Happy holidays, happy new year....

Yahoo! A new car for Iain - and it's 4WD so he doesn't have to borrow mine any more when there's snow in the forecast! LOL! He got another Infiniti - but this one is a gorgeous copper color! Very nice :) He and Nattie went and did their shopping today, and Jamie and I stayed in our jammies. I was working on a couple of cards and also some ATC's for another swap I signed up for (why do I do these things to myself?? LOL!).

We got about a foot of snow on Friday and it's been super-cold all weekend! It looks as if it will be a chilly Christmas here! We're going to get a break, though, because on the 26th we're off to Palm Springs for 6 days at the JW Marriott Resort and Spa (love those Marriott points)! The kids are excited to visit Six Flags and Legoland, and I'm looking forward to a visit to the hotel spa on my birthday, which is on Friday! I'm turning 36, so I will definitely need that facial! Ha Ha!

Anyway, HAPPY HOLIDAYS to everyone! I'll be back after the first of the year. Wishing you a wonderful 2008!!

Christmas Crackers!

This afternoon I'm going to the kids' school to help out in Jamie's kindergarten class party. I'm going to make Christmas crackers with them! Not quite the "cracking" ones we Brits usually have at our dinner table on Christmas Day, but something pretty close. It's amazing what you can make with the inside of a toilet roll, some candy, wrapping paper, and ribbon. And did you know...

• Christmas crackers were invented in England in 1847 by Tom Smith, who had recently visited Paris and found "bon bons" which were almond sweets wrapped in paper twisted at the ends.


• Inspired by Chinese fortune cookies, Smith added small love mottos to his own versions.


• In 1846, Smith was sitting next to his crackling fire and decided to try and reproduce the "crackle" in his new sweets...within a year, the "crackers" became very popular!


• The sweets were first called "Cosaques" after the cracking of Cossack's whips, but after a decade became known as Christmas crackers.

And...relax.

This card says it all. Take some time for YOU during the holiday season :)

One of my favorite photos this year :)

I took this one of Nattie and Tasha when I was (speedily) taking the kids' holiday photo outside. I love it! Nattie looks so grown-up and cute in her blue snow clothes, and Tasha looks...well...like Tasha :)

Today I went down to Littleton and picked up my final gift - and wrapped the last ones this afternoon! YAHOO! We have snow forecast for Friday and I really wanted to avoid shopping this weekend at all costs, so perhaps I'll be able to stay home and play with my new stamps from TCP!

I didn't get any cards made today because of all my shopping activity...perhaps tonight I'll burn a little of the ol' midnight oil...if not, I'll be back tomorrow with a card, for sure!

Have a great evening! Nattie and I are going to watch the "Duel" quiz show that's on ABC all week; we've been enjoying it together - and have learned a thing or two (or three!) as well!

A quickie quiz....

just to keep the holiday pressure on! LOL! Here goes...

Have you....
Finished your Christmas shopping? All except for one gift card which I hope to head down the hill to buy tomorrow morning!
Sent out all your holiday greeting cards? Done!
Decorated your house with holiday decorations? Yep! Although the tree looks a lot different from when it was first decorated a couple of weeks ago: the kittens knock ornaments off the tree for the dog to pick up (and attempt to eat), so now there aren't many decorations left on the bottom 6" of our tree :)

Play along and share your holiday progress with your blogging friends :) Back tomorrow with a card!

Journaling Jar

Now that Sue has opened her gift, I can post it here! I made her a Journaling Jar full of prompts for scrapbooking. By the time she finishes it, she should have a pretty comprehensive "All About Me" album! I printed out the prompts and then cut them apart, closing them up with brads (so that there's no peeking!). I decorated the outside with rub-ons and ribbon, and did a little decorating on the lid. Thanks for looking!

Sunday evening...

is one of my favorite times of the week. I think it's because it's still the weekend and we've had some downtime together. And of course the evenings during the holidays feel super-cozy when the tree lights are on :) I love to lie on the sofa and read, all snuggled up in a blanket. Yep, I'm easily pleased!!

We went down to see Sue, her hubby Dan, and their daughter Melanie this afternoon. Sue made us a lovely roast dinner and then chocolate fondue for dessert! We also exchanged gifts: Nattie loves her iTunes card (and has redeemed it already!) and jewelry; Jamie wants to know when he can open his art set; Iain will be opening one of his bottles of rum later this week, and I will be sorting through my scrapbooking goodies tomorrow!! I also got one of the Karen Foster Scrapbooking Planners for my birthday which is on the 28th :) Thank you, Sue, for a great afternoon!

