Jumbo Snowman Box

I have been eyeing this snowman from Stampendous for some time now. While me and hubby were out at Lowe's I stopped in at Archivers, and there he was just calling my name! This stamp set is so versatile. You can contort the snowman and make him into different shapes. Way cool!!!! Now for the window box I got the idea from Kitty's Craftblog
She used frosted sheets for the cutout on the box, but since I didn't have any, and I also think that they would not have worked with the snowman I used a piece of acetate instead.
Colors used: Pacific Point, Lavendar Lace, Pumpkin Pie, Real Red, Whisper White. Ink Jet Black StazOn.







The snowflakes at the bottom I also bought yesterday at Archivers. The felt flakes were in a generous size package which included white, purple and blue.
Finished box size is about 4 x 5

We are still working on the living room. Lots to do. Hubby decided he does want the wood floor. I swear he has changed his time more in the last few days than I thought he ever could. So we have most of the stuff out of the living room. Of course all the stuff is all over the rest of the house. LOL The only room that was spared is my stamp room. That is only because it's not big enough to hold anything else. Too much stamping stuff in there!!!!




We finished off the last of the "bird" yesterday. I made a big pot of homemade turkey soup. Was it ever good!!!!! My mom in law Kate gave me the recipe years ago not to long after I married Skip. She even taught me how to make it. (Yes I couldn't cook when I got married.....mom never taught me) Anyway.....here is my recipe.

Turkey Soup

Bones and Skin from the bird

3 chicken bullion cubes (I used the sodium free ones)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 tsp poultry seasoning

1 cup diced carrots

1 cup diced celery

1 medium chopped onion

3 tablespoons barley or rice (sometimes I use noodles instead)

1 tablespoon parsley flakes

Turkey cut in pieces

Cubed potatoes if desired

Boil and simmer bones skin, salt, bay leaf, and poultry seasoning 1 1/2 hours

Strain the both into another pan

Add remaining ingredients to broth

Cover and simmer 1/2 hour or until veggies are soft. Season to taste with salt and pepper

Weight Loss Blog Candy Winner!

And the Weight Loss Blog Candy winner is:
drum roll please...................
Kathy!

Here is Kathy's comment:

Karen,I AM SOOOO PROUD OF YOU!!!! You look absolutely fabulous!!!!! Keep up the wonderful progress and we will be swapping clothes before you know it!! Stay warm!!Love, Kat

Big congrats!!!!!! Thanks to everyone who entered. I'm at 52 pounds so I'll need to lose another 8 more pounds before the next chance to win some blog candy.

Stamping Trails

Karen 221

S'More Please

Isn't this cute!!!! Not my idea. I saw it somewhere but I really don't remember where. I looked all over for the Peeps snowman and finally found it this morning at Walgreens. I'll be making lots more, but I may change the design for the topper a bit. Since I plan on sending these to some people I didn't want the marshmallow or graham crackers to get stale. I put each of them in a separate zip lock bag.

I did pretty well yesterday and didn't over eat. With the holidays I worried about that. Normally I'd hoist on the old feed bag and graze all day long. We had dinner at 1:30. I got up and got the turkey in the oven then had breakfast, oatmeal and an orange. I found a great way to spice up my oatmeal. After the oatmeal is cooked I add 3 tablespoons of canned pure pumpkin (not the pumpkin pie stuff), 1 tsp of Splenda brown sugar, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice.

YUM!!!!!! Also to keep me from over eating at the dinner table I put on my tightest pair of pants. That worked!!! And speaking of pants. Sarah and I went to visit with mom yesterday afternoon and brought her some homemade dinner. Which she really enjoyed. She grabbed my pants and started to shake them. You see my tightest pair of blue jeans are really to big for me now. I can pull them up and take them down without even unzipping or doing the button. Mom was trying to tell me that I had lost more weight. Bless her heart! That made my day knowing she is still watching what I'm doing.

The house is a complete mess. We are repainting the living room over the weekend, and hubby is now thinking about also replacing the carpeting. I hope so! It really needs a change. I'm going to take pics along the way so you can see how it goes. Of course I picked out a SU color theme.

The furniture is Mellow Moss, accent colors burgundy, and the walls are going to be So Saffron. So excited!!!! We ordered the furniture on Wednesday it will take two weeks to get here.

