Tuesday, December 28, 2010

December Calendar Blog Hop

Welcome to the December Calendar Blog Hop!

This month I’ve decided once again to join Karel at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity in another Blog Hop. This time around we are doing a Calendar Blog Hop from December 28 through 30. We have more than 12 bloggers, each with a gorgeous 12X12 Double Calendar Layout for you to re-create for your very own 2011 Calendar...just in the nick of time.

A bunch of wonderfully talented ladies have gotten together and we're each making a 12X12 double calendar layouts--at least one for every month of 2011. Every blogger will design a two page layout for a 2011 calendar. The first page will be a cute layout, to include the month and some mats for pictures. The second page will be the days and weeks, with cute embellishments for special days. Each blogger will post her (his?) creation for the hop---along with the detailed how-tos of making it. Every person who participates will then have all the instructions for making the entire year's calendar just as they need it!

*The Blog Candy for this hop is the fantastic Designer's Calendar Cricut Cartridge, donated by our own hostess, KarelJ. You need to leave some love, in the form of a comment, on Each and Every Blog along the way. Make sure you leave a way to contact you in each comment. On the 31st, KarelJ will use random.org to generate a blog number and then a comment number from that blog. She will announce the winner on her blog, and contact them by whatever means they left for this.*

1. January and April: Celeste at Touched by a Butterfly at http://touchedbyabutterfly.blogspot.com/
2. January and September: Jessica at Overjoyed Scrapper http://www.overjoyedscrapper.blogspot.com/
3. February: Christel at Scrappin' Sista http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com/
4. February and March: Karelj at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity http://karelj.blogspot.com/
5. March and July: Diane at Crafting This Moment (You are here!) http://www.craftingthismoment.blogspot.com/
6. April: Bonnie at A Scrap Above http://ascrapabove.blogspot.com/
7. May: Michelle at Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com/
8. May: Natalie at Timeless Legacy Designs http://timelesslegacydesigns.blogspot.com/
9. June: Lisa at Lisa's Paper Butterflies http://lisaspaperbutterflies.blogspot.com/
10. June: Jamie at Glitter, Paper, Stamps, Oh My! http://jamieisacraftymomma.blogspot.com/
11. July: Summer and Jennifer at Cricut Diaries http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com/
12. August: Denise at Starlight Scrapper http://starlightscrapper.blogspot.com/
13. August: Gina at Gina Thornton Stamping http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/
14. September: Deb at If It's Groovy http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com/
15. October: Rebecca at Creations with Becka http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com/
16 . October: Lora at Notes From The Scrapbook Lady http://scrpbooklady.blogspot.com/
17. November: Belinda at Queen Bee's Musings http://www.queenbeesmusings.blogspot.com/
18. November and December: Col at Col's Creative Corner at http://www.scrappycol.blogspot.com/
19. December: Deb at Tidbit's Place http://tidbitsplace.blogspot.com/

When it came to creating my calendar pages I’ve had to change them up a bit because of some unseen events that kept me from having the energy to scrap. Therefore instead of doing 2 two page calendar layouts I was only able to create 2 one page layouts. I’ve managed to create these layouts with a place for your calendar, journaling as well as included photos and have the page not be cluttered.

I am so far behind on my calendar pages that this blog hop gave me motivation to work towards getting caught up. Now that my son is 24, it’s hard to get the photos & events to scrap with him in them. I find calendar pages are perfect for keeping up with our lives on a month to month basis.

I keep a purse sized calendar on the go at all times as well as a wall calendar to keep track of important events, birthdays, etc. By doing this I am able to take the information from them & create calendar layouts. Right now I am working on the year 2005. It’s scary to think that I am that far behind on my calendar layouts.

I chose the month of March & July for my months to do. For my layout I chose a background paper in green keeping with the color for St. Patrick’s Day. I also matted my calendar in green & made a little booklet on the left hand bottom corner to do my journaling in. The photo’s I printed off & fit them in little slides that I made. I then added the month & a couple of Shamrocks to finish off the page.
The month of July basically followed the same sketch idea (the sketch idea is my own). For this month I did in red & white keeping with our Canada Day colors. I added the fireworks, again the slide mounts were hand cut with photos in them and this time the journaling booklet is on the right hand side of the page. Again I’ve added the calendar which is filled in with monthly events.

I really like how they’ve turned out & how I’m still able to include pictures & journaling all on one page. I’ve covered the calendars for the pictures as to protect the names, etc on them.

I hope you’ve enjoyed another option of creating calendar pages without having to do two page layouts. These are fun pages & a great way to showcase those special events in your life.

Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the rest of the blog hop. The complete list is above and if a blogger did 2 calendar layouts both can be seen at the same post. Enjoy!

Editted to add: I've had a lot of comments about my "firecrackers". I bought a die cut a long time ago of a firecracker & saved it. I used it to trace my firecrackers & cut them out by hand.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Are you on Santa's Naughty or Nice List?

Growing up my mother used to keep a calendar in the kitchen at Christmas where she’d mark down the days that my sister, brother & I were bad. Supposedly Santa would come in & check the calendar & if he saw our name or initials on it, he’d know that we were bad & would leave us presents accordingly. I remember how much it would scare me if I saw my name or initials on that calendar & how hard I’d work to not see my name there.

Now days you can check the online version of Santa’s Naughty or Nice list & see just where you stand. You can also go back again & check to see if you’ve moved up the naughty list. Well, with only a few days left until Christmas, I just had to check & see where I stood on Santa’s Naughty or Nice List. You can check here if you want to see how you’re doing. This is a fun site for young & old.
http://www.claus.com/naughtyornice/nn_hmpg2.php

Well, here’s what Santa had to say about me….

Nice, but has been naughty at times. Neatness and politeness have been very good over the last two weeks. Shows proper respect for others. Shares well, but could always be better. With a little more effort could be near top of "nice" list.

Sounds like I’ve been a good girl this year & just maybe Santa will be bringing me something special.

