Our Christmas Decorations

I really like how our Christmas decorating turned out this year.  I've saved some pictures so I'll remember next year how I want to do it!  The house feels so Christmasy and I'm content to be home watching a good movie, sipping hot cocoa, and enjoying our Christmas lights.  Life is good!

I love my Christmas pyramids.  I think I'm now a collector!  Two of them were given to us as wedding gifts from my brother-in-law and his wife while they lived in Germany.  I got another one when I went to the Nutcracker Market one year.  The other one, funny enough, I found at a Home Goods store. I discovered that there's a German shop in Old Towne Spring that sells pyramids, so I might have to start adding to my collection.  I really like them.

I also love my Big Shot!  HO HO HO was made with a big alphabet die from Stampin' Up!.  I always decorate the little tree next to the fireplace.  It reminds me of a Charlie Brown tree.

I have really enjoyed having a Christmas tree right next to our kitchen.  It makes mealtimes festive.  I love to decorate with red and white for Christmas. 

Here's our big Christmas tree.  My husband does an expert job at putting 1000 lights on the tree.  Then me and the kids decorate it......over time because it's a BIG tree.

This year I added some Christmas cheer on top of our TV hutch.  I love the extra touch.  We also have another small tree upstairs in our game room that is decorated with silver and white.  It has a snowflake or winter theme to it.  We put garland around our big entertainment system upstairs, too.  Watching movies feels warm and cozy with the tree and the lights from the garland.  We're having fun down here in Katy, Texas, even though it reached 72 degrees today.  It's Christmas, y'all!

My Favorite Christmas Card

Hi guys!  I wanted to share my favorite Christmas card for this year!  I'm in love with the little trees and the snowy hill.  To make the snow on the hill, I outlined the curve with Stampin' Up!'s 2-way glue pen and sprinkled Dazzling Diamonds glitter on it.  It sparkles so nicely in real life!

This afternoon, my daughter Haley and I attended the Nutcracker presented by the Houston Ballet.  It was a splendid performance and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  I thought I might get a little bored, but that was NOT the case at all.  I was totally enthralled with the performance and the time just flew by.  I'm now realizing that I should have been a ballerina - and it's too late now!  It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon, so Haley and I have decided that we'll need to make this a Christmas tradition.  Loved going with her.  She's the best and I love her so much!

More Christmas Cards

Hello!  I've been busy wrapping Christmas gifts and baking in anticipation of a wonderful Christmas, but here's a few more cards I've made that I wanted to share with you.

Merry, Merry Christmas to all of you!  We're heading out for a very nice Christmas dinner in a swanky restaurant where we can get ALL dressed up.  Gotta go get ready!

I've Been Working on Christmas Cards

I've been busy stamping lots of Christmas cards.  I wanted to share some of them with you before Christmas comes and goes!  Here's a very simple and sweet one.  The stamps I used for this card are from Papertrey.  I always love stamping on Crumb Cake card stock - it adds such a richness to the inks, in my opinion.  Isn't that little pine bough just adorable?  I love this stamp set because it provides you with different images to hang from the bough and different ways to decorate the bough.  It's one of my favorites!

I made some with white card stock, too.

Here is another card I made this year.

 

The snowflake uses Stampin' Up!'s Silver Glimmer Paper, which isn't showing up very well in the photo.  In real life, it is shimmery and beautiful.  The "Let it Snow" is embossed in pewter embossing powder.  Love this card!  I found the card below on Pinterest; however, the artist used Crumb Cake for the paper, but I changed it to white.  Very sweet little card!  What doesn't show up well is that I embossed the image in white embossing powder on the front panel.  Very classy in real life!

Here's a fun little card!  I love this little tree.  To get all of the different colors on the rhinestones and pearls, I colored them with Stampin' Up!'s Stampin' Blendabilities.  This is an adorable stamp set from Simon Says.  I used jute for the tree.  I'll share more cards soon.  Gotta go fix dinner!

Our Thanksgiving

Every Thanksgiving, I ask Haley to decorate our Thanksgiving dinner table - and this year, she did a great job!  I should say she did ANOTHER great job because the last several years have all been great!  Here is how she decorated our table for 2014.

