Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!

I can't believe that in just a few short hours we will say goodbye to 2008 and hello to 2009.

As  we draw closer to that final countdown and prepare to close the book on another year, I would like to take the time to say thank you to all of my family and friends for always being there for me. My life is so fully and richly blessed because of all of you. 

I am about to go snuggle on the couch with my dear husband Gary and my sweet children Sara and Sam. Before I do I'd like to leave you with a little wish.

May 2009 bring you and yours love, health, prosperity and nothing but wonderful moments. May your life be so richly blessed and all your dreams come true. Rejoice in every moment with your family and friends, and know that no matter what the new year may bring you will never have to face it alone. God is with each and every one of you and will always see you through.

God bless you in 2009!!!!!!!!! Happy New Year!!!!!!!

With love and hugs,

Heather, Gary, Sara and Sam

My Maya Road Goodies Arrived!!!!!!!

Bright and early this morning (why does Canada Post always come to my house seemingly at the crack of dawn???) I received my package from Maya Road for being one of the finalists in the Home For The Holidays contest. Here's the list of yummy goodies that I received:

car key chipboard coaster book

house key chipboard coaster book

damask chipboard sheet

scroll frame classic chipboard book

tree chipboard coaster album

trinkets ribbon set

trinket beads hearts and butterflies

trinket beads tutti fruity

trinkets crochet shimmer blossoms

trinkets crochet shimmer butterflies

trinkets textured knit blossoms

suede stitched - red & orange - flowers

suede stitched - blue & brown - flowers

Thank you Maya Road for my wonderful goodies!!!!!!!!!!!

Merry Christmas

Happy birthday Jesus!!!!!

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas!!!!! May God truly bless you and yours this holiday season!!!

Early Morning Surprise

Early this morning I received a wonderful surprise .... the doorbell rang and there was Santa .... errrr ... a representative of Canada Post actually ... waiting with a parcel for me. I was sooooooooooo excited!!!!!!!!! It came all the way from Nebraska and was my wonderful present from my Secret Santa at Cutters Creek Yahoo group!!!!!!!!! My dear friend Patty truly spoiled me. She sent me:

6 felt trees with bows

8 holly leaves

6 metallic Christmas trees

5 poinsettias

some swirl Christmas trees cut from the Christmas Noel Cricut cartridge

Snow Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder

Flower Soft adhesive

Quickie Glue pen

Gelly Roll clear star pen 

spoon for my Flower Soft

3 bottles of Distress Stickles: Vintage Photo, Faded Jeans, Walnut Stain

3 bottles of Glitz Stickles: Mermaid, Ruby Slippers, Sequins

the cutest ever owl wooden stamp

a bag of candy corn

a bag of candy corn salt water taffy

a bag of Christmas salt water taffy

and two very beautiful Christmas cards

What a wonderful gift and a fabulous surprise!!!!!!!! Thank you Patty!!!!!! I love all my goodies and can't wait to play with them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Maya Road House

I'm so excited!!!!!!!! My Maya Road chipboard house that I created was selected as one of the finalists in the Maya Road Home For The Holidays contest. Woo hoo!!!!!!!!!!! How exciting is that????????? They now have the recipe card up and ready for download on their site. You can check out the recipe cards here or see mine full size here. Mine is called Winter Wonderland. Please take a look and let me know what you think. I'm doing the happy dance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (Thumbnail is from Maya Road).

The Glossy

Our mini challenge in the WeScrap Fresh Faces challenge this week was to create a "Glossy". This is mine.

This Week's Fresh Faces Challenge

Our assignment this week for the WeScrap Fresh Faces Challenge was "The Diet". We weren't allowed to use any patterned paper or stickers (including my beloved Thickers). We were allowed to use minimal amounts of bling, rhinestones, brads and buttons, although I didn't use any of those on my layout. Mini Maestro was created with cardstock, a Fiskars border and corner punch (to do the border), a Heidi Swapp mask, Colorbox chalk, a Fiskars squeeze punch (flower), a black marker, and a hole punch (for flower centers). The photos were taken in a store called Here Comes Treble in Frankenmuth, Michigan. I love how Sara looks like a professional at the piano at such a young age.

Voting is now open for this week's challenge and will close Sunday evening. This is week five of the challenge. Voting is open to all WeScrap members.

Candyland Anyone?

Now until December 14th the city of Cambridge is hosting Candyland in downtown Preston. It isn't huge, it isn't spectacular, but the children seem to enjoy it and that lights are pretty. We took Sara and Sam there for a little while on Thursday night. Took a couple of spins on the merry go round (after which I felt like I was spinning for way too long afterwards), slipped and slid on the ice (they really need to put down more salt), posed in front of cute light displays, and froze our tushies off. But Sara had fun. Sam ... well ... not so much. It's free, except for the merry go round which is $2, and like I said the children seem to enjoy it. So if you live in Cambridge you might want to give it a look see. Just one word of advice --- wear your mittens!!!!

This Week's Fresh Faces Challenge

Here is my layout for the Fresh Faces contest at WeScrap. This week we had to choose four numbers and then were told what our layout had to include based on those four numbers. I chose 1) use at least three photos on your layout, 3) sew somewhere on your layout ... either machine or by hand, 7) use at least 5 flowers, and 11) ink or paint the edges of your paper.

This was my first time doing machine sewing on a layout. In order to do it I first had to learn how to use my new computerized sewing machine that Gary bought me for Christmas LAST year. Better late than never lol. I zig zag stitched around the cardstock, then stitched the striped piece and the green piece of patterned paper. The sleigh was handcut, then Stickled, covered in Glossy Accents, then cracked. Stickles were also used on all letters except Santa.

The photos are of our recent visit from Santa Claus -- isn't he just the most amazing Santa? Sara didn't cry -- we were very proud of her for that -- but she did take a little while to warm up to Santa. Pooh Bear helped her to get comfortable enough to sit on Santa's lap and tell him what she wants for Christmas.

Voting for this week opens on Saturday and closes on Sunday. This week we are voting on Main Challenge # 4.