Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve!

We took a fast trip down to Wichita and back to visit both sets of parents, pick up Christmas presents and do some shopping at an awesome place called Scrapbook Garden today. DH and I zonk out way before midnight, so I'm headed to bed, but wanted to wish everyone a safe NY Eve. I'll post more tomorrow about my great finds at the store and also have to tell you all about the Crafter's Devotional that I'll be using next year. Now it's time to crash, so goodnight all!

New card for Operation Write Home

I made the card below for the current OWH Sunday Sketch Challenge  (my first!) and while reading the blog I was reminded that January 7th is the deadline for mailing your Valentines cards! WOW how time flies when you're having fun, right??? Wasn't it just yesterday when we were all hopping around looking at all the awesome cards made for the OWH Valentines Blog Hop? If you're not sure how to go about making and mailing cards for OWH please read all about it on their blog. I also found out that the soldiers are asking for "missing you" cards they can send to their kiddos, so will get started making some of those to put in with the Valentines. I figured this "Happy Barkday" card could be used either for a kid or a dog, either way I think it turned out kinda cute, don't you? I used a stamp set by Clear Dollar Stamps.

OWH Stars and Stamps: Featured Friday: Merry Christmas from kids!

OWH Stars and Stamps: Featured Friday: Merry Christmas from kids!

If you really want to be blessed today please go read these awesome notes from kids to soldiers serving overseas. These kids are true crafters in every sense of the word, innocent, honest and grateful for the sacrifice being made for our freedom!

Christmas Wishes

Happy Christmas Eve and a peek at something I made!

I hope this day finds everyone in good spirits and ready to celebrate our Savior's birth! After yesterday's post I thought it was time to add something a bit more cheerful or you'd all run and hide and never come back to read my blog again. Since this is supposed to be about my crafts, how about a sneak peek at something I made? I can't show the whole thing or even tell you what it is yet, but promise to post pics of it and the accompanying surprise after Christmas. I'm also sharing this cute little guy that although I didn't make, he's certainly cheerful and would be very easy to make if I can get my gourds to grow next year!

Reflecting on the Season

I am sad and I am happy all at the same time. Sadness fills my heart because a co-worker who just retired on December 10th suddenly died on Tuesday night. I am sad for his family who are now left without a husband/protector/provider/father/good listener/grandfather/caring soul. I am sad that he didn't have time to enjoy retirement. He was two years younger than me and had lived with Muscular Distrophy, lived a valiant life, always volunteering to serve on committees and boards that would help make life better for others, especially others with disabilities. He always had a smile on his face even when the rest of us were complaining about silly little things. How could I complain about the pain in my feet when he couldn't walk? How could I complain about the sore shoulder when he couldn't lift his arms? You get the picture, right? Anyway, another source of my sadness is that just when I think I'll make it through a Christmas season without the painful memories of the loss of a dear soulmate of mine back in December of 1996, this happens and it opens up the hole left in my heart by that loss. I know this is the time of year for rejoicing in our Lord and Savior's birth, not the time to cry over the loss of friends, but in all honesty I find it difficult to celebrate this week after what has happened. What do you say to the woman whose life has been yanked out from under her, who is finding it difficult to take her next breath and who right about now wants nothing to do with the world? I remember those feelings all too well! I remember the hours I spent crying and the hoarseness in my throat from the screaming at the top of my lungs because I was so darned angry. The shower became my friend because somehow the warm water and the noise it caused made me feel, well I really don't know... safe?

Ok, now on to happy. What kind of memories do you think about this time of the year? I always think about baking sugar cookies and decorating them with my daughter. We'd spend HOURS at the table making wonderful messes and having a ball! We'd eat so many that we'd be blue in the face... or was that blue from the frosting? It seems that this time of the year gave us permission to act silly and to eat too much without caring. If I go back even further I remember Christmas as a child growing up with two little brothers and two big sisters, children of an Army Sergeant on a very limited income. I don't remember ever feeling deprived or that I was lacking anything that I needed. That was the way life was for us. My daughter tells me the same thing. She never felt like there were things she wanted that she couldn't have... well for the most part anyway, she always had what she needed. These are the kinds of things for which I am thankful and that make me happy. Love, life and FAMILY! (oh and did I mention how happy it makes me to read your comments? hint, hint, hint!)

The Christmas Story

This is absolutely the MOST PRECIOUS version of the Christmas Story I have EVER seen! I found it on Sweet Paper Treats who today share the most scrumptious hot chocolate on a stick recipe that I'm dying to try!

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus - Must See!

Finally finished the Christmas goodies!

Here is the finished product that I've been working on for the past three days and below it is a brief tutorial showing how I assembled the box. I don't remember where I found the cut file for it, but have it saved in the altered state as a SCUT2 file that can be cut on the Cricut and would be happy to send it upon request. If I figure out where the original file came from I'll post the author.   Woo hoo, I just found the site containing the original file for this box! You can grab it on this post at  Images by Heather M.

