Penguin Coffee Gift Bag

Another quick post, just wanted to share another style of the coffee gift bags that I’ve been making lately. This is one of three that I made to go along with some presents for some friends up here. I had some more of this coffee the other day and I have to thank Catherine for introducing me to it. It really is delish! It’s called Caramello by The Second Cup. These were just sample bags of coffee, but I think I’m gonna need to go and stock up! Being the coffee fanatic that I am! Lol J

Well, that’s all I have to post, I’m gonna be MIA for another few days, so please be patient, I will be back, once our lives get back to a bit of a more normal state after the holidays. Who ever called the holiday season a ‘holiday’ is mistaken, I just find it a lot of running around and a bit hectic. I’m almost looking forward to getting things back to my regular routine. I hate malls this time year and how crazy people get. Don’t get me wrong, I really do love Xmas, I just wish it were focused more on spending time with the ones that you love and less on all the hype of buying presents and then it’s all over. All for what? Know what I mean? OK, before I sound like a total humbug, I’m gonna sign off. Lol :)

Thanks for stoppin’ by! :)
Julie

Supplies:
Stamps: Penguin (Stampendous)
Ink: Onyx Black (VersaFine), Purely Pomegranate & Basic Black (SU)
Cardstock: Purely Pomegranate (SU), White (Staples)
Patterned Paper: Peace Believe (Bo Bunny)
Tools: Cuttlebug, Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinders), Oval Punch (Emagination Inc.)
Embellishments: Chocolate Satin Ribbon (Michaels), Caramello Coffee Package (The Second Cup)

Xmas Card from Val

I hope this finds everyone having a wonderful holiday and spending some quality time with your families and friends. We’re having a nice holiday, but we’ve been busy traveling from my parent’s house, then back to work for a day each for Jim and I and now we’re at his parent’s house. Other than the time traveling in the car, the girls are having a great time and happy to be able to celebrate Xmas all over again now at their other grandparents place.

This is a beautiful card that I received last week while I was away from my friend, Val Wilson. Sorry about the poor picture of the card, it really is beautiful in real life, but I had trouble capturing the shimmer ink that she used on the stamped bird. Thanks so much, Val. I love it and the colours that you chose. Thanks so much for thinking of us. :)

In the picture above, it shows you the shimmer, and this one below shows you a better view of the bird stamp.
It’s hard to believe it’s that time of year again already. Happy New Year, Everyone! Hope you all have a fun, safe night. We’re taking it easy this year, not much choice in that department as everything closes early around here. We’ll likely just spend it with friends of ours at their place, or simply go out to supper and make our way home early. At least we’ll be able to grab a meal at a restaurant while the kiddies are with Grammie and Grampie. :)

I have one more crafty project to show you, so stay tuned…

Thanks for stoppin’ by! :)

Xmas Card from Catherine

My friend, Catherine dropped by this afternoon to bring us this cute coffee bean Xmas card. How cute is this? :) Included with the card was a little something just for me, a bag of flavoured coffee, (I'll try it in the morning...I think I'm at my fill for today lol) and some very yummy cookies...which are all gone thanks to all the cookie monsters here in our house! Thanks so much, Catherine, I really appreciate your thoughtfulness and Jim thanks you for the cookies! lol :)

Poor Catherine is one of the many across the province that are without power right now because of the recent bad weather that were having here. Mother Nature decided to bless us with some more snow in time for Xmas, but with the snow came some freezing rain very high winds. Not sure exactly why the power is out in different areas, I'm assuming because of downed trees or the weight of the ice on the power lines. The power is supposed to be up and going again by tomorrow night, but hopefully before that, though. It's not easy being at home with little ones and no power.

OK, I've gotta call it a day. Lots of wrapping and last minute things to do tomorrow. Yup, I'm one of those people that leaves the wrapping til the last minute.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Teacher Xmas Cards

This will be a quick post, I just realized that I forgot to post pics of the Xmas cards that I made to go along with the teacher gifts that I made recently. Below is a pic of the complete basket that I made for each of the three homeroom teachers. Natalia has one homeroom teacher, but Alexandria has two teachers as they time share. In another post, you can see the contents of the basket individually.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A is for Apple (Studio G), Happy Holidays - Frosty (SU)- inside card
Ink: Ruby Red (SU), Vintage Sepia (VersaFine)
Cardstock: China Red Linen (CRS), Chocolate Brown (Bazzill), Ivory (Staples)
Tools: Oval Punch (Emagination Craft Inc.), 1", 1 1/4" & 1 1/2" Circle Punches (Creative Memories), Alphabet Collage (printable template courtesy of Nichole Heady of PTI)
Embellishments: Graphite Brads (Dollarama)

