"Play Along Monday's" Challenge #16 - Anything Christmas!

Good morning everyone. Supposed to be another nice day here today, but I will get something done, promise! Thank you to everyone who played along last week, loved seeing all your creations. Don't forget, feel free to play along whenever you wish! You can find all my Play Along challenges in my sidebar.

For this week's challenge, I'd like to see a project of your choice with a Christmas theme! I can't wait to see what you come up with. I'll post something later on today, I just didn't get a chance over the wknd to do something. Don't forget to post a DIRECT link in Mister Linky!! Most important, HAVE FUN and happy creating!

EDIT: Since I didn't get mine done in time for a sample, I've added it into Mister Linky!

Amazing Weather Here In Ontario!

Hi everyone! I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend. The weather here has been incredible this wknd! Yesterday and today we hit 15*C! VERY unlike Nov weather, so we've been out enjoying it and I've done NO creating this wknd. A little reminder though, last week's challenge was to create something with one pc of paper and I'd love to see some more entries! I find everyone's work so inspiring! A new challenge will be posted tmw.

Also, I have a couple Regal orders to go in, so if anyone would like something, have a look on my sidebar for the link to my online webstore and we'll all split the shipping. For my US friends, I'll just add on the exact shipping from me to you afterwards. Some great deals in there!

We also had a sad day yesterday as we lost our 16 yr old kitty. We had just bought and moved into our first home together, we were on separate shifts and I was waiting on the front steps when Keith came home one afternoon and in his hands was this precious little kitten (my first cat) and I fell in love with her. She's always been a very cuddly/huggy kitty. Yesterday she was bugging me in bed, trying to curl up around my head and then I heard our daughter crying saying Ginger couldn't move. It was awful. One minute she was ok, the next she was completely paralized from the waist down. They figure it was an embolism/broken blood clot on her spine. So we had to say our goodbyes. I took it quite hard. She was a sweetheart and she'll be missed. Even Riley was moping and crying as they had become best friends and were always together, even slept together. She's in the back corner, in her favourite place where she loved to lay and watch the birds. It's funny because Riley loves to lay against the fence back there too. We both missed her terribly last night, that's when I had a really rough time and finally let it all out. I'm so used to her being on the bed at night. I feel much better today though and know that I made the right decision and she's off lazing in the sun and doing her infamous birdwatching again somewhere!!

So, on a good note, be sure to enjoy this beautiful weather, wherever you are and happy creating!! I'm going back out to lap up this sunshine and clean some windows :)

Our Very FIRST Weekend Scrapbooking Retreat Is Almost Here!

I can't believe it's only 3 weeks away...our very first scrapbooking retreat! My friend Kelli and I run a monthly scrapbookers club in town and we decided to try our hand at hosting a retreat. Well, we're doing amazing! We're almost full and we have ppl coming in last minute to see if we have room left! This week we've been getting emails and phone calls. It's so exciting! We have to have final numbers in on Nov 11th. It's being held 5 min's from my house, so that's convenient for me! We have some special events taking place, demo's, classes..all free of charge AND we've decided to do a "Trade or Sell" event on Friday night along with 'Mock'tails. Bring anything you'd like to sell or trade off for something else! We're offering both weekend and day options and we have both filling up nicely, so we're really excited. We've already booked the conference center for next June and Nov!!

If anyone out there is interested in coming, send me an email and I'll send you all the details!! We're located an hour north of Toronto, an hour south of Barrie, right on Lake Simcoe. The rest will be in email. I wish all my US friends could come, would be so fun to meet everyone. I promise to post pics and details of all the fun we have.

Wedding Thank You Cards

As some of you know, my Aunt recently got married and we had fun making her invitations from a kit and then I was asked to make some place card markers for the kid's plates and I also made their Wedding Guest Book. So, when my Aunt recently talked to me about Thank You's, I looked into having them made and then asked if I could see what I could come up with on my own. My daughter and I went to Michaels last night and matched everything up to the invitations and this is what I came up with today. I really like them. They're simple yet classy. The flower is from the reception as well. We had them on the tables in place of confetti, so it was fun to bring those into the thank you cards. I have to say, I really loved putting all this together! My sister, cousin Nancy and I just finished an online wedding album for them as well and it's beautiful. Can't wait till we get it back so we can all get together and give it to them.

