almost 2011

Sorry for such a long break. I've just been trying to take it easy the last bit of the year :) It doesn't usually work though lol. Tomio's birthday is January 1st, and Leah's is the 9th. Two cakes and a party, right after Christmas. But, I really do try just to make it fun and not stress. You know, just have a simple party where the kids can have lots of fun :) I haven't really made any "New Year's Resolutions" yet for 2011. Have you? I think 2010 was  the only year I can acutally remember that I made some resolutions and actually accomplished them. One was to make and have Tomio eat breakfast everyday. I know how it sounds lol. But when we first got married I made these great breakfasts every day, and he wouldn't really eat them. He always wanted to sleep longer and have a massage....long story, but he didn't really eat breakfast for the years....BUT, I changed that this year. I made it for him every day and he actually ate it :) Mind you, he always eats rice with something Japanese-y, while the kids and I always have things like toast, oatmeal, cereal, pancakes... you get the idea :) Anyway, I was happy to have accomplished that. The other goal of mine was to get published---both a card and a layout. And I did :) I was SO proud of myself. I actually got one card in Paper Crafts magazine and 2 layouts in Creating Keepsakes. It felt really good :) Anyway, I haven't totally decided what I want to achieve this year, but I plan to make just a couple of goals that are a little challenging, yet attainable if  I try :) What are you planning for the next year?

Sorry nothing exciting to share today! Just a couple of shots from our cookie making this year. I hope you have a wonderful New Year!!

merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!! And Boxing Day to all of you that it's already the 26th for :)

I hope you really did have merry, fun Christmas! We had a wonderful Christmas Eve and Christmas. Chicken and cake and a movie on Christmas Eve. Then stockings and presents at home on Christmas day. Followed by yummy Christmas dinner at Nana and Papa's, with lots more presents there too. Sorry no photos yet--hopefully tomorrow? But I hope to take the next few days v-e-r-y slowly :) Hope you can do the same!!

possibly...

my favorite Christmas card I have made this year. And I have made quite a few lol. I'm not quite sure the photograph really captures it, especially since the snowflakes are blue too. I finally used the hanging snowflake stamp from this set that I mentioned before. Then I just added some bling  to the center of  each snowflake. I stamped the sentiment in black. I really like this blue cardstock from Papertrey. It goes so well with my favorite chocolate brown :) This card made it into my choices for Tomio's card this year. As of right now, I think I have 3 I'm choosing from....we'll see :)
 Only a couple more days till Christmas, so I've started rotating my Christmas CDs more  frequently. I'll listen to one a couple of times and then switch to another. heehee:) Thanks for stopping by today!

closer and closer....

 to Christmas! That's what my kids keep telling me :). We had another relaxing day today :) It started out super cloudy and rainy (so much so that I overslept a bit since it was so dark). But then it got really nice and warm.We all took a walk to the store and got some ice cream. I got some cross stitching done too. I've been scrapping and stamping so much that I forgot how much I enjoy it. I cross stitch something new each Christmas. I've made all our stockings too. I've made wall hangings and lots of pillows for the sofa. I thought it was enough pillows, but everyone seems to like those best, so that's what I'll keep making I think. Oh, and I made some last minute tags too. I actually have a couple more presents that I ordered that should be arriving today, so I needed some tags for those. The kids joined in today because they wanted to make the tags for their cousins' presents. I like that they enjoy making things with me. Miss Emma tries... as long as she doesn't get ink everywhere, I think she does well :)

This is another quickie tag I made, using, yes, Holiday Tree again. At least I know I got my money's worth, right? :) But aren't the snowflakes so cute?!
Thanks for stopping by! Hope you are enjoying your Christmas so far!

time for a break.

The kids officially started their Christmas break from school. They were excited, to say the least. But I must say I'm rather happy myself. Definitely in need of a break. So my plans for the day include stamping, scrapping, and cross-stitching, while listening to Christmas music :) I'm excited:)

Seriously, I think this is my most used Christmas stamp set. I just can't help it.  I embossed the snow man and snowflakes and then applied some distress ink on top. I love how he just pops out from the background once heat embossed. I used my woodgrain stamp on the kraft for some added texture. I love how subtle it is while still adding interest. I've had this baker's twine for awhile, but I think I've kind of been hoarding it. I love how Christmas-y the red and white looks though :)
I'm being paged by Miss Emma, so I'll have to end off here. Thanks for stopping by! Hope you have a relaxing day!

Christmas time~yay!

