Ty Harrison Hall. . .

was born Saturday, December 27th. He is sooo cute! Jill is doing well and both are now home (along with Chris - he stayed at the hospital with them, and Bree - she stayed here with us.)
Bree loves being a big sister. She calls him "baby brother" and was happy to tell everyone all about him. I don't have pictures to post because I left my camera at the hospital with Jill and then forgot to bring it home today.
However...Julie has great pictures on her blog
She's coming back this weekend for Ty's first "official" photo shoot.

No more baking...almost

Wow, it's been almost 2 weeks since my last post. And what have I been doing? Baking, making candy and packaging all the peanut brittle Gary has made. I think this is a record year for him. He and Debbie (from the store) gave out almost 100 bags to their customers. If you have ever made peanut brittle...especially a lot of peanut brittle...you know what a mess it can be when you break it apart. Well, all is done now and there is no more sticky residue on my kitchen floor. I made about 250 truffles, lots of buckeyes, vanilla cremes (that's new for me this year), and toffee crunch candy bars. I used snowflake stamps to decorate the cookie boxes, the candy wrappers, and tissue paper for the peanut brittle. (No, I did not stamp 100 pieces of tissue paper for Gary...just a few for some friends). I also stamped snowflakes on white cardstock and made pillow boxes with the Big Shot.
Here's what a few of them looked like.
Inside the pillow boxes were lip gloss and a mini candy bar. I made about 60 of these for my sister Becky. Almost all of them were on cardstock that I had stamped on. Just a few were made from designer papers. The pillow box die is a really great tool to make great favor boxes.








So what did I do today, now that most of the baking is done and the kitchen is finally clean? I helped Bree make her Christmas gift for her papa.
We took a giant pinecone, smeared it with peanut butter, and then covered it with bird seed. If you see smudges on her face, that's where she sampled the peanut butter. She did a great job and we had lots of fun. A couple of hours later we put it in a gift bag and hid it behind the tree. I explained that she was to keep this a secret until Christmas. Yeah, right! When he walked in the door, the first thing she said was I made you a present. She started rambling about birds and feeding them all the while I'm laughing telling her she isn't supposed to tell. But then that's what happens when you're three.
So, now we're a few hours away from Christmas Eve, and then everyone is here Christmas afternoon. We have one day to catch our breath and then on Saturday it's to the hospital where Bree's new baby brother will make his grand appearance. So the next pictures you see will undoubtedly be of Ty Harrison Hall.

Stampin' Up!'s Fall 2008 Retired List...Plus Free Shipping!

Stampin' Up! just released their list of retiring stamp sets. And the best news is that Stampin' Up! is offering 10% off all of these stamp sets if purchased by December 23rd.
There's more! FREE SHIPPING on orders of $70 or more.

View the retiring sets and prices here

To place an order visit my Stampin Up website
http://dorissnyder.stampinup.net/
Be sure to click the "shop now" button in the top right corner.
This is the perfect time to purchase these stamp sets before they're gone for good.

Stampin Up Holiday Extravaganza Sale

From November 26-December 1, get up to 50% off select Stampin' Up! products. See the discounted bundles here and place your order here. Click on the shop now button and start shopping!

Fall Fun

Sometimes Jill works from my house. She camps out in the outbuilding while Bree and I have fun in the house. We usually play games and have little tea parties. But last Tuesday I was busy getting ready to paint the ceiling in my bedroom, so Bree had to watch more cartoons than she should have. So after lunch I decided we needed some outdoor time. Instead of grabbing the ball and bat we grabbed our rakes and got busy. Ok, I know you can see my rake leaning against the tree, and Bree busy with her little rake, but trust me...I raked!


See, I really was doing my fair share (which translates to most of the raking...after all she is only three and I am?). As soon as I had a little pile of leaves, Bree would come over, walk through them, kick them around, and wait for me to start over again.








Does this look like fun or what? I am so blessed to be able to spend this time with her.