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Fiskateer Holiday Cookie Recipes from the Past

I love holiday sweets and cookies. The looks, smells and tastes of cookies this time of the year.I love trying new recipes and sharing them with my family during the holidays. When DS was young we use to make sugar cookies and cut them into Christmas shapes, decorate them and give them as gifts.

Over the past few years, one of the Fiskateer Leads or possible one of the Fiskateers would post to the Fiskateer blog a request for Holiday Cookie Recipes. Each year I have saved all the Holiday Cookie Recipes that were posted on the Fiskateer blog as a result of these requests. I copied & pasted each recipe to a word document, formatted it, corrected any spelling errors (I hope I got them all) and saved them to my computer.

Starting in 2008, one of the Leads or possible one of the Fiskateers posted to the blog requesting Holiday Cookie Recipes. That year there were 29 cookie recipes posted. Did you know that Santa has a favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie? Here you'll find the recipes for: Gingersnaps, Snickerdoodles, Monster Cookies, Old Fashioned Peanut Butter Cookies, Whoopie Pie, Chocolate Macaroons, Sugar Cookies, Whipped Shortbread and many more favorite cookie recipes.

In 2009, again someone posted to the blog requesting Favorite Holiday Cookie Recipes and once again I saved them to a word file. This year there was a huge response and there are 52 fabulous cookie recipes such as: Monster Cookies, Sugar Cookies, Candy Cane Cookies, Oatmeal Gingersnap, Black Forrest Cookie, Oreo Bon Bons, Chinese Chews and many more delicious cookie recipes.

This year Tami (one of the Lead Fiskateers) posted on the message board a request for Holiday Cookies. I emailed Tami and told her about my saving the cookies recipes from the past couple of years and she asked if I'd be interested in sharing them. I had posted last year that I would email the file to anyone who was interested and was shocked at the response. It was a lot of work but I send anyone who requested it my document. Tami suggested that I covert the document to a pdf format and share it on my blog. I've also added the recent Fiskateers Gifts from the Kitchen recipes that I've saved to my files. I'm waiting patiently for some new 2010 Favorite Cookie Recipes to fill the current blog post by Tami. Hopefully there will be some new recipes that I can save and later post here.

After several days of trying to figure out how to add the Fiskateer Favorite Cookie Recipes from 2008, 2009 and Fiskateers Gifts from the Kitchen 2010 to my blog, I finally figured out how to add the links. I hope that you all enjoy these recipes. Here they are:

Fiskateer's Favorite Cookie Recipes 2008
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45150056/Favorite-Cookie-Recipes-of-the-Fiskateers-2008">

Fiskateer's Favorite Cookie Recipes 2009
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45150213/Fiskateer-Favorite-Cookie-Recipes-2009

Fiskateers Gifts from the Kitchen 2010
http://www.scribd.com/doc/45150303/Fiskateers-Gifts-From-the-Kitchen-2010

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Back to School Luggage Tags

Recently I’ve been working on these Back to School Luggage tags for 7 of my great nieces & nephews. I stumbled across these Back to School Emergency information luggage tags a few years ago on the web and they’ve been on my 2 Do List since then. I finally got around to making them & plan on giving them to my little great nieces & nephews for Christmas. I think that I’ll hang them on the Christmas tree first as a decoration. lol

Right now I have Chloe’s tag in a “Badge Holder” but I’m not too thrilled with it. I like the looks of the Luggage Tags better although now day’s they aren’t that easy to find where I live. I know I have some luggage tags around the house & have to dig them out. The tags for Jaden & Dakota are in ATC sleeves at the moment but I wanted to give you a sneak peek for now. I’ll show the finished one’s when I find my luggage tags as well as show you the boy’s tags I made for my Great Nephews Jeremy, Andrew, Gavin & Dallas to hang on their backpacks (& diaper bags). Jeremy is the only one of the boy’s who is in school right now. Andrew & Gavin (brothers of Jeremy & Jaden) go to day care so I thought that this would be perfect for Andrew’s backpack & Gavin’s diaper bag. Not wanting to leave Dallas out (Chloe & Dakota’s baby brother), I also made one for his diaper bag.

On the one side of the card it lists the students name (first name only for safety reasons), their school, teachers name and classroom. On the other side of the card lists the parents first name & phone number (a space for mom & one for dad), Pediatrician’s name & phone number, Poison Control Phone Number and a space to write in the child’s allergies. Everything you need to know is listed on these little cards that you attach to their backpacks for the caregivers to have at their fingertips. There is also a place to put the child’s photo so that it’s easy for the younger kids to identify their backpacks.

Here is a picture of the girls tags so far:These next two are in ATC sleeves until I can find the Luggage Tags to put them in.

Origami Flowers

Twice a month five of us girls get together & take turns teaching a new project. A few weeks ago it was Kristy’s turn & she showed us how to make these cute origami flowers. Once you got the hang of the folds, they were pretty easy to make & went together pretty quickly. We each made 5 flowers. Since I didn’t have a small vase to show mine off in, I have them in a Mason jar. TFS!

First Snowfall

Well we’ve managed to be lucky enough to avoid snow up until Sunday, December 5th. My son had called me from London around 4 pm asking if we had any snow here. At the time we had no snow & it had been a perfect day. He said that he was stuck in London (Ontario) & that they were having a big snowstorm. He’d been out earlier to check the road conditions before deciding whether to head home & said that they were really slippery. He’d slid through one of the intersections. I told him to stay where he was as at least he was warm & safe. He wasn’t overly thrilled as being warm & safe also meant that he wouldn’t be able to make it into work on Monday.

I took a drive uptown around 5:30 pm on Sunday to get some bread figuring that if we were going to have a snowstorm, I didn’t want to run out of bread. It was just starting to snow here. By 8 pm the ground was covered & we had about 2 or 3 inches of snow. It was still snowing yesterday morning & we were still under a snow squall warning. Thank goodness my son was able to drive home from London yesterday. I guess he thought that he'd get out while the going was good. They certainly had a lot of snow dumped on them.

Once again today we have a Snow Squall Watch in Effect. I’m so glad that I don’t have to leave the house. I do worry about my son driving into work but fortunately he only has about 15 miles to drive & they do tend to keep the main roads pretty clean. At least tomorrow the weather is looking better & they aren't calling for snow. Stay safe & warm!

