5-4-3-2-1

The waffle box revealed!

So the waffle box was turned into an activity bag/box for my nephew to use at church, his "Sunday box." We stuffed it with fun things for him to do to keep his active. The best part of this is the front that has a little velcro spot where he can change out the picture. It's all of the images from the retired stamp set, All God's Children.
Here's little Landry receiving his gift...he's only 18 months, you can't expect cartwheels. :)

Life back to normal? Not yet...

Still busy with the holidays, but here are a few more projects I worked for gifts & otherwise. :)
Hope everyone had a great holiday & will have a fabulous new year!

A cute letter to Santa

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my children on
demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor and sold sixty-two
cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school
playground. I was hoping you could spread my list out over several
Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on
the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when
I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any color, except purple, which
I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze, but are
strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy aisle in the
grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of
my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint resistant
windows and a radio that only plays adult music, a television that doesn't
broadcast any programs containing talking animals, and a refrigerator with a
secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to
boost my parental confidence, along with five kids who don't fight and three
pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting "Don't eat in the
living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems
to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the
dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time
to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of
eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a
Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the
holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable?
It will clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could
coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if
they were the bosses of an organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is calling and my son saw my feet under
the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip
and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and come in and dry off so
you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave crumbs
on the carpet.

Yours Always,

MOM...

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep my
children young enough to believe in Santa.

*Santa has asked that this gets passed on to all the mommies you know

I am busy...

Terribly busy to be exact. For those of you not in my local area, I have been serving as my congregation choir director for 2 years. This is a position I have held in 4 other congregations. This last week was our Christmas program, so I am finished with choir for the year. Whew! BUT, also last week I was asked by the church leadership to serve in a different capacity as Relief Society President. Those of you who are LDS will understand this is a huge undertaking. I have agreed to do this & so my stamping will be less frequent, but I promise to try to keep you coming back for more! So this week has been a doozy trying to figure out what I am doing, finish up on Christmas crafts, & keep my sanity with my 2 little ones.
Enough of my whining- here is some of what I have been doing. There is more to come, but this is all the energy I've got for the moment!A lovely way to wrap your gifts! Love this paper!

So I got a new camera...

for my birthday & I LOVE IT! It was an unexpected but highly-desired gift from several members of my family. I visited College Station briefly this week & brought my camera to show my family. THEN, I promptly left it there. So no, I've not gone into hiding- just waiting for my camera. It will be worth the wait, though. I've been very busy! My camera arrives tomorrow, so expect an entourage of pictures on Monday!

Cute & Quick Gift

This is a fun gift idea I'm giving to someone this year. It is a bent acrylic 4x6 frame on it's side. The little tin I got at www.papertreyink.com & thought paperclips would be perfect in there. Just add the little notebook & pen and you've got yourself an inexpensive gift! The calendars came from www.skybluepink.com

Recipe: Cerise DP
Accessories: Twill tape, thick red grosgrain, dimensionals (to stick tin on)

Update on my waffle box

So no one has guessed what it is yet, although they were great guesses! I worked on it a lot yesterday & it is almost finished- so maybe tomorrow I will have it ready to post- so stay tuned! :)

Cindy's Shower Thank You

My sweet friend, Cindy, sent me this thank you & I just thought it was too cute not to post! :) Great job, Cindy!

A Thank You from Becky

Becky Kwan sent me this cutie a while back & I've been meaning to post it. She did a really great job! Thanks Becky! :)

Altered Clipboard in progress

Here is what I am working on this afternoon. It's not finished, but you get to see the beginnings of this project. This is the 1st time I've altered the SU! clipboards. This one is a 9x9 & is for my mother. Check back later to see how it turns out. I'm making one for Todd's mom too, but I want Todd to pick the colors.

What you'll get in December & 2008

So I have re-read some of your comments & here is what you want to see on the blog:

• 3-D projects (5)
• Gift Giving ideas (3)
• Library pocket books
• More scrapbooking pages (2)
• I can't wait to see what you do with the free SU set.
• I would love to see some projects that have pages with presents, like Christmas present opening pictures.
• a large shadow box that will hang above my desk to be titled "BLESSINGS"
• Advent calendars (2)
• Altered items (6)
• More cards (3)
• Different techniques
• Cards using SU sets for little boys
• Tags...
• A project made with the calendar stamp and the matching calendar cues
• some more ways to alter chipboard
• Altered frozen juice containers
• cute projects to share with neighbors, VT ladies, etc. for the holidays!
• gift packing ideas?!
• Valentine's Day, projects
• I would like to see a mini calendar for 2008
• I love to see tutorials and bags, boxes, bows & gifty items

I will do several of these requests in the upcoming week. I have a somewhat empty week, so expect some fun projects! You will definitely see more scrapbook lay-outs, cards, 3-D, & altered items. I plan on altering a clipboard & making it a calendar- so that covers 2 requests. And of course these are gifts I am making, so there's another hit! :)

So in a nutshell, stay tuned! I'm going to try to do them all!

