Cookie for Breakfast?

Oh wait...that's just me with the bad habits on the morning after our Annual Treat Exchange. =) This was year four! Since MrP and I won't be around for Christmas, we opted to forgo the large Christmas tree and instead went with our apartment sized 3 footer - in part so I can continue to use the fireplace in December! 

Mantle

Petite Tree

Copycat Levain Bakery Cookies I made for the treat exchange

Chelsey's delish shortbread

Chelsey making punch

Shelly's outstanding coconut macaroons

They're more like what I've always known as a meringue cookie, but oh my are they tasty. She brought an extra bundle for MrP but he hates coconut, so I got them....and I've eaten two of them for breakfast!

And then the babe arrived. This is my newest nephew, Matthew....

I told his mom to get out of my house for forcing him to wear this horrible Mariners toque
(nobody likes the Mariners", I told her) until I saw the cute baseball pom on top and then I allowed it. They just came back from a weekend trip to Seattle the day before where Matt was a complete saint.

Shelly & Mandi

I LOVED Mandi's awesome basket - I felt like Red Riding Hood when I was unloading it, then it was the first basket to repack since I was enjoying carrying it around!

Chelsey, Querida & Julie
Q & J have worse halves that work with MrP and we've all become friends from having to drag their sorry butts around. Convenient that J lives close by, too!

3/5 of the PCL Homegirls as I've decided to call us!

Birds Eye view of treats (post analysis)

and by post analysis, I mean having sneak tastes of a bunch of stuff by yours truly,
then detailed analysis (read: tasting) by MrP.

Good eats!

And a bunch of goodies for the Humane Society!

On Saturday, I created what might just be my favorite Christmas card I've created yet, but I have to wait a few days for it to arrive at it's destination...just in case it's recipient checks over here before it gets there! I used the fabulous color combination from Stacy's Curtain Call Color Challenge 58. I'm late to the punch, but it sure did make a fun non-traditional Christmas card!

Seam Binding Bows = Lovely to work with!

That's my two cents for the day. Seam Binding really makes bowx so easy to work with that I suspect I might just forgo non-sheer ribbon altogether =)

This is the second card I created for the Stamp a Stack that Chelsey & I will do on Sunday. Pretty simple, but I really wanted to use this Verve set, O Christmas Tree, and the new SU paper behind it that has the words to the song O Christmas Tree!

I'm not feeling the panel the ribbon is on so I might have to add some texture to it before Sunday.

Last night, I made four batches of my copycat Levain Bakery Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Chip Cookie dough and got them all ball'd up so I can bake them fresh on Tuesday for my treat exchange. One more batch to make and hopefully, even on a smaller scale, everyone can appreciate a little Levain love like I did in NYC! Hope you have a fabulous Saturday!

 

CASE'd Cranberry Elegance

I saw THIS card by Frances Martin on Splitcoast and I knew it had to be my Christmas card this year. Clean and simple, easy for mailing, but incredibly elegant, so I CASE'd it. In case you're looking for yet another stunning bunch of creations to check out, visit Frenchie Stamps! Stampin' Up was what first got me into card making, so I remember when I started checking out stamping blogs, I always loved the SU ones because I knew I could get the stamps. Now I'm all over the place with my rubber/acrylic & ink love.

In a backhanded sort of compliment, MrP told me it was the most beautiful card I'd made. Yes, I suppose I technically made it, but I sure didn't have the idea.....I guess I'll take my compliments where I can get them (and I fell in love with the card, so it's no wonder he did, too)

Anyways, I created this for the Stamp A Stack that Chelsey & I will be doing on Sunday....come back tomorrow to see another of our soon to be Christmas cards =)

Celebrate Your Day

Oh how I'm loving my new PTI! I received an extra special package this week from my sweet (and ultra talented) friend, Andrea, so the polka dots on this card are compliments of the fun Year 3 Anniversary set from PTI that she sent me. Love 'em and can't wait to use more of the stamps. In the meantime, I need to get my Christmas on in a big way....but first, my travelling partner in crime's birthday is coming up next Tuesday and I needed to ship her gift off, which meant I needed to get a perfect card created for her!

My Signature Greetings set got some inky love and I used Karen's Sweet Sunday Sketch 94 for the layout. I also used the colors from Color Dare 87. The challenge was Chocolate Chip, Perfect Plum & Concord Crush but since I don't have Concord Crush, I had to use Elegant Eggplant.

And here's a few pics from our trip to Mexico...

Tubing the River at Xel-Ha

Me being a ham in the hallway of our hotel

Xel-ha

Resort-side Ocean

If only we'd had Ocean Views, this is what our rooms would've looked out to

As it was, I can't complain - we had +29 weather while Edmonton had -29. Aside from some child experiences which were good reminders of why I don't have kids, and a day of tequila/cerveza which is already forgotten, we had a wonderful time!

Thank You

Ever since seeing Maureen work her magic with this Big & Bold Wishes stamp set from PTI, I've adored it. So when it came time to order my own goodies, it was definitely on my must have list.

I used Jen's SFYTT from November 13th, rotated, and the Inkspirations Color Challenge #48.

I had planned to make my Sisterhood Card on Tuesday, then clean the house, but this card came out first and I was having such a great time in my craft area that I skipped cleaning and made my second card!

Now to clean the house before I leave on Sunday for my week of girls relaxation and fun in the sun!

So Grateful!

The challenge over at The Sisterhood of Crafters this week is a card for Thanksgiving. This is my take on it. As a Canadian, we already celebrated Thanksgiving a month ago, but I did want to post a card to explain how I've been feeling of late.

You see, I placed my very first PTI order a couple of weeks ago and just as it was due to arrive, I realized that I forgot to order the stocking print die that matched the stamps I'd ordered last Christmas when my BC online pals were placing their orders. So I placed my very own order, combined shipping with a friend and we were awaiting our goodies when I had the realization. Almost immediately, I thought "Well, maybe Maureen will be placing an order and I can add to hers...." so I emailed her to find out and she said she'd keep it in mind if she did. Meanwhile, Laural had emailed and we did some catching up and she said she had a little surprise for me on it's way. Well, Laural's package arrived on Monday - and it included a beautiful card, a funtastic bag and the die! She'd remembered that I'd ordered that stamp set so when the die came out, she'd ordered one for me, intending for it to be a Christmas gift. TALK ABOUT COINCIDENCES!

Anyways, I just love when something that fun happens and I truly am grateful for all of my friends - be them online, in person or any sort of distance. Thank you, Laural, for making my week! Thank you for taking time to visit today!!

I used the Mojo Monday Sketch 165 and my new Papertrey - the super talented Dawn McVey's Raspberry Suite Signature Greetings.

Head over to see what the other Sisters have cooked up before our Holiday break!

For Two of My Favorite Nuts

Hopefully my vacation partner in crime doesn't check my blog this week! It's her anniversary on Monday and I used the Mojo Monday Sketch 163 as the basis to create her card and the challenge this week from The Sisterhood of Crafters - a fall card using leaves. What a fun pairing of challenges. I kept it pretty simple with just a trio of colors and the white.

For the inside, I used the larger version of this Happy Anniversary stamp from Verve's Love Story and included a personalized sentiment that says "to two of my favorite nuts", trying to play off the acorns from the SU set.

Time for you to try the Sisterhood challenge for yourself!