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Fiskateer’s Gift Making Extravaganza

The Fiskateer’s Gift Making Extravaganza was in full swing this past weekend on the message board. Tami who is one of the Lead Fiskateers had posted 15+ challenges on the Fiskateer message board to inspire you to create some awesome gifts or even to get some ideas for gifts that you can give.

Challenge #1 is to create a Gift Card Holder – Tami also posted a great video tutorial showing you how to make one. I decided to go a different route & created two different gift card holders. The first one shown is a stocking gift cardholder. The top part is a flap that lifts up & under it you place the gift card. Then next one I made is a Santa Hat. In the bottom part of the hat there is an opening to put the gift card. (The gift card can be seen from the back of the holder). These were both fun, easy projects to make. I added some glitter to both of them as I felt that they needed some bling. The holly was cut with my new Sizzix die.

I wish that I could take credit for these cute gift card holders but unfortunately neither is my idea. I found both of them while surfing the net & thought that they were so cute. I did change the papers & embellishments on both.

Here is a picture of the Santa Hat Gift Card Holder:The next picture shows the outside of the stocking.This picture shows you the inside of the stocking where the gift card is stored.Challenge #2 was a 2 part challenge. The first part was to change your profile so that your Fiskateer number was displayed as your profile picture or in your signature (or both). This was an easy challenge. The second part was to create something to show off your number and unfortunately I didn’t get that part of the challenge done.

Challenge #3 was to post your favorite recipe & part two of the challenge was to do a gift wrapping for it. Unfortunately I only had time to post my favorite recipe.

Another challenge that I was able to finish was Challenge #5 Cards and Tags. I created 2 quick & easy Christmas cards that involved no stamping. That’s a rare one for me as 99% of my cards are stamped.Here's what I came up with: Next for Challenge #9 - Wrap it Up you had to come up with a creative way to wrap up a gift. I decided to do an envelope bag. Here’s mine:Challenge #12 - Deck the Halls was to create some type of holiday decoration for your home or as a hostess gift during the season. I created a triangle gift box that can be hung on your tree & then removed for easy gift giving. Here’s mine:I’ve jumped around on some of the challenges because of the deadlines. The next challenge that I did was Challenge #15 where we had to post our favorite Christmas movie & then make something that uses the colors or theme from the movie.

I have a difficult time picking just one movie. My favorite Christmas movie has to be Christmas Vacation. I just love it when Clark (Chevy Chase) is locked up in the attic watching old home movies. I also enjoy Prancer & of course it always makes me cry. Another good Christmas movie is The Night They Saved Christmas (with Art Carney & Jaclyn Smith). It’s a really good movie in my opinion & makes you really believe that there is a Santa. Then of course there is The Santa Clause with Tim Allen.

I decided to make ATC’s using the theme from these great Christmas movies. I did these up pretty quick as the deadline was approaching & I also had to watch Dancing with the Stars. lol Here’s what I did:Well that's it for now. I think I'll check the list and see what challenges are due today. Hopefully I can find some time & effort to be creative today. Thanks for looking & have a great day.

Winners of the Land of the Free Because of Brave Blog Hop are

The winners of the Land of the Free, Because of the Brave Veteran’s Day Blog Hop are…

Drum roll, please!

The winner of the Scrap'nTote, generously donated by Marlo of ContainYaCrafts is from Deb's Blog, If It's Groovy - Josie, comment number 5. Josie said, "Wonderful! Cheryl is such a nice person too....she welcomed me when I joined the Fiskateers! I love the photo of the baby too!"

Our second big winner, of the Spellbinders Nesties, donated by Anne of Paper Patch Crafts is from Christel, at One Scrappin' Sista - number 41---Gina Thornton! Gina said, "Cristel, thanks so much for sharing your father's stories and family member's as well. Thanks for hopping along with us!"

Karel will be contacting the winners for their mailing information or you can contact her yourselves if you see this.

Thank you to everyone who participated in this hop your projects were amazing, to Karel for all her hard work & for all those who stopped to visit & hopped along with us.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Land Of The Free Because Of The Brave Blog Hop

Welcome to our Veteran's Day Blog Hop! Veteran's Day is very important to me. My father fought in WWII as did his younger brother. My Paternal Grandfather had 2 brothers who fought in WWI as did my Paternal Grandmother's brother. My Grandfather's youngest brother was killed in action on May 14th, 1917 at the Battle of Somme, Vimy Ridge, France. He was 18 years old.

These amazing men and women put their lives on hold to go off and fight for us and our country. They leave their families behind and sacrifice so much for us. How do you thank someone for making such a sacrifice. Somehow, thank you just doesn't seem enough.

A few years ago I had come across these record albums at a yard sale and immediately scooped them up. I decided to alter one to use as a sort of memory album for my father. Although it's not complete at this time, I do have the album done and thought that I'd show you just what you can do with these old albums. I used Basic Grey paper and covered the album cover as well as all the inside pages. I cut out the hole using an exacto knife and intend to put a photo of my father at different stages of his life peeking through the holes. Now that the album is complete, I have the difficult task of figuring out just what photo's to use and embellishments. Since my father passed away when I was 11, I want this to be a book telling my son about the Grandfather that he never knew. (My son is also named after my father).

A few years back when it was the Year of the Veteran, I wrote & requested my father's war records from WWII and would like to include some of the information from them as well. The pockets in this album are large enough that I can also add layouts or even include his war records & tuck them inside it for safe keeping.

This first photo shows the before & after of what this record album looks like.This next photo shows the inside pages of this album now.This last photo shows the side by side of before and after. I just love how this has turned out so far & can't wait to start working on adding the photo's and journaling.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of the hop. There are 19 talented ladies waiting to show you their amazing work.

In order to be eligible for the Grand Prizes, don't forget to leave a comment on each & every blog. The winner will be announced tomorrow on Karel's blog at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity http://karelj.blogspot.comNow off to the hop.

