The End of the Year :)

Tonight was the last year of 2010, and I don't know about you, but I am not going to miss it.
From my dad passing away, to my health not being the best, to opening my eyes to things I was in denial about, and then we ended our last day of the year at a funeral.
My daughter's ex boyfriend's dad passed away. We all went to his dad's funeral to be there for him. I always teased him that he was like the son I never wanted. But I would be proud to call this boy my son.

Tonight we celebrated by staying at home and enjoying the company of my hubby, my girls and friends Sharon and Jim. We enjoyed cards, even if I didn't win.

My hubby had is yearly drink. Its called a "Black and Tan". It is gross, but then again I don't drink any type of alcohol, never did like the taste of it.
His drink is made with Harp ale and Guinness, then you pour it so the dark beer floats onto of the light coloured beer. He is so proud of himself when he makes this. I have a few bent spoons from him doing this.

We enjoyed Cornish hens for supper. Hubby was in charge of cooking them. Only thing is he didn't check the weight and we had to keep putting them back in the oven. We didn't eat until 9:00pm, lol. We stuffed them with dressing. Here is a funny conversation Kristy had with Sharon.
Kristy: Why is there stuffing in the butt. This is just not right.
Sharon: Because the juices from the bird adds flavour to the dressing.
Kristy: Who was the person that thought Oh lets shove this into the chicken's ass so the stuffing has more ass flavour.
I laughed so hard, I almost spit my drink out.

Then we talked about the tail end of the bird. Kristy asked about this. I told her when I was young I loved this part of the bird because it is crunchy. My dad asked me why I liked the "popes nose". (still don't know why he called it that). He then asked, you know what that is don't you.... Nope.
Its the part of the bird that goes over the fence last.......(blank look on my face, I am sure). He proceeded to tell me its the birds butt flap.
Last time I ate that sucker, LOL.

Wouldn't you love to be at our dinner table, teehee.

When the clock stuck midnight, I opened the front and back door of our home to let the old year out and to welcome the new year in.
So here is to 2011!
Looking forward to the great experiences, and new friends that this New Year will bring to my life.

Hope your New year is one full of Happiness.

Tracy

Top 12 Projects

I have noticed a lot of top 10's. Top 10 cards, I am not the best card maker out there so I skipped that one. Top 10 layouts, I don't even think that I had made 10 layouts this year, sad I know.
So I came up with my Top 10 Projects that I had done this year. Well actually it was hard to only pick 10 so I did 12.
Okay the first picture is actually 2 projects but they are both gift card holders so I put them together, my blog... my rules, LOL.

So here is my 1st one. These are in no particular order.
The wallet and purse gift card holder. I just think these are so adorable.
Post it Note Holders. Not only are the practical they are really pretty too.
My Halloween Quilted Wall Panel. This was quilted to the max. I had trouble stopping the quilting on here. I also made the witches broom for the hanger.
My letter for the Halloween Letter Banner Swap. I was late doing this as I not only forgot I signed up, but no one contacted me with when they were to be done. Plus my dad passed away and this totally slipped my mind. Luckily I did make these and everyone received them in plenty of time before Halloween. Here is the video.
This helped me get back into crafting.
My favourite mini. I made this for my baby nephew Tom. I made this from scratch. I cut the individual pages and letters. It was a lot of work, but I so love how it turned out. Here is the video of how I did it and if you search you can see the finished pages on my channel. Baby Tom's book.

I crocheted these butterflies and flowers every weekend on our drive to and from our camp/cottage. I love working with wool.

This is my Vintage Mini album I made for a fellow blogger, Kate. I was in a swap that Tanya put on. I am so surprised and overwhelmed by all the comments and praise I received for this album. I was so nervous in sending this away. You always want the person who receives it love it as much as you do.

You can see the whole album Here.

This purse is so cool. It has pockets all along the inside of the bag. I love compartments. And because I made it I made the pockets to fit specific things. Like my tiny camera can fit in one of the pockets, my lip gloss can fit in the tiny pocket and my cell phone can fit in the front pocket. This is the second purse I made like this one.

