December 28, 2012

My Christmas

I'd love to share all the wonderful and thoughtful gifts I received on Christmas with you. But instead, I wanted to share something a little more special and dear to my heart. Every year, during the winter months, I'm a lucky little elf that gets to work on a very big project for Santa. For the past few years, I've invested every bit of my holiday spirit in a huge Christmas celebration at my school.

I'm always a little torn when I think about it. Sometimes I feel like my family gets a bit neglected around the holidays because I'm so busy with this project. I hope they don't think I'm a Scrooge or a Grinch :) But words cannot describe the incredible experience. And if you did, you would completely understand why I put aside my "family Christmas" for this. Telling you that it is "huge" is an understatement. It is so huge that it's very difficult for me to compartmentalize "school Christmas" from "family Christmas," which explains why I often leave all the planning and shopping and other holiday happenings for my family to be left after the school events are over and done with... usually not until after the 20th of December... Thankfully, I think my family understands where I put my efforts and holiday spirit towards. Today, I'd like to share that with you...

Unfortunately, I don't have a lot of photos. Well, really, I don't have ANY photos. So you'll have to use your imagination :) There are MANY MANY organizations that help to put this project into action and many of them do it for the pure joy of bringing Christmas to the hearts of these little people. They care not to have their names mentioned and definitely don't want to be memorialized by big glossy photos plastered all over the internet or newspapers for that matter. And of course, for respect of the families we chose to invite, anonymity is extremely important. So, no, there are no photos... But I'll throw in some internet photos to help your imagination realize the spectacularness of this event. (Yes, I just made up that word - I'm telling you, words cannot describe this!).


We usually invite about 20 families from our school who could use a little help celebrating Christmas. It comes out to be about 100 people, but we try our best to keep it pretty intimate.When the families arrive, they have the opportunity to enter some fun raffles (including things like pogo sticks, Barbie sets, Legos, Jingle and Bell, the interactive book and dolls, a family movie night kit, board games, and more!) All of these items are brand new and donated to us by various individuals, families, and organizations.


After a welcome and introduction from our principal, the children are encouraged to step outside for a minute. Santa rides in on his sleigh pulled by the local rescue squad. It is such a sight to see! And it is so neat watching the children. Their jaws drop and they get giddy with excitement!


Our gym is decorated beautifully with an electric fireplace, a beautiful Santa chair, and a Christmas tree. Santa's elves help to distribute presents to every child, and each gets to climb up on his lap. A professional photographer takes a photo keepsake. 
We also have a huge train set up in the Santa room for children to view while they wait for Santa. It is massive and mesmerizing!

The children get to go to the craft room and make a special frame for their photo with Santa. They also can make thank you cards and watch holiday movies. It's like free babysitting for a half hour while the parents get to do some Christmas "shopping" in our library, which is transformed into a toy room with tons of new and used toys, books, stuffed animals and games. Each family also receives wrapping paper, tags, bows, and tape so they can wrap up their goodies once they go home. We also have a clothing room, brought in from a local church, where the parents can select gently used outfits and coats.
The best part of the night may be dinner... A local chef and some culinary students from a nearby high school cook an incredible Christmas feast. It is so adorable to watch these little kiddos pile their plates with food!

And don't forget dessert! That's when we announce the winners of all those awesome raffles from the beginning of the night! We also give away some prizes for the parents too, like pre-paid cell phones and grocery store gift cards.


Then Santa has another little chat with all the kiddos. A local women's organization gets together every year to purchase gifts for all of our special mothers (and single fathers) and Santa talks to the children about the spirit of giving and explains to the children that these gifts were purchased on their behalf. The kids deliver the presents and of course that's when we see our mothers tear up a bit! :)

At the end of the night, each family receives a bag filled with household supplies and toiletries. All of the children receive new gloves and the school gives them a special board game that we picked out for each family. In past years we have also given each child a new pillow and blanket. Imagine a room filled with nearly a hundred pillows... Now imagine the car that transported all those pillows to us... Haha! Um, that's why we don't do it anymore :)

It really is quite a spectacular evening, which is why I had to at least attempt to share it with you! Hope your Christmas was just as wonderful! :)

December 21, 2012

Five Friday Favorites: Christmas Music

Ah, hello again... :) I'm sometimes in the mood to share some randomness with you, but it just seems a little too random to share. Haha. So I've decided to create a series of posts, Five Friday Favorites, which will attempt to corral my randomness into some sort of organized process. You know, because that's what I like to do... Attempt to organize the chaos in my life. :) So here we go!

