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Wishing you and your loved ones a very happy holiday! I leave you with a funny - here is Elizabeth Bennet's in-box, courtesy of famousinboxes.com...
My favorite is the first email from Mr. Darcy, calling Miss Bennet a prig...{snort!}
Our family has had a nightly Star Wars marathon this week - tonight we wrap it up with Return of the Jedi, my favorite.
It's gonna be a fabulous year!! Best wishes in 2011!!
Mile 2.75 at a 5k last month.
Here are Cindy's Things To Do during 2011. Most are crafting related. Some will be done this week, others over the course of the year.
My dream product for 2011: a tabletop paper crimper that is electric/automatic; like the size of my big shot express. Adjustable in height of the crimp: a mini crimp and a standard size.
If you want it - some advice: Stick to your guns. Don't tailgate. If you have to run with scissors hold them properly. Don't wear high heels the day before a race. Yes, fast food is BAD for you - so don't eat it. And in the great words of Jimmy Buffett, treat your body like a temple, not like a tent.
I am twelve pounds lighter than this time in 2009 - a by-product of running. Total loss since November, 2008 is 52 pounds. I'm just right. BMI is 21.8. Bloodwork is perfect. NEVER GIVE UP. 
Best wishes for a great year! Cindy
My dear friend Kendra Wietstock is having a birthday soon, and I made this just for her!
October Afternoon's new Modern Homemaker Chip 'n Stick, decorative papers & a wild card were used. I used red line tape to adhere the eyelet trim. Bling is Hero Arts.
I love these October Afternoon Mini Market Stickers - great for personalizing the card interior. Sentiment is a rub-on from DCWV (Michaels).
Shopping is done. Cards are done. Waiting on family photo from Snapfish to mail them. Must start thank-yous for all the gifts that have been arriving this past week from my wonderful aunts and uncles. It never does end...it just slows down a bit here and there.
Next post I'd like to share some practical crafting to-do's for a great start to 2011! 
needed: Twenty teacher and school staff gifts. I started off with a dozen bags of these yummy goodies:
Emptied the truffles into a giant bowl, and proceeded to fill 20, mini, coffee-style bags (100 for $15) like this:
These were decorated with English Doilies, Papertrey Ink scallop circle die and felt, and a 1-3/4" circle punch featuring a holly stamp (October Afternoon), red bling and Papertrey Ink sentiment. This entire project took under an hour.
Nifty basket to carry them to school in:
Pretty bags...here's a close up...
Vinny, our garbage collector, George, my mail carrier, and a few other folks that work all year and make my life easier - I'll slip them one of these:
These containers fit five Ghiradelli chocolate squares, and a crisp, neatly folded Grant. Happy Holidays! 
Maybe if I keep a sheet of this out on my work area it will help me speed along and get those holiday cards finished, knowing what waits to be played with! The folks at October Afternoon sent everything and the entire line is available.
Did you know the entire line, along with Schoolhouse, Modern Homemaker, are made in the USA? I simply adore this company. All but one of their products are made in the USA, and that is the rubber charms from a few of their older lines.
Some of my girlfriends in Wisconsin and Minnesota are blanketed with snow, and I heard from Daisy (eclectic Paperie) this morning that she was holiday shopping in shorts and a tee! Hoping that wherever you are, you are warm, and best wishes for a wonderful week!
Today's project features Basic Grey's Pyrus decorative papers, and a take on Mish Wooderson's cards in this post.
Some of the gift boxes feature Pyrus Bloomers and rub-ons. The Bloomers make these notecards a snap to put together, and are such a nice and detailed embellishment. Sentiment stamps are Papertrey Ink and A Muse. These covered boxes (from nashvillewraps.com) hold six envelopes and six open-face cards, which measure 4-1/2" x 6-1/4".
On other gift boxes I substituted the Bloomers for Pyrus Clips. I had this idea from a previous post, of giving these cute clips as a gift along with the notecard. Basic Grey has recently improved the packaging of these clips, and I cut each clip out and included the surrounding plastic packaging. The corners of the clear plastic packaging were rounded, and adhered to each notecard with a glue dot.
Pretty? I'd love to get one of these! Notecard bases are Memory Box Jack o'Lantern.
The boxes were finished off with wide ivory silk ribbon, a large tag with jute twine, a covered clothespin (Home Depot) using leftover Pyrus paper, embellished with a Stitched Brad (shank was removed with wire snips; adhered with E-6000). Sentiment is from Impress; Sparkle Burst brad is from Karen Foster.
I'll be using these for some of the kids' teacher winter gifts! Hoping I can maintain the pace with getting all the gifts made...and wrapped. So are you stressed yet, or taking it easy and pacing yourself?
Best wishes for a wonderful weekend!
I created card kits for the above cards - the kits are in my etsy store. I love making cards from kits, like those from Basic Grey - very therapeutic to me. My neighbor and friend Jayne asked me to make some kits for sale, because she also enjoys making cards from kits...but requested I make them all one size (unlike Basic Grey), the weight for First Class standard, and without postal surcharges for height, weight, and so forth.
The second from the left is inspired by Dawn McVey, the third from left by Nichole Heady.
I needed a hostess gift for a small gathering last week, and created a Mishie special - that's what I call a one-of-the-kind something I make for a gift that's inspired by her! This altered clothespin gift was inspired by her post here.
Papers used are from October Afternoon's latest Modern Homemaker line. Papertrey Harvest Gold Buttons and chocolate baker's twine, 2-1/4" metal rimmed tags and 7/8" May Arts Gingham. The Large Manila tag is from Mishie's etsy store, and the string on the circle tag above is recycled from her packaging of those tags.
A heads up/FYI ... I tried reordering Vintage Glass Glitter from Art Institute Glitter, and found that it has doubled in price!
We are maintaining our original retail price, which is less than wholesale now. If you ever wanted to try it, this would be a less-expensive way to do that. We will not be reordering, so get 'em while they last.
I am not one of those artists.
Blog posts are created here randomly, when the mood strikes, using my preferred products and tools.
Life doesn't come with instructions and if it did, I wouldn't follow them anyway.
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