Those little Tupperware tubs you see at each spot contain homemade butter.  That's one of our Thanksgiving traditions.  Many years ago when the kids were in kindergarten, we learned how to make butter, so every year we each make some butter to spread on our rolls at Thanksgiving.  All you do is mix 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream with a pinch of salt in a container with a lid - and then shake the heck out of it until it forms into a little ball.  When you open the lid, you pour off the liquid, and then you have a nice amount of butter to spread on your bread.  It's a nice tradition that we will continue to do for years!  Since my mom was joining us this year, I used the china that she and my dad got for wedding presents.  She gave her china to me when she moved to Katy.  Thanksgiving was a very special opportunity to use it!  I also had fun decorating our mantel for Thanksgiving.  As you can see, my Big Shot is still coming in handy!

I simply adore fall colors.  We had such a nice Thanksgiving.  Our meal turned out perfectly, which is always nice (because you never know)!  Now it's on to Christmas!

I'm Still Here!

HELLO to my blogging buddies!  Yes, I'm still here!  Occasionally I'll receive an email from someone out there asking if I'm okay and asking why I'm not blogging anymore.  My life has been VERY different over the past six months from my Stampin' Up! days, and I'm still adjusting to my new lifestyle, but things are fine.  In fact, things aren't just fine, they're GRAND!  I'm very happy, immensely enjoying my retirement, and loving the fact that my time is my own.  I feel healthier than I've ever felt in all aspects of my life - mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually!  So, see?  All is GOOD!  I fully intend to get back to blogging because for me, it's how I scrapbook.  I love being able to go back and see pictures of old vacations, special trips, great friends and family members, and the papercrafts I've made.  I've been incredibly busy with my new lifestyle!  I love to spend time with my mother and her friends, and I've also been making 200 Christmas cards!  I still get together with lovely people in my life to share stamping and to share life in general.  And now, with Christmas approaching, I've been busy shopping, wrapping gifts, baking, addressing envelopes to send cards, and having coffee and lunches with my mom and her friends.  My kids are now home from college for the holidays and we are looking forward to a very nice Christmas!  For the first time in about 25 years, I have some family members coming to spend Christmas with us, so it's going to be a very special Christmas!

I have LOTS to catch you up on, but I do want to make sure I post a picture of our 2014 First Annual Crafting Getaway Weekend, which occurred back in October.  I had always planned an annual retreat for the demonstrators in my downline and after retiring, I felt blue, knowing that I was going to miss out on that special event each year.  It then occurred to me that I could plan the same type of event every year for my stamping friends.  We had our first retreat a couple of months ago at Jordan Ranch in Schulenburg.  It was a lovely weekend filled with beautiful people I love and great crafts of all types, so it's now going to be a part of my life each year.  YAY!  Here is a picture that we took before we left.  A couple of people had already left, so we missed having them in the photograph, but all the rest of us made it into the picture.  I'll be posting some Christmas cards on my blog soon, but I wanted to say thank you to those of you who have been wondering if I'm okay and contacted me with your concern.  You are very nice people!

My Brother's B-Day Card

Hello to my stamping friends!  Now that my kids have gone back to school, maybe things will slow down and I can find some time to stamp.  Although I retired on June 6th, the summer was so busy with my mom moving here and having both kids home from college that I still haven't yet experienced what it's like to be retired!  Today seemed calmer and I was able to sit down and stamp a birthday card for my brother Kelly.  I like the way it turned out.  Although this card is for my brother, I couldn't resist putting a rhinestone in the middle of that small medallion!  I don't think he'll mind......especially since I tucked a Starbucks gift card inside!

Recipe:

Paper:  Kraft (SU); Whisper White (SU); Orange Zest (PTI); Chocolate Chip DSP (SU)
Stamps:  Birthday Classics:  August (PTI); Banner Sentiments (PTI)
Inks:  Summer Sunrise (PTI); Orange Zest (PTI)
Miscellaneous:  Big Shot Machine (SU); Stampin' Dimensionals (SU); Rhinestone Jewel (SU); Banner Die (PTI); Embossing Folder (retired from PTI)

First Christmas Card of the Season!

I'm already in the mood to start making Christmas cards!  I'm eager to make Halloween and Thanksgiving cards, too, but I'm really itching to make some Christmas cards.  Here's the first one of the season for me.  There's no stamping, simply die cuts.  I'm in love with how easy it was to make this card!  I'll be making more of these!

Here's the recipe:  SU - Stampin' Up! or PTI - Papertrey, Inc.

