Happy Thanksgiving

Have a wonderful day blessed with delicious food, wonderful friends and loving family.

This fun image is by Whimsie Doodles.

Big Brave Hunter

Paul the Pilgrim from Bonibleaux Designs is such a brave, brave hunter as he goes skipping his way into the woods to bag a turkey for the "little woman".  Won't he be surprised when he sees the big black bear instead! I'm guessing, the "little woman" is going to be making an emergency trip to the river to do laundry.

Eat Cake

Obviously this turkey has a different possibility for Thanksgiving dinner. I like his thinking because my job this year is to make the pies. Making pies is hard work and I usually end up with flour all over me, the walls and on the floor,  whereas, with the help of Betty (Crocker) or Duncan (Heinz) I can make a tasty cake. 

Rupert's Thanksgiving

Rupert, from Stamping Dragon Designs, is dressed and ready to start this week's Thanksgiving festivities. During a recent press conference held by the distinguished SSTPTABV (Society to Stop Thanksgiving and for the Protection of Turkeys or in the Alternative, Become Vegetarians), Rupert was asked what he was most thankful for this Thanksgiving, to which he replied, "I am very thankful I am a dragon and not a turkey." Well put Rupert.

Speaking of Stamping Dragon Designs, Janette is offering two Craft Calendars for 2011.  For a chance to win, become a follower of Stamping Dragon Designs at Crafters Digital Art Center and then spread the word on your blog/page.  Leave a message for Janette on CDAC Discussion forum that you want to win and link your post. Two winners will be announced on December 3, 2010.

And don't forget you still have a few days left to enter  Stamping With the Dragon "Holiday Song" challenge.  The prizes are amazing. Check my post of Friday, November 12, 2010 for all the details. 

S.S.T.P.T.A.B.V.

I love Sassy Cheryl's images especially this little gal that definitely has a curl right in the middle of her forehead. I don't know if she has coped an attitude because I colored her as an eggplant or if she doesn't like the handsome turkey hat that sits atop her ringlets. Oh the other hand, she may be an enforcer for the S.S.T.P.T.A.B.V. (Society to Stop Thanksgiving and for the Protection of Turkeys or in the Alternative, Become Vegetarians) and is tired from   working overtime expounding the virtues of becoming a no-meat society with Thanksgiving approaching. Of course there is always the possibility that she is just a spoiled brat. Regardless, I think she's cute.

Inspiration Challenge

If it is the 20th of the month, then its time for Dude Time Doodles Inspiration Challenge. Take  whatever inspires you in this picture and let your creativity flow.  I liked the colors listed in the picture but I must admit, I cannot decide if "midnight" is black or blue so I sat on the fence and used dark blue and distressed it with black so, according to my calculations, I am in a win-win position. Being the smart followers that you are, I am sure you are wondering where the "old growth" is. Sillies, the old growth is the inside of the turkey, unseen until you carve the poor bugger.

In the very short time that Bonibleaux Designs has come into existence, our fearless leader has accomplished so much and, like the mailman who works regardless of the weather (with the exception of Sundays and holidays) and that silly rabbit that keeps on ticking (or is it the watch), Boni continues to inspire the design team through all the rough spots while fighting the flu bug for the past two weeks.  Get well Boni, we need you!

You have two weeks to post your creation on Dude Time Doodles Challenge blog. The top three winners and top blog winner will be announced on December 3. In the meantime stop by my fellow design team members blogs to see their crafty creations.


But before you go, let me just say this. . .

Thank goodness the producers of the popular television series "Extreme Makeover" rejected the idea of mixing in how-to- cooking videos while the team knocked down walls and poured concrete otherwise, tom would be featured this weekend.  Sniff-sniff, poor tom, sniff.

There was a little girl. . .

There was a little girl that had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good, she was very good indeed. But when she was bad she was horrid.  And surprise, surprise the poem was written by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow!

My mother would often recite the poem to me and I have repeated it to my daughters and to my granddaughters instead of counting to ten. This delightful image from the ever sweet Mo Manning reminds me of that poem. Even though you cannot see the curl in the middle of her forehead, this little tike's body language dictates its presence.

If you haven't already posted your entry for the Stampin With the Dragon Challenge you still have five days to do so.  The challenge is easy, just design your creation around a "Holiday Song".  The prizes are amazing. If you need a reminder about the prizes and other details check my post of Friday, November 12, 2010. I would love to see someone I know win a prize.

Happy Birthday

Today I am celebrating another birthday, not mine but my sweet friend's. We have been friends since 8th grade, which is not long enough. Together our friendship has been through lots of fun times and sad times, but we persist. Aside from good health and family, there is nothing more valuable then a treasured friend especially when that friend knows where you buried all the bodies.

Happy birthday dear friend, I love you.

Pretty Paper

Did you ever see a piece of designer paper that you could hardly wait to use and when you finally get a chance to play, nothing pleases you? When I found this paper it immediately went into my basket and by the time I got home I had several ideas for its use. But after many attempts, nothing was satisfying me.  I'm still not happy with this card but it would be a shame not to share with you the pretty paper.

