Glitter Balls

I first tried this project two years ago with a few girlfriends. It is a simple craft...use re-inkers in clear glass balls with glitter to create pretty ornaments. I tried it again this weekend as a little 'extra' to go with the Christmas cards for my office mates (Charlene - look away!) and some neighbours.

I purchased the glass balls at Michaels. Here they are after applying the ink and glitter:

Here they are once I added a little embellishment and cord/ribbon:

Some close ups (sorry for the poor pictures):

And finally, packaged up ready for delivery:

This is a super easy, fun craft with lots of online tutorials out there for how-to. By my calculations I think they cost about $1.25 per ornament to make, which makes them an affordable gift as well.

Thanks for stopping by....have a great day!

Thanks for visiting!

Loonie Stampers Challenge(s)

There are so many great challenges out there in this blog world but who has time for them all? I am going to try to be more organized and participate in more of and them more often.

The one challenge I do try to always participate in is the Loonie Stampers Challenge, a weekly colour challenge put out by a group of friends, including my friend Charlene. These girls are all inspiring, and I have been playing along for over a year (I think). Unfortunately, I had gotten four weeks behind on the challenges so this weekend I spent some time catching up.

This week's:

I think this is a gorgeous Christmas combo but I am done making Christmas cards so thought I would try something a little different. I was thinking of attaching these tags to some Christmas baking for friends and neighbours. I would have liked to stamp the leaves in Spring Moss but I don't own that colour...yet ;)

Here's last week's:

Love this colour combo. I never seem to have enough birthday cards on hand so used this challenge as an opportunity to make a quick one. Not sure if you can see that the scalloped border is gold.

And finally #66:

I liked the colour map but couldn't seem to get anything going. I don't have any light grey cardstock and got the idea to use a grey copic...but seriously, what was I thinking with grey flowers?? And my sentiment is crooked. This one will NOT be going to a true friend, it won't be going to ANY friend...ha ha.

After the last card I thought I would leave it at that and not even attempt #67, although all the Loonies cards are really something in those colours. I am in absolute AWE of what Char did with that challenge..go see! From Char's blog you can link to the other girls.

Thanks for visiting!

Advent/ Countdown Calender

I haven't been blogging much lately, but I have been crafting. I am finding with the shorter days and lack of sunlight it's really difficult to get decent pictures lately, but I wanted to make sure I got this project posted. I made two of these earlier this week, one for my son (13) and one for my nephew (4). I had a lot of fun and would like to do more of these in the future. I have a 9 month old nephew who will eventually get one and a 42 year old husband who has also expressed interest :).

I used some Basic Grey pp I got on clearance after last Christmas and various Christmas stamps and embellishments from my stash. The box is by Karen Foster and is nice, stiff paper covered chipboard. I am hoping these last the boys for a long time.

Each drawer contains a candy or chocolate of some sort. I also slipped $1 and $2 coins in a few boxes, as well as a bill on the 19th as an extra treat for Jake on his birthday. I have always tried to keep Christmas and Jake's birthday very distinct but he suckered us into buying his b-day present early this year (skis), which is just as well as he has used them a dozen times already this season.

Thanks for visiting!

PTI Blog Hop!

Helloooooooo blog hoppers! Thanks for stopping by. Can you believe we only have one month of Christmas crafting left? Never mind the shopping!! My son has a hockey game tonight so I won't be able to check out the blogs until later tonight :(

I almost didn't post these simple little tags, which were inspired by Niki Estes AMAZING tags using the same stamp from Holiday Button Bits. I love how she stamped a sentiment on her tags but I was unable to do so as I was using 2" x 4" scraps (in various PTI colours) that I had left over after mass producing Christmas cards. I cannot recall the name or brand of the pp I used (my bad). I decided to post after all to show how quick and easy it is to make fun little gift tags with this image and your cs scraps. I stamped the inside with "to and from" and they took very little time. I plan to use these on presents wrapped in simple kraft paper tied with some fantastic ribbon.

Thanks again for popping by...have a fantastic night and enjoy the hop!

My Guys dig PW!!

I have been trying out recipes from the Pioneer Woman Cooks for a while now and my guys love it. I think it is so funny that a 13 year old boy from Calgary even knows who the Pioneer Woman is. But then his mother does spend way too much time on the Internet!

My husband has always raved over my lasagna recipe and shook his head when I wanted to try PWs. I've never made mine since...hers really is the best lasagna recipe ever. Here's a shot of Doug making it the last time we had it.

When I heard about her cookbook I immediately pre-ordered. When I came home from work this past Wednesday these two lovely boxes awaited me:

The box from Amazon contained the cookbook and the box below is a food processor I had ordered from Airmiles. It felt like Christmas!! And the kitchen Gods must have coordinated these items to arrive together...ha ha.

We have all been drooling over this beautiful cookbook, even Jake. On Saturday morning he made his first PW recipe Patsy's Cobbler. He substituted mixed fruit for blackberries and it was fantastic.

Thank you PW! If I work this right I might get these guys cooking ALL the time. Kidding! I love trying my own hand at these fabulous recipes.

LSC #65...a surprise!

The Loonies asked some of Char's friends to participate in a special challenge and blog tour this week for her birthday. Because I see Char at work everyday I gave her the card in the post below on Tuesday. I was sure that if I didn't give her a card it would be a signal that something was up and I am more than happy to make my good friend a second card! Happy Birthday Pal! SMILE!!

Char showed me the card she made for what she thought was this week's challenge. It's amazing and I gasped at the colour combo. I had to use it. I loved the Berry Sorbet so much I had to use it inside as well. The sentiment inside is Elzybells and was one of the first stamps I owned.

Check out all the Loonies cards, including the birthday gal herself, as well as the other participants in this fun challenge.

The Loonies:

Dee - http://www.deespapertree.blogspot.com/

Regan - http://stampymcstamperson.blogspot.com/

Jewels - http://cardfelt.blogspot.com/

Maria - http://mycraftroom.typepad.com/marias_craft_room/

Wendy - http://bondgirlbliss.typepad.com/bond_girl_bliss/

And Char of course – http://willowandpaisley.typepad.com/willow_paisley/

The friends:

Sue Pardue – http://suespapercreations.blogspot.com/

Pam Imhotz –http://paperandribbonsandstampsohmy.blogspot.com/

Char Cundy – http://ccundy.blogspot.com/

Steph Day – http://mycraftydays.blogspot.com/

Carly Robertson: http://carlyrobertson.typepad.com/paper-in-bloom/

Dana White: http://danashouseofcards.blogspot.com/

Jessica Diedrich: http://thewhimsicalbutterfly.blogspot.com/

Michelle Woerner: http://stopandstamptheroses.blogspot.com/

Nancy McKinney: http://cardworthy.blogspot.com/

Christie Ortman: http://littlepinkflowers.typepad.com/little_pink_flowers/

Krissy Day: http://krissylynscreations.blogspot.com/

Ashley Newell: http://ashleynewell.blogspot.com/

Happy Birthday Char!

It's my good pal Char's birthday today! She is a dear friend to me and my partner in crime when it comes to shopping, especially for craft supplies. Charlene and I work together and too often get side tracked during the day with thoughts and talk of card making. We were perusing the November CARDS magazine at her desk yesterday and she pointed out this card that she absolutely loves, so I had to case it as her b-day card. Hope you likey Char...have a great day!