December Reflections

Hello to All, I'm very sorry for not having time to write to the blog during the month of December but as usual life takes twists and turns we simply have to adapt to. I'm so thankful that December turned out to be a Blessing. My daughter, Krystle, had pneumonia and was in the Winter Haven Hospital for three days. She returned home on a Saturday and I got a phone call letting me know that my mother had a seizure related to the Alzheimer's and was admitted to LRMC. I had gone to the doctor on Friday before Krystle came home and learned that I had bronchitus and within 2 weeks I ended up with something much worse but I can't remember what the doctor called it--the bottom line was "no lifting" for two weeks. He described it as bruising around the breast bone and inflamation similar to arthritus in the chest. I was so sore and still had not wrapped a thing for Christmas--THANKFULLY, I had my shopping done!! For me the blessing in all this was that I was able to help Chris with their three little ones while Krystle was in the hospital. She came home on the very day, I needed to be with my father--talk about God's Planning! I was then able to help my dad with my mom as she is not able to be alone. I know it sounds crazy but in a way it's a good thing my mother doesn't know what's happening to her any more. It used to frustrate her so much and it was hard to see her go through the anguish. Even with everyone having their own bouts of illness, we had a very nice family Christmas celebration the Sunday after Christmas. Everybody is well now and looking forward to this New Year and I'm prayerful that our economy and our new president will flourish and help America grow in a positive way. Wishing you all a Happy New Year!! Renette

Special from Stampin' Up!

Product Offer: December 1, 2008-January18, 2009 Spend $20 and get 20 percent off any stamp set from the Fall-Winter Catalog Sampler. Sets can be viewed in the 2008 Fall-Winter Idea Book & Catalog on the pages listed in the following table.

Item #	Description	Retail	20% Off	2008 Fall/Winter Idea Book & Catalog
111564	Flight of the Butterfly	$31.95	$25.56	Page # 97
112911	Vuelo de la mariposa (Spanish Flight of the Butterfly)	$31.95	$25.56	Page # 97
111676	Puns from the Past	$27.95	$22.36	Page # 126
111660	Just Jawing	$25.95	$20.76	Page # 29
111624	Dreams du Juor	$18.95	$15.16	Page # 103
111700	Thank You Kindly	$13.95	$11.16	Page # 142
111714	Wow Flowers	$12.95	$10.36	Page # 138
112955	Flores llamativas (Spanish Wow Flowers)	$12.95	$10.36	Page # 138
111600	Bella's Bloom	$12.95	$10.36	Page # 103

HE'S HERE!!!

My fourth grandchild was born Monday @ 11:44 a.m. Lucas Tanner Craig was 6 lbs. 14 oz. and was 20" long. Here are a couple of pics I'd like to share: Lucas with Kimberly (my daughter) Tyler (4), Kimberly, Lucas & Katie (5) Katie and Tyler are Kimberly's children and Lucas is their new brother. Here is the proud daddy, Michael and his son, Colton holding Lucas--his new baby brother. Colton, Katie and Tyler are all very proud of their new baby brother and their pride shows as they hold/hug Lucas. I've been keeping Katie and Tyler while their mommy's been in the hospital but we're on our way now to go home to see Lucas. More later. Have a great day!

Stampin' Up! has a few great ideas for Christmas!

Stampin' Up! & Country Living Holiday Special!

Stampin' Up! teams up again with Country Living to offer the Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit Offer Ends December 31st (or while supplies last) The Holiday Collection Stampin' Kit includes the following products:

Holiday Collection stamp set (set of six) Four 12" x 12" sheets of die-cut chipboard Eight 12" x 12" sheets of die-cut Designer Series paper (2 ea. of 4 double-sided designs) Four 12" x 12" sheets of Designer Series paper (2 ea. of 2 double-sided designs) Two 12" x 12" sheets of Whisper White card stock 25 yds. Silver Metallic cord 10 yds. 3/8" Whisper White taffeta ribbon Pretties Kit brads (20) Stampin' Dimensionals Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter (1/2 oz.) Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive Riding Hood Red Classic Stampin' Spot Old Olive Craft Stampin' Spot Uninked Stampin' Spot Whisper White Craft Ink refill #114447 for only $49.95

Check out these two links, they can help you with your Christmas shopping:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/gift_giving_guide_us.pdf

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/gifts_under_list_US.pdf

Share these ideas with your friends and family members to help them with their Christmas shopping, too!

Don't forget you can shop online 24/7 (link @ top left above) and have it delivered right to your door!

Look what I found!

Tonight I've been trying to find a calendar image small enough to fit the sidebar of my blog. Well, as usual, one thing lead to another and I found a cute gadget entitled "Let it Snow" and then I found a background to coordinate with the mood I'm in--which is wanting cooler weather to come our way! I did come across a "Tip of the Week" that I'd like to share. My upline sent this to me quite a while back and I'd forgotten I even had it. Did you know that the although we don't carry markers for the new In-colors, you can actually make your own markers?! Simply take a blender pen and add a few drops of the refill ink to the tip and you have an In-color marker of your choice. Do the same with each of the In-color refills and you'll have an entire set of markers! You can also use the ink refills to make your own stampin' around cartridges. If anyone reading this blog thinks they might be able to help me with my calendar issue, I'm willing to listen to what you have to say. Thanks for reading!

Fun, Fun!! 2009 Calendar

I had a customer come over today because she wanted to make the new 2009 calendar for a present.

Mind you, I've never put one together myself, so we had a lot of fun working together. As you can see by the pictures, we used a clipboard as the base. We used Mod Podge to adhere the textured Old Olive card stock to the front of the clipboard. We made a belly band from strips of Pumpkin Pie & Riding Hood Red card stock, then centered it on the front. On the back of the belly band, we used a couple of strips of the red Sticky Tape to attached the die-cut box which was made to store the calendar pieces. Accents were added using the self-adhesive die-cut and stickers provided in the 2009 Calendar Kit. If you'd like to make a calendar, too, let me know and we'll set a date. I'd be happy to make this a class if there is enough interest. So call today!

The Christmas Stamp-a-Stack on the 8th of November was a lot of fun and went by all too quickly!

The night before this event, I put together this canvas with the Décor Elements - Wise Men Still Seek Him and Park Avenue Ornaments - self-adhesive vinyl elements.

It was so easy. I purchased the canvas when it was on sale a while back and then painted it with a light blue acrylic paint. Once it was dry, I cut out the words and arranged them on the canvas where I wanted them to be affixed. I then burnished the back of the vinyl element, peeled off the lining from the back of the words and then rubbed them onto the canvas.

Here's a link to the brochure for all the Home Décor Elements that Stampin' Up! currently sells:

http://www.stampinup.com/us/documents/DecorElements_phase_II_US.pdf

This is the first canvas that I made using the Home Décor Elements. First, I applied painter's

tape to create a border, then I painted the canvas

with a sand color acrylic paint. After it was completely dry, I transferred the Home Décor Element "Life is Good" to the canvas.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or would like to see a demonstration.