Happy New Year from Omaha, Nebraska

Crafty Creations 100th Sketch Challenge Celebration

It's a Crafty Creations Challenges 100th challenge BLOG HOP and CHALLENGE celebration!!  And here's my take on their 100th challenge:

Here's the sketch:

 

And here's the color combinations we were to use:
We were also to use a recycled element in our creation, and I repurposed a holiday card I received several years ago - I had kept it because I liked the image so much.  And the little dash of cherry red is the little bird in the print.

I haven't done many sketch challenges but find I am truly enjoying the challenge!  You can check out all the other creations at their blog (see label below to link).

Thanks for stopping by and Happy New Year everyone!

Relaxing in my craft room on a post christmas night

Good evening everyone. Hope you and yours had a fabulous holiday ... and my goodness, didn't the past 24 hours just fly by!  We had a fabulous time.  My son and daughter-in-law are in town from Colorado, so we had them over as well as my daughter, son-in-law and grandson, Jonas, for our traditional Christmas breakfast and gift exchange.  Jonas spent the morning enjoying his aunt and uncle and they quickly learned how to translate the Jonas dialect.  He had them running all through the house and the rest of us in giggles.  While still not sure of who Santa really is at 2-1/2, he quickly grasped the concept of gift opening and enjoyed each and every gift he received.  Between the family and the grandparents, he was definitely spoiled.  I made both my daughter and daughter-inlaw sets of all occasion cards for them to use throughout the year.  My daughter-in-law, Chrysty, casually mentioned that should I find some time during the year, could I please make her some note cards for her horse people (she has a beautiful horse named Rowdy).  Well, after everyone left this afternoon, (and after a quick cat nap), I sat down in my craft room and put together a set of 8 cards for her to take home with her.  This horse set is from Clear Stamps, and I just taped off the card to make a square in the center, and then sponged blue for the sky and green for the grass, and then just simply stamped the images in black.  They turned out so sweet and I think she will be pleasantly surprised when I hand them to her tomorrow night at dinner.

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

I ran across this holiday photo of my grandparents (my dad's parents) taken back in the 1950's. It brought back such a wave of nostalgia.  Anyone remember tinsel?  You know, those silvery strands of shimmer that adorned every holiday tree. I remember my mom telling us kids to put ONE strand at a time on ... which we did for the first half of the tree, but by the third box of tinsel my brothers and sisters and I were taking several at a time and literally throwing them on the tree to see where they would stick.  The holiday stencils that we would sponge onto our frontroom windows.  We would spend hours stringing popcorn and cranberries onto string and making paper garlands. In the background my mom would be playing her favorite holiday tunes from Andy Williams, Dean Martin and Rosemary Clooney (you remember, George's aunt)!

And you always knew that under the tree there would be packages wrapped in white tissue paper tied up with yarn from Grandma Ollie - and inside were her labors of love that she had worked on all year long - handmade aghans, scarves, gloves and sweaters.

Our holiday activities way back then always included taking our sleds up the hill from our house and seeing how many times we could go up and down before our hands and toes were numb from the cold.  And ice skating on the creek in our backyard with all the kids in the neighborhood from ages 3 to 18. Making snow angels in our front yard.  And dad driving us downtown to the civi auditorium to see Santa and we all got a bag of treats, which always included a piece of fruit, some nuts and a candy cane.

So on this day before Christmas eve, I hope you are making your own holiday memories and wish you and yours a very, merry Christmas!

2010 Family Baking Day!

There were only 7 of us, but we managed to frost and decorate about 12 dozen cookies for our family event on Christmas eve (which is only five days from now - ohmygoodness).

Here's my sister, Shari, and her daughter, Danelle, busy at work creating artful images on top of snowmen, stars, trees, gingerbreadmen, and even some Christmas fishes (grin).

And would you take a look at the grin on my grandson, Jonas' face?!!  He adores the train we have running around the holiday tree.  And while he still not quite sure of the man in the red suit that's coming on Friday night, he can definitely feel the excitement in the air and really enjoyed the day.  He wasn't into decorating any cookies this year, but he did tell his grandma what sprinkles she should use and what colors should go on the cookies.  So maybe he's going to be a director when he grows up. LOL

And here's a pic of Jonas with his mom (my daughter), Laura.  Notice the bare feet on Jonas.  He immediately takes off his shoes whenever he's not outside.  He LOVES being barefoot - which he gets from his mom.

