Joy*Love*Peace

Good morning and happy Thursday to you!  I have been trying to get caught up with a bit of Christmas shopping.  Hubby and I decided to go for a bit last night.  It was so much better than trying to fight the crowds on the weekend!  We aren't done, but at least we made a dent in our list! 

I have a card today that I made using the Snow Globe set by Crafty Secrets.  These gals were colored with Copic Markers and touches of glitter were added here and there.  The papers are from Paper Loft and uses the sketch from the this week's challenge. 

I added a few pops of red as my accent color.... 

Would you like to win Paper Loft products and become their next Guest Designer?  Just create a project using this sketch and upload it to your blog or online gallery. (If you upload to galleries use keyword  PLS01) Leave a link HERE using the link widget at the bottom of their post.  You may enter as many time as you'd like, just be sure to use Paper Loft products somewhere on your project.  Easy!

Have a great day!

XOXO

More Holiday Cheer!

Good morning to you all!  I am sure you are all crazy busy and starting to feel the holiday crunch?  Or maybe that's just me? ; )  I am trying to get organized and prioritize.......and try to take a deep breath to take it all in.  I don't want to miss the feeling of the season, I don't want it passing me by.  So in my crafty room, I have been making ornaments.  I guess you could say I have been on an ornament "kick!" 

I used this metal frame from Fancy Pants and used papers from Crafty Secret's Christmas CD.  The cardinal and candy canes are from the Christmas Express Stamp set. They were colored with Copic markers and a bit of glitter was added for some extra sparkle.  

The poinsettias were cut using my Silhouette. 

And the jingle bells were rusted naturally by yours truly. : )

I plopped several bags of jingle bells in an old baking sheet with salt, vinegar, a few rusty nails, and let nature do its work.  I've heard you can add steel wool in there to help speed up the process.  Once my bells were rusty enough, I sealed them with a clear, matte spray.  (Otherwise the rust will flake off everywhere!)  The process did take a couple of months, but I am nothing but a patient person! ; )

Here is my family all dressed up (Insert sarcasm) to bake cookies. Yep, this was a couple of hours of us taking a deep breath and enjoying the holiday as a family.  

I love that my guys are comfortable enough to bake......and use a pink mix master! ; )

Cort was sugaring the peanut butter balls....... 

Kyle made sure Cort wasn't wearing most of the sugar....... 

Why yes, it is a necessity to wear headphones while I bake with the family!  

And here were our little peanut butter masterpieces! (Along with the eggnog cookies from yesterday's post)

As I write this there are literally 5 cookies left.  I guess we won't be passing them out to anyone.  

I am off to work!

I have my 5th graders' music concert tonight.  It's cute to see them all dressed up and excited to sing in front of their parents. 

*Just breathing it all in* 

; )

Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies

This year we decided to try a new recipe.

Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies.

Yum.

: )

Eggnog Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients:

 3/4 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg 

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups of all-purpose flour 

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup butter

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tablespoon rum

1 pinch ground nutmeg

Directions:

 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a medium bowl, cream together 3/4 cup butter, white sugar, and brown sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Combine flour and salt; stir into the creamed mixture by hand to form a soft dough. Roll dough into 1 inch balls, and place balls 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets. Make an indentation in the center of each cookie using your finger. 

3. Bake for 12 minutes. Cool completely.

4. In a small bowl, mix together 1/4 cup butter, confectioner's sugar, and rum. Spoon rounded teaspoonfuls of filling onto cookies. Sprinkle with nutmeg. Let stand until set before storing in an airtight container. 

Christmas is Coming.....

Good morning and happy weekend to you all!  I want to thank you for all of your prayers and well wishes regarding Cortney.  All of your prayers worked.  : )  We had good news from the doctor yesterday and now we just have to wait for her little body to get back to normal.  Last night she was singing to Christmas carols and was happy.  Something I haven't seen in over 2 weeks.  With all of this going on Christmas has taken a back seat here.  Some of our traditions of cookie baking and going downtown haven't happened yet.  Sometimes other, more important things get in the way. 

Fortunately, I have still been able to sneak into my craft room and regain a bit of my sanity.  ; ) So I've been creating my own holiday spirit in the craft room using Crafty Secret's stamps.