Christmas Organizer

Last year I saw some Christmas organizers that were made using half of a simply scrappin' kit. I think the first one I saw was made by Jan Tink. She makes some amazing things. It was on her blog that I found organized Christmas. Lots of ideas on that site to help you get organized for Christmas. They also have gift ideas and recipes. So first I made one from last years kit (there's a picture on my SU website or a description and picture on this post). I gave that one to my mom. So, this is the one I made with the I Wish simply scrapping kit. I love the colors, real red, chocolate chip, and old olive. I was thrilled that the Shipping Station had red pocket folders for my organizer. I'm sure Gary had them in stock just for me!
This is what it looks like inside. There are four pockets; one for my receipts, one for my gift idea book, one for a little note pad, and one for random things.

The little notebook is a junior legal pad cut at 3 inches. And yes, they also came from the Shipping Station. The other book is a list of gift ideas. I don't remember if I got the list from Organized Christmas or from someone else. But I ended up making one of my own in excel because my their list just didn't work for me. I added things like cd/dvd, gift cards, toys.

Here's a close up of the front.
Now all I need to do is shop a little and put this thing to work!

Advent Calendar

I've been working on Jill's advent calendar and got side tracked making this one. Jill bought a rustic "house" calendar from Target last year. It has 25 little doors on it and is so cute! She's been busy with her research, work, and family and then the baby is due at the end of December. . .so I'm helping get the calendar ready for Bree. I'm printing the verses, etc to put behind the doors and Jill will add any little candies or surprises.





Last year Beate Johns made an advent calendar using small tins. Her tutorial for it is on Splitcoast Stampers. I think she used the Wilton favor tins that have a clear top. Mine have a solid top. I bought them on clearance a couple of years ago at Wal-Mart and was very happy to finally use them. I found the frame hiding on one of the shelves in the back room of The Shipping Station. It was a display piece for magnets. The paper is not attached to the frame; it's held in place by magnets that are behind each tin.



Most of the patterned paper is from Holiday Treasures designer series. I covered the "25" chipboard with the red with brown polka dots and sanded the edges. The "Days of Christmas" is cut from a set of cuttlebug dies. I decorated the tops with stickers from I Wish Simply Scrappin Kit, rub-ons from Season of Cheer, sizzix snowflakes, and stamped snowflakes.






I used a different set of cuttlebug dies for the numbers. They were the most time consuming part of this whole project. I used a glue pen and am hoping they will stick. If not I will apply a thin layer of Mod-Podge over the top.




On the last tin is baby Jesus! I colored this part of the stamp (from Season of Simple Grace) in chocolate chip and added the star.
Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to put in the tins and who's going to open them. Do you think this is something Gary is going to do?

Note Card Folder

I think these folders are a nice way to give someone some cards or notes. Many of the ones I have seen contain monogram notes. But I chose to just make four cards. Two of them say "to you from me" and two say thank you. I could not remember where I placed the directions for the folder, nor could I find it on Splitcoast or Sudsol. So I just looked at some other samples, took a 8-1/2 x 11 piece of cardstock, folded it in half, folded it to make the inside flap, and that was it.
As you can see, I trimmed the inside flaps which makes it easier to close (and it looks better). The ribbon is threaded through to hold the envelopes and the cards in place and then it's tied to keep the folder closed. I used the Inspired by Nature set on the outside of the folder.
On two cards I used one of the stamps from Pocket Silhouettes. I used the Not Quite Navy marker and the blender pen with kiwi kiss reinker to color the flower. The designer paper is from Urban Flowers.
For the other two cards I used the sanded background stamp and the flower/vine from Fresh Cuts.
After making this first one, I see how easy the folders are to make...definitely faster than boxes. And four cards don't take long to make either. So this is definitely a great project for quick gifts for teachers, co-workers, friends...

Sudsol Challenges

Wow, it must have been a month since I have participated in one of Sudsol's challenges. The design was for a square card...which I don't usually make. So this was good for me. I kept the card small-4"x4"- and limited the layers. The images and verse are all from the Season of Simple Grace set. The "texture" on the kiwi kiss card base is made with the sanded background (ink-kiwi kiss). The designer paper is from Holiday Treasures - one of my favorites. Now, my challenge is to create other things - decorations, favors, cards, etc-with this set and with the designer paper. And, I need to do this quickly in time for my upcoming open house. I have already been working on the other important samples for this event...truffles and new kinds of chocolates! As a matter of fact, I just finished one of those new creations...it's good, but I just don't know what to name it yet.
What...you want to know what it is! You'll just have to check back in a few days. Perhaps I'll take some pictures.

