A Christmas Kind of Weekend!

Happy December! This weekend has been FABULOUS! It all started last night when our church choir went down to Old Town Manassas to sing a concert in front of the Harris Pavillion for the Annual Christmas Tree Lighting and Santa's arrival. The photo above is of Emma and her friend Bethany waiting for a ride on the haywagon around Old Town.

Here are Mark and I right before the concert started - see our choir folders all wrapped up for Christmas?! We even had little book lights so we could actually see our music! A minor detail....

Here is a shot of our choir along with members of another sister church. I am on the front row, 2nd from left. Our choir director Scott is at the far right in the green jacket. He and the other church's director took turns leading us.

We do a song called the Sound of the Round and we split into two choirs - it's so cool! It's a really fun, but grand song that almost sounds like a viking anthem at one point. If you are a music lover, look it up on iTunes. We need both directors for that one. Can't wait until Scott sees his bald spot....

Here is a close up of me with my bff Angie to the left. I hate looking at pics of myself singing. No one looks attractive with their tonsils hanging out!

While we were singing, Emma, Bethany and Lydia were skating on the outdoor rink at the pavillion behind us. They had a blast! And the weather was perfect, not too cold at about 48 degrees, but just cold enough for the ice to stay firm. The outdoor rink is a great experience for Emma. She can just play around and have fun, it's not like being at our home rink where she trains. When she's there, she always feels like she has to be "on". Kwim?

I love this pic of me and Angie. We've been friends for so many years, I've lost count! We stand next to each other in choir and in the Adult Ensemble and it's so hard to sing without her in my ear. We really depend on each other to keep each other on key! Sometimes we have waaay too much fun in choir and Scott gives us the fisheye, but hey, we're having fun!

And boy, what a crew this is! Scott and Debbie, Mark and I, Chris and Angie. I'm so blessed to have great friends!

But here's my greatest two blessings, my hubby and daughter. Love them so much! I love this picture too - probably going to be with our Christmas Card this year. What do you think? Too casual?

The girls together on the haywagon - it had no hay, what's up with that?

Love this shot down Center Street - it's much prettier in real life though. This is my hometown where I grew up. I have years and years of memories here of being in the Christmas Parades with my Girl Scout troop and on the church floats, shopping with my Grandma at Rohr's 5 and 10 (which is now a gourmet food shop) and going to the hairdresser with my Mom (which is now a barber shop), right on this street.
We live about 10 minutes away from downtown and I'm so blessed to be able to live where I grew up. Most people who live around here are come here's not from here's and since my home has changed so much over the years, they will never have the memories of growing up in this wonderful small town that I do. Manassas isn't always what it used to be with all the growth and urban sprawl, but I'll always have memories of what a great place to grow up it was. It's times like we had Friday night that remind me of this and make me bittersweet for my childhood and my loved ones who are no longer with us.

Saturday morning was a winter wonderland! Here's a picture of my backyard and across the alleyway.

Emma didn't waste much time building her first snowman of the season! She even conned Mark into coming outside too. I know he was having fun though, he is such a great Dad!

We discovered today that Susie is a snow lovin' dog! She spent so much time outside just running and playing in the backyard. Mark and Emma were throwing her snowballs and she was catching them and eating them. This will be our first Christmas with Susie - last Christmas she was hiding under our neighbors deck with a broken pelvis. We think someone dumped her in the neighborhood and she was so scared, she wouldn't come out if anyone was near her. It was heartbreaking! It was bitter cold last Christmas and while we were gone for the holiday, our other neighbor got her to come out and took her to the vet to rehab. No one claimed her for a month and I just bugged Mark to death about it until he caved and we adopted her. Now, they are inseparable. Susie loves him so much and the feeling is mutual. He is like a little boy with her. I love it!

My two favorite snowman builders and their creation - top hat and all! Not very tall, but it IS just the first one of the season!

I hope you've enjoyed this look at a slice of life around here. It's been a great weekend so far and it's not over yet! I hope you all have fun too and be sure to hug the ones you love and maybe build a snowman too!
Blessings,
~~Robin

Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge #SSC128

Hi everyone! Are you busy getting ready for Christmas? I am SO in the mood these days! Friday night our church choir and ensemble sang for the Christmas Tree lighting in our hometown. Our concert was an hour long and we were beside the outdoor skating rink and near Santa too! Emma and her friend went skating while we sang and we all had yummy hot chocolate afterwards. What a wonderful way to kick off the season! Saturday we are expecting some snow - the first of the season and we are putting up the Christmas tree. Sunday, our ensemble is doing a mini-concert at our church along with a carol sing-a-long. Definitely a Christmas kind of weekend!