I think our Christmas tree is actually getting full of presents now :) And I don't think Tomio is even done with his shopping yet heehee:) I think I enjoy Christmas time as much as my kids do! We do make sure that they really know and remember and celebrate the real Reason for Christmas. They love the advent calendar I made with Scriptures we read each day about the birth of Jesus.

I've got one more Christmas card today. Really simple. I love how just adding some jewels can make a simple card really pop. These stamps I used today are all from Fancy Pants. I have one of those big 12x12 sets they released before, but I never use them much anymore now that I have my oh-so-fun Papertrey, Verve and Unity stamps. But I thought I would dig them out when I was trying find a BIG snowflake (which I didn't have). Anyway, I just kind of whipped this card out really quick when I was just playing.I love light blue  and brown together :) Thanks for popping by! I hope you are having a lovely weekend. We are planning on going out for a fun family dinner tonight!

tag time.

Sometimes I have trouble coming up with good titles for my posts...:) But since I'm sharing tags today, it works, right?

I really liked how the card I shared a few days ago turned out, so I thought I would make a similar tag. Kind of with a rustic feel. Music stamp is from Impression Obsession, while all the others are from Holiday Tree.
Lots of distress ink again too :)

I decided to make another rectangle one. It was really quick, just stamped and colored a little with Copics. Mat it, punch a hole and add some twine. With this kind, I write the "to" and "from" on the back. These stamps are from Friendship Jar and Holiday Filler sets.

Miss Emma seems to be re-thinking her napping schedule. I'm afraid she might be trying to stop napping all together(!) like Leah did. Hopefully not, but we'll see... As it is, she IS napping right now, so I'm off to be productive :) Thanks so much for stopping by!!

snowflakes.

I thought it was cold the other day. I was wrong. Today, it is cold. But hey, I don't have to go out in it :)

I thought today's card seemed fitting for a chilly day like today. Not that we actually get any snow here. I really like how this turned out, but it's not what I had planned. I got a picture in my mind of a card similar to this, with a really BIG snowflake on it, and some ribbon. But I didn't have a really big snowflake. So while I am contemplating my need for a giant snowflake and where to acquire it, I made this instead. I always seem to like snowflake-y things in pale blues and silver. I *think* these snowflakes are all from an Impression Obsession set I got a few years ago.You might be able to find them at Joann's now?! The sentiment is from Papertrey's Holiday Button Bits. The dark blue cardstock is form Hero Arts.

Alright, I'm off to enjoy some oatmeal cookies with my little peeps :) Such a perfect day for baking. Thanks for stopping by!

almost Christmas.

Okay, can you believe how soon it is till Christmas?  It just sneaks up on you. Wow. I remember when I was little, it would take so long for Christmas to come. Even after we got out the advent calendar, it seemed like we did it for months. Now, it seems like from September to Christmas is only a few weeks lol. I love buying presents for my kids now. They get so excited and everyday they check to see if there are any new presents under the tree. They are allowed to look all they want, but no touching yet :)

Just another quick little tag I made today. I've been having fun making tags that are not necessarily tag shaped this year. Nothing fancy, colored with my copics and used a white gel pen for the decorations on the tree. Not sure whey, but I really liked how this one turned out :) It's actually pretty small in real life.
Thanks for stopping by today. I'm off to do some more wrapping. So fun :)

i know...

I know I probably post way too much about Miss Emma...but I just have to share :) Since she's at that stage where she's learning lots of new words, she's also at the stage where she will pick up any word you happen to say that she does know...You know, where if you happen to mention the word "go", then she will think you are going right now or if you happen to mention the word cookie, then she thinks you actually have some cookies. And that's when you start (I'm sure you know what I am talking about!) spelling everything. I'll say "ok, everybody, today's a b-a-t-h day"and "Leah, go get the b-o-t-t-l-e bag"...Not that big of a deal and it has helped Levi learn how to spell a few things. Then today Emma sat drinking her bottle on the sofa and Rhys asked "what do you have Emma?" And she, of course, replies "b-o-t-t-e!"" Seriously. I guess she picked up on more than we thought :) whatcha gonna do?! lol.

Ok. Today I have a Christmas card. I really like how it turned out. So much so that it is one of the candidates for  Tomio's Christmas card this year.

Isn't it cute? :) I used lots of stamps from this  Papertrey set, all stamped in distress ink. Really like all the stamps in that set. The grid background is from Unity :) LOVE it. After stamping, I just stitched the circle to my dark chocolate base and I was done. Not lots of layers or embellishments, nice and simple. Good for a guy, maybe?
Thanks for stopping by! It's cold cold cold today, so I need to go snuggle up under some blankets :)

and another one...

