A sampling of Christmas cards

I was absolutely scattered this year when it came to making my Christmas cards. I couldn't seem to settle on any one design or style or even colour scheme. As a result, almost every card that went out was unique. I really have to decide on one or two or even three designs for next year! Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

Holly, the Christmas Fairy
This beautiful fairy is a digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil. "Holly" is so sweet and I had fun trying out a variety of colour combos. I added some glossy accents to the wings and the snow globe for added dimension. And there is glitter added to the sash and the holly in her hair. The papers are all part of Basic Grey's "Eskimo Kisses" line.


House Mouse Christmas Cookie Eaters

This next card also uses "Eskimo Kisses" paper along with a "House Mouse" stamp I borrowed from my friend Lisa. I used Copics to colour (as always) and added glossy accents to the cookies to make them look a bit more realistic. I had such fun colouring in these mice and I am thoroughly pleased with the colouring of the branches.

House Mouse Lifesaver Presents

Another borrowed stamp from Lisa. In fact, the background gold paper was also from Lisa. I off-loaded a bunch of my cards to Lisa and her daughters (I make more than I could possibly ever use) and in thanks she gave me a pile of supplies that she had hanging around. I have had, and will continue to have, a great deal of fun using the papers, embellishments and other items.

Anyway, I've survived Christmas and other than a couple of cards still to be hand-delivered, all got out on time. Another season survived!

Some pre-Christmas photos

I love Christmas and all the decorating that goes into the season especially the Christmas trees  filled with ornaments and, of course, lights.  The tree looks OK this year but it was challenging getting it decorated. We were fostering some kittens and they decided that the tree made a great jungle gym. At one point there were two kittens as well as our full grown (and very large) cat, Buffalo Bill in the tree. Needless to say, no ornaments were added until after the kittens returned to the SPCA.

I punished Buffalo Bill for his attempted destruction of the tree by dressing him in some Santa finery. As you can clearly tell, he isn't impressed. It just isn't Christmas until the pets are tortured and embarassed!

And finally I took the boys to see Santa and they were their usual selves. The photographer took a dozen shots and this was honestly the best. Alex has decided that goofy = photographic smiles. Oh well, at least Santa had fun. And the shot does show their true personalities!

Over-decorated ...

I had lots of fun creating this card for a challenge on Mo's Digital Challenge Blog. The challenge was to create a Christmas scene using at least 2 of Mo's images. When I looked through my stamps, the first idea that really grabbed me was a mental image of the animals in "Coexist" decorated like a Christmas tree with Sam (from "Sam in Trouble") sheepishly looking on. I don't know if I truly captured the idea but I tried with a string of lights, a glittery star and a set of antlers.

What was used:

• Basic Grey, "Eskimo Kisses", patterned paper
• Art Impressions stamp (antlers)
• Stickles glitter glue, multiple colours
• Copic markers
• Font, "Scrap Kids"

Digital Stamp Freebies

I've been scouring the internet for digital stamp freebies and thought I would share my findings. These links will take you to sites where I've found free digital images (plus a few sites for free digital papers). If you find others, please let me know and I will expand the list.

AI Factory

Becca Kay - anime as well as some really sweet papers & blogger skins; also check out her wordpress site for an adorable kitty and Friday Freebies

Bugaboo Stamps - Friday freebies plus other freebies on the blog

Charmed Cards & Crafts - freebie of girl running through rain

Cheeky Radish Designs - freebie on the SNR group site

Creations by Penny

Cuddly Buddly - cute circle digi stamps plus papers, templates & printables

Cute Daisy May - Little girl in fancy dress

Daisie Company - Christmas set includes gingerbread houses, cookies and trees

Design House Digital - free digital kits include papers, embellishments, images

Digital Delights by Louby Loo - Freebie every Friday

Digital Doodling - assorted "Tilly" freebies

DigiSparkle - need to create an account to receive

Digistamp Boutique - monthly freebie

Digital Tuesday - absolutely beautiful vintage images posted every Tuesday

Doodle Dragon Studios - Dustin Pike posts freebies featuring his adorable dragons and other characters regularly. He is quite prolific in releasing new images for sale, too, and they are always worth purchasing.