For this week's Stamping 411 sketch, I went a bit on the simple side. I needed a simple, yet striking card for a workshop I did on Thursday night. The hostess wanted an idea for the Patterned Pines stamp set that she could easily recreate. So, I took out this week's sketch, stretched it the other way and this is the result:

Do you likey?! Me likey a LOT!
The photo doesn't show the Dazzling Diamonds glitter very well, but it's there, on the trees.
Here are the measurements:
Whisper White card base: 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" folded to make card sized 4 1/4" x 5 1/2"
Old Olive layer: 3 1/4" x 4 1/4"
Real Red layer: 3" x 4"
Whisper White layer: 2 3/4" x 3 3/4"
The Real Red Polka Dot ribbon is 9" long and wraps around the inside of the card. The ends are hidden under the panel.

I used my 2 Way Glue Pen to add the Dazzling Diamonds Glitter to the trees, just lightly putting glue on each tree so the glitter wouldn't be overdone.

For the circle element, I used the Merry Christmas stamp from the Delightful Decorations stamp set. I colored the star with the Real Red Stampin' Write marker and the words with the Old Olive one. It's stamped on Whisper White cardstock and punched out with the 3/4" Circle Punch. The Real Red layer is punched out with the 1"Circle Punch. It's attached with SNAIL adhesive to the panels.

The last little touch is peeking out from the inside left corner. I used the corner stamp from Patterned Pines and just inked it up in Real Red for a sweet little surprise inside.

That's it for me this week! I hope you will check out the other Stamping 411 operator's blogs and see their fab creations! Be sure to play along this week too! You can upload your projects to Mr. Linky over at the Stamping 411 blog.
Have a Christmas kind of weekend!
~~Robin

Advent Calendar - Final Installment!

Yes! Finally! The last 4 pages of the Christmas Jingle Advent Calendar! WooHoo! If you've been following along all week, thanks for coming back each day. I hope you were able to take away some ideas and inspiration to create your own Advent Calendar or Christmas Scrapbook. I want to thank demo Karin Warner once again for inspiring me (and creating the original to CASE!) to actually do this project. I've been enjoying it on my mantel since Tuesday of this week and I'm so enjoying reading it again each day.

Today is also Friday, which on my blog, means Blogger's Challenge. Our challenge mom, Lisa asked us to do a Christmas ornament or decoration and I think this Advent Calendar fits the decoration category, don't you? So for all the Blogger's Challenge players joining us in the series today, you can view all the other pages by looking at my posts since Monday 11/30.

So, Day 21 above again is very simple, just sponging with some Chocolate Chip ink, some Old Olive 5/8" Grosgrain ribbon and a Rhinestone Brad in the center of the Sticky Die Cut. Easy Peasy!

On Day 22, I added some of that wide Chocolate Chip Grosgrain ribbon and there is an Old Olive Brad in the center of the die cut, which is mounted on a piece of Chocolate Chip cardstock punched with the Scallop Circle Punch. It looks like I sponged this page, but it's just a shadow that I couldn't get out of the camera. The cardstock is just stamped with the ornament from Tree Trimmings.

Loved the quote on Day 23 - have you ever heard that in your house or something similar? The Sticky Die Cut in the lower right corner is one of the layered frames, I just turned the center piece and popped it up on a Stampin' Dimensional.

And the last page is my very favorite because it reminds us of the REAL reason for this wonderful Christmas season, the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

Here is the calendar side view on the chipboard stand my husband created for me. I used the Post 6 x 6 Page Protectors (which was an accident - I'd meant to order the other ones, but oh, well, what do you do?) It turned out fine though!

The stand is made of the thick chipboard that comes on the back of our Grid Paper - yes, I DO save everything! I will be happy to provide the measurements for you if you e-mail me, I just don't have the exact ones handy right here, right now. The chicken scratch the bottom of the stand shown is my hubby's calculations, and I'm not sure that's what he ended up with.
Anyway, it's covered with Real Red cardstock, glued on with Tombow Glue (great stuff) and then the bottom was glued together with more Tombow.

Once it set, I used my Crop-A-Dile to punch the holes for the book rings and then used more Tombow to glue it together there. I did use binder clips to hold it together overnight so the glue would set up well since it curves slightly at the top.

Other than that, it's all pretty simple!
Some tips if you are recreating this:
I used the Simple Serif Numbers for my dates. They were all punched out with the 1 3/8" Square Punch. I HAD to use my Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line up the double digits so they would look right and fit in that square. They are all layered on 1 3/4" cardstock squares. Day 5 is the only exception and that's punched out with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch and layered on a Sticky Die cut.