Hope everyone is ready as the holiday is approaching very quickly now.  Hoping my son and his wife have a safe trip - they are driving in from Denver and it looks like there is snow in the forecast.  So DRIVE safe - can't hardly wait to see you guys!

Happy Birthday Dear Sister!

This post is to wish my sister, Gloria, a HAPPY BIRTHDAY.  She turns 50 today ... she used to be my younger sister, but lately she's catching up and will soon be my older sister (grin).  We've shared giggles and belly laughs, we've fought and made up, we've been there for each other and have shared in family joys and sorrows.  Gloria is a breast cancer survivor and is our family's health matriarch.  My dad has been in and out of the hospital the past several weeks, and Gloria is the one who makes sure the doctors treat him right and that he gets what he needs.  Gloria also LOVES family, and will drop whatever she is doing to spend time with her nieces and nephews or ANYONE else that might call!  Just this past summer she became a grandma for the first time and is having the time of her life with her granddaughter, Avlyn.  She loves to garden, papercraft, is the secretary to a local hot air balloon association, and she and her hubby, Luckie, host the family's Thanksgiving dinner every year!  This past year she organized a monthly family dinner event for all cousins, aunts, uncles, etc., and it's been such a great event for all of us. I could go on, but I don't want her to get a big head so I'll just close by saying HAPPY BIRTHDAY, sis!

Lots 'o Cards!

It's been a card making kind of day today.  I'm making a set of all occasion cards to put in my daughter and daughter-in-law's stockings this holiday and this is a good start!  I was hoping to have more done by now, but my dad has been having major health issues so my crafting time has been limited.  I still haven't gotten as many holiday cards done that I normally send out, but I know my friends and family will understand if I just give them a call or hug this holiday season in lieu of a card.  But do so love Christmas and all the festivities that go along with this special holiday. 

Santa Baby!

Every year my company offers a morning with Santa for the kids of employees.  Jonas went last year but was still a bit young to appreciate what Santa is all about.  But this year, he was ALL about waiting for Santa to arrive and when he did Jonas got so excited.

Santa asked everyone to sit, and immediately Jonas found a seat front and center.  No way was he going to miss out on anything Santa was going to say.

He got up on Santa's lap and told him he wanted an R.V. ... not quite sure what that's all about, but if it has wheels, Jonas will love it.  He wasn't into the whole "give santa a hug" in this pick ... maybe his beard was ticklish.

Each child got a gift box filled with candy and toys.  Oh yea, now we're talkin!

Jonas is alway so easy to please and even thanked Santa for the fun gift box.

Here mom and dad are helping him eat the "right" candy so he doesn't choke.  He was definitely on a sugar high by the time the morning was over.

All in all, it was a grand time and all the kids enjoyed themselves. 

Bookreading 101

My grandson is now wanting to read to his favorite dinosaur when he comes over for dinner.  I just love listening to him read to his pal.

Stamp Up Club Cards

My good friend, Marsha, has a monthly stampin up cardmaking event, and here are three cards we made.

Holiday Cardmaking Post #2

Okay, I figured out how to do more than one, so here's two more.  The first is using a Unity cup stamp in red and green, and the second uses a mask technique and a Flourishes tree stamp image.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

I've started my holiday cardmaking.  For some reason I can only upload one card at a time, so there will be several posts one after the other until I have them all on here.  This is one of my favorite holiday stamps and I used black stazon ink on top of an acrylic card and then backed it with holiday green dotted paper. I also used a rub-on on the silver star.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

Just wanted to wish everyone a happy thanksgiving holiday.  Hope your day is relaxing and filled with all things yummy!  We're celebrating over at my sister, Gloria's, home. There will be 25 of us!  I made two pecan pies yesterday and this morning I have an apple crisp to make. Sterling smoked a turkey yesterday and will be making a pan of stuffing to take as well.  So everyone enjoy your day and know that I am thankful to have all of YOU in my life!  And a special holiday wish to my son, Mark, and his wife, Chrysty, who are at home in Denver enjoying a mile high thanksgiving.  LOVE YOU and wish you were here, but we'll see you at Christmas!!