I had so much fun making this mini, mini pink paper bag album. I made it during the winter Olympics. I also made all the embellishments and it was so fun. Mind you my living room looked like a craft bomb went off in it. You can check out the whole album on my channel.
This is the 1st mini album that I had ever made. It is also a paper bag mini album. Mind you not as small as the pink one. I don't have a picture of the completed front of the album. Not only is this my first mini, it was also the first project I did and put on my YouTube channel. Thanks Ashley, she encouraged me to start my YouTube channel.

You can see the completed mini Here.

I had fun making these tiny 3x3 albums out of one sheet of 12x12 paper. Considering how small they are you can fit a lot in these. You can see my tutorial here.
I made these reading journals with the help of my daughter Ashley. I really enjoy reading and want to keep a record of my books. So I figured out the measurements and where I would need to bind it, and got my brilliant daughter to make me a pattern for the inside pages. I wanted it so I could put 6 pages on one sheet of 8.5x11 cardstock and so when I cut them out it would be perfect. She Did It!!!

I have made quite a few of these, but would you believe I haven't filled mine in yet. I take pictures of all my books to put on the opposite page, but haven't done it yet.

So there you have it. 12 of my favourite projects of 2010. What is your favourite project?

Thankful Thursday

1. That I got to create all these wonderful projects through out the year.

2. That I am finished linking all these projects to this post.

3. That I can just relax when I am not feeling up to par.

4. That my family is all together, enjoying a day of hanging out.

5. That my family didn't get my sickness.

6. That this year is coming to a close and hoping that 2011 is a better one.

What are you thankful for today?

Tracy

Post it Note Holders

Today I actually got in some creative time.
I made these post it note holders. I saw some a couple years ago, actually this is the reason why I bought my bind it all. Well, I finally made them.
I really enjoyed making these, I may make a few more. I planned on giving these to my SIL's for Christmas this year. They also work for the company business. As you can tell they never did receive them, teehee.
Like I said I really enjoyed making these. But seriously I love and enjoy making all my treasures.
The only thing with these is that I made them in the living room as Hubby and I watched Alias. So I was up and down the stairs getting supplies that I needed or ran out of. I think Hubby might have got a tad annoyed with pausing the show all the time :)

I just adhered the post it note pad to the inside of the note pad.

I made these with thick chip/book board. I then covered it with pattern paper, sanded the edges and then inked them. Ya I put the binding on the wrong way, oh well.

I was sneezing again today. Just when I thought I had this cold beat, it snuck back up on me. As to my cold sore, it is smaller but now it is starting to scab, ohhhh how beautiful. I know you were just all dying to know about it, lol.

Still not up to par today. Actually I stayed in my robe all day. How pathetic am I?

Mind you I don't care, LOL.

So Hubby and I watched TV and I was on the computer. Not only did we watch Alias but we also watched Resident Evil Afterlife. It wasn't bad.

I hope you got in some creative time today.

Tracy

Unmotivated Day

Today my plan was to clean up my scrap/craft room. Plan....failed.
I ended up sitting on the couch watching...one guess... yup Alias. I just couldn't get motivated to get off my butt and get anything accomplished today. So as I watched the boob tube I also surfed the web. I was checking out all the projects that I had planned to work on this year and yet again...failed.
Here are some of the things I really wanted to try this year.

Toilet paper mini album
Post it note holders bound with my BIA
Halloween mini made with Graphic 45 papers
Christmas mini made with Graphic 45 papers.
envelope mini albums.
Christmas quilt. I bought the panel before Christmas and haven't even touched it.
various wood working projects
These are just a few of the projects that I came up with from the top of my head, there are many more I am sure.

So I am thinking that I will make a Projects To Do list or book, (something else to add to the list) teehee. I work on these and others as I am sure the list will grow, in the new year.

Proud Tuesdays
1. I relaxed all...day...long
2. Took a nap when I ran out of energy...this cold really whipped my butt
3. Caught up on some book work.