Don't forget today is the last day to try to win some Non Calorie Blog Candy. Drawing at 6 pm est.

Stamping Trials.

Karen 221

More Snowflakes/WW Token

I'm in the mood for flakes! Since we have got lots of snow early in the season. Another 5 inches last night. Going to be a white Turkey day!!!

I picked these "flakes" up at Pat Catan's. I love the size of the felt snowflakes. I'm going to pop off the center pieces and use them in my cards. Also picked up the Cuttlebug snowflake die. I'm looking for the Nestibilites snowflake dies. My friend told me she saw them at Hobby Lobby so if the weather isn't too bad when I get off work I'm going to take a drive out there and check it out.

So happy that it's Wednesday. Last working day for the week. I'm also happy that I found out my job is giving us a bonus holiday. So we are getting an extra day for New Years. We get off Wed, Thurs, and Fri. Good deal!!!!! I'll also have the entire week of Christmas off. YAY. I saved back two vacation days for Mon, and Tues. We get to use our floating holiday so the rest of the week will be covered.

I haven't shown you my "stars" lately. The bookmark is really getting filled up. The 5 stars are for each 5 pounds lost. The bravo stars are given when you share with the group at the meeting. The key chain they give you when you reach 10% of your body weight lost, and the disk that you see on the chain was given to me when I hit the 50 pound mark last week. No weigh in this week. Our meetings are on Thursday so the leader will be having Thanksgiving! LOL

Stamping Trails.

Karen 221

More Gift Containers

Working on some more gift containers. This tin I picked up at the Target dollar spot the summer before last. Didn't know what I was going to do with the tin, but thought for 1 dollar per tin I would use them at some point. Paper is from BasicGrey Wassail.

Stamp set is from See-Dee's. I didn't paint the tin but I did have to paint the lid. Used white acrylic paint for that. Now the lid was the easiest part. After painting three times with white I just added some of the matching stickers that came in the 12 x 12 paper pack

Well I made it through yesterday at work. Only 2 more working days. Thank goodness for that!!!!

We have more chance of snow. Maybe I'll be able to make a snowman for Thanksgiving! Hey with all the paint fumes that will be in the house I'm sure it will be good to get out into some fresh air.

Stamping Trails

Karen 221

Non Calorie Mini Pizza Box

Isn't this little ginger bread man cute!!! He's on a mini pizza box. Directions for the box can be found on Score Pal site. So quick and easy to make. Also played with the Nestibilites to create the layering behind the gingerbread man. He is cut from Creamy Caramel card stock. Layered on Real Red and Whisper white. I've been working on packaging ideas for Christmas gifts. This one is a keeper. Some have been making 3x3 cards to fill the box. I'm thinking it's the perfect size for some embellishments. Would even work to put one large cookie in.

My house is a compete mess!!!! The old couch was moved out. The living room couch has been moved downstairs into the family room. The living room is looking bare! Only thing in there to sit on is the chair. We are not going to keep it as it's to big to bring down the steps. So out it goes. Skip is going to go pick up the new stuff today.

Me and Sarah went out yesterday an bummed around. It was fun. Stopped at Applebee's for lunch. (well early dinner really at it was about 3:30) Then we did some shopping. Ended up at Pat Catan's. We are putting up a 3 foot Barbie tree this year. I have lots of Hallmark Barbie ornaments so we thought a theme tree would be fun. She is making the pink tree skirt for it. We got some clear ornaments yesterday and later in the evening we filled them with different shades of pink paint. They are still drying I'll post a pic tomorrow.

Okay need to grab some breakfast and get dressed for work. I'm thankful we only have 3 working days this week. YAY

Stamping trails

Karen 221

Furniture Shopping

Did you ever have one of those days when had your day planned then something came up? Well that was me yesterday. I had planned to huddle in all day as it was snowing, and just doing some stamping. Hubby sprung it on me yesterday that he wanted to replace the living room furniture. Which is not a bad thing...I just didn't plan on doing that yesterday. We drove to several stores, and did finally agree on something we both could live with. Skip will go back out today and pick it up.