What are your plans for this week? Jamie and I are doing "his" shopping tomorrow after school. He wants to get Nattie some clothes for her Webkinz, and for Iain he thinks golf balls would be good. Sounds like a good idea to me :)

Cat's Pajamas Sketch Challenge #5

I made this card for the challenge that Alma sets for us DT members every couple of weeks. I decided to take a break from holiday/winter cards and make a wedding card! The cake image (Mod, Mod Wedding Cake) is popped off the page with pop dots to give it more dimension. This sketch was lots of fun to work with!

Iain and Jamie have gone out to do some shopping, and Nattie and I are hanging out at home. I'm making the most of some quiet time! Enjoy your Saturday :)

Okay, one more "blue" card :)

Oooh, it's snowing again outside! The high today is only forecast to be 19 degrees. BRRRRR! I know where I'll be going - nowhere! I'll be taking a shower and then putting jammies on! LOL! I have a project to finish that I'll post next week, and my scraproom is in serious need of being cleaned up, so I'll take care of that too.

I bet lots of you have busy weekends planned with holiday shopping, get-togethers, etc. We're going to our neighbors' tomorrow night with about 5 other neighborhood couples which should be nice. I finally got the packs of cards finished for them, so I think I'll send Nattie and Iain out in the car tonight to deliver them :)

Then on Sunday we're going down to Castle Rock to visit Sue and her family! I have almost finished wrapping their gifts....

So, have an awesome weekend - whatever you're doing! Oh - today's card is made with one of the new MFT sets called Icing on the Cake. Thanks for stopping by!

I've got the blues....

...well, not really! That was just a good title for this post with a couple of blue cards :) LOL! The stamps for the "Icing on My Cake" card are by My Favorite Things, and of course the cute penguin image is one from The Cat's Pajamas. And...I have the TCP new releases for Spring in my hot little hands to make samples with - you will be blown away!

I hope everyone is not too stressed out with the holidays. I've been finishing up the gifts for the neighbors, and today I was supposed to take Nattie to the orthodontist, but when I tried to get Iain's car out it really wasn't doing well on the frozen snow (it's 2WD and he took mine to the airport), so...the appointment is rescheduled for tomorrow when I can take her in my car (4WD) instead :) Hmmm...I think Iain needs to go car shopping!

Busy, busy, busy!

I have several projects to finish this week: I have a Challenge page due that is about the "Year in Review", so I was busy this morning printing photos for that - and then I ran out of ink, so I guess I'll be taking a little trip to Staples in the morning. Fortunately one recently opened right here in Conifer, so I don't need to drive down the mountain.

Other projects I'm working on are sets of gift cards for friends and neighbors; some were mailed last week and I'm hoping to get the others finished by the end of this week. They are assorted selections, but similar to the one shown in the photo. I thought they'd be nice for thank you notes, notes to say "hello", just nice to have on hand.

I also need to finish my wrapping; a couple more gifts arrived at the weekend that I had ordered online, so I need to get them taken care of in case anyone in the house decides to go snooping :)

Have a wonderful Monday!

More snow photos :)

Snow day!

Yep, we're having a day indoors here. It's been snowing lightly but steadily since Friday morning and I'd say we have about 5 or 6 inches now. It looks so pretty, especially from the end of the driveway when all the Christmas lights are on (I'll add some photos later tonight)! Fortunately I don't have to drive anywhere today. Nattie has a sleepover tonight but her friend's mom is coming to pick her up from here. Then Jamie are going to settle in and watch "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (Jim Carrey version) with our popcorn in hand!

Iain is in London for a very quick visit: he flew through the night last night, arrived at around 5am London time (10pm here), and spent today shopping for a few little Christmas gifts - as well as racking up some airmiles :) He called this afternoon and said it was pouring with rain! He'll be back late on Sunday night.

I shopped 'til I almost dropped!

I am 2 gift cards away from being done with my Christmas shopping. Today I left the house at 11am, went to the Post Office and mailed a bunch of various items, then headed down the hill. I had my route all planned: Archiver's, See's, Michael's, Barnes & Noble and finally Target. Phew! Of course, I can't spill all the beans but let's just say I am a happy, relieved shopper tonight! I met Iain and the kids at BeauJo's restaurant in Evergreen and we had a tasty dinner together :)

Good morning!

I hope everyone is having a great Thursday! I'm so glad that the week is almost over; for some reason this week seems to have gone very slowly.

How is your Christmas shopping going? I'd say that I'm about 2/3 there and I would also like to say how grateful I am for online shopping! Particularly places like Barnes & Noble where shipping is free when you spend just $25! I don't know about you, but that is never a problem for me with that store :)

Thank you for your good wishes about Aspen; after a couple of days on the antibiotics she is doing so much better - still coughing, but nowhere near as much as before.

Today's card is another one from the "Rain or Shine" set. Don't you love those little rainboots and the dog with the coat on? LOL! You can check out the whole set here. Oh, and a little birdie told me that if you check out the Splitcoast Stampers forum here you can find a discount code for 20% off your order!! Hurry on over, it's only good through Dec. 8th!

