Christmas Cards and Tags

Happy Christmas Eve everyone! Today I am going to share with you what I made and received for two different swaps that I recently participated in.  The first one that I am going to share is from the Secret Sister Swap.  We were asked to make four of the same Christmas card and send to the person that organizes the swap.  In turn she will send  4 cards to us.  I made a card using bling for to make a Christmas tree.   

These are the great cards that I got back.  I think the cute ninjas is an extra one from the person in charge of the swap. 

For the second swap that I recently participated in we were asked to make two tags to send to the person we are paired up with.  These are the tags that I made.

These are the tags that I received along with a fun card.

Before I end today I wanted to share a few more pictures with you.  This is the mini Christmas tree that my family and I put up this year.  We usually put up a big one but ran out of time. 

Here are a few pictures of my hubby and at different Christmas events.

I hope that you will have a wonderful CHRISTmas with family and friends.  During this time of year it difficult for those of you out there that have lost loved ones.  All of you are in my thoughts and prayers. 

Secret Sister Meet and Greet

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of having lunch with 4 of the ladies from the Secret Sister Swap that I join each month. Kathy, the person that organizes the swap, set up the meet and greet for us.  I previously met 2 of the ladies before, but it was great to see them again and of course to finally get to meet the other two ladies.  For the meet and greet I thought it would be fun to surprise each of them with a little some thing that I put together.  I gave each person a Martinelli and decorated it a bit. 

These are the fun and thoughtful gifts that the ladies made and gave out.

Here is a picture of us having a onolicous and fun time together. (Next to me is Kathy and Annie.  Next to the brick wall is Kim and next to her is Leanne.)  I listed the ladies names for those of you join the swap each month.  Now you can link the name to the person next time you are paired up with them.

It was fun meeting up with these super creative and nice ladies.  I look forward to getting together with them again one day soon.  Maybe next time more of the ladies from the swap can join us.  Have a wonderful weekend!  Thanks for coming by!

Fall Cards and a Tea Party

Before I go on posting more Christmas cards and projects that I have been working on and that I have received I want to share the cards and RAKs that I made and received for last month's Fall themed tea swap.  I was happy to get to make a card for my friend Brenda.  She is a huge fan of Disney like I am so I wanted to be sure to make her a fun and creative card with that as a theme.  This is what I came up with.

I sent Brenda a few of her other favorite things.  She also likes teddy bears and the color purple so that is what I surprised her with. 

My tea swap partner was my friend Dori.  It was such an honor to receive such a beautiful card, tea pouch, and thoughtful RAKs from her.

It is indeed a lot more fun to be paired up with friends for a swap.  Last month I was truly blessed to have Brenda and Dori as my tea swap partners.  Before I end I wanted to share a post of my good friend Esther I having high tea together to celebrate her birthday and Christmas. 

Here we are with the Christmas gifts that we surprised each other with. 

Here is picture of both of us wearing our "Ugly Sweaters."

We had a fun and memorable time of fellowship as we celebrated two special occasions.  Have a blessed week ahead.  Thanks for stopping by!
 

Early Christmas Gifts and Two "Moana" Events

On Thursday I attended a monthly stamp club meeting. It is always so much fun to get to see everyone after a busy day at work.  It was extra fun this month because we exchanged Christmas gifts.  This is what I gave to everyone.

I wrapped huge Gharadelli candy bars, embossed a sentiment and die cutted it out, and made a bow using a bow punch.  I am pretty happy with how it turned out. These are the fun gifts that the other ladies gave.

From left to right: a special scrub to take ink on your hands, a tea cup with a verse and chocolate pops, sponges, and a heat gun holder that one of the lady's hubby made

From left to right: a hand crochet towel holder for the kitchen, a quilted book marker, and a bag with a hand painted picture  It was fun sharing with you what I received.  I hope that this post inspires you to prep for Christmas.  Before I end I want to share some pictures about how much fun I have been having going to different "Moana" events.  On Friday my family and I went to El Capitan to watch the a stage show and the movie.