Illuminations

I think I'm one of the original "grobanites".  I remember discovering Josh on an episode of Ally McBeal over 10 years ago, and my musicial exposure was immediately enhanced by this young man's beautiful, flawless lyrical baritone. Josh co-wrote the majority of the songs on his new album. Here's a commentary I saw on Amazon that really sums the new album up perfectly:  This album is a bit different for Josh, as he parted ways with producer David Foster (Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand) and hooked up with legendary rock producer Rick Rubin (Metallica, Slayer, Red Hot Chili Peppers). This album is different than his previous outings, but that's not a bad thing. The songs don't have that "over-produced" sound, with lots of vocal reverb and bounding orchestrations and vocals in the background. Many of these songs are just Josh, a piano, and the occasional subtle violin or guitar in the background. No backing vocals, no blazing productions, just Josh, and his amazing voice. You can even hear the slight imperfections in his voice, and even though subtle, provide for a very real experience by a very talented individual. Josh wrote or co-wrote most of the songs on this album, thus why most are in english. But the non-english songs are fantastic! Very flowy, musical, and very, very good. There actually isn't a single bad song on this album, but highlights include "Hidden Away", "Au Jardin Des Sans-Pourquoi", "Bells of New York City", and the phenomenal "Higher Window", which was so good it may make you cry. So go now ... right now ... and buy this album!
You can hear the album here:  http://music.msn.com/music/listeningbooth/?GT1=28102

Turn up the volume, close your eyes and get ready to be transported into a musical utopia!

There's a Fog on my Blog!

Sometimes Mother Nature has such a sense of humor and beauty. Here's a photo taken this morning from the 29th floor of the building I work in by my sister (who also works in this same tall downtown building). Had I thought quickly, I would have had her come up to the 37th floor where I work to witness the spendor of this fog cover, as it was a complete cover from up here, but I do like how the industrial images fade into a sea of fog and the bluffs in the background look like little islands in the distance.

Behold the Power of Phlegm

Which came first? The cold or the chicken soup?

It's not (say that real fast and you'll know what I'm dealing with) been a very productive weekend as both Sterling and I have been suffering with head colds. I used up my "extra" hour of sleep already this morning, and even after my first cup of joe (with a touch of Baileys Irish Cream) my head is still in a fog. And I haven't had any cardmaking mojo this week either, which is really the test for how I'm feeling.

We did slip away for a bit yesterday morning to see my grandson at his swimming lessons. They started him three weeks ago. First lesson he pretty much wanted nothing to do with this foreign concept of a large bathtub and getting water in his face. Second time was a little better as he realized everyone else in his class had to take a large bath too. And this time he actually willingly got right into the water and allowed his head to be taken under, although he complained of the water in his eyes. He wouldn't let them put the goggles on him, but that's another hurdle for the next time. He did, however, LOVE going down the slide, as long as he had a toy on the journey with him. His favorite was a big yellow school bus that the instructor used to tempt him into the water and she would toss it to where he had to swim with her in order to retrieve it (smart teacher!) And through all three lessons that is his security water toy and he doesn't let go of it willingly. All in all, he's doing swimmingly!

And it's November! Yeah, I know, I'm a few days behind - that's what a fog I've been in. That means only seven more weeks until CHRISTMAS! But I'm NOT ready ... are you? Last year I swore that this year would be different. That I would have all of my holiday cards done by July, and that I would MAKE all of my gifts this year starting in February, and that I would save dollars throughout the year so that shopping would be a breeze! (buzzer) Wrong. I didn't even accomplish one out of three. Does anyone have a name for the phenomenom? Can anyone tell me if I even spelled phenomenom correctly? Does anybody really know what time it is (queue song by Chicago).

About now about phlegm - what was God thinking when he created this? The amount I've produced this weekend could hold several bricks together. But that's probably more information that you want to hear. Phlegm is actually good for you. Well, not the thing itself, but what it represents. Phlegm is mucous that becomes congealed and visible. It's almost always a sign of your body fighting off whatever infection is wreaking havoc on your respiratory system - which is actually a good thing. Phlegm is primarily composed of mucous, dead bacteria and virus, dead white blood cells, and various tissues and cells. So now if you're ever asked what phlegm is, you have your answer. I never knew my blog would be a place for answers to health questions, but there you have it.