If you've come to my blog from Jennifer at Young’s Scrappinghttp://youngsscrapping.blogspot.comyouare on the right track. Next on the list is Judy at Be Present Be Realhttp://bepresentbereal.blogspot.com

If you get lost, here's the list of blogs participitating in today's hop.
1. KarelJ at One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanityhttp://karelj.blogspot.com
2. Celeste at Touched By a Butterfly http://www.touchedbyabutterfly.blogspot.com
3. Deb at Tidbit’s Place http://tidbitsplace.blogspot.com
4. Michelle at Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com
5. Jennifer at Young’s Scrapping http://youngsscrapping.blogspot.com
6. Diane at Crafting This Moment http://craftingthismoment.blogspot.com
7. Judy at Be Present Be Real http://bepresentbereal.blogspot.com
8. Marianne at Life From Marianne’s Table http://number1aunt.blogspot.com
9. Deb at If It’s Groovy http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com
10.Christel at One Scrappin’ Sista http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com
11.Belinda at Queen Bee’s Musings http://queenbeesmusings.blogspot.com
12.Colleen at Col’s Creative Corner http://scrappycol.blogspot.com
13.Summer and Jennifer at Cricut Diaries http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com
14.Rachel at Suburban Crafter http://www.rachelstampshappy.blogspot.com/
15.Gina at Gina Thornton Stamping http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com
16.Becky at Sew in Stitches http://sewinstitches.blogspot.com
17.Rebecca at Creations With Becca http://www.creationswithbecka.blogspot.com
18.Bobbi Jo at Sassy Sweet Diva http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com
19.Angie at Gypsy Paperie http://gypsypaperie.blogspot.com
20.Linda at The Tulip Collector http://thetulipcollector.blogspot.com

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Land of the Free Because of the Brave Upcoming Blog Hop



I am happy to announce our "Land of the Free Because of the Brave" Upcoming Veteran’s Day Blog Hop on November 11th. We are so excited to inform you that Marlo Letterle, of the wonderful Scrap'nTote has agreed to donate one of her fantastic Totes for our Grand Prize Blog Candy! If you aren't familiar with her product, please check her out here!: http://www.cricutcartridgestorage.com/
I can't believe how blessed we are to have her on board!

Important Note: In order to be eligible for the Grand Prize Blog Candy you must leave a post on EVERY blog in the hop and leave a way to be contacted. Winners will be chosen using random.org, and announced on Karel’s blog on the 12th. http://karelj.blogspot.com If she doesn't hear from the winner by the 15th, she'll choose another winner.)

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Coming Soon - Veteran's Day Blog Hop on November 11th

****Join 20 amazing crafters for a Blog Hop honoring our Veterans and Troops. Inspiring Projects, Interviews with Veterans, current Service Personnel, and family members who have sacrificed to keep us free will be all along the Hop. There is also some great blog candy offered by Marlo Letterle...and one of the last chances to win one of her amazing Scrap'n Totes! Other blog candy will be up for grabs, as well. So, on November 11th, grab a box of tissues and a cup of coffee and hop, hop, hop to Honor The Brave Who Have Kept Us Free!****

Monday, October 18, 2010

Nineteen Minutes

In nineteen minutes, you can mow the front lawn, color your hair, watch a third of a hockey game. In nineteen minutes, you can bake scones or get a tooth filled by a dentist; you can fold laundry for a family of five....In nineteen minutes, you can stop the world, or you can just jump off it. In nineteen minutes, you can get revenge. (copied from the book)
I recently read best selling author Jodi Picoult's book “Nineteen Minutes”. I can’t seem to get it out of my head. This book should be on every parent’s must read list. In this book Jodi tackles bullying on so many different levels. She also makes you think how well do you really know your child/children. This book really makes you think and to realize how important it is to try to stop bullying all together.

Have you ever been bullied as a child or teenager? I know I was. Growing up, we lived about 10 blocks from our public school. My father had passed away when I was 11and my mother never drove or learned to drive. We had no choice but to walk to and from school each day as there were no buses for our route.

Growing up, a neighbor girl who lived across the street from my house for some reason chose to pick on me. I was smaller than her, two years younger than her and definitely not a fighter. I remember the fear I had walking home from school each day. I never knew when she’d jump out at me and start a fight. I never did anything to her but she took great pleasure in picking on me and seeing me cry. Even changing the route that I walked home didn't help as she'd end up finding me. My mother tried to step in and talk to her mother about the bullying and even that didn't help. Her mother just stood there & yelled at my mother. (You could see where she got it from). Even getting the school involved didn’t help as she never bullied me on school property. I had no choice but to put up with her bullying that finally stopped when they moved away. I was never so happy to see someone go.

If you want a good book to read, Nineteen Minutes is definately the one. But even if you don’t read it…. Talk to your children about how important it is not to be a bully and to help those who are being bullied.

Loving Fiskars Purple

A few weeks ago I received my Fiskars Tool Caddy in the mail from Shannon for entering her Fiskars Tool Garland Challenge. I love it & love the Fiskars Purple. I have wanted one of these Tool Caddy’s for a long time & had never been lucky enough to find one or to win one. (Where I live in Ontario, Canada, finding Fiskars tools isn’t easy). Thanks so much Shannon for a great challenge & a great prize!

You Never Know When Or Where Inspiration Will Strike

October 3rd, I ended up in the emergency room of our local hospital. I had an abscess tooth and the entire left side of my jaw was swollen to almost 3 times it’s normal size. I looked like a hamster storing up food for the winter. The pain was horrible and I knew that I had to get on antibiotics right away.

While waiting for the doctor, I overheard him talking to the lady before me. (there is no privacy in the ER) She had a lot of medical conditions and diagnosis that he was unfamiliar with and she really couldn’t explain to him what they were. He advised her to carry a little journal in her purse listing her prescriptions as well as her medical conditions and a brief description of them. Then when it was my turn to be treated, once again he was confused by some of my medical conditions and prescriptions. He commented on his being a doctor for 31 years and how he had learned so much from the previous patient & myself that day. It goes to show that you are never too old to learn.

