Christmas Past

It is hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone!  This year it was great to have the kids here at Christmas to help celebrate!  We put our Christmas decorations up pretty early to enjoy them.  But we also take them down right after Christmas.  I thought I would share a few pictures of our Holiday.
The above picture was a  fun craft get together with my sisters to make for the Christmas table!  We used the Santa suits to slide silverware into.  It was very cute!  Happy New Year to everyone!

Christmas Eve table at Connie's



 

Mickey before the snow at sister's house

Stockings hung by the fire!

Christmas Day table at Rochelle's

My hubby put up shabby chic ladder for a shelf for me just before Christmas!

My favorite picture of Grandson!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 

                   I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year! 

The Dance of the Penquins

I fell in love with this little Penquin when I first saw him on the Splitcoast Stampers site!  So cute!  It is hand cut from a template.  The only punches that I used were for the Santa hat ( Spellbinder's Paisley die) and the Jingle bells ( Memory Box die) the rest were all hand cut!!  I found the template on Dina's site here-

http://mamadinis.blogspot.ch/2011/12/penguin-card.html

You can also see another version on this little guy on this blog- it's in a foreign lanuage but the Penquin is soooo adorable!!
http://sil-wi.blogspot.ch/2012/12/pinguin-easel-card.html

I have a few pictures of the construction progress of my Penquins. I made about 24 of these little guys!! They really come alive when you add the eyes!!!  It is hard to believe that Christmas is right around the corner! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Don't they look like they are dancing?


 

 

 

 

Whew!  Done for another year!!

Christmas Shopping!

 

We got the chance to spend a few hours with our Grandson yesterday!  His mom was off island yesterday doing some Christmas shopping so we took Ezra and had some fun!  First we took him to see the trains at the South Portland Mall.  He loved watching the trains go around their tracks. 

 This year there are more trains than ever before!  Also, the
kids get to act as conductors!  They can make the trains move by just pressing a button!  I love watching the expressions on the kids faces as they watch the trains start up! 

I think Thomas the Train was Ezra's favorite!




  This is such an adorable train and one of Ezra's favorite shows to watch!  They really dress the train area up by using "fake" snow!  I don't know who puts this together every year but they do a
fabulous job!

Here is a view of the Circus trains.  Just one of the many trains they have on this display.  We go because we want Ezra to see it... but I think my husband and I would go 'cause we love it too! This is for the child in all of us!

 

 

After the trains- we took Ezra too Cabela's to see the animals display!  We also did some shopping too!  It is quite an impressive display!  Here are just a few pictures - there are many more animals to see than I have shown in these pictures!  It is amazing that is right in the middle of the store!

 

 

 

 

 

We walked round and round this exhibit!  My pictures don't do it justice!  It is an amazing display!  Ezra wanted to go in and touch the animals!  They are sooo life like!  You can really see the beauty of these animals up closer than you would ever get to them in life.   Ezra had his picture taken with Santa too!  All in all it was a fun afternoon!! Us big kids had a blast too!!  It was a fun day seeing it all through the eyes of a child!  My thoughts and prayers are with the families in Conn.  It is hard to understand how someone could do something so unspeakable.  I know I held onto our Grandson a little longer and said a prayer for all the ones lost that day.

 

5 Christmas Tags!

 

Tags are such fun to make since they are usually quick and easy!  I am making one style of Christmas card but I can make a bunch of Christmas tags-all different!

 

 

 

 

I  used Memory Box's window die to make this tag.  SU's Lovely as a Tree was used for the view from the window. 

 

 

 

I used Tim Holtz's Distress stain to color this tag.  I then embossed the tag and added Spellbinder's Poinsetta's die.  The flame is SU's bird punch

 

 

 

Tim Holtz's Birdcage die was used for this tag.  I sprayed Tattered Angels Pearl to give it a metal look.  SU's bird punch is one of my favorite!

 

 

 

I love the Memory Box deer die!

 

 

 

I used Graphic 45's paper to cut out the Sugar Plum dancers.  Back to work on my Christmas cards!  I am going to start my Christmas cards in July this coming year!!!

 

Snowman Soup!

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone!  Christmas is just around the corner, too!  I have been working on several projects.   My Snowman Soup pails are finally done.  I saw the poem for Snowman Soup last year.  I think it is cute so I decided to use it for gifts this year!  The pail is filled with a package of Hot Chocolate mix, a Candy Cane ( for stirring), Hershey's kisses, Gingerbread cookies and of course, Marshmellows.   Here are a few more pictures of my Punch Art Snowman assembly line.  On to the next project-Christmas cards!  Next year I think I will start them in July!!!

