Merry Christmas to all!

Well, I managed to go an entire holiday season without posting at all! This is definitely NOT the blog you go to for daily updates, that's for sure! 

So what have I been doing? Working a lot, spending time with my boys, holiday stuff, shopping, working a lot, binge watching Gilmore Girls, going through our Disney pictures (yes I know, I still haven't posted them all), did I mention I'm working a lot?? I am back to full time & it's been crazy. But you know what? I can't complain. Life is good. My boys are happy & healthy (as happy as teenagers can be), my job is good, I have amazing friends (virtual & real life) & while I've had no time to craft I am very content. 

I hope you all have a fabulous Christmas & a happy & SAFE New Year. 

Cheers! 

I survived Christmas 2015

Well, for someone who could be Scrooge's sister, I actually had a nice holiday. Christmas Eve was quiet. I finished baking, made a ham for dinner, then spent the rest of the night watching Christmas movies ("Christmas Vacation" & "Elf", 2 of my favorites) while chugging sipping Irish Cream. I am so thankful my kids don't get up at 5 on Christmas morning wanting to open presents. They were never ever early risers. While my 13 year old generally gets up around 7 on weekends, my 17 year old had to be woken up. Quite a few times. Even though he knew (because he sent me the links lol) some RAD presents awaited him. Apparently he was up playing Minecraft until way-too-late o'clock. Ahhhh the life of a teenager. 

We spent the rest of the day at my mom's. Well, 3/4 of us did. Hubby wasn't feeling well for the 287th time this year, so he stayed home. I think it's because he knew what we were having for dinner .... our traditional lasagna! Nope, we're not even 1 iota Italian, but it's my very favorite meal. My mom has been making it every Christmas for years. Hubby hates it. That's fine, we enjoyed some yummy pasta while he stayed home & probably had a fine meal of Saltines.

Yesterday we all stayed home & recuperated. I am happy to report that I did take a shower (apparently a lot of my Facebook friends didn't even do that lol), but then got right back into my sweats. Did some laundry .... cleaned up the Christmas mess ... & had leftovers for dinner. There was a Harry Potter marathon on tv so I watched some of those .... all in all a very relaxing day. 

Today is catch up before heading back to work tomorrow. Booo! Remind me next year to take some more time off around the holidays .... the thought of going to work while everyone is home lazing is depressing. AND it appears we are finally getting our winter tomorrow. All crammed into one day. Endless snow & wind. Perfect. 

I hope you all had a spectacular & safe Christmas! I'm actually going to do some blurfing right now {while watching the Packers beat the Cardinals} to see what everyone got from Santa!!! 

Merry almost Christmas!

Well, this sure came quickly! I know it's the same day every year, but every year it sneaks up on me. My problem is I don't want to think about Christmas before Thanksgiving ... which can be a problem when Thanksgiving is late. Next year I'll be more prepared! 

Yeah, I say that every year.....

I am almost done ... one or two more presents to buy & wrap ... one or two more batches of cookies to bake ... & a dessert to pick out & bake. For the first time ever, we will be spending Christmas Eve at home, just the 4 of us, & instead of going to my mom's. We will go to her house Christmas Day. Which is fine ... gives me an extra day to prepare. And I think we'll go on a "Xmas light run" that night. Do you like to drive around & look at the lights?? I hate putting up lights outside, so maybe that makes me extra appreciative of the people who do it. 

I sure wish I could take credit for this picture .... because that would mean that not only am I an incredible photographer, but also that we have snow... 

I wish.

This is what it actually looks like here ....

Ah well .... on the bright side my teenager driver who is driving his first winter doesn't have to deal with slippery snowy roads. Yet. It's Wisconsin, it will happen.

I hope you all have a fantastic holiday .... eat, drink & be merry!! 

On to Christmas

Hi all, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Mine was ... meh, kind of like any other day. My husband was up north hunting (which he does every year) so the boys & I went to my mom's. That's it, just the 4 of us. Those of you out there who complain about noisy holidays & too many people, consider yourself lucky! Back in the day we had great holidays with my grandmas, aunts, uncles & cousins. Most of them are gone now, & those who are still with us have their own families so our holiday celebrations have become much smaller. But I am grateful to still have my mom, & to have 2 fantastic boys who actually like spending time with me (I think).