Now the house is going to be topsy turvy for a bit. As the old couch in the family room was taken out last night. The old furniture in the upstairs living room is being brought down stairs to family room (we have a split level house), then the new stuff has to come in.....and on top of that....remember my four day weekend that coming up? The same 4 day weekend I was planning to get lots of stamping time in? Well that's going to be cut short. We are going to spend the weekend painting the living room. Again not that it's a bad thing. It needs to be done. The tree will be going up late this year. Traditional it goes up the day after Thanksgiving. Not this year. Don't think I'll be able to get it up till the following weekend.

Okay I've rambled on enough about the living room! LOL

The card is made from SU Star of Wonder stamp set. Another oldie. This card represents the last card I needed to finish for the challenge card swap I'm in. YAY!!!!! You can't tell it in the pic put the side of the card that appears to be blank was embossed using a musical Cuttlebug embossing folder. This wasn't what I had planned for the card, but I'm happy with it.

Okay I need to get dressed and go visit mom. Really going to be busy today. Skip sold a cord of wood. (from a tree he cut down in our backyard over the summer), and has to deliver it by 1 today. Son John has to go to work at 5 so we need to also get the furniture moved around. I saw when I came downstairs that they did get the couch out of the family room last night.

Big Birthday Hugs to my little girl Sarah! Well not so little anymore. My first born is 26 today. She's at home happily sleeping in. Don't know where all the years went but it seems like they just flew by.

Stamping Trails!

Karen 221

Saturday Morning Stamping Time

Saturday morning is a perfect time for me to stamp. Hubby and son are still sleeping. The house is peaceful and silent. I'm typing this up and enjoying a hot cup of coffee watching the snow falling gently out the window. Ahhhh....so nice! I like snow.......not when I have to get up early to clean the car off and heat it up. I like snow when I can enjoy seeing the big white fluffy flakes fall knowing that I don't have to be anywhere I can just enjoy it. Ahhhh.......

Okay now to the card. I have Mary Jo to thank for putting the tutorial on her blog for this corner punch medallion. So easy to do! Click on the card for a larger image. The embossing plate I used from Cuttlebug isn't showing as well in the scan as I had hope it would.

Cardstock: Red Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, Shimmery White (for the main image), Very Vanilla.

I also used another Cuttlebug folder for the layer under the main image. Base card is 5 1/2 x 5 1/2. Just love this card!!!!! Stamp set is from SU Christmas Carolers.

Well......while everyone else in the family is still asleep I'm going to go get some more stamping done.

Stamping Trails

Karen 221

50 lb Weight Loss Blog Candy!

I still can't believe I've lost over 50 pounds! I feel like I'm a contestant on the Biggest Loser.

As promised here is another chance for you to win some Non Calorie Blog Candy. For new readers I post Weight Loss blog candy every time I reach another 10 pounds of weight loss. So I lose you win!

Up for grabs this time is a selection of SNOW!!!! It's currently snowing outside my window and we are going to get up to 4 inches. Oh bother!!! But it does look very pretty.

So here is what you could win: Snow frame artwork, snowman card, large felt snowflakes, snowflake brads, Cuttlebug Snowman embossing folder, snow ribbon by Offray, silver and blue spool of ribbon, white sparkled ribbon, and a pack of 18 sheets of white cardstock. WOW what a great snowy package of goodies could arrive at your door. How do I win you might ask...........

Just post a comment on the blog from now till Black Friday 11-28-08. I still have lots of weight to lose (another 75 pounds) so send me some encouraging words. I'll enter you to win the blog candy. Winner will be announced at 6 pm est 11/28. Remember that your post won't show on my blog till I approve the comment. There have been some strange posts going around so I don't want anything not approved on the blog. Good luck everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

Lots of Large Clothes!

Look at me!!!!! 52 pounds lighter!!!!! I went for my weigh in this morning and the scales moved down again. I can't believe I've lost this much since

6-4-08. So you all know that I'll be posting blog candy in honour of dropping another 10 pounds. But first I wanted to share a new photo of me.

All the clothes you see around me are clothes from my larger days. I'll be donating the business clothes to Dress for Success, and the rest of the clothes will be given to Good Will. I'm so happy to be able to share the clothes to worthy causes.

The box and the bags you see behind me are also full of clothes. I didn't know I owned so much! I can tell you that by losing weight I have lots more room in my closet and dresser drawers.

Everyone at this morning's meeting clapped for me when they found out I reached another milestone. I was given my 50 pound token to be added to my key chain I received from WW when I reached my 10% goal. I went through my day at work just walking on a cloud. Life is good!!!!!

