It's All About The Journey

New Stamp Storage

Hello Ladies. I'm sure that by now most of you have either seen all of the sneak peeks for the new Stampin'UP!products . Or you have received your new mini catalogs and you have seen all of the new stuff.  Today I wanted to share with you how I will be storing my new stamp  sets from SU. I got the idea a very long time ago by someone who was storing her unmounted rubber stamps using DVD racks. Recently, Dawn Griffith  had a photo posted on her blog showing how she is storing her new SU sets. I loved the simplicity and the ease of being able to see the sets.  So I went on  a hunt for the same item. However, my Best Buy does not have a big inventory of DVD wire racks. I went to Target and I found exactly what I wanted. Unfortunately the larger rack did not seem as sturdy so I bought the smaller one for now.

 
 

This rack cost 8.99 and holds 15sets. I love that it has black and silver because my room is done in white, has silver hardware and most of my accents are in black. Wayne told me that I should have gotten the larger one even if it is not as sturdy as I would have liked. I will as my collection grows. The larger one holds 45 sets and is only 14.99. Until I  have this rack all filled up I have some of my new punches and  some adorable scalloped papers with matching envelopes under the stamps.:)  I just might keep this smaller rack the way it is. I like seeing my punches right by my stamps.

Here is a closer look at my sets in the wire rack in my counter.

Here is a close up of some of the new punches.

I am so excited about all of the new sets. Guess who is going wood-less? :)  I would love to hear how everyone else stores their unmounted stamps sets? Or if you are going to go unmounted, what type of storage you will be using. 

No card today. But I hope to have one by the end of this week.

Personal Ramblings

Anyone running around like a chicken with it's head cut off please raise your hand. :) I'm certain that I am not alone running around and being so busy due to Christmas coming. Wasn't it just Thanksgiving Day?  I have had very little time for myself for the past few weeks.  I have been busy wrapping and getting boxes ready to ship to family. Wow! The prices sure have gone up on the shipping.  I finally finished getting all of my Christmas cards in the mail yesterday and today in 8 degree weather I went out and shipped my last box.OY! It is brutal here. It may read 8degrees but with the wind chill it is way below zero. I have not felt this type of cold in many years. My furnace is constantly running because it is trying to keep up with keeping our home warm.  Can you relate? Gosh I hope not too many of you can.

Anyway, I have not had time to make a card or finish up my scrapbooks. I have more wrapping to do tonight. It all has to be done by Saturday night so I will be wrapping the rest of tonight and tomorrow night. In between that I have tons of things to do. I still have cookie jar gifts to make and cookies to bake. Errands to run and a few last minute gifts to pick up.  My daughter and 2of my granddaughters will be here on Sunday so the house needs to be cleaned a long with every thing else. Never a dull moment and most of the time I like it that way. But after weeks of shopping and wrapping and all of the other stuff that goes along with Christmas I am starting to get a tad tired. I wonder how many hands would go up If I asked if you were tired too. Too many for sure.:)

Please stay tuned. I am in the process of having my blog designed. I am so excited and can hardly wait to see what it will look like. I will also be back when I have a card to share with you. Or one of the scrap pages that I have done for Wayne's book.  Until then,  stay warm, stay safe and smile. :)

 

 
  

It's A Big Bird!

Hi Ladies. I still have not gotten a photo of the very big wild turkey's that come through my land just about every day. They come by all different hours of the day so I can't quite get a photo that I would like to share. But I do have a card with a big bird on it to share with all of you.  A sneak peek.:) The bird is a brand new punch from Stampin'UP!and it is in the new Occasions mini catalog that will be available to you on Jan.5,2010. I saw it and I *had* to have it!  I love so many of the new items that are coming out and I have a feeling that most of you will too.

Here is my card.

The sentiment that I used is from a brand new stamp set that is also in the new Occasions catalog. Oh, and the polka dot folder will also be available on Jan. 5,2010. :)  As for the rest of my card here is what I used. The card-stock is Old Olive, Soft Suede, Crushed Curry and Whisper White. I made this card for the Pals Paper Arts  color challenge. Say that three times fast. Ha-ha. Check out what the other women have made using these colors. Wowzer!The designers knock my socks off every single week with their designs. I also used the photo Corners punch and the matching soft suede grosgrain ribbon.  I hope that you enjoyed looking at my card. I could have made a Christmas card using this awesome bird..........but I felt that I needed to take a break from Christmas cards this week.