Snowman Thank You Ornament

The Santa's Gift Mart was a ton of fun today. All the kids had so much fun shopping for their family members. My girls did their shopping and bought some 'interesting' gifts...I can't wait to see the look on my husband's face when he opens his gift! Natalia 'had' to buy it, she said he would absolutely love it! So funny! Remember, there's a reason some of these items were donated in the first place! lol :)

I wanted to share this was a cute little snowman ornament that the organizers made us as a thank you for volunteering our time. Actually, the children in the lunch time program helped to make these for us all. Isn't it sweet? :) I thought it was a cute idea.

Well, it's been a long day and still many more to come leading up to Xmas. I go back to school again tomorrow afternoon to volunteer with the Primary class while they decorate little Xmas trees with icing and candies. Should be a fun, sugar-filled mess! lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Xmas Card from Yvonne

Today was a happy mail day. I got another Xmas card, this one is from my friend, Yvonne Balmer. I love the idea of the hot chocolate packet inside. I wish she could have heard my youngest daughter when she saw it...she loved the whip cream part on the cup and when she looked inside the card she said, "Oh, Mama, you'll just love that! That's great!" I know it doesn't sound very funny to recount it, but when she said it in her little 5 year old voice, she drew it out and I couldn't help but laugh to myself. So cute. :) I will enjoy it, though. We all love hot chocolate. Thanks so much, Yvonne!

Here's the view of the inside. Inside the frame it reads, 'Nothing's Better than a good friend with chocolate.'

I have one more post to share, so stay tuned... :)

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Coffee Gift Bag

This is another one of the gifts that I have on the go for little Xmas gift ideas. I finished this one yesterday and have several more to make, but they'll all be different colours. I got this idea from Catherine, she has the directions to make this cute little coffee gift bag on her blog. I just altered the design of mine a wee bit. So, thanks for the idea, Catherine, it's being put to action! lol :)

This is the little bag of ground coffee that's inside. Catherine told me about this coffee and how yummy it was, so I had to try some! You know, us coffee fanatics have to stick together! lol :)

This is a side view of the gift bag.

I have a couple more posts to make, so stay tuned... :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: Chai Latte - See d's (Inque Boutique)
Cardstock: Chocolate Weave (Bazzill), Ivory (Staples)
Patterned Paper: Holiday Phrase - Teri Martin (Creative Imaginations)
Ink: Vintage Sepia (VersaFine), Cranberry Crisp (SU), Creamy Caramel (SU)
Tools: Oval Punch (Emagination Craft Inc.), Terrifically Tacky Tape (ProvoCraft)
Embellishments: Chocolate Brown Ribbon (Michaels)

Yeah, I got my ceran top replaced!

So, I'm a super happy girl today. You might remember me saying that I broke my ceran top on my Stove a while back. Well, after waiting and waiting and waiting some more, they finally replaced the ceran top today. A bit of arguing with the warranty people, but they finally gave in. Good to be persistent! lol :) The best part is that I only had to pay the $65 for the service call and nothing for the installation. Yippee! :) I was bit worried, wondering if they'd soak me for another hundred bucks or so to install the new one. I'm super glad that I finally got the warranty straighted out, though and that we didn't have to pay the full amount (about $800) to replace just the ceran top. At that price, you might as well just buy a whole new stove. Anyway, enough of my belly aching. I'm just happy to be back in business with 4 burners as apposed to the single camping burner that I've been using for the past two months!

Today's project is a little thank you tin that I made for the repairman. Just a very simple can, but I'm sure he'll enjoy what's inside. I filled it with Hershey's Bliss Chocolates. They're sooooo yummy. I didn't sample any of these - I was good and put the whole bag in, but I've had them before and the Raspberry ones are delish, too. Ya gotta try them if you haven't already.

This just shows the top of the tin under the glass top.
I have some more crafty projects on the go, I'll post them as soon as I can.

