Baby Before the New Year

We've have a new addition to our extended family! Our little nephew was born yesterday morning ;) He's a premie at 4 weeks early but he was a good 5 lbs and 11 oz and they didn't need to put him in the ICU so we're really happy. Yesterday I went fabric shopping since I realized I don't have any boyish fabric. They want everything done in classic camo or with that type of theme so this is the quilt I made for them. It's a simple tied baby quilt with binding made from the scraps and even though the patterns aren't my style I think it turned out pretty cute ;D The white is actually a lighter beige plaid but the print is really tiny. I backed the quilt in the camo since that's the theme and I think I was lucky in finding a 100% cotton version since most all the rest of the camo fabric at the Joann's was that really rough stuff. I finished the quilt this morning and snapped some quick pics of it before they get it Saturday at the shower. Anyway, just thought I'd share. Have a happy hump day and thanks for stopping by!

Snowy Cupcake Inspiration

Supplies : Rustic Snow, Signature Christmas, and Winter Swirls stamp sets by Papertrey Ink; Cardstock by Bazzil; Grid Paper by Scenic Route; Shimmer Cardstock from LSS; Rhinestones by Kaiser; White Embossing Powdery; Cocoa and White Daisy Ink by CTMH; Snowflake punch by Marvvy

Sparkle had such a yummilicious photo to use for inspiration for the Christmas Card Challenge this week! All I wanted to do was bake devils food cuppa cakes with cream cheese frosting after seeing it but I was a good girl and settled for some pumpkin swirl cheesecake. We have waaayyyyy too many goodies around the house from the holidays anyways. I feel like my new years resolution to get back in shape has already kicked the bucket and it isn't even 2010 yet, lol. Anyway, here's the card I came up with. I wanted to start making thank you cards for Christmas this year. While saying thank you works, I think it really makes such a difference to get a sweet note ;) Aren't these colors so gorgeous together! I wish I could catch that subtle shine on the white shimmer cardstock on camera, it is so pretty. I started out going for a cutesie card then before I knew it shimmer cardstock, white embossing and rhinestones entered the picture. I have to say though I really like this card better than the one I had in my mind. Things are slowly starting to settle down around here now. We had such a great holiday spending time with family and friends. I didn't get many pictures this year. Of course I'm also starting to believe that Christmas day produces the worst possible pictures because every year it seems all I get are badly lit, partial, blurred, or weird faces shots and not the cute weird faces either, lol. I might be staging a few shots before we take down the trees to attempt to get some nice ones to represent better the wonderful Christmas we had ;) Paul and I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family to make this Christmas extra special! And I'm so thankful to have such wonderful readers too! All of you have added so much cheer to my life year round! I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season. Thanks for visiting and I'll see you in the new year!

On the First Day...

Supplies : Paper - Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey; Cardstock by Bazzil; Sans Small Lowercase stamp set and Ink in Cranberry and White Daisy by CTMH; Rhinestones and Pearls by Kaiser; Borders and Corners Circles stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Mistletoe Slice card by Making Memories; Stickles;

I've finally escaped my kitchen after baking too many cookies to count these past couple days (and eating far too many too!) Let's just say last night I wasn't able to make dinner since the kitchen was in such disarray and we all ended up snarfing down cookies anyway because you have to taste test each batch right? To make sure they are good enough to give away yes? Paul ended up trying to eat all the Scotchies. Anyway that's my excuse for having cookies for dinner. The girls however did make away with Panda noodles as well as cookies so at least they had something more than just sugar to eat before going to bed, even if we didn't! It's the holidays, we're allowed ;D This is my card for Sparkle's #3 Christmas Card challenge. The added challenge was to use a sketch and I thought it would be so cute to do a 12 days of Christmas set! So here's the first one - my partridge in a pear tree cut with the Mistletoe card on the Slice. I added some stickles, pearls, and a rhinestone for his eye to pretty him up ;)

And thank you for the birthday wishes! I had a really fun day. Paul took me to see Avatar in 3D and we got to hang out around town a whole 6 hours without kids!! Yay for very patient and loving sis-in-laws ;D And I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner! On the recipe yes it's cups for the shortening and molasses and yes you can use plain shortening. I just think it tastes better with the butter flavored which is usually right next to the regular at the store ;) On my reading, I'm starting the second book to a fantasy series I began some months back called Winds of the Forelands by David B Coe. If you're a fantasy fan the first book was an awesome read. So much happening and a lot of mystery and twists all intertwined with royal assassinations, magic, and a foreboding and unknown enemy. I'm excited to see what the assassin does, him and Grinsa are my favs. Anyhoo, thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe season. I won't have any posts til after Christmas so have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

