Wonderful Cards

I have recieved so many wonderful Christmas cards this year, but check out these four handmade cards, aren't they wonderful? I wanted to share these works of art with everyone because I just treasure them. Thank you Jodi, Jamie, Liz and Trina, I love them!

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Unfortunately this year I just did not get it together in time, so I only whipped out a few of these that are going in the mail today, lol. Oh the card makers friends and family never get any cards, just like the shoe makers kids have no shoes. Isn't that the way though? This has been a busy season for me and most of this month, my extra time was spent shopping and just spending some time with my wonderful husband Joe (we are addicted to "Friday night lights" which we are watching on his X-box through net flicks.) and my son Jeep. Jeep has had a wonderful Christmas Season and is just chomping at the bit for tomorrow. His Birthday is the 26th and so this time of year is a double whammy for him and he LOVES it!

I saw this card and could not resist! Santa to me represents the spirit of giving and love for all children and mankind. St Nicholes is my fav!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.....for those that celebrate the season only, Have a wonderful time and Season Greetings.

Lucky and Blessed

Hi All,

Well, I have not had time to sit down in a creative mood and make anything this week, but I have been lucky and I have been blessed.

A few weeks back I blogged about work stress and asked for some prayers. I want to thank those of you who prayed because God indeed opened up new doors. My last day of work is tomorrow and I start my new job on the 27th. I am really looking forward to working with some great ladies who also share in my passion for stamping! What could be better than that? More money and better benefits! lol. God doesn't hand mediocre blessings.

You know lately I have been into being compliant with my medical checks. I'm a nurse and we are notorious for not practising what we preach. lol. So the first thing I did was go for a mammogram. It was only a year overdue, so I am not feeling too badly about that. But it came back "suspicious." So I had to go back and get a "cone mammogram" (OUCH) and an ultrasound. Did you know when you get a mammogram you are not supposed to wear deodorant? They think that might have been the suspicious looking creature on my first mammogram, lol. Did you know when you get a chest ultrasound that they also ultrasound your armpits? Weird huh? I wasn't expecting that one, lol. The initial mammogram did not hurt, it was not uncomfortable, it was more of a awkward thing than anything. The cone mammogram however, was a tight squeeze and just when I thought she was squeezing all I could stand, the machine squeezed a little more. The girls were not happy, but they understood the necessity. So anyway, I did not realize how much I was holding my breath over these results until today. I actually went to the radiology facility and asked for copies of my results. And thankfully, I know what I'm reading. Benign is a very good word. And under recommendation: regular mammogram check next year. Yippee! This was another great blessing.

First thing this morning, I learned that I had won blog candy from Ann! Whooo Hooo! The only thing better than stampin' up bling is free stampin' up bling! Thank you Ann for the wonderful blog candy! And Colleen sent me a message to let me know! That was lucky.

I won a blog hop from My Favorite Things and just used my $15.00 winnings tonight, can't wait to get the cute stamps in the mail! Thank you My Favorite Things! That was lucky.

I won the blog hop for Joan's ginormous challenge and got some free cuttlebug folders and a snowflake die from Spellbinders! Thank You Joan! That was lucky.

I met my husband for lunch today and the sandwich place was jammed packed, no parking that I could see from the corner. So I decided to go ahead and look in their very small parking lot, because the street parking was taken. As I went to pull in, someone was pulling out of a spot right next to the door and I got in it! That was lucky.

I was picking up some things I needed from Walgreen's the other day and the magic machine spit out a $15.00 off coupon. You know those annoying coupons for things you don't use or never would buy that come out of those? Wow, $15.00 with few restrictions and no limit. So I bought some stocking stuffers today! That was lucky.

So I decided to buy a lottery ticket today, lol. Pushing my luck and blessings or just ready to keep receiving? God has no limits, but he does know what is best for me. So I am asking for a winning ticket knowing that would be in my best interest, lol.

But quite honestly, I feel like huge burdens have been lifted from my soul and my heart and I'm ready to let go and enjoy every single thing, luck or blessings, and be thankful.

Happy last minute holiday stuff!
Holly

Blue Belt Testing

Friday night Jeep had his Blue Belt testing in Tae Kwon Do. He currently has a purple belt. He was a bit nervous, but he knew his form well. Isn't he just the cutest thing ever in his little uniform? We are so very proud of him, he works really hard to memorize and perfect his form.

Merry Keurig to me!

This is what I got for Christmas! I know, I should not pick out my Christmas gift, but I NEEDED it! lol.

Not trying to keep up with the Jones' but my long time coffee maker friend died a few weeks ago. I made Joe run out and buy any cheap coffeemaker because I don't even try to function first thing in the morning without coffee. The cheap coffee maker made weak and luke warm coffee. For a while I tried to "make do." But just before my long time friend coffee maker died, I had a cup of coffee at a fellow Stampin' Up club members home. It was so space age tech that I had no idea how it worked. But once I learned and I had a cup of that FABULOUS Paul Newman's Own Organic Bold, I was in love!

We searched for the same coffee maker we had before. After all, it did make perfect coffee and we still had many many filters for it. lol. They have a newer version and it somehow did nothing for me as far as my "want" button goes. So while out Christmas shopping for the little ones yesterday, Joe kept bringing me by the coffee makers and pointing out that Keurig had less expensive versions. UH HUH, and we also have a less expensive version of a "real" thing, I rationed. So I told him that this was the one I wanted and no, I didn't think that spending so much for a coffee maker was a rationale thing for us to do. Because OMG that is a lot of stampy stuff you know? lol. I told him perhaps for Mother's Day or my Birthday or some occation after the mad Christmas rush. This is a luxury item, after all. And by the way, they are more expensive on line, in the stores they are quite a bit less expensive.

