Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing Thanksgiving! We spent a lovely day with Dave's extended family - and my parents came this year too! So we were all together for the holiday.

I'm sure many of you are out braving the crowds for Black Friday sales. I'm not so courageous. I prefer to do my shopping online, in my pjs. =) But, speaking of Christmas, remember that you only have 2 more days to do my cards for soldiers challenge! I'll be selecting a winner on Sunday - and that person will get a fun collection of cards and scrapped items from me! Read the post below for details.

I wanted to share a few more digi layouts with you. The papers are again from the Autumn Medley kit from the Shabby Shoppe. On the second set of layouts, I used the Imagine Scrapbook Design Guide by Jeanette Lynton - as my friend Christine pointed out, it can work well with real paper AND digi layouts! The layout I used was Sweet Symphony, on pages 24-25. Happy Friday!

Some Digi Art

Dave's Aunt Diana and Uncle Jon will be celebrating their 25th anniversary soon. I wanted to do something special for them to commemorate their day. I've also been doing some digital scrapping lately, so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to try out some fun new papers from the Shabby Shoppe.

I've been assured that Diana doesn't read my blog - and Jon is in the know, and helped get the photo and verse. Hopefully posting won't ruin the surprise. I plan to print this at 8x10 and frame it for them.

Hope you like! It was so fun to scrap this way. I truly hope that CTMH eventually adds a digi line to their already fabulous collection of scrapping and stamping products.

And the winner is...

Congratulations Christina! I'll get your album out in the mail tomorrow.

Thank you EVERYONE for buying raffle tickets and helping support us in our adoption! Between the raffle, and yesterday's bazaar, we raised over $1450!!!

40,000 Hits Blog Candy Challenge

For those who are interested, yesterday went AMAZINGLY well. =) I'm so pleased, and very thankful to all those who came to shop. I'll be drawing a name in about 4 hours for the Scrapbook raffle, and will post results at 5 pm.

In the meantime, I'd like to do a little blog candy challenge. This challenge will be a way to honor our men and women in uniform (and celebrate 40,000 hits on my blog! WOW!) The challenge is to make one or more Christmas cards, and write in it a heartfelt message of encouragment. Then, send your card(s) to a serviceman/woman you know, or even better, send one to the address below and bless the day of a wounded soldier. They may not get any other cards this year - wouldn't it be incredible if they got one from you?

Be sure to take a picture of your card, post to your blog, and then comment here. You'll earn one entry ticket in my drawing for blog candy. If you post this challenge on your blog as well, you'll earn TWO entry tickets. I'll do the drawing next week - Sunday, Nov 30th (which also happens to be my birthday! YAY!)

Here is one of my cards for a soldier:

And here is the address to mail your cards:

(This has been SNOPES approved!)

Holiday Mail for Heroes
PO Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Also, please note that there are regulations regarding this program - 1. Cards must be post marked by December 10, 2008. 2. Please sign all cards, unsigned cards will be thown away. 3. No letters, cards only as this makes the review process go more quickly. 4. Do not include any personal information, or inserts, pictures, etc - this is not a pen pal program and they will be removed. 5. Please limit the number of cards to 25 per individual, or 50 per group.

Today is the day!

Today is the day - the Bazaar with my mom! I'll update later today with the results (or maybe tomorrow if I'm zonked). Also, remember to get your raffle tickets purchased by 4:59 tomorrow! I'm closing the link after that, and will pull a winner at 5:00 pm sharp (pacific time).

Also, it looks like I'll hit 40,000 hits in the next day or two. (Thanks to my WONDERFUL readers!) As such I'd like to do a little blog candy. I'll post details on how to win tomorrow, but you can get started today by making a Christmas Card or two for a U.S. Soldier. Details to come...

=) Nona

Saturday Bazaar and Album Raffle!

Sorry to be absent so much lately. This Saturday is my Christmas Craft Bazaar with my mom. As such, I've been crafting until the wee hours of the night, and almost all day long too. Except for some last minute knitting, I *think* I'm all ready to go.

So, for those in the Seattle area, here are the specifics:

Saturday, Nov 22nd
10 am -4 pm

at Leslie Greenquist's house in North Seattle
(please email me for the address: nonapearl@myctmh.com)

There will be all kinds of great crafty items, and wonderful gifts. These include handmade soaps, fused glass ornaments, jewelry, and wall decor. I'll have lots of cards, 2-page scrapbook layouts, knitted moebius neck warmers, hoodies, bears, and lots, lots more. Additionally, we serve a free lunch to everyone who attends and our spread is simply divine. You really won't want to miss it.

Now, I know that many of you are out of towners, and can't attend. So, I'm doing something extra special to help you feel included! At my bazaar I'll be raffling off this gorgeous 20 paged, 12x12 scrapbook featuring the More To Adore papers from Close To My Heart.

Click here to see the inside pages

All bazaar attendees and blog readers are eligible to win. Raffle tickets are just $1 each, and I'll be holding the drawing for the album this Sunday, November 23rd at 5 pm. All of the funds from the raffle (along with all the money I raise at the bazaar) will go toward our adoption fund. =) And what a great Christmas gift this could make for you or a loved one!

A Book Lover's Tag

Barb tagged me with a different sort of tag game. I'm not a big fan of tags, but this one actually seemed fun. So here goes...

The Rules:
1. Get the book on your nightstand (or whatever book you are currently reading).
2. Open it to page 56 and find the 5th sentence.
3. Post the next couple of sentences on your blog, along with these instructions.
4. Do not go and find your favorite book, it has to be the one you are reading now!
5. Tag 5 other people to do the same.

