Izbzee

ever grateful...

We are so blessed!  With all that could have happened, but didn't -- we are so grateful for those guardian angels watching over our travelers.  Prayers were and are answered each and every day.

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Today's thought is:

When you arise in the morning,

think of what a precious privilege is it

to be alive -- to breathe,

to think, to enjoy,

to love.

Marcus Aurelius

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I got a little bit of  "playing" time in yesterday.  Decided to recycle some chipboard and I do like the results.  

Click on the pic for a larger view -- I started with just some plain chipboard.  I cut the oval with my Nestabilities oval die.  Because it was thin chipboard, I cut 2 and used double sided adhesive to secure the two pieces together.  I used the crop-o-dile to make the hole.

I looked through some of my scraps and pulled a couple of small pieces out to cover the pendant front and back.  I ran the pendant piece through the xyron machine and applied the paper.  Trimmed the excess paper away, punched the hole and then repeated the process to cover the other side of the pendant.  

Using an emery board, I sanded the edges.  There are a couple of ways to finish off the edges.  One is to use a marker to color the edge or use versamark ink and embossing powder in gold, silver white or clear.  I then put a pretty thick coating of Glossy Accents on the front side of the pendant to seal it -- let it dry on the release paper from the xyron machine.  It will take several hours depending on how thick the coating is.  I did add a "monogram" to the front of each of these samples as a test - they look okay, but I'm now eyeing a new set of monogram stamps and  letters I can rub on or transfer for future projects.  

   

I added some pearls and a rhinestone for another detail -- but not really sure I like that -- in essence I definitely see more play time with these in the future.  And I'm really not out much in the way of $$ either!  Great fun and a quick project for an afternoon or evening.  
 
 

 

Brilliant and bright

that's exactly what it's looking like out the back window this morning.  While the sun's rays aren't hitting directly on the snow -- the sky is a brilliant blue and the beams of sunshine are bright and casting a wonderful glow to surfaces all about.  It's Gorgeous!  

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Today's thought is:

Whenever you see darkness,

there is extraordinary opportunity

for the light to burn brighter.

Bono

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Last evening, I took a little bit of time to play with creating a calendar to replace one I'd done last year...it only took a little while to get things done and resized to fit 3 months to a page.  SWEET!  S did this last year...so I think I may gift her with a copy of the calendar file so she can do the same if she'd like -- 

        

Here's a Download 2010 minicalendar  pdf file of the calendar if you're interested in doing the same thing.  The finished size of each page is 5.5 x 4.25 inches.  We used a really stiff cardstock for the base.  Stamp sets are SU, Papertreyink.  Scalloped circle and circles cut with Nestabilities circle dies.  Inks, SU; Glossy Accents, Ribbon:  HL

Thanks for dropping by!  Happy Crafting and nurturing  your creativity!  TYGITJ!  

 
 
 
 

quiet, gentle morning

It's Sunday and the morning -- there's still a blanket of white covering the ground.  Well, almost all over - we've had a bit of melting and some more blowing - there is a bare spot in the front yard, but the drifts are still 3 - 4 ft in most spots. And, due to weather, our church meetings have been cancelled today -- BYU-TV is beaming on the wall.  The Spoken Word is next up on the broadcasting schedule!  I love hearing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir sing!  

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Today's thought is:

It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you...

 Yes, it is Christmas every time you smile at your brother 

 and offer him your hand.  

 Mother Teresa

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Even though our Nurturing Creativity class was cancelled yesterday, I did take a bit of time to play and had some fun with something that I saw over on Gina K's Stamp TV site.  It's just one of the many gift card holder templates on the internet or in the magazines.  Since I give gift cards as birthday gifts to the gals, these are perfect!  You can get 2 cards from one 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of cardstock and nearly two from a 12 inch sq piece of patterned paper.  

 
CS:  SU!

Ink:   SU!

Patterned Paper:  unknown

Stamps: OT

Ribbon:  Gina K

Templates:  Gina K

Cards:  Avery

Other:  Printshop, Computer, Photo Elements

Easily adaptable to any other occasion as well!  Have fun!

Thanks for dropping by and hope your weekend is a grand one!  TYGITJ!
 

Christmas Day and the blizzard of 2009

Merry Christmas!

It's been a glorious day -- full of cheer and happiness and remembrance of the real reason for the season -celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  

We're not quite "snowed in" anymore.  There is a pathway to the driveway, the cars run and have made it up and down the street twice today since Andrea had to work and her vehicle is stuck in a drift at the store...and no, she didn't put it there either.