Any guesses?

I've had a stroke of brilliance on this box- any ideas of what I'm thinking of doing with it? *Hint* it will part of a Christmas gift. You can guess, but I'm thinking no one will guess what's in my head this time!

Missing me?

Well yesterday was my birthday so I didn't insist on posting...so sorry! :) I've got lots of pictures for you today. These are a few items I've done recently, a few of which will be for sale at my mini-open house tomorrow. Come check it out! :)

A canister of M&MsA photo album (made the little insert)Cute little cello bags & toppersLots of Nugget Boxes


If you have questions about the recipes on these, just e-mail me!

stamp.with.linz@gmail.com

Tonight

I'm making an appearance in Fort Worth tonight, here are the details:

Holiday Gift Extravaganza

Open House

Wednesday December 5, 2007 from 5-9pm

1609 Douglas Avenue, Colleyville

Christmas comes but once a year, so let's get together for some holiday cheer.

Take a break to enjoy the season and get your gifts all in one place.

Inspirational Signs & Home Decor

Luxe Jewels - An Invitation to Style

Bop with Me Baby

Gold Canyon Candles

Stampin' Up & Scrapbooking with Linz

Tupperware

Discovery Toys

Door prizes and holiday refreshments await!!

SCS Color Challenge & A Baby Boy Card

Here's the challenge:

Summer Sun

Certainly Celery

Old Olive

Colors I would have NEVER put together, and I mean it! But I think the card & colors are cute- and quick (important!) I have yet another baby boy shower tonight- what is in the water? :)

Recipe:

Stamps: Jumbo Outline Alpha, Bugs & Kisses, Absolutely Fabulous

Ink: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Markers

Paper: Certainly Celery, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Celery Thick Grosgrain, Safety Pin, Corner Rounder

Alec's title page

Continuing to work on this cutie's scrapbook...this is the title page. The stars are embossed with Iridescent Ice so they sparkle. The thing that makes a scrapbook page special for me is the little detail- like the embossing, the stitching around the star, and the fun circles. I also LOVE to use safety pins when I am doing a baby page, so naturally this one is holding some coordinating ribbon. Hope the Mommy likes it as much as I do! The journaling will go all in the white part...

Recipe:

Stamps: So Very (Retired)

Paper: Bashful Blue, So Saffron, Certainly Celery, Wild Wasabi, Cutie Pie DP, White

Ink: VersaMark, Bashful Blue Marker, Wild Wasabi

Accessories: Circle Punches, Dimensionals, Ribbon, Safety Pin, Chipboard, Corner Rounder, Iridescent Ice

We've been Elfed!

SCS was doing this adorable little game where you "elfed" someone by sending them some anonymous goodies. I was so thrilled to be able to participate, but when I nominated my elves, they shut down the game due to the high volume in responses. So alas, I'm left trying to figure out how to do it on my own...sadness! Anyhow, on a lighter note- I received my Elf package yesterday. So fun! I love it all- thank you, Elf! Notice my little Ava eyeing the candy, she's got such a sweet tooth, where on earth did she get that from? :) Take a look at this adorable punch card too, so creative!

Welcome to the World, Alec!

I have been commissioned to work on scrapbooks for 2 little cuties. Here is the first reveal on baby Alec's book. For those that requested more scrapbooking on the blog- here you go! You'll see the the pages I'm working on soon! Think it works?

Oh & the little sticky notes are where the Mom will journal. :) I'm not setting a new fad.

Recipe:

Stamps: Short Order Alpha, Big Deal Alpha, Big Deal Numbers

Paper: Fall Flowers DP, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Real Rust

Ink: Old Olive, Real Rust, VersaMark

Accessories: Corner Punch, Paper Piercer, Old Olive Ribbon, Rectangle Hand Punch, Super sticky tape