Cookies for Santa

Today I finished my Christmas shopping, woohoo!! I have *never* *ever* *not even in my dreams* been finished this early before!! Love it. I'm completely in the Christmas mood now, so you're going to be seeing a whole lotta Christmas on my blog. :-)


This is another cutie patootie image from Hambo Stamps. Love that little mouse! And the cookies just make me hungry.

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Santa Cookies - 4309 and Joy-Filled - 4312 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Stampin' Up Kraft, GP white, Canvas Corp DP (I think, can't read my own handwriting!!)
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Vintage Photo Distress ink, white gel pen
• Accessories: MFT snowflake die, Spellbinders die, ribbon, Hero Arts lace trim, button, twine, machine stitching

It's a Parade!

Today we took the kids to their first ever real parade! The Chuy's Children Giving to Children parade in downtown Austin, which supports Operation Blue Santa. Blue Santa was started by the Austin Police Department to collect toys and provide holiday meals to Austin families who would not otherwise have those things for Christmas. The parade was tons of fun, so I have to share some pics. Ummm... LOTS of pics. Are you ready??

A couple excited kids waiting for the parade to start...


They moved to the curb to get a better view. And look, their sweet cousin Morgan was there, too!


Look what's coming!!


Its a bird, its a plane... no... its Super Grover!!


There were several cool balloons in the parade, I had never seen one in person. I felt like I was at the Macy's parade!



Of course a parade isn't a parade without flags... or bagpipes...

Or cheerleaders...

Or a marching band or two...


Or carolers (in a Christmas parade, anyway!)...

Here's some fine examples of why we love our WEIRD city...

This poor dog was holding on for dear life!

I always *knew* EMS were superheroes - here's some proof.

The kids got to shake hands with a REAL princess!

And there's Snow White!

Chewbacca!

Whoa, can you believe even SANTA came to our parade!??! So exciting.


And the reason for the parade - Blue Santa. That's our wonderful Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo up top, thanking the crowd for their support.

At one point in the parade (near the end for us since we were sitting near the start), the parade stops and everyone donates toys to Blue Santa - there were several pickup trucks throughout the parade to collect them. Here's Aunt Laura helping the kids give their toys.

The kids LOVED their first parade.


Hooray for parades!

Survivor!

It's Wednesday and that means one thing in my world... tonight it's SURVIVOR!! I've been a fan since Season 1, and have only missed Season 3 (Africa) when I was out of the country. Yes, I am an addict. I don't watch many shows anymore, but I do need to watch my Survivor! But... what I DO NOT LIKE is when they waste a week mid-season with a stupid recap show!!! Like tonight. Ack!! Since I can't get my Survivor fix tonight, instead I made a Survivor CARD to show here...


I completely squealed when Hambo came out with some Survivor-inspired images. That rocks!! (I happen to know that Monica is also a Survivor-aholic!) :-)

I used the latest Mojo Monday sketch as inspiration for this card:


Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Totem-4107 & Tribe Has Spoken - 4109 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Bazzill teal, SU brown, Hero Arts kraft, GP white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers, Vintage Photo Distress ink
• Accessories: Spellbinders die, machine stitching, SU rope twine

Be Mime!

Happy Tuesday! Today I have another happy Hambo card. These images are so much fun to color!!


That goes without saying - hee hee - love it! I've had this harlequin ribbon in my stash for a while, I thought it sorta worked with the mime. I played along with two challenges when making this card. The colors are The Play Date Cafe "Player Appreciation Week" - hurry, this challenge expires TONIGHT!


And the sketch is from 2 Sketches 4 You. I just turned it on it's side.

Thanks for stopping by today!

• Stamps: Mime - 4118 & Goes Without Saying - 4113 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: Stampin' Up Tempting Turquoise, Old Olive, Real Red, GP white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic markers
• Accessories: PTI scallop edge die, turquoise brads, machine stitching, Hobby Lobby ribbon

She's just a skater girl...

Oh how I love this joyful little skater girl from Hambo Stamps!


Isn't she fun?? I paired her with some awesome Basic Grey papers and that gorgeous Decorative Doily die from MFT. *love* See the liquid applique on her trim?


My friend Agata has a wonderful blog with 2 of her friends called Scrap Rendez-vous. They are sharing lots of fantastic tutorials, and this month they are asking you to link up your holiday cards on their sidebar. So, I'll be linking this one there. Be sure to check them out!!

Thanks for stopping by!