So this is the finished product. I only had two sheets of this beautiful blue card stock which turned out to be an absolutely perfect match to the snowflake candies, so one is going in the basket for our office gift exchange and the other to someone very special. Inside each box are four chocolate cookies dipped in vanilla candy melts and topped with two snowflakes. There is some sparkly edible glitter on the blue snowflakes that really makes them pop and shine.

Here are the basic steps after cutting out the components. First is the base for the box. I used some old flat rate envelopes that according to my local post office have been replaced.

Now grab some of your handy-dandy double-sided tape and stick some on each corner flap. You could also use glue or your adhesive of choice, but I found big packages of this stuff at SAMS, so tend to use it whenever I don't need an acid-free tape.

Fold up the flaps, putting the smaller flap to the inside and forming a box.

I forgot to mention that scoring the bottom and lid makes folding easier. I used my Martha Stewart Score Board for this and found it to work really well. The score lines are every 1/8th inch, so most scoring projects fit nicely. The only suggestion I'd have for Ms Stewart would be to make the scoring tool larger and preferably with an ergonomic handle. My arthritic hands complain quite a bit after a few minutes of scoring. It's also quite sharp and tends to tear the paper easily if it's not really thick card stock like what I used for this project. I usually end up getting out my regular bone folder which is larger and more comfortable.

Score the lid, fold and do the same thing with tape that you did for the bottom of the box.

Cut some clear acetate (overhead projector sheets) to 4 1/4 x 4 1/4.

Adhere with Crystal Effects or your choice of clear adhesive to the underside of the lid. You can do this either before or after assembling the lid. When making a bunch of these I did it before scoring so they could be stacked up to dry while I worked on the next step.

Now get all your inner parts folded. Since I made these out of thinner paper rather than card stock I found it was faster to just fold without scoring. I also found it was easier to stick them in the box without actually gluing them first because they kind of stuck together. Then I just stuck some tape here and there wherever needed to make it look better. You'll understand when you try it. Maybe I should do a video sometime?

The inside of the box with four compartments. For most of the other boxes I had the paper upside down so only the white showed because that looks better with the cookies, but for this tutorial I thought the striped paper was easier to see.

Fully assembled box. Don't you just love that rock star card stock?

You can see the scalloped edge of the box lid in the picture below. The inside compartments are also scalloped.

Below is the same box shown at the beginning. Aren't those lovely cookies?

Hey if you're wanting some great inspiration and a chance to win some awesome blog candy go check out Prairie Fairy's site.

Guess what I'm making!

I've been busy all weekend making last minute goodies for Christmas giving. Anyone want to guess what this is for? Not all the components are showing in this picture, so you really have to use your imagination. My next post will show the completed products. These were all cut on my Cricut Expression using a file that I altered to fit the product that will go inside. BTW, that was a hint! :-)

I won another prize!!!

I can't believe it because I NEVER win, so how could I possibly be the lucky recipient of yet another prize (aka blog candy)??? Could it be good karma for the blog candy that I gave away? Or maybe God giving me an extra special blessing because He knows how stressed I've been lately? Well not REALLY stressed in a bad way, just  extra busy at work and then coming home to projects that I put off far too long. Anyway, I am truly blessed to be the winner and want everyone to go look at the awesome cards on Brenda Weaver's blog Sweet Paper Treats. That link will take you directly to the first of her 12 Cards for Christmas posts and will show you what I have won. Brenda is an awesome and talented crafter who has given me enough ideas to keep me busy for a really long time. Thank you Brenda!!!

Tour Our Home for Christmas!

While perusing some of my favorite blog spots I saw that The Shabby Chic Cottage was doing the Holly Bloggy Christmas Home Tour, so grabbing my camera I walked around our home and took some pictures to share with you. Sorry about the sideways pics, but for some reason when they import in to the slide show they turn sideways if they're a tall picture. You've gotta love the very last picture showing our dear Border Collie, Katie at the top of the basement stairs with her soft cone on her head. She has stitches on her side and so I pulled out the cone I'd made for Tucker when he had his tumor removed. I've gotta say this is one VERY patient dog! Love how Charlie is peering around her to see what's happening! Anyway, I hope you enjoy the show!

Getting ready for Christmas

Does anyone else absolutely LOVE this time of the year while at the same time looking forward to it being over? I find myself overwhelmed by all those last minute projects that I put off far too long, then comes the cards that must be finished, addressed and mailed, the stocking stuffers and family gift bags to be assembled, oh and did I mention that my dear husband is a school teacher who always waits until the last minute to decide that he should get something for his kids? If I would just plan ahead all of this would be done and I'd be able to relax, but noooooo, that's not how I function! So if I've been a little scarce that should explain it. Tonight we'll be putting the bags together for his school kiddos. Luckily I had a bunch of those hot cocoa holders and Hershey's nuggets boxes left over from the craft show and won't have to come up with anything at the last minute. It's all fun and I enjoy the creative outlet, but as I said earlier I'm looking forward to December 26th when I can sit back and relax! How about you? Any big plans for the holidays? Have you finished all your projects yet?

