Holiday Tags ... no more doggie days!

I woke up today with great optimism.  The house had an unusual warmth to it.  I sipped coffee in the solitude and thought about the past few days.  I found myself smiling.  Except for the incident with my dog (I still am trying to forgive her for the craft feast), I came to the realization that I have been very relaxed.  Having a short break from school allowed for some quality time with my children - how precious those times are.  I snuck into their rooms and found their jounals - small books that we leave notes to each other in and left them all a note at their place setting.  When they came down for breakfast and found their journals they broke out in these great big grins - all a mother needs!  After some holiday preparations, lots of silly singing and of course some candy canes ... I made a few bags of Holiday Tags for next weekends craft fair.  They are in sealed totes I might add!  I managed to also get a dozen Reindeer Food made and a few other goodies.  However - all are tucked away where my mischievous dog can not get to them!  Thanks for stopping by!  Off to blog world to see what you've all been up to!
Happy Crafting!
  Samantha

Crafting away ...

After my cute little dog Izabelle (Izzie to most) decided to have my craft bazaar stash for her Thanksgiving feast I decided that I had to spend some time getting a few crafts done for next weekend!  I started the morning by getting the laundry done, errands for my mom done and the tree in the house and up - lights and garland on but the decorations wait for family time tomorrow.  I managed to bust out five sets of cards this afternoon.  I cased this card from something my Upline brought back from convention.  I am sorry I can not give credit to a particular individual.  I went to  a stamp a stack a month ago and we made these embossed holiday cards.  I was in love ... I have become addicted to making these sets.  I love playing with colors.  I used Garden Green, Taken with Teal, Purely Pomegrate and Brillian Blue.  My favorite is Taken with Teal and another set that I made with Elegant Eggplant.  I can't wait to "play" again tomorrow.  I have never tried the masking technique so I'm to search for a tutorial. Thanks for stopping by!

Doggone Dog ....

Thanksgiving started out as such a beautiful day surrounded by friends and family.  Everyone seemed in good spirits.  My mood has been so blah lately that time with my family was just what I needed ... and to make it even better my fibromyalgia was pretty tame!  I came bouncing in the door with a smile on my face from my mother in laws and litterally dropped everything in my arms.  I bet my high pitched shriek could have been heard for miles.  My dog was pretty upset that I had left her behind.  I had a tote filled with crafts for an upcoming bazaar on December 5th.  My dog dragged all my crafts out of the tote and tore them to shreds.  I cried ... so many hours of work!  I wanted to jump up and down and throw a tantrum.  My children saw how upset I was and came over and started hugging me.  "We'll help you craft mommy"!  My heart swelled.  I'm so blessed to have such giving children. 

MOJO 114

Finally, the return of my camera!  I could not believe it ... I hadn't heard anything from Nikon except a confirmation that they had received it!  They repaired it and cleaned ... all at no cost!  Now if I could figure out the settings I had previously used.

I decided to give this week's MOO a whirl.  I have found that I love Chocolate Chip and Not Quite Navy together. 

I loved receiving the Mini Occasions and Sale a bration today.  I couldn't put it down.  I must have looked at it twenty times.  Stampin' Up really has exceeded my expectations.  I hope Santa brings me money for Xmas ... lol.

Off to play for a bit longer before heading to dreamland.  thanks for stopping by!
~Samantha

Good news ...

It's here!  My camera is back in possession!  And just in time!  I have had a very stressful week preparing for a Friday final and a Sunday final for school as well as the Friday evening event and the Saturday Craft show!  I'm exhausted.  Next week is a short week and I will have plenty of photo's to share!  On top of the return of my camera ... I received and Induction into the Academic Honor Society for school with a framed achievement award and pin today!  It excited my children to see that mommy's commitment to school was rewarded!  Thanks for your continued support my blogging friends!!

What do you think ...

How do you all do it?  What's the secret?  I am so worried that I will never be prepared for my "coming out" Friday night.  I am participating in an 8th grade fundraiser.  A bunch of companies are asked to set up demonstrator tables - they can bring product inventory, crafts,  etc. I will be the only stampin' up demonstrator there.  The goal is to get orders and donate a percentage of your sales to the fundraiser.  I am so nervous.  I need to make a form so that I can take names and interests down, prepare catalogs and order forms, come up with some crafts and cards to set out .... then I have to be at a craft fair at 8am Saturday morning.  I fear I will not have enough crafts.  I am looking for some quick, simple ideas.  I used the top note and put these little treat bags together today.  I think fear has me frozen!  And I have finals on Sunday (did I mention my mother in laws retirement party is Saturday night?)  Feel free to toss some ideas my way ... LOL. 
Hope everyone is having a great start to their week!
     

