Valentine Top Note Box

First I would like to give credit where it is due, I cased this idea from Lynn Put at www.thequeensscene.blogspot.com. Her original box and directions are under her 3D items January 21, 2008 posting. Yes, I am one of those people who just look around for hours on people's blogs. I think that is why laptops were invented so you can watch tv and be online at the same time. :)

This box was sooo easy to make. This was my first attempt, but I plan on making a version of this in January at my Stamp Camp along with a few other items for Valentine's Day. Look for more info to come on my website under events. I should be posting the details soon.

This is what the box looks like on the inside. I placed a couple of wrapped chocolates inside, but you could place whatever you wanted.

The Top Note die cuts were made from designer paper glued to both sides of a piece of thin cardboard and run through the Big Shot. They are nice and durable.

This box is going to my secret stamper, who has been patiently waiting on me to send her items.

Keep safe and have a happy holiday!

Diane

Cookie Recipe Card

I used the Medallion Stamp inked in Real Red. I then sponged the stamp with a metallic stamp pad before stamping the image. A clear sparkly stick-on was added to the center. We printed our recipes 2 to a page, then cut at 5 1/2 inches. We then scored the short side a 1" so the pages would fold better in the recipe book.

Goodnight all!

Diane

Stampin' Christmas Party and My Favorite Christmas Cookie

Hope everybody had a safe and happy Saturday. I spent the morning at work, but this afternoon was spent with my Stampin' Up fellow demonstrators at our Christmas party. My upline, Penny, graciously opened her house to all of us. We had a chinese auction with ornaments, great food and drink, and even a couple of fun items we made. Below is the first item Penny had for us. It is made using an empty glass ornament and filling with candies.

The cool part was that she also made this cute little box, that serves as a holder for the ornament. Isn't it neat?

The second item we stamped was a cute little gum wrapper. Perfect for stuffing in a stocking or leaving on a desk of a friend as a little winter pick me up!

As part of the Christmas party, we all brought different snacks/drinks to enjoy. One of my fellow stampers, Trudy, came up with the idea to make a recipe book. We each printed our individual recipes and decorated in some way with a stamp set, and Trudy made front and back covers to make our recipe book official. She really did a wonderful job. They are really cute! Thanks again Trudy!

My recipe contribution was for my Grandma McFadden's Chocolate Cookies. I remember making these over the years with family. The cookie is a cake like chocolate cookie iced with fudge! We keep ours in the fridge and eat them cold.

I will have to post a separate post with my recipe card as I just realized I forgot it and it won't let me add any more pictures right now.

I decorated the tree this evening, maybe tomorrow I can get my secret stamper items completed. I am behind a month due to unforeseen circumstances, but have the ideas ready to go.

Have a great weekend,

Diane

Pam's Christmas Tea

Remember my post about Cards for Pam? I wrote about it back in October. My mom's cousins had come for a visit from Indiana and Pam was planning a Christmas Tea for her friends and co-workers. In the previous post I made her some invitations ( small gift card holders in which she was placing the invite where the gift card would go). Anyway, she had also asked me to make her some name cards or place settings for the Christmas Tea. My mom loved tea, tea pots etc. and of course we have a drawer dedicated to tea stamps. Pam picked out a couple and then set me free to design whatever I wanted. This is a picture of my creation.

I used the Stampin' Up designer paper. The red designer paper is from Christmas Cocoa and the green designer paper if from Merry Moments. I stamped my teapot stamp on each and then embossed with white. Here is what Pam had to say regarding the name cards.

"Diane,I was going to contact you to let you know, the tea was great!!!!!! I put the place cards in different rooms for everyone to find w/a sachet of tea as a favor. I only received "RAVES" about how clever/cute they were. Thank you so-o-o-o-o much. I loved them."

Well I'm off with the hubby to Christmas shop, plus I messed up my font and don't know how to fix it! Have a wonderful night!

Diane

Remembering Loved Ones

This is a post I never thought I would be writing anytime soon. I have not posted since November 11th because my family has had a couple of losses back to back.

On November 12th, my husband of 21 years, lost his paternal grandfather. He is one of the people I was making a get well card for in the previous post. He had suffered a stroke, had some setbacks, and finally passed. My husband was out of town that week in North Carolina for work and received a call right after he checked his bags at the airport to fly back to Texas. Since he didn't have any clothes he continued on his flight and then caught a plane the next day, Friday to Indiana for his grandfather's funeral Saturday afternoon. My daughter and I wanted to go, but in the end decided to stay home. Our thoughts and prayers were with him and his family as they put his grandfather to rest. It has been a difficult year for that side of the family as my husband's mother passed away in April after being diagnosed with leukemia a month earlier.

Since I stayed home, I continued with my regular schedule and went to work on Saturday. I work at a bank, so I had to work in the morning and was off at 12:30. One of my coworkers had recently had back surgery, so I stopped at her house on the way home to drop off a card, flowers and sandwiches for lunch. We were able to have a nice visit and I was leaving I received a call that literally changed my life. It was my neighbor, whom I've never spoken with, calling from my mom's cell phone telling me to come home quickly there has been a minor emergency at my house. I knew when I answered the phone that something must have happened to my mother as my dad will not talk on a cell phone because he is hard of hearing and if it was my dad my mom would have called. (When we moved to Katy a year and a half ago we asked my parents to live with us.) As it turns out my mom had a bad accident falling down the stairs at my house and passed away. The call to my husband in Indiana was a shock to all. He was still at his grandfather's funeral when I called. It was almost too much to bear, but I tried to compose myself and help my dad.

The purpose of this post is to show you how I honored my mother, the woman who my stamping friends in Edinburg lovingly called "The Godmother" as she the main figure in our stamping group. One of my friends once told someone else to watch out or the card mafia would get you! Mom just had a way of sharing her enthusiasm that drew other people to her. So of course when I thought of her memorial, I knew I would hand make all the cards that had the information regarding her birth, death, etc. Here are a couple of pictures. I made 66 in all as I didn't know how many people to expect. As it turns out we had over 100 people there!

My mom was my biggest cheerleader. I miss her every day. I miss being able to say good bye to her in the mornings and to ask her how her day was when I get home. I know I will miss so many things as time passes, but I also have so many happy memories with her. I know she is now with her mom and dad, my husband's mom and grandfather. She is so happy to be with our Lord. She is now my guardian angel and I will reunite with her one day. Thank you to all my friends and family who have helped and comforted me during this difficult time.

With loving memories,

Diane