A Fall Page

At the scrapbook retreat Jill made an autumn border for everyone (the one with the pumpkin).








One of the ladies, Marcie Burke, used the border from Jill and made another like it for the other page. The tree was made using the Cricut and all of the leaves are made using a Creative Memories punch. And look at the word "jump"...the position of the letters show action. Cute!



I love how the leaves "pile" up in the center of the 2 page layout. I think her pages turned out great.



There were so many great pages made at Jill's scrapbook retreat. I wish I would have taken pictures to share. I'll try and remember next time.

At the beach

Last weekend I went to Jill's scrapbook retreat at Ocean Isle Beach. The weekend weather was dreary and rainy...and yes, that's good weather for scrapbooking at the beach. You scrapbook and you don't go for walks on the beach. The first group of ladies went home and then Bree came to spend a few days on the beach. The rain, drizzle, and dreary skies were replaced with sunny days. It was gorgeous.

Gary took Bree and her friend Cole to the beach to feed the seagulls. This is always one of Bree's favorite beach things to do. Next they went to the water's edge...feet in the sand, waves washing the sand away, gentle ocean breeze...absolutely wonderful!
These are future scrapbook pages!

Top Note Christmas Tree Card

The top note die strikes again! Look how easy it is to make a card. I stamped the tree and star from the Wondrous Gift set. The tree is stamped in encore silver, the star in encore gold, then both embossed with clear SU embossing powder. I used the double circle punch to make little ornaments from night of navy card stock. I used Tombow Multi Purpose Adhesive to attach them to the tree. You can use either the horizonal slot punch or the double rectangle punch to make a slot for the ribbon to slide through.

Using crystal effects on the little blue ornaments adds a 3-D effect to them. It's difficult to see that in the photograph, but they really do look like small, round, shiny ornaments. Allow enough time for them to harden.

The words "Christmas" and "joy" (from Everyday Flexible Phrases) added to the top of the top note layer would be a nice touch. For the inside I will use a computer generated verse printed in Night of Navy on white card stock, then use the top note die and cut it out to match the outside.

On the finished card you can see the snowflakes stamped on the Brocade Blue layer.

Stamps: tree, star and snowflake from Wondrous Gift (109467); snowflake from Season of Joy (110384)

Paper: Night of Navy, Brocade Blue, Whisper White

Ink: Encore gold, Encore silver

Accessories: Night of Navy grosgrain ribbon, horizontal slot punch or double rectangle punch, double circle punch, clear embossing powder, crystal effects, Big Shot, Top Note Bigz die

Big Shot Top Note Bigz Die

This week I bought the new Top Note Bigz Die (#113463). It's great and so easy to use. The first card I made was the thank you card using the flowers from Upsy Daisy. I used the die to cut 2 "top notes," one in white and one in almost artichoke.
I colored the flowers with pumpkin pie, really rust and always artichoke, stamped the sentiment in always artichoke, and sponged pumpkin pie and really rust around the edges. I trimmed this layer at the perf marks and then put it on the always artichoke layer. I tied more mustard ribbon around the card and then attached the stamped layer.

I've been seeing these cute little owls made with this die cut, so I had to make one. Simple! Use this Big Shot die, some circle punches, the 5 star punch (or just cut his mouth out freehand). Add white gel pen and you can be finished. I've seen some with eyelashes and all kinds of other embellishments. But this guy gets the job done!












Yesterday I had a Christmas card class and knew that I had to include a card using this die. The nativity scene and sentiment are from the Season of Grace set (111778) from the Holiday Mini Catalog. The card base is naturals ivory with a ruby red layer, the bottom layer note is kiwi kiss and the top layer is naturals ivory. Kiwi Kiss striped ribbon is layered on a 1" strip of chocolate chip paper and is the only embellishment I used on the card. The only tedious part of making this card is trimming the top layer. At least there is a perforated line that you cut along. If the card base was ruby red instead of the naturals ivory, I would stamp or print my sentiment on the ivory, run it through the big shot and have the big note cutout on the inside as well.