Keep watching I'll be posting Weight Loss Blog Candy tomorrow.

Stamping Trails

Karen 221

Happy Mail

Received wonderful cards from Kat this week. Just love when the mailbox is full of nice artwork! Thanks Kat!

I'll be posting again later today. I have to go to my weigh in. I'm sure I got to a total of 50 pounds lost, but need to make it official with the weigh in. So check back with me later I'll have Weight Loss Blog candy posted. YAY

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Top Note Again

I know what you are thinking.....that felt snowflake is larger than the bag it is on, but hey I like it. And I love the Top Note die. So fun to work with. Very versatile. Used Winter Post once again on this project. Love that set also. Handle on the bag was made with the large oval punch.

OMG it took me 45 minutes to drive home last night from work. It had been snowing a lot! The roads were really bad. Thank goodness I have four wheel drive. There were cars sliding around all over the place. I am so not ready for a snowy winter. It got really cold last night. Went down into the teens. Not ready for that either.

One thing I'll say about cold weather......it makes soup that much better!!! Here is what I made yesterday in the crockpot

It's called Zero soup. They have the recipe in book one from WW but this is an Italian twist to the recipe.

10 oz baby spinach

2 medium carrots chopped

2 celery ribs chopped

1 large onion chopped

1 medium garlic clove minced

4 cup fat free chicken broth

28 oz canned diced tomatoes

2 bay leaf

1 tbsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Place it all in a crock pot, set on high for 5 hours. Enjoy!!!!!! This soup has zero points per one cup serving.

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Top Note Die

WOW you can do so many cool things with this die from SU. You can order the die from the SU Holiday mini catalog. I found out you can also use this die in the Cuttlebug. If you are not going to purchase the Big Shot and have the Cuttlebug....what are you waiting for??????? Buy this die! It's awesome.

I used the die to make a full card. Stamp set is also new. Found once again in the Holiday mini. I really wanted to put bells on the deer collars but I couldn't find my small ones. The reins on the deers necks is linen thread.

I cut another piece of cardstock using the same die and cut it just a little over half. This was glued to the inside card. Perfect little pocket to slip a gift card into.

OMG I was so happy to find out I won Blog Candy on Chrissy's blog Thanks bunches Chrissy!!!! I selected her snowflake stamp set. Can't wait to receive that. Just love stamping snowflakes...not the real ones so much. Well I take that back the snow was so pretty today. It snowed most of the day. The trees were all covered in white. I just don't like to drive in it when the roads are bad. Thankfully the roads were not so bad on the way home from work.

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Gator

My first attempt at Snake Skin technique. Still working on a word to go with this card. I was thinking

"Smile" under the gator, then on the inside put "It will get better"

Or on the front put "Rough Day?" Then on the inside put "Smooth it out", and have a hand lotion sample attached to the inside card. Still kicking it around.

I did get to use my distressed inks for the background. I'm happy when I can get some use out the many supplies I have floating around my room.

Snowed here yesterday. Not much, but it's still coming down. We went out to eat with my brother's family last night at 7. I didn't want to eat so late so........I ate a light dinner at home at 5 then ordered steamed veggies. The veggies came with white rice, but I didn't eat the rice just the veggies. It was a good decision. I got on the scale this morning and have lost some since my weigh in on Thursday. So I've lost a bit over 50 pounds to date. YAY.

Going to get dressed and go visit with mom for a bit.

Stamping Trails.

Karen 224

This Old Guitar

My brother and I both played guitars. Dad sent us for lessons. I was in 6th grade and Tony was in 8th. We went on Saturdays. Our first teacher was Mr. Tomka. While in college we learned how to play Classical guitar. Now me in my wisdom (not) decided to get rid of my classical years ago. Back when Sarah was still a toddler. Anyway I always regretted letting the guitar go. I had another guitar that my husband Skip bought me. With moving around a lot in the Navy I just didn't think I should be toting around more than one guitar, but the one hubby gave me was not a classical. Time moved on and we moved around from place to place. Always far away from my home in Ohio. When Skip's duty was up in Guam we got to move back to Ohio. It was in November. Tony and his family met us at the airport with coats. After living 3 years in Guam we didn't own coats. I still remember greeting Tony and the family. It was like the years and the miles didn't matter anymore. I was home! We stayed with my brother for a bit and it was then that I picked up his classical and started playing it again. Tony had long since stopped playing it as he preferred his electric guitars. He let me borrow the guitar so I could play. That Christmas when his family came over for the holidays he had made me a certificate of ownership. He gave me the guitar. Now Tony was the only one who could string the guitar. Since he died I stopped playing again. The strings were getting worn and needed to be changed. My son John knowing what the guitar meant to me took it to his guitar teacher and got it restrung. So I'm playing once again Tony. Today would have been Tony's 52 nd birthday. I miss you very much Tony, and think of you everyday. I know if there is a Rock and Roll Heaven you are there still playing. Love your sister. Karen