I sponged just about everything on the pages including the edges of all the dsp pages because I wanted a more antiqued look - it does show up way better in person than in the photos. You can leave out the sponging if you want a more clean, contemporary look.

Thanks again for stopping by today to have a look-see! Be sure to check out all the other Bloggers Challenge players and see their ornaments and Christmas decor - I know you will be inspired. You can find them by clicking on the icon in my sidebar.
I'll be back tomorrow with another Stamping 411 Saturday Sketch Challenge Card! Did you know we are doing a weekly Color Challenge now? Patti Chesky just posted our first one yesterday, and it's so cool! You'll have to check it out!
Have a wonderful day!
~~Robin

Advent Calendar Pages 16 - 20

Here we are again with the 4th installment of the Advent Calendar Pages!
Above is Day 16, which is just simple stamping with the snowflake from the Winter Post Stamp Set and sponging with Chocolate Chip ink. I did add a Clear Rhinestone Brad to the snowflake Sticky Die Cut.

Day 17 is equally simple, just some taffeta ribbon and I cut a Real Red oval background layer with my Big Shot for the die cut on this page.

This quote I know for sure I cased from Karin Warner's original design - it was too cute to switch out! I just wrapped some gold cord around the quote panel to look a bit tangled.

More reindeer stamping on Day 19 and the Real Red 5/8"Grosgrain ribbon is simply single knotted at the bottom and the end cut in a little flag.

This quote is probably one of my favorites in the whole calendar - so true, so true.
Nothing special about the page, the dsp makes it special so I just added some Real Red Stitched Grosgrain and some Gold Cord around the top of the ornament Sticky Die Cut.

Remember, this calendar was made using the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit and a few accessories. It was time consuming to assemble, especially the quotes, but is a beautiful keepsake that you will treasure. Hope you have fun if you are making one too - be sure to come back tomorrow for the last installment of photos!
Happy Stamping!
~~Robin

UDI Inspiration Challenge #72

Isn't this a wonderful picture? This is the inspiration piece that Maria over at the UDI Blog chose for us to play with this week and I just love it! It has so many creative possibilities and I just love the color combination here. Traditional yet contemporary feeling at the same time.
So going from the photo inspiration, here is my card creation:

As much as I loved the inspiration piece, I am so happy with the way this card turned out. It was exactly the way I'd pictured it in my mind which, if you are a stamper, you know rarely happens! LOL!
My card base is Night of Navy cardstock. I used the Color Spritzer tool with the Versamarker on it and then embossed the spatters with White Embossing Powder. Shelli Gardner, I believe, did this technique from Main Stage at Convention two years ago and I've always wanted to try it. I liked the result enough that I'll be doing it again!
The navy card base is wrapped with the Real Red/Whisper White Grosgrain ribbon from the Mistletoe package in the Holiday Mini. This is a great ribbon and I'll miss it when it goes away in January, guess I'd better stock up, huh? For this card, it adds just the right amount of red to the card and mimic the inspiration piece.
Now, on to the center panels........

The bottom layer is a piece of Brushed Silver cardstock. The next layer is a piece of Shimmer White cardstock that I've stamped with the evergreen tree from the Lovely as a Tree stamp set in Handsome Hunter ink. Next, I took a piece of Vellum Paper (the thin stuff) and tore it in half. I flipped the one piece over so the tears would be reversed. I then drug the edges through my Whisper White ink pad and embossed them with White EP.
The back layer was adhered to another small piece of Shimmer White cardstock with a 2 Way Glue Pen. I then tore the cardstock piece to match the tear line in the vellum paper. I didn't want the bottom of the stamped trees to show through the vellum layers and the cardstock blocks that part of the image.
I used SNAIL to adhere this layer to the stamped trees layer. I then used some 2 Way Glue Pen to adhere the second layer of vellum. The glue was applied behind the embossed edge so it would not show through. To give some shading to my snowy vellum hills, I took my Bashful Blue marker and colored over the embossing and rubbed it off and down under the embossed area so the color fades out. Just the perfect amount of 'snow' shading.

The next layer is a piece of Vellum Cardstock (the thick stuff) which I've stamped with the reindeer image from the Winter Post stamp set in Whisper White Craft ink. I then embossed it as well with White EP. The reindeer was stamped in just the right position to stand on the hills and not look out of proportion. I used the Silver Brads in the upper corners to secure this layer over the two vellum layers of snowy hills.