Kitty Thanks

A couple of weeks ago my neighbor took care of Kitty while I was in Ohio. While there I bought her some candy coated chocolate sunflower seeds to say thanks for taking such great care of Kitty (and also the little cat someone abandoned). The sunflower seeds have been sitting on top of my desk waiting to be delivered. Why the wait? Well, I was supposed to make some cards to go with them. So I finally made them today. I used 2 of Beate's weekend challenges from SCS as inspiration. The cards have 3 basic colors: So Saffron, Ruby Red, and Close to Cocoa. (The thank you card on the right is in barely banana and is embossed with a cuttlebug folder. I don't know why I grabbed this paper instead of the saffron. But it's close enough.) All of the images on the cards are from the Pocket Silhouettes set and were colored with markers.
So, what do candy coated chocolate sunflower seeds taste like? I'll let you know...I bought another container for me!

Christmas Card

I've been busy making cards for an upcoming class. Although this is one of my favorites, it will not be one of those cards. I used a 2"x5 1/2" piece of designer paper from Holiday Treasures. I had to select a section of the paper with the red poinsettia in a position where I could trim the top of it. Because of this I will be limited in the number of cards I can embellish with this paper. That would be fine for making a few, but not for making multiples for a class.
I also like the simplicity of the card. It's not difficult to trim the poinsettia, just time consuming. But you do get faster with practice.
Kiwi Kiss card stock: 5 1/2" x 11"
Riding Hood red: 5 1/2" x 2 1/2" (approx)
Holiday Treasure designer paper: 5 1/2" x 2"
Riding Hood Red Classic ink pad
Sentiment from Best Yet

Another Chipboard Calendar

Unlike the other chipboard calendars I've been making, this one is for a desk. The others have a magnet on the back and are great for the refrigerator door or filing cabinet, etc. I decorated 2 coasters, used jumbo brads at the top, and tied them together with taffeta ribbon.
The colors of the picture are not true...the ribbon and paper strip along the bottom are both gray.
Julie will be home this weekend, so perhaps she can give me a quick lesson. She made a dvd with textures and borders that you can use to make great pictures. The dvd even has tutorials on it to help you with the process. It should be available for purchase any day now. Check out her blog for more info and for great photo tips.

Quick Projects

Small pieces of card stock and designer paper may seem like trash to some people, but to me they are potential elements for future cards and other projects. I had a 2" piece of striped paper from the Holiday Treasures pack, a small piece of Riding Hood Red and small pieces of white. I used them to make this Christmas card.
The red layer under the sentiment is 2 scallop squares cut apart and pieced together. It's even difficult to tell that it is not one piece. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder on the card to give the background some texture. Gotta have texture!


It was time to make more bookmark clips. So, again, I looked through the scrap papers, chose some colors and started punching. These are so easy and fun to make. Debbie (at the Shipping Station) told me yesterday that her mother had so much fun when she made one of these at my open house in the spring. They're a great little add-on to a gift or card.

Decor Elements

I've had this decor element for at least a month and today I finally put it on the wall. Gary and I are in the process of a major makeover for our bedroom. This is the tiny room in my bathroom that houses the toilet. It has always been plain...very plain. One concern I had about the long-stem silhouette decor was its size (52-3/4" x 12-3/4"). I didn't know if it would seem too large in this room. But it looks fabulous. I absolutely love it! Next I'll add a piece of Julie's art to complete the room.
So, was it difficult to put on the wall? Not really. I was a bit apprehensive about the size and doing this by myself. Having another set of hands would definitely make it easier, but I took my time did fine.
Stampin' Up's Decor Elements Phase 2 will be available in a couple of weeks. There will be new phrases, seasonal items, and art for the babies room. Check out the current items here.

Upsy Daisy Challenge

One comment I hear from many people is, "I'm just not that creative." They love coming to classes where everything is done for them, but don't think they could make cards (or scrapbook) on their own. It really is not that difficult. There are so many wonderful inspirations out there. The first card is like one made by Maria Pobre, a Stampin' Up! demonstrator from Guam. The only difference between her card and mine is in the coloring of the flowers. Mine has more orange.
The image is stamped on the very vanilla card base, a strip of garden green is added to the bottom and a black ribbon is added. Easy!
Then I took the same card idea, thought of someone and her favorite colors, and went from there. I used naturals ivory for the card, mellow moss for the accent color, and pale plum, perfect plum and mellow moss for the daisy. So who is this friend who likes plum (well actually purple)? I hope she is visiting my blog today. If she is and comments, I have a surprise for her.

