It's almost February....

and yes I know, it has been a while since I posted and I do apologize. I started a part-time job at my local Post Office the end of September and with all the training (never knew so much was involved in moving a mail piece from point A to point B!) and the holidays, I was just about working full-time...Yikes!!! I fill in for the Post Master when she is off. Now that we have the holidays behind us it is slowing down just a bit and I am finally on my 2 day a week schedule which I am liking pretty well. Now I can get back to what I like doing best...playing with paper and ink...lol

Christmas came and went pretty quickly around here. But I did manage to snap a few pics...or tried to...of my grandsons.

First attempt...
(Seth) but Na-na...I don't want to take a picture...
(Sion) C-H-E-E-S-E!!!


Take 2...
(Seth) Wait Na-na...I want you to take a picture of my new Bakugons...
(Sion) Bubba what you doing??...notice the little fingers poking through my crochet tablecloth...
and finally...

Take 3...(Both) C-H-E-E-S-E!!!

Ok, this will have to do....LOL Just think...next year there will be 3 to try to get together for pics ...yes we will have a little girl arriving some time around the end of April, first of May.

I have been busy this month with a new Yahoo Group called "Friends That Scrap". Lot's of great gals here and lot's of things going on. Definitely a lot of chatting going on, but we also have swaps, PIF's, games and a lot of chatting going on...oh wait...I said that...

Right now I am working on ATC swaps and an ongoing recipe swap. Just finished up my recipes. This months theme was "Chocolate"...so I chose Oreo Truffles. If you have never tried these, do yourself a favor and run to the store right NOW and pick up the ingredients...you will not be sorry!! I used my Cricut Expression and my "From my Kitchen" cartridge to cut out the little mixer. The pattern paper is some from my stash from the Cookbookin' line and the cardstock is Bazzill that I picked up at Big Lots 25 sheets for $5 bucks! Lot's of great colors in this stack.
We also had our very first ATC swap. If you are not familiar with ATC's, they are like Baseball Cards for Artists. There are only 2 rules with ATC's...1) they must be 2 1/2 X 3 1/2 and 2) they must not be sold...only traded. Each one is a little masterpiece. These little guys are VERY addictive. I have been collecting and trading now for about 2 years and I have almost 150. I love each and every one. Most swaps are themed, but our first one was an "anything goes" theme.
We are taking sign-ups now for our next one in February...theme is "Sunshine"...maybe that will help to warm our cold toes!!

I have also discovered ATC Jam's and I am absolutely having a blast with these. What is a Jam you ask...let me tell you. " JAMS are where one person begins by preparing three (3) identical backgrounds and sends to person #2. Person #2 adds something (same thing to each card) and sends to person #3. Person #3 adds something (same thing to each card). The set is now complete. Person #3 keeps one card and mails the other two cards to Person #1, who in turn will mail one card to person #2. This completes the JAM." (Explanation comes from the welcome page of another Yahoo Group called "ATC Jams Galore"). I joined this group about 3 months ago and I have been a jammin'. Here is a photo of some of the completed jams that I have worked on. I've worked on several more in the #1 and #2 position and am patiently (not) waiting on them to come home so I can see how they turned out!
In the midst of all the December craziness I made a Christmas gift for my mom of note cards. The stamps are from Our Daily Bread Designs...great site! The insides are blank so my mom has lots of room to write in them. I got the directions for the box from Splitcoast Stampers in their resource section.









And last but not least a quickie ATC that I made using some left over scraps from the Mariposa line. Gold stickles and Skittles finish it off.

Sorry for the long post, I will do better next time...lol. Thanks for stopping by!

I've got to run, the grand's will be here shortly and I will get nothing done after that...

Talk to you later...