Paper:  Whisper White (SU)
Stamps:  None
Inks:  None
Miscellaneous:  Corner Rounder (SU); Big Shot Machine; Peace Die (PTI); Snowflake Die (sorry, I've been purchasing so many things lately, I can't remember where this die came from, but any pretty snowflake die will do); Mini Glue Dots (SU); Pearl Jewel (SU)

A Beach House Vacation!

Greetings to you!  All last week my family spent a vacation at a beach house close to San Luis Pass in Texas.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  I spent my days sitting out on our huge porch just watching the beach.  My kids were on the beach boogy-boarding and throwing frisbees.  Although it was very hot, I was in the shade on the porch and there was a nice breeze that constantly whipped across it, making it feel nice and cool.  I found it extremely relaxing and now I am wanting to purchase a beach house so my husband and I can retire to the beach one of these days.  All that takes is LOTS of money.......that I don't have!  I'll have to figure something out and come up with a good plan!

This is Casa Flamingo, now one of my favorite places in the whole wide world.  I was sad when it was time to come home!  When you stand on the top balcony, you can see the beach for as far as you can see in both directions.  It was absolutely lovely.  Had such a great time, but now it's back to reality.  My college kids are getting ready to leave home again.  The end of summer is the pits, as far as I'm concerned, although I am looking forward to the upcoming holidays!

Stethoscope Card Update!

Greetings to my stamping friends!  Sorry I've been absent.  With my mom living in Katy now, I've been pretty busy.  We've had quite a few doctor appointments, and just taking care of all the things that need to be done when you move to a new city.  All is good, though!  My mom is settling in nicely.

I wanted to give you an update on the stethoscope cards I had mentioned before.  The doctor LOVED them and asked me to make them for her celebratory party to be held in Prague, Czechoslovakia soon, so I was very excited to do it!  She made color changes so that the celebratory card would mimic her business card, which will be mounted on the inside left of the card.  She will then write a personal note to each person on the inside right.  I had fun making them.  It keeps me stamping - something I love to do!

The left side of this card has a nice herringbone pattern embossed on it, which you can't see in the picture.  Wish I were a better photographer - that's something I'd like to work on!

Have a super weekend and TGIF!

Steve's Birthday Card

My brother-in-law's birthday is coming up and I haven't sent him a card in years!  I was always too busy!  Now that I'm retired, it feels good to send him a card this year!  In a way, this card kind of reminds me of Halloween - maybe it's because of the black chevron paper and the stars, but I still think it's super-cute.  Happy birthday, Steve-a-reeno!  Hope your special day is splendid!

Recipe:  Papertrey (PTI); Stampin' Up! (SU)

Paper:  Soft Stone (PTI); Modern Medley Designer Series Paper (SU)
Stamps:  Birthday Classics:  June (PTI); Calendar (Impression Obsession)
Ink:  True Black (PTI)
Miscellaneous:  Chevron Embossing Folder (SU); Big Shot (SU); Black Button (PTI); Black and White Baker's Twine (SU); Mini Glue Dot (SU); Merry Minis Punch Pack (SU); Rhinestone Jewel (SU); Deco Labels Framelits (SU); Stampin' Dimensionals (SU)

Desktop Design Notepad

Well, I've gotten back to making some little notepads.  I made one a few weeks back - and absolutely loved it - so this time I made some using the "Desktop Design" stamp set from Papertrey.  I love how the typewriter is two different stamps so you can easily use two different colors.  Can't wait to make some of these for stocking stuffers!

The inside pages are filled with Aqua Mist card stock, Hawaiian Shores card stock, and Simply Chartreuse card stock.  You can jot down notes and easily tear them out.  LOVE THIS!  This design was inspired by the notepads on Nichole Heady's blog.  The size of the notepad is 4-1/4 X 2-3/4.  I used mainly Papertrey products for this notepad.  If I used a Stampin' Up! product, it's indicated with an "SU."

Recipe:

Paper:  Stamper's Select White; Simply Chartreuse; Aqua Mist; Hawaiian Shores; Hawaiian Shores Pattern Pack; Coaster Board (SU)
Stamps:  Desktop Design; Clip Tips; Monthly Moments:  May
Inks:  Simply Chartreuse; Hawaiian Shores; Harvest Gold; True Black; Pure Poppy
Miscellaneous:  Sticky Strip (SU); Black and White Gingham Ribbon (SU); Rhinestone Jewels (SU)

Hope you're all having a wonderful day - and STAMP ON!

