2009 vs. 2010

What a difference a year makes! Last Christmas, we celebrated Christmas morning at mom and dad's old house:

Circa 2009

This year, we celebrated at mom and dad's NEW house:

Circa 2010

Wherever you may be celebrating your holidays, may it be joyful!

Happy 2011!

'Twas a Couple Days After Christmas...

We had a great Christmas. I can't believe it's already over. All that shopping, and baking, and wrapping, and creating. It's done in such a frenzied pace, and then, it's all over.

Here are some pictures from my birthday:

The. Best. Cake. Ever.

The pictures just don't do it justice. It is white cake with raspberry and lime jello and frosted with Cool Whip. And, you can eat it on a full stomach and not feel a bit of pain or guilt!

YUM!

Onto a holiday greeting that I had planned to post on Christmas Day, but just didn't make it. I used one of Tim Holtz's new holiday texture fades - super cool. Then I used my signo white pen to color the raised "December" and "25". The patterned papers are from Bo Bunny and Webster's Pages.

So sad it's already come and gone.

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2011!

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

My last holiday craft for the season was finished yesterday.

I filled some antique bottles with paper shred, tinsel and mica flakes.

I bought the vintage Santa graphics on Etsy and I printed them out on cardstock. Then I embellished them with MS glitter and stickles.

I thought they would make the perfect holiday trinket for a windowsill or shelf.

Wishing you all a Merry Little Christmas!

I Run On Dunkin'

This morning, CB sprang from the bed at about 6:50 am - which is out of the ordinary. I heard the garage door open and close; Either he was picking up Brad Paisley at the airport for my birthday surprise or he was off to Dunkin' Donuts for my birthday breakfast. When he returned 10 minutes later, I knew I'd have to settle for a donut, although Brad covered in sprinkles would have been preferred.

Today is officially the 10th anniversary of my golden birthday...

I am still creating Christmas greetings. Here is one made with papers from Basic Grey's Jovial collection.

Have a great day! I know I will - I'm really looking forward to my red and green jello birthday cake!

Let It Snow Christmas Greeting

I simply love this paper that is part of the "Snow Day" collection by Crate Paper. And, since it's part of that collection, I thought it was fitting to stamp this holiday greeting with "let it snow".

Another thing I am loving right now is craft paper. It's something that's been a favorite of mine for a while and it was the perfect backdrop for stamping my snowflakes.

Only 3 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!

2010 Ornament - DONE!

Today, I'm feeling Jovial:

—Synonyms
1. merry, jolly, convivial, gay, joyful, mirthful. Jovial, jocose,jocular, jocund agree in referring to someone who is in a goodhumor. Jovial suggests a hearty, joyous humor: a jovial person.Jocose refers to that which causes laughter; it suggests someonewho is playful and given to jesting: with jocose and comical airs.Jocular means humorous, facetious, mirthful, and waggish: jocularenough to keep up the spirits of all around him. Jocund, now aliterary word, suggests a cheerful, light-hearted, and sprightlygaiety: glad and jocund company.

The reason for this "light-hearted" mood is that my 2010 Christmas ornaments are officially DONE! But, let's not get ahead of ourselves here...

My first holiday card is also done, and I've used some paper from Basic Grey's "Jovial" collection. It's not Christmas-y in the "traditional" sense, but it makes me feel like winter...

I even decorated the inside:

And, lyrics from a Christmas carol is the icing on the cutout...

Without further ado, a close-up of this year's ornament:

Actually, it's big enough to use as a holiday decoration:

But, fits perfectly on the tree. I used a variety of different papers:

The basket shape is cut from the Tags, Bags, Boxes & More Cricut cartridge:

And I used Christmas carol sheet shred and old fashioned tinsel to fill the basket:

I can't wait to give these to all my friends and family!

Happy Thursday!

Do You Hear What I Hear?

Do you hear what I hear? It should be the sound of complete crafting exhaustion and relief as I am ALMOST finished with this year's ornament. I try every year to make one to give to friends and relatives and for our tree. It isn't what I originally planned, but it turned out great all the same. By the time I finished in the studio today, it was too dark to take pictures. So I promise I will put some up tomorrow.

I also got my first Christmas card made! It was sheer and utter heaven - I took the Mac downstairs and was streaming Christmas radio from ITunes all day long; Without commercials and I heard some really great tunes like, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," sung by Judy Garland.

How can you NOT be in the spirit of Christmas after a day spent like that?

Pics tomorrow - I promise!

On The Naughty List

I'm for sure going to be on Santa's "Naughty List" this year. With only 12 days until Christmas, I still haven't done any Christmas cards!

I was in my studio today working on this year's ornament and cards for gifts. I usually make an assortment of 10-15 cards and give them as gifts. People really like them because when they need a card, they don't have to run to the store to get one.

And, I have discovered I hate doing the clean-up after a day of creating. That is the least fun part of the whole day.

Here is a birthday greeting I sent a week or so ago...

I used some of My Mind's Eye paper and cut my shapes from the Cricut Cake Basics cartridge.

I stamped a cake image on some coordinating paper and cut around the image for the inside sentiment:

And, here is another thank you that has a bit of a vintage feel. The paper is a mixture of Webster's Pages, GCD Studios and Studio Calico.

Hope you are all staying warm!

Cookie Recipe Results

Yesterday, I posted a super-yummy cookie recipe. While I was making them, I pulled out the old Nikon to photo the progress.
Enjoy!
This is how the dough looks when it's all mixed together...

Supervising the event...sniffer going 90 miles an hour...

I wrote in the recipe instructions to drop the dough by rounded tablespoons, but I remembered while doing it, it's actually easier to do it by hand.

The warmth of your hand will soften the butter holding the dough together...

See?

Ready for baking!

Ready for eating!

YUM!

Have a great day!