DZ Doodles - Friday freeebies

Fred, She Said - lots of freebies including flowers, fun monsters, backgrounds and decoupage downloads; generally posted on Mondays

GTC Crafty Corner - over 60 freebies

Hambo Stamps - fun cat & pig stamps

Lost in Paper Scraps - list of freebies on right side

Mo's Digital Pencil - 6 freebies (& counting) available on her blog - she regularly releases new images for sale too (and they are always worth the purchase)

Mygrafico - free digistamps and clipart

Phindy's Place - Lovely angel provided for 1st Challenge

Pink Petticoat

Pixie Dust Studio

Prairie Fairy - kitty fairy

Sew Many Cards - Friday freebies. Cute animals with stitch detailing. Also check out their Challenge Blog for Friday freebies

Simple Doodles

Stamps and Smiles

Stamp by Step - digi set updated periodically

Stretch N' Bubbles - Free digi Wednesdays (but only available for that week)

Tales from Pollycraft - Lovebirds available permanently plus a new freebie posted every Friday (but only available for that week)

The Creative Cottage - monthly freebies

The Greeting Farm - Mer-kid and New Year's Baby

Robyn's Fetish - Wacky Wednesday Freebies

The Stamping Boutique - freebies available through the Paper Craft Planet group

Two Scoops Rice Designs - Whimsical images monthly featuring a cute little mouse named Mumford

WinkWinkInk - New freebie posted every month or so

Other places to find images:

Another great resource for free images is clip art. Doing a search of "free clip art" and whatever subject you're looking for will bring about thousands of options. Here are my favorites:

Disney Stationary - coloring pages have lots of quality images

Random Scrapbook Pages

After a couple of weekends of intense scrapbooking (first the BC Crop for Kids and then CKC in Seattle) I would've hoped to have more to show but at least these pages are finished and there are several others that are close to being done.


My Nephew Callum: Colin & Lyndsey always get the best family pictures taken and this series of their new son, Callum, are certainly no exception. The pictures are so absolutely adorable I had to scrapbook them. I initially had them laid out on just plain yellow'ish cardstock but it was too boring so I ended up stamping a car image that matched the patterned paper style using Versamark ink (for a watermark look) all over.

Summer Day: The second completed page includes some great pictures from the boys' daycare. I love how their personalities just shine through. The photos were taken on a sunny summer picnic at the park.

The World is Your Canvas: Another summer shot, this time of Alex expressing creativity through sidewalk chalk. I did a bit of photoshopping to blur the background slightly to really put emphasis on Alex. The banner was created with clipart and Word. The words down the side are rub-ons. Thanks to Jacqui for suggesting I add the pale red line down the left of the page to make it look like ruled school paper.

CK Media "1 Stamp Set, 10 Techniques" layout: This layout is based on a class I took at CKC. The original was (of course) 12" x 12" so I adapted it to an 8-1/2" x 11" size as that is my preferred album size. My friend Jacqui took all the photos during a visit from my parents this past August. The shots were fabulous, especially as everyone started to loosen up and act out. I divided the title "Together" over both pages to further point out how not-together we are in the pictures. Poor Phil (my dear husband) even had to be cut out of the shots because there was too much space between him and the rest of us.

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Well, that's it for now. I can hear said dear husband shouting at the kids so it is probably time for me to rejoin them. Thanks for looking!

Thankfully the snow is just on the card

I created this card in response to a challenge on Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog. The challenge was to use 3 different papers, 2 ribbons and one decorative edge. I admit I cheated a bit by using my border punch on the corners of the paper instead of along the edge. Check out the samples from the design team as they are fantastic!

I chose Mo's digital stamp "Door with Wreath" which I coloured with Copic markers. After cutting the image out, I layered it on some textured cardstock and then added Fun Flock to add "snow" around the base of the door and above the doorway. The wreath was "blinged" up with Christmas Red Stickles and the golden bow was pulled off an old embellishment I figured I would never use. I really like the shine of the red paper - it doesn't show well in the photo but it is very rich in real life.