His comments had really got me to thinking about carrying a little journal in my purse containing my medical information so I decided to create a journal just for that purpose. I also made one for my mother & sister to carry in their purses.

I used 2 coasters for each Medical Information book(one for the front & one for the back) out of my huge stash of coasters. I designed & printed up the pages in Microsoft Word and the DSP is Yellow Bicycle. I used my Fiskars Trimmer to trim down the pages to 4x4, glued the DSP to the coasters, trimmed the excess with my Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife as well as sanded the edges. I didn’t do a lot of fussing with these mini journals as if your purse is anything like mine, they’ll take a beating. Here is a picture of the finished journals:
Surprising enough when I gave my sister her medical journal at Thanksgiving, I ended up getting an order for my BIL’s sister to make one for her husband. I hadn’t thought of making them for men, but then again it’s us women who carry our loved one’s medical information in our purses too.

This definitely goes to show that you never know when or where inspiration will strike.

Orange and Pink Challenge (Long Post)

At the end of September, Tami (one of the Lead Fiskateers) posted that she was looking for a few crafters willing to take on a color challenge on the Fiskateers Message Board.She had something planned that she wanted to highlight a few projects in a certain color theme. The only restriction was the color combo. I emailed her right away & was one of the lucky ones chosen to be in this color challenge. I can post this to my blog now as my projects are up on the Fiskateer Blog and can be seen here: http://www.fiskateers.com/blog/2010/10/17/pink-and-orange-go-together-in-gift-items/

I was a bit surprised when I got notice of the color combination that we were to work with. Pink & Fiskateer Orange!! I’ve never worked with that combination before & never would have thought that the two colors would look good together. It sure surprised me. Pink & Orange do go together.

Since this challenge was for Breast Cancer, I knew immediately what I wanted to do. For those of you who follow my blog, you know that my older sister Donna is a 3 times Breast Cancer survivor, so Breast Cancer Awareness is very dear to my heart. Pink and Orange are not normally colors that I work with so creating something with these colors was a challenge for me. The inspiration for this challenge came from items that I created for my sister at the time of her battle with Breast Cancer as well as a couple of items she would have used if I had of thought of making them at the time of her battle.

A year ago my sister was diagnosed with Breast Cancer (her 3rd time) after 20 yrs of being cancer free. Hearing of her diagnosis, I bought this cancer stamp set to create a card for her and hopefully give her some encouragement and strength to fight this horrible disease again. For the challenge, I have created 3 different card styles shown in the photo. I used Yellow Bicycle DSP which just so happened to have Pink & Orange in it as well as glitter on the page, my Fiskars Trimmer, Scissors and the Fiskars Threading Waters Border Punch.Next I created an altered journal for her. I wish that I had of thought of creating one for her at the time she was battling cancer. At the time I told her that she should write down her thoughts, etc as she has quite the story to tell about her fight with cancer. During her first battle with cancer 20 yrs ago, they over radiated her & now she is left with a heart condition that she is going to need open-heart surgery on in the near future. She never knew this until the results came back from her pre-op tests a year ago. Since I didn’t think at the time to create a journal for her, I did it for this challenge & gave it to her at Thanksgiving (our Canadian Thanksgiving was October 11th). I again used Yellow Bicycle DSP, my Fiskars Trimmer and Scissors. I also made little tabs for her to write on & set up dividers for her journal if she wishes. I also added an inside pocket at the front of the journal for her to keep any receipts, doctors cards, etc in. I covered the inside back of the journal and added the Survivor verse. I added a verse to the front cover as well as a Velcro closure and trimmed it with lace to finish it off. The lace is so pretty & has little hearts on it.The next item added to this gift is a medical information journal that I got the inspiration for while being a patient in our local Emergency Room. I used 2 coasters for the cover of each mini journal, the pages I printed up in Microsoft Word and the DSP is again Yellow Bicycle. I used my Fiskars Trimmer to trim down the pages to 4x4, glued the DSP to the coasters, trimmed the excess with my Fiskars Fingertip Craft Knife as well as sanded the edges. I didn’t do a lot of fussing with these mini journals as if your purse is anything like mine, they’ll take a beating. Lol I made 3 of these little medical journals and will be giving the other 2 to my sister & my mother.

Last on the list was Thank You cards. When my sister was recuperating from her surgery, her daughters arranged with family & friends to bring in meals to them for a couple of weeks. I thought it was an awesome idea. Donna’s husband was her rock & he was really good about cooking breakfast & lunch but he’s never been one to plan & cook supper. Having meals brought in gave her the time she needed to recuperate with out the stress of meal planning & being in the kitchen. Most meals that were brought in usually gave them leftovers for the next day. Living 45 miles away from them it wasn’t easy taking in a meal. My mother & I took a supper in for them as well as I left them some money to order take out food for another night. I decided to surprise Donna with a dozen Thank You Cards that she could send out to family, friends, etc for the meals, etc. This saved her the added stress of not having to go out & shop for cards. I know that she appreciated it.As you can see, my inspiration for the Pink & Orange Challenge is my sister & her fight against Breast Cancer. All the items I’ve created are items that someone fighting cancer could & would use. All are items that I gave my sister as well as a new journal & medical journal that I wish I had of given her at the time (she has them now). I’m so thankful that my sister won her fight against breast cancer & is a Survivor.My prayers go out to all of you who are fighting this horrible disease or who have family/friends fighting it.

Thanks for looking & have a great day!

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian Family & Friends

I just wanted to wish all my family & friends a Happy Thanksgiving. With yesterday being our Thanksgiving holiday (Canadian), I went up to my sister and her husband’s home for supper. Since our family is very close knit, we try to spend all of our holiday’s together. Our 85 year old mother lives next door to me and came up with me to my sister’s house. Our family has grown a lot over the years and finding a place big enough to hold us all is getting difficult. I’d never fit them in my small apartment. lol

My sister has 2 daughters who are both married & have children. Their oldest daughter has 4 children (3 boys & 1 girl) and their youngest daughter has 3 children (2 girls & a boy). The ages of the kids is from 1 to 8 yrs old so it gets pretty noisy with that many active children running around the house. There is never a dull moment. My younger brother is married & has 2 children. His step-daughter is married and has 2 children (boy 10 & a girl 1). His son is a year younger than my son. My brother isn’t one who likes to get out & visit. Sadly he misses a lot of our family get-together’s unless they are at my mom’s. I also have an older brother who spends his winters in Costa Rica.

