Wow!

I can't believe it's been a month since my last post. Life is flying by!
I've been getting crafty a bit but not making much time to share I guess.
Our tree is up, the house is decorated, Christmas cards are done. Still lots of shopping to tackle!
Starting new traditions with my son. Making memories that I hope will stay with him into adulthood.
New things we've started this year:
Elf on The Shelf
Karen Foster Advent Calendar Box
We are also doing a Christmas Book Countdown in addition to the Advent Box, an idea I read on Ali Edward's blog.
I really just want to make the most of the Christmas Season with Luke and have these fun traditions that he can look forward to from year to year.
I'm also doing a December Daily this year, which has been fun, but of course I am behind. Hope to share some of those photos soon.
I've been following Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of Christmas, and although I didn't really use any of the techniques he's gone over, this tag is certainly inspired by his posts in the past week.
The tag is from Creative Cuts and More, check out the website for all your diecut needs!

Gingerbread House Album Blog Hop

It's finally time for the Creative Cuts and More Gingerbread House Album Blog Hop! I just have to tell you I had a BLAST working on this album, it was so much FUN! The best part is, I'm not done :) Once we have our annual cookie making day, I am going to add photos and more embellishments. I can't wait!
So, if you didn't come here from Amber's blog, make sure to start back at the beginning, you don't want to miss all of the fun ideas! And make sure you comment on all the DT and guest blogs, for your chance to win your very own Gingerbread Album Kit!
In order to win, you must

1. HOP through AND comment on each blog - please make sure the Blog Hop is LIVE, THEN go back to http://www.die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/ and let us know you did so!
2. For another chance, follow the Die Cut Diva http://die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/
3. For another chance, become a Fan on Facebook, HERE http://www.facebook.com/creativecutsandmore
4. For another chance, spread the word about our Blog Hop on your blog!

You will have until Sunday, November 13th to hop and comment, and the winner will be announced on Monday, November 14th at http://www.die-cut-diva.blogspot.com/.

So now, onto my album! I apologize for the terrible pictures. Daylight savings time is not my friend and I don't have a lightbox at the current moment.

I know you can't wait to make your own Gingerbread House Album, so here are the links to the different options at Creative Cuts & More:

Gingerbread House Album Chipboard Kit
http://www.creativecutsandmore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=280_284&products_id=1413

Gingerbread House Album Deluxe Kit
http://www.creativecutsandmore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=280_284&products_id=1414

Gingerbread House Album Ultimate Deluxe Kit
http://www.creativecutsandmore.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=280_284&products_id=1417

Thank you for coming by and don't forget to head on over to Fern's blog, she is the QUEEN of mini albums, so I'm sure she has something incredibly inspiring to share with us!

If you get lost along the way, here is the full list of hoppers today:
Die Cut Diva

Holly
Noelle
Chris
Kristine
Amber (Guest Designer)
Nora Anne (you are here!)
Fern
Taylor
Melisa
Dawn
Die Cut Diva

Thursday

Make sure to come by on Thursday for a fun blog hop to introduce a super cool new album that will available at Creative Cuts & More!

Watch the video for some peeks!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ-xNw4P7j4

I'm In A Meeting

I made this card way back in July and never shared it. My cousin was laid off from her job after over 10 years and had the summer off with her kids for the first time. I made this card to cheer her over the loss of her job. It is cheering me up today since it is freezing cold out and I can look at this picture and daydream that I am on a warm beach somewhere!

The paper is from Echo Park and I will have to get back to you with

the stamp manufacturer, I can't think right now!!

Have a great Saturday night!

Happy Halloween

Hi! Remember me?!?! It's been too long :) I'm having computer issues and until I get a new one, I probably will not be regular with my posting. But, I'm going to try!

Hope you enjoy your Halloween! It's pretty cold here in New Jersey, so my little Green Lantern will be bundled up for sure when we go out trick or treating later!
Have fun :)




SUPPLIES:
Creative Cuts & More A2 Slash Card with Tag #05
Amuse Witch Hat Stamp
Memento Ink
Cricut Die Cut Frame

Operation Julie's Smile

I am so glad that you joined us on this amazing blog hop for Operation Julie’s Smile. If you came here from JenMarie Taylor’s blog, then you are in the right spot. If not, you may want to start from the beginning at the Sweet Stamp Shop’s blog and take your time. You have ALL WEEKEND to hop with us and win prizes! I am also linking up to Unity's Friends With Flair.