A Mini McClung Family Reunion

Happy Tuesday!  This past weekend, we had a mini McClung Family Reunion!  Everyone wanted to come see my mom's new apartment and to celebrate this occasion with her!  I can't believe that I didn't get a picture of everyone while they were here, but I'm the worst about things like that!  Below is a picture of my brother Kelly and his wife Cassie.  It was a really nice weekend and I enjoyed getting to see everyone and spend some time with them!  My brother Scott was here, too, as well as my sister Pam; her husband, Steve; and their daughter Kim, who lives in Katy, too!

My mom is a big quilter, so she was excited to have Scott hang her quilt rack so she can display her quilts!  It certainly adds a nice splash of color to her apartment.

Here is my mom.  She looks great at 84, don't you think?  As you can see behind her, she has another rack where she can display her quilts - and she has many more quilts that she has made - we'll just have to change them out periodically with the seasons.  A good time was had by all!  I love having my mom in Katy!

Friendly Flowers Card

Greetings!  I absolutely love clean and simple cards that are bright and colorful!  That is what attracted me to rubber stamping 15 years ago!  I love to make something quick, but beautiful, and this is the type of card that fits the bill for me!  I hope you have a great weekend!  My sister and brother-in-law are coming through town on their way to San Luis Pass where they have rented a beach house.  They'll be stopping by on their way to visit my mom in her new home - and I'm lucky to get to see them, too!

Recipe:

Paper:  White Stamper's Select (PTI)
Stamps:  Friendly Flowers (PTI); Embroidered Blooms (PTI)
Inks:  Hawaiian Shores (PTI); Summer Sunrise (PTI); Canyon Clay (PTI); True Black (PTI)
Miscellaneous:  Stampin' Dimensionals (SU); Rhinestone Jewels (SU)

An Early Espresso Chair!

Whew!  Be VERY HAPPY that you're not in Houston, Texas today.  It is HOT as blazes!  I've been in my garage spray-painting a chair for my mom's bathroom - and I am drenched in sweat!  My mom's new bathroom has a lot of dark wood in it - and this chair that she had was white, which didn't go well at all!  I bought some Early Espresso spray paint and got busy!  It's turning out great, but I'm drenched in sweat and feeling high from the spray-paint fumes.........NOT a pretty picture!  Hope she likes it!

We also hung a dark, dark brown shelf on the bathroom wall that has three little wicker baskets to hold "stuff" in.  This will all look nice together.........hopefully........and her apartment is starting to come together! 

No Strings Attached Card

My sister-in-law just recently promoted to Assistant Principal at the school she works at.  It gave me a great opportunity to use my new Papertrey stamp set called "No Strings Attached."  I'm loving this set and will use it many times!  It's hard to see in the picture, but the tag has a light drop-shadow underneath it, which makes the tag look 3D in real life.  The recipe is below.  Have a great day!

Recipe:

Paper:  White Stamper's Select (PTI)
Stamps:  No Strings Attached (PTI); A Dozen Thoughts (SU)
Inks:  Berry Sorbet (PTI); Harvest Gold (PTI); Ripe Avocado (PTI); Crumb Cake (SU)
Miscellaneous:  Rhinestone Jewel (SU)

A Call from Shelli Gardner!

Greetings, friends!  No pictures to post today, but I just had to share this news!  I received a call from Shelli Gardner today, the owner of Stampin' Up!  That's the first time in the 15 years that I was a demonstrator to receive a call from her!  I was quite shocked and excited - it took me by surprise!  She had learned of my retirement from Stampin' Up! and just wanted to thank me for everything I had done for Stampin' Up! and to express how much I would be missed.  We had the nicest conversation and it really gave me some closure as far as my Stampin' Up! experience.  She congratulated me on reaching my 15th year with Stampin' Up! and also for reaching my $600,000 milestone in personal sales.  I had also earned the incentive trip to Hawaii in 2015, which I had to forfeit by dropping out, but that's okay - my husband will take me there some day and we'll celebrate together!  Anyway, it was really nice to talk with Shelli.  I'll always love Stampin' Up! and I am so appreciative for all that Stampin' Up! has done for me.  I just can't say enough wonderful things about Stampin' Up!  I will miss you, Stampin' Up!, but life has called me in a different direction.  I'm not sure what that is, but I'll be patient and wait to find out.  If all I do from now on is take care of my mother and my family, that is BIG enough for me, and I will be fulfilled! 