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: The Snowflake Spot (SU), Snowflake (StampCraft)
Cardstock: Blue Bayou (SU), White Flat (Staples)
Ink: Blue Bayou (SU)
Tools: Terrifically Tacky Tape (ProvoCraft), Glue Dots (SU), Tin Canister with Glass See-Thru Top (Princess Auto), Bliss Chocolates - Milk Chocolate with a Meltaway Truffle Centre & Smooth and Creamy Milk Chocolate (Hershey's)
Embellishments: Blue Satin Ribbon (Fabricville)

Xmas Card from Kelly

I received this beautiful card today from my friend, Kelly Eelhart. This is a super cute stamp of kids making snow angels, my girls loved this card, too. Along with Kelly being a great cardmaker, she's the Queen of Baking, and she also made a us a little box of baked goodies, which I'm ashamed to say is almost gone! Oh, my goodness, she makes some yummy treats. I think I better go for a walk tomorrow to work those treats off! lol :) Thanks so much, Kelly! You're such a sweetheart!

The 'Christmas Around the World' craft activities went well today at the school. It was a very busy day, but all the kids had a lot of fun and made some cute crafts. Now, I look forward to helping out on Wednesday for the 'Santa's Gift Mart.' It'll be so much fun to watch all the kiddies going around choosing the perfect gifts for their family.

Well, I think I'll call it a day for now. I have a big day of crafting planned for tomorrow before I have to go to work, so stay tuned. :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Criss-Cross Gift Boxes

Each year my daughter's school has what they call a 'Santa's Gift Mart' where all the parents send in things from home, whether it's toys the children no longer play with or household items, knickknacks, tools, whatever. It needs to be in good shape, but is supposed to be something that you already had and no longer use. Meaning, we're not supposed to go and buy anything specifically for this purpose. For each item that the children send in, they receive a ticket to buy another item in return for a family member. Along with that ticket, when they go to make their purchases, it costs the child anywhere between $ .25 - $1.00 per item to buy from the gift mart. This teaches the children a bit about money and also fundraises a bit of money for the school. So, each child could quite possibly buy gifts for their whole family for under $5.00. Pretty good, eh? Anyway, they have so much fun deciding what to buy and really put a lot of thought into each gift. That's the best gift to me on Xmas Day, seeing what they've chosen for me, as all the gifts come home wrapped, so the families have no idea what they are until Xmas. I coulsn't care less what it is, it's the surprise that's priceless! :)

I sent in a bunch of old toys and some things from around the house. But, I also had these hair product samples that I wasn't using, so I thought I'd donate them. They looked kinda plain as they were, so I thought I'd pretty them up a bit. After all, it wouldn't be me, if I didn't! lol :)

This is an angle view to show you the little criss-cross box that I made for the hair product samples. The two bottles fit in the box perfectly. :) I used the template from Nichole Heady.

This was criss-cross box #2 that I made to hold two other hair product samples, using some pretty blue paper this time.

Well, I need to call it a day. I've gotta work all day tomorrow, then off to Jim's Navy Xmas Party in the evening. Perhaps we'll flip a coin to see who gets to drink and who has to drive! lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Cardstock: Jet Black Linen (CRS), Wild Wasabi (SU), Blue Bayou (SU)
Ink: Wild Wasabi (SU), Blue Bayou (SU)
Patterned Paper: a la Carte - Pesto (American Crafts), Foyer Hearts (ChatterBox Inc.)
Tools: 1" & 1 1/4' Circle Punches (Creative Memories), Glue Dots (SU), double-sided adhesive

Xmas Swap Ornaments

Catherine also dropped off the Xmas ornaments from the swap that we did last week that I couldn't make it over to. I got one of her ornaments and one of Kim's, as they each made two ornaments. Thanks so much girls, they'll go on my tree as soon as I put it up! :) Sorry about the horrible shadows in the pictures to follow...I really need to take a photography course! lol :)

This first ornament was made by Kim Prince. She alternated golf embossing on the pieces. This one shows a golf embossed star. Very pretty!
This is a gold embossed pointsettia. Gotta love those stamps! Just gorgeous! :)

Here's an angle shot to show you the shape and the pretty gold snowflake embellie that Kim added.

This ornament was made by Catherine Levy. Same style, but with some different beautiful Xmas papers.

Here's an angle shot to show you what it looks like from the top. Very cute! Thanks again so much, girls!