I'm currently reading Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie.

The fifth sentence (in all it's loquacious glory) reads, "Into this bog of muteness there came, one evening, a short man whose head was as flast as a the cap upon it; whose legs were as bowed as reeds in the wind; whose nose nearly touched his up-curving chin; and whose voice, as a result, was thin and sharp - it had to be, to squeeze through the narrow gap between his breathing apparatus and his jaw...a man whose short sight obliged him to take one step at a time, which gained him a reputation for thoroughness and dullness, and endeared him to his superious by enabling them to feel well-served without feeling threatened; a man whose starched, pressed uniform reeked of Blanco and rectitude, and about whom, despite his appearance of a character out of a puppet-show, there hung the unmistakable scent of success: Major Zulfikar, a man with a future, came to call, as he had promised, to tie up a few loose ends."

I'm tagging: Jenn, Sparkle, Christine, Gina, and Jena.

Card Class Cards

I forgot to post my card class cards (taught on Sunday, Monday and last night). I felt lacking in the creativity department - or maybe drained is a better word - and cased two of my cards from fellow CTMH consultants Bren Yule and Lisa Stenz.

All 3 cards:

This is the card by Bren Yule. I switched out a hat in place of the ear muffs.

This is Lisa Stenz' beautiful card. I love the simplicity, and was looking for a card to teach that my customers could replicate quickly and easily, but still have an elegant look.

Finally, this is the card I designed. It was meant to be a thanksgiving themed card. I used my pazzles to cut out the "g".
Sorry the pictures are a little dark. I had been playing with exposure compensation on my camera and forgot to set it back to zero. They looked fine on the little camera screen, and after pulling them up on my computer I was too lazy to retake them! ;)

The Snake

Here's a fun snake I knitted over the summer. I won't have time to make any more of them, but this one will be at my craft fair too. Sammie loved that he is as big as her!

Sammie's Bear

Here is "Wok" and his best friend Sammie.

Knitted Bears

I've finished my moebius knitting goal for my craft fair, so now I'm going to try and whip up a few cute gifts with the 2 weeks I have left.

This is one of the bears I completed yesterday. I also made one for Sammie (I'll share pictures tomorrow) and she adores hers. She's carried it everywhere the past 2 days and has not put it down except to eat and bathe. I'm thinking these bears will be a big hit with the kiddos.

More Wall Hangings

I made several of these beauties for the craft fair too. The letters are again coated with liquid glass for a pretty shine. I also used my cuttlebug for some dimension on the cocoa cardstock.

Any left overs after my shows will go into my etsy shop!

New Moebius Scarves

I've been one busy momma knitting up a storm for my upcoming craft fair. Here are the 5 hoodies I've finished, and the 3 neck warmers (red not pictured). You may notice some new colors in the mix too!

If you would like a moebius, I've decided to take all further orders through my etsy shop: www.nonapearl.etsy.com. This makes it easier to sell items that are completed, instead of taking so many custom orders. You can still place a custom order through etsy - but be aware that I am averaging 5-7 days to ship. So, if these are on your Christmas list to give or receive, you'll want to order sooner rather than later.

You may also see that I raised the price of the hoodies to $40. Neck warmers are still just $25. With the time and amount of yarn it takes to make each hoodie, it warrants a slightly higher price than what I was previously charging. But, remember that all proceeds support our adoption! =)

Which, since we are on the topic, is going well. We had our meeting with our social worker today, and in just a few short weeks our home study will be 100% complete. I also completed our profile, so we will soon have those sent out to agencies all over the US. Then begins phase 2 - waiting. =)

completed neck warmer in pumpkin:
completed neck warmer in light green:

completed hoodie in peacock blue (new color!)
click on photo to see colors better:

completed hoodie in black:

completed hoodie in plum/carmel variegated (new color!):

completed hoodie in purple:

completed hoodie in sea mist variegated (new color!):

New Classy Crafts Video

This one was promised long ago, but just now was able to get posted to youtube. (Did I mention we've been busy? LOL).

I posted this card a few weeks ago, and promised a video sharing dimensions and assembly instructions. So here it is! Enjoy!

Easy Christmas Cards

Life has been hectic around here this past week - so I apologize for not posting regularly. Please keep us in your prayers this week as we meet with our social worker on Wednesday to finalize this home study. Once it's squared away, we'll begin the more detailed paperwork directly pertaining to our adoption. I anticipate that our official "waiting period" for our baby will begin sometime around Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, I whipped up some simple Christmas cards today. I'll teach these at a special card class in December. These are meant to be fast, simple and easy so that my customers can make maximum numbers of cards in a minimum amount of time.

Supplies all CTMH - Evensong Creative Basics paper, Cranberry and Colonial White CS, Cranberry and New England Ivy Ink, December Word Puzzle stamp sets, sparkles.

All Supplies CTMH: Everlasting Creative Basics, Cranberry and Colonial White CS, Cocoa Ink, Happy Christmas stamp set, cranberry ribbon.

Supplies all CTMH: Outdoor Denim and White CS, Aspen B&T, Christmas Melodies stamps, Outdoor Denim Ink, White ricrac ribbon.

Supplies all CTMH: Juniper and Black CS, Silhouette B&T, Christmas Melodies stamps, Colonial White brads, Colonial White organdy ribbon, 3d foam.

This one is my personal favorite! Check out the faux stitching (click on photo to see larger image). All Supplies CTMH: Kiwi CS (retired), Topiary and Blush CS, Kiwi, Topiary and Hollyhock ink, Hollyhock Marker, Argyle Backgrounds stamps, Christmas Melodies stamps, 3d foam, white gel pen.