Emma says a lot for only being 18 months. She has whole bunches of words she says and she even puts words together into phrases. Anyway, today she managed to get Rhys's "snack bag" he had left from their party the other day and took out one his chocolates. Emma knew it was Rhys's and was looking at him sneakily. Then Rhys got up from drawing to take it back. Emma just clutched it to her chest and said "MINE!" then she pointed to the table and said "Rhys, draw!" I suppose it was a little naughty of her, but it way way too cute :)

Four kids means we need alot of tags :) That and the fact that Tomio having tons of work to do  at home means I don't get to use my stamping desk, means we have another tag today :) Just a tiny little easy one. Snowmen are a favorite among the kids so I like to make several of those. Stamped some snowflakes in versamark and added som ricrac trim. Stamped the snowman on a circle and colored in only his nose and buttons, because I really didn't want it to have much more color. Oh and I rounded the corners and added some twine. I guess it didn't even need explaining heehee:) The snowman is from the Holiday Fillers again. I love the snowflakes in that set and I haven't even used them yet!
Thanks for popping in! We did our grocery shopping on Saturday instead of Sunday this week, so now I'm all mixed up as to which day it is....but I'm pretty sure the weekend is almost over.

a tag for today...

Tags are so quick and fun to make :) I love that I get to makes lots of tags at Christmas. I actually only started making them last year (!) But I discovered how fun it was. So now I feel like I can squeeze in some tags even if I don't "have time" to sit and make a whole card or layout. I know I've said it before, and I'll say it again--I love my music background stamp. It's just so fun. I also did one of my favorite things to do with it too. I stamped it in Antique Linen distress ink and then blending it. The other stamps I used today are from Verve. I kind of hate to admit this...but I had almost forgotten I got them (ahh!) In my defense, I got them right after Christmas last year, and hadn't a had a change to use them yet. The circle is stamped in Broken China and the sentiment is in Walnut stain. I find I like my distress inks so much that I will turn to them first. Finished with a couple of buttons and some twine. Super quick and easy.
Thanks for stopping by! It's the weekend now, so time to have fun :) Tomio has another big "hump" to get over at work, so I don't think we'll be out on the town much till then. But I like staying home enjoying the Christmas atmosphere heehee!

Well, the big kids are off to writer's workshop for homeschooled kids today. So it's just Levi, Emma and me today. It's amazing how it feels like I have practically no kids to look after when just some of them are gone lol. I remember feeling like my hands were so full when I just had Leah as a baby....ha! little did I know. I've heard people say that raising kids is wasted on the young, but I think having one baby at home is wasted on first time moms lol. You don't get to relax and enjoy nearly so much since you are too nervous. Now that I know, I have 3 kids and my baby....just not quite the same :)  But I'll take 'em :) Don't know what I would do without 'em, really.

sorry no fun project again. I'm not the only one who doesn't seem to have as much time to stamp around the holidays am I?

But here's a picture of Levi and Miss Emma together :) They both love to watch Blue's Clues together.

So glad you stopped by! Hope you have a lovely day!

doctors

Today was Rhys's first check up for his braces. We actually stopped at the pediatrician first and got some cold medicine for Emma and Rhys since their coughs seemed to be hanging on. I was reminded of how glad I am that they still get all their meds for free :) Then we went to the dentist. Everything seems to be in order, he adjusted the rubber bands or whatever the technical terms are lol. He also said that I was doing a great job of brushing Rhys' teeth with the braces~yay!! I was nervous about it since they said I needed to brush them well since it's easier to get cavities etc. But apparently I'm doing a good job. Sometimes it's just nice to be reassured, you know? Even if it seems like a little thing.

Ok. I have another tag for today. This one already has a name on it though :)

Simple and fun :) I just stamped the snowflakes in Walnut stain distress ink, and added the strip with the Merry Christmas. Stamp and trim the holly leaves and add some buttons for berries and you're done :) I really like this snowflake though. It is from Verve, I think.

Thanks for stopping by. Oh, did you notice I changed my profile picture? The other one was at least five years old, so I thought it might be better to have something more recent lol. This one is from last week, so that's pretty much me now. I can feel like I'm not deceiving anyone now heehee :) By the way, did you realize there are only 18 days till Christmas?! That's what Rhys was reminding me of today :)

a break...

from Christmas cards :) After having "one of those weekends", I had "one of those days...." today. I had really hoped to have some fun just making tags and some Christmas cards, but housework just seemed to get in the way...So, we'll take a short break from Christmas cards for an everyday card.