This first card was cased from the Unity website, I made 35 of them for a twin baby shower. Cutting those little banners got old pretty quick! *wink*

I made this card for today's hop. The doilies are from Simple Stories Generations and they are just gorgeous, aren't they?! The sentiment is from Ippity's How YOU Doin'? I wanted to use the "smile" stamp from this set for the occasion, but when I was getting ready to stamp it, it flew off the block and is lost in my room somewhere...oops. If you want to buy Ippity stamps click HERE! Noelle is awesome and she ships SO fast! The beautiful seam binding I used on both of my cards can be purchased from my Etsy shop here :) and my card base is from Creative Cuts and More.

I hope you enjoyed your stop here on the hop! The next stop is Tiffany Doodle’s blog. Make sure you leave a comment here before you go so that you can have a chance at the amazing prizes up for grabs (over $2500 in prizes have been donated!) and if you can, please make a donation so we can help bring back a new smile for our friend. The donation button is on my right side bar!

Here is Julie's story, if you haven't heard it yet:

The creative blogging community is coming together this weekend to help one of our friends, Julie Ranae. You may know her as the Design Team Coordinator for many wonderful companies from bakers twine, die cuts, rubber stamps and more. What many people don’t know about Julie Ranae is that she has had some pretty major dental surgeries in her lifetime due to medication she had to take as a child. It was in her plans to think about having all of her teeth replaced at some point in the next 5 years, a decision that was pretty easy to plan out. But then it happened…she chipped her front teeth on a weekend a month ago. The dentist told her there was no way to save them & that it was his recommendation that she give in and have them all her teeth removed soon, but for that day, they needed to get her front teeth done so her gums could begin to heal. He said he would 'work out payments with her to have ALL this work done...but when she called to make her appt for the first step of impressions, they told her the amount of money that was needed and that the 'payments' applied only to the two teeth that were extracted that day. Her husband Paul was with her & that too, was his understanding as well. So this is how she has found herself in this situation…Needing at least $4000 to get started and another $3000 to finish the process…a total of $7000.

Nicole Rixon, owner of Sweet Stamp Shop put together this benefit after finding out about this situation and before Julie Ranae knew it, it took flight!
Because she is an event organizer by trade, she has taken on the job of organizing all of the blogs in this hop as her way of ‘working overtime’ for what she needs, the same as if she were able to work overtime at an outside job to pay for the work to be done.
It is the goal of all of these generous friends & sponsors to help make this situation more do-able for our friend so that she can share a brand new smile with all of us soon.
If there is anything you can do to help with a financial donation, there is a donation button ready for you to click. Any amount is appreciated and ALL DONATIONS will be eligible for prizes from our sponsor pool of over $2500.

Santa Bingo

I made this card a little while ago, and just realized I had shared it on SCS, but not on my blog. It is one of the 4 cards for my backgrounds class next week at Paper Wings.

I love this Santa Itty Bitty Bingo (in stock at Paper Wings), it's so fun and the Unity DT has been using it in so many fun ways! and the Stars of Worn background stamp is so versatile, I used Donna Salazar's new ink on it here. If you are looking for a good white ink, this one is the best I've found so far, and it's also in stock at Paper Wings :) I used red acrylic paint on the Santa stamp to get a bit of a different look.

Thanks for coming by today, I appreciate your visits and your comments!

Stop by the Unity blog to check out the rest of the FWF participants today!

TGIF!!!

Operation Julie's Smile

You may have already heard about Operation Julie's Smile, word is spreading fast through the stamping community! I will be participating in the blog hop and there is also a "Donate" button on my right side bar.

There will be a benefit blog hop called

'Operation Julie's Smile'

that will take place Oct 7-9.

There are a variety of

companies and design teams who will be participating

in this hop to help raise funds for this benefit.

So far, over $2000 in prizes have been made available

and will be awarded for both participants

and those who donate.

Click HERE to read more about Operation Julie's Smile!

My Farewell as a Bacon Bit!

These last four months have FLOWN by! I have enjoyed being on the Hambo Stamps design team immensely and am sad to see it end!
Today at the Hoedown, all of the Bacon Bits will be featured as we participate together in one last Hambo Hoedown together. The challenge this week was to case another card from the Hambo gallery. 