We've enjoyed having the kids here -- we have taken a few pictures, but if you want to see, you can stop over at haileeandtj.blogspot.com for a looksie.

Here's a few of the pics from yesterday's storm.  The large drift in the front of the house measured at 31 inches deep.  I thought it might have been a little deeper -- and the one in the back yard is definitely a little deeper -- but I couldn't get the tape down to the concrete -- there's some ice underneath that pile of snow!  It is nearly level with the top of the hot tub decking....and runs nearly the length of the pool - about 40 feet. 

 
 
    
 
 
 

Oh, and yes, we did have freshly made donuts -- and from the recent chatter on Facebook, I guess we'll be making another couple of dozen to share with some friends over the next few days.  Hope those batches will turn out as good!  ;D  

 

Busted keeps trying to check out the new ice skating pond in the pool cover - if he's careful, he can get back up and out - but not always and needs a pull to get him back onto the patio.  

I've thought about doing some crafting -- and that's as far as I've gotten.  I need to get a few things finished and checked off the list before heading out to AZ the middle of next month.  Maybe I can squeeze in an hour or two tomorrow.  

Busy-ness reigns this morning.  There's laundry going from the washer to the dryer and then on to be folded and put away.  Chocolate-Pumpkin bread baking and a large pot of beans on the stove nearly ready to combine with the rest of the ingredients for a hearty chili.  Intertwine all of that with a few files that need updating, answering emails and the phone.  For a moment, I was juggling quite well!  8D 

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Today's thought:

My idea of Christmas, whether old fashioned or modern, is very simple:  

loving others. 

 Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?  

Bob Hope

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Well, the pictures from the kids' card making are finally uploaded and resized.  PHEW!  I was wondering if I'd ever get caught up on that.  Luckily, I was able to squeeze it in between a series of emails and checking on the baking and cooking! 

Here they are -- Mike decided he wanted to share a few cards with some of his friends in Mexico -- so he took advantage of an SU stamp set I had purchased in Spanish.  I think he was pretty excited to know that it was his set to take  home with him too.  

  
 
 There are several other photos, but it's time to move on to the next project and hope that I can get a few things crossed off the list before everyone gets here.  

Thanks for dropping by.  TYGITJ!  
 

I admit it....

I've been slacking on the blogging!  It's a given since I've not been here for several days!  I can't imagine what has been keeping me away - maybe it's purelythat we've enjoyed having Mike around for a few days as well as Kallie who came for a few days as well.  What a fun and wonderful time the past week has been.  It's been awesome and we miss them both already!

 

Andrea's been busy in the kitchen.  She's made all sorts of chocolaty goodies and the counter is filled with more bags of glorious flavors shared by a wonderful friend.  I'm having a hard time deciding which one to start with -- so going to put that off for another 24 hours or so.  :D

We've been enjoying the sounds of the Season and listening to http://yldsr.com fills the room with the glorious sounds throughout the day and into the evening hours.  

Friends have been sharing pictures of the snows they've been receiving with the recent storms.  I'm thinking we've been pretty blessed so far.  No serious storms or icing -- and hopefully, we'll continue to be blessed and not experience any.  

We are looking forward to the next wave of "visitors" coming in tomorrow afternoon provided the weather to the north allows for safe travel.  It will be our last opportunity to hold and cuddle with baby Adi for a while.  School starts early next month-- and they want to be settled in their apartment before TJ gets really involved with studies and work.

During our trip on Sunday, we just happened to be on the Kansas plains at sundown.  Oh, the sky was beautiful.  I'm still waiting for the pics to get to my inbox -- sometimes the media messages seem to take forever!  And I hope the pics look ok once I get them into the photo editor.

I've spent several hours creating some designs/logos for some products the foundation is looking at producing.  Hopefully, we'll have a decision regarding the selection soon.  Sounds like the first cut has been made - We'll see how it all goes and if we can have them ready for the training in January.  24days and counting!!!! 

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Today's thought is:

Christmas is not just a time of festivity and merry making. 

 It is more than that.  

 It is a time for the contemplation of eternal things.  

 The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving.  

J C Penny

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Make it a great day!  Thanks for stopping by!

TYGITJ!

The weather yesterday was nearly perfect for a mini photo shoot of Mike and Kallie.  The leaves we've not yet raked up just added a bit more texture and fun -- we'll be sad to see both of them in just a few short days...we've really enjoyed spending time with them.

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Today's thought is:

You have to look for the joy.
  Look for the light of God that is hitting your life,
 and you will find sparkles you didn't know were there.  

