What the...?

It's over a month since I last posted.  I think it was just before my annual holiday workshop, wasn't it?  Well, that turned out smashingly well, if I do say so myself!  I had so much fun welcoming my stamping friends to come and create over 100 Christmas cards, snack on the goodies and have lots of laughs and chitchat.  I feel sort of at a loss now since there are no more classes until January.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving is just what they wanted it to be.  Mine was imperfectly perfect!  My eldest son and his family came down and spent a few days with us.  The house was full of noise, stuff was everywhere and I wouldn't have changed a thing (for this neatnik, that is huge!).  His entire family is vegan so it was a bit of a challenge for me to plan the dinner but I found a recipe for Disney's Ratatouille and gave it a whirl.  It was great!  (Pardon the ugly baking dish).

While I love seeing my son, the highlight for me was getting to spend time with my 5 year old grandson, Lucas.  They're little for such a short time!  Here he is hugging my Mickey snow-mouse.  He even slept with it and asked if I could find him one.  Sure hope I can deliver!

I did get some crafting time in there as well.  I love the deco mesh wreaths so I made one for my sister.  I also tried my hand at the rosette trees featured on the cover of our holiday gift guide.

And now it's the countdown to Christmas.  I actually decorated my house today though the tree is still standing there with just lights on it.  It takes me a few hours to get all the ornaments on so that's saved for Sunday.  Tomorrow is the annual sister's shopping day.  Claire and I will spend the whole day together trying to finish our shopping lists.  We usually don't succeed as it's more our chance to just be with each other, uninterrupted and enjoying each other's company.  I hope everyone is having a happy, healthy and joyful season so far with more to come.  2014, here we come!

Smiles, Caron

Picture Your Life with Close To My Heart!

What a unique opportunity you have!  From now until December 31st, join my team for as little as $49 and  you can earn this brand new scrapbooking program FREE!  Contact me for details.  I'm super excited to get my hands on this as well!  Click here!
Smiles, Caron

And so it begins...

It's November 1st and the countdown begins.  No matter what I do, I'm never ready so I've decided to stop trying.  Let's face it - I'm not Betty Crocker, Martha Stewart, Suzy Homemaker or any of those famed people who seem to have all the answers, do everything perfectly AND on time.  Where's the fun in that, anyway?  My favorite memories (you know, the ones we tell over and over and over) are always based on the things that didn't go as planned.  Remember Christmas eve morning when we found the toilet hadn't stopped running the night before and there was water (clean, thank goodness!) all the way into the living room where the presents were already under the tree?  What about that Thanksgiving where I cooked enough food for 20 people because I didn't know how to cook for just 3 - and then forgot to even take the stuffing out of the turkey?  And who can forget that time when a week after Christmas I discovered a whole bag of presents hidden in the closet - and we had a second celebration opening them?  Does anyone really reminisce about the perfect wrapping paper, the thoughtful table settings or the handmade decorations?  I don't!  So, here's my advice to you from now.  Take it one day at a time and really enjoy what life is handing you THIS VERY MINUTE.  In the rush to be prepared for one single day, it's all too easy to miss the joy in the ones that come before it.

Here's a little card I made (just to keep this post related to stamping)!
Smiles, Caron

It's all in how you look at it!

I recently attended a seminar about diversity in the workplace and one of the key statements was to take a second look to see what you might not notice at first glance.  Well, I applied that theory to this card!  I had a bunch of paper left over from a Christmas paper pack that is now retired.  What to do with it?  I took a second look at it and tried to see beyond the fact that it was Christmas themed.  The card below is the result and nobody I showed it to could tell!  I used my Cricut and Art Philosophy for all the shapes.

Smiles, Caron

A Sarita Birthday

Here's a card my students recently made.  I used the Sarita paper pack and M1033 Heartfelt Birthday Wish (one of our super affordable stamps).  Before stamping, I sponged some lagoon and gypsy inks onto the white cardstock.  Then I stamped the sentiment.  Finally, I added some liquid glass to the open letters.  It's a simple technique but it adds just enough to the card to make it special.  If you click on this picture, you can see some of the shine the liquid glass added to the card.

Smiles, Caron

Holiday Gift Guide!

It's here!  It's here!  You can order from our Holiday Gift Guide starting today!  If you haven't gotten a copy from me, you can always view it on my website (click the link on the left of the screen) or stop by and get one.  Some items are while supplies last so don't hesitate.  I've listed them here:

 "While supplies last" products include:

• Sparkle & Shine Assortment (Z1860)
• Sparkle & Shine Washi Tape 3-Pack (Z1907)
• Workshops on the Go^® Sparkle & Shine Scrapbooking Kit (G1071)
• Season's Tweetings Gift Bag Kit (Z1913)
• Season's Tweetings Gift Bags (Z1914)
• Sparkle Holiday Shapes (Z1910)
• Party Washi Tape 3-Pack (Z1908)
• My Creations^® Hip Pics Album Kit (Z1915)

  And remember - if you order $100 or more (from any current idea book) you can choose a star item for FREE!

The “star” items are the products in the gift guide that have a circled star image next to the product’s item number and include:

• Sparkle & Shine Paper Packet (X7176B)
• Sparkle & Shine Complements Dimensional Elements (X7176C)
• My Acrylix^® Magical Days Stamp Set (D1552)
• My Acrylix^® Santa Claus Stamp Set (C1567)
• My Acrylix^® Mary and Babe Stamp Set (C1562)
• My Acrylix^® Trim the Tree Stamp Set (A1149)
• My Acrylix^® Charming Chevrons Stamp Set (A1150)
• My Acrylix^® Lots of Love Stamp Set (A1151)
• My Acrylix^® Angel Friends Stamp Set (B1435)
• My Acrylix^® Lifting Spirits Stamp Set (C1570)
• My Acrylix^® Banner Wishes Stamp Set (B1438)

Smiles, Caron

Holiday Workshop 2013!

I wasn't going to do this but someone's puppy dog eyes (her initials are Tina O'Brien) convinced me to continue with my annual holiday workshop this year.  I have six designs to choose from, each with a bit of sparkle to them.  This year the cards will be $1.50 each (envelopes available for 10 cents each).  You can make whichever ones you want and however many you want!  Please rsvp with your order by November 1st.

Come share some fun, creativity, holiday music and goodies with me!  There will also be several little gift items already made that will be on sale!

Smiles, Caron

Happy Holidays

Candles (Pinterest inspired!)

Ornaments (Pinterest inspired!)

Penguin

Snowflake

Sparkle Trees