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Xmas has come early!

My friend, Catherine stopped by today and totally made my day. It's like Xmas has come early! We still all have the flu here, so she just met me at the door as I was looking by best, I'm sure! lol :) I won her recent blog candy giveaway and her hubby also made me an awesome ink pad holder to house my stray ink pads. I love it! Thanks so much, Ben! You rock! :) And, thank you so much, Catherine, for all the yummy stamps and embellies. I'll have fun playing with them, too! :)

Check out the ink pad holder that Ben made me! Yippee! :) He designed and made it himself - such a talented guy! He's always making Catherine something cool for her crafty area.

Here it is all settled in to it's new home, filled with my stray ink pads. These, along with my set of 12 ink pads beside it are all the large ink pads that I have. All the rest of my ink are in the small ink spot version, so I keep them all in a plastic tub.

OK, I'm now ashamed to say that Catherine brought these over to me a while ago, and I thought I posted them, but alas my memory escaped me and I forgot to. I'm so sorry, Catherine, but I really do appreciate your thoughtfulness! Thanks again! :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Teacher's Daily Journal Xmas Gift

This is the Xmas gift that I put together for my daughter's teachers this year. I actually made three complete sets of what you're going to see pictured below, so I've been a busy gal the past couple of days. It was a fun project, though and I have to thank Nichole Heady of PaperTrey Ink for the wonderful idea, as I saw it on her blog. She has a template for the alphabet collage that you see on the jar label that I made. As well as a download for the 4 pages of questions that you print off and then cut out and curl for inside the jar. You can read all the questions by downloading the file. I thought this was a great idea and I hope that the teachers like it, too. :)

Above is a picture of the full basket of goodies.

This is the jar that holds all the daily journal questions. I cut them all with my paper trimmer, then curled them all with a pair of scissors like you would with curly ribbon on a present.
Side angle of the jar to show you how I made the label band for the jar.

This is the journal that I altered for the daily entries.

This is a set of 6 notecards with envelopes that I altered a little, as well and tied a piece of satin ribbon around them to keep them together.

This is a little card that explains the whole gift.

A close up of the explanation card so you can read it better.

This a little notebook with attached pen that I altered a little, as well.

For the journal, notecards and notebook, I bought them all at Michaels and just altered them slightly to go along with the 'apple' theme. A pretty quick alter, but effective. :) Sorry for some of the poor pics. The notebook has a glossy finish to it so the flash kept getting caught in the pic. Also, for the Explanation Note card that explains the gift, I had it printed off on a laser printer so it's nice and clear, it's just my photography that's making it look like the printer is running out of ink...in real life it doesn't look like that, it's just the flash again. lol :)

Thanks for stoppin' by! :)

Supplies:
Stamps: A is for Apple (Studio G), To Teach is to Touch a Life Forever (Anita's - Sugarloaf Inc.)
Ink: Ruby Red (SU), Vintage Sepia (VersaFine)
Cardstock: Rid Riding Hood (SU), Chocolate Brown (Bazzill), Ivory (Staples), White (Staples)
Tools: Oval Custom Cutting System (Creative Memories), 1" & 1 1/4" Circle Punches (Creative Memories)
Embellishments: Chocolate Brown Satin Ribbon (Michaels), Ivory Jumbo Brads (Dollarama), Glass Jar (Dollarama), Vintage Red Apples Rub-On (Designed by Mary McLean - Royal & Langnickle Brush Mtg. - Michaels), Pine Apple Basket with handle (Michaels), Matching Baroque Journal, Notebook with pen and set of Notecards (Laura Ashley - Michaels), Snowman Xmas Ornament (Dollarama)

Xmas Card from Tracy

I received my first Xmas card of the season today from my friend, Tracy Houghton. I absolutely love it and so does my youngest daughter who loves penguins. Thanks so much, Tracy, you made my day! :)

We've been battling the flu here in the house since Thursday night. It certainly hasn't been a fun few days for my kids with high fevers and the not so nice stuff that comes with the flu. I thought they were done with it today, but the fevers have hit again tonight with my oldest daughter. Man, I hope it's gone in the morning. Fingers crossed.

In my next post, I have a fun project to share with you that I've been busy making over the past couple of days for my daughter's teachers. Stay tuned...

Thanks fort stoppin' by! :)