I'm not really big on Christmas. Ever since my dad died I've had a hard time with it. Then my grandma died a couple of years ago & well, if I didn't have kids I wouldn't even acknowledge it. But this year I decided to go all out in decorating our house. My older one in particular really loves Christmas & the decorations so I did this for him. I think the other one couldn't care less, lol. But as long as one of them appreciates it, that's all I need. 

So, if you can't beat em, join em. Here are a few snippets of our house in its current holiday condition:

First, our mantle. Do you see a theme here?? I looooove snowmen. Probably because I loooooove winter. I know, I'm in the minority. I love summer too, but winter is just so ..... pretty & peaceful. Well, after the holidays it's peaceful. lol

Disclaimer: Pretend the wall is painted a pretty olive green. My husband & I have been fighting for years about our walls. He likes white. We've had white for 13 years. I think it's my turn now, & I want color. Care to place bets on who will win this war of wall color?

I have wayyyy more snowmen, but our mantle is only so big haha.

Sometimes we put lights on the mantle. Sometimes we put batting on the mantle. I don't know why it took me so many years to realize it would be pretty with both. 

I love this guy. I don't even remember where I got him, but he's always resided in our front hallway. I had a duh moment yesterday .... broom .... sweep ... fireplace! He is now next to the fireplace. Much better.

Did I mention I love snowmen?? Here's a whole dang cute family of them! 

This is actually a potpourri burner that I bought about 20 years ago. Does anyone use potpourri anymore?? I don't. But I thought it was cute & figured I could easily add it to my "village". "Village" because really, its just a few houses & such.... nothing compared to some I've seen. Maybe that's something to strive for ... a larger village. So it can take even longer for me to decorate for the holidays.

You might also know, I love Disney. I have no idea where this snowglobe came from but it's adorable. I actually hadn't seen it in years. The advantage of full out decorating .... you discover things that were buried wayyyy in the back of the Christmas storage closet. 

And finally, our tree. I did the decorating around the house by myself but my boys did the tree all by themselves. I think they did a beautiful job & each year I'm finding I have to rearrange fewer & fewer ornaments lol. 

If you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. I don't think I've ever done a post about my Christmas decorations or tree before. I'm really trying to un-Scrooge myself & get into the spirit. It's been a rough couple of months & I really just want to enjoy the holiday. 

Have a super week! 

Happy holidays to all ...

Well, I missed "Merry Christmas" (late, which has been the theme of my entire year) so instead I will say .......

Hope your 2015 is everything you want it to be! 

XOXOXO

Christmas is O-V-E-R

and I could NOT be happier! That's right, call me Ms. Grinch but I'm so glad it's all over. Now if I could just hire someone to take down my Christmas tree & put all my Christmas decorations away. Oh wait, I have kids. And they work for free! 

I did take a few pictures of our Christmas but haven't even looked through them yet. I did, however, get a few shots of what our holiday looked like outside. 

Isn't it .... um .... white?? 

Here is what's left of my burning bush. I guess I never noticed the berries they get after the leaves fall off. I'm sure the birds love them. Well, they did love them, before they froze. Hope they like their berries on the rocks! 

Merry Christmas to all!

To all  my blogger friends ~ I hope you all have a safe & happy holiday! There has been noooooo time to update my blog ~ I even have one more card to share with you. This month has been super busy & while I'm trying to enjoy this Christmas season, I kind of crave the peace & quiet of January. But until then ~ Merry Christmas! 

When the buck's away .....

the doe will play with her stamps! My hubby went deer hunting for about 9 days .... & somehow, I just seem to have more free time when he's gone :)  

Found an old Hanglar image that someone had sent me .... is that company still around? I know they were actually selling to the States for a short time .... but I don't see Hanglar cards at all anymore. Too bad, because they are so cute!

I used my pencils & Goo Gone ....and some old Basic Grey papers .... and an old die .... and an old sentiment ... LOL. A new card made of old stuff. That's ok, I still think she turned out ok, even if she is old!