Today I'm sharing my 5 favorite Christmas songs. I adore Christmas music. I could probably listen to it all year round! But I don't... For my husband's sanity! He has an early December birthday, so for his sake, I try to contain Christmas until after his special day is over. I TRY... :) He is a very patient and understanding man. After all, he puts up with me. :) But enough chit chat... On to the music!



1. Carol of the Bells by Pentatonix. First of all, let me tell you that I love, Love, LOVE Pentatonix! I fell in love with them when I heard them on my favorite show, the Sing-Off. (I am so bummed that they canceled the show! It was a sad day at our house when we heard the news...) The entire PTXmas CD is fabulous! My hubby surprised me by downloading it and it showed up on my iCloud oen day! I could do with a few more songs - there are only 6 - but 3 of my top 5 all time favorite Christmas songs are featured, so I'm cool with that. 



2. O Come, O Come Emmanuel by Casting Crowns. I just adore this instrumental loveliness. I do.



3. Christmas Canon by Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Pachelbel's Canon in D may very well be my favorite piece of classical music, so it is no wonder that this song would make my list. Plus the little children's voices just melt my heart.


4. O Holy Night by N Sync. Haha. Remember this one? :) What can I say? I like Acapella music.


5. Winter Song by Sara Bareilles & Ingrid Michaelson. Maybe this one isn't really a Christmas song, but I love it anyway. These two ladies are possibly my two favorite songstresses. And they've come together to sing this lovely little tune. Plus, the video is just adorable.

Okay, one more since I'm not sure that #5 counted... :)


6. Cold December Night by Michael Buble. You can't NOT have a little Buble, right? :)

So what's on your top 5 (or 6)? :) I'd love to know what you are hitting REPLAY to this holiday season!

December 20, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge


Wow! What a wonderful Pals Paper Arts year it has been! Today marks our last challenge of the year... And it's a great one! As always, Margaret Moody has a fun sketch for us...


Here are the DEEtails for my card:

I was excited to play with my new Stampin' Up! goodies and started with the beautiful Swallowtail stamped in Whisper White ink on Crumb Cake card stock. Oooh... The I trimmed it down and cut it into thirds. Then I went stamp happy with the Oh, Hello set. Love. I used the Framelits Ovals collection die to cut the lovely chevron piece and hand cut the flower, which I added with dimensionals. Yes, tiny little slivers of dimensionals for the stem! Hehe!

I hope you'll find time in all the hustle and bustle this week to get out your crafty goodies and play along! I can't wait to see your creations!

December 15, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 17


Hi there! Naki and I are ready to play another fun challenge and hope you are too! We'll be taking the next couple of weeks off to spend time with our families during the holidays, so you'll have plenty of time to play with this challenge.

Naki's pick this week was to only use two colors

My pick was to use Baker's Twine




Here's what I came up with...


Here are the DEEtails:

I decided to make a simple card with Pool Party and Whisper White for this card. I started with a strip of Pool Party DSP and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch along the bottom. I added a strip of Whisper White card stock stamped with the sentiment from Christmas Greetings. Then I added a snowflake with a pretty button (from the new Sale-A-Bration Sycamore Street ribbon and button set!) tied up with some twine. Such a simple little card!

Be sure to visit Naki's blog and check out what she created. Don't forget to play along! We'll be back with more fun challenges after the new year!

December 12, 2012

Crafts from the Past: A Vegas Wedding

Over the Thanksgiving Holiday, my family traveled to Las Vegas to celebrate the 25th anniversary of my Auntie and Uncle.


They decided to renew their vows at A Little White Chapel. 


So I made this pretty silvery card for them...


Here are the DEEtails:

The cake stand was made with a circle punch, a strip of card stock, and the Dotted Scallop Ribbon Border punch. I stamped the pretty cake from Love & Laughter in VersaMark and embossed it in silver. I love the look of silver on silver. Then I added some little flowers and some rhinestones.

Hope you like it!

December 8, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 16


Hello friends! It's time for another fun challenge with Naki!