Dustin Pike freebie and sale!

If, like me, you are a fan of Dustin Pike's dragons, monkeys and other creatures, you will absolutely have to check out his blog today and tomorrow. He is having a one-day only blow-out sale of images past & present tomorrow, Nov 25 (even though there is a hint in his blog to beat the rush and buy today). I have already downloaded mine and it's killing me that I have to wait another 5 hours for work to end so I can use them.

Time to start on Christmas

It is mid-November so more than time to start on Christmas cards. My latest uses a digital stamp freebie from Phindy's Place and a colour challenge from PCP Color Challenge.

I started by colouring the angel with my copics. Then I used silver Stickles on the stars for ultimate shine. I cut the angel out and pop-dotted her on a plain yellow cardstock and then drew in the silver swirls with more Stickles. The sentiment is from Penny Black and it's simply stamped in black on a blue shadow background (made by stamping with the reverse side of the sentiment stamp). Final touch was the addition of crystal Stickles on the angel's wings.

Thanks for looking!

Copic Buzz Challenge

I'm so excited to have a chance to be a guest designer on the Copic Buzz Challenge! Thanks to Robyn's Fetish for providing a free image for me use - isn't the fireplace cute? Of course everything is coloured using my Copics. I am particularly proud of the glow from the fire - it worked out very well.

Card #1 – 3D Card

The original digital stamp had 4 stockings hanging from the mantle but the 2 outside stockings were only sketched in lightly so they didn't look very good when coloured. I hid the sketched-in stockings on each card by “moving” the two middle stockings and adhering them with pop dots over the sketched stockings.

Then I added the pair of mice in stockings (Penny Black stamp) to the center. The cat in the sweater is also a Penny Black stamp. I added Stickles glitter glue to the cat’s sweater, holly berries and stockings. The cat is sitting on an actual piece of wrapping paper that I curled & distressed!

Card #2 – Shadow box card

The scallop circle is cut on my Cricut and then inked with Versamark frost to give it shine.

I made my own patterned paper by stamping the blue cardstock with a holly stamp I got free in a magazine using the same Versamark frost ink.

I extended the fireplace by creating a chimney from pieces of another copy of the fireplace digital stamp.

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Well, that's it for today. I have to go work madly on a scrapbook I'm making for a co-worker who is retiring this week. Nothing like leaving it to the last minute!!!

In Hot Water?

Dustin Pike released his latest freebie (a Turkey in a cooking pot) yesterday and I had to make a card with it immediately. Since Thanksgiving is long over I didn't want to make a Thanksgiving card so I ended up creating the following:

I think the card is quite amusing (if I do say so myself) and I also succeeded in meeting 2 different challenges with it - I used the sketch from Copic Buzz Challenge #22 and the colour combo came from a colour challenge from PCP Color Challenge #42.

I used my copics to colour the turkey as well as the oven mitts (which were a free clipart image). The sentiment is just some old alphabet stickers I had in the drawer.

CKC Projects - A Greeting for Every Season

I had such a great time at CKC (Creating Keepsakes Convention) in Seattle!  Jacqui, Lee & I took tonnes of classes and shopped until we dropped. All of the classes were quite interesting although VERY fast-paced. I didn't complete a single project during classtime. Now that I'm home and almost unpacked, I thought I would share some of the projects as they are completed.

This first set of cards was part of the "A Greeting for Every Season" class that was sponsored by Technique Tuesday. The cards were made with their "Long Stemmed Sentiments" stamp set and some technique tiles (which are basically off-white chipboard shapes).

My favorite is the bottom left card with all the pussywillows. I learned the greatest (easiest) technique for using stamps. Before stamping the "Thinking of You" sentiment, we flipped the stamp over and stamped the shadow box using the backside of the stamp. What an easy way to create a perfect sized shadow for any sentiment or image! The pussywillows are ghost-stamped (ink the stamp, stamp on paper and then stamp again without re-inking) which is a favorite technique of mine.