For the last layer, I did another piece of Vellum Paper snowy hills the same way I did the first two. This was adhered on top of the reindeer layer with more 2 Way Glue Pen behind the embossing.
As a last little touch, I stamped the top of the evergreen tree on a piece of Vellum Cardstock and trimmed it out with my Paper Snips. This is adhered to the card front with two Mini Glue Dots.

I know it seems like a lot of work, but it only took about 1/2 hour to make from start to finish and I'll bet you could do it too!
In fact, we at the UDI blog would love to see what you come up with for this inspiration piece! When you make your project, just leave us a comment on the UDI blog with a link to your creation. If you upload to a public site, use the keyword DivaIC72 so we can find your creations!
Most of all, have fun creating! That's the best part of stamping - the fun of it!
Stamped blessings,
~~Robin

More Advent Calendar - Pages 11 - 15!

Good morning everyone! Are you ready for the next installment of these pages?! I've gotten lots of fun feedback about this project and I want to encourage you to purchase the Christmas Jingle Simply Scrappin' Kit and make your own. If you are going to save it for next year, you will only need one kit for this project - there is plenty of supplies left over for more crafting. I've made 6 cards and a card box as well as my Stamping 411 card last Saturday from my leftovers. And there is still more to work with. I hadn't worked with the Simply Scrappin' kits in a while (even though I own plenty of them!) and had forgotten how generous they are. You really do get your $19.99 worth and then some!

Anyway, on to today's pages! Above is a picture of Day 11 - nothing fancy here, just sponging with Chocolate Chip ink.

On day 12 I stamped the reindeer again across the page, and you could substitute Dasher if you don't have the Winter Post stamp set that I used. But I have to ask, if you don't have Winter Post, why not? It is honestly one of my top 5 stamp sets EVER and is more versatile than you would think. And I'm not just saying that because there are ice skaters in it! But, well, it helps! :)
Day 12 also has 3 pieces of ribbon, I just layered the top two to make the background more interesting at the top.

More stamping in the background on day 13 and the funniest quote in the whole batch. I just love Dave Barry, don't you?

Day 12 is my beautiful daughter's birthday, so I included a quote from her favorite Christmas Special - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Did you know that you can read the whole script for that show online? Amazing what you can find on the internet!
I loved this quote because it is the beginning of Rudolph realizing his value in the world. Something we all need to know about ourselves.....

And day 15, more simple sponging and a brad added to stacked sticky die cuts. Nothing fancy, the dsp makes this page special.

Again, this advent calendar was originally created by demo Karin Warner - I saw this project at Founder's Circle - someone had brought it to share - and I just fell in love with it! So I used photos of her project as my starting point to create my version. So if you know Karin, please thank her for me - I love this idea!

Happy stamping everyone - check back tomorrow for pages 16 - 20. On Friday I'll have 21 - 24 posted for you along with photos of the stand that my hubby created.
~~Robin

Christmas Countdown Advent Calendar Pages 6-10

Good morning and welcome to the most wonderful time of the year! It's the Christmas season - finally! I love, love Christmas and everything about it.
Today I'm showing you days 6 -10 of my Countdown Advent Calendar. Many of you liked seeing this yesterday and wanted to see all the pages, so stay tuned, I will be posting 5 pages each day this week so you get them all. I do have some other things to post, but these pages will keep coming until we get to day 24.
Again, the original artist of this calendar was demo Karin Warner and I thank her for her great idea!

Day 6, above is very simple with just some sponging and a rhinestone brad to accent the design. I did use the Tree Trimmings stamp set to create the background on the Real Red cardstock.

Dec. 7th is my wedding anniversary! Yay - this year it will be 18 wonderful years. The dsp on that page reminds me of the bed and breakfast in Maine we stayed in on our honeymoon.

Day 8 features the reindeer stamp from Winter Post, you could substitute Dasher if you needed to, but I'd move up the quote panel if you do that. The Real Red grosgrain ribbon is attached with a Mini Glue Dot.

Day 9's photo has shadows on it that I couldn't remove, but it's NOT sponged, just stamped.

I kept Day 10 very simple, just used the Snowflake Punch with Very Vanilla cardstock. they are attached with Mini Glue Dots.

The numbers on each day are punched out with the 1 3/8" Square Punch and layered on a cardstock square cut at 1 3/4". Both are sponged with Chocolate Chip ink on each page. I did use the Stamp-A-Ma-Jig to line up the numbers once I got into double digits. You'll see as we get into the 20's that you have to overlap some of the numbers to make them fit the square, but it still looks cute!
Day 5 from yesterday's post is the only oddball, it's punched out with the 1 3/8" Circle Punch.

Again, if you have any questions about the elements used here, just e-mail me at stampwithrobin@yahoo.com

Have a great day!
~~Robin