Naki's pick this week was to CASE each other's cards - how fun!

My pick was to add snow!




Here's my creation!



Here are the DEEtails:

I decided to CASE this beauty from Naki:


I started with a Baja Breeze card and stamped some snowflakes in white  and embossed them with some glitter. I added some Organza ribbon layered with some pleated satin and a final glittery snowflake. Such a quick and easy card, but I love all the wintery goodness!

Don't forget to check out Naki's blog and see her take on this challenge. Then check out our cards to CASE and make your own wintery version to play along! Can't wait to see your creations! :)

December 6, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge


Hello! It appears that I am quite in love with this sentiment from Sassy Salutations! I hope I'm not overusing it! I'm here today with another Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge - a lovely, traditional holiday combination...


DEEtails:

I was really in the mood for a simple card with bold stripes when I created this card, which is exactly what I created! I started with strips of Cherry Cobbler card stock, that I adhered to some Very Vanilla. I trimmed the edges and matted it with some more Cherry Cobbler. I added the sentiment, and some Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding ribbon folded in half. I created a little wreath with some leaves punched from the Bird punch and tied up with some Seam Binding ribbon. Hope you like it!

Now hop on over to the Pals Paper Arts blog to see what the rest of the Design Team created. Then make your own card using this beautiful color combination and link up! Hope to see your creation soon!

December 5, 2012

Crafts from the Past: Butterfly Mobile

I hate to say it, but sometimes I'm really just not motivated to post stuff on my blog anymore... Not that I don't want to share with you, but I spend so much time typing now-a-days that I'm sick of it by the time it comes to blog posting time! Writing papers every day surely takes the fun out of typing! Haha!

Anyway, I figured it was high time that I started sharing some of the cards and projects that I've been working on and keeping hidden from you! Which is what today's project is all about... 


The butterfly mobile is a gift that I made for my dear friend, Rebecca's baby shower. Baby Bethany was born in October, which gives you a sense of how long I've been hiding this from you! :) Sorry that the photo stink a bit. Haha! Hubby was quite frustrated with me as I tried to snap a photo before wrapping this up the night before the shower. I actually made a similar one earlier this year for my friend, Laura's shower, but it was much more symmetrical than this version and didn't have the texture of the various butterflies. I love the organic look of this one much better!

Here are the DEEtails:

I simply die cut a bunch of butterflies in a variety of whites - crepe paper, vellum paper, card stock, and waffle paper. The texture is lovely in person. I glued two butterflies, back to back, with a piece of nylon thread in between, stringing several butterflies to a single thread. I wanted an organic look for this mobile, so I didn't pay attention to the spacing between the butterflies. Then I took a embroidery hoop and took off the adjustable, outer hoop. I added wires across the hoop and a piece of ribbon to the center. Then I tied on my strands of butterflies, again placing them randomly for that organic look. I added some ribbon around the edge of the hoop to cover the wires, then glued on some additional butterflies. The mobile is rather breathtaking in person, if I do say so myself!

Hope you're having a wonderful day! See you tomorrow for a new Pals Paper Arts creation! :)

December 2, 2012

A Christmas Tree


Good morning dear friends! I know it has been ages since you've heard from me on a Sunday, but I had a few extra moments this week to create a card for this week's Cupcake Inspirations Challenge. I'm not sure that my card really goes with the inspiration image, but I definitely had fun making it. :)


DEEtails:

We have an awesome sponsor this week, The Twinery, who shared this lovely twine with the Design Team. I wasn't really sure what to make for this challenge, but the Peapod and Maraschino (cute names, right?!) colors were dying for my attention, so I decided to create this cute tree. I started with a strip of Crumb Cake card stock, which I folded in half and then tied strips of twine on it. I trimmed the twine to the desired length, then set it aside as I assembled the rest of the card. I embossed a piece of Crumb Cake card stock with the woodgrain embossing plate and then layered on some Cherry Cobbler and Whisper White card stock. I stamped the sentiment from Sassy Salutations and tied on some Maraschino twine. Then I added my little tree with some glue dots. Love it!

Don't forget to play along at Cupcake Inspirations this week. I can't wait to see what you create! :)

December 1, 2012

Naki & Nina's Double Dare Challenge 15


Happy December! Wow! I cannot believe I am actually saying that right now! This year has flown by so quickly, I can't even keep track of the days! I hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving holiday and took some time to spend with family and friends! I also hope you're ready for another fun challenge!