The fern card (top left) is made of two technique tiles that I inked to achieve a mottled look. There is dark green cardstock behind the fern cutout itself.

The vase card (top right) is very elegant with its bunch of flowers inside a hand-cut vase. I added some glossy accents to the flowers to give even more dimension.

The final card is still in need of a sentiment but I haven't decided what to use. The card itself was quite labor-intensive. The 3 birds are hand-cut and the technique tile branch is inked.

Well, that's it for now. I expect Jacqui will post her cards onto her blog soon (hint, hint Jacqui) so hopefully she will add a link so everyone can see hers. Same class but very different results!


PS - Jacqui has posted her cards on her blog - check it out - http://craftyjacks.blogspot.com/2009/11/fall-fun-and-classes.html

Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge

The latest challenge on Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge is to create a wedding card inspired by the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". I decided to do something a little different from a traditional wedding card in order to capture the unrestrained joy of the movie (I also have a co-worker that has been trying to get her significant other to the altar so I figure this card will be great if she ever succeeds).

The sentiment inside says "Congratulations on making it to the altar!"

I used a sketch from another challenge - (Scrap 'n Stamp blog - for the layout. The image is a digital stamp from Mo's Digital Pencil that is coloured with Copics. It doesn't show well in the picture but I've used a Glaze pen on the dress to add shine to the dots and to the confetti. The flourish on the left is also covered in glitter.

Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge #4

Challenge #4 at Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog was to create a card using anything BUT a standard fold. I decided to try a stair fold that was used by Lydia Bancroft in her design team sample.



The stamp is one of my favorites from Mo - the two cats are just enjoying themselves so thoroughly. And I'm pretty sure that they are not singing in tune.

I coloured the images with Copics and then added some stickles for extra shine (glitter is always good!). The presents on the front "step" are a cardstock sticker. The "Fa La La" was printed off my computer.

Teddy Bear in a Teacup

All right, the teddy bear isn't really in a teacup but my first thought to use this image was to add a handle to the boat and turn it into a teacup. Sort of a "tempest in a teapot" theme. But thankfully I came to my senses in time and made this card instead.

The image is a free digital stamp from Ildi Co that was offered for a challenge on the Paper Arts Copic Buzz group site. I also combined this with a sketch challenge from my favorite online scrapbook store - Scrap & Stamp.

This digital company is new to me and the image is one that I wouldn't necessarily have chosen but I ended up having a great time using it and I'm really quite pleased with the result.

I decided to try a new technique (to me) and cut-out and then layered the bear pieces and waves to really get a 3-D look. I chose a very general rub-on sentiment because I wanted to keep my options open for using it later. The patterned paper is from Basic Grey's "Offbeat" paper pack. I added the thick white eyelets because I thought they added a nautical flair.

Halloween Cards

Trick or Treat Everyone!

This is a record, 2 blog posts in one day but this will be a quick one. I just wanted to post my Halloween cards before Halloween is actually here!


This first card is my very favorite - the bats & stars are altered with glitter and glossy accents and then connected with orange wire. The stamp is from the Recollections "Halloween" set. And thanks to Cinema Saturday Creative Challenge for the "Hocus Pocus" inspiration. I just love the witch on this stamp since the spray of stars following her tones down the "scary" and pushes up the "whimsy" (kind of like the movie). I wanted to add some dimension to the card so in addition to layering the papers, I also added punched bats and stars that were embellished with glossy accents and attached to orange wire.




This card is totally thanks to my friend Jacqui since I used her stamps (another Recollections set). The images are coloured in with Copics and then cut out and mounted with pop dots.




This card is another favorite from this year. I used a Penny Black stamp along with the Cuttlebug web embossing folder. The bats are punched with Martha Stewart bat punch and then glossy accents added for shine. And, of course, I used my Copics to colour everything in.




I got the idea for this card from a UK paper-crafting magazine. Pulling gently on the sides of the card causes the stamped witch legs and ghost to pop up. The stamp on front is a Stampin' Up image that I pulled off a make & take. The paper is super distressed to give the entire card a spooooky look.