Badge Reels I made

Our office participates in a charity fund-raiser each year, so I made a bunch of badge reels to donate. We sold about half of them, so the rest will probably go in my Etsy shop eventually. These are all made out of upcycled ties and were loads of fun to make! I'm going to experiment with some other fabrics, like maybe lightweight upcycled denim that can be stamped with initials or other cute things (birds, dogs, flowers, etc.)

OWH Won 2nd Prize of $25,000 in the JoAnn Craft for a Cause!

Dear Sharon,

I am so proud to announce that you all have DONE it. We won the second prize of $25,000 in the Jo-Anns Craft for a Cause contest!!! Your faithful daily voting made it happen! Ciara was so excited she made a little video :) You can see Jo-Ann's official announcement on the CFAC page here: http://joann.com/craftforacause

We want to congratulate the other organizations as well - Project Linus (first place) and the American Cancer Society (third place). Both are fantastic organizations that do important work - and we're thrilled to be in their company! For a little org like us to even be in the finalists round, much less take home 2nd prize, is a great honor. THANK YOU to the voters who made this possible - and to Jo-Ann's for their incredible generosity!

What now? Our first purchase is new tape guns for our shippers - LOL! And our board of directors will be discussing the expenditure of the prize monies next year. My hope is that we will continue covering our shipping costs with the donations from our crafters and supporters - it's amazing what everyone's $5, $20, $50, and $100 gifts have achieved so far, keeping those boxes going out the door! With the prize, we have the chance to take care of some big ticket items - including attorney fees (for our trademark application), costs for the website and videos, and some professional help that is much needed to keep the org growing. What a blessing this is for OWH!

Celebrate with us! We know you want to cheer! So leave a message on our Facebook page, drop a comment on our Homefront Blog post, and then please send a thank-you card to Jo-Ann's! Wouldn't that be a lovely expression of what we love to do? Here's the address:

Jo-Ann Fabric & Craft Stores
5555 Darrow Road
Hudson Ohio 44236

The best celebration of all will be redoubling our efforts to keep making those beautiful cards and getting them out to our heroes to write home on. Let's keep up the great work!

Thank you all so much for your support!

Sandy
President, Operation Write Home

My Blog Candy is Here!

How exciting to return home from our trip out of town to find that my blog candy from Karen at Feline Creative had already arrived! It is just beyond awesome and I feel so blessed to be the prize ricipient! Here's one picture of what it looks like laid out and one that I had fun changing to a line drawing.

OK, so I'm just slightly giddy from opening my present AND from lack of sleep last night (forgot to take my nightime "meds" which include Tylenol PM and Melatonin), so while in Roxio Photo Suite I clicked on the wrong button and thought it looked pretty cool. What to you think? Anyway, guess what I'll be playing with tonight?!?!

Look what I made with a Coke can and Martha Stewart punch!

Oh my gosh this is just TOOOOOOooooo much fun! Look what I made! I didn't use my light box, so the picture quality is a little poor, but you'll get the gist of them anyway. I'm wearing them now and they are absolutely as light as a feather and so pretty. Hmmmmm, wonder if these will show up in my Etsy shop soon? What fun and how festive they are! I can also picture these gracing the front of a Christmas card. If you've ever used Martha Stewart's snowflake punch that comes with three matching acrylic stamps you'll know that this was no easy task as her punch is difficult to use even with just paper. Anyone else have a problem with it sticking? I was thinking that maybe using the lightweight aluminum cans would loosen/sharpen it a bit, but it still sticks and requires a few good WHACKS to get the cutting component released. Anyway, let me know what you think of these cute earrings!

My First Attitude Award!

What a surprise and honor to find that I'd been nominated for this Attitude award by my blogger friend over at Ladybug Lair! She's got an awesome blog with all kinds of fun projects on it, so go check her out!

I hope she doesn't mind, but to save some time I just copied and pasted what she had on her blog about this award and will adjust accordingly.

In order to receive this award, you have to list 3 things that give you "tude" from everyone else. Then, nominate 5 other blogs that you believe also have attitude! Lastly post this award on your blog.

My 3 things are:

1.  I find that I've become rather competitive in the new blogosphere of crafters. I want to do it ALL!!! Of course I can't, but a woman can dream can't she?
2.  I look for things that make me say "aaahhhhhh!" You know, things that are pink and green or have sparkly embellishments or stickles.
3.  It's hard to say no.
Here are the 5 “blogger friends” whom I consider have “Attitude”:-


1.  Penny Duncan Creations
2.  Grammie's Craft Room
3.  Creations by Christie
4.  Inspirations by D
5.  last but not least, Emily & Matt