I chose this card from the rubber image gallery to case.

And here is my card using Reindeer Gift #4314 and Happiest Holidays #4305 :

I will have one more Hambo Design Team post here on my blog this week, and until then, I am SO excited to see who the next team of Bacon Bits will be!

Friday is Friends With Flair!

Hi :) I'm back with a Unity card for Friends with Flair. This is another card I'm doing in my Backgrounds Workshop at Paper Wings on October 9th. This stamp, Tea Time Toile, is so gorgeous, you don't really need to add much more to this beauty! It will be available for purchase at Paper Wings the day of my workshop!

If you didn't start at the Unity blog, make sure to go back and see all the links of participants, you won't be sorry! Friday's are never lacking in inspiration with Unity! And you don't want to miss out on the new Holiday releases that went up yesterday!!!!!  CUUUUUTTTTEEEE!!!!!!!!!! and they are also having a Pre-Holiday preparation sale! Who does THAT?!! Unity does! :)

What's On Tap Tuesday

My plan for this week's What's On Tap Tuesday was to show you this before photo (which you may or may not have seen already!) and then the much neater more organized "after" shot. However, I've been busy putting together some cards for 2 upcoming classes at Paper Wings, so before I had a chance to take the "after" shot, I went and messed it all up again! I'm incurable in my mess :(

Here's one of the 7 cards we'll be making at Paper Wings on October 9th. Sometimes the mess is worth it! *wink*

Why not show us YOUR space?!?! Link up over at Cindy's blog and show us what you have on Tap for this Tuesday!

Stamp: Unity Trendsetters Background
Paper: Neenah
Ink: Unity Hybrid
Other: Charm from Michael's, Ribbon from the Dollar Store!!!

Monster Mash~Sing Your Art Out with Hambo

***2nd post today~scroll down for Friends With Flair***

Welcome to "Sing Your Art Out" sponsored by Hambo Stamps! Today Hambo friends, customers, and the Bacon Bits Design Team are bringing you fun creations that depict song titles! It might be our favorite song, or just one that was fun to design. If you arrived here from Lynn's blog you are in the right place! If not, you might want to start back at the beginning at the Hambo blog to make sure you are eligible for the hopper prize!

A prize will be awarded to one participant whose song-themed creation tickles the Bacon Bits’ fancy in a singin' wingin' way! Another prize will be awarded randomly to a hopper who comments on all the blogs along the hop. The winners will be announced on the Hoedown blog, as well as on the Hambo company blog, Talk to the Ham, on Wednesday, September 21.

My card, Monster Mash, was made with the Vampire Pig stamp #2211 and some Moxxie and My Minds Eye DP. I also used one of the little digi Sign Post Stamps to house my sentiment.

Now run along, warm up those vocal chords and be prepared to sing! Hop on over to Lindsay's blog for another great sing-along song!

In case you get lost somewhere along the way, here is a full list of everyone hopping today!

Talk to the Ham - Hambo blog - http://hambostamps.blogspot.com/

Gloria - http://girlgonescrappin.blogspot.com/

Karin - http://karin-withaniforpaper.blogspot.com/

Debbie - http://inklingtostamp.blogspot.com/

Dawn A. - http://www.alwayscrafting.blogspot.com/

Bonnie - http://theluckyclucker.blogspot.com/

Jen - http://jetstudio.blogspot.com/

Lynn - http://creativecraftsbylynn.blogspot.com/

NoraAnne - http://www.robinsonsnest.blogspot.com/

Lindsay - http://awaytosayhello.blogspot.com/

Karen - http://www.busybusyhoneybee.wordpress.com/

Libby - http://stampinlibby.blogspot.com/

Carla - http://scrappypug.blogspot.com/

Dawn M. - http://art-orsomethinglikeit.blogspot.com/

Paula - http://heyheypaula-heyheypaula.blogspot.com/

Mary - http://www.mystampinhide-away.blogspot.com/

Jenn - http://www.jaxbeanstalks.blogspot.com/

Paige - http://www.shewhomuststamp.blogspot.com/

Marcie - http://www.cardmakinchaos.blogspot.com/

Leslie - http://thecrookedstamper.blogspot.com/

Pat - http://patacakespages.blogspot.com/

Beverly - http://beestamper.blogspot.com/
Yolanda - http://yolanda-imaginemakeshare.blogspot.com/
Judy - http://jarfullofjoy.blogspot.com/

Unity Friends With Flair

I am sharing a layout today for Friends With Flair, finally I have gotten a bit of my scrappy mojo back....or at least the desire to scrapbook back!

