Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving. As you sit with your family and friends today please take a minute to reflect on what you are thankful for. Many of us take for granted what we have in our lives ~ but it can all be lost in an instant.

May today and all your tomorrows be blessed with the rich harvests prosperity, peace and happiness.

Happy Thanksgiving from my home to yours.

Here's some interaction for you Ü

I was recently blog hopping and over at Becca's Amazing Paper Grace she had a little story that touched my heart. As I read on she was talking about making snowflakes. So of course I clicked.

You may want to go there and take a peek. You can create snowflakes in honor of someones memory - or just to reach out and touch someone. But if you'd like to find mine click on the search and type in Georgetown, KY or I'm snowflake# 7051376 and #7058717

It is called Popular Front. There are litterally millions of snowflakes. You can click on a snowflake and leave a reply to someone, or just read thru them. Either way, it's something that is addicting!

Enjoy!

Just a little business

While I'm trying to get back in the swing of things, I went to The Angel Company and peeked in on line if there was any new specials.

There is, and I want to share them with you. They are some great ones in my opinion! Now this is a great deal!! I know I'm placing an order!

If there is anything that you see that tickles your fancy, just ask! I'd love to place an order for you!! I know I've got my order ready!!

Have a great day!
Hugs,
Joani

Good morning everyone, I'm sort of back. I want to thank each and every one of you for the kind comments that you've posted and e-mailed me. I can say that they honestly got me thru the past week. Some may think that it is silly to be so wrapped up in a "dog" ~ but she was such a huge part of my life. I told my hubby last night that I don't want another dog - which I'm sure is not true. I just hurt right now - I'm a dog lover and I'm sure that once my pain is gone I will get another. I know it wont be like the one I had, nothing can take her place. But the next one will have his or her own characteristics that make that one special too.

I can say that not working, being at home all day has helped to attribute to my pain. You become closer to your pet. I'm sure that's one of the reasons why it is so hard to. But I need to go on, and you all are a part of that.

I was just fishing thru all of my e-mails and noticed one from Scrapbook.com ~ they start to send stuff during the holidays. Last year I got quite a few bargains from them. But this time they showed some how to video's that I want to share.

This one was for the Bind-It-All. Now some of you may already have one, some might not. But this little video shows how simple and easy they are to use. And with The Angel Company and their promo you can pick one up for half price until December 3rd. So if you take a look at the video and think that one is for you just contact me Ü

So enjoy the video and if you have any questions just contact me!

Hugs,
Joani

I'm sorry

To all my friends I am terribly sorry that I've not been around. It has been an awful week and half.

My husband and I have been helping my SIL. Her dogs both came down with ailments that needed attention from a vet. Yesterday was the last day of my husbands vacation and we were planning a quick trip out to her house to help out and basically take it easy because we were tired from the running back and forth.

I was woke up about 5:00am by my dog Ginger. I thought it was her wanting to go out and I thought I heard her bust thru the gate we put up at night. If we don't put up the gate she climbs the stairs which is not good for her arthritis.

It was Ginger, not coming thru the gate, but bumping into it. I moved it because I thought she had to go... She stumbled and could not get up and was panting like she was in a panic. By this time the whole house was up and down there. My poor Ginger died in my arms yesterday morning. She was my best friend, my confidant, my baby.

Now I know that you have to be a dog lover to understand, but I am really going thru a tough time right now. Please be patient with me. There are obligations I have to some of you, and please don't worry. I will be there. I just need some time right now to myself, to mourn. Ginger has been a part of my life for almost 9 years. She was the center of the family. Always under my feet, following me from room to room. She is the reason why I drove out here from California instead of hopping on a plane. 2500 miles under her belt and she still went crazy when you took her for a ride - she loved it!

With her just passing, it's almost as I feel I don't know what to do. Each day is a routine. I get up in the morning to get my hubby off to work and we go thru the routine together. Amazing as it may sound I think the dog was almost human. For those of you who know me personally you know how she is when her Daddy comes home. It's almost like she can tell time. She gets so excited to see him running back & forth from window to door til he pulls in the driveway. She is going to be missed terribly.

Thank you everyone for understanding. I will try to be back very soon.

Hugs,
Joani

I'm very sorry!

I'm really sorry everyone, I've been a bad blogger.

Well if you remember the other day I mentioned that we took my SIL's dog to the vet - well we had to take her OTHER one in too. It's a long story. But with this one someone has to be sitting by her 24/7 so that's where hubby and I have been. As a matter of fact, I've just popped in to let you all know that. I don't want you to think I've fallen off the face of the earth.

