Valentine LOVE for the Children and blog candy for you!!!

VALENTINES FOR CHILDRENS HOSPITAL

Yesterday I posted about my friend Julie Koerber. And shared about her Mom, Pat Adam who does volunteer work for Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. She founded and heads up a charity called Cards 4 Kids. The administrator of Children’s Hospital recently contacted Pat and asked if she could come up with 1,000 Valentines! I have joined other stampers to help reach Pat this goal! My goodness, can you imagine the smiles from these children when they all get Valentines and then some to exchange and send! Will you help? For the children? If you can help reach this worthwhile goal for such a precious cause, please email Pat at mrsmiley6@aol.com for information and all the details. Julie and Pat along with other designers are offering blog candy for those who participate. Be sure to check these blogs for that information! And, read on Pat’s Blog about How Cards 4 Kids got started. Julie Koerber - outoimpress Pat Adam - The Rubbermaid Regina Easter - Hand to Paper Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here

After posting yesterday, I am thrilled to share that one of the owners of OUR CRAFT LOUNGE, Cambria Turnbow contacted me and asked if she could donate a stamp set as candy to help the cause! Check out her blog, Stamp a Little Love, Baby and peek at the adorable Valentine she made! Leave a comment on this blog entry, contact Pat and send your Valentine donation and I'll throw your name in the hat to win the stamp set below, Pat the Dog. Thanks so much, Cambria! YOU rock!

Here are a few more pics of the Valentines I will be sending to Pat. All images are stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink and color added with Copic markers. A little bit of ribbon, adhesive pearls, gems, buttons, and heart rain dots add a bit of pizazz to the simple, easy, and oh so cute Anna Mae! The images are from stamp set, Anna Mae found at OUR CRAFT LOUNGE!

The Valentine sentiment is from Dr. Pea-Nut also found at OUR CRAFT LOUNGE. I was able to curve the sentiment and stamp right where I needed it to be! Gotta love that! Here they all are friends! All ready to be packaged and sent to Pat. I cannot tell you how fun and rewarding it is to be part of a community that desires to give back! The children are worth it! They are waiting for us to shower them with Valentine LOVE! Will you help? And win some blog candy too? Remember to leave a comment on this blog entry and I will pick a winner on Friday, January 17th. Good Luck everyone!

Thanks so much for visiting today! Please direct anyone to this blog post to get info on how they can help! I appreciate your willingness to share and especially your love for the children! Take good care!

For the Children, Will You Help?

VALENTINES FOR THE CHILDREN

You have read about my friend Julie Koerber here on my blog from time to time! Well, her Mom does volunteer work for Children's Hospital in Detroit, Michigan. I also live in Michigan and actually used to live in the Detroit area for many years. Her name is Pat Adam and she heads up a charity called Cards 4 Kids. The administrator of Children’s Hospital recently contacted Pat and asked if she could come up with 1,000 Valentines! This is quite the undertaking for Pat to come up with that many Valentines! So, I am joining other stampers to help. My goodness, can you imagine the smiles from these children when they all get Valentines to exchange and send!

Will you help? For the children? If you can help reach this worthwhile goal for such a precious cause, please email Pat at mrsmiley6@aol.com for information and all the details.

Julie and Pat along with other designers are offering blog candy for those who participate. Be sure to check these blogs for that information! And, read on Pat’s Blog about How Cards 4 Kids got started.

Julie Koerber - outoimpress

Pat Adam - The Rubbermaid

Regina Easter - Hand to Paper

Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here

I chose to use my new stamp set, Anna Mae from Our Craft Lounge to create some girly Valentines! I made a bakers dozen and have some to show you today! I will post the rest tomorrow!

Every card is stamped with Memento tuxedo black ink and some color added with Copic Markers. On each card, I placed a gem, button, rain heart dot, pearl, or ribbon! Just a little something to add that extra pizazz!

Tiny blue gems and a larger yellowish gold adorns Anna Mae's dress on this Valentine! Being that the stamps are clear, I was able to curve the sentiment over Anna Mae's hands and see clearly where I wanted to stamp it.

A smaller photo of a grouping, so you can check out the purple dressed Anna Mae! Love the little ribbon and pearl on this Valentine! The happy Valentine's sentiment is from another Our Craft Lounge set, Dr. Pea-Nut.

Thank you for checking in today! I appreciate your visit! Please consider helping Pat reach the goal of 1,000 Valentines, I know we can do it! Take good care!

Just Rite for a Happy Holiday!

I found these adorable toddler mittens at the Target dollar spot! They came in a set of two, of course for one dollar. The colors immediately drew me to them! I thought a gift card would fit nicely into one of these and I would have TWO gift card holders for a buck! Sold!