Sula

Twelve and a half years ago, a beautiful chocolate lab puppy named Sula came into our lives and became my "fifth daughter".  Sula Mae, as I called her, loved coming for sleepovers when her humans traveled and was always a perfect houseguest. Her only bad habit was that she loved digging in the trash. When she spent time where her human worked, her first stop was at all the trash cans in hopes of finding a leftover cookie or candy bar. Sula loved to eat and amazingly, she survived eating two pounds of chocolate and rat poison.

Sula appointed herself as my alarm clock and relished the idea of putting her snout against my ear and resounding a loud bark, yep, no need for an alarm clock when Sula was here. I swear she would laugh each time she accomplished her mission. Eventually I was able to resist flying off the bed so she tackled the problem another way, she would lick the bottom of my foot.

My sweet, beautiful and gentle Sula has joined her sisters at the Rainbow Bridge and I have lost another friend but I am thankful that I have so many funny, happy memories of her because there will never been another Sula Mae.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Today Dude Time Doodles Challenge is releasing new images and if they remind you of Christmas, you are on the right track. If you think it looks more like Easter, then stop drinking so early in the morning and behave yourself.

For today's card I combined two of their images "Christmas Morning" and "Presents"-- the Christmas tree and window I created with leftovers.

What I wish I could show you and can't, is the aftermath of daddy's excitement.  Daddy, looking very dapper in his Christmas pajamas, was running so fast, he couldn't stop and ran right over the Christmas tree and smacked into the wall. Paramedics had to be called and he was taken to the hospital for assorted sprains and pains. Daddy didn't get home until the next day and had to open his presents by himself because mom and the kids had taken off to the mall for the after Christmas sales, not to mention he had a hole in the wall to repair.

Head over and visit my team mates' blogs to see what new image they have used, their links are on my sidebar. Before you go, please leave me a comment and if you aren't a follower, I would love for you to become one!

Tiny Red Lights

I live close to historical Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and aside from the battlefield and President Eisenhower's farm, there is also the "Land of the Little Horses". According to local folklore (and very hush-hush) one foggy Christmas Eve, Santa called upon Rudolph to guide his sleigh and by the time they reached the "Land of the Little Horses", Rudolph was feeling rather frisky and well, as they say, the rest is history.  The little horses perform daily but if you want to see any of Rudolph's offsprings, you will not see them at the farm, instead, you must go to Sassy Cheryl's for this sweet image. I can tell you for a fact that on foggy Christmas Eves the sky around Gettysburg is illuminated by tiny red lights and one purple light. No one has ever explained the purple light but I suspect the Easter Bunny knows the answer.

P.S. Can't help but wonder how many of you will click on the link to the "Land of the Little Horse" to see if I'm joshing?

Operation Write Home Valentine Blog Hop

I am very proud to be an ongoing contributor to Operation Write Home and share in their mission to provide hand-crafted greeting cards to military members serving overseas to send home to their friends and families. So when Boni, our fearless leader of Dude Time Doodles, asked the design team members if they would like to participate in Operation Write Home Valentine's Blog Hop, I was very pleased with the resounding YES she received.

To date, Operation Write Home has sent 699,860 cards to deployed heroes, 91,000 during the month of October and this week, 68 boxes containing 27,460 cards at a cost of $1,017.70 were sent. If you would like to help defray the cost of postage visit Operation Write Home for more information.

You can help this momentous effort even if you do not make cards by writing a personal note addressed "Any Hero" that in turn, will be distributed by chaplains to military members who receive little or no mail from home. Great service project for scout troops, church groups and other organizations to participate in.

Operation Write Home is one of the three finalists with the opportunity to win $50,000 in Jo-Anne Fabric and Craft Store's "Craft For Cause Contest 2010". You can help by voting here. Contest ends December 4, 2010.

If you would like to send cards there are simple guidelines to be followed, the most important of which is  absolutely, positively no glitter or other substance that flakes off making our heroes visible with night goggles. For all the details, visit Operation Write Home.

For my Valentine card, I used Gary Giftbearer from the Manly Men collection. Gary had something else in his hand before I sliced the paper and inserted a Valentine. Before you return to Dude Time Doodles to continue the hop stop by and visit Boni, Anne, Cleota, Hetty and Theresa to see their Valentine creations. 

Celebrate the Season

Joy to the World

Stampin Dragons Designs has just released 12 new images and to celebrate, we are having the biggest challenge ever. The challenge is not difficult but oh my the prizes, wait until you see the list. You have two weeks to create a card inspired by a holiday song and then link it to Stampin with the Dragon Challenge.

Prizes using any image:

1st prize: 4 images from 

Stampin Dragons Designs

2nd prize: Magnolia Magazine 

and 2 stamps

3rd prize: 1 dragon stamp from Whiff of Joy Stamps

Deck the Halls

GRAND PRIZES

Only submissions using Stampin Dragon Design images will be entered for grand prizes.

 NO exceptions. 

1st Grand Prize:

WACOM C7H 461 

Bamboo Craft Pen & Touch Tablet

2nd Grand Prize:

Ribbon from May Arts

3rd Grand Prize:

$10 gift certificate from Your Next Stamp

The prizes are too awesome not to participate and there are hundreds of holiday songs to pick from. Remember to stop at the blogs of all the design team members of Stampin Dragon Designs using the links on my sidebar to see more wonderful examples of the new releases.