I'm just thankful that my hubby is on vacation and he's been there to help her.

I hope to be back in the next few days. Thanks for understanding.

Hugs,
Joani

I'm still here...

Howdy everyone. Talk about late - I never post at night! But this morning we had to help my SIL take her dog to the vet. Here dog's got arthritis too - and he's an old guy so she needed some help with him. I guess I can understand, when the weather starts to turn nasty I know that my old bones creak ~ so I'm sure theirs do too!!

I had a minute to work on a card that I thought that I'd show you. It's the last of my Fall/Thanksgiving cards. I promise!!

The base card is Chocolate Chip (what elseÜ) and I layered it with DP, that darn designer paper that is not labeled - and Really Rust. I stamped the image by Judith and colored it in with my watercolor crayons. I punched a scallop square out of some orange cs that was run thru the cuttlebug and attached the image behind it. I then punched a slot on each side at the bottom of the orange panel and threaded some gold ribbon thru it and tied it in a knot. The sentiment is also from Judith and I stamped that with Really Rust ink and sponged it around that panel before I layered it on to the Really Rust and orange scraps. I attached that to the card with pop dots.

See, simple. And the last Fall card ~ promise!!

Tomorrow I am going to try to sit in the craft room all day and create something for you to look at. Hopefully.....

Thanks for stopping by!

Hugs,

Joani

Happy Monday!

Good Morning! I hope that today finds you well. It's the start of a new week. I see outside it is bright and shinny - and COLD. I'm not sure but I think that the temp was 30 this morning. Really not too cold, but cold considering we were just in the 70's last week!!

This weekend was the start of hunting season, so we know what hubby was doing! Yes, he did go hunting - and yes we have the dehydrator running as I type. The house smells good. He's off for a couple of weeks so I'm not sure how much I will get done. We've only been married 3 years, so we still like to spend time together Ü

So you want to see what I've been up to? This weekend I made a few more Fall cards and some place card tags. I thought that they might sell at the Peddler's Mall so why not try.

I'm sure that you've seen this image before. I've used this for many cards over the years, it's one of my favorites!! The stamp is from Great Impressions and the sentiment is from Print Works. I stamped the image and colored it with my watercolor crayons. I then sponged Really Rust around the panel and layered that on to a piece of Creamy Caramel. The base card is Chocolate Chip and I layered that with a piece of Really Rust and a piece of DP from Daisy D's. The sentiment was stamped in Chocolate Chip on to a scrap of Creamy Caramel and layered on to a piece of Really Rust, then I adhered it to the card with pop dots. I really like that DP, I think that it makes the whole card. Don't you?

This card started one way and ended up off to the edge of my table. Have you ever started a card, put the first layers down and then ended up with something that just did not work? I was so frazzled. Well, the next day I thought that there was something that had to be done with it. So I picked it up and the first thought that came to mind was "Happy Fall Ya'll". Well I stamped out the images, colored them with my watercolors and it worked out ok, I think.

The base card is Chocolate Chip. I covered it with some DP that once again is not marked on the back so I don't know who it's from - and Creamy Caramel. The image panel I sponged with Really Rust and layered on to a piece of Really Rust. All in all, I think it turned out ok.

Now ~ I want to show you the place cards that I made for the Peddler's Mall.

I think that they turned out nice. I used one of the SU! Top Note Die cuts in Chocolate Chip. I just folded it in the middle. I added the sentiment with Versamark and tied a length of ribbon to it. I then punched out a piece of Really Rust with my Mega Scallop punch and added a piece of white cs that I cut with my coluzzle and sponged Really Rust on to. I added the brads to each side and a small acorn stamp and I was done. I think that they turned out cute!

I'm off for now! I've got to go post my challenge over on Paper Wings. Stop by there sometime and see all the great work that the fellow TAC angels have made with the great products from The Angel Company!!

Have a great (and warm) day!
Hugs,
Joani

Would anyone like to...

have the benefits of being a hostess for only half the cost?

I've had the post at the top of my blog for a while now about the double dip promo that The Angel Company is having.

If you spend $50.00 on merchandise you can be eligible to get one free hostess set from Level A and one half off item from the catty. That means that you can get the new pink Bind it All or a Scor Pal for only 1/2 the cost!! Anything in the catty is 1/2 off.

If anyone is interested please let me know. The special is only good thru December 3rd so you still have some time!

Wish you were me??

I just had to show you what I've been blessed with!! I'm so excited I can't contain myself.