Naki's pick this week was to make a vintage card

My pick was to use no stamps




Can I tell you that vintage cards are not my forte? I cringed a little when I saw Naki's pick for this week... I guess that's why it's called a challenge!


Here are the DEEtails:

I started with a Crumb Cake Card and added some DSP from Comfort Cafe. Then I tied on some Stitched Satin ribbon in Midnight Muse. A couple of Delicate Doilies and a cute little PTI dress form tied up with some Taffeta ribbon and a rose finish things off.

Before I go, I need to ask you a quick question! Is anyone else having as much trouble as I am with these Delicate Doilies? I love them to pieces, but I cannot, for the life of me, get a nice clean cut in the center of the die! Any advice you have would be great!

Don't forget to check out Naki's blog and see what she did with this challenge. Then make your own card and play along with us!

November 17, 2012

Naki & Nina's Double Dare Challenge 14


Hello! Are you ready for another Double Dare Challenge? Here are this week's picks:

Naki's pick this week was to make a Christmas Card

My pick was to use the In Colors




Here we go!


Oh my! I can't believe it's that time of year already! I've been so incredibly busy lately that the days are just flying by!

Here are the DEEtails:

A friend of mine was cleaning out her stamps earlier in the year and passed along the Deer Friends Hostess set to me. I haven't had a chance to play with it yet, and thought this was was the perfect opportunity! The stamp set is long retired now, but you can probably use Stampin' Up!'s Jolly Jingle Bits as a gingerbread boy option. I stamped my image with Chocolate Chip ink onto some Soft Suede card stock, then cut them out. I adhered them to my jar image from Perfectly Preserved. I made the little jar top using some Gumball Green DSP and the Cannery Framelits die, and tied it up with some Cherry Cobbler Twine. Then I stamped my sentiment, from Sassy Salutations and matted my piece with some Cherry Cobbler Cardstock and more Gumball Green DSP. Who wouldn't love a little jar of cookies for Christmas? Yum!

Naki and I will be taking next week off to spend some time with our family, so this challenge will run for two weeks. Be sure to stop by Naki's blog to see what she created, then make your Christmas card using In Colors and link up! :) Can't wait to see what festive creations you make!

November 15, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Sketch Challenge


Ooh! It's time for another fun Pals Paper Arts challenge! This week we have a great sketch by the fabulous, Margaret Moody. Check it out.


Here are the DEEtails:

I was in the mood for some Soft Suede and Crumb Cake, which is how this card came about. I started with some Crumb Cake card stock and the Woodgrain embossing plate along with some Soft Suede DSP for the background. I added a teensy bit of Gumball Green card stock punched with the Dotted Scallop Ribbon punch to break it up a bit. I love this little pop of green! Then I added some Early Espresso Baker's Twine wrapped around my woodgrain page. I stamped the letters from Morning Post Alphabet, cut them out, and added them to a piece of Very Vanilla card stock matted with Soft Suede. A few Stampin' Dimensionals makes it pop on my card. Then I stamped the sweet nest image from Take Care. I colored in the leaves to tie in that strip of Gumball Green. Stampin' Dimensionals were used to adhere the Pool Party eggs and add a nice pop of color.

Pop over to Pals Paper Arts and visit the rest of the design team. Then create something fabulous of your own, using Margaret's sketch, then link up! Remember that you can use any of your favorite crafting products!

November 10, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 13


Time for another fun challenge with Naki :) Here are this week's picks:

Naki's pick this week was heat embossing

Interestingly, my pick was also to emboss...




So emboss we shall! :) Remember, we make our selections blindly, then share with each other, so you never know what crazy combination we'll pick!


Here are the DEEtails:

I'm loving the simplicity of today's card. Not Quite Navy with a bit of Early Espresso. Mmmm. I started with some DSP and stamped the image from Forever Young in VersaMark ink. This is the first time I've used the Early Espresso embossing powder and I'm loving it. I added the sentiment at the bottom from Thank You Kindly. Then I layered some Early Espresso and Not Quite Navy over some striped Grosgrain ribbon. Love it!