I just talked to my hubby he informed me that friends of ours, one of which is his co-worker, all have H1N1. They've been tested and diagnosed with it. His wife and 3 kids have it, so he's likely next, poor guys! Unfortunately, it's likely going to go through work now as well. I have had a sore throat the last couple days, but more irritating than anything. Today as the day progressed, it's gotten worse. Thank goodness we already have a dr's appt for a follow up for Ashleigh. Fingers crossed that I'm not getting sick :(

EDIT: WELL, GOOD NEWS IS THAT MY THROAT IS IRRITATED, BUT NO NEED FOR MEDS JUST YET, WAIT AND SEE! GREAT NEWS IS THAT OUR GIRL IS 100% BETTER! YAY! THAT FLU KICKS THE ENERGY RIGHT OUT OF YOU!

One last thing, I want to send a big birthday shout out to my friend Christine today!

Also, one more thing..today on Danni's Dreams, some very sad news was posted and I just want everyone to go and give their little one's a hug tonight. If you do pop over to Danni's blog, there's a special tree that's waiting to be planted and all the details can be found here.

There's A Sale Goin' On!

Hop on over to Stamps and Smiles new releases to take advantage of some huge savings! Save 20% on all Fall/Winter stamps and receive a goodie bag with every order! "This NEW release bundle is available at a special price for a limited time. Buy the whole stamp collection and save 25%, now through December 15th."

Stamps and Smiles is now selling digi stamps too and oh my, they are SO cute! Be sure to go have a look! Make sure to check often as new ones are being added as they become available!

My First Paper Tree!

This is it! This is what we are doing with our Scrapbooker's Club this Friday night. Kelli (we run the club together) found this idea on Tracey Mason's blog. Isn't it pretty? I wish my leaves were curled a little more, but I think it's pretty good for my first try! For this one, I used:

• Spray Adhesive
• Martha Stewart Course Glitter
• "Evensong" CTMH Paper pack (LV 2)
• 3x3" squares

You can find the instructions that I used by clicking on Tracey's site above. Kelli came up with her own cutting design so we don't waste as much paper, so stay tuned and I'll post those when I get them in my hands!

Regal Greetings and Gifts

I just wanted to let you all know that I've recently become a Regal Greetings and Gifts Rep. I now have an online webstore, which you can find in my sidebar. Each week there's a new special, I believe it runs Thursday - Thursday. You can find the specials under "Current Promotions". You can also view the catalogues online or if you would like your own, please let me know and I'll mail one out to you. You can now shop online as well. They have some amazing deals on cards in there as well as some cute Xmas gifts. Please feel free to check out my webstore and if you have any questions, don't hesitate to email me!

Guess What?! And A Little Guessing Game!

Hello everyone! I have an exciting announcement! I'm staying on as a designer for Stamps and Smiles "Project Tuesday"! I'm so excited as I love all the little projects they have done and I love all the little stamps too. I even chk'd today and my photo is up on the Project Tuesday blog!!

So, this Friday, we're having our monthly Scrapbooker's Club night and my friend Kelli found a great idea for a make and take. I just finished mine, waiting for it to dry and I'll get it posted. I was going to wait till tmw morning, but you know, I just don't think I can!! Let's see if anyone (besides our club members..lol) can guess what it is!! Here's a couple clues:

• about 6 inches in length
• LOTS of glitter
• rows of patterned paper

That's all you're getting or I'll be giving it away! LOL! Let's see what you think it is! Stay tuned for the 'answer'!!!

"Believing"

Here's another triangle box that I made, just to have one hand. These are so versatile, you could use them for anything. For this one, I decided to do it without stamps. I used:

• CTMH "Paper Garden" Lv 2 Stickease
• Paper from Michaels
• Curly Ribbon from Dollarama

Very simple, yet elegant. I hope you like it.

Project Tuesday: "Let It Snow, Let It Snow..."

This week at Project Tuesday, the project is to make a Triangle Box. All you need is one 5"x10" piece of CS and embellishments! It's that easy and looks so cute! Hope to see some of you play along! For my box, I used paper from Michaels and my second digi stamp!! Thank you, Jennifer!! You can find more of Jennifer's digi's over at Stamps and Smiles. I covered my image with adhesive and then sprinkled it with glitter. Now to fill it with candies and then I can attach it to a Christmas gift!