{A Little Flip Book}

I do love how these turned out. I wanted to do one in another set of papers, but you know how those other things like children and sleeping get in the way of all the things we want to do.

This book was designed by one of my favorite artists, Taylor Van Breuger. I've switched it around a bit to fit what we were doing. The words are from Carte Postale and the flowers are from Both Way Blossoms. Some of the ladies used Easy Elegance, a new set from the summer mini, and that looked equally as great.

I'm teaching this class again tonight, so I may put some more pics up of this idea, especially if we do end up using other papers. My supply of Recollections Designer Series Paper is dangerously low. You wouldn't know I'd run out of anything from the amount of supplies crammed into my craft room.

{Late, Late Thanksgiving post}

These are the little notebooks I made up for my girls for Thanksgiving. Scroll down to see the female adult ones I made. I don't know where my husband put his "male" notebook - probably buried in his briefcase or in, on, or under his desk at work. It may be next Thanksgiving before it surfaces again.

These were made using a set from the USA catalog, which may be retired now, called Fall Whimsy. This is the best Autumn set, in my opinion. I just love the feel of it - not too stuffy and also not too juvenile. Love the swirly design. I do have one brand new set of Fall Whimsy that I've put on TradeMe periodically. I still have it if anyone is interested.

{THE Triange Box}

All credit for this template goes to Anabel, who needs no introduction because I think everyone knows Anabel. At least, everyone I've ever met in New Zealand knows Anabel.

She made us an adorable box like this using Tempting Turquoise for a swap we did a few months back, and I just had to copy the template. SO very, very easy and fast. In fact, so easy that Tui and Lissa taught this box to the children at church last week! Don't you just love the unusual shape? Perfect for a Christmas tree, I thought.

I've use the double sided Stampin Up Christmas Papers, Holiday Thyme here. So the inside is a cool print as well. I put the "louder" print on the inside for a fun WOW when the box is opened. The stamp set is Solemn Stillness. We've used just a portion of the sentiment here, giving more flexibility to the set. Plus, that's what would fit, so there you go.

{Bashful Holiday Box}

This is my favorite box template. If you took my class at senz south or made the baby shower boxes with me nearly 2 years ago now, you'll recognize this one. It's the same design - just jazzed up differently. This is made out of an A4 sheet of card with no tracing and cutting - just some scores and a few snips and done. I give all credit to my muse, Melinda. She's the one who hooked me on this company and my oldest friend. She's two months older than me, so I can say that. But really, she's known me since we were babies - a real sister. Anyway, one of the many blessings she's brought to my life is THIS box template. (grin)

And it was my other dearest friend, Tui, who wondered what it would look like to use a cuttlebug on acetate. I rolled this over in my mind for a while, and this is what I came up with. Pretty cool, eh? Tui's pretty cool. I'm so lucky to have such a talented team - won't you consider joining us? I'd love to have you stamping and creating and partying with us. Yes, we get wild and crazy with our glitter sometimes . . . .

The background-y stuff is the oft-neglected background stamp called Holiday Print. It's in the Christmas section rather than the background section. It's one of my favorites, but I just don't think to pull it out enough. Very generic - one you could use year after year and no one would notice it's the same image.

Yes, those balls are edible. They are disgusting and cola flavor, no less, but there are a few out there who like them . . . . . Good thing for people like Karen.

{I'm so Blessed}

As a general rule, us women and mothers don't get a lot of special attention during the holidays. The holiday work generally gets piled onto our shoulders . . . I was feeling particularly burned out yesterday and having an "I want to quit" day. But my dear, dear ladies totally changed my attitude around when they all arrived with gifts and goodies for ME! Just look at my loot! I didn't get it in the pic, but I also received a beautiful crystal necklace from sweet Judy. And Mirriel made a delicious butterscotch slice for everyone to share.

I had a giggle when Tracy put shampoo and conditioner in that treat pouch for me! She's a gym fanatic, too. Those three cute boxes are full of goodies for my three angel daughters; I think maybe they have a few 'grandmas' in New Zealand after all.

Not only was I spoiled and appreciated, but didn't everyone do such nice work? I felt/feel very special and loved today. What a true blessing these sweet women are to me.

{Easy Easy Elegance Tile Coaster}

This was by far the most popular design I came up with, and probably the easiest as well! This uses an old favorite, French Script, and a new set from the Summer Mini Catalogue, Easy Elegance. Both are beautiful and the combination is great!

Easy Elegance features three beautiful flower images and a nice, scripted sentiment. Available only through March.

{Summer by the Sea Coaster}

I loved how these turned out! We stamped a set of four using Summer by the Sea and Seaside Sketches sets. (I just made up a tongue twister). These are so easy, my daughter made some by herself. The aged effect of the tiles just looks so cool with these images.

{My Offering}

My team had a Christmas gift exchange this month in lieu of a swap. Many of the gifts were hand-made with extra special effort put in. Sara from Titirangi received my gift - a set of four tile coasters made with a gorgeous, gorgeous set, Carte Postale. I do love how these turned out; I hope she loves them, too, because it was a teensy hard for me to give them away!

This set, Carte Postale, is available for a limited time. It's a set of eleven beautiful images for 58.95, a tremendous value to boot. It also has a matching wheel, paper, and background stamp. Please email or call me to order!

I was the lucky recipient of a Kiwi Christmas cookbook - quite an appropriate gift for me, I thought, considering I am not a native here and because I have no family here, the cooking is on my shoulders. Better mine than Jared's in any case.

{Gratitude Notes}

As many of you know, I am not a kiwi. And my family and myself do LOVE New Zealand. However, there are some traditions and memories that I want my children to have from my homeland, and one of those is Thanksgiving.

Each year we take a day to celebrate the harvest and to take pause to express gratitude for the blessings we enjoy. I made little notebooks for my guests - the one in the picture for the ladies and another design for the men. I didn't snag a photo of any of those before they left the house. I made some bright little pumpkin ones for the children; I'll add a photo of those shortly.

I just want to say thank you to all my wonderful friends, customers, team members, and supporters. I am a very lucky girl.

{A Paisley Notebook}

A $2 shop treasure. Add a little decorative paper, some beautiful images, ribbon, and a dash of glitter, and this $2 notebook becomes gorgeous! Now, how can I apply this principle to myself in each morning?

I think most of us already wear the glitter most days, though.

{Happy Bagalope}

We did this project last week in my classes here at home, and I also presented this a few weeks ago to the ladies in Tauranga. This is a COOL little project - a quick one making an adorable bag out of an envelope! My friend Joan commented that it went together so quickly and easily that she was sure she had done it wrong! Okay, Joan, sometimes I do make you do gymnastics with the ribbon . . . . but you keep coming back for more!

We've used the ever popular Polka Dots and Paisley set here, one of my favorites. I think many of my ladies are going to use these for their Christmas tables.