But I have to be honest...I'm not really sure I like it. More like I'm pretty sure I don't. It looked a lot cuter in my head lol. But I do think the felt butterfly turned out cute! I'll want to try that again for sure. The pattern paper is Basic Grey. Anyway,I think I'll have to work on using pattern paper better on my cards lol.

Thanks for stopping by!! Did your week start out like you planned? Mine not so much, but I'm loving the sunny weather! 

cookie card :)

I know weekends are supposed to be for resting...but you know, I don't really seem to feel like I get much resting done on the weekends....is just me?!
Anyway, I wanted to share some more tags today, but I haven't taken the presents out from under the tree to photograph yet....but then I noticed I had one more super simple Christmas card that I hadn't shared yet :)

These seem to have been my favorite colors for most of my Christmas cards this year. I stamped the jar directly on the white. Then I stamped the cookies on Fine Linen cardstock and sponged on some white ink. Well, actually I used a Q-tip again. I just used a red pen to add the red sprinkles. Then I matted it on the red and white pattern paper and added a sentiment. Finished off with the button. Really quick to put together. And since you aren't really carefully coloring in anything, the cookie part was quick too.

 I'm really into the Christmas mode now, but the weather has been a little to warm for Christmas if you ask me. It just doesn't seem like December. Just watch though, I'm sure I'll be complaining about how cold it is in just a few days lol :)Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are ready for Monday :)

cookies, cookies, cookies....

We have a sort of tradition. I say sort of  because we just started it a couple of years ago, and I don't know exactly how "official" it is. Anyway, it's a tradition of making and decorating cookies for Christmas. Sometimes we make sugar cookies, sometimes ginger cookies. But the point is to have fun. Eating yummy cookies is of course an added bonus, but the actual yumminess of the cookies is not all that important :) So that's what we did today. We made and decorated sugar cookies. All the kids including Miss Emma. And it was established ahead of time that yes, it was ok to make a mess. Good thing too :)

It started out calm enough....

But then things got a little out of hand :).....

Since there wasn't enough room on the counter, we moved to the living room table.

We used cookie cutter shapes and made our own...unique designs :)

 Emma really enjoyed the colored sugar....

see, hands!

making a candy cane...

                          What's wrong with making hotdogs out of the dough?!

I'm making a big doughnut!!

I think it might have taken me just as long to clean up as it did for them to make all the cookies....but it was definitely worth it :)

 Don't you think? Hope you are having an awesome-ly fun day!!

tiny tag...

It's already pretty late here, and I should be in bed heehee. But I thought I would pop in and share just one more tag I made, really quick :) Really sorry you can't see it very well in the photo. I used my jar die from the Friendship jar set and cut out two--one in Fine Linen and one out acetate. I didn't even use the stamp. I stamped the little snowman and colored him with my copics just a little. I used a Q-tip to dab the white on him like I did on the other snowman before. I actually added the text after I colored him in, but it worked out ok. I   used white Stazon to stamp the snowflakes on the acetate. Punched a hole in both and threaded some twine through. I didn't get a photo of the back, but there is a place to write to and from :)

Ok, sorry just to post and run. My body and schedule just have not been able to catch up after I've been gallivanting all over the place lately. But I did start on an actual scrapbook page today, which it feels like I haven't done in ages. And that makes me happy :) Thanks for taking the time to stop by!! Just a couple more days till the weekend :) fun :)

not yet...

I know I said last week and maybe even the week before, that I was out and about way too much. Goodness, I was hoping that things would calm down and be back to normal already, but it sure doesn't seem like it yet. We left really early this morning to head out for a ladies' card class we were having. It didn't start till 10, but we had to allow plenty of time to get stuck in traffic and still get things set out. All went well, the ladies loved it, and my kids had almost too much fun hanging out with Papa and their cousins again. Miss Emma seemed to miss Mama a little bit more since she has cold, but she's definitely getting even more fond of her Papa :) Anyway, at least tomorrow we should be able to stay home and be calm...and hopefully it will last through the next few weeks.
I have a couple more tags I made that I haven't added to their respective presents yet :)

Nothing super fancy again. I really tend to use my scraps for my tags. I kind of think of it as a challenge to see what I can do with them. So that is what I used here, combined with some stamps and some dies. I usually like to add string or twine to my tags when they have this traditional "tag" shape, even if I don't actually use the string to attach it.

Ok, I'm really going to try to have a relaxing evening of stamping or crafty-blog surfing :) Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you're have a restful week :)