I inked a center from my JUST RITE Christmas Ensemble set. I stamped it again in red so I could cut out the Happy Holidays and adhere onto the blue.

Ribbon is from Wright and purchased at my local fabric store. The felt snowflakes are from Hero Arts. I placed an adhesive red gem on the each snowflake center. Snowflake round edges are rolled in glue, then SU dazzling diamonds.

How simple and easy is this gift card holder? And the added Just Rite tag with a bit of embellishing, well, makes it quick, easy, and JUST RIGHT! I love the colors, my very favorite Christmas combo that I do not use near enough!

Take good care and I'll be back tomorrow! Hope your day is joy filled!

Celebrate, Celebrate DAY 11

Welcome! THIS is DAY 11 and we are still celebrating! Check out SHARON JOHNSON'S Party Central! Challenges & Blog Candy galore in celebration of her 1,000,000 blog hits.

Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates!

You DO NOT need to have a Blog to play — uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. Use the KEYWORD SSC08 when uploading.

TODAY'S CHALLENGE HAPPENINGS AJ Otto - The Willow Garden - Wrapping gifts? Probably! If you are in need of some tags to tape on those packages,— check in on AJ's Featured Project. Play along with AJ's Challenge so you, too, can have some nice gift tags to use this season! AJ's designers: Heather, Janine, Dee, LeAnne, Jerri and Sharon Jerri Jimenez - A Touch of Grace - Jerri's Featured Project is a beautiful 6 x 6 Scrapbook she made. Jerri also has BLOG CANDY to offer today! Jerri's designers: Barb (that's me) and Jennifer TODAY'S BLOG CANDY OFFERINGS Deb Saaranen - Dream in Color - Deb has BLOG CANDY for us today! Jerri Jimenez - A Touch of Grace - Jerri also has BLOG CANDY! There is another reason for celebration in our family! We will welcome our first grandchild in 2009! And, of course I had to make his first 6x6 album, all ready for pictures! I decided to do an alphabet album. I will not show you all the pages, only a few! I LOVE to scrapbook and have completed many albums for our daughters. Sad to say though, they are in their twenty's and I have not completed their last box (big box) of pictures! This is a We R Memory Keepers 6x6 two ring binder album. I purchased it at my local scrap booking store. The pages are top loading and I cut PAPERTREYink white stampers select paper as my base for each page insert. Wanting to keep it very quick and simple, I used embellished stickers, Zoophabets 2 by Cathy Heck, C.R.Gibson. Building on that for my alphabet letter, I stamped with my JUST RITE lower case letters and used Copic markers to color in. Cuttlebug embossing throughout the book helps adds some texture to the layouts. Is this mini diaper pin the cutest? Attached with a brad and this time my stamped letter is on colored card stock. These stickers are so adorable and go along with the zoo theme of the nursery too! I did not do a lot stamping in the album, but I could not resist this image from GinaK Designs! Perfect for the blocks page. Some of the letters are not always the first letter, as you see in this example. This little guy is Copic colored. The stickers also included trim borders of stars and dots. Perfect for some of the page layouts. LOVE this page, I scallop punched a swiss dot cuttlebug embossed piece of card stock to create a frame. Close up of the letter G page! I adore this page too! So much fun. So easy to create using pre inked JUST RITE letters and stickers along with a bit of card stock. What a quick and simple way to get an entire alpha album completed. Our daughter loved it, she had tears of joy when she opened it! Can't wait to see our grandson's pictures on the pages! Take good care and hope you are having a great week so far! Thanks so much for stopping by, I am blessed by your visits! Tomorrow, I will have the Featured Project for Sharon's final day of her Stamp Simply Celebration! YOU don't want to miss it! I will see you then!

Celebrating DAY 9

CELEBRATE DAY 9! Check out SHARON JOHNSON'S Party Central for the complete day happenings starting with DAY 1 and continuing through today! Anyone can play ANY of the challenges by ANY of the hostesses during our 12 days of Stamp Simply Celebrates! ***You DO NOT need to have a Blog to play — uploading your project to SCS (Splitcoaststampers.com) is not only permissible, but HIGHLY ENCOURAGED. When doing so, use the KEYWORD SSC08. We cannot wait to see what you create! TODAY'S CHALLENGE HAPPENINGS Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here - We all need some Quick Cards especially this time of year! Jennifer’s Featured Project will Challenge you to create some quick cards. Jennifer’s designers: Janine, Julie, Tammy, AJ, LeAnne and Sharon AJ Otto - The Willow Garden - How about a game? There is a DT Trivia Game AJ is hosting! You will want to be in on the fun! TODAY'S BLOG CANDY Jennifer Buck - The Buck Stamps Here - Jennifer is offering BLOG CANDY. AJ Otto - The Willow Garden - AJ has some BLOG CANDY! Sharon Johnson - No Time To Stamp? - SU BLOG CANDY today! TODAY I get to announce my blog candy winner! But, first I have to tell you I am overwhelmed with the heartwarming response to the simple question, asking you to tell us, what your favorite ornament is! Over 300 of you responded (yippee!) and I learned that a simple ornament or ornaments that we bring out each year to adorn our trees have meaning beyond words. Many watch the years of their lives unfold:

• as they hang each precious memory,
• placing ornaments front and center in honor of loved ones past,
• in homemade children's ornaments lovingly crafted by little hands.