Snow Friends

Okay this is not normally my style but hey the stamp was only a buck. The large snowflake is really from a boxed set of felt drink coasters. Colors are off white and brown. Looking forward to using the brown flakes in a natural card. The only thing holding the flake on is the gold brad. Color used: Close to Cocoa, Mellow Moss, Ruby Red, Very Vanilla. The ribbon is from the SU Holiday Mini. Base card was embossed with snowflake Fiskers plate using the Big Shot.

Not happy about my weigh in yesterday. I'm .6 away from losing 50 pounds. Sorry readers but the Weight Loss Blog Candy will have to wait till next week. Must have been that Applebee's food that Hubby forced fed me on Sunday. LOL

Looking forward to Thanksgiving, not for the food but for the fact I will have a 4 day weekend. YAY. I need that time to get a jump start on my Christmas gifts/crafts, and card making.

So happy that today is Friday the work week has really been dragging for me.

Kat......I did buy the circle Nestibilites at the craft show, but they are the small ones. The ones I bought from Pat Catan's yesterday are the large circles. Thanks for your help!

Stamping Trails.

Karen 224

Favorite Christmas Stamp

Yultide Montage has to be my favorite Christmas stamp set. Love the vintage look.

Used some new designer paper again. Since I had already cut into a sheet of Wassail paper I decided to use some more of it for this card. The holly print goes so well with Always Artichoke. Don't know if you can see it in the pic (click on it for larger view) but I used the holly Cuttlebug folder to emboss the print and the Rose Red cardstock. I also used some of the stickers that came in the 12x12 pack of Wassail paper by BasicGrey. I wanted them to pop a bit so I mounted the stickers to pop dots. Background was stamped with Linen Background using Always Artichoke ink. Other ink used: Regal Rose, Rose Red, Close to Cocoa, Barely Banana, Jet Black StazOn. Now the layout came from Monday's Lunch Challenge from MaryJo Just love the layouts Mary comes up with.

Today is weigh in day. I'm so close to reaching 50 pounds. I'll let you know tomorrow how I do. I have to start thinking about putting together a Weight Loss Blog Candy for you to try to win. Just love non calorie blog candy. Don't have to worry about it going to your hips!!!

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Christmas Ornament Card

In the mood for Christmas! I found the template for the ornament card from Sara Sandberg check out her site. She has some great ideas on it.

Stamp set by SU Deer Friends. For the ornament I used a circle embossing plate by Sizzix. I really enjoy using these plates. They are larger than the Cuttlebug folders so they cover more cardstock than the standard A2 size card. Got carried away embossing the card. After I use the plate I inked the top with craft white ink, then added clear embossing powder. Didn't like how the white was muted, so I inked over it again with white craft ink and then use iridescent ice powder. Much better! I also inked the top of the ornament for the hanger in silver powder. Here is the trick for the embossing plate: After I ran the cardstock shape ornament card through the Big Shot with the circle embossing plate I took a bone folder to the top part for the hanger. Just by rubbing the cardstock I was able to remove the embossed impression from the top. Then I was free to emboss it with the silver powder. Hope that makes sense. It's early in the morning for me!

Kinda cold and tired last night so I went to bed at 9:30 which by the way is just un-natural for me. LOL I got up at 5:15 this morning so here I am typing my blog out.

Stamping trails

Karen 224

Leftovers

Nope not talking about food. I'm referring to left over paper and supplies. The embossed scallop was an extra one I had from Saturday's card. The gold snowflake brad was also a leftover. The layout was actually inspired by Mary Jo last Monday lunch challenge. I am so into recycling! Stamp is from Winter Birds. Just love this set!!!! Red and White stripe ribbon in the corner is from SU Holiday Mini.

