CHRISTMAS IN FEBRUARY?

Christmas in February? . . . Why Not! . . . s000000 I know everything is suppose to be all "hearts and flowers" this month but I work at a little slower pace than the rest of the world . . . soooooooo here is a picture of the layout that I completed in January (which was just yesterday) of a Christmas both in the past and in the present . . . my good friend Christie designed this layout for a class at PSB and when I saw it I knew exactly what pictures would go on it . . . and of course being me I made a few changes from Christie's original layout . . . like I used cream cardstock for the background instead of the original green and as I seem to be going through a glitz period I added glitter glue all over the place . . .

I titled the page Merry Christmas 1922 because the black and white photos are of my mother-in-law (when she was 23 months old) and of the Christmas tree and presents she received that year . . . back in those days cameras were still a pretty rare item for the average person to own and indoor flash lighting did not come with the cameras so all pictures were taken outside which in itself makes these 2 pictures interesting . . . the color pictures show the gifts and tree decorations that have survived through the years . . . one of the dolls, the rocking chair and 5 ornaments (the ornaments were on our Christmas tree this year) . . . my husband and brother-in-law threw the doll and ornaments in a dumpster as they didn't think anyone would want something that old - silly men - I of course then had to do a little dumpster diving to retrieve them . . . below is a close up picture of each of the pages . . .

Well that's all for now . . . on to completing the class projects from this weekend that were taught by the most talented and funny Irene Tan in Cupertino . . . more about this when I do my next posting . . . till then thanks for stopping by . . . hugs and kisses!!!

OFF TO CREATE A TREASURE

I can't believe that I am leaving tomorrow for the bay area (a 4 hour drive - one way) to take an 8-hour scrapbooking class on Saturday in Cupertino . . . and you are asking what could be that spectacular to make someone want to drive 4 hours one-way (might be 5 hours or more depending on how many stops I make and Friday traffic) . . . well here is a picture of the project . . .

Isn't that a beautiful treasure box (its even more beautiful in person) . . . I promise to tell you all about it (and maybe have photos also) when I get back but right now I have to pack as I am leaving straight from work tomorrow afternoon . . . thanks for stopping by . . . HUGS & KISSES!!!

COMFORT FOOD

For the last week I have been sick with a cold, been a little stressed (more on this at a later date) and have been in need of comfort . . . I don't just mean a hug or kiss or even quite time along with a good book and a glass of wine . . . no I mean FOOD!!!! . . . you know those special dishes you had as a child that just seemed to make the world seem brighter . . .

Well I decided to make a dish that I find great pleasure in and that is totally (and I mean totally) not good for you . . . this dish is not a childhood favorite as I just discovered it a few years ago when having dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in San Jose (no its not cheesecake) . . . its "Shepherd's Pie" . . . now I have had other versions (including one that my daughter makes) but they have never come close to the one at the Cheesecake Factory . . . soooooooooo . . . I decided on this rainy day to try and bring some comfort to my husband and myself by trying to make this dish . . . this meant that I went through all my cookbooks (boy I have a lot of these - looks like its time to clean the old bookshelf) . . . I even went on line hoping that somewhere out there is the exact recipe for the Cheesecake Factory's Shepherd Pie . . . no such luck . . . sooooooo I took a few ingredients from all the recipes I did find interesting and came up with my own version . . . well I am heard to tell you that it turned out pretty great - hey dear hubby even liked it enough to have seconds . . . soooooooo I now have a new recipe to add to my file and one that brings comfort to my husband and myself . . .

BTW . . . what is your number 1 favorite comfort food?????? . . . mine will always be "rice pudding" . . . that's all for now . . . thanks for stopping by . . .

NEW TOY PICTURES

Here are the pictures of the new toys I got from Santa this year . . . I still do not know why the pictures would not download into my last blog . . . I did nothing different than before except that it is not 3:00 in the morning . . . so maybe my brain is working a little better . . .

