Christmas Wishes

This Christmas is especially important to our family as we are struggling with how to make this Christmas as special as we can for my MIL. We found out yesterday after yet another surgery, her cancer is very aggressive.....since her first surgery 8 weeks ago the 50-60 "sand" size tumors are now the size of marbles-golf balls. These are now causing major problems and pain...Our goal is to bring her home before Christmas so we can cherish what time we have left. My heart breaks as I write this....we need to remember how precious life is!! Enjoy every moment with our children, parents and grandparents, we never know when we have to say Goodbye. (I did post a link for those of you interested to my MIL caringbridge blog and our dear friend Dave, who is also struggling with stomach cancer. They were diagnoised one week apart, go to the same church and their kids grew up together....)

I have been struggling to keep my life together in all this craziness as you can see I haven't posted much....I have new catalog stamps still haven't left the box. (So unlike me, especially ones this cute) I know I need to keep the focus on our families. Thank you for everyone for all your wonderful support and kind words, your e-mails mean a lot!

I am happy to say I did get Ashton's Composition books covered for her class.....it took me four hours and lots of tape, but they are done! All the paper I purchased at Hobby Lobby. (Sorry) Since I had to make 20, I wanted to do them as cheap as possible! Ashton will be giving these to her classmates along with a matching pen and goodie bag. I hope they are enjoyed by all!

Christmas with Sesame Street

After getting snowed in today I thought I could "Finally" get the kids school Christmas gifts done....I've been putting it off and putting it off. Things have been crazy here!!! (MIL just started Chemo and all the other craziness that comes with the holidays) I have hardly had time to stamp let alone get my Christmas shopping done!!! Anyway, I bought these cute Sesame Street coloring books and thought I would cover crayon boxes to go with them for Aiden and Adison's preschool class. It was a fun afternoon project, the kids got a kick out of it!! The look on Adison's face when they were done was priceless. (Now onto Ashton's class) I hope everyone is having a wonderful Holiday Season!!

Holiday Treasures

Project Supplies: Best Yet and Punch Pals Stamp Set, Holiday Treasures Designer Paper, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Cardstock, SU Watercolor Pencils, Blender Pen, Chocolate Ribbon, Various Punches, Dimensionals and Glue Dots.

Getting In the Christmas Spirit

With the holiday fast approaching I thought I would play around with some of my Christmas papers and stamp sets, trying to get inspired. (As you can tell I was having a hard time) There is so much going on in our lives it is hard to find that Christmas Spirit. I'm going to have the kids help me put together fun little tree ornaments like the one I posted to share with their classmates.

Project Supplies: Punches Three Hostess Set, Holiday Treasures Designer Paper, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White, Old Olive and Riding Hood Red Cardstock. SU Ribbon, Dimensionals, Chocolate Chip & Old Olive Ink.

Christmas Ornament

Project Supplies: Perfect Presentation Stamp Set (Retired), Holiday Treasures Designer Paper, SU Ribbon, Star and Circle Punch.

Bundle of Joy

Project Supplies: Punches Three Hostess Stamp Set, Pink Pirouette, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Cardstock, SU Ribbon, Rhinstone Brads, Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Scallop, Ticket & Large Oval Punch, Cuttlebug Dotted Swiss Emboss Folder.

Sweet Birthday Blessings

Tomorrow is my MIL birthday, she is still in the hospital recovering from two major surgeries. It is hard to believe she has been in the hospital now for 3 weeks.....our lives have been totally turned upside down when we found out she has stage 4 stomach cancer. This was so unexpected and a very emotional time for everyone. I really wanted to make a scrapbook for her, I got as far as picking out pictures...I just don't have the time to compete it right now, but hope to for Christmas! (My goal anyway) I did get her a card made tonight, along with a cute Thanksgiving "Turkey" card I've been wanting to make since I saw them in our monthly Stampin' Up Magazine. Hope you enjoy!

Project Supplies: Upsy Daisy Stamp Set, Cuttlebug Dotted Emboss Folder, Whisper White, Real Red, Basic Black and Creamy Carmel, SU Ribbon and Basic Black Ink.

Project Supplies: Fancy Flexible Phrases (Retired), Various SU Punches and Ribbon, 2-Way Glue, Sticky Strip and Glue Dots.

On a Roll...

Once you start you just can't stop I guess....I'm on a roll! I thought I was done stamping tonight, then Ashton (My oldest daughter) came down with the flu. So, I thought since I'm sitting up with her, I may as well keep playing with my new stamp sets. This Under the Stars Card was a very fun card to make, plus it made me drag out some of my old sets. Something I love to do! I added glitter to the snowflakes, which is hard to see in the photo but really pops in person. I did a few techniques with this card...Masking, Chalking, Inking Stamps with Markers and yes I finally used my jumbo wheel. I hope you enjoy!

Project Supplies: Happy Camper, Festive Favorites Stamp Set, Plaid Background Stamp & Natures Hike Wheel (Retired), Under the Stars Stamp Set, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Whisper White and Close to Coco Cardstock, SU Chalks, Always Artichoke, Basic Black, Going Grey, Real Red and Chocolate Chip Markers, Wheel, Stazon Brown (Retired), Always Artichoke Ink Pad, 2-Way Glue, Brads, Dimensionals and Glitter.