It's supposed to be a beautiful fall day today with a high of possibly 70 degrees! And the Huskers won in Ames, Iowa yesterday so everyone is in good spirits. But for me, my adventure today will be to complete a load of laundry and sneeze through a box of kleenex. Hope everyone else has a fabulous day!

I Want A Hug

So last night my daughter and grandson came over for their weekly "dinner at mom's", which gives my son-in-law, Jeremy, time at home to do his homework and other chores. I do so love Tuesday nights as it gives me a chance to not only bond with my daughter, but quality one on one time with my grandson, Jonas. So the door opens and Jonas runs in to the living room and smiling he stops and announces "I'm here!". That just had grandpa and I in a fit of giggles right from the start. How does he know that our world revolves around him already? He then proceeds to tell us about his day. He told us that he went to church and that he "voted" and got a sticker. It was only a few short months ago that he was just beginning to stringing words together and now he's not only talking in full sentences, but understanding concepts as well. Laura said that at the dinner table the other night, she and Jeremy were chatting and the weather channel was playing on the t.v. in the background. All of a sudden Jonas spoke up and smiling he said "He's talking about sunshine" referring to the weatherman on t.v. Laura and Jeremy just shook their heads in wonder trying to figure out how he picked up on something like that.

So we sit down to dinner and Jonas looks over at grandpa, who is wearing a baseball cap and says "Grandpa, hat off." Laura and Jeremy are teaching Jonas all about manners and he makes sure that everyone follows the rules. After dinner I went over and sat on the couch and Jonas gets up and says he wants to sit next to grandma, which of course is what every grandma wants to hear. And then, out of the blue, he looks straight at me and says ... "I need a hug" ... well melt my heart and call me done. This is love in its purest form coming from a 2-1/2 year old. How could I know that this one simple statement could be so powerful. Forget that I have bills that I can't pay, clothes than need washing, dust bunnies building armies under my bed ... I have a grandson who loves me unconditionally. I am still riding on this emotional "high" and had to share it with all of you. So my wish for all of you today is that you be lucky enough to receive a hug from someone you love - or better yet, go and give someone you love a hug and see the love shine back at you in their eyes.

A Haunting They Did Go!

What a delightful weekend it was. The weather was perfect. Sunshine and mild temps and the rain they were forecasting never happened so the little treaters last night had a beautiful evening to go door to door. Here's a pic from our annual family potluck party on Saturday night. Left to right is Matthew (my nephew) with his little gal, Hailey - just prior to this photo she had slipped and banged her head AND she was so tired, so the combination of the two had her in tears. But Matthew said that she was fast asleep before they even got out of the neighborhood and slept until 8:30 the next morning. Next up is my daughter, Laura, and JONAS! He had SUCH a great time this year and really got into the whole "spirit" of the holiday. He loved scaring everyone with spiders and would laugh with glee whenever someone jumped and scream - that's my boy! (grin) And then we have my niece, Trisha, and her new little one, Avlyn, who is just the most darling little one - she had nothing but smiles for everyone all evening. And on the right we have my sister Shari and my niece Danelle. My sister took several photos and in all of them Danelle had this "I'm not very happy" look on her face. Not sure what that was all about as she is normally a ham for the camera.

And I must say that my daughter is really getting into the whole "mom" thing now as she made THREE different spooky treats for the potluck table. Eyeballs made out of little white hostess donuts, some red gel frosting and M&M's. Then she had make some spiders out of pretzels (legs) and crackers put together with peanut butter and then faces made out of candies. And for her third creation, she added frosting to those nutter butter cookies and chocolate chips for the eyes. She said Jonas helped by dipping the pretzels into the frosting and eating them. :0)

And a HUGE thank you to Jeremy's folks for hosting this annual family event - they had us singing to a rendition of the 13 days of Halloween (sung to the tune of 12 days of christmas). We were all giggling by the end of the song. Then they had treat bags for every family to take home. Sterling and I got this ADORABLE halloween cat - which is perfect for our house of 3 felines!

We had about 150 trick or treaters last night, including Danelle and Jonas, who were more excited about the kids in costume and handing out candy than actually going out to get more candy in their buckets. Jonas got into the house and immediately took off his costume and wanted to play with his cars and trucks that we have set up for him. He didn't understand that this was just a "drive by" grandma visit and wanted to stay and play. But eventually they got him packed up and off to the next house to visit.

