Princess Isabella Elizabeth

Our beloved golden Maggie died in July at the age of 15.  Our first Christmas without a dog made us long for that sweet companionship again.  WE had decided to do another rescue if we could find the right dog SO we completed the application at GRRAND (Golden Retriever Rescue) when we saw a cute pup named Tammy on the website.  Tammy had medical issues that made her unavailable for adoption but shortly after we were approved we got a call about a dog named Kizmet.  She had been straying with her puppy and had been found on New Years day about 100 miles from us.  She had been transported to 2 shelters before we met her on my husbands birthday in early January.

When we got to the shelter my husband reminded us that we were just looking!  He was concerned that her gentle nature might change after she was spayed and he wanted to meet her again after she had healed to be sure she was the right dog for us.  We're told she is a pure bread Golden Retriever.  And good looking!

The family left the room to check out the other rescues and when they returned DH Said..."so do you want to  take her home"?  Kizmet seemed to agree with the request!

 She had surgery on Monday and then came to her forever home on Tuesday.  

We named her Princess Isabella Elizabeth (Izzy Lizzy) and we call her IZZY!  

Here she is moments after arriving home.

 Obviously she was comfortable in-spite of that large incision

 She's a beautiful addition to our family and we love her.  

SO thankful to GRRAND for the opportunity to love another dog.  

She is housebroken, can obey a few commands when she chooses, snores when she sleeps, burps and  walks well .on a leash.  

 Here she is this weekend with her first walk in the snow!  

She loves the snow and rolls around in it.  She also loves squirrels--so much that we are afraid she'd run off after one so she remains on the leash when we walk.

Welcome to the Family IZZY!

Monogram it!

I'm on a monogram kick right now.  

I suppose it it because of all the thank you notes I've written over the Holidays.  They make great gifts (for my Bosses birthday) and are great for those notes that need a personal touch (Chrysalis caterpillar notes).

Any letter stamp you have in your stash will work.  

I used decorative papers, a border stamp and a capital letter,  

Here is a closeup.  

I punched out the stamped letter and mounted it with a dimensional to give it some depth.  

The crown has also been cut out and mounted on a dimensional

The paper is an embossed velvet border-Beautiful and so elegant!

And Lastly-my full name

Who wouldn't love to get a set of these as a gift?

Happy Stampin'

January Card Class-Blessed Easter

We are making this card using the new Blessed Easter Stamp and the Tulip embossing folder

I made this in 3 different colors-each have their own personality

Which do you prefer?

Above is stamped with Melon Mambo

 This is stamped with Elegant eggplant

 This was colored with markers (Daffodil delight and Tangerine Tango)

All were stamped on white card stock with an Old Olive background and then on white embossed with the Tulip die.  I used a variety of ribbons i had (not Stampin' up).  I love the variety and hope you do too!

Happy Stampin'

Diana

What does a FOX say?

This was a card I created for our January Class using

Life in the Forest...

I stamped the images in Brown Sugar and then used the 

blender pens to color in the trees (Old Olive) and the Fox (Cajun Craze).  It is mounted on Wild Wasabi and some really cool paper (not stampin' up)

I sponged the edges for a little more interest

This was a quick card and could be used for any sentiments

Happy New Year! Acrylic Calendar

I always try to create a calendar for the new year.  This year I came up with a version that uses an acrylic base (bought from the dollar store!).  It is a 4 x 6 base so you can make 6 of these from one sheet of 12x12 card stock

First select your card stock base and cut to fit the frame.
Next print our a calendar (i purchased mine from a lovely store called Papertrix in Nashville Indiana) and copied it onto plain white card stock.

Next I stamped a corresponding image on each of the months

I then cut the calendars into 2 1/2 x 2 3/4 rectangles.  The size of the rectangle will depend on the size of your particular calendar.  

Cut a base piece that is 1/4-1/2 inch larger than your calendars.

Score 3 times at intervals of about 3/8, 5/8 and 7/8

This will create a place for you to decorate on the top of the calendar and a "nest to" rest the individual calendar pieces in.  

Apply tombow to the "nesting area.

Apply tombow glue to the TOP of each calendar piece beginning with December.  

Push the calendar piece into the nest area and continue with the remaining months.  January will be on top

The tombow will allow the calendars to be removed when each month is over.

Stamp an image of your choice and mount on coordinating card stock. 

Enjoy

Cookie Exchange

Every year my friend Debbie Hosts a cookie exchange.  Every year I VOW to just make some tasty cookies and forgo the competition part of the evening...but it never fails, and the competitive gene kicks in.  This year it paid off and my entry won FIRST prize.  I called it "Wanna Play some Reindeer Games?"

I simply made cupcakes, iced them with brown butter cream icing and topped them with a gingerbread candy melt nose, edible candy eyes and pretzel antlers.  

I secured the red-hot with a dot of red icing for a Rudolph nose.

Looking back I wish I had only made a few of them with red noses...

Not to be outdone, my 15 year old DD was also invited to a cookie exchange.

She created these mini cups of cocoa using a graham cracker base, marshmallows topped with icing dipped in chocolate sprinkles.  The handle is the top part of a mini-candy cane.  She didn't win but I think she should have!  So cure and actually tasty to boot!