BABY, IT's COLD OUTSIDE!

Happy Monday to you all!  Only one more week before Christmas….you all ready?  I’m not sure I’m ever 100% ready for anything these days LOL…I always seem to be a step behind BUT I did get Christmas cards out & all my shopping done.  I don’t send many handmade cards…GASP…I make photo cards on SnapFish.  I decided 2 years ago that I was stressing myself out WAYYYY too much and it just wasn’t worth it.  So I send about 10 handmade cards including to my mom & sister or they’ll whine LOL and that’s it.  It has relieved a lot of time and stress for me and was so worth it.  I also don’t scrapbook that much…I do photo books on SnapFish as well for family vacations, special events and one big year-long book that I give as gifts as well.  They are easy to make, fun and are beautiful to have on hand…and with online coupons you can get 2 free with purchase of 1 OR save 55% which is a steal with free shipping.  Every year I reduce the holiday stress a bit more and don’t push myself as hard with everything…makes me a happier person you know.  I used to do a TON of baking but realized NO ONE ate much…so now I just make some fudge and some of our fave cookies but I don’t go over board.  If every gift doesn’t get wrapped perfectly I don’t freak…I just stock up on beautiful gift bags and tissue paper and call it a day.  I prefer to spend the extra time with my family really enjoying the month…those are the things we all remember you know.  YES I am a Christmas tree freak but even this year I only did 9 trees instead of 12 because I knew I wasn’t 100% and couldn’t get it all done the way I wanted….so I did 9 and I’m perfectly happy with them all!  And if I can’t figure out the perfect gift well then I’ll just choose a gift card…not the most original but HEY picking out your own gift is sometimes a FABULOUS gift KWIM…I sure like gift cards LOL   So I hope you have a chance to take it easy this season as well.  We have slowed down a bit, watched some holiday movies, drank hot cocoa with extra whipped cream, walked around our neighborhood with dogs and teens to see the holiday lights, cooked dinner together, decorated together and just enjoyed what the HOLIDAY SEASON really means…FAMILY, LOVE, FUN, FRIENDS, LAUGHTER, JOY AND HAPPINESS…that is what I wish for all of you too!


Slideshow of Decorations at my house…I didn’t get pics of everything but again that is something I refuse to stress about LOL! (click here if you get blog by email to see)


NewsBitz:


-Today kicks off Challenge #3 which is a fun Seek-n-Find Picture for the Holiday Bash at CMC…to see it click HERE!  Remember everyone can join in the fun, all challenges can be entered until Jan 4th, so you have plenty of time to participate.  And with each challenge you complete you get a chance to win a NEW Silhouette Cameo and other prizes…check out the PRIZES…whoowhee there are so many great ones. And you can check our charity fundraiser HERE as well…it’s a great cause and gets you some more chances to win!  So hop on over..what are you waiting for..its ALL ABOUT FUN!!

-Don't forget to enter the Magnolia-licious Challenge HERE as well...enter your holiday tags with Magnolia stamps for a chance at a $50 GC!!

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BABY, IT's COLD OUTSIDE!

I hear y'all singing...Baby, its cooooolllldddd outside....I love that song especially cuz' it reminds me of my fave movie "ELF" LOL!  Yup today I have another Stamping Bella…I can’t help myself, I love them LOL!  AND guess what?  SCACD has them on SALE this week HERE…15% off whoohooo!  So go buy a few…you know you want to…you know you NEED at least one right? Ahahahaha trust me I buy and am enabled as much as I enable y’all They are too much fun to color and I HAD to use this one “Quinn & Her Boots”..I love that name Quinn…if I had another kid (which I am sooo NOT) I’d use that name!

I'm entering her into the following fab challenges:

Challenges 4 Everybody (anything goes)

Come & Get It Challenges (Christmas)

Dream Valley Challenges (Christmas)

Opus Gluei Challenges (Christmas/Winter Songs)

Stamptacular Sunday (Christmas)

The Hybrid Chick/Card Caravan (Christmas)

Twice in a row I used NO patterned paper…oh my…I’m on a roll and darn it I have a TON of paper to use too heehee!  I love pinks & grays together and I don’t use them often enough so I paired the two here.  That’s PTI cardstock in silver shimmer which embosses beautifully with a CB folder.  (the other color is Melon Berry)  The decorative corners were done with an SCACD die called “Garden Corners”.  The snowflakes were done with a Marianne Design’s die and then smothered them with stardust Stickles LOL.  Ribbons were tied with a Bow Easy and then I used my fave MS Snow Glitter at her feet.  I put down a line of Tacky Glue along the sides of the image and on the sentiment and added DecoArt’s Glamour Dust..I also added it for snowflakes around the image (love, love me some Glamour Dust)

I colored with Copics R22,R20,R11,R0000 / C5,C3,C1,C00 / E11,E00, E59,E31,E50.  Then the blue was done with my Caran-Dache Neo Colors, I used these in past art classes & forgot how much I loved them.  They are expensive yes but they work so beautifully…you can smudge them with your fingers, leave them as is or use water with them.  I used my Tim Holtz waterbrush to blend out the blue a bit around the image..I love the vivid color and then that you can blend them out softly and yes I used them on my Cryogen Iridescent cs.  I used Doodlebug Flock on her hat and boot trims and Stickles on her coat trim.

That’s it for me…have a wonderful day everyone!