I woke up to snow yesterday! The rain we had on Sunday turned to snow. Not very much, but there was ice under my windshield. I had to go back in the house then to the garage in search of a snow brush. This is no easy feat as the garage is hubby's domain. I only go out there to workout on the treadmill. LOL After searching for 10 minutes I finally found an ice scraper, then back out to the car to scrape. Grumble, grumble, grumble!!!! Can you just hear me? Still managed to get to work on time. Guess I'm officially ready for winter.....I brought out the winter coat (which by the way is way to large on me now, but I just bought it last year so I'm going to make it though one more season) gloves, hat, and snow brush. Just love winter....NOT!!!!!! Only time I enjoy snow anymore is on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRR with all the body fat I've been losing....."BABY IT'S COLD OUTSIDE"

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Another Natural Paper Card

Still trying to use some of my older supplies. This kraft color natural paper came in the same package as the brown paper that I posted yesterday. So easy to work with! I'm getting a lot of use out of this Sizzix die! Just found out some friends of mine would love to have some die cut of this one to use. So I'll be working on that this week.

Now the ribbon I think is cool! I picked this up in the dollar ribbon bin at Michaels's last week when me and hubby were out shopping. Just love the colors! I actually put together a card and then had ribbon to match it. Now that is a first!!!! LOL

Mom was doing better. She seemed more content. Everyone at the home was coming up to me and telling me how good I'm looking. Some wanted to know how I was losing the weight. It made me smile. Chatting with my girl friends I always tell them I'm still fat. And yes it's true I still am. But.........I won't always be.

Stamping Trails.

Karen 224

Blogging Friend Has Blog Candy

Big Congrats to Chrissy for getting over 50,000 hits on her blog. To celebrate she is offering blog candy on her site. Go check it out. Chrissy has some great artwork on her site!!!

http://chrissyd723.blogspot.com/2008/11/50000-hits-and-anniversary-blog-candy.html

stamping trails
Karen 224

Baby...It's Cold Outside

That's how I felt last night when I went out to the movies with my friend Karen B. We went to see Appaloosa. Movie starred Viggo Morgenson. OMG it was the best Western I've seen in such a very long time!!!!!

For the base of this card I used some natural paper that I got several years ago from Pat Catan's. It came in a very large package of many different colors. The texture of the paper reminds me of felt. The large scallop paper was also in the same package. First I used the large scallop die from Sizzix on the paper, then I ran it though a Cuttlebug embossing folder. Now that scallop as you can see is very large....Some of it didn't fit into the folder. To hide the bare spot in the paper I added the embossed mitten over it. Mitten was embossed with ivory powder. The word stamp is another one of those one dollar stamps I picked up a few weeks ago. The ribbon is from SU Holiday Mini catalog. The gold snowflake brad added a nice accent for the card. I've had those since forever also. Do you see a trend here? I'm going though some very old supplies. It's been fun going though all the "Junk".....OH....I mean very great card making supplies, and using them on projects. So a message could be wrote inside the card I cut another scallop from the same paper. This one was not embossed.

Well today I'm going to go visit with mom in the morning. Hubby wants to go out to dinner. So we are going to The Roadhouse. Don't really like going out to eat, but hey this is lifestyle change for me so I need to learn how to control my eating when I'm at a restaurant.

Stamping Trails!

Karen 224

Oh Deer!

Isn't this bag just dear!!!!! I had fun making him this morning. The antlers, and ears were cut free hand. Body is made from Big Shot die. Eyes are both large and small oval punches. Eyelids made from key tag punch. Nose is 1 1/4 circle punch. I used one of my old Fiskers embossing plate to emboss the deer. Makes it look more like fur. Cheeks were made with Ruby Red and sponge. Highlights added with white gel pen. Cardstock used: Creamy Caramel, Chocolate Chip, White, and Ruby Red. Of course the nose was embossed using red tinsel embossing powder. Which I have had since forever!

Later this evening I'm going to the movies with a friend from work. Just a girls night. No guys allowed. That should be fun. Other than that I have no big plans for the weekend. It's going to rain/snow for the next two days, so I won't be doing much outside. Guess I'll have to workout on the treadmill this weekend.