Oh yeah, looking at this close up  .... how could I forget the Stickles & fluff. Anyone still use this stuff? Just like in life, I feel behind the times.

This sentiment was from one of those clear Studio G sets from Michael's. Such cute sets, mine are black from being used so much. 

When I was done I spritzed the whole card with Shimmer Mist. No ... Glimmer Mist. You know, that stuff in a spray bottle that comes in all different colors. Ok, I probably just described about 35 different paper craft products :) 

I do plan to make one  more card ... for someone very special ... then I'm done for a while. This was a fun binge, but now any spare time I have will be spent baking (yay!) & shopping (boo!) & wrapping (double boo!). I will still post photos & little tidbits throughout the holiday season .... I know, you will wait with bated breath. 

HOW many more days???

Ok, before I start my holiday freak-out -- you MUST try this!!! It won't work with Internet Explorer -- but it works with Firefox & Chrome. So FUN --- go to Google -- & type in "let it snow". Go!! RIGHT NOW!!! You can finish reading my post when you're done.


IS THAT NOT THE COOLEST????? Did you write your name in the snow?? Don't pee in the snow! Just write your name with your mouse. Seriously WHO comes up with this stuff??


NOW to my holiday freak-out .........




WHO thought it would be a good idea to have Christmas on December 25th this year?? Who moved it up??


You'd think by now I would learn to start Christmas shopping a week earlier. Because I always need just one more week.


Since I'm behind on everything -- I thought I'd post another card from Christmas past.




(Yuck - the photo looks really dark to me. Maybe it's just all the red flowers. Sure wish I could say my photography has improved -- but the picture would probably look the same if I took it again today LOL)


Rather appropriate - as right now I feel like that cat hanging from a branch, lol! The original post is HERE. Wow, I thought it was from last year but it was from 2 years ago!! I love all the High Hopes images, but I think the Christmas & winter images are my favorites :)  I can't believe I've only been able to make one or two Christmas cards this year -- & NO projects :(  I'll have to be really original & give my kids teachers GIFT CARDS! In store bought envelopes!! *gasp*


We went to my husband's work holiday part last weekend & I really want to post a few of the pictures here. If you're my friend on Facebook, you can go to my album to see them all (you LUCKY ducks!!). Otherwise I will post them here in the next couple of days. Just a couple. Wouldn't want to bore you -- like the people who want you to see their vacation slides -- only 352 of them!


Here's a picture of my son helping me make some cookies yesterday.....

See??? I've done SOME holiday stuff!!! 

I finally finished a card!!!

Ahhhhhh but I can't show it to you. Sorry! It's my card for Sundays with Crissy & I can't post it till the 13th. I'm such a tease, I know :) Wish I could say I'd have another card done before the 13th but that would be a lie -- & Santa frowns on lying!

But I did want to share some pictures with you -- not the best -- my photography skills seem to get worse the more I work with my camera, lol.

Last weekend we went to an event in our small town called Midnight Magic. The whole town is "open" from 10 until midnight. All the stores have specials, the churches have music, tents are set up all over town with food, there are carriage rides in the park, a craft fair at the middle school, & my favorite - a parade! This was our first year participating -- not sure why we never did before because it was a BLAST!!! It was raining & we almost didn't go, but decided we'd go watch the parade from our car. It stopped raining just as we got there. So we enjoyed a DRY parade, then went to view our brand spankin' new library (I am a total library GEEK!!).

Here are my boys in front of the tree at the library. Everything smelled so NEW!

One of the churches had a live nativity scene, a kids party, & a petting zoo. A petting zoo?? In a church? Michael was all over that -

Those poor bunnies, lol. Michael was super gentle with all the animals, but some kids, not-so-much. I cringed every time I saw a bunny struggling to get away from someone -- it's a miracle none were dropped on its head!

We also went to the garden center, where they had gingerbread houses -- another church to see the middle & high school orchestras -- & oh yeah -- dinner at Culver's, lol. Never did get to the craft show -- will have to plan our day better next year!

A couple of pictures of our Christmas trees:

This is the one in our great room...




and this is the one in our playroom. I really wanted to get a shot with the lights on, but I really struggled with what setting to have it on. I tried shots on all settings, & this was about the best.

