Eagle Point

This is Dillon at 'Eagle Point' in the Grand Canyon. Can you see the bird at the top of the ridge behind him? The Indians believe that the spirits put it there.

It was 107 - 112 degrees everyday that we were there.

M&M World

We visited M&M World. Four floors of candy and other realted items. I felt like a kid - it was great. We bought M&M plates for the boys next door, who took care of our cockatiel while we were away.

Las Vegas

Here we are in Vegas.

Aga Boom 1

I attended a comedy show in Toronto with my family called "Aga Boom". It was created by Cirque du Soleil.

Aga Boom 2

The fun begins with one clown who touches the button marked "Do Not Touch"

Aga Boom 3

Aga Boom 4

Here is an example of the chaotic fun.

They threw the paper and various sizes of large balloons into the crowd.

My son enjoyed the toilet paper attached to a leaf blower (shown with the clown in the black). I told him not to try it at home :)

White Christmas

It will be a white Christmas here in Ontario, Canada.

It has been snowing everyday since we came back from the sunny Caribbean.

Wishing you all a very, Merry Christmas.

Southern Caribbean Cruise

I just returned from a Carnival Cruise that departed from San Juan. I love to travel which connects perfectly with my love of scrapbooking. We visited St. Thomas (shopping), Dominica (white water river tubing), Barbados (Shipwrech Snorkel & Pirate Party Cruise), Antigua (Beach), St. Lucia (Ziplining in the rain forest) & St. Kitts (island tour). Barbados had the most disappointing port (a shipping yard) and St. Kitts was my favourite island. It was warm & sunny everywhere.
I would not travel Carnival again simply because you could not enjoy the pools with the large numbers of children. Carnival apparently sells off open rooms cheaply to the people at the embarkment port (in this case Puerto Rico). They can then afford to travel with their entire families - not what I imagined a cruise to be.

St. Kitts

The rocks behind me were made when lava from a volcano met the ocean.

St. Thomas

This is me on the ship in the port of St. Thomas. It is mainly known for the shopping.

Ziplining in St. Lucia

Here I am ziplining in the rain forest in St. Lucia. I was scared to death the first time but it was alot of fun. We did 11 ziplines in total.

We survived

Here is me and my hubby after the ziplining adventure. We survived :)

Check out the tree behind us. It is a ficus tree and it was huge.

Water Lily Napkin Folding

I think this would look great with a Christmas cracker. Hmmm.

Table Decorating

With the holiday season coming, I have been thinking about how I will decorate this year including setting my table. That put me on a mission to search for some new ideas to compliment my new dishes. I have included a few ideas below and will continue to add things as I find them.

Fan Napkin Folding

I always wondered how to create beautiful napkins for the table. Now I have the steps and you do too.

Tower Napkin Folding

Here are the steps for a unique way to fold your napkins that will add interest to your table.

Stocking Gift Box Template

http://www.papertreyink.com/timeless_templates_download_here.html

This link is for a great website that has a free template for a wonderful stocking gift box to be made out of paper.

Do I hear Designer Series paper calling me?

Place Setting #1

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

Place Setting #2

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

Place Setting #3

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

Place Setting Instructions

The place settings shown above are examples of different projects you can make to decorate your holiday table for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. The projects were made with Stampin' Up's new Big Shot Die Cutting machine and paper.

SUPPLY LIST
Stamp Sets: Cute & Curly Punch Label bundle, Everyday Flexible Phrases, Holiday Blitz, Simple Serif Mini Alphabet & Numbers Wild West Alphabet
Stampin' Pads: Baja Breeze Classic, Chocolate Chip Classic, Old Olive Classic, Real Red Classic
Card Stock/Paper: Ski Slope Designer Series paper, Baja Breeze card stock, Chocolate Chip card stock, Naturals White card stock, Old Olive card stock, Real Red card stock
Accessories Dies: Big Shot die cutting machine, Pillow Box die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Top Note Bigz die
Accents: Pretties Kit, Styled Silver Hodgepodge Hardware
Adhesives: Anywhere Glue Stick, Stampin' Dimensionals, Two-Way Glue Pen
Punches: 1/16 Circle punch, 3/4 Circle punch, Horizontal Slot punch
Ribbon/Cord/Thread: vAlpine Ribbon Originals, Baja Breeze 5/8 striped grosgrain ribbon, Linen thread, Silver elastic cord
Other: Acetate (from office supply store; thick) Bone folder, Dazzling Diamonds Stampin' Glitter

INSTRUCTIONS
Napkin ring
Make card stock note using Top Note Bigz die. Adhere Designer Series paper on card stock, stamp (on New Year's napkin ring), fold, and smooth folds using bone folder. Stamp label image, punch out and/or cut, and adhere to napkin ring. Punch out slots and tie together with ribbon (Note: New Year's napkin ring is tied together with Silver elastic cord). Accent as shown.

Name plate
Make card stock note using Top Note Bigz die; stamp (on New Year's name plate), fold in half, and smooth fold with bone folder. Adhere Designer Series paper on card stock (Note: layer paper on Old Olive card stock first for Christmas name plate). Accent as shown.

Favor
Make favor box using Pillow Box die, and fill with treats. Create belly band out of Designer Series paper (Note: layer paper for New Year's favor), and adhere to favor. Stamp label image, and punch out. Adhere label and accent as shown.

Confetti
Make several large and small scallop circles out of Designer Series paper. Stamp and cut out/punch smaller images (acorns for Thanksgiving, trees for Christmas, and snowflakes for New Year's) as shown. Glue glitter on snowflakes.

Snow Swirled

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

This card starts with the silver embossed Christmas Tree and Snowflake from the SNOW SWIRLED stamp set. Circle punches, MUIRFIELD Designer Series paper and a FILIGREE Designer Brad were also used. I like the combination of Pacific Point with Certainly Celery.

EMBOSSING TIP:

The secret to clean, crisp embossing images is to rub an EMBOSSING BUDDY (Pg. 190) over the paper before you stamp. This reduces static and other interferances that may attract the emboss powder to unwanted areas of your project. Then, I tap off the excess powder, blow on it lightly and heat. It will save you time and money from having to repeat your embossing projects.

Buckle Card

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

This buckle card features the SEASON OF SIMPLE GRACE stamp set and SKI SLOPE Designer Series Paper. The edges of the paper are sponged and the star and the sentiment are made with Gold emboss powder. The buckle strap connects into a slot made with the WORD WINDOW punch.

TIP: I cut my Stampin' Up Sponges (Pg. 193) into four 'pie' shaped pieces. Then 1 package gives me 12 sponges and I can have one for every colour of ink so that they can be reused without fear of blending colours.

Another Stampin' Success entry.

Say it with Scallops

Images copyright 1990-2008 Stampin' Up!

A Thank You card made with the SAY IT WITH SCALLOPS Stamp set. This was one of my Stampin' Success contest entries.

To make the scallop border, I punched the paper with the SCALLOP EDGE punch first and then stamped with the ALL SCALLOPS stamp. The new SCALLOP SQUARE punch was also used.

TIP: To get an even "V" tail on your ribbon, fold it in half and then make a diagonal cut from the outside edge down to the fold.