Trimming the tree brings childhood memories to the surface, sometimes painful but mostly bittersweet. I am touched by your stories and as we, in my family decorated our tree, my thoughts kept wandering to your posted words. I could not help but feel many of the emotions you had described. It has been one of those years, and unwrapping some of those ornaments this year flooded my heart. Which brings me to this moment, wanting to share with you a blog I recently discovered. I can't even tell you how I got to this blog. You know when you hop from one blog to another? One day there I was reading , The ART OF CHOOSING JOY. It is about a young woman and her journey, living her dream and life amidst some circumstances that make her so determined not only choose joy but to share this journey of life she is experiencing. It touched my heart to the core, reminding me that it is up to me to choose JOY, remembering the true meaning of this season, celebrating the joyous birth of our king, JESUS Christ. We all have our own stories, we are still writing that story, day by day, and as this occurs we have the choice to choose joy. Check out Kolette's wonderful blog, and check out her paper crafting skills too! I know you will be inspired. Thank you for indulging my ramblings, I know you want to know WHO won that blog candy! So without further ado, I am not sure if I have a super favorite ornament but one of my cherished ones is from a woman I worked with 30+ years ago. It is a Betsy Clark figurine. She was a super lady and later I had moved away and she ended up very sick and was at the hospital I worked at for 6 months off and on. I was there for her during that time and that made it even more special. Her daughter stayed with me so she didn't have to pay for a motel room off and on during her mom's hospitalization. Later on she did die. Her daughter became a frequent visitor of my parents when I had moved to Texas. When my dad had his strokes she made a point to see him several times a week as well as my mom. She came to both of my parent's funerals. I still have tears when I bring it out of the box. Love your blog and what a great blog candy surprise. Thanks for sharing.Chris R. from Iowa Congratulations, Chris! Please email your address information and I will get those goodies out to you! My email is bjshome@sbcglobal.net. Thanks so much for stopping by today! I do appreciate your visits! Today and everyday may you find simple joy!

Oreo Snowmen and Sharon Johnson!

Hello Friends, this is an update on the following Oreo Snowmen treats!  I want to re-share this treat because it is around Halloween/Thanksgiving time that these Oreo White Chocolate Cookies begin to appear on grocer's shelves!  We are in Michigan, and usually get mine at Target!  Some Meijer stores carry them too in my area.  If you are planning to give these easy Snowmen a go, it's time now to ask your grocer if they will be carrying these!  It is much easier using these as opposed to dipping your own! 

I am linking this to Debbie Doos Linky Party...wait till you see all the creations there!  Go ahead, enjoy and have fun pinning all the goodness!



My friend, Sharon Johnson recently achieved a milestone of 1,000,000 hits on her NoTimeToStamp blog! To celebrate, Sharon is throwing a party like no other! Starting today challenges, blog candy give aways, and ideas galore have begun. Keep checking PARTY CENTRAL for the next 12 days and I will keep posting here each day with party details and updates. Today, Sharon is offering candy on her blog that would be Just Rite for anyone! **If you like cookies, you won’t want to miss the activity today over at Janine Orchard’s blog, 2bKrafty. She is hosting a Cookie Recipe Exchange. Janine is turning it into a Challenge involving YOU, and also offering BLOG CANDY. Plus, Janine offers us a special end-of-the-week treat!!! It’s all happening, starting today, over at Janine’s, so be sure to check it out!!! Be sure to post your favorite cookie recipe on your blog and or upload to SCS, using the keyword SSC08 -- we want to see what you create! **My sample today for Janine’s challenge is a cookie that I have been making for about 20 years! When our girls were in school these were always the requested Christmas party treat! They are a staple on our Christmas cookie platter, and Santa ate these for many years when visiting! Kid friendly, family doable and no cooking: OREO SNOWMEN. This will be an extra long post, probably my longest ever, as I have packaged these cute snowmen in repurposed containers for different gift giving ideas. Sit back, fix a cup of tea and I hope you enjoy!

