Before I get to the cookie crumbs (blog candy), I want to thank Tracy.

Tracy Harp is so sweet….she nominated my blog for the Excellent award. Thanks, Tracy! So now I think I’m supposed to nominate 5….egads! There are so many great blogs! I know that a few of my faves were already mentioned. Well, here are 5 but you can also check my blogroll on the side for quite a few more!

Beate Johns
Anna Wight
Sharon Johnson
Jami Sibley
Leigh O”Brien

OK, so now for the blog candy….
I thought I would celebrate my recent birthday by giving a gift myself. It will be a surprise (mostly because I haven’t picked anything out yet!) LOL. But I will stuff a package with some stamped images and other fun stuff. Just comment on this post and Wednesday night I will draw a winner.

First, I want to thank everyone who leaves a comment! It is nice to hear that you enjoy seeing what I’ve been up to!
Now, to answer a few questions. The 4 x 4 chipboard coasters shown here and here can be purchased through americancoaster.com. Get a few friends together because I believe a minimum order is 1,000. They are very reasonably priced though. I have not personally ordered them but I’ve split an order a few times with friends.
Also, I don’t believe my ACMoore has had the mini keychain clipboards that I made here since I purchased them a year ago. I went and checked the package and it says they are made by Nicole Crafts. I did a search and found a project on their site using these clipboards. If you go to this link, there is a place to search for stores in your area that carry the Nicole Crafts products. I know that my Ben Franklin carries this brand as well, so if you have one of those stores in your area, it might be worth checking into.
Have a great night!

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I just thought I’d post a pic of what Santa left for Snickers in his stocking.

I have been enjoying the preparations for Christmas and listening to the wonderful music! Next my cards need to be addressed! I made another set of cards a few days ago and will upload a pic soon. In the meantime, how do you like my new banner? My friend, Michelle Laycock, made it for me! Wasn’t that sweet of her? It looks soooo much better than the one I made a few months ago!

Tomorrow is World Cardmaking Day. Last night I went to help my friend (& upline) with her World Cardmaking Day Project. Her goal is to make 1,000 Christmas cards for the troops. She did a great job preparing the supplies and setting up stations for us to work at. We worked for about 3 hours cutting, stamping, embossing, etc. I left right before they counted them up but she said we made almost 700 completed cards with about 150 more that were half completed! Wow- not bad for a couple ladies working a few hours! Some kids at a local school will be writing to the servicemen in at least half of them. Cool, huh? Great job, Linda!

Click here for information about how Stampin’ Up! is celebrating World Cardmaking Day.

I had the pleasure of meeting Shelli (Cofounder and CEO) of Stampin’ Up! at the regional seminar. She truly is the warm, sweet person that you hear about. We were very happy to hear that she was there! I had heard that she was unable to attend the last few regionals and hoped she would be coming to this one. Having a picture taken with her made it an extra special memory! I haven’t become an avid scrapbooker yet….only dabbled a little here & there….but this just begs to be scrapped.

I did the un-thinkable today. I bought a card. aaack! It was one of those musical cards that sing when you open it & the recipient has been wanting this particular one. sigh. LOL. I’m going to have to find a way to stamp on it.

I was riding in the car Saturday and spotted this guy sitting along the road. I haven’t stopped at a yard sale for years….I guess I never seem to have time. But we couldn’t pass him by. So we turned around and $2 later had a new addition to the family. Being the bug-a-phobic that I am, I had to give him a bath in the washer and spin in the dryer…just in case…LOL.

Last week was just a crazy busy week but it was fun. Bible school is over, the Splitcoaststampers fan club challenges are winding down, and now I am unpacking from a last minute vacation to Lake George, NY. And…. to top it all off, I decided on a whim to sign up as a Stampin’ Up! demo! I sent my paperwork in and I’m all set. Just have to wait for my kit to arrive. I never, never thought I’d sign up. I’m not sure why I caved, but now I am looking forward to it. There will be a lot to figure out and learn, I’m sure! I plan to be mostly a hobby demo but I’ll see where it leads me.

So since I haven’t had time to stamp, I’ll share some photos from the lake. Lake George is beautiful and there’s quite a few things for families to do there. They also have trolleys that run every few minutes if you don’t want to drive to where you are going. The first pic is of some of the lake houses and was taken from the beach. I just think pics of lake houses are so charming! The next three photos were taken from Prospect Mountain. You can drive to the top and there are a few lookouts along the way. The last pic is of the sunset Friday night. I wish we were walking by the beach at the time….it would have been gorgeous!