More Birthday Cards!

Hi, Friends!  Hope you had a great 4th of July!  It was such a nice weekend, and having my mom here made it extra special!  A week ago I posted some birthday cards I had received.  Since then, I've received a few more cards, so I wanted to share them with you!

The adorable card above was made by Judy Sumner.  It looks like she used the bottom part of the Cupcake Builder Punch to make the purse.  Isn't that cute?  I love that!

The gorgeous card above was made by my dear friend Judy Garza.  I'm really missing her!  I'll have to get in touch with her soon and chat for a while.

The fabulous card above was made by Benedicte Richard - one of my favorite people in the whole wide world!  I was excited to get a birthday card from her!

The fun card above was made by Linda Bradshaw.  Can you read what it says?  Hippo Bird-Day Two Ewes!  Isn't that cute?  Thanks, Linda - I had fun with this one!

Thanks to everyone who sent me birthday cards.  It really made my day and I appreciate all of the hand-stamped cards!

Tag It Celebratory Card

Greetings!  I've been a busy gal lately!  My mom moved to Katy last Saturday and I've been spending the last several days with her, unpacking boxes, taking her to the doctor, decorating, and just helping her get settled in.  We have made great progress and her apartment is looking really nice!  I think she is going to love living here - she's already gotten into a group of women who meet every morning for breakfast.  Isn't that spiffy?  I am so happy for her and I'm hoping that before too long, she'll feel right at home here in Katy!

Remember the card I was supposed to make for my ear, nose and throat doctor for an event she's having to celebrate her medical studies?  She's going to need 40 of them.  Well, I think the card below is what I'm going to show her.  I purchased a beautiful stamp that had a vintage doctor's bag with a stethoscope next to it, but it ended up being WAY bigger than I thought it would be, which posed a problem.  One of my friends reminded me of the Stampin' Up! stamp set called "Tag It," which has a stethoscope in it.  I never would have remembered that - and it turned out to be just perfect for my purposes!  My doctor wanted something fun with either "Way to Go" or "Woo Hoo" on the card.  I eliminated the "Get Well Soon" greeting on the stamp and used "Hip Hip Hooray" from "Hip Notes" in its place.  I think this card is cute because of the playful nature of the stethoscope, but it's elegant because of the color, the herringbone embossing on the left side of the card, and the satin ribbon.  I'll see what she says.  I'm going to deliver it to her this afternoon - I'll let you know if she likes it or not.  I think it's adorable!

A Great Birthday!

Hello, blogging friends!  Yesterday was a wonderful day!  I turned 57 and had a great time celebrating my birthday with my family.  Some friends took me out to lunch at the beginning of the week.  My kids delivered breakfast to me from Black Walnut Cafe, which was very nice!  For lunch, we ordered pizza and watched the U.S. vs. Germany soccer game together.  My daughter and I went shopping in the afternoon - and then the whole family went to BJ's for dinner.  Haley made a chocolate cake for me, which is my absolute favorite!  My dear husband gave me a very nice gift certificate to Papertrey (and so did my sister!), so I've been having fun selecting what I want!  It was a lovely day!  When you celebrate a birthday in my family, the kitchen table is always decorated to greet you first thing in the morning.

While my kids make wonderful hand-made cards for me, I also received some very nice hand-made cards in the mail, too!  Here are a few of them:

Isn't the card above adorable?  It was made by my sister!

The card above was made by my good friend Michele Smith!

The card above was made by Carolyn Gray!  Love the color combo!

The card above was made by Judith Walker, who knows I adore vanilla on vanilla!

This flip card was made by Mary Ellen Cope!  Isn't it cute?

The card above was made by my friend Marilu Rakintzis.  Love slider cards!

The adorable card above was made by Benedicte Richard!  LOVE IT!

The cute card above was made by Victoria Allen.  Doesn't the cake look shabby chic?  I think it's adorable!

Thanks for all the great cards!  It made my birthday feel really special!  And now I'm off to move furniture into my mom's new apartment at The Solana!  She'll be moving here tomorrow!  YAY!