Making Up For Lost Time!

Today I spent half the day in my craft room, I focused on one main stamp set Party Hearty by Stampin' Up. I purchased about 6 sets a little over 6 weeks ago and I'm finally starting to use them, so excited! After today I decided Stamping is really good for your soul.....always knew I enjoyed it, but today it really brightened my spirit.

Our Christmas Cards

Project Supplies: Party Hearty & Sincere Salutations Stamp Set, Glorious Green, Real Red and Whisper White Cardstock, Silver Emboss Powder, Emboss Tinted Ink, Embossing Gun, Real Red and Glorious Green Ink and Glue Dots.

Card Semi-Cased off Splitcoast Stampers*

Project Supplies: Party Hearty Stamp Set, Sweet Always Designer Paper, , Pumpkin Pie, , Whisper White Cardstock, SU Dimensionals, Glitter, Circle Punch and Chocolate Chip, Regal Rose, Pretty in Pink, So Saffron and Pumpkin Pie Ink. *I changed the Designer Paper & colors, layout the same.

Very Simple Card*

Project Supplies: Party Hearty Stamp Set, Brilliant Blue & Tempting Turquoise Cardstock and Ink. *Seen this layout many times, changed up the colors.

Happy Birthday Card

Project Supplies: Party Hearty & Wow Flowers Stamp Set, Holiday Treasure Designer Paper, Baja Breeze, Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Riding Hood Red Cardstock and Ink, SU Dimensionals, Glue Dots, Ribbon and Brads.

Cuttlebug Birthday Card

Project Supplies: Party Hearty Stamp Set, Pacific Point, Kiwi Kiss and Riding Hood Red Cardstock, Pacific Point Ink, SU Dimensionals, Circle & Scallop Punch and Ribbon, Circle Emboss Folder for Cuttlebug.

Felt So Good....

Today I finally went down to my craft room for the first time in weeks, it felt so good.....it was like coming home after a long vacation! I jumped right in and made a princess notebook and memory game for Ashton's friend, Bailey. They both turned out really cute, Bailey's birthday party is today. The cool glitter paper I found at Hobby Lobby, it was a little spendy but well worth it!! I originally had planned on using my Cricut to cut out the Disney Princesses, but I tried several attempts and after much frustration I went back to Hobby Lobby and bought stickers. Thanks Kim for letting me vent to you! Needless to say I will attempt to make bigger Cricut cut outs with that cartridge next time! I am looking forward to a night of stamping, so stay tuned as I will be posting more goodies. Also I am working on getting some blog candy ready, as a thank you for being patient with me these past few weeks!! For those of you interested my MIL is still in the hospital and we are taking things one day at a time.

What To Do Next???

I will not be posting to my blog for awhile, as we did not get the news we wanted to hear concerning my mother in law. She has stage 4 cancer and it has spread, they removed her whole stomach on Thursday and inserted a feeding tube.....I will not be e-mailing Halloween riddle templates until further notice. (Sorry) I will keep them in my in box and as soon as life settles I promise I will try to send them! Thank you to all my family and friends who have sent such sweet cards and thoughtful e-mails.....we can't thank you enough! Hope everyone had a safe and Happy Halloween yesterday!

Just What I Needed!!

I debated on if I should still keep my crafting date with Kim today after everything that has happened in the last couple days....I am so glad I did. I was just what my mind (and soul) needed!! We went to lunch and then had a fun afternoon creating. She wanted to make a couple of those Coaster Box Frankie's and a Trading Card Packet for her niece, which we did get done. It was just a fun, relaxing day! (Thank you) After Kim left I made a few of these Peppermint Pattie Treats I saw on Splitcoast...I totally cased, but they were too cute not too.

On a side note, for those of you keeping up with my blog, my mother in law was diagnosed with Stomach Cancer yesterday. It does not look good at this point, we need all the prayers we can get. She goes in for surgery on Thursday to see if it has spread anywhere else. Thanks to those of you that have already sent heartfelt e-mails.....I can't thank you enough!

Pumpkin, Mummy and Vampire Treats

*I've had a couple questions on the trading cards I posted earlier, so I have enclosed pictures of the front and back....I hope this helps. If you would like the template e-mail me at melsagaser@hotmail.com and I would be happy to get them to you! There are 27 different riddles!!

Template for Halloween Trading Cards

October has turned out to be a roller coaster of a month for us. We've really had our ups and downs!! We just found out yesterday my mother in law has a tumor in her stomach.....we are waiting to hear back on what the prognosis is. I will not have time to upload the template for the trading cards as I said I would, sorry....too much going on to convert the templates and add directions. If you would like the three templates I will gladly e-mail them to you, which is a snap. I will not include directions with each e-mail....all I did was print out the templates on white cardstock and cut them a little smaller then the black trading card which was 2 1/2 x 3. I thought it looked nicer then just done on white cardstock, front and back. I hope the rest you figure out, if you have any questions let me know. Thanks for understanding!!

