has to get done, and the best way to do it. If you get the "big rocks" (family, health, faith) into place, the rest of it (the sand & water) will fall into place too.

I know one thing I am grateful for is all the women who helped me prepare for two massive craft nights (200+ projects). I couldn't have made it without them. If you are one of them (and you know who you are) and you are reading this, THANK YOU!!!!! You are the best!