This was an old tyme photo day at my son's daycare last year. He looks so funny in that ruffly shirt, he is such a "boy" and the ruffled satin shirt is just not him! LOL! He looks quite happy wearing it though!

The paper I used is Bo Bunny Etc. and is available at Paper Wings, for those of you that are in New Jersey, you should visit there for some shopping, just sayin! The journaling stamp is by Unity (sorry I can't find the link for it on the website, it might have been part of an old kit of the month!)

If you're looking for some more inspiration today, stop by the Unity blog to see who else is hopping today!

Supplies:

Paper~Bo Bunny Etc., Black Shimmer cardstock from Paper Wings (i forget the brand)

Stamp~Unity Journaling Block

Ink~Memento Tuxedo Black

Ribbon~Maya Road from Paper Wings

Other~Martha Stewart Border Punch, Liquid Pearls, vintage buttons from my stash, handmade flower using scallop punches and Maya Road trim, Making Memories felt alphas, Cosmo Cricket alphas, Divine Twine, Recollections resin flower, Elle's studio journaling tag, Ranger Distress Ink Tea Dye

Happy Owl-oween

Happy Wednesday everyone! Today I wanted to share two different cards I made using this one Spooky Owl image by Hambo.

I just love this guy perched on his spooky little branch and I think for my next card he will need a full moon behind him, don't you agree?!?!

Have a great day, thanks for coming by today!

Pumpkin Boy

Happy Monday!

I had so much fun coloring up this digital image by Hambo! and there are so many possibilities with fence, for other banners or adding a little scene in front of it! I will definitely be using this image A LOT this fall season!

Did you know Hambo Stamps is now on Twitter?!?!

Follow us (@HamboStamps) for behind-the-scenes fun, including links, announcements & coupons!

Hambo is also having a DT call for their next 4 month term. I can tell you first hand, they are SO much fun to work with, and very generous. I have had a blast the past several months and am sad to see my term come to an end. All the details on the DT call can be found HERE!

Have a great week! and thanks for your comments, they always make me smile!

Friends With Flair

Another Friday is here already! Where did this week go?!?!?! Here's another card I made using Unity's Vintage Fruit Bundle Pack. Stop by the Unity Blog to see the rest of the hop participants!

If you'd like to take a peek at my Hambo Festive Fall card, scroll down a bit! Have a great weekend!

Have a Festive Fall

Hey There! I'm back! Disney and the first day of Kindergarten are behind us and it's time to welcome in Fall soon! Love this time of year and I love this little Scarecrow Pig by Hambo!!!! and the sentiment is Festive Fall by Hambo and how CUTE it is!!!  and the FALL portion is so fun for paper piecing!

Thanks for coming by today and Have a Festive Fall!!!

Fruity Friends With Flair

I haven't had a chance to play along with Friends with Flair in ages, it seems! I made 3 cards with the Unity Vintage Fruit stamps for a class at Paper Wings, so I thought I would share one here today.
Lesley Langdon did a video on Unity TV awhile back with these stamps and I followed her tutorial, somewhat, but used Twinkling H2O's in place of the Distress Stains. It's hard to see in the picture here, but the background panel has a nice subtle shimmer to it.

Well, that's all for now, I've got to finish packing, it appears we may be evacuated due to Hurricane Irene! We are supposed to leave for Disney Saturday, so it looks like we will be starting our trip a little early. Wish us luck getting to Florida ~ yikes!

5 Year Old Humor

Please don't judge when you see my card! Remember people, I live with a 33 year old boy man and a 5 year old boy. After awhile, if you can't beat 'em, you have to join 'em! Yes, I have to admit, sometimes in my house the humor is quite juvenile and of an icky nature!
So when I saw the Ham On The Run image that was just released by Hambo, this card came to mind! I'm sure some of you out there are shaking your head at me and possibly a little eye rolling! But, in my defense, this would make a very funny masculine card that is sure to bring a chuckle!

Anyway~be sure to check out the New release stamps by Hambo, fun images with "punny" sentiments to match! Thanks for visiting :)