My Girl is Growing Up......

Happy Monday to y'all! What a busy, fun weekend I had! It was such a great time with family! Christmas Eve we made it safely to and from Wisconsin (ice/rain storm) to see my sister and her family. Christmas Day we spent it with my in-laws and Brian's Grandma. (Who is 89) The highlight was his Grandma playing Catch Phrase! She couldn't see the words on the disc, so I had to write them on a piece of scratch paper for her! What a good sport she was! Saturday, hubby and I spent the day together, shopping, having lunch, and just enjoying being together. (Which we don't do too often) Some lady in Carson's told us how cute we were and wondered if we were newlyweds.....nope......16 years........ : ) Sunday, we spent the day cleaning, organizing, and enjoying our new things. We stayed in our jammies most of the day until Cort decided she wanted to go out to eat. So we obliged and went to Chilis.

I captured this picture of Cort at my Dad's house last week during our Christmas celebration. This was her expression when Santa walked in the house. With her new haircut and "sophisticated" dress, she just seemed so grown up in this picture. I mean she is 14 and all, but I think because of her disability, I tend to view her as younger than she really is.

I used Noel's newest kit called Paper Doll. Which just went up for sale on the 26th and is already sold out!

I love the embellishments Noel includes in her kits.....they are just fabulous!!!

I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends!

Off to go clean a bit more.......I think Cort needs a bigger closet for all of her new clothes! : )

Last of my Holiday Buckets....

Heading out to Wisconsin today to see my sister, brother-in-law, niece, and nephew for Christmas. We've had some frightful weather here, so driving will be slow and steady today. Lots of ice and freezing rain. So just a quick post this morning of Christmas Eve. These are the last of my holiday buckets. I used my Cricut to cut this candy cane. (Winter Wonderland Cartridge) The paper was from Noel Mignon's Dear Santa kit. (sold out) The sentiment is Papertrey Ink, and it was cut out using my oval Spellbinder's Nestibility.

I hope all of you have safe travels today and a wonderful holiday with family and friends.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. I am grateful that I've "met" you all on this wonderful world wide web! Merry Christmas to you!!!!

Sending You a Bucket Full of Kisses.....

Hi all! Hope your week is productive and you are getting lots done! I have a ton of wrapping to do today........and a bit of cooking for my sister's house tomorrow. I think it may be a "stay in my pajamas" kind of day! It is hard to believe that Christmas is tomorrow already......sheesh, where does the time go!?

I have a little project to share with you today using JustRite's new Loving Thoughts set. (Coming out January 1st)

I love the sentiments that come in this set.......so sweet, so true. : )

I picked these mini buckets on my last trip at Archivers. I dressed them up with some cute DCWV paper. The sentiment was stamped in Papertrey's Pure Poppy. I used my Spellbinders to cut the various sized circles and the edges were inked up a bit. I added a bit of ribbon and a couple of rhinestones.

These buckets have a sort of country feel don't they? (As opposed to a "city" feel ? LOL!)

Head on over to the JustRite blog today for a chance at some yummy blog candy!!!

Have a great Christmas EVE, EVE!! Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to visit!! It is a bright spot to my day to read your sweet comments!

You Hold the Key to my Heart....

JustRite is releasing some fabulous new sets after the first of the year.......here is a sneak at one of them. This is the Romantic Sentiment's set. Just in time for Valentine's Day! This set is so versatile because it can be paired with the new Square borders or 1 5/8 round borders. For today's card though, I used neither. : )


Instead I used a chipboard frame from Tattered Angels. I sprayed it with Glimmer Mist and then applied Crystal lacquer over it. I then sprinkled it with Dazzling Diamonds. I stamped the JustRite sentiment on a piece of Fancy Pants paper, placed the frame on top, and cut the excess paper off. The rest of the card is Basic Grey and Fancy Pants paper. I did a bit of stitching, added a great big Papertrey bow, some rhinestones, and a key.

Head on over to the JustRite blog for more inspiration and a sneak at another new set. (I will be posting many sneaks here over the next week or two as well!)