I did have a pre-stroke screening at work. This was part of the health fair that we had during October. Since mom has had so many strokes I thought it would be a good idea to get tested. I got good news! They checked the arteries via ultra sound. The person doing the test didn't find any plaque build up. Blood flow was moving just fine to my brain and heart. Happy to hear that.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!!!

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Winter Birds

I just love Winter Birds from Inkadinkado. One word of caution to those who bought the set or are thinking about it. Make sure you open up the stamps and check them. The first set I bought from Joann's. I went to use them the other night only to find out the the inside plastic packaging was all crinkled up which left the marks on the stamps. When I tried to stamp with one there would be bare spots where the lines where and no ink would be on the stamp. I took the set back and exchanged it. I checked and several of the sets where like that. You can see the crinkles right though the packaging. So be careful!!!! The cardstock that I stamped the owl on is new from Hollo's paper store. It's a pearl color sort of like Shimmery White only pearl color. (yes girls you are getting some in your Christmas package). Click on the image to make it larger. You should be able to see the shimmer on cardstock. Designer paper used BasicGrey Blittzen.

Okay I have to share a funny story........I was getting out of bed and my PJ bottoms are so large now they just fell down around my ankles as I stood out of bed. I just started laughing. Woke dear hubby up. I have to tell you that put a smile on my face all day. I just didn't' want to buy sleep clothes seeing how I'm still losing and the clothes I really did need to purchase are work clothes. Being in the office we are required to dress nice. Can't have my pants fall down at work. LOL.

Stamping trails.

Karen 224

Weigh In!

I had a great weigh in! If you remember I missed my weigh in last week as I was sick and just couldn't get myself motivated to go. Over the last two weeks I lost 2.2 pounds. YAY. Getting way closer to Weight Loss Blog candy. To date I've lost a grand total of

47 1/2 pounds. I just can't believe it!!!!

Okay on to stamping projects. I took Chrissy's Belli's challenge. The challenge was to create something for the holiday table. I took two larger laminate tiles (acquired from Home Depot), stamped them with Ruby Red craft ink then embossed with clear powder. Next step was to use Autumn Leaf Prints stamp set and randomly stamp the leafs with Jet Black StazOn. The maple leaf was stamped with vanilla ink on Ruby Red cardstock then embossed with ivory embossing powder. I covered a small chip clipboard with designer paper, added the brads and paper leaves. This was done on both the tiles. I tied them together at the top. By doing both sides I'll be able to place them down the center of the table and use for place settings. Thanks for the great challenge Chrissy!!!!

Tomorrow at work is soup day. A bunch of us who have lunch together are making soup to bring in and share. One of the girls is doing the bread. I made taco soup when I got home. Had some for dinner tonight then will have some tomorrow for lunch also. It's a win win!! Love that taco soup!!!

I need to go and do some exercise then I need to start working on tomorrow's blog post..

Stamping Trails

Karen 224

Techno Challenge

Okay here is my take on Mary Jo's lunchtime challenge

The Santa in the chimney stamp was another one dollar find at Pat Catan's. The large glittered snowflake at the top of the tag I also picked up from there. Snow on the chimney was embossed using iridescent ice embossing powder and then outlined with Stickles. Of course I had to bring out the Cuttlebug embossing folders for the background. Cardstock colors: Ruby Red, and Confetti White. Chimney colored in using Ruby Red and aqua painter. Thanks Mary for this challenge...it's been along time since I used a tag on my card.

It was so warm today. 71 in my area. I was worried I'd have to stand in a long line to vote yesterday, but I stopped at the school right after work and I was out of there in 15 minutes.

Me and John went shopping again last evening. He's on vacation for the week and wants to hang around mom. I'm glad to have him be my side kick this week. Now if I can just get him to go the the nursing home tomorrow and visit grandma......sigh.......I know he doesn't like to go.

We stopped at Hobby Lobby. I hadn't been there for along time. Would you believe I didn't buy one thing there? I keep thinking about how full my stamp room already is, so I'm trying to curb my spending, plus Christmas is right around the corner...I think my friends will supply me with some new stuff for my addiction....I mean hobby.

Stamping Trails

Karen 226

I Believe

in Santa! Remember those dollar stamps I recently purchased from Pat Catan's? Well I made a card last evening using the old time Santa one.

