Oh the weather outside is frightful.....

Winter is here with a vengeance and it's frosty cold outside. Of course, it was bound to happen given that it's almost January so I guess we're lucky we've made it this far.

A quick post tonight as I am exhausted. Too many late nights and early mornings. This is a wedding card I made with some pretty "My Mind's Eye" papers. The chipboard frame I had laying around for months and it matches perfectly with the paper. Rub-on is Melissa Frances and the heart border is done with a Fiskars punch.

I very bravely hit the Michaels sale tonight on the way home from work and the store was pretty deserted, most likely because it's freezing out. I was able to pick up a Cricut cartridge on sale for $47.99, marked down from $119.00. Who pays full price for these things??

I wish everyone a very happy and prosperous 2010. Hope Santa was good to you!

Paw Prints

Three days before Christmas and all is peaceful. I am taking a day to relax. No stores, no hustling or bustling or fighting traffic and just me time. My poor Kenya has his urinary tract infection back again so it was off to the vet yesterday for some medicine.

I made a couple of cards last night for a girl who recently lost her dog and wanted to send out some thank you's. The first is done with DCWV paper for pets, a Melissa Frances rub-on and some grosgrain ribbon. Below is all Making Memories paper, Melissa Frances rub-on and the heart border was done with a Fiskars punch.

It's so hard to lose a pet and very sad when it happens around Christmastime. Christmas is for family time and sharing and that includes all our beloved 4-legged creatures.

A final post for today

One final card to show you, made with "My Minds Eye" paper and a beautiful Melissa Frances Christmas tag. I love her tags - you can put them on the card as-is and it looks like you spent hours making it yourself.

All things Christmas in my life are now completed - sending out cards, buying, wrapping with just a little bit of baking left to do. I'm not much of a baker but thought it might be nice for a change this year. We are having our Secret Santa exchange at work this week and cookies are the perfect complement for gift opening. Cookies are the perfect complement for breathing, as far as I'm concerned.

It's not bad enough you gotta buy the stuff.......

But you gotta wrap it too....bah, humbug! Actually, I don't mind wrapping, if I have the time to do it properly. And, if I'm not doing 20 at a time which I have been lately. I was busy wrapping the other night and had literally every square inch of space in the living room covered with paper, ribbon, bows and you name it. The cats, particularly Kenya, cannot keep out of the bags and love to eat the ribbon (again, not naming names but....Kenya) which inevitably shows up again a short time later when he throws it up. Well, this night, they were particularly bad and the final straw was them running through the mess at about 100 miles an hour, simultaneously jumping up on the back of the couch and knocking over the tree. I screamed as I saw it hurtling towards the glass-topped coffee table but it stopped short, lucky for them.

Speaking of Kenya, it's his birthday today - Happy 11th Birthday! I used to buy them a specially-made cat cake that I ordered from a store in Toronto. They would deliver the cake, along with cat bow ties, all for the low price of about $45 (trust me, that's sarcasm). Of course, neither cat had any interest in eating it which, for the price I paid, made me tempted to eat the damn thing.

Ho, ho, ho

Two weeks before Christmas and I have finally found the time to get some festive cards made. The first one is made with 3bugsinarug paper to which I added a cute little embellishment I found at the dollar store, a Melissa Frances rub-on and some ribbon and buttons.

I love the rich colours in the second card. Paper is from Anna Griffin and Making Memories, the holly wreath design in the centre is a rub-on, heart design is from a Fiskars punch, sentiment sticker is from a kit and ribbon and lace are from my overflowing ribbon drawer.

I cannot begin to tell you how busy I have been these past couple of weeks and I know I'm not alone. Everyone is stressed, trying to get things done and spending way too much money. At least the weather has been fairly decent. November was a great month weather-wise and, keeping fingers crossed, with the exception of one bad day, December has been liveable. It is no secret that I detest winter and pray every year that global warming will sweep the nation and make all the cold and snow go away.

Hope everyone had a great weekend.

Christmas Kits

My girlfriend gave me a couple of cute little cardmaking kits. They are simple and quick and provide you with everything you need - paper, cards, envelopes, embellishments, ribbons, etc. I made two of the cards tonight and, though they are not as fancy or detailed as what I normally make, they would be great for adding to a gift or as an enclosure card. For the time it took me to make them - which was minimal - I think these kits are a great idea.