A side note and a question. I have seen many of the Stampin'UP! demonstrators posting sneak peeks from the new mini catalog that will be coming out in about 3weeks. The more I saw the more I felt like there would not be many surprises left for you to see in the catalog when it comes out. I know that I get excited when I have the catalog in my hands and I can pour over it and make my wish list. I deliberately did not take a photo of what the punch looks like because I wanted to keep that as a surprise for all of you who visit my blog. Here is my question. Are you enjoying all of the sneak peeks now or would you rather wait for the catalog to come out so you can see it all for the first time with the book in hand? I'm a little mixed about showing what I purchased and use right now. I would love to to hear what you think. Sneak peeks or no sneak peeks?

Personal Ramblings

Can you believe that we only have 15 days until  Christmas? This is the first time in many years that I am so far behind on all that I need to do for the holiday. I spent 4hours wrapping up some gifts the night before last. Last night I spent many hours with breaks in between making up little bags of Lindt Chocolates for the men that Wayne works with. This year I purchased decorated cello bags and after put the candy in each one I added ribbon, curled it and that was it. I did not even add any tags! Not like me but I have so much more to do yet so I am trying to take a few short cuts where ever I can. I think that they came out nice and the men will be happy with them.  I am still waiting for my cards to be delivered. This year for the very first time I ordered the photo Christmas cards that many of my friends and family have printed up each year. Long story short. I have sent them back 4 times because the "S" in Christmas is a tad chopped off of the card. What ever comes in the mail this coming week will have to do because I need to get my cards out! I do not want to mention which company it is that I am dealing with because up until the Christmas card incident I have had nothing but wonderful photos developed by them. I always receive great service from too. This particular incident seems to be just one of those things. Anyway, I still have more wrapping, baking and then of course the every day things that need to be done.

It has been very cold here in NH. The days have been in the 20'sand we have been having lots of wind so the cold goes right to my bones. This morning I had to go and see a doctor at 5 AM due to an allergic reaction from a medicine that was given to me. It was 14 degrees outside. Whoa! It was cold. I'm doing fine now. :) I've stayed indoors all day and will be doing the same for the next few days. I thought that I would take a break from going out in the cold. My friend in Canada likes to tell me that it is 39below Zero where she lives. I just can't imagine that and hope I never have to experience it. Burr.

I am rambling now, sorry about that.  I hope that all of you have a fantastic weekend. As always. keep warm be safe and Smile. :)

Another Page for Wayn'e book & A Few Photos

Hello Ladies. I hope that all of you are doing well and staying warm. I've not been posting much due to my trying to catch up with all I have to do for Christmas.  This certainly has been a very busy time for me. Especially since Christmas seems to be  coming very fast this year. Well, that will teach me for not making more time back in September to start my shopping.:)

Anyway, I am still working on 2  digital scrapbooks  and one paper scrapbook  that  I want to give as gifts. I hope that I can get them all done in time.

Here is a page that I made for Wayne's book and also for the Divine Design monthly challenge. Hope you like it.

 

To make this page I used green paper for my background. I used a flourish brush and stamped the flourish randomly on my background using the colors from the yellow leaves and a darker green that I thought looked well with the lighter green paper. I used a frame, added my bible verse and then added some text. Easy? You bet.  have I told you how much I love using brushes and stamps on my pages? Well, I *love* it. I love that I am able to make my own backgrounds by stamping randomly and I love using them on my photos.  :)

Today, I received a big box from Stampin'UP!I purchased a few of the brand new items that will be available to everyone on Jan. 5, 2010 in the Occasions mini catalog. I hope to be making some new cards using the items that I purchased so that I can give you a few sneak peaks. I will say for now that this is the best mini catalog I have seen Stampin' UP! come out with in a very long time.  Did you hear that SU will be offering not only the wood stamps but also the clear-mounted? I am so excited. Of course I had to order the clear mount stamps. Awesome!!! More on this as time goes by. Also Sale-A-Bration will start on January 5,2010. Yay!

Here are a few photos I took of  Wayne snow blowing today. We got hit with snow, high winds and soon it is going to turn to ice. UGH!  No escaping it now.....winter is here.

Here is a photo of Wayne snow blowing a section of our driveway.

 

Wayne is using his brand new snow blower and it seems to be working out great. Here he is clearing a path to one of our bird feeders out back.

And this is a photo of him going back from the path out back to the driveway again.

 
 

It was a tad difficult to get these photos because the wind was very strong and it was still snowing. My camera is not waterproof so I had to take the pictures quick. It was 32 degrees but with the wind blowing I'm sure it caused the temps to feel as though it was in the 20's.

So that is it from me tonight.  But I will be back as soon as I have a new card to share with all of you or perhaps a few photos of the new things I received from SU today. Take good care, stay safe, stay warm and Smile.:) This time of the year so many people could use a smile from all of us.