Giving Thanks and Dashing Through the Snow!

Happy, Happy Saturday everyone!

Sorry I am posting so late this evening, it has been one crazy day! It is so cold here that it actually spit snow!!! I guess that makes it official, today was the first day of winter!!!! Okay, I am not really all that excited. I actually hate cold weather, but it also means that Thanksgiving is just around the bend and then Christmas!!!!

So last night I had my rehearsal and then today was my performance at my neighbor's church. I really wasn't too nervous, which is surprising. I didn't play all that well, but everyone was so gracious and supportive that I felt like a star. I wasn't too awful, although on one of the hymns, I got lost every single time we played it and it was the easiest one of all!! I just couldn't seem to find the beat! So I just pretended to play so that no one would notice! I used to do a lot of that in school. Oh and I would like you to know my mother yelled at me for not practicing! I thought that was supposed to stop after you moved out. I mean I am almost thirty years old and live 3 1/2 hours away, shouldn't there be some sort of buffer zone or time limit on nagging me to practice?!

We ran to Target tonight to get Izzy a winter coat. Poor thing has had to wear her bee costume jacket the last week. I would have just run and gotten her one of her own, but when I did that last month with her Christmas dress, I got a pouty face from Jason. He wants to be involved in picking out her clothes, which is really sweet, but in this case made it more difficult since we had to wait for him to have some free time to go shopping.

Well, I have so many wonderful blessings to be thankful for this holiday season. I have a wonderful daughter, a loving husband, a fantastic little doggie (okay, most of the time, just don't ask me how thankful I am after he has gotten up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom) and a wonderful extended family. I am also grateful for all of my friends who support me in my stamping and all the wonderful comments and support I receive from all of you. I just found out today that one of my cards is featured on Pink Cat Studios blog! I am simply amazed and humbled! Thank you! (tearing up here!)

Okay, enough mushy gushy stuff, my first card for tonight is a Thanksgiving card. I feel that Thanksgiving is the forgotten holiday. We were just talking about this the other night, how it seems like once Halloween is over all the Christmas stuff comes out in full force. Jason is actually on a Christmas boycott right now. He wants nothing to do with it if it is Christmas related. So in honor of him, I created a Thanksgiving card. I used Jen Del Muro's Sketch For You To Try challenge for the layout.

I just love the Thanksgiving sets from SUInk and More! I started this card off by stamping the boy and sentiment from Giving Thanks and the turkey and cornucopia from Bountiful Harvest on a piece of white card stock and colored them in with my copics and stampin write markers. To create the scene around the boy, I masked him off and drew a table and some grass, then stamped the cooked turkey and cornstalks from Bountiful Harvest. I colored all of them in and cut the image out. I cut out the sentiment, turkey and cornucopia using my nesties and following the sketch, layered on brown card stock, goldenrod card stock and DP. I think it really turned out sweet. Okay, I will admit though that I have a spacial reasoning problem. This always happens to me! I go to assemble a card and the elements are too big! Pretty soon I am going to wind up with a 20' X 20' card, at the rate I am going! lol!

Alright, so did I get another Christmas song stuck in your head? I love Christmas songs and anything Christmas, so I don't mind it coming early! (Don't tell Jason!!!) I just couldn't resist making another Christmas card! I was so fortunate because one of my new Christmas stamps just arrived yesterday and this week's Sketch Saturday challenge is just so creative and fun, I had to give it a go!

Isn't it cute?!!! The stamp is from Elisabeth Bell who designs the Whiff of Joy stamps. This stamp is offered through Funky Kits and is part of the Sugar Nellies stamp line! I am so glad I found it. I started this card off by stamping Jingle Bells by Sugar Nellies on a piece of white card stock and colored it in using my copics and markers. I then added touches of gold with my gold glitter pen to give it some sparkle. Then, following the sketch, I layered, red, green and blue card stock along with some Christmas DP. I stamped the sentiment, which I received free with purchase, thank you!!!, on a piece of light blue card stock. I popped the side rectangle and the main image off the card and added three snowflake buttons to the bottom corner. To give them a little more color, I added a few blue rhinestones to the center. I just love the layered look with the rounded corners. This sketch is definitely going in my resources file.

Sorry about the picture quality on these cards. I usually take them in full daylight, but it got dark on me too quickly tonight. Jason has promised me a light box sometime (hopefully) in the near future, so I shouldn't have this problem again.

Well, this is it for me tonight! Thank you so much again for all the wonderful comments and the encouraging words! I read each and every one! Have a great weekend!!