I was almost euphoric when I opened my brand new pack of BasicGrey Wassail paper. Nothing beats the smell of a just opened pack of paper. It takes me back to when I was kid in art class opening up a new box of crayons. All the wonder and excitement of putting that new crayon to construction paper.

Base of the card is Riding Hood Red by SU. Also used Black and Confetti. Got out the Big Shot again for the label piece. I really must say I love this shape. It's my all time favorite thing to work with. The fur trim of Santa's hat is a mixture of clear micro beads and dazzling diamond glitter. I'm not sure I like the placement of the black ribbon, but hey I have tons of ribbon now and I have the urge to use some on everything I make now.

Not much else going on....me and John went last night and did some light shopping. Stopped at Big Lots, but they didn't really have anything new in the craft section. I went out on a quest to find boxes to use for Christmas gifts I'll be sending soon, but I just didn't find anything I liked. So I'll just have to hunt a bit more. Can you believe the holidays are almost upon us? I felt sorry for my son. He stopped in Kmart and reported that they are playing Christmas songs now. I love Christmas...but it's too early for the carols.

Till Tomorrow.

Stamping Trails.

Karen 226

What a Turkey!

Okay I was feeling silly yesterday afternoon when I made this cute little Turkey bag. I was looking for a pig stamp but didn't have one. Can you believe all the stamps I own and I have no pig stamp? Someone please send me one (or some images) LOL

Anyway I used the hedge hog from a SU set. Just as cute. If not very different!!!

I used the Big Shot again for the base just like I used for the Mummy and Frankie Bags.

Circle punches: 1 1/4, 1 3/4, and 3/4.

Beak was free hand cut using More Mustard, wattle was cut using Ruby Red. Gave the eyes a little highlight using white gel pen. The bag is just a smaller lunch bag I got from Hollo's paper store.

It is going to be 70 here tomorrow for election day. I for one will be glad when the election is over. My phone never rang so much!!!! Both parties have been calling during the day on the weekends and in the evening during the weekdays, plus there are people going door to door wanting you to vote for there candidate. I think there has been more money spent on advertising this election than there was from any other election year.

I got up at 4:15 this morning. I think I'm still not adjusted to the time change. Plus hubby woke me up. He was having a bad dream. I think it's from all the chocolate he eats at night playing computer games!

Stamping Trails.

Karen 226

Remember Me?

Happy November! So sorry I have been neglecting my readers! Just haven't had much time or desire this past week to stamp. It's been cold, then I wasn't feeling well. I even missed my Weight Watchers meeting this week. I woke up dizzy and just couldn't get myself going. I did do a weigh in at home. I lost one pound. YAY still going down. We have 4 more pounds to go till another Weight Loss Blog Candy can be posted.

Hubby and me went to Hickey lake yesterday. We took a walk around the lake. It's just over a 3 mile walk. Weather was beautiful yesterday. Perfect day for a long walk. There are lots of hills going around this lake, there is also a area of sand, and stairs going up to the lake. Needless to say I got a good workout!

I cleaned up the stamp room yesterday. It really needed it! Had to have hubby put up another dowel so I could put more ribbon on. YIKES not more ribbon!!! Yes more ribbon. We went out after the hike yesterday to Archivers and Michael's. Had to buy more ribbon. I also picked up a pack of Basic Grey Wassail paper.

I did find time to make this card yesterday. I even had to dig out an old stamp set. Holiday Hanna. I used the pumpkin from that set in the corner. The larger image is from InkaDinkaDoo. The cool fall ribbon I found at Pat Catan's. The cream background was done using a texture plate from Sizzix. I rubbed the raised edge with a sponged and Ruby Red ink. Hey Lisa....do you also see that I used some of the corner pieces that you sent me? I just layered the pumpkin color and mustard color ones together.

Remember those cat costumes that Sarah and I was working on? We did get them finished. Autumn (right)and Lilly just loved them! Hoping to get a another pic from mom Lisa with there faces done. She was going to draw whiskers on them.

Okay I'm going to close for today. I need to get dressed and go visit mom. She was doing better. They changed her meds and the last visit I had with her she was more alert and wasn't crying. Happy to see that!

The time got changed we gained back an hour. I got up at 6 this morning, but I still got a good nights sleep.

Stamping trails

Karen 226