I really need to get a photo of our outside lights. My 13 year old BEGGED me to let him put up lights. My husband used to do it but gave up years ago -- he now refuses. He would always pop a circuit, a strand would be out AFTER he hung them, and/or snow would cover all the lights on the bushes. So he dug them out & let Matthew at them. Not only did he get them untangled & hung up, he got them wired together & did NOT pop any circuits. All by himself, with no guidance from us. That kid amazes me!! So -- I will have to try to get a good shot so I can brag a little more about my brilliant son :)

And last but not least......I gotta stick a kitty picture in here, lol. We actually hadn't put up our smaller tree in the past couple of years & Elwood really missed it. He's just not comfy under the other one. You should have seen his eyes light up when we started decorating this one...

Do you think he's trying to blend in???

I will see you back here on the 13th!! Hope your holiday preparations are moving along splendidly.....

And on to Christmas....

A lady was picking through the frozen turkeys at the grocery store, but couldn’t find one big enough for her family. She asked the stock boy, “Do these turkeys get any bigger?” The stock boy answered, “No ma’am, they’re dead.”

Hahhahaaaaaa......

So I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Ours was quiet -- with my husband up north & my grandma in the nursing home, that left me, my mom & my kids. I was talking to a vendor rep at work today, & she said she had to travel 4 hours to get to her parents house. I said I wouldn't mind that drive, if a huge family were there waiting for me. She said there were a total of 45 people at her parents house!! Yikes!! We've never had 45 family members, not even counting the dead ones!! She said they had 2 turkeys, a ham & a turkey breast. We had 6 Cornish Hens. I guess the positive side of that is there wasn't a lot of clean up!

I'm still not in the craftin' mood -- good thing I gave up making my Christmas cards a while ago. The first year I stamped I made 80 to send out. The next year I bought cards. Last year I didn't even send any. I thought since there are no new cards in the house, that I might show one from last year. Yes, it's cheating. But it's my blog & I can cheat if I want to.





This is one of my favoritest ones ever. In fact, I'm pretty sure this one is still sitting on my craft table somewhere. I don't think I ever got around to finishing the inside to sell it. Yep, when I procrastinate I go all out. This card was done for a High Hopes challenge -- the original post is HERE.

And I leave you with a picture of my fur-baby Elwood, thinking he's still a wee one that fits into any box that happens to be lying around the house. Um, Elwood --- you're crushing the sides of our box!

If you can believe it, this cat used to weigh 26 pounds!!! Yes, you read that right -- 26 pounds. Can you imagine what that box would look like if he tried to stuff himself in it before??!? When our other baby Jake was diagnosed with diabetes, we switched both of them to an all-canned diet -- much better for cats. Elwood ended up losing lots of weight & today he is 16 pounds! He's 16 years old & in great health -- & is still quite the baby :)

Thanks for visiting & I wish I could say I'll have a card for you soon -- but in the last 7 days I've stamped one image. I might finish that card by Valentines Day.

Merry Christmas to all!!

I hope you all have a safe & FUN Christmas!! My wonderful mother is hosting today AND tomorrow so all I have to do is sat back, relax......& EAT!!!!! Thanks mom :)

Merry Christmas everyone!!!!!

2 weeks away??

Yes, as someone pointed out to me today, Christmas is 2 weeks away. I still have so much to do & very little spare time to do it. Have I mentioned how much I love JANUARY?! Yes I'm a Scrooge & am happy when it's all OVER!!!

I haven't had time to create anything new this week ----so I thought I would share a few Christmas cards I did last year. I see a lot of bloggers sharing their favorite 5 or 10 cards from the whole year --I thought I'd share my favorites from the holiday season. Oh let's face it, I probably only MADE 5 cards last Christmas, lol!!!

So here they are.......







Now this should inspire me to get going on some NEW cards, right? I do have a card half done, I just don't seem to be able to finish it. Today we are off to basketball, then grocery shopping, & I *need* to make Christmas cookies this weekend, I haven't made ANY. Hopefully I'll find a strand of spare time in there to finish it. I hope you all have a great weekend, & get done whatever is on your "to-do" list!!