Barbara Johnson

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Not much new in the way of crafting at the moment, though the kids have been busy playing and creating.  It's been fun to watch them and view their creativity and "nurturing" personal style and imagination!  Both are very talented and artistic!  They'll each be taking a stack of "one of a kind" cards home with them.  Hoping to get a few pictures printed out for them too today.  

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a wonder-filled day!  TYGITJ

  

heavenly

I just happened to take a peek out the window at just the right moment and chanced to see the beauty and majesty of this morning's sunrise.  WOW!  

                                                               

 

There was a beautiful heavenly glow in the sky -- sure got another portion of the morning off to a good start.  

We're excited to have Mike here with us this week.  He's still talking with a Spanish accent and occasionally has a problem remembering a word in Englishand he's still not used to drinking water from the tap -- we have to keep reminding him that the water is safe to drink here. 

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Today's thought is:

I was worthless, until I decided to be worth more.  Kim Jeffery

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No new crafty pics to share this morning, but maybe later if today goes as I hope -- and maybe even a sneak peek at the covers of the books we're about to publish!  WOOT!   WOOT!  I'm seeing the light again at the end of that tunnel as well.

Oh, and I hope you'll take a moment or two today to CELEBRATE some greatness - large or small!  TYGITJ!  

 

Warming trend?

We certainly can hope after the past few days of very cold temps!  I'm looking forward to some 40's today!

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Today's thought is:

Maybe Christmas, he thought,

doesn't come from a store.

Maybe Christmas...perhaps...

means a little bit more.

Dr Seuss

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Blog surfing yesterday brought a couple of good finds -- more in the way of just ideas to store away for a future day.  I'm excited and looking forward to more "blurfing" hopefully, this afternoon after all the regular stuff for the day is D O N E !  

I got a couple more ornaments put together last night and have components cut out for 8 more.  I should be able to get them put together and ready for gifting and mailing before we have to leave for an activity at the church this evening.  L and R should be there as well as a few other friends.  Looking forward to seeing them.

Here's a few pics of what's decorating the house these days:

    
 

Thanks for dropping by - Have a fabulous day!  Take care and enjoy the journey and honor your GREATNESS!

Thursday! SWEET!

Outside, the temp is hovering around 12 degrees.  BRRR!  Bundling up will be the order of the day just to go fetch the mail a little bit later.  It's been a bit on the busy side around here -- though a lot of time has been spent on the computer, it seems harder and harder to get any blogging done...today is catch up day.... Hoping too that this sore throats disappears as the day goes on!

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Today's thought is:

Laughter is the brush that sweeps away

 the cobwebs of your heart.  

Mort Walker

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There has been a bit of crafting going on -- mostly in the way of cards and some graphic design for a local restaurant.  Can't share their stuff, but this last batch of cards are now on their way via priority mail and a few new ideas have come through emai and some print magazinesl and are finding their way to finished projects.

Yesterday, the You Can Make This dot come newsletter shared an idea using glass blocks.  I just happened to have two "waiting" to be dressed up for the holidays -- and their idea was very easy and a quick to make project.  I think I had more problems getting the photo to the right size.  The blocks are recycled - taken from a window that was replaced and given to me by a friend.  The photo is a cropped copy of a print I own.  The vinyl is from Cricut and I used my Slice (FaLaLa and Design Basics 3 cards)  for the cuts on the front of the block.  The wired ribbon and tulle are from my stash.

The lighting on this one really puts a yellow cast on the image, but it was the only way to cut down on the glare and flash last evening.  These would be great for make and takes and costs would be less than $10 a block.  You can find the blocks at major home and improvement stores (Home Depot, Lowes and some window stores will sell them too for about $5 each).  

The next picture is of an ornament I found called Season's Greetings in the latest Handmade magazine.  The design is by Hilary Kanwischer.  Plans are to adapt this a bit on the next couple I make using a different frame -- and may or may not use wire for the hanger.  Still thinking on that.  The colors are a bit dull in the pics - and dang it, the glitter isn't glistening.  Might have to retake some pics today in better lighting.

Papers are from SU!, BoBunny; Glitter, HL; Ribbon, Stash; Tag die, Sizzix for SU! (I trimmed it down just a bit); Tree Cut, Flower Frame Slice Machine (FaLaLa card, Basic Design 1), Making Memories; Markers, Ink, Adhesive, SU!; Crop-o-dile.

Click on the pic for a larger view.  These are relatively quick to put together once you have the components cuts and ready.  Have Fun and enjoy a day filled with laughter and joy!  Thanks for dropping by!  TYGITJ!