What did you do today to make you feel proud? I really had to dig for these ones :)

Hope your Tuesday was a creative one.

Tracy

Hiding out

I woke up this morning and it looked like I had collagen injections in my lip. But only part of my lip.
As it turns out it was one big mother of a cold sore. It is on my lip, going up to my one nostril. I actually have a fat lip because of it.
I stayed home all day. I am not going into public looking like the elephant woman.
So my day wasn't very exciting. I caught up on my book work and hubby and I watched Alias all...day...long.
I didn't get off the couch all day :) Well I had to a few times, teehee.
Because I had to make supper tonight, I made a gourmet meal of cheese, crackers, meat and pickles. Don't you wish I would cook for you :)

Hope your Monday was a creative day.

Tracy

Boxing Day and 2 minute shrimp

Tonight was our 3rd Turkey Dinner out.
Tonight we went to my SIL and friend Sharon and her husband Jim's home for dinner.
My girls say that their Aunt Sharon is the best hostess. Not only do we get a full turkey dinner, she also has chips and dip, meat and cheese tray, and dainties. Also tonight she put out a shrimp ring.
I know everyone says that teenage boys can eat you out of house and home. Well my girls are healthy eaters.
They finished this shrimp tray in less then 2 minutes. Seriously, they were like piranhas. As soon as Sharon said she had a shrimp ring, it was like a magnet. They all sat at the table and inhaled this down.
Me I don't like shrimp rings. I prefer my food cooked, thank you very much.

After supper we played cards. We used to play cards every Saturday night. It started when hubby and I were just dating. Then when I had my girls we would still go and stay late, sometimes until 2:00am. But when the girls got older we just kind of stopped.

I'll tell you we sure have had a lot of laughs around that kitchen table of theirs.

Onto my day:

Today was spent just chilaxing at home. Hubby and I spent most (OK all) of the day watching Alias. We are so addicted to this show.

Today was chilly out, it was -19C this morning. So another good day to stay inside. That was until we went to Sharon and Jim's for supper.

So the holidays have come to a close. But everyone in my family is off from work next week as well. So for us we still have a whole week of relaxation.

Tracy

Merry Christmas to all and to all a Good night

First I want to say Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope you got to enjoy your day with your family and friends.
If you aren't celebrating the holidays today, I hope you still enjoyed your day with family and friends.

Our morning started off with Hubby and I waking our children up at 7:30 am. Well actually my youngest, Kristy was awake. But we had to wake up the other 2....teens, lol.
Here is one of the gifts my hubby got me. Isn't it pretty.
He would buy me jewelery for every occasion if I let him. But I wear the same jewelery everyday. Everything I wear means something special to me. So I never change it.
Here is a picture of my girls with their unopened gifts. I have other pictures, but I don't think they would be to impressed if I put them on here :).
Their favourite gifts were the books they received. Heather got graphic novels "The Walking Dead". Ashley "Princess cupcakes". Kristy's was the laptop we got her. But hid it until everyone was finished opening theirs. Then we said oh I think there is one more by the couch. She was so surprised.

Rose's favourite gift was the catnip in her stocking, teehee. She was like a kitty again. She was even rolling on the stocking, LOL.

Tonight we went to my oldest brother Darrell and his wife (Wayne's sister) Darlene's for supper. My sister comes with her 2 children. That is the extent of my side of the family that live here.

This is my little sister (OK younger sister) Julia. She is 8 yrs younger than me. When we were growing up she was by my side every day and night. I was like a little mom to her. My brother always said he didn't know where I started and where she ended as she followed me around like she was my shadow.

Here is me, Darlene and my sis Julia.

This is the 1st year the Ashley didn't come for Christmas dinner. She went to her boyfriends house for supper. It was only fair as he came to our family dinner last night. I really felt the loss without her there. But I know as the girls get older things are going to change. I just have to accept them and enjoy the time that they are with me. Silly I know, as it was for only one meal, but I want my girls around me for everything.

I hope you all enjoyed your day today.