Crop for Kids and The "Not So Secret Garden"

Last weekend's Crop for Kids was so much fun ... two days of scrapbooking, card making, classes and socializing with friends just can't be beat! I managed to complete 7 scrapbook pages which I will post later this week hopefully. First, though, I wanted to share the cards that I made in the "Not So Secret Garden" class. The cards worked out well, but what really impresses me the most is how simple the techniques are - I never would have guessed. I am so happy that I took this class (even if it was an 8:30am start-time). Check out more of Jo's ideas in her blog - http://mypaperplayhouse.blogspot.com/


Paper & Ribbon Flower

This first flower is made of strips of patterned paper and ribbon simply folded over and glued. So simple! Jacqui adapted hers by cutting the loops and I might try cutting the loops myself, but using a patterned scissor.



Tissue Paper Flower

This flower is very striking (although it certainly won't be a card that can be mailed). It was created with roughly cut circles of tissue paper that was then crumpled and spritzed with glimmer mist.



"Daisy" Flower

The flower on the left-side is the one I will most likely never make again. It is a great design that involved taking scalloped circles, folding them into eighths, then cutting and shaping the "petals". The reason I won't do it again is that I found it really hard not to keep cutting at the petals trying to make them just perfect. I stopped in time but doubt I could do it again.

Die Cut Sewing Tissue Flower

The second flower was lots of fun to make. It consists of sewing tissue paper and patterned paper cut flowers which were scrumpled and then sprayed with glimmer mist.



Lollipop Flower

This "lollipop" card is probably my favorite. It was created with nothing more difficult than roughly cut circles of different papers and tulle which are connected with a coloured brad.




Class sponsored by the Scrapaholics - http://www.meetup.com/Scrapaholics
and Pick of the Patch http://www.pickofthepatch.blogspot.com

Pop-up Princess Card

I've recently discovered a British crafting magazine called "Papercraft Essentials" (http://www.papercraftessentials.co.uk). Each issue comes with freebies (papers plus some sort of embellishments). I don't particularly like the style of most of the cards shown but the techniques and explanations are just excellent!

I wanted to make a special birthday card for my son's friend and I found the perfect project in the magazine, issue #43. Not only is the card pretty impressive but it also made use of severl of my favorite things - cricut, cuttlebug, and glitter. The card closes flat and is held shut with a chain, but when opened the castle inside pops up.



So, how to make this fun & impressive card?

Step by step (all measurements metric):

1. Create your card base by scoring a 15x30cm piece of cardstock at 5cm, 9.5cm, 10cm, 20cm, 20.5cm and 25cm.

2. Create a pop-up using cricut Design Studio software and the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge. Select the castle and stretch to 10.472cm by 5.527cm, and cut. I then embossed the castle using the Fiskars stone texture plate and my cuttlebug. Score-fold at 5cm, 7.5cm and 10cm on either side of the centre.

3. Concertina-fold each side so the centre section sticks out to the front, then glue the ends to the card (careful to line up the folds).

4. Decorate as desired. I used the Paper Doll Dress Up cartridge to cut out a paper doll, clothes and accessories. I added some glitter and bling to the crown and dress and stamped a cute little pumpkin carriage (Snag 'Em Stamps) behind the castle.

Crop for Kids 2009 - summer crop

What a wonderful treat! This past Saturday I got to spend an entire day scrapbooking with friends, thanks to the "Crop for Kids" organizers. Jacqui, Leslie & I took part in the summer crop (sort of a warm up to the weekend-long crop in October) and had quite a good time. We each won a door prize that we liked and I was even productive! I tried to use more patterns and techniques so I feel pretty good about my efforts. I managed to get several pages completed which brings me almost up-to-date for 2009 (let's not talk about pre-2006 though).

This first layout is for Phil's 46th birthday. Note the 2 PP's! And I added black & yellow brads for interest. The tags for the title were coloured using copic marker to achieve the same off-white tone as the paper.