A couple more cards

made with the "Baby It's Cold Outside" set :) The digital paper is way cool! What I liked about it is that I was able to print only what I needed for a particular card in the size I needed! Enjoy your night!

Rain or Shine...

is the name of another new set being released tonight by My Favorite Things! And also, to make this card I used some of their new digital paper which is available now! I love the sentiment on this card :)

Having a few hours of stamping today! School is finished for now, and the house is clean(ish) - so why not, right? I have a couple of sketch challenges to catch up on.

One of our kittens, Aspen, has bronchitis. She started coughing on Friday so I took her to the vet on Monday. Fortunately it can be easily treated with antibiotics (if two adults wrestling with a 5-lb. kitten to give her the medication can be described as easy!).

Have a great day!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Actually it's not really cold today here in Conifer (55 degrees!), but "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is the name of one of the new sets of stamps being released tomorrow by My Favorite Things! Isn't the snowman sweet?? Check out Kim's blog here for more information, and also be sure and stop by the MFT Forum on Splitcoast Stampers tomorrow evening - there's gonna be a party! Oh, and MFT also has digital paper packs in individual color sets or one big ol' set - see them right here! I'm going to play with them tonight so look for a card using the new digi paper tomorrow!

In other stamping news :) Alma (the owner of The Cat's Pajamas) has sent out new stamps to us DT members for the next release! You will not be disappointed! I will be stalking my mailman till the end of the week, that's for sure! TCP also has a fantastic Project of the Month (pictured on the left)...and Alma has made the instructions into a PDF file for you to easily download and print. A great gift idea by Julee!

Christmas questions!

Some fun Christmas questions that I saw recently on Sophia's blog:

Colored lights or white lights on your house or not at all? This year they're white!
Hot chocolate or Egg Nog? Definitely hot chocolate.
What's your favorite holiday dish? Chocolate! :)
Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? Santa wraps them all and doesn't bring them until everyone is asleep on Christmas Eve.
Do you hang mistletoe? No.
When do you put up your decorations? The weekend following Thanksgiving.
What's your favorite holiday tradition? Wearing our jammies all day, enjoying our time together, and pulling Christmas crackers at the dinner table!
What's on the top of your tree? A silver and white tree topper.
Do you have a nativity displayed through the holidays? No.
Candy Canes, traditional or flavored? Or Chocolate Covered Cherries? Just chocolate!
What's your favorite holiday goodie to make and share? This year I discovered Williams & Sonoma Peppermint Bark and will be sharing that with several people :) And of course - handmade cards!
What's your favorite Christmas song? "Step Into Christmas" - Elton John
When did you learn the truth about the "magic" of Christmas? Around 10 years old, I think.
Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? No. Nothing till Christmas morning!
Is there a special ornament or Christmas decoration that you wouldn't feel like Christmas without? All the ones the kids have made through the years, and the special Hallmark ones they have chosen each year.
Do you take neighbor gifts/treats to anyone, everyone, a select few? Probably half a dozen this year.
Is your big meal on Christmas Eve, Christmas morning or Christmas afternoon? Christmas afternoon (when we lived back in Scotland, dinner would always happen right after the Queen's speech on TV).
How do you decorate your tree? With the kids' help :)
Snow? Love it? Dread it? Tolerate it? Love it here in CO after years of no winter weather at all!
Do you remember a favorite gift? My favorite was always a brand new set of markers!
Do you have a family get-together during the holidays with extended family? No, we're the only ones in the U.S. - everyone else is in Scotland or England.
What's the most important thing that you must do each Christmas season? Not stress out! :)
Do you bake Christmas cookies? I wish I could - but I can't - so I don't.
Do you leave cookies and milk for Santa? Absolutely! Usually Pepperidge Farm cookies and some egg nog. Those are Santa's favorites :)
Share a favorite Christmas memory. Not necessarily a favorite, but a strong memory is waking up to the smell of turkey cooking! Yep! At my grandma's house she used to get up at 5am to put the turkey in...and it would cook all the way to mid-afternoon. For years I thought it really did take that long to roast a bird! LOL!

If you give a cat a Christmas tree....

...he'll try and climb it! This is where I found Bailey this morning! He must have wanted to say hi to the other kitties on the tree :)

Off to the movies!

Heading out to see "Enchanted" this afternoon with Jamie, Nattie, and one of Nattie's friends from school. I've read good things about this movie - so I have my fingers crossed :) Iain's still not feeling good, so he's staying at home. Will post later with a review! Enjoy your Saturday :)

ETA: the movie was AWESOME! So cute for the kiddos - and adults! There was humor for both, a fun storyline, and (of course!) a happy ending! I took both of the kids - and both of them loved it! Great holiday-time movie :)