And then we walked into Sam's Club and they had it. A whole stack of them. They came with 60 K-cups and a fill it yourself K-cup filter. OMG! Joe did not need to convince me very long. It was the right price, it had lots of extras and it was the beloved one I wanted and now it's in my KITCHEN!!!!! Yipppeeee.

On the cold winter nights, I like to drink Starbucks Calm tea and I have the teabags at home. So if Joe and I want tea, I have to microwave the water for 3 minutes, each cup. Not anymore, now I can brew out hot water in less than a minute for each cup!!!!

Prior to tasting this coffee at club night, I would never have given this coffee maker a second glance. I am not a "one cup" of coffee person. It's not really in my budget, lol, and it's not something I would have ever considered. So beware! If one of your friends offers you a cup of coffee from their Keurig and you are a coffee lover, you will never be satisfied until you can have this in your kitchen! lol. Now if only Sister could send me more cookie crack to go with my new coffee crack! lol.

Thank you Joe for the wonderful Christmas present, I LOVE IT! And I love you. Because if I want it really really super bad, you will insist that I have it no matter how irrational I am.

hollyesters.com

Sister's website is up and running now, okay to order your toffeebread (cookie crack!) lol.

Another Cattitude Card

Last week, when I made my last Cattitude with the same dp, I saw Jodi's card and I loved it too, so I had to Kopykat her as well, lol.

Hope you like it.

JG1202, QFTD posey's

Oh these posy's! I love them. This card satisfies three needs. The Queen for the Day challenge on Splitcoast where ksnurse, Sheri, is our 38th Queen. I chose her card here.

Then there is the Joan's Gardens Challenge and this is the last day to upload any new entrees. The rules are to use Heartfelt Stamps only, this uses Posy Patch flowers HCPC 3303. And Elegant single leaves HCPC 3314.

Then there is the fact that Joan's mother is going to be 96 this month and we shall shower her with cards for a very special birthday indeed. So this will be mailed out to her this week.

I love these posy's and seem to find different ways to use them. the leaves are so great, perfect sizes for any floral. I used my Stampin' Up designer paper, cottage wall. I also died my own seam binding to match. I love seam binding for ribbon! I used two martha stewart punches for the lattice and the foliage.

Hope you are having a great day!

Remembering Elizabeth Edwards

No, we were not besties, lol, but I had a lot of respect for Elizabeth Edwards. I cannot image losing a child, that would be the single most devastating thing I can think of. I am not sure I would be able to breath or even want to, but she did. And she continued to be grateful and try to make a difference. And then she got breast cancer and she tackled that face on. And then it came back when she was out there trying to get her husbands name out there and telling everyone how wonderful he was and bring votes coming in. Meanwhile, he was out cheating on her. So she was dealing with Cancer and he was cheating. And then she had to publicly deal with the fact that he was cheating on her. And still she was well poised and grateful. And when she found out he had a child out of wedlock, she had enough. She continued to fight the cancer until very recently and she died today. And I want to say that she made a difference to so many women both Republican and Democratic, she was so strong. And I also want to say that I hope she turned his indoor basketball court into a great big scraproom! lol. And if given the opportunity, I hope she can come back to haunt him often.

Snowman tag card

I don't know where I got this idea, but I love these easy little gift tag cards. I bought 6X6 samples of Candy Cane Christmas with Jamie's dsp share and I have been able to make the most from these and the scraps. LOVE it. The snowman is from Tags til Christmas, both SU.

Tags!

When I saw Inking Idaho's tags, I had to scraplift them right away. These are going out to sister for her toffeebread packages, she is having a display this weekend.

I love this love letter dsp from SU, I used Riding Hood Red and Old Olive as well as ribbon. I used the tags til Christmas SU set for the sentiment. I could not find a To and From stamp that I know I have around here somewhere, lol, so I used my white gel pen and wrote it myself. I also used my tab punch and ran it through the big shot with the lattice folder. LOVE it!

Joan's Garden Challenge JG1202

Joan is having another great challenge and when I read the prize, I knew I had to take some time out and whip this up. The color inspiration came from this card.

I used Heartfelt Creations posy patch swirls HCPC 3304 and Posy Patch Flowers precut HCPC 3303 along with a border punch, my Spellbinders Nestie and Ella Blue gcd paper. Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia - I was so thrilled to find out this matched so well. I sponged it onto the bg of my frame as well to keep the same color combination.

Hope you like it and cross your fingers I win, I would be so thrilled!

Push Mobile Cub Scout Race

This is my Jeepy driving and it looks like he had a wonderful time today. He is so proud that his dad is the one who builds these for his pack every year. He goes around telling everyone, lol.

They won the most spirited award this year! Whooot! We love trophies.

Cub Scout Push mobile winners!

This is Jeep (right), Joe (middle) and fellow cubscouter, Rory. And the push mobile that my Hottie (Joe - yeah he's taken girls, so sorry) made. The right is a cut out Wolf head (they are the Wolf pack) and the left is the tail. And the middle is the "most spirited award". The boys painted it with their scout colors and apparently they had a wonderful time at the races today.