Here is a picture of all the snowmen packaged and a picture of ingredients. I used to hand dip Oreos before they came out with seasonal white chocolate dipped ones! Talk about super simple now! I stock up on these OREOS during the holiday and purchase mine at Target. For the icing I tried the new Wilton icing this year, I have to say it worked great. The earmuffs are created using kitchen scissors, leaving a good portion of the gumdrop left to eat! Yum! The orange gumdrop nose is cut on an angle and shaped a bit. Mini chocolate chips for eyes, and sprinkles for the smile! We don’t always place a smile on the face, they are just as cute without, but for today I wanted you to see how they looked smiling at you!


First up is a re-purposed clear stamp box. I cannot throw these away and have used them often for small gifts. This box fits six cookies easily with a small side empty space. After making a tray for the box, I used the same Martha Stewart paper for a small filler insert. I thought it worked well, and added a little pizzazz to the packaging! I knew

 I would not want the cookies to slide around, so check this out! A little dab of the frosting to perfectly hold them in place! Better than glue dots and edible too! LOL! Gotta love that!
All packaging tags use Kim Hughes set, Baked with Love that is available at Cornish Heritage Farms. Ribbon and ric rac added to the outer packaging make it complete for gift giving. Wouldn’t this be a cute teacher gift? Bus Driver, Principal, Mail deliverer, UPS driver, the possibilities are endless!
The next two packaging items are leftover cut card boxes that I had in my stash. The other box portion was for this project. Cookies are individually cello wrapped, one set of two tied with yellow PapertreyInk twill ribbon. A little fake snow sprinkled in the bottom and you have a cute little package! Talk about easy! Adding more color on the second sample, I used Martha Stewart DP for bag headers and sentiment along with buttons and sentiment gem. The buttons are secured with Martha Stewart bakers string. I am loving this Martha designer paper!
The small tin holds two cookies. This tin was previously used for hot chocolate. Now wouldn’t it be cute to give two tins, one with cookies and one with hot chocolate mix? Hmmmm. LOL! Martha Stewart DP, Martha Stewart border punch to create scallop edging. Tag with button embellishment and a bit of ribbon make this a cute gift container. Love the clear top to see that snowman cookie peeking out at you! My final package is a repurposed jewelry box. I loved the slim line look to the box, and the slide feature of the outer portion. You can see what the box looks like, inside, and the outer portion before I covered it with DP. I covered the foam with the polka dp and placed it back into box. It raised the cookies to the perfect height! This box holds four cookies comfortably! I love the green ribbon on this festive stripe paper! Tag attached with Martha Stewart bakers string. All containers, so easy and a wonderful way to be green and save some green!
I hope you enjoyed these Oreo snowmen and will be inspired to get going on those Christmas cookies! Enjoy, and be sure to show us what you create! Take good care and thanks so much for stopping by, I am blessed by all of you, the readers who visit here! Thank YOU!
Check out all the sample makers for Janine's challenge! Along with Janine and Sharon of course!
AJ Otto
Deb Saaranen
Darlene Pavlick
Jerri Kay
Jennifer Buck
LeAnne

Snowflake Legend

Won't this snowflake look beautiful glistening among tree lights? It is textured plastic and quite thick, which makes it very sturdy. These snowflakes were found at my local Dollar Tree store, 6 in a pack for one dollar! Years ago I received a small snowflake with a similar legend written on the card. I don't know who wrote it, therefore cannot give appropriate credit but have seen a similar saying in the Oriental Trading catalog. I did adapt it somewhat to fit on the scallop punch I felt suitable for the snowflake. The silver hanging cords were already attached! I added ribbon and a snowflake bling from JoAnn's.

Here is a closeup of the legend tag. It is computer generated. I stamped a Flourishes snowflake stamp with Memento london fog for a light touch. For the snowflake centers and tag edging I used the stardust gelly roll pen. I also purchased a package of the blue snowflakes and applied the same tag and embellishments. This would make a perfect package tie on, easily writing the to and from on the backside of the tag. And for sure these would sparkle and glisten among tree lights. So much fun, easy, and affordable. These last three posts have been small gift items that are economical to make. Not only is it a goal to raise funds for the church youth group, but to make items that are affordable for others to purchase. A two fold mission. We have raised 300 dollars so far!

I have a few more items I made for the youth sale, and cannot wait to show you! They will be featured starting Monday as my friend, Sharon Johnson, Notimetostamp begins her Stamp Simply Celebration. Can you believe Sharon has reached 1,000,000 blog hits? This will not be your ordinary blog party, this 10 day celebration will include daily challenges, bloggers providing samples for each challenge, blog candy, and Christmas ideas galore! I am so blessed that Sharon has asked me to join in and help her celebrate this momentous accomplishment. Be sure to stop by each day to see what is happening starting this MONDAY, December 1. ! You are not going to want to miss this party!

Take good care! Thanks so much for stopping by, I pray you had a blessed thanksgiving with your families and surrounded by dear loved ones. I will be back tomorrow, I have been tagged and will share!