This 2-page layout covers a recent visit we made to the Boundary Bay Airport air show. Again, I used a bold PP. I also used copics to colour the title cloud and the tags. The cloudy effect was accidental at first but I liked it so much that I continued it for all the tags. I also used my new Cricut to cut the "ready set go" words for the tags. The font is from the Disney Mickey Font cartridge. I really like how the colour in Luke's shirt is picked up in the paper and embellishments (again, a total fluke).





I'm busily finishing off and photographing the cards I made so will post those shortly. As well, I will get pictures of the make & takes up as a couple were pretty cute.

Cute purse gift card holders

My DS were invited to a birthday party for a pair of sisters this past weekend. I absolutely love shopping for little girls so was excited to hear what present ideas the boys had. Imagine my disappointment when they said the girls wanted a gift card to IKEA (they are saving for a kitchen playset). Well, had to make the best of it and so decided to make a very fancy gift card holder for each girl.

This is what I came up with:





I started with a purse template that I modified from a few ideas found on split coast stampers. I used some pretty embossed PP for the purses and then embellished with felt ribbon, ribbon handles and lots of Stickles glitter. I used some cheap flowers (bought at Walmart) and coloured them to match with my Copic markers. The edges are liberally glittered with matching Stickles. The flaps are created with EK Success border punches and are held closed with velcro. The gift card pocket is revealed when the purse is opened.

I'm pretty pleased with the result - pretty, sparkly and fun. The girls were pretty pleased with purses. More so than with the gift cards, actually!

Forgetful, not lazy

I've have been very forgetful about adding stuff to my blog (why bother when almost no one reads it?). But for my faithful reader, Jacqui, here are my latest creations.

I've been having lots of fun experimenting with all my Copic markers (I just can't seem to stop buying more colours). I have a couple of Penny Black stamp sets that work beautifully with the Copics. I also got a free pack of paper in a crafting magazine so I tryed out some patterned papers I wouldn't normally use. Check out all the patterns and layers on Grumpy Kitty in particular!


A "Just because" card made for my niece Jamey.


Grumpy Kitty card - sentiment reads "I may be difficult ... but I'm cute". I quite like the contrast between the flowery papers and the grumpy cat. Like he's thinking "what the heck am I doing on this girly card?" I distressed the edges of the papers quite a bit to soften the contrast.


Balloon Kitty

Crazy for Copic

I took my first class the other day in using Copic markers. I have been dieing to try these (probably because there are so many to buy) but have held off until I actually knew something about the markers. Well, 2 hours of classtime and I am totally hooked. My collection of markers has already grown to an embarassing size (as has my Visa bill) but I have been experimenting and really enjoying them so that's OK.

Here is my first card which was created in class (Clipper Street Scrapbooking):





I started out with just a couple of pens in purple and green and created these images.








This card was created on some left-over glossy cardstock and class-a-peels. The marker ink didn't fully absorb into the paper which left a kind of mottled appearance which I just love for the bird. The leaves were also done with class-a-peels and the glossy cardstock but then I cut them out individually and overlaid them using some pop dots for extra interest.

OK, I've taken this from CraftyJack's blog (who saw it on Marcia's Blog CiaB's Crafty Times). Let's see how I'm doing! :) Feel free to copy and post and link back here! All those things I've done in my life are BOLD. 48 down! Although I must admit there are a few I never hope to try.
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (if school band counts)
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked (does it count if your dad picks you up and you knew he would the only one driving that way?)
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (I have to include this one even though it was a pencil sketch)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie independent movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Gotten flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (recommend not trying this one - blah!)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (does nose count?)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee

Reduce, reuse, recycle

This Christmas I used gift tags from a Costco set. They were quite nice and it seemed a shame to throw them away after one use. So, in the spirit of being "green", I decided to reuse some of the tags & their components for next year's Christmas cards.





I have a shoebox filled with recovered items including ribbons, cord, images (like the snowman and tree images in these examples). I should be able to make most of my cards for the coming Christmas using these materials.