Halloween Trading Cards

I'm excited to say I'm finally finished with 20 packs of Halloween Trading Cards. I saw an idea for something like this a few years back and couldn't remember where. So, I stayed up one night and made my own templates....which I will be uploading later today. Then I spent one whole night cutting paper and today while the kids were at school....I finally got them together! I thought these would be perfect for Ashton's 1st grade class as they are reading like crazy! Plus it is a great non-candy treat!

Project Supplies: Ghostly Greeting Designer Paper, Booglie Eyes Stamp Set (Retired), Glue Dots, Crayons, and Ribbon.

*Each Trading Card Pack has 4 different riddles (4 cards) with the answer to the riddle on the back, crayons are attached to color the cards.

Upsy Daisy My Life Has Turned Upside Down!

I haven't posted in awhile as things have turned upside down at my house. Everything from the horrible hayride accident last Sunday at my daughter's birthday party (Thank god only minor injuries, one girl did end up going to the emergency room) to me trying to finding a job. Nothing is more frustrating then trying to find a job that will work around my crazy schedule. So, things are very stressful here to say the least. Today is Ashton's 7th birthday, we have a wedding to attend this afternoon plus I tried to squeeze in an hour to stamp. I did get two cards done with my new Upsy Daisy Stamp set....Yeah! Once things come back to normal I will post some party pictures and the famous Bake Potato Sunday's we had. Enjoy!

Project Supplies: Upsy Daisy Stamp Set, Really Rust, Bali Breeze, Chocolate Chip and Whisper White Cardstock. SU Punches, Chocolate Ribbon (Retired), Chocolate Chip & Really Rust Markers and ink, Dimensionals and sponge and Non SU Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Emboss Folder. *Card semi cased from TreasureOiler off of splitcoast stampers. (Thanks...I needed your inspiration today)

Project Supplies: Upsy Daisy Stamp Set, Cuttlebug Swiss Dots Emboss Folder, SU Real Red and Old Olive Markers & Cardstock, Ribbon, Punches, White & Black Stazon and Dimensionals. *Has a cool watercolor look to it...looks better in person.

Halloween Pixies

Thought I would finish up more Halloween Treats tonight (now early morning, 1am) for the upcoming Halloween Parties. I am also going to use the extra ones to attach as a Thank You for everyone that purchased items for Ashton's school fundraiser. She did an outstanding job and raised about $500 for her school!!! I can't wait to see the kids' faces tomorrow morning at breakfast when they see these 250 Pixie sticks all done up for Halloween.

Western Birthday Party Planning

The piles of birthday party stuff is taking over my dining room, by next Sunday my house will be back to normal again. (I thought I would share what I have been up to....I am always looking for party ideas when planning any type of event, so I thought maybe this might be of help to someone) I have been busy this morning getting the goodie bags done, I decided last minute to go with the brown bag with a rope tie. I thought it went with the theme a little better? Inside I have added huge Licorice Ropes (which I had to roll a few times to get them to fit), Cow Tales, Western Tattoos, Jolly Ranchers, Western Pencil with boot eraser, Western Activity Set, Rope Bracelets and Bandanna Mints. On the outside of the bags I am going to add a "Cowgirl" Backpack tag that I made with my cricut and laminated. We usually do a themed fridge magnet for each birthday, but after seeing Missy's back to school backpack tags I thought a cowgirl tag would be perfect. I hope the girls like them! I also finished up the little buckets of Fool's Gold (aka yellow M&M's) that will be at each girl's seat at the table. It might have been cheaper to pick the yellow one's out of the bag, but I bought these at the party store and I barely got enough to fill the buckets for $15.00. (OUCH) Oh, well...now I'm off to practice making the Baked Potato Ice Cream Sundaes. This should be interesting. I got the recipe for the "Cowgirl Hall of Fame." (Wish me luck)

Ashton's Backpack with her new "Cowgirl" Tag

Stampin' Up! Celebrates their 20th Birthday

October 2008 marks Stampin' Up!'s 20th birthday! To celebrate, they've lined up a ton of fun for you! With a 20% off special, new Decor Elements, the release of the highly anticipate Holiday Mini catalog and Big Shot, & more...there is something for everyone!

So let's start the fun with 20% off Birthday Stamps!

With a purchase $20.00 of Stampin' Up! Product, you may select any or all of the following stamps for 20% off! (found on pages 62-68)

Big Bold Birthday #109439 (regular price $27.95) sale price $22.36

Party Hearty #111532 (regular price $27.95) sale price $22.36

Bitty Birthday #110994 (regular price $12.95) sale price $10.36

Crazy for Cupcakes #111618 (regular price $23.95) sale price $19.16
Simple Birthday Thanks #111546 (regular price $17.95) sale price $14.36
Time to Party #111702 (regular price $16.95) sale price $13.56

Crab & Company #108559 (regular price $27.95) sale price $22.36

If there is something that catches your eye and you can't live without....contact me today to place your order! (melsagaser@hotmail.com) I'd be happy to help you!