My son is finishing up his apprenticeship and after he completes this college session (he’s in college now), he’ll be able to write his exam for a mechanic. His GF is working towards her Masters in Nursing & wants to be an ER Nurse. He came for supper & then had plans to meet his friends at the Fair near our home to see the Demolition Derby.

There were 19 of us sitting around the table this Thanksgiving and we all have a lot to be thankful for. There was so much food & desserts. The dinner was so good. (Turkey is one of my favorite dinners).

The family also surprised me with a belated birthday too. This year with our mother being ill & my sister’s MIL being ill, getting together on my birthday was difficult so yesterday was a nice surprise. (Thanks everyone for the nice belated birthday!)

I hope that you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Are You Looking for the Survivor Stamp Set?

For those of you looking for the Paper Inspirations Survivor stamp set that I have, Darlene left a comment saying that it is still available at Addicted to Rubber Stamps. She said you can find it by doing a search by the company name. It is $17.89 now. (I don't remember paying that much for it). ATRS always has sales on so you may want to check them out. I used to shop there all the time & loved it. Unfortunately I no longer do so because of high International shipping fees. Other than that, they are a great company to deal with, fast service, great customer service and great products.

Thanks Darlene for checking this out & letting me know so that I can pass this information on to others who are looking for this stamp set.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Day 2 - I Have a Thing For Pink

I have a thing for pink! I love how some companies help to sponsor Breast Cancer awareness & raise money for it by putting out unique products. Last year I found a neat pair of Fiskars scissors that I just had to have. I also bought a pair of scissors for my sister as well as gave her some cool pink pj’s to wear in the hospital. Then I ended up finding this adorable pink shoe scotch tape dispenser that I had to have too. The year before I bought all the women close to me pink umbrella’s.This year I spotted some new pink items to add to my collection…a pretty pink pen set by Paper Mate, an adorable purse pop up note dispenser by Post Its for my desk and a Pink Fire Safe by SentrySafe. I’ve been wanting to buy a fire safe for some time now to keep my valuable papers, insurance policies, photo’s, birth certificates, etc in. I spotted this one on Friday when I was out shopping & knew I had to have it. Not only was it PINK, the price was right and buying it also donated to Breast Cancer Research. Every penny helps when it comes to research. Not only am I helping a great cause, I’m also getting some cute items to inspire me & to add to my studio.On another note...I’ve had some enquiries about the stamp set that I used for my cards. I’ve scanned it & am posting a picture of it so that you can see it. It is such a beautiful stamp set & I couldn’t resist it. It’s acrylic & made by Paper Inspirations. I think that I bought it from Addicted to Rubber Stamps sometime last year or the year before, I really can’t remember. Here’s a photo of the stamp set & another card that I made for my sister when she was going through her battle with Breast Cancer using it.I also have a stamp set from Stampin Up that I use for cards for breast cancer called “Hope Is” (retired). It has the ribbon stamp, Believe, Love & a verse “Hope is…believing in a brighter tomorrow.” Here’s a card that I made using this stamp set.I hope that you’ve enjoyed today’s post. Have a great day & be sure to check out the other blogs as several will be posting something new for today. TFL!

Friday, October 8, 2010

Pink Blog Hop

I signed up for Karel’s Pink Blog Hop as Breast Cancer Awareness is a subject very near to my heart. My older sister is a 3 times Breast Cancer Survivor. Over the years she has had some difficult times with the diagnosis especially when she was in her late 20’s when she was first diagnosed. She had 20 years of being cancer free only to have it come back a year ago. She went through a very difficult time with the last surgery and is still recuperating. I am doing this blog hop for her as a way of letting her know how thankful I am that she is now cancer free & to have her in my life as well as those who are battling this horrible disease.

Welcome to Karel’s Pink Blog Hop. If you arrived here from Gina’s Stamping Creations -- http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/, you are in the right location. If not you can pick up where you should be or left off from the following list of talented blog participants.

1. One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity – http://karelj.blogspot.com
2. Gina’s Stamping Creations -- http://ginathorntonstamping.blogspot.com/
3. Crafting This Moment -- http://craftingthismoment.blogspot.com/ (YOU ARE HERE)
4. The Cricut Diaries – http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com
5. Sweet Sassy Diva -- http://sweetsassydiva-gspot.blogspot.com/
6. Scrappin’ Sista -- http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com
7. If It’s Groovy -- http://ifitsgroovy.blogspot.com
8. Oh, Snap! -- http://ohsnaplizzie.blogspot.com/
9. Crazy About Cricut – http://crazyaboutcricut.blogspot.com
10. Gen’s Den -- http://www.gensden.com/
11. Peanut Butter and Jelly Designs -- http://peanutbutterandjellydesigns.blogspot.com/
12. Heartfelt Creations --http://heartfeltdesigns.blogspot.com
13. Creations With Becka – http://creationswithbecka.blogspot.com
14. Calie’s Creative Corner – http://caliescreativecorner.blogspot.com
15. Tidbit’s Place – http://tidbitsplace.blogspot.com
16. Gypsy Paperie -- http://gypsypaperie.blogspot.com
17. Life From Marianne’s Table – http://number1aunt.blogspot.com
18. The Suburban Crafter-- http://www.rachelstampshappy.blogspot.com/

Special Giveaway Instructions - To win the $25 gift certificate that Sarah at Pink by Design Store so graciously donated, all you have to do is complete the hop and leave a comment on every blog. On Tuesday, utilizing random.org, a blog number, and then a comment number for that blog will be chosen. The winner will be notified by a posting on One By One The Flamingos Are Stealing My Sanity, by a posting on Karel's Facebook and Twitter Accounts, and every effort will be made to personally contact the winner. Be sure to also check out Sarah's store.