I love the smile on my Snowman!

 

Spellbinder's Circle dies make the snowman

 

I used SU 's oval punch to make the scarf

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Memory Box die for the snow swirls

 

 

JustRite Stamps were used to decorate the top

 

Double Pocket Fold Card

My family threw a surprise Birthday Party for my twin sister and I last weekend!  It was really a surprise since our birthday isn't until next month!  We had a fabulous time!  We wanted to send everyone a Thank you card!  I fell in love with the Double Pocket Fold Card by Heather.  You can find her easy instructions here-

http://stampwithheather.typepad.com/stamp_with_heather/2011/09/double-pocket-fold-card.html#comments


Here are a few more pictures of the cards.  We found a Magnolia stamp of TWINS!!!  How cute!  I love how you can decorate and embellish them all differently!

Card Making Fun!

 

 

Every year my staff and I get together to make Christmas cards to send to our co-workers! It is a fun night of glitter and glue flying everywhere! This year was no exception!  I saw this card on Pinterest and once the staff saw it - we knew it was the ONE!  We didn't really make any changes since we loved it at first sight.  Check out the link below to see Marj's original-

http://bellacartaatartnsoul.blogspot.co.nz/2011/11/new-take-ten-from-stampington-is-at.html

Here is another shot of the 32 cards we made-

I also wanted to share a picture of the finalize Christmas Advent box I made for my Grandson.  His mother came to visit this weekend and took it home.  I added more bling around the edges and a few store bought made Christmas packages to add to Santa's sleigh and under the tree. 

We bought a Sharper Image foot massager ( for my sore feet) and it turned out to be the perfect size to store the Advent calendar in!!! It even has it's own handle at the top. I decided to decorate it so my daughter could use it to carry the calendar to the island.   I used Graphic 45 paper which is my new favorite paper! I love how it turned out!

 

 

Lastly, I wanted to share the cute Birthday cake my family had made for my sister and I to celebrate our upcoming birthdays!  They planned a surprise party that really did turn out to be a BIG surprise since our birthday isn't for another month!!!It was such a fun time.  I am still talking about it!! Since they know both Connie and I love Mickey- They had a Mickey cake made!  It was fabulous- I won't forget that party and all the work that went into it.  They chipped in to give us a spa gift certificate!!  I can't wait to use it!  Thank you to everyone- I love you all!!

 

 

 

 You can check out my sister's blog to see more pictures of our Birthday party.  Rochelle make a framed picture using our names to fill in pictures of Connie and I when we were, ahem, younger!  I love how it turned out!  Thanks, Rochelle for this special gift!!

http://creativecornerstudio.blogspot.com/2012/11/surprise.html#comment-form

 

 

Christmas Advent Calendar

I bought Kaiser's Advent Calendar Kit this summer for half price!  I have wanted to make one for my grandson, Ezra.  I have finally finished it-  Well almost- finished it!  I have really had fun working on this project-  A little bit each night after work.  Now, my husband and I have the challenge of filling each little box with a little "surprise".  It really is a challenge since the box is only about 1 1/2 inches.  I am thinking candy, coins, and little cars ( Ezra loves cars) hmmm.. what else?  That will be the challenge....

 

Check out a few more pictures from start to finish-

 

I used wood glue to adhere the kit together.  I also used wood glue to make sure the little boxes stayed together.  Then I glued ( with regular glue) scrap card stock to each little box.  I did use Graphic 45 paper for the green background.  Love, love, Graphic 45 paper!!! 

 

 

I used Sizzix's 3D sleigh and Reindeer dies to make my Santa fly!  The "reins" are Memory Box Jingle bells die. 

 

 

 Here I have started to glue decorative scrap paper to my little boxes. I also made an origami Christmas Tree to give it another bit of 3D effect!  Fun! Fun!

You can't have a sleigh without a Santa! I used SU's bird punch for Santa's moustache  His beard is from Spellbinder's Paisley die.  I love how Santa fit into his sleigh- I so hope Ezra likes it too!!!

I don't believe I am completely finished with this project.  I am thinking of wrapping little gifts for under the tree and maybe a few in Santa's sleigh.  I will spend the weekend looking for more little finds that a 5 year old might like to have each day in December.  It promises to be a fun weekend!!!