I finally got it done...

I'm so enjoying working with Mo images. You can find more of her delightful illustrations here. I just recently purchased her series of "Terrible Two's" and this sweet image is "Jill". Now don't we all see this look on the sweet faces of our young ones now and then?

I colored her with my Copic markers well over a week ago, but with a little tummy virus plaguing the girls and I, there was no time to get it finished into a card. So today, while I was also getting my Christmas baking done and the babies slept for about 5 hours, I managed to get it completed.



Here is a close-up of my coloring skills. I'm still working on that shadow around my images and have far to go, but I'm getting an airbrushing system for Christmas and can't wait to get that puppy up and running. I know I'm getting it because I bought it and will wrap it and put it under the tree.



I'm in the process of selling many of my Stampin' Up! retireds and hopefully after Christmas can get a price list here on my blog. In the meantime you can check out what's for sale and the dirt cheap prices over on SCS under B/S/ or T. It's listed under the name "Foster Mom". If you're interested in any of them just let me know.

Thanks for stopping by to see my work.

Our girls...

Today we did some more Mall shopping. We're nearly done, whew! We stopped and let the kids play on the playground in the mall and the girls love it so much. They had a blast. Though the mom is now back in the USA - NY to be exact, dad is still in Afghanistan until early January. So looks like the kids will be leaving us in February. It's been an incredible journey that we're so thankful for! We've gained a whole new family, with grown-up kids and grandkids. Love 'em all to pieces. Here are a couple of pictures Bill took while I was in line at a shop...



Brielle is in the foreground of both of these shots. Believe it or not, they have crawled the leather completely off the toes of their shoes...



Where was Jordan, you ask? Not standing still long enough to get a good photo of! He's a turkey!

Still working on a card I hope to finish sometime soon. I've been working on it for days, but not getting very far. I'll post when I get the inside finished.

I DID it! I'm Certified!

What a wild and wacky weekend I've just had. I headed out for San Antonio on Friday and managed to get myself quite lost trying to find my hotel. The traffic was backed up for miles and it was drizzling and I missed where I was supposed to turn. Thank goodness for loving husbands who will sit on the cell phone and direct you street by street to where you're supposed to go.

So I started off the weekend on a bit of a shaking foot, but the rest was smooth sailing from there. I had dinner with my amazing and awesome daughter, took three fun classes at Stamp Antonio with Sally Lynn McDonald and then on to the Copic Certification Class on Sunday. What an awesome experience, meeting all these super talented gals and being emersed in stamping and crafting for two entire days.

Here is a picture of the room where we took our Certification class:




Here is Sally Lynn signing my certificate:





What a fabulous teacher she was and sooooo funny! I loved every minute of this full weekend and learned so much it will take me months to sort it all out. I will soon have a blog button on my side bar - Woooo Hoooo!

Having one of those day?

I've been having one of THOSE days lately. Although I made this card a few days ago, we began experiencing some problems with our computer, which led having to put everything on "safe" mode. I was unable to upload any pictures. Argh!

With the busyness of the holidays in high geer here, keeping up the these very mobile and nearly walking babies is proving to be quite a challenge. Just when I think I might get some crafting time, they wake up after only a short nap and then they are not happy until I've spent all my time sitting on the floor while they crawl all over me. I'm in hog heaven! I love it all, but it is exhausting.

Well on to my card. Mo Manning over at Digital Pencil Too has come up with 4 of the most delightful "Two's" characters. I have printed up all 4 but have only had time to get one done. With the rush of Christmas shopping, sending out cards, extra baking etc. I'm finding it hard to even sit at my table long enough to color anything. I guess it will just have to take to the back burner for a while.

So here's my card! I didn't follow a challenge or any particular sketch. I just tried my best to make a 'guy' card. I can't tell you how many times I've seen Jordan in this exact position...



The inside is kept very simple also. I have no idea who will end up with this card, but eventually someone will...



I'm leaving on Friday for a weekend of crafting in San Antonio. I will be taking 3 different classes taught by Sallylynn McDonald at Stamp Antonio on Saturday and then on to my Copic Certification class on Sunday. I'm so excited - this is my wonderful husbands Christmas gift to me. And all he wants is some hokey ladder! The only down part is that my daughter is just beginning a new job on Thursday and we won't be able to have dinner together on Friday night as planned. Oh well! I don't mine McDonald's drive thru...

Until next time...be safe and filled with much joy!

First Snow

For many of you, the onset of the snow season isn't a big deal, but for us here in Central Texas it is a huge deal. The weather men on TV keep breaking into programing to update us on our first snowfall in about 2 years. I have to admit I got quite excited myself! I ran out the front of my house with my camera and snapped a couple of shots.



As you can tell, there isn't much snow and none of it accumulated, but it was so pretty coming down.



Okay, winter is officially over now! How funny! The clouds are clearing a bit and there is some sunshine...go figure...that's Texas for you!

Snowman glow...

I did manage to get a photo of my Candle Holder glowing in the dark. Very tricky to do.

And here it is sitting amidst my VERY small collection of Snowmen...

Adding to my collection...

In the first Magnolia Ink magazine there is a short tutorial on how to make a candle holder. While I was out picking up some Christmas decorations last Saturday, I thought I would like to have a go at it, so I picked up a jar at Michael's.

I love to collect snowmen! For the past few years I've been slowly adding to my collection, so when I went searching for an image for my candle holder, this darling snowman from Magnolia-licious just jumped into my hands. It didn't take me too long today to whip this up. What took the longest time was all the interruptions I had to deal with, like feeding the babies and getting dinner ready for the rest of the family, cleaning up the kitchen, taking pictures of this project, putting the children to bed...you know...life!

Here is my Candle Holder...



Here is a side view showing my flowers mounted on punched snowflakes with added punched leaves.



Here's what it lookes like with the candle on, but I couldn't get a good picture to show you how the light glows through the image...



This was very quick and easy and would make a super gift for a co-worker, neighbour, friend or just for yourself!

Recipe:

Kraft CS from SU!
Scraps of OLD Christmas dp's
Bravo Burgandy 1/4" grosgrain ribbon (SU!)
Neenah paper
Copic Markers
Spica Gel pen
Journaling Pen
Glue dots and Scortape
Mini Roses
MS punches - branch and snowflake
Crimper
Votive Candle
Jar