When my sister Donna was diagnosed with cancer a year ago, I found this cancer stamp set and had to buy it. I knew it would be perfect for creating cards of encouragement both for her and others fighting this horrible disease. I sent her a card back then using this stamp set and will again give her one as a celebration for being a survivor.My next project idea is something I’ve had for sitting around for a few years and thought that it’d be perfect for this Pink challenge. A few years ago I found these adorable boxes at our local dollar store. I bought them & they’ve been sitting around all this time waiting for me to put them together. The boxes are all made of a sturdy chipboard and the package came with 4 different box styles with instructions, ribbon, tags & clear buttons to decorate them. All you had to do was punch out the box shapes, fold on the score lines & add some sticky tape in places. So easy, yet so nice! Wouldn’t these be adorable filled with chocolates or something sweet and give to someone fighting cancer?The next stop on your blog hop is The Cricut Diaries – http://cricutdiaries.blogspot.com. Your going to love what she has to share. Thanks for stopping by & enjoy the blog hop.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Think Pink Blog Hop

With October being Breast Cancer Awareness Month, I’ve signed up with Karel at http://karelj.blogspot.com/ to participate in the Think Pink Blog Hop. The hop will be over Columbus Day weekend (October 9-11) and Sarah of Pink Cricut is sponsoring it. She also generously donated a $25 dollar gift certificate!!

Currently there are 17 bloggers signed up for this fabulous event & you’ll have 3 days to visit the blogs. This will give all hoppers three full days to hop, learn new techniques, get project ideas and maybe claim some blog candy!

As a windup to the event Karel is featuring different bloggers who are participating in the event on her blog. Stop by Karel’s blog at http://karelj.blogspot.com/ to see the featured bloggers. The Think Pink Blog Hop will start at Karel’s blog on October 9th. See you at the Hop.

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Shannon's Tool Garland Challenge

Recently Shannon, the Fiskars Community Manager, posted a challenge on the Fiskateer blog to create a Tool Garland. I always enjoy these challenges and thought that this one would be fun. Unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to do this so it wasn't as full as I would have liked it to be. I do plan on adding more tools to my garland.

I used to do a lot of paper piecing when I first started scrapping and I really enjoyed it. Not having a lot of money to buy embellishments when I first started scrapbooking, paper piecing became a great way for me to decorate my layouts. I really enjoyed it but over the last couple of years I have drifted away from it.

For this challenge, I thought that I would try to recreate some of my favorite Fiskars tools by paper piecing. I first traced out a template for each tool onto white cardstock, cut them out and then pieced it back together trying to keep in mind the right colors for each item. Here's what I ended up with:In the past I have done other challenges where I have paper pieced tools. Here's one that I did where we had the template for a girl & had to dress her and add some tools. This was what I came up with for that challenge.Check out her little drill, scissors & squeeze punch.

This last one is a layout that I did where I paper pieced my scissors that were given to me by Fiskars when I joined the Fiskateers. If you are interested in joining the Fiskateers and joining in on some of these fun challenges just go to http://www.fiskateers.com/, click on "How to join" and email Cheryl, Angela, Rebecca or Tami. Hope to see you on the message board. Have a great day!

Friday, September 17, 2010

Here's an Oldie...Twist Paper Basket

During the Orange Blog Hop, I showed you a flower that I made by punching out scalloped circles from the Twist Paper.I have tons of it left over from when I used to make baskets using Twist Paper. Here's a side view of a basket that I made using twist paper.These baskets were made by weaving twist paper around a grocery bag that was lined with heavy cardboard, then batting with a material liner. They were really soft inside. The handle was braided twist paper & then it was finished off with a bow. I made quite a few of these and sold them.

Of course my cat (now deceased) loved to sleep in it. She would squish herself into it & all you'd see was her head & that's where she'd sleep.

Does anyone have any other uses for leftover twist paper besides a cat bed, I mean basket?? lol

Have a great day! TFL

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop Winner

Sorry it took me a little longer than planned but the winner of my Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop RAK is….

Drum Roll Please…….

Betsy said...
I love the bee hive basket so cute!!
Friday, September 10, 2010 1:09:00 PM

Please contact me Betsy & I’ll ship your prize out to you.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments & for a great Blog Hop.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Merlene's Craftateers Challenge.

Merlene, Fiskateer #1166 posted a challenge on the Fiskateer Message Board for a Craft a teers Challenge. Her challenge is for the other things the Fiskateers like to do besides scrapbook pages, and cards. After all we are a crafting community of many diverse interests, and nationalities.

This challenge is open to any type of crafting that you like to do. It can be quilting, sewing, painting, weaving, mixed media, home decor, (we all love to try those cute home decor things for the holidays), basically anything that you love to do.

At one time I used to make baskets out of Twist Paper & sold them, then I got into Tole Painting and sold most of what I did. Now I'm pretty much stuck on card making, scrapbooking and creating mini albums. But when I saw this challenge, I thought that I'd try something new. Awhile ago, I saw this Pop Can Ring bracelet on an etsy site & it's supposed to be similiar to one that was worn by Kristen Stewart/Bella Swan (Twilight). Anyways I thought that I'd see if I could make one. I have to make the next one a bit longer as this one turned out smaller than I'd hoped.P.S. The "hand/wrist" modeling this bracelet is not a real hand, it's one that I'd bought for Halloween. Looks pretty real though.

Fiskateer Online Crop September 10th & 11th

Not only did I participate in this past weekends Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop, I also took time to participate in the Online Crop hosted by Rebecca. As always, Rebecca put together an awesome online crop. She had 15 fun challenges for us to do. Unfortunately I didn’t get all of the challenges done as I was worn out from all the blog hopping I did too. lol Surprising enough, I did manage to do 12 of the 15 challenges.

Challenge #1 - Let's get warmed up!
For this challenge we were to create a card, a scrapbook page or a tag using a Fiskars tool. Post a pic in your gallery along with a description that tells us why you chose that tool!I chose my favorite Fiskars Border Punch “Threading Waters” to use on this card. I like the simplicity of this punch as well as the touch of elegance. You can't really see in the photo but her wings & the little hearts are covered in Dazzling Diamonds & boy do the glitter.