First of the Holiday Baking

Paul had his last final Thursday - Yay! We invited a friend over for an easy going hang-out-to-celebrate eve and it was about midnight that night when I realized I hadn't baked the cookies I was planning to for Caitlyn's teacher yet. Tomorrow (or rather later that day) was the last day of school before Winter Break and I knew I wouldn't be up early enough in the morning to do the baking before school. Paul and Mark were still up for entertainment so they popped in a funny mocumentary called the Mighty Wind (same guy that did Spinal Tap and Best in Show). Inbetween the laughs (I absolutely LOVED Eugene Levy's character, he was too hilarious!) I baked up some of our favorite holiday ginger cookies because they are so easy to make, because they are delish, and because Cait's teacher is just too awesome to not bake cookies for. So at one in the morning I was finishing up baking a batch of these babies and after the movie I wrapped them up cute ;D For her teacher I used the last of my repurposing ribbon and one of the new tags I made a couple days ago. A simple candy dresses the plain cello bag up to look more holidayish since I ran out of the snowflake ones. I also wrapped up a couple more mini cookie bags for a couple of neighbors, one for Caitlyn's friend that comes over all the time. They don't go to the same school and she's actually in fifth grade which I suppose means she could be babysitting for me, lol. This is the first of much Holiday Baking to come. Most of it is planned for Monday and Tuesday because today is my B-day and I'm spending it out and about with my hubby and then being completely lazy ;) Hopefully lazy with a book because I've really been wanting some time to settle down and read.

And I can't remember if I shared it last year, but in case you missed it or you just want to try them here is the recipe for these Ginger Cuties.

Softy Ginger Cookies

Ingredients:

3/4 C butter flavored shortening

1 C brown sugar

1 egg

1/4 C molasses

2 1/4 C flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

1/4 C sugar in a small shallow bowl or dish

Directions: Cream together shortening, brown sugar, egg and molasses until well blended. Add in flour and spices. Mix until combined with spoon. Now it's time to get your hands dirty ;) Knead the cookie dough until everything is well blended. Roll dough into 1 1/2"- 2" balls then roll in sugar and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes, just until the cookies crack on the top. Cool on cookie sheet 10 minutes before removing. Enjoy and have a fantastic weekend!

Tag Box + Tags

Supplies : Rustic Cream Cardstock; twine; 2008 Holiday Tags, Winter Swirls, and Borders and Corners Circle stamp sets by Papertrey Ink; Cranberry Button, Tulip Cardstock, Tulip and Ocean Ink by CTMH; 2" Scallop Circle Punch by EK Success; repurposed organdy ribbon; acetate

I don't know about anyone else, but I've been using tags like crazy this year! It's a good thing I've had so much fun making them ;) So I came across this tutorial for a tag box on Splitcoast and thought it would be perfect for all my tags, plus I would get to make more! I used one of my favorite color combos of red, blue, and cream; and my go to tag stamp set as well as the Winter Swirls which I hadn't really played with yet. On the back I stamped To and From and made a total of 40 tags with 10 quick and easy different designs. I made the box first, it came together a bit quicker than I thought it would, and then I worked on the tags. I punched out 2 sheets of 8 1/2" x 11 inch cardstock, you get 20 2" circles for each sheet. Then I stamped each design on 4 tags. You could make just 4 different tags or all one style tag. Wouldn't this make a cute gift too? To finish off the box I used more repurposed organdy ribbon. Caitlyn's class had done a fundraiser with a local baking mix company. One of the sets I ordered for us was actually a gift set so I've been using the ribbon for other stuff since I'm planning on making those particular goodies for us - pecan pie bars and apple crumb cake - yum! Below are the tags just for fun ;D Enjoy and have a fabulous Friday!

Mini Paper Stockings

Supplies : Paper by Basic Grey; Buttons and Twine by Papertrey Ink; Thickers Letter Stickers by American Crafts; Ornament Stickers by Crate Paper; Bird Tag Sticker by Cosmo Cricket; White Velour Ricrac by May Arts; Brown Gingham Ribbon by CTMH; Pink Gingham Ribbon by Pebbles Inc.

This week on Practical Scrappers the designers were challenged to make paper crafted decor items. I love stockings but have yet to buy or make some for our family. I think I must be too picky because I never see any premade ones at the stores that I really like. So for now I used some of that darling Eskimo Kisses paper to create these mini 4" x 8" paper stockings, perfect for slipping in a few holiday treats, pencils, bookmarks, etc. I could totally go for these patterns in fabric ;) To make them was quite simple I drew a stocking shape and then cut out 2 pieces for each. Then I paper pieced the soles and cuff of the sock before sewing the whole thing together. I picked a different set of Thickers for each of our names and then embellished the stockings with stickers, ribbon, and buttons.

I wanted to keep Paul's stocking a bit more maculine so I stuck with the deeper reds and the green, both favorite colors of his. Instead of adding ribbon I used the twine to string the buttons together. I love the rustic look it gave his stocking. The dot paper is actually one of my last sheets of Figgy Pudding paper and it coordinated quite well with the new set. For my stocking I picked my favorite patterns then added just a trim of the ricrac and some buttons to finish it off. The velour ricrac is so fun and fuzzy, when I actually get around to making or altering some fabric stockings I'll have to find more of this stuff ;)

With the girls stockings I used some of the pinker patterns, especially on Audrey's and of course I had to use some glitter Thickers. I had actually tried putting Caitlyn's name across the cuff but it didn't fit and when I moved the letters some of the paper ripped. So to fix my mistake I added some of these fun stickers. And after adding stickers on Cait's I couldn't not put a little sticker on Audrey's. This little bird tag fit her so perfectly. Enjoy the stockings and stop by Practical Scrappers to see the other decor items! Have a terrific Thursday!