• Stamps: Skater Girl - 4311 & Joy-Filled - 4312 from Hambo Stamps
• Paper: SU Cool Caribbean, GP white, BasicGrey Figgy & Wander DP
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Vintage Photo Distress Ink, Copic markers
• Accessories: MFT Decorative Doily die, machine stitching, SU felt snowflake, button, twine (colored w my Copic), SU scallop edge punch, Liquid Applique

November Blast from the Past Blog Hop

Today I'm hopping once again with Taylor VanBruggen in her Blast from the Past blog hop, yay! The creative focus for this month's hop was Autumn & Thankful, so with that theme in mind I made this card:


I love this tree from In the Park, and inked it up in nice fall colors. The background was created with three shades of Distress Ink - Scattered Straw, Rusty Hinge & Vintage Photo. I also really love these Candy Crystals that Taylor sells, and tucked some in behind my satin bow:


When I started my card I was following Sankari's suggested sketch for the hop, but I veered off quite a bit:


But it's where I got the idea to put four panels on my background - mine are cork. I love cork!



Make sure and visit all of these wonderful blogs! Happy Hopping!

• Stamps: In the Park & A Year of Sentiments from Taylored Expressions
• Paper: Bazzill Carob Cream, GP white
• Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Distress Inks (Scattered Strew, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo), Copic markers
• Accessories: Cork, TE Candy Crystals, Hero Arts self-adhesive lace, Ribbon Boutique golden satin ribbon

What's Cookin' Wednesday?

Not much! This is my kitchen at the moment:


We're getting new granite countertops! Woohoo! I'm looking forward to sharing a recipe from my NEW kitchen soon. :-)

Texas Tuesday - Thinking Inking-style!

Today I'm sharing the third card I made the other night after watching Thinking Inking Week 6 on 2 Peas. I pulled out my Deadbeat Designs bluebonnet stamp and tried out the double resist!


I love how this turned out - although I botched it up a bit with that message. It says "Sending you a big ol' Texas hug!" - it's a little easier to read IRL, but not much. I probably should have stamped it with brown StazOn rather than Distress ink. Ah well, you live & learn. I love this double resist technique though, what fun! I followed Jennifer's instructions, even using the same colors of ink. It was really great to bust out something that's been in my drawer for YEARS - my massive stash of glossy cardstock from my Stampin' Up days. I should make a ton of double resist cards now!!

Hope you liked my Texas-inspired card! It's getting rather cold in central Texas these days - you know, by central Texas standards, not Minnesota standards!! It's nice to play with my bluebonnet stamp and think about spring. :-) Now make sure and check out what my wonderful Texas Tuesday partners were up to this week. You can find their links over on my sidebar.

Happy Stamping!

• Stamps: F-346 MD Bluebonnet & D-135 Texas Hug from Deadbeat Designs, CG125 Friend Definition from Hero Arts
• Paper: Hero Arts Kraft, Stampin' Up Glossy
• Ink: Versamark, Distress Ink (Broken China, Chipped Sapphire, Vintage Photo)
• Accessories: Machine stitching, Maya Road leaf trinket pin, satin ribbon

Another Thinking Inking card...

Hey guess what?!? That card I shared yesterday with the canvas tree won the challenge over on 2 Peas!! I'm so excited - it was the first time I uploaded over there!! Yay! :-) Today I'm sharing the second card I made for Jennifer's Holiday Thinking Inking, Week 6:


Like yesterday's tree, the blue roses are made from Sticky-Back Canvas too. How fun is that?! I inked them up with Broken China Distress ink after they were formed, and placed a Hero Arts diamond gem in the center of each.


Part of Jennifer's week 6 class also included embossing acetate, something I had never tried. It turned out so cool! I just put the acetate card over a regular kraft notecard.


The pleated paper ruffle was actually a failed attempt at making a rosette - I don't have the Tim Holtz die and didn't take the time to evenly score it, so, it wasn't such a nice looking rosette. But flattened back out, I do like it as a paper ruffle! :-) I inked it up with a little Vintage Photo to highlight the creases. I also inked up some self-adhesive lace with Broken China - fun that you can do that to customize your ribbon color!

Thanks for stopping by today! Tomorrow I'll have another Thinking Inking technique, but on a Texas Tuesday card. Yeehaw! :-)

• Stamps: CL272 All Occasion Messages
• Paper: PS507 Kraft notecard, BasicGrey Jovial DP, PS454 Acetate notecard
• Ink: AF189 Vintage Photo, AF160 Broken China Distress Inks (Ranger)
• Accessories: EKSuccess punch, Tim Holtz Swirls embossing folder (Sizzix), CH233 Self-Adhesive Lace, CH235 Diamond Gem, CH161 Felt Poinsettia and Leaves (leaf only)