Tracy

Mom's bracelet

Tonight was the big meal with Hubby's family. I couldn't taste anything :(
Not only was my cold really bad today, I was also sick last night. I was wondering if I should even go tonight. But I phoned ahead of time and Joy really wanted me to be there.

Before we went Hubby and the girls made me open a gift. I am a firm believer in not opening gifts until Christmas morning. But being married to my Hubby, they always opened their gifts the night before. I am not sure if it is a Finn thing, or that his parents just didn't want to get up early, lol.
Well they were very adamant that I open it. Well it was this pretty blouse. It is beautiful, it has intricate beading all through it. Ashley gave me a tank top to wear underneath it as it was very low cut. Very low cut.

Here is a picture of my oldest brother Darrell and I. Remember Darrell married Hubby's sister, that is why he was there as well, we both have the same relatives on both sides of the family.
Boy I'm tiny, lol.
To make me feel better he squatted down. The story of my life, lol.
This is my mom's charm bracelet. My mom wanted me to have it when she passed away, she told me this since I was a little girl. My dad (step) bought this for my mom early on in their marriage. It only had one charm on it, the Christmas tree. I don't think I ever remember my mom wearing it.
Sometimes I would go in her jewelery box take out the red velvet box, and feel it. I loved the feel of that box. Then I would open the box and lovingly stare at the bracelet. I thought it was the most beautiful thing my mom owned.
When she passed away and my dad gave it to me, I cried.
Hubby took me shopping to pick out some charms that next Christmas.
I chose the double heart, to represent my mom and me.
I chose the 3 little hearts, to represent my 3 daughters.
I chose the dove, in hopes that my mom is at peace now.
I don't wear the bracelet that often, as it is so special to me,but I do wear it every Christmas.

So we enjoyed our evening with Hubby's family. Lots of laughs, food and good company.
Hope you take in the season, and just enjoy the people around you.

Tracy

Cupcakes and drugs.

I was woken up early by my daughter Ashley. She was insistent the I get a new Christmas outfit. I think her hidden agenda was to get herself some outfits with her Christmas bonus.
So off we went to the mall. I was surprised that it wasn't busy at all.
So I think we hit every clothing store in the mall. I tried on so many outfits I was getting discouraged. You know (or maybe you don't) when you are carrying a few extra pounds around (like 10) and you hate everything you try on.
On the other hand Ashley looked cute in everything she tried on. Plus lots of stores had 50% off on every item.
Well as it turned out I finally found a blouse that didn't look to bad on me, plus 50% off. I could live with it.


I also promised Ashley we would make her cupcakes today. These are the trial version.
Here are her Red Velvet Cupcakes. I would love to tell you that they are delish, but I have no taste buds due to this cold.
These are coconut cupcakes with cream cheese icing. Again everyone says that they are really good.
They were both a lot of work. I would have bought a package mix and been done with it:) I just thought that I would show you how I display my Christmas cards. I hang them off this greenery I put up at Christmas. I just punch a whole in the back of the card and poke a branch through it. Sorry about the picture, I should have taken it during the day.
Onto my day:

Well I told you about my day, besides Ashley dyeing my hair. All the grey is gone again, just like magic. So I will tell you about my night. I never take any kind of pills, that is just me. But hubby convinced me to take some cold meds last night. Now if you know me, I take an aspirin and I am down for the count, lol. So last night I kept having the same dream. I was a spy and there were hidden messages in my Candy Poppers video, and I had to decipher them. LOL. It was like I just kept rewinding my dream, drove me crazy. You think I am watching to much Alias? teehee.

Thankful Thursday:

1. That I found a blouse to wear at Christmas

2. That my hair is coloured for the holidays

3. Hubby is home tomorrow

4. My girls and Wayne are all home for the holidays, no work, no school, just family.

5. That my girls still like to spend time with me.

What are you thankful for today?

Tracy

A Nothing Day.

