These are variations on the theme "winter". The penguin stamps are from a company called DenamiDesign. The snowman and some of the stickers are from a leftover sheet of winter stickers I had from a project that was finished over a year ago. The snowflake brads and ribbon are also left over from some long forgotten project.

I like them all to varying degrees but mostly, I enjoyed the time I had to make them. Time is such a luxury these days that it has been a joy to slow down and be able to enjoy my family and a bit of crafting, too.

This New Year's, rather than make a list of resolutions that rarely see the end of February, I have started a list of all I have to be thankful for--sort of Thanksgiving in Jarnuary.

Here is part of my list:

For the first time in about five years my mom was able to leave her nursing home and spend Christmas Day with my sister and brother (an ambulance transported her to and from). I was sad I wasn't there to take part in the day but am looking forward to seeing her during Spring break if we can find tickets in the budget.

My dad is doing great after bypass surgery this summer. I talked to him and his wife on Christmas Day and they both sound good.

I have a job I still find joy in after 15 years. There are definitely good days and bad days but as long as no one gets me started about No Child Left Behind I still think there is hope for my students and this country in general.

I've made some awesome blogging friends who have done so much to brighten 2008 with kind words of encouragement about things crafty and not-so crafty.

I wish you all a healthy and happy 2009!

Classroom Craft

I volunteered to put together a simple craft for my son to take into class. This is what I came up with. I've converted most of my music collection to a digital format so I was happy to find something to do with all the cases.

Winter Joy

This card came together late last night. The stamp is from Eat Cake Graphics via Paper Garden. The snowman is a Sizzix die. I had fun with my Copic air brush system on this one, playing with the sky. The ribbon and letter beads were left over from some long ago project.

This little ornament came together with the SU's Deer Friends set. I am providing a craft for my son's second grade class. I'm not too sure what I'm going to do but I have started playing around with my craft supplies to see what I can come up with that 22 seven year olds can handle without driving thier teacher crazy.

Christmas Cards, takes one and two

I need to squeeze in time to make my Christmas cards. I finally got a start today...here are takes one and two. I want to add something else but I'm not sure what. Any suggestions?? I have a couple more cards to post but they will have to wait until tomorrow or more acutately, later today. (It is almost 1AM.)

I picked the angel stamp up at Michael's and the paper is DCWV. The background was created using the Cuttlebug snowflake embossing folder and a bit of silver ink to accentuate the whole thing. The black card stock I used had a texture to it so the embossing picked up the pattern in the second card.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! I didn't get time to do any crafting over the long weekend. Instead, I headed out way too early (4AM) with a group of girlfriends and did my best to take a bite out of the recession. I've been going out on Black Friday for several years now and must say that this one was the least crowded. There were deals to be found here and there but for the most part, it was blahhh. The best deal I found was in a Wal-Mart ad for the Cricut Expression for $199. There was no way I was going to Wal-Mart on Black Friday so I took the ad into Michael's on Thanksgiving night (they were open from 6pm-9pm) and asked if they'd price match. They did!! I'm going to complete a couple of Cyber Monday orders, finish a few chores around the house then play, play, play!!