Today a friend and I went to a local book store to meet, listen, and get the autograph of the artists of the movie. 

Both events were super cool.  Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

God is Good

I hope that everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving with family and friends and enjoyed some yummy food.  What was your favorite food?  Thanksgiving is always one of my favorite holiday because it reminds me of God's goodness and faithfulness.  It also reminds me that it is not only during this time of year that I need to grateful.  This Thanksgiving was an extra special one that will be treasured and remembered forever. God gave my family and I as well as some of our close friends the opportunity to honor and say "thank you" to some special people.  To honor them I made two scrapbooks and included letters from family and friends inside.  Here is the cover and the back.  I laminated them.  (Sorry for the glare.)

Here are the pages.

I left the last two pages empty for them to include pictures of the event. 

It was indeed a blessing to get to honor and meet them.  In combination with honoring two special people we also had a surprise b-day party for my son the same evening.  When I was thinking of a party favor to make for that would represent both events I decided to emboss and die cut a stamp that says "God is good."  I adhered them to chocolate covered oreos that are wrapped in beautiful foil.

This is what I put on the back.

These are the party favors for the kids that attended the party.

Here are the decorations for the party.

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to start up on crafting for Christmas. I hope that all of you will have a fun time prepping for Christmas and will have time to enjoy the true meaning of the season despite all the craziness.  Thanks for stopping by!

Thanksgiving Goodies and a Release Party

I hope that all of you are having a wonderful Saturday.  I'm looking forward to having a relaxing day as it is the start of my Thanksgiving break.  Before starting my break gave handmade gifts to my friends at work ( I purchased the cardboard leaves from Target and added the face.  On the back I put "Grateful for you" and a magnet.)

and gave closer friends the gift along with a few other goodies.  I made a tag to attach to their gift bags.

Before I end this post I wanted to share fun event that my daughter and a friend attended last night at a local bookstore for the Tokidoki Unicorno 5 Release party.

It was super fun chatting with strangers that like the same things we do and seeing "old friends." My daughter and I scored some super generous freebies (for making a purchase and being the first 50 people in line) and purchased a box of the unicorns.

Afterwards we went a tea place to get drinks with boba.

Going to the release party was the perfect way to start my break.  I hope that all of you will have a blessed Thanksgiving and will have chance to reflect on what you are thankful for.  I have much to be thankful to the Lord for.  One of them is the opportunity that He has given me to craft and meet friends like all of you.  I am thankful for each of you and for the time that you take to visit my blog.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Tea Swap for October

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Veteran's Day weekend.  Today I am going to share the card that I made and what I received for the tea swap for October.  The theme of it was "Fall."  This is the card that I made for Mary Bennett

and this is the card that she made for me.

I am glad that I got to be paired up with Mary as it was the first time that she signed up for the swap after being sick.  Mary, I praise God for healing you and that you are back to doing the things you love- serving Him and crafting.  Before ending this post here is a picture of me last Sunday celebrating Hello Kitty's birthday.  Thanks to two friends I had a super cute outfit to wear.

I was happy to get to wear my HK shoes.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend.

My First Christmas Card and HK's Party

Today was a fun and relaxing Saturday.  My family and I spent the morning at home doing our own stuff around the house.  Then in the afternoon we went to Hello Kitty's Birthday party at a Sanrio store in Little Tokyo.  I guess this weekend is HK's birthday so a lot of the Sanrio stores are having a birthday party for her.  Tomorrow we will be going to another one. :)  Before I share some pictures of today's party I am going to share the cards from a new swap that I signed up for last month called Stampin Sue's VIP swap. The theme of the swap was "Christmas."  This is the card that I made Jeny.  The front of the card opens like a door.

It was fun making the Christmas card since it was my first one for this year. This is the card that my swap partner Mary Ferrar Seyfert made for me.  Her card is the first Christmas card that I received for this year.  I can't wait to soon  receive more Christmas cards especially the handmade ones.

As promised here is a picture from HK's birthday party this afternoon. 

These are the fun prizes that we received.

Stay tune for pictures of tomorrow's party next week when I post.  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!