A Gingerbread Man Party

I spent today making birthday invitations for my daughter's joint birthday party this coming Saturday. My oldest daughter turned 7 years old three weeks ago, and my youngest daughter will be turning 5 years old in another three weeks so we decided to just have their birthdays together this year. We're just getting around to having the official birthday party as Thanksgiving was in there and with Natalia being sick and then we had to go away, things haven't worked out to have Alex's party earlier. But, they're pretty happy to have them together so it'll all work out in the end.

This is the reverse side of the invitation.

The girls both really like Gingerbread Man cookies, so I opted to have that as the theme for the party and they can all have fun decorating their Gingerbread Men. I'm sure I'll be cleaning up my dining room from sprinkles and decorations for months, but I think they're have a lot of fun. I hope, anyway! lol :)

By the way, on the invitation, I smeared my address on the front of the invitation and my phone Number on the back. I did this was on purpose for privacy issues for the picture, I didn't actually smear it on the real invitation.

I got this idea from Lauren Meader of My Time, My Creations, My Stampendence. Lauren did a sweet invitation for an ice cream party and I used her idea to do something similar. She has such wonderful ideas. I have to apologize to her for using her wording almost word for word, but I thought it was so darn cute, I couldn't help it. I hope she doesn't mind. Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, Lauren! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)


Supplies:
Stamps: From the Kitchen of (SU), Gingerbread Man - Snowy Jo Collection -Snag'em Stamps (Imaginisce), 'Let's Party & You're Invited' (Studio G)
Cardstock: China Red Linen (CRS), Chocolate Chip (Bazzill) Ivory (Staples)
Ink: Vintage Sepia (VersaFine), Real Red (SU)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders)

A start on my Xmas cards

I had a wonderful time in the Valley this weekend with my parents. It's so nice to go down and relax and enjoy some time with them. Mum and I did some running around and the girls had a great visit with their grandparents, as usual. We picked Jim up mid afternoon from his weekend away and we took the long way home through the countryside to see some more of the beautiful Fall leaves. Some of them are really stunning now, they're so nice to look at. :)

Thought I'd share a pic of the beautiful Canadian Sugar Maple trees that my Dad planted about 20 years ago around the skating rink that he built us in our back yard when we were little kids. My Dad's retired now, but he did land forming and road building as a business, so we were thrilled when he used his D6 Caterpillar tractor to build us this skating rink. Our house was always pretty busy during the winter months with all our friends coming over for a skate or game of hockey. Now that we're bigger, Dad usually lets the cat tails grow up in the pond and he lets the Mallard ducks enjoy a little sanctuary. :)
Mum and I were able to get in some crafty time over the weekend. I was showing her a bit about the Cuttlebug and how the Nestabilities work and I made the pink card above on Friday night. Not really traditional holiday colours, but I think it's kinda pretty. A girly Xmas card, for sure! lol :)

The cards above are the ones that I made on Saturday night. I had some fun playing with a little gingerbread man stamp and some gingerbread man patterned paper. Natalia will love these cards as she loves gingerbread men. I'll have to show them to her tomorrow. Well, I'm gonna call it a night and go get some rest.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)


Reindeer Bliss Card Supplies:
Stamps: Reindeer Bliss (Michaels), Flourishes (Michaels)
Cardstock: White Linen (CRS), Purely Pomegranate (SU), Rose Pink (Bazzill)
Ink: Purely Pomegranate (SU)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Snowflake Embossing Folder, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Ticket Punch (SU)
Embellishments: Pink Bling

Gingerbread Man Card Supplies:
Stamps: Gingerbreadman - Snowy Jo Collection -Snag'em Stamps (Imaginisce), 'Season's Greetings' - Sentiments 1 (Impression Obsession)
Cardstock: Orange-Red and Chocolate Brown (Creative Memories), White Linen (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Christmas Cooking Stripes (Karen Foster Design), Holiday Phrase - Teri Martin (Creative Imaginations)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Classic Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Corner Rounder Punch (SU), 1/2" Circle Punch (Marvy Uchida), White Gel Pen (Signo - SU)
Embellishments: Clear Bling

'Create' rock from Mum

Today's been a busy day of running around and I have to work tonight, so unfortunately I won't have any cards to show you today. But, I wanted to show you the nice little gift that my Mum gave me when she came up for Thanksgiving Dinner the other day. I love my new 'Create' rock that now sits on my crafty desk. It's a fake rock, but it looks quite realistic.

I'm really looking forward to this weekend as I'm heading down to my Mum and Dad's in the Annapolis Valley for the weekend to relax and to take the girls to a corn maze and haunted house. It should be fun for them. We went last year and they had a blast. Jim's gonna be away out-of-province this weekend for an Air Search and Rescue Exercise, so Mum and I will be able to have have a crafty weekend or at least in the evenings after the kiddies go to sleep. I can't wait! :) Mum's a big scrapbooker, but I love to get together with her to share ideas and chat. We have so much fun together.

