Where has the year gone?

Woo Hoo! What a ride 2010 has been!  Is it just me or did this year fly by faster than ever? 

I started my blog almost a year ago. I remember exploring blogger over my Christmas holidays trying to see if I could actually figure out how to do this, and trying to decide how much of a commitment I was willing to make to it.  Well, I must say I am sure glad I took the leap. I have joined in a few challenges and have pushed my creative self out of my box.  I have been surprised by how many visitors I have had, and by all the lovely comments that have been left on my posts.  Thank you readers and followers for enabling my craft obsession hobby!

I have been struggling with a back injury, and have been advised to take a break from my job for a couple of months. I'm doing meds, physio, specialists and trying to exercise at home. I'm so glad to have my hobbies,  my Google Reader and this blog as a distraction from all of that.

My kids have been having a great year at school, straight A's for both of them. Getting a dog has been such a good thing to get the kids to take on some responsibility at home, and they have both grown so much in both maturity and height.  My 11 yr old daughter is almost as tall as me already, and my 9 yr old son can wear my shoes (I'm not dainty, 5'7" and wear size 8 shoes!)

My hubby has gone from employee with benefits to independent contractor, without too many glitches. This was a major adjustment for me, and I struggled with so many "what if's".  This also means we now have an accountant and I don't have to do the taxes this year. Yippee!

At my family reunion in August, I was given my Grandmother's family ring as I am the oldest granddaughter.  She had 17 children, so it's a beautiful custom ring with 4 rows of birthstones in it.  She wore this ring every day, but I only take it out for special occasions. I am to pass this on to my daughter, as she is the oldest great-granddaughter. It is the first family heirloom for us, and it was a very special moment for me when my aunts presented me with it. I would much rather have my Grandmother here, but I will always cherish her ring.

All in all, it was a good year.

I am SO excited for 2011!  
I can't go into specifics just yet, but I have big news!  
I also have a surprise for my followers, but I'm keeping it a secret for a few more days.

You'll just have to check back to get all the details. :)

Happy almost New Year!
Lorrinda

Merry Christmas!

I want to wish all of my blog friends

 a very Merry Christmas! 

I hope Santa is good to you,

and that you have a safe

and happy holiday with your loved ones.

May God bless you all 

with health and happiness!

Lorrinda

Dreaming of a White Christmas...

I made this card for my parents, had to make it big (5x7") to include kid's school portraits. I don't know why I don't make big cards more often, they just seem more festive somehow...
 

I was feeling the white....

Cut the snowflakes on my Cricut using Home Accents cartridge. Dabbed them with liquid glue and covered them with glitter. Arranged the snowflakes in a wreath circle, added adhesive pearls and ribbon. The sentiment is embossed in a silver pearl color (tough to photograph the sheen, but it's real purty IRL), and I used a pearl paint brushed on the edges for some extra shine. 

I like how this turned out, I wanted something simple and elegant and I think this works.

And, it was easy to make :)

Merry Christmas!

Lorrinda

Recipe:

All CTMH Products

Cardstock: White Daisy

Stamps: C1281 Card Commentary and C1379 Holiday Commentary

Z678 Silver Pearl Embossing Powder

Z1039 Pearl Paint

Z1336 Pearl Opaques 1/2 pearls

Z134 Prisma Glitter

Craft Heater

paint brush

White ribbon from my stash



Need a little gift bag?

This is my second post today, can you believe it? I've actually had these done for a few days, but am only getting a chance to post them to my blog now.  I'm sure you are all having a crazy week too!

Need a last minute pretty package for a little gift or stocking stuffers? Why not use up some of that ancient printed paper or cardstock that you have laying around? (Admit it, you have stuff that you bought because it was on sale and have never used...)

Try these simple 2-5-7-10 boxes.  A full tutorial can be found HERE at Splitcoast Stampers.

Each of these were made with a single 81/2 x 11" sheet of double sided cardstock. This particular paper was in a bulk pack from Costco that I have had forever. The stamp is from SU, cut circles out of coordinating cs with my Cricut.  Used a length of twill ribbon threaded through holes to fasten the top.

I needed these to be a bit taller, so I used a 12x11"  sheet of Costco cardstock, used the same score measurements of 2-5-7-10 along the 11" side, and altered the score lines on the 12" side to 2" and 10 1/2" (see tutorial).  I cut the tags with my Cricut and Storybook cartridge, used CTMH stamps C1427 I Believe and C1379 Holiday Commentary with gold embossing powder. To make the fastener for these, I threaded a loop of stretchy gold cord through a pierced hole, and knotted it at the inside so it stays. The loop can be hooked around a gold brad to keep the top closed. Embellished with a bit of gold ribbon, a bit of bling and some punched pine branches.

I think both sizes turned out pretty nice, and these came together very quickly.

Best of all, they were made from stuff I had in my stash!

Merry Christmas!

Lorrinda

Holiday Dough!

I have a nephew who is saving his money for a school trip to Quebec, and his mom told me he wanted cash for Christmas. Well, that's just boring. Not the cash part, who doesn't like cash? But I think he should get some presents to open.  I found this adorable little poem by fellow CTMH consultant Theresa Dodd, and I just had to use it!

(Click the pic to get a closeup view)

Theresa's project used rolled up dollar bills (which made for a really nice fat presentation), but here in Canada the smallest paper money we have is a $5 bill, so I got creative with the $1 coins and added some candy to fill the box.

The clear box is recycled packaging I found in my stash. The candies are Hershey's kisses and Mint Candy cane balls.  Now he'll have a present to unwrap with the rest of the kids. This should keep him busy unwrapping his money for a while, don't you think?

Merry Christmas!
Lorrinda