Challenge #2 - Git 'er done for the Holidays!
For this challenge we were to pick one of the upcoming holidays - Halloween (I know it's technically not a holiday), Thanksgiving, or Christmas. Make three or more cards for that holiday!I ended up picking both Halloween & Christmas and did 2 cards for each occasion. I used my CC Design stamps for both cards.

Challenge #3, 4 & 11 I didn’t have time to do.


Challenge #5, 6, 7, 10 & 12 did not require you to make anything. You just followed the instructions on the post to enter the draw.


Challenge #8 Turquoise & Brown
This challenge was to make a scrapbook page, a home decor item or a card using the colors turquoise and brown.I used my Magnolia stamp & made a card. I just love this color combo.

Challenge #9 Do you have a theme song? Craft it!
Do you have a song that you consider your own? Or is there one that you could listen to over and over and over again? Why not craft it? Make a scrapbook page about it, make a card that relates to it somehow, or even create a home decor piece that is somehow tied to the song.Here's the side view of the basket:I really don’t have a “theme” song but as I was making this Witch Hat Basket, the song Witchy Woman kept going through my head. I figured it would be perfect for this basket & challenge. lol

Challenge #13 UFP Completion!
Since the last one seemed to spark a lot of folks to get things done, I'm rolling out another UFP challenge! For those of you that don't know, a UFP is an UnFinished Project. You know, those projects that have been laying around half-done for weeks, months, even years maybe! Take a picture of your project in its unfinished state and post it in your gallery by 9/11/10 at 11 pm EDT. Then, you will have until 9/30/10 at 10 pm EDT to post a picture of the finished project in your gallery.I have so many UFP’s that need to be done but this one is one that caught my attention. I’ve been meaning to do this one since I cut the tree out some time ago. Now that it’s posted here I hope to finish it. I’ll have to dig out some more UFP’s for another time. You'll have to come back to see the finished layout now.

Challenge #14 - Get Scrap Happy
Use your scraps to create a card, layout or altered item!This one was pretty easy. I used my scraps from Challenge #2 and made another Halloween card.

Challenge #15 Me and My....(fill in the blank)
Show some Fiskars love! Post a picture of you and your very favorite Fiskars tool in your gallery.This was an easy one with the exception of my not having just one favorite Fiskars tool, I have several favorite Fiskars tools. See my new Fiskars “In Stitches” Border Punch…I won it during the July Online Crop.

This was definately a crafty weekend for me. I think I finally have my Mojo back. I'll be posting the winner to my blog RAK later today I hope.

Thanks for looking & have a great day!

RAK is now CLOSED

My weekend Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop RAK is now closed & I will be drawing a winner as well as posting a picture of the prize later today I hope. Thanks for all who visited my blog during the blog hop & those who left comments. Thanks for making this first Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop such a huge success.

Friday, September 10, 2010

Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop

Welcome to the Fiskateers Orange Blog Hop. If you came here from Stayce Dewid Fiskateer #2985 Blog (http://www.staycedewid.com) your in the right place. If you accidentally stumbled onto my blog and would like to start at the beginning, you can do so by going to http://fiskateers.com/blog/. (For some reason my links aren't working this morning but if you copy & paste them into your browser, they'll take you to the next blog. I apologise for the inconvenience.)

Let the fun begin….

Twist Paper FlowerI got to thinking that my post isn't very orange so I thought that I'd better add something "orange" to it. I'm into my "flower making" phase right now. I love creating different types of flowers & got to thinking that I have so much of this "twist paper" left over from my basket making days that I should be able to create something with it. So I untwisted some of this paper, flattened it out & inserted it into the scalloped circle punch. I punched out 4 flowers, added a button that I stitched on and viola...a twist paper flower. Now I know what to do with all my left over twist paper.

Accordion File FolderDeciding to get involved with the Fiskateer Orange Blog Hop has motivated me into trying some projects that I’ve wanted to do for sometime. My first project is an Accordion File Folder that Susan Dean had done on the Magnolia blog. I thought that it was such a cute project that I even taught this to my card group this week. I plan on using the little pockets to store my extra Magnolia images but they could also be used to insert gift cards, tags or even some little embellishments & then give it to a new scrapbooker. The little flower is made from pipe cleaners.

Memory KeeperThe next project on my list is a “Memory Keeper”. This idea came from GinaK. This envelope is for keeping your photo’s in until you are ready to scrap them. Also included is journaling cards to write all the important information on. Then when you’re ready to scrap the pictures you also have the journaling ready too. This Memory Keeper is for my son’s girlfriend who recently came back from a Mission trip to the Dominican Republic. According to my son, she’s been talking about getting into scrapbooking now (insert evil laugh). Since I gave her the Twilight Mini Album for her birthday she is now talking more & more about it. She showed me her photo’s when she came back & she has some beautiful pictures. I thought that this memory keeper would be perfect for her Dominican pictures. I hope that she likes it too.

I used the Fiskars “Boundry Waters” border punch on the bottom of the envelope. These colors remind me of summer & would be perfect for vacation photo’s. This envelope is also the perfect size for cards too. You could probably get 3 or 4 cards plus envelopes inside it & give as a gift.

Bee Hive BasketThe next project is one that I did just for fun. It’s a Bee Hive Basket. I used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch to create the handle on it and the Oval & Oval Again Squeeze Punch to create the opening to the hive. The bee’s are Stampin Up that have been colored & glittered. You could fill this basket full of sweets & give it to your “Honey”.

Well I hope that you’ve enjoyed seeing these projects and if you leave me a comment I'm sure that I can put together some little RAK that you could win. (I'll post a picture of the prize that you could win later today). I’m off to do some blog hopping of my own now as well as take part in the Fiskateer Online Crop today & tomorrow. Stop by again as I'm sure that I'll have some new projects, etc to post from the Fiskateers Online Crop.

Since I am the last blog on the list, you can start over or catch up on any blogs you may have missed by going to http://fiskateers.com/blog/. While you’re there, why not join us in the Online Crop.