Card #3 For this card I went to the new in-colors. I used Baja Breeze and Pacific Point for the daisy (garden green for the stem). I used the distressing tool on the bottom panel.
All of the flowers are colored with stampin' write markers (or in the case of the in-colors, a blender pen and ink refills). Use the lighter color first, then use the darker color on the edges of the flower, color the stems and stamp.
Your challenge - use this layout and make a card. If you don't have this stamp, just use one that is similar. Then take the same layout and same stamp, choose different colors and make another card. Be the first to send me a picture of your results and I'll send you a set of four cards made with the upsy daisy set.
Remember the Upsy Daily stamp set (as well as Heard from the Heart) is on sale this month. You can order through my Stampin Up site by clicking on the "Order Here" button on the left and following the link.

Wow! 24/7 Shopping with Stampin' UP!

Online ordering is finally here! How cool is that? Now you can order Stampin’ UP! ’s awesome products from me day or night from the convenience of your own home. It's so easy...all you have to do is visit my demonstrator’s web site www.dorissnyder.stampinup.net , click on the "shop now" button on the top right hand side of the page and place your order.

The first 10 people to place an online order of $50 or more will receive a special gift from me!

Purse in a Box

I followed Andrea Walford's directions to make this "purse in a box." I'm glad I used retired dp for the first one, because I made lots of little mistakes. I didn't line up the paper correctly on the sides...but overall, it turned out okay.
I love the new stamp set Upsy Daisy (#11672) and love that it's on sale this month.
The sentiment "Birthday celebrations" is descriptive of the contents.







Birthday Cards! I only made four, but the purse could easily fit a few more. I used the daisy stamp on 2 of the cards and used stamps from Pocket Silhouettes (#111626) on the other 2. This stamp set is also on sale until the end of the month. (Check out the sale here.)

Diaper Fold Card Holder

A few weeks ago this pattern was used for an activity in a children's lesson at church. Of course, they only used plain paper, but I was already thinking "designer paper." Then just a couple of days later Beate had a tutorial on SCS showing how to make this paper holder. I made a small one right away...5 1/2" square. I covered a tube of lip gloss with matching dp and tied ribbon to a small bottle of nail polish. So cute! But next time I would try a 6" square.
This is my second diaper fold holder. This time I started with a 8 1/2" square. I used paper from the Urban Garden collection and attached the fusion flowers with a brad. The sentiment is from Pocket Silhouettes; it is stamped in baja breeze and punched out with the window word punch.



The pouch makes a great holder for these 3x3 cards. I used the same paper from the Urban Garden collection. The basic gray card has a layer of night of navy under the dp layer and the white card has a basic gray layer under its dp layer.

Chipboard Coaster Calendar

How cute! I finally ordered some little calendars from vippies and made my first chipboard coaster calendar. I cut the flower out from a piece of designer paper. There's magnet strips on the back - perfect for putting on the refrigerator!
I took it with me to Toledo and gave this one to my niece Stacy.

Thank You Trio

I needed to make 3 cards for Bree to give to her preschool teachers. I still have quite a bit of retired designer paper left, so I used some on these cards. And now I still have quite a bit of retired designer paper left. I think I need to find bigger projects.
Any way. Bree loves chasing butterflies, so I knew she would love having some on her cards. I stamped the image, then used the paper snips to cut it out. The snail is from a retired SU set. He's so cute with his little buggy eyes. I used a cuttlebug embossing folder (thanks or thank you) on each card, used the scallop edge punch and added a ribbon. Voila! Finished!

"Swap" Cards

These are four of the cards I received in the card swap I mentioned in the previous post. The first one is by Kim Innis. The images are from the Happiness Always set (a level 3 hostess set in the new cattie.) These colors - old olive and tangerine tango -look so good together.













This card by Karenlee Atkin also uses the same stamp set. The butterfly is cut out and is a great touch to the card.
















Susan Wright used the Wow Flowers stamp set for her card - and the new in-colors - pacific point and baja breeze. You may not be able to tell from my picture, but Sue put crystal effects on each "dot" of the flowers in the center panel. Looks great! Sue posted my card on her blog. To see more of her work...check out Sue's blog






The last card is made by Jenn Rivera. It's a stunning card. Pink and brown are one of my favorite color combos! The two rows next to the word amazing are made with the paper piercer. "Amazing" card! Jenn's blog