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Heading to my Gram's today. It is always a bitter sweet visit. This was a woman who participated so actively in life up until a few years ago (She is 89) when Alzheimer's robbed her of much of her memory. She doesn't remember the kids, but she does know me, my mom, and sister still. Which is good.......... : )

Lots to Share Today.....

What a busy fun weekend we had! Saturday, we had Christmas at my Dad and Step-mom's. It is always so great to see all the little ones together. (Pictures further down this post!) Even my son, who is 12, gives up his tween attitude to "play." (Although he tells me he is just babysitting........uh huh.....right...... ) Sunday we baked 3 different types of cookies.....yum! Kitchen is an utter mess along with the rest of my house.......but it's all good! I am off today, so cleaning it is my goal!



I have a picture from last week's brunch, of my sweet little niece. Her expression while meeting Santa was absolutely priceless! I used this photo for this week's challenge at Noel Mignon, to use a favorite holiday quote. I love the quote, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus!" (Miracle on 34th Street.) I used Noel's Dear Santa kit.


Could she possibly be any cuter???? : )

I used some Thickers and my new Martha Stewart letter punches for the small letters. I sprinkled everything with glitter. (Because you know my motto..........everything is better with glitter!)

Here are a few pics from Saturday..........

Here is my very grown up son........goofin' with Santa! : )

This was Cort's expression when Santa walked through the door........... sooooo cute!

The hit of the night was this silly blinking red nose! All the kids took turns wearing it........I guess it was Katie's turn.........

Here is a pic of all the cousins together.......did you happen to notice the little guy's expression in the middle? That's my nephew Alex.......to me......that just makes this picture!!!

And lastly.......a picture of the kids playing store.......notice the big kid? Remember........he is just babysitting!

Are ya still with me? Whew!!!! Thanks for hanging in there! I love sharing with all my girlfriends out there!!!

Hope your weekend was great!!! Feel free to share......I love hearing what you're up to! (Especially since my computer time has been scarce these days!)

Have a great day!!!

Noel.....

For those of you concerned about my safety and well being.....the bank robber was apparently caught last night (Thank God!) ...so I guess that means our police department is doing its job! : ) Now I can sleep a wee bit better at night!

Have you visited the message board at Noel Mignon lately? There are so many ideas floating around there....it's hard not to be inspired! I just added this project to the "living quarters" thread. I picked up these Jenni Bowlin "pennants" awhile ago and decided to alter them using my Dear Santa kit. I cut the letters using my Storybook cartridge, inked the edges and sprinkled them with a chunky glitter. I added little doodads from the kit and a few of my punches to dress each of them up.

Here is a close up of each of the letters individually.

See this cute snowman? Martha Stewart punch......... : )

So let's see......today is my last day of school.......for two whole weeks! (Don't hate!) : ) Cortney has her first choir concert today at 10:3o. She has been singing at home constantly in her little sweet voice! (She is so darn cute when she sings!) Saturday is Christmas with my Dad, step-mom, sisters, nieces, nephews.....and Santa. Sunday we are baking up a storm all day! And I guess at some point I need to wrap some gifts.....like before I see everyone on Saturday! I better get a crackin'!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!!!! I appreciate your visits and sweet comments tremendously!!!!! They are definitely a bright spot in my day! : )

Joyful....

Well nothing like coming home to some scary stuff last night.......I had gone to dinner with my Dad only to come home to a helicopter circling above my house. At first I thought it was for the hospital, but it had its searchlight on.......which ruled that out! My neighbor called and said that our pizza place right down the street had been robbed. No details on if anyone was hurt. I hope not. I didn't sleep well last night at all. waaaaaaayyyy too close to home!

Anyway, you didn't come here to hear about crime in my neighborhood.....so onto my card! : ) This is a Crafty Secret's image from the Snowbunnies set. I colored him in with Copics and used my Spellbinder's Nestibilities. I did a bit of airbrushing while the template was still in place. I added glitter for snow. I finished it off with a glittered chipboard from Maya Road, a felt snowflake I cut using my Spellbinders, and some rhinestones.

Today my school is taking a field trip to see a Christmas Carol in 3-D. My students are soooo excited! A lot of them do not get many opportunities to see movies and such. And.....it's ugly sweater day!!!! I am so grateful that I have a job where we can have fun! : )

Have a great day!!!