Well, I still have a bunch of things to do before I pick up the girls in 45 minutes and I then I have to rush to go get Jim at work, then go to work myself. Oh, I'm gonna sleep well tonight! lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Aloha RAK from Nancy

Today was a definite 'happy mail' day! I received this gorgeous card and an awesome assortment of crafty goodies from my friend, Nancy Elrick. I joined the Monthly Aloha RAK Group through Tracy Houghton on her blog, and Nancy and I got each other's names. You sign up through Tracy and you're paired up with another member of the group and you each send a handmade card to one another. Also, if you choose to, you can include some fun some goodies, but this part is optional. Sounds like fun, eh? Who doesn't love to get a handmade card and crafty goodies in the mail! :)

These are the goodies that Nancy sent to me. I can't wait to play with my new 'Wild Vines' stamps by Technique Tuesday and my pretty new American Crafts ribbon and look at all those gorgeous prima flowers! Wow, I'm in crafty heaven! Thanks so much, Nancy for making my day! :)

Well, Natalia is pulling at my arm...I guess she wants me to read some stories to her before I go cook some supper.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Happy Birthday Little Lady

This card is for my youngest daughter, Natalia, for her upcoming 5th birthday. Her favourite colour is red and she absolutely loves ladybugs, so I think she'll really like it. I love the sentiment, Happy Birthday Little Lady.' Too cute...ya gotta love A Muse stamps!

I saw Tammy's sketch on the Canadian Cuttlebug Crew, one of the crafty forums that I belong to and I thought I'd give it a go. This is the original sketch and the card above is my take on it. Thanks for the inspiration, Tammy! :)
Well, I have to go get the kiddies in a few minutes from school, but I just checked the mail and I'm so psyched! Wait 'til I show ya what showed up in my mailbox today from my friend, Nancy! Stay tuned...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)


Supplies:
Stamps: Little Lady (A Muse Artstamps)
Cardstock: China Red Linen (CRS), Jet Black Linen (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Red with Black hues (Not sure of the name of this, but I think it was from Michaels)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Spots and Dots Embossing Folder, Ladybug - Flying Bugs (Cuttlekids Diecuts)
Embellishments: Clear Bling

Fall Foliage Family Pics

It was a pretty nice afternoon so we decided to get out of the house for a little bit this afternoon to try to get a few shots of the girls around the beautiful Fall foliage, thought I'd share them with ya. It just started to rain as we were making our way back through the walking trail. These red leaves were some of the prettiest that we saw on our walk.

These pics were taken on the heritage trail on Bissett Road in Cole Harbour, it's about 10 minutes from our house, so very close by. Lots of people go there to walk or walk their dogs. We saw one man there that had a Giant Schnauzer, OMG, he was only 8 months old and already huge - I can't imagine how big he's gonna be at full grown, but he was a beautiful dog.

This is my handsome hubby, Jim. Jim really hates to have his picture taken, but he has such a nice smile when you catch him off guard. I had to say something stupid here to make him laugh, otherwise he was giving me the 'yeah, I'm not gonna smile' look! lol :)

Here's 'Dad and his girls' and Cookie Bear. Yes, Cookie Bear still goes most places with our youngest, Natalia. She got her bear when she was 6 months old and she's stuck with her ever since. It's always been her favourite bear. Jim and I joke and say that we think Cookie Bear will somehow be incorporated into Natalia's wedding day someday cause she's a part of the family! lol :)

This one is a bit out of focus, our oldest daughter, Alexandria (7 years old) took this picture. She didn't do too bad of a job, though! Ahh, aren't we a nice couple? :) Hee hee, I just noticed that we're sort of dressed alike. We both have Khaki pants on and black tops. Oops, believe me, that wasn't intentional! lol :)

Ok, that's all the pics that I have to share for now.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Ooh-la-la

Ok, I have a sexy card to share with you tonight. I thought these stamps were so pretty, I had to have them and at $1 a stamp, who could resist! lol :)

For the cami and bikini pantie, I stamped them using black onyx ink onto pink polka dot patterned paper to give a nice soft background. OMG, they're so pretty. I think I'm obsessed! lol :) These aren't exactly stamps for general use, but something nice for a 'special' occasion.

Well, I think that I'm gonna challenge myself to make Christmas cards for at least the next dozen cards that I make, some of those might even be mass-produced if I can find an easy sketch to play with. I can't believe I still don't have an cards ready to send out for the holidays...I had a big plan to start in January and do so many each month leading up so that I'd be all done by the first of November. Well, it's mid October and yup, no Xmas cards done yet! I could seriously kick myself! lol :) Maybe next year...

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)


Supplies:
Stamps: Lacy Cami & Lacy Bikini - Alesa Baker Designs (Impression Obsession), 'Ooh-la-la' (Pink Cat Studio)
Cardstock: Groovy Guava (SU), White Linen (CRS), Key Lime Flat (CRS)
Patterned Paper: Classic K McKenna (K & Company)
Ink: Black Onyx (VersaFine)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Scissors
Embellishments: Light Pink Sheer Polka Dot Ribbon (Michaels), Clear Bling (Staples)