Sweet Mary Beth over at Stampin Space was so kind enough to send me this RAK yesterday! I was in the middle of a play day with Betty when the knock came at the door. The mailman brought me this goodie package!!! Of course everything that I was doing had to stop at once. I really don't know what I did to deserve this but it sure put a smile on my face!!!

I am actually still in awe. For one, I am so excited to receive the die cuts. I don't have a big shot and those are sooooooo cool! And look at the buttons and ribbon. Even the little clips! When I opened it and saw that awesome wallet Betty said "we've got to make one of those!!" That's what we want to do on our next get together!! The lunch tin is so cute. Who would of thunk to do that? I just happen to have ribbon that needs a home! Now that hard part. Putting it on my desk and looking at it, not using anything because I don't want to use it up Ü

So Mary Beth, from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU! That was so kind of you!

Yesterday when Betty stopped by we wanted to work on some card organizers. I had one similar to it years ago that I purchased from Current. It was actually a bill paying organizer. So Betty came by with her Bind-it-All that she had ordered months ago and never used. Well when it came to using it, she handed it to me. Great - I don't know how to use it!! I did get thru the 1st organizer fine and dandy. Then when it came to Mom's turn I totally blew it! I did hers 4 times before I stopped!!! I kept getting it backwards. Then I tried mine, and first try it came out right!! So I did Mom's again and got it right. It really is not complicated ~ I think that I was trying too hard!!

I did not get it finished, but I will this weekend so I can show it to you. The are really a fun little project to do ~ and I think that they are perfect for gifts!!

I've got a few things to do so I should get off the computer! But I will be back ~ you can count on that!

Hugs,
Joani

Woo Hoo! It's Friday

Happy Friday everyone! I've been waiting it seems like forever for this day to come. This has been the longest week.


Wednesday I thought that my poor doggie was limping but she really did not walk to much for me to notice. She is a very "in"active dog. But yesterday we noticed that she was hurting. Her left from leg was extremely swollen. We took her in to the vet and found out that she has a very bad case of arthritis. For years we've known that her back end was not too well, she's been on joint medicine for a long time. But it seems like with the steroids that she was on for her ear and the allergies made her gain over 5 pounds and that did not help. She's been using her front end to take the weight off of the back end and she's irritated it and caused the arthritis to get worse. So long story short, she needs to get rid of some of the weight and she she will be on arthritis medication for the rest of her life. I had a feeling one day this would happen, but I just did not think it would be so soon.


Ok, enough of the sad stuff. On to some fun. Betty is due to be here soon so this won't be long, promise!


On one of her other visits Betty had brought me some stamped images that she had and she thought that I'd like them. So being bored with my stuff, I pulled them out. I made a few Christmas cards yesterday.



I do apologize for the poor picture, I guess I was in a hurry yesterday and the picture is a little blurry. This card I made with the Wreathabella stamp. The base card is Garden Green and I layered it with Real Red and DP from SU! Ski Slope collection. I colored her in with my SU! pens and watercolors. I sponged Garden Green ink around that panel before layering it on to Garden Green cs. I added a length of ribbon to two of the cards, the other two I didn't. The Real Red panel cs was run thru the cuttlebug and I added two white eyelets to break up the color a little bit.


I think I'm happy with the end results. Today Betty, Mom and I are going to try to make some card organizers. Let's see how those turn out! I hope to post pictures tomorrow!!! Hubby will be deer hunting (the season opens tomorrow) and I should get in some computer time Ü


If for some reason I don't get back here ~ Have a great day!!
Hugs,
Joani

I told you I'd be back - and a sketch

Good morning everybody. I told you I'd be back ~ and I have a sketch for you!

I created a little yesterday and I thought that I'd start doing some sketches. I did just a couple a while back - but I think that I may start to do them weekly. Or at least try to do them weekly. I do have a book full that I've made up, I just never seem to use them. Go figure.


So, here we go.



If you've been around my blog for any length of time you may of seen this one already. I thought that I'd just start from the beginning of my book. This is the sketch. Now for what I made with it.

I still have to work on some Thanksgiving cards, but I thought that this would be good for a Christmas card. I just love snowmen - and these little guy's are no exception!

The stamps I used are from Great Impressions and Ann-ticipations. The base card is Bashful Blue and I used Pacific Point (love that color!!) and Ballet Blue. The DP is from that Walmart stack I bought last year. I used my Mega Scallop Circle punch and my SU! scallop circle punch. I colored the snowman in with pencils and if you look close you can see that I put fun flock on his hat and I used ultra fine glitter on the snow. The big scallop circle I used my white gel pen and made the dots. And the sentiment is stamped in Brilliant Blue.