I wonder what Naki created for her embossed card this week... Hop on over to her blog to find out. And don't forget to play along with us!

November 3, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 12


Here we are with week 12 of our challenge! I hope you've been enjoying it! Ready for this week's picks?

Naki's pick this week is leaves. 

My pick was monochromatic.




Sounds like we'll be making lovely fall cards this week!


Here are the DEEtails:

You know how much I love my neutrals, especially all those lovely browns and tans that Stampin' Up! has to offer. So of course, I used Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, and a hint of Chocolate Chip. I started by using the Woodgrain embossing folder to create a textured background for my card and matted it with some Early Espresso. Then I stamped various leaf images from the Wonderfall stamp set. I love the lovely shapes and patterns this set has to offer! I layered them in an arrangement I liked and adhered them to my card. To tie in with the patterns, I added some strips of DSP to the side of my card. Then to "tie" my leaf bundle together, I added some Crumb Cake Seam Binding Ribbon with a Chocolate Brown button tied up with Linen Thread. Hope you like it!

Don't forget to visit Naki's blog to see what she's made this week. Then make yourself a lovely card using our picks (monochromatic & leaves) to make your own card and play along! Hope you'll join us! :)

November 1, 2012

Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge


As the cooler fall weather is upon  us, I'm in the mood for nice warm cups of tea in the evenings. It was nice to play with the Tea Shoppe stamp set with this week's beautiful and classic color challenge over at Pals Paper Arts.


Here are the DEEtails:

I started with stamping the large tea cup image from the Tea Shoppe set in Crumb Cake on some Very Vanilla card stock. I love the delicate detail that shows through, don't you? Then I stamped the Gossamer Lace image in Riding Hood Red onto Very Vanilla. What a nice contrast under the teacup! I created my tea bag by stamping the sentiment and using the Small Tag punch and adding a small circle (from the Itty Bitty Shapes punch and adding a piece of Whisper White Baker's Twine. I smeared a bit of Crumb Cake ink to give it a bit of a tea stained look and tucked it into my teacup. For the background, I used a piece of Crumb Cake card stock that I stamped with an image from the stamp set randomly stamped in the same color. I mounted it on a piece of Very Vanilla card stock before adhering it to my Riding Hood Red card. 

Don't forget to check out the rest of the Design Team's creations at Pals Paper Arts. Then use these three colors, or similar colors to create something beautiful!

October 27, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 11


Sorry to keep you waiting this week... We've decided to move Naki & Nina's Double Dare Challenge to Saturdays. It's been a bit of a struggle for me to get my act together some weeks and we're hoping that a Saturday morning challenge will give me just a bit more time for last minute crafting on Friday night! Haha! Anyway, here are this week's picks:

Naki chose squares for this week's challenge

And my pick was to use orange - definitely not one of my go-to colors, but I thought I'd try to be festive this week :)



I even decided to make a festive card!



Here are the DEEtails:

I love the patterns in the Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP. I thought it was the perfect way to add a bit of orange to my card. I cut squares and distressed the edges and adhered them to a piece of Basic Gray card stock. Then I wrapped a piece of Basic Gray satin Ribbon before attaching my cute girl from Greeting Card Kids and the sentiment from Hand Penned Holidays.

Don't forget to visit Naki's blog to see orange and squares creation this week. Then use our picks to make your own card and play along! Hope you'll join us! :)

October 19, 2012

Naki and Nina's Double Dare Challenge 10!


Wow! Can you believe that we are on our 10th week for Naki & Nina's Double Dare Challenge!? I hope you've been having as much fun as we have! Here are this week's picks:


Naki selected the inspiration image above from Disney Junior's Tinga Tinga Tales. Aren't the bright colors and patterns so fun?

My pick was to add some sparkle!




Here's what I came up with:


Here are the DEEtails:

I selected a few colors from the inspiration image that really popped out for me - the purples, blues, and a bit of green and chose a stamp set that showed off a lot of great pattern - Circle Circus. I randomly stamped the circles on some Whisper White card stock, then matted it with some Basic Black. I stamped the sentiment from the Curly Cute set on my Island Indigo card and embossed it in silver. A few Rhinestone Jewels add the finishing touches.

Be sure to check out Naki's blog to see what she made this week. Then use the our picks to make your own card and link up below!