Product compare ...

Finally ... a successful day.  I held my first stamp a stack for the holidays and had five women attend.  My good friend was the only one who missed out and that is because she is pretty sick.  It was ust what I needed to give myself a little confidence booster.  On top of that - my step mother sold some of items at a craft bazaar at the southern end of the state.  It's a start!!

I wanted to share this picture.  It is an image that I stamped on SU cardstock (whisper white) and then stamped on white cardstock from another company.  Big difference huh!  Shows the quality of SU products.  How this came about was I had a friend over helping to put some crafts together.  She grabbed a piece of cardstock from a bin (not realizing it was my non SU paper).  I kept thinking it was the ink so I tried three different Chocolate Chip pads and finally grabbed another piece of paper ... voila!  A clear stamped image!!

~ Samantha

Front Row Regional and Sister Sunday ...

My weekend started out so amazing.  I headed out early Saturday morning to attend a Front Row Regional hosted by our SU Leader.  It was so fun!  I enjoyed my time with friends - the laughter and connections we shared touched me deeply.  We started the day with a 3d swap, show and tell and then settled in for some great DVD workshops and heartfelt words from Shelli!  I felt so relaxed ... of course it was short lived.  I came home to a house full of mess and a sick girl.  My youngest was supposed to have her 9th bday party today but woke up with a fever.  So we had to cancel.  So while at home I managed to pump out a customized order for my sister.  24 Honey of a Day and 24 Chocolate Bar slider cards ... (minus the ribbon and candy bar).  If only I get my homework done in the same manner!  
I'm trying to figure out how to decorate this simple cocoa card for the upcoming craft bazaar.  I would love to hear what you have for ideas!  
As always, thanks for stopping by!

~Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil.~

Loving "Lifting"

I am really stretching for time ... I need to whip up 3 dozen projects for my sister in VA, I have a card class scheduled for Nov 14th, a Holiday bazaar on Nov. 21st, a craft fair on Nov 15th and just got contacted to do a table at an 8th grade fundraiser on Nov 20th.  For someone who has been unable to book a single party I dared not decline anything!  Now mind you - I'm mom to five children, run a daycare and go to college... can we say panic attack???  Anyone want to contribute? LOL

I "lifted" this cute idea for reindeer food from Splitcoast.  They are super cute and so easy to make.  I'll be back to get feedback on a card that holds a packet of hot cocoa mix.  Not sure I like it ...
Thanks for visiting!

Can't decide ...

I ordered these cute little memo pads - they are the size of a Jr. Legal pad cut in half. I remember seeing somewhere a project using them for a wishlist / shopping list type of project but spent far too long searching the internet trying to find it. I ended up covering them in what looks like a long card and decorated the front. I stamped Christmas wishes on the front of the pad of paper. I am not sure if you can tell but each one of these is different. I had to come up with a 3D holiday swap for this weekend and this is what I'm using. I ended up choosing the one on the right which has not ribbon - only paper. Thoughts?
For all those who have found my blog through Late night Stampers ... I have to say that I can't wait to visit you! I'm trying to check out everyone's work - feel free to leave a comment with your link and I'll hop on over!
~Samantha

Holiday Stamp a Stack

I finally managed to get out today! My upline, Michelle, hosted a Stamp-a-Stack today so I managed to make an appearance and whip up some great holiday cards. I would have loved to hang around and visit but I wasn't feeling 100% and fear that my daughter is Sayde is coming down with the cruddy flu!

I think that the Santa card is adorable. I can't believe what you can make with a circle punch!

My favorite card was the ornament card. It was such a quick carad to make. There are so many different ways to use the ornament punch featured in the holiday mini .

I am praying that someone signs up for my upcoming holiday stamp a stack. It is a lot of week cutting and prepping for these events and it is so detrimental to self-esteem when you find yourself sitting at an empty table.

My baby girl turns 9 on Tuesday so I'm off to make some party invitations!

Thanks for stopping by!