I'm still working on the site I was talking about. I think that I may be almost finished with it. You know it takes a lot of time to work up a site. It's not something that you can just push a button and say "poof! It's done". But that is taking a lot of my time, so soon - fingers crossed - I will be back at my craft table!!

If you'd like I'd love for you to try out my sketch. Leave me a comment and I will stop by your blog and take a peek!

I will be having a blog candy coming up really soon. My blog-aversary is in the next couple of weeks and I hope you all enter!

Have a great day!
Hugs,
Joani

I'm running just a little bit behind today....

I'm sorry for the lack of posting ~ but I'm not sure that many of you know I run an MSN site also - and go figure, the name is "Cards Made by Hand". Well, MSN has decided to shut their groups down. This is a major decision I'm sure. There are a lot of groups out there and I'm sure that they are all thinking like me "what to do?"

I have found a new site and I've been working on it. MSN won't be pulling the plug until February of next year but I want to get the new site up and running before then. So that's part of what I've been doing. The other - well, I've been bitten by the "spring" cleaning bug as my hubby would say. Just getting things outside in order for the fall and winter months. Been cleaning windows - yes, I've been cleaning windows. Ok, they are the ones in the craft room-but they are still windows. Putting the flannel sheets on the beds. Stuff like that.

I have been sitting in the craft room for a bit today and I've got one card almost done. I will show that tomorrow - PROMISE.

Today I would like to show you a little something that I made a few months back for Paper Wings. This was actually for Father's Day but I remember someplace on the web someone did it for Christmas and called them Santa's Pants. If you know where let me know so I can give credit where credit is due.

This is the front view. See the little ribbon slide? It looks like a buckle.

This is the back side. I should of poked the brads thru the ribbon, that would of looked a little better.

And here are the directions for them. If you have a question ~ don't hesitate to ask me.

OH! And another thing that I'd like to add. I received a comment from Carmen and I popped in to her blog and saw the coolest way to store your stickles. Please, if you will take a peek ~ No more shaking the bottles for me to get that stuff to come out! I'm doing this for sure!!

Hope to see you all tomorrow!!
Hugs,
Joani

Howdy Everyone!

I want to wish all my cyber friends good afternoon!

I hope that your holiday was a safe and happy one, it was a nice holiday here. The weather was perfect! I wanted to share a picture or two with you.

This picture my daughter took of our fur baby. Ginger kinda thinks that she is a people. She's been very spoiled all of her life, treated like my baby. If she were human she would be the kind of child that would always say "Mom likes me more than she likes you" kind of kid. As a matter of fact if you said something to us like "oh, your dogs so cute" she would say "dog? We have a dog? When did we get a dog?". But anyway ~ Danielle put her bunny ears on Ginger, so that was her costume. We put the candy basket next to her and she just posed for us.

Remember when I mentioned that she had to have the tube put in her ear? Well this past Saturday we took her to the vet to have it removed. In just 3 weeks Ginger gained just over 5 pounds - that was from the steroids! So needless to say Ginger dear is on a diet. She just does not know it yet.This picture we took out front. Now as you well know I love Halloween, but this year I really did not decorate for it. We've been so busy with this and that - I did not have time. What you see here we just tossed out really quick after dinner. The skull is one of those inflatable ones, and we stuck a light behind it so it would glow. I always buy things after Halloween on sale. This year I've got some fencing and some more tombstones all 1/2 off!

I did want to share my pumpkin with you. We always buy a punch of pumpkins because we roast the seeds. This year we waited too late to get them and could not find any at all in town. This one we bought when we went to the pumpkin patch, and just this one because those places are generally very expensive. I HAD to have this one because it was cool looking with it's warts. And no, I did not cut it open. I've got it sitting next to the door for fall with my yellow mum. I'm sure that I'll kill it because I don't do well with flowers, but it looks nice for now.

This weekend was a very busy one for us. We planted tulip & Hyacinth bulbs and cleaned out the flower beds. I cleaned the back porch and part of the garage. We've got a lot going to Salvation Army. I always donate things to them, I think that they are a great organization! So needless to say I did not craft this weekend. But stay with me, I'll be back in the next day or two.

Besides, I've got 24 days left before my blog-aversary! So I will be giving some blog candy away!

Tootles for now Ü
Hugs,
Joani