Today was a nothing day. You know those days. The day goes by in a heartbeat and nothing gets accomplished. Well that was my day today.
All the girls were home. Hubby was at work. My daughters and I tidied up the house, watched a movie, that I didn't plan on watching, and ordered a pizza for supper. Before I knew it the day was over.

I did go out shopping with my friend tonight. I was thinking on just staying home because of my cold, but I pushed through and picked up a few things.

Here is our Christmas Tree, all lite up, with a few gifts under it. We still like to wait until Christmas Eve to put most of the gifts out. Sometimes we will put a gift out just to keep the girls on their toes. You know they still notice when we put a new gift under the tree, lol.
Here is my mug of choice for tonight, for my tea and honey. Hubby had tea with me again tonight. Even though I don't like or drink coffee, I do like mugs. So if we are on vacation or at a specialty shop and I see one that catches my eye, I will pick it up. But I have to really love it. This one here, my Aunt Carol gave me. She knows I love my chocolate. (see how I staged some chistmas ornaments around it, ohhh are you impressed with my photography skills, lol)
When I was driving back from shopping with Deb, this is what the moon looked like. Of course my pictures don't do it justice. It was huge, and there were hazy clouds around it.
This one is really blurry, but it shows the clouds better.
So tonight we are watching "Alias" again.
I can't believe that we haven't watched one Christmas movie yet this year. We always watch a Christmas movie a night, and we love our Christmas movies.
My favourite is The Christmas Story, I just love it. I always tear up at the end when the dad is watching the son pour the BB's in the gun.

So what is your favourite Christmas movie?

Tracy

Candy Poppers and purses

I did another video.

I make these candy poppers every year. They are so easy to make and you can use up some of your scraps, or wrapping paper. I give these as little extras, for the children that we exchange gifts with. I also give some to the neighbourhood children.

Hubby and I bought the DVD series "Alias". We have never watched it before. We bought the whole series, it was pretty cheap. Plus I love to see women kick men's ass, so this was perfect:) We are now addicted. We try to squeeze a few episodes in every day. But he goes back to work tomorrow, so we will have to wait to watch some more when we gets home, or is off again.

So as we were watching "Alias", I made some more purse gift card holders. You know I can't just watch TV, I have to do something creative as well. It just feels like I am wasting time if I am not multi-tasking. These purses are so cute, I just love them. They can hold 2 gift cards in each purse. Oh see the black polka dot one in the background? That is for my daughter Heather. She does not use a purse and I don't think she ever will. Her favourite colour is black, so I am hoping that this is acceptable for her.
Still fighting this cold. I seems to be winning. I have rested, drank my tea and honey, and am taking it easy. I don't like to take medication, stubborn I know, but that is the way I am. Yes Becky, I am even using the "Think Healthy" method, to try and beat it. It isn't at its worst yet and am hoping I can cut off before that point. Here is my mug tonight for my tea and honey. Hoping this will put me in the Christmas spirit.
Onto my day:

Kristy never gets to go out for lunch as she is at school when I take the other girls out. So she is on Christmas Break, since Monday, and I promised her I would take out for lunch. Just her and I. So we went to Montana's for lunch. On the way there my jeep binged. It was my gas gauge. Hubby was out last and didn't fill it up....Thanks honey :P

Proud Tuesday:

1. I made my gift card holders

2. I made my candy poppers

3. Went out for lunch with my daughter

4. Took a nap when I needed it.

So what have you done today to make you feel proud.

Hope you Monday was a creative one.

Tracy

Tea and Honey

Today was a tea and honey kind of day. With a nap thrown in.
I still believe that I can beat this cold before it gets to bad. Denial you ask? Maybe, but sometimes denial keeps you sane. Think about it ;)

I don't drink coffee. I hate the taste, I even hate the smell. Hot chocolate on the other hand is my drink of choice on a cold night to comfort me.
This is my favourite cup. Love the sentiment.
No hot chocolate tonight, its tea and honey. Hubby doesn't drink coffee either. My SIL bought us a coffee maker for Christmas one year, so when she comes over she can have coffee.
Tonight hubby had a tea with me. Here is the cup I gave him ;) So Ashley wanted to make some of those Peanut Butter Balls for the people she works with. The last batch is all gone :0 So I told her what to do and she started off good. This is what she ended up doing. Yup I finished it for her. Told you I was a push over. Either that or I just take over. Actually I think its a bit of both.
A few of you lovely ladies have asked me how to make those Chocolate covered Peanut butter Balls. Well here it is.