I did make just a couple of cards over the weekend, but didn't have a chance to take any pics to upload onto my blog.

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Halloween, and hold onto your hats because the rest of the year is coming at us at HIGH SPEED!

Happy Haunting!

Has it been just a year ago that my favorite little guy was only 1-1/2 years old and enjoying Halloween? Where does the time go? We had dinner with Jonas (and his parents) last night and he just LOVES to engage in conversation now! The waitress came over and asked who wanted to give her their order first, and Jonas jumped right in and said "I do" and proceeded to tell her that he wanted mac 'n cheese and lemonade. I nearly fell off my chair in a fit of giggles! I can't wait to see what his folks will dress him as this weekend! We're having the annual family Halloween event at Jeremy's parents' home. Everyone brings a "spooky" side dish to share and it's always such a fun event. I do remember one year that Marilyn made sloppy joes that actually "glowed". Tomorrow Sterling is making The Pioneer Woman's cheesy olive loaf (like pizza bread) and using the green olives as "eyes" ... here's lookin at you kid!

Falling For You

Here's a pic my sister Gloria took of her granddaughter, Avlyn, over the weekend. Isn't she just the cutest?!! She looks SO MUCH like her mother, Trisha, and then again at times she's the spittin image of her dad, Craig. But whomever she takes after, she's a cutie patootie!

As you can tell by the photo, our weather is definitely starting to show signs of cooler fall weather and the leaves are really starting to drop. It won't be long before old man winter starts shaking his fist at us.

I had a delightful weekend. I spent most of Saturday with my scrapbooking pals at Archiver's and while I didn't accomplish much, it's always such a good time chatting with those gals. Sunday morning I took my brother to a "birthday" breakfast at Cracker Barrel. The folks decided to tag along as well, so it was a nice morning spent with my family. The rest of the afternoon Sterling and I just vegged and relaxed as neither of us had much energy for some reason. And every weekend I swear I'm going to get so many things accomplished, but my "to do" list hasn't seemed to shrink one bit. Going to have to start tackling my "honey do" projects a little each evening in order to get things accomplished, I guess. Although that in itself will be a challenge as the evenings are getting darker quicker, and once I lose the light it's REALLY hard to get motivated. Does anyone else have that problem? It seems my hibernation instinct kicks into gear once the sun goes down and all I want to do is grab a blanket and lounge on the couch with a good book or my crochet projects.

Happy Birthday Bro!

I couldn't find a more recent pic of my younger brother in the limited computer cache of family photos (another project for another time), so you won't be able to see his balding gray head ROFL ... but take a look at his hairdo from back in the 70's! Seriously, though, he's a peach of a brother and would give you the shirt off his back if you asked ... although most people would DROWN in it as he is around 6'7" tall (give or take a few inches)!! Happy birthday, Marty! I'll take you to dinner on Sunday ... or make your favorite - chicken and dumplings, if you prefer.

Happy Birthday to my Daughter

TURN AROUND

Written by: Harry Belafonte

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Where are you going
My baby, my own

Turn around and you’re two
Turn around and you’re four
Turn around and you’re a young girl
Going out of the door

Where are you going
My little one, little one
Little pigtails and petticoats
Where have they gone

Turn around and you’re tiny
Turn around and you’re grown
Turn around and you’re a young wife
With babes of your own!

I've had this tune rolling around in my head since last night. Before falling asleep last night I was remembering when you were just a little girl ... even then so self assured and fearless, so loving and compassionate. You make me so proud to be your mother, and I marvel at the wonderful mother you've become to Jonas. Have a wonderful day today, my dear, and always know that I love you.

Thank You, Mimi

Look at this fabulous prize package I won over at Mimi's blog: http://mycharmingblog-scrappermimi.blogspot.com/. Go check out Mimi's blog and tell her I sent you!

