3 Days to go... Oh my!

I saw Eve's post with her wonderful little book boxes for her kids' teachers...  well, I CASE'd.  I'm a copycat, I admit it.  Tonya did something similar a few months back, too.  Mine is basically a hybrid of the two.  Eve's is super-constructed with heavy duty book binding supplies, and Tonya used layered cardstock.  I knew that mine had to be a little more durable since it is going to be transported to school by my son, *EGADS!*  but there is no chance I am putting in that kind of effort into it.  I'm just too typically behind the eight ball this year.  :)   SO, I stalked my home for notepads an used the cardboard backing for these.  That was probably the hardest part of the project!  I sized them down to gift card width (one gets chocolate with her gift card as an inside joke.)  Eventually - in the next 8-9 hours, I plan to decorate these little cuties.  There is so much potential!  Enough yammering - here they are... and notice there is nary a single reference to anything vampiric... :)

I also made these tins - for my two moms' gifts.  Since they don't read my blog, it's safe to show these, too.  My MIL about PIHP when she saw the one I did with Tonya when I was in Tx this year.  She is so cute, so I can do nothing but oblige her.  I have the coolest in-laws in history. 

Anyhoo - the pink one is for my Mom and the blue one for my MIL.  They will both love them!

  Notice the old SAB rub-ons on the lids!  See???  Hoarding pays off... sometimes. :)

Happy Football Sunday!  (I love them!)  Go Pats! :)

Twilight Tuesday #12 ~ Quotes!

Our mission this week is to choose and use a quote from the series that we identify with most, to inspire our work. First of all, WOW - how do you choose just one?! I had pages and pages of Jacob zingers highlighted and dog-eared (awwww...) because I was surely not going to get into the sappy quotes. Uh huh. That's really what I had planned. Really. But then, after thinking about finding a line that I identified with most, I ended back up in the heavy stuff. Yuck. Here is the quote I planned on using - and my reasoning for it is simple. I love Jake's personality, and who doesn't feel like Bella does here:

***"Jacob was simply a perpetually happy person, and he carried that happiness with him like an aura, sharing it with whoever was near him. Like an earthbound sun, whenever someone was within his gravitational pull, Jacob warmed them. It was natural, a part of who he was. No wonder I was so eager to see him." ~Bella, New Moon.***

Then it hit me - I would have to make a card to depict that profound emotion. Sure - assuming I didn't want to go to bed this evening... :) For the record... this is the reason I love Jake's character. This is how I feel when I read him with Bella. *Jacob ROCKS!*

However, as I mentioned, I went inexcusably & horribly smushy. The portion of the entire series that hit home the most for me, was Stephenie's depiction of "the breakup". Unless you are blissfully wed to your first love (Bravo for you ~ seriously!), you know, understand and feel Bella's pain along with her. Particularly if you are the one blind-sided by it, as Bella was. From the feeling of "evisceration" (perfect word for it) to physically 'holding yourself together', and so on. At least I "got" it, and it is my belief that the allure to the story amongst us TwiMoms is that we all do. It's bittersweet. So the quote I chose was from New Moon below.

Don't forget to check out the other DT submissions!

Tonya

Eve

Jen

Julie

Dani

Margie

Rebecca

Free Shipping AND 10% off RETIRING sets!

Check out the awesome Stampin' Up deals over in my sidebar! ---->

Retiring sets are available until supplies last (read as: HURRY if you want something!), then you are lost to the eBay gouging! Free shipping and 10% discount available until Dec 23rd. Please order by Dec 16th-ish to have "gifts" in hand for Christmas! You KNOW how those men in brown get bogged down during the holidays... I love my UPS guy, btw. He always brings good stuff... unlike the mail lady... :)

Happy Wednesday! GO SHOPPING!

TTIC#11 ~ A Very Cullen Christmas!

Yes, even vampires celebrate Christmas! Welcome to Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge #11! Our challenge this week is to design a Christmas item inspired by the Cullens. I decided to do their card, since I am so bored doing the 122 of my own family's! I thought it would be really cool to find the Cullen crest (forgetting how strange looking it is! Seriously - what up with the hand?!) and build a card around it. Well... I found a picture and made it into a graphic I could cut out (SO cool!). And then I immediately found a better one after hours of messing around with this one! :) At least I tried... my graphic arts skills clearly need honing! But this looks like something classic that the Cullens might send out to their human and vampire friends alike...

Wouldn't it be fun if Stephenie Meyer wrote a holiday book about the Cullens? The second part of our challenge is to share a favorite holiday tradition... but I'm way more interested in the Cullens' traditions! Do they stay up all night singing Christmas carols around Edward's piano? Do they go out and stalk reindeer? Do they buy each other exotic cars? Do they sip donated blood out of Santa mugs? (Somehow that is creepier than attacking Bambi, or Rudolf in this case, in the woods!) I'd love to hear your Cullen family holiday tradition...

Don't forget to check out these other great TTIC submissions!

Tonya

Eve

Danielle

Jen

Julie

Margie

Rebecca

TTIC#10 ~ the new beginning! I'm... Esme?

Welcome back! This marks the new beginning of the Twilight Tuesday Inspiration Challenge! We are so excited to introduce some new Design Team Members, and with that - more interpretations of our favorite Twilight topics! Never a bad thing!! Join in the fun and link back with your own weekly submissions... the more players, the more fun the game!! :)

This week, we are challenged to determine which female Twilight character we are. (Click HERE to take the quiz for yourself - you may be surprised!) In case her lovely photo, or the headline, for that matter, didn't clue you in... I seem to be Esme. The caring Mama Cullen. She is soft and sweet, kind and giving... which led me to this submission for the crafter's challenge:

Not to be confused with any Hall of Fame-worthy pieces! This is actually much more appealing in person - the flower is subtle, but not as much as the photo allows. I used SU Color Wonder Crayons and water to get the soft, watercolored look, which I LOVE! I chose Bashful Blue because it feels the "gentlest" of our colors. And as vampires go, Esme is clearly the gentlest - well, maybe tied with her handsome hubby.

I feel some reworking of this one coming on... Anytime I mess around with those fantastic Rhinestone Brads, I overdo it! Anyhow, I'll get back to you on that one. In the meantime - visit our other Design Team members and see what they've done this week!

Tonya

Eve

Danielle

Jen

Julie

Margie

Rebecca