2 cups peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

3 cups powdered sugar

3 cups Rice Krispies

Mix these ingredients together. Then on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper, form into 1/2" balls. (Next time I would make them even smaller) Then put them in the freezer to chill.

Melt your chocolate, which ever kind you prefer. I used Merkins light chocolate wafers.

Then dip your peanut butter balls into the chocolate and re chill.

Easy peasy double squeezie :)

Hope you Monday was a creative one. I did make a couple gift card purses tonight.

Tracy

Its a Wrap and some Snowman Soup.

I finally got around to making my snowman soup. I do this every year and give it out to anyone who stops by for a Christmas visit, or I send them to neighbours and friends.

Kristy and her boyfriend, Blake. They exchanged gifts today. Today was spent wrapping presents. Hubby and I spent most of the day doing this. We kicked the girls downstairs and brought everything into the dinning room. So much better than sitting on the bedroom floor Christmas eve, which is what we usually do. My back won't be crying tomorrow ;)

Even Rose got in on the wrapping, teehee. Well for the last few weeks or maybe closer to a month now, I have been feeling a cold coming on. So I would eat some onions and nap when I was tired. Well today I think it caught up to me. Grrr. I have been hot then cold....and no it isn't hot flashes! Plus I can feel it in my chest. So I did take a nap after wrapping gifts. Actually I had to, I was so drained I couldn't even make sense when I talked. OK so that's nothing new.

I finally got my parcels all ready to be shipped. I will put them in the mail 1st thing tomorrow. Then I will feel a bit better about being caught up.

So off to bed for me. Oh did you all watch Survivor?! So happy Fabio won. Heather and I were rooting for him :)

Hope your weekend was a creative one.

Tracy

2010 card video and some chocolate balls.

Just thought you might want to see a video I did of the cards I made this year. Well actually I guess you can call it a slide show, as I enveloped all the cards before I remembered I wanted to do this.

I am so proud of myself, I added music to it. Ya I'm that good, LOL. If you know my computer skills you would be laughing right along with me on this one.

Today was the cookie exchange at my friend Crystal's house. This is the second year she has had one. I made Peanut butter balls dipped in chocolate. Don't you just want to drink this stuff?

How do you like my home made double boiler :) ?

Ya I am messy when I am in the kitchen. Unfortunately no one has banned me from this room yet.

Here are the finished products. They are really good. I should have made them half this size. The family thought they were perfect. But I would have liked them smaller. They were made with my small scoop, so they are about 1" balls.

Here is how I packaged them up this year. A couple of years ago I bought this gift box paper pack kit. I don't have the tag, bags, boxes and more cartridge so I got this. I figured I could use these as templates when the actual boxes are all gone. Yup 12 of these little suckers fit in here.

Here is how I packaged them up last year. I made butterscotch confetti squares, so YUMMY.
These boxes I made from scratch. I got the idea from a fellow You Tuber. I don't' remember who, as I didn't have a YouTube or a blog then, and I didn't know how to save things to my favourites. I've come along way baby, lol.
Aren't they pretty. From scratch I tell ya.So onto my day:

Hubby went to our camp/cottage to plow the roads. He asked (wanted) me to come. But my bed was warm and I knew I had lots to do today, so I stayed home. I made my Peanut butter balls and ran out of chocolate, so had to run out and pick up some. Grrr I hate when that happens. Actually that is all I did today. The day is short when you get to sleep in, but oh so worth it :)

I didn't get my parcel's in the mail today. But I almost got my cards in. I had them with me when I went out. Can you believe I forgot to mail them!

Hope you are all having a good weekend.

Tracy