Uptown Girl

I can't believe how FAST my week of vacation flew by. But I ended it with a BANG. My 2 sisters and I drove down to Kansas City for the CKC Scrapbook Convention vendor fair on Saturday, which we've gone to for the past four years in a row. LOVE seeing all the new products and demos. My niece, Trisha, was so sweet and used some of her personal points to get us a FREE room at the hotel company she works for. THANKS so much Trisha! We started out EARLY on Saturday leaving at 6:00 a.m. My sister, Gloria, did ALL the driving (thanks, sis!). We stopped in St. Joseph at Cracker Barrel for breakfast - YUM! Then we drove directly to the Expo Center in North KC and spent FIVE hours shopping and doing make and takes. After checking into the hotel we continued our shopping spree - stopping at Kirklands and two other craft stores in Shawnee Mission. Let me say that we all agree The Scrapbook Page is the bomb! LOVED that place, and the gals were EXTREMELY nice and helpful. We can't wait to go back for one of their manias sometime soon. During our drive, my younger sis, Shari, had Gloria and I in STITCHES. In our family, we have this oddity of at any given moment finding something hilarious, that one of us will get into a giggling fit ... which then has the rest of us laughing so hard that we can hardly breathe. Thanks, Shari, for that moment! After shopping, we continued on to Legends and had a nice dinner at Bob Evans. We then met up with my good friends, Marcia and Bunny, at their hotel for an evening of chatting and working on projects. Marcia had us ALL laughing with her story about "Uptown Girl" and did her best to entertain us by lip sinking to several songs playing in the background. We finally CRASHED back at the hotel around 10:00 p.m. We drove back home Sunday morning, and I pretty much napped and relaxed the rest of the day. I got a pad of 7 gypsies paper that I used to make this card. I used a Tim Holtz bird stamp on the tag, and am having a blast with the hug snug seam binding, which I inked to match the color of the rust colored egg on the tag. I also added a hand crocheted flower that I made over the weekend. An EASY pattern that I found the the latest issue of my Papercrafts Magazine subscription.

Holiday Card and New Technique

I had a bit of time this morning before meeting my daughter for sushi, so I created a holiday card. This is not an original, as I saw this design on one of the blogs I frequent. I loved the look and wanted to create something similar. I used removable 1 inch masking tape to mask off a large square. I then used Tim Holtz distress ink in Peeled Paint and shaded in the square, with a bit more color on the edges. Using the same peeled paint, I took a SU tree stamp and inked off once and then stamped light images in the background. Then I removed all the tape leaving the colored box. I inked up the tree stamp again and stamped the single tree image. I just received a supply of hug snug seam binding, so I used the peeled paint color to ink the seam binding and then spritzed it with water and scrunched it. After drying for about 10 minutes I then just tied a double bow and attached to card, along with the holiday sentiment.

Somebody Stop Me!

I couldn't help but post this last burst of creativity for today. I found this folded butterfly pattern and had to try it out - using a Unity sentiment, I think it turned out super cute. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the "trail" of the butterfly carries through onto the burgandy cardstock. What do you think?

Unity Challenges are DONE! Doing the happy dance!

I can't believe I got all 23 challenges done for the Unity World Cardmaking Day event. If I hadn't been home on vacation this week, I doubt I would have had the time. Sure would LOVE to win this awesome prize. A full year of Unity's kit of the month, and let me tell you that they have some fabulous stamps. Go check 'em out! And keep your fingers crossed for me! Here's some of last of my cards from today.

Day 3 of Vacation

I'm so enjoying my days off. The weather COULDN'T be nicer. Sunshine and mild temps! Loving it. I'm also enjoying my favorite pasttime - making cards. Here are some more of the cards I've been making for the Unity World Cardmaking Challenges.

Day Two of Vacation

I had a nice, although very quick, visit with my good friend, Joyce, this morning. She stopped by and brought me some homemade pumpkin muffins, and loaned me some fabulous craft books to enjoy while I'm on vacation this week. Still working on the WCMD Unity challenges. Here's one I did for the "ribbon" challenge.

I'm also getting ready to go to Kansas City this weekend for the CKC Scrapbook Convention that my sisters and I go to every year. It's a weekend filled with giggling, crafting, and SHOPPING! We always make a stop at Kirklands (my sister, Gloria's FAVORITE store), and will also hit one or two new scrapbook stores. We'll meet up with my friends, Joyce and Bunny, for dinner and an evening of sharing our purchases, chatting and scrapping. It's an event I always look forward to and am counting the days!