Anyhooooooooo . . . decided not to go with a laptop (that's what my last computer was) and went with a Mac instead of a PC (supposedly can do both on this computer thanks to the Parallels program). . .

And had to have a new printer to go with the computer . . .

I am expecting one more new toy . . . should be delivered in the next couple of weeks . . . an Epson v600 scanner . . . will post pic of it when it arrives . . .

I suppose that great creations will now be expected of me . . . just not right now . . . going to call it an early night . . . sooooooooo thanks for stopping by . . . hugs and kisses!!!!!

NEW YEAR - NEW TOYS

Well I must have been a very good girl this past year because Santa was awfully nice to me at Christmas. Among other things he brought me a couple of new toys . . . I have a new computer - an "IMac" and a wide printer - an "Epson 1400" . . . YAHOO!!!!!

I took pictures of my new toys to share on this blog but I can't figure out how to get the photos here . . . you see I have used most of my life a PC (okay only the last 20 years more or less) and I could move around on its programs/applications pretty good but this MAC thing is very new and very different to me . . . . guess I am going to have to go to the bookstore and get a book for dummy's . . . oh bother!!!!!

So thanks for stopping by . . . will be posting pictures of projects I have complete soon (I hope) . . .

WISHING YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES A VERY VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!

JOY!

I want to share another project that I was able to complete at the Paradise Scrapbook Boutique "Holiday Workshop" back in November . . . this JOY banner kit was created by the most talented Christie . . .


Christie was not able to attend the workshop as she lives in Idaho . . . and even though she is very very very busy helping to prepare her sister's upcoming wedding (December 5th) and getting her design projects out for Graphic 45 (she's a member of the Graphic 45 design team) . . . Christie still found time to create a number of really cute kits, of which this banner was one of . . .

I do have to say one thing . . . no matter how hard I try to copy the original item exactly something always happens along the way and I end up making little personal changes to the design (sounds so much better than "mistake") . . . in this case I thought that I would add just a touch of glitter glue around the edge of each letter and they looked really cute and I was very careful on getting each letter to my car without smudging the wet glitter . . . what I didn't count on while driving home was the car in front of me coming to a sudden stop to make a left turn and when I slammed on the brakes my purse fell on the letters . . . sooooooooo when I got home I covered each letter glitter glue . . . I also didn't punch the holes correctly (there is only suppose to be 1 hole on each side of the circle cut out) . . . soooooooooo each of my circles has holes going completely around them . . . even with all these "personal changes" the banner is turned out cute . . . it is hanging in my smaller office at work and everyone who sees it, wants it . . . so again thank you Christie for sharing your wonderful talent with us . . . BTW . . . the paper that Christie chose to use is from BoBunny's St. Nick paper line . . .

Well that's all for now, thanks for stopping by . . .

Magic!

Do you believe in magic??? I DO!!!!! . . . I DO!!!!!

Back on November 21st I was fortunate in being able to attend the holiday gift workshop at Paradise Scrapbook Boutique where a number of beautiful kits were created by four extremely talented women . . . I have been dying to share the treasures with you that I was able to make but in keeping with the holiday spirit I decided to wait until December 1st . . . welllllllll it's almost December 1st and I just can't wait any longer (I also don't think that I will be able to stay awake much longer) . . .

The first treasure I want to share with you is this beautiful vintage antique bottle . . . the creator of this kit was Deb (sister to the owner of PSB) and she shared with us (from her personal collection) a number of ribbons, glitters, vintage do-da's, sayings and different sized old bottles for us to create are own little treasures . . . it was MAGIC! . . . you can see more of Deb's vintage antique bottle creations at the PSB website and find out who inspired her . . .


Thank you so much Deb for sharing all your "MAGIC" with us . . . it was great seeing you again and I can't wait for your next trip up to "Paradise" . . .

In the next few days I will be sharing more "treasures" that I have been able to create from this workshop . . . in the meantime thanks for stopping by . . .