I used the Christmas Express stamp set to stamp the children in Versamark.  I embossed it with a verdigris embossing powder.  I stamped snowflakes with Tim Holtz Distressed Linen ink.  As a final touch I added a bit of glitter for the snow. 

I should have taken a picture of the frame "before," but forgot! (Shame on me!) It was just a typical silver frame.  Pretty, but not distressed enough for the look I was going for.  So I used paint from Ten Second Studio to create this beautiful Verdigris look.  I even applied it to my mini clothes pin. : D

I was taking pictures of my cards when the pup decided she wanted her picture taken.  She just plopped her little self down on my backdrop and this was what I captured.  Love.  She is almost fully grown, her curly hair is starting to come in, she is finally potty trained, and she has the sweetest disposition.  She and Skippers are best of friends, and it is warms my heart to see them play.  When I think of the life she would have had, I am so glad we saved her from it. 

Well, so far I've made good on my resolution.  I've visited everyone who has left a comment here.  I will continue to do that.  You all have been so good to me, and I want to reciprocate.  This blog, this hobby, has saved me in so many ways. 

I am thankful.

Have a great weekend my friends!

XOXO

Beach Inspired Ornament

I love making Christmas ornaments, and especially ones that have a specific theme.  I created this beach inspired ornament in the Holiday Issue of Cricut Magazine.  I used the Cricut Craft Room Exclusive Seashell images. They were all cut around 2 inches.  Once they were cut, I added sand, glitter, and pearls to them.  They were each assembled using dimensional foam circles.  

I added Spanish Moss to the inside of the ornament and tied a piece of burlap and twine around the top of it.  

Cortney went to the GI doc yesterday.  He prescribed a regimen for her that requires me to stay home with her over the next few days.  I am hoping that very soon, my happy chatty girl is back.  The poor thing hasn't been herself these last few weeks.  

Have a great Thursday!

Christmas Table Setting.....

 Every other year I host Christmas Eve at my house.  I like to dress up the plates with a little something, and this year decided on red stockings for the girls and Christmas trees for the guys.  I used my Cricut Expression, Winter Lace, and the Winter Frolic cartridge.  

I dressed up the stockings with a bit of lace, glitter, jingle bells, tulle, and a computer generated name tag.  

I slid the candy cane through the snowflake and tied the stocking on top of it.  

For the guys, I did the same thing, but used the Christmas tree cut from the Winter Frolic cartridge.  I still used my glitter (LOVE) and some jingle bells that had been sprayed with suede spray paint.  It gives it a cool rustic look! 

Some pearls were added along with a bit of twine.  

I am off today, and could use a few prayers.  Cort is going to the doctor for some issues she has been having.  I am hoping he can shed some light on the situation and get things under control.  

I appreciate your visits immensely, and I know I am a total booger about reciprocating.  I don't mean to be a slacker......it's just life....getting in the way.  I am going to try harder to visit each of you.  That's my early New Year's resolution.

Have a great day my friends!

XOXO

Crafty Secret's Design Team Challenge!

It's the beginning of the month and you know what that means don't you?  It's time for the Crafty Secret's design team challenge.  Since it is the first week of December, we were to make something Christmas themed.  Easy enough!  I love these St. Nick images from the Christmas Express stamp set.  I colored him with Copic markers, inked the edges a bit and punched them out with a circle punch. I added them to bottle caps.

I added a heavy dose of Crystal Effects, a bit of black string, and a pearl.

I painted the clothes pins red and added a strip of designer paper printed from the Crafty Secret's Retro Christmas Digital Papers. 

And of course, I added more glitter to the clothespins.  What am I going to do with these clothespins, you ask?  I think I am going to add them to the top of my little gift bags that will have a Starbucks gift card inside. I am going to add a magnet to the back, so the recipients can then use it as a festive magnet for the fridge. 

Be sure to pop on over to the other designers'  blogs for more inspiration!  

Crafty Secret's Blog

Vicki Chrisman

Michele Kovack 

Darlene Pavlick

Melissa Bove

Have a GREAT Day!!!!

: )