We are off on vacation!

Santa definitely came early this year.....because yesterday we were given a gift of 11 days in this gorgeous part of the Cape. A 5 hour drive from Cape Town....with nothing but beach, surf & not much else to do.

It has been 2 years since we had a proper break, so we are all ridiculously excited about going! All I intend to do is work on my tan, read & just enjoy my little family....oh & probably take a gazillion photos along the way!




BUT us being there for 11 days, means I will not be here for the 25th, so I'll wish you a wonderfully Merry Christmas now! I hope you all have a super time of celebration & family and I'll 'see' you when we get back!
KJ

Christmas with Anna Griffin & Pink Paislee

Having a bit more time on my hands over the 2 days with the kids finally having finished school for the year, means I have had a chance to work some more on my Christmas to-do-list.

Using the GORGEOUS Anna Griffin Christmas line, I made a simple Christmas banner for the fire place. Being so hot here means no fire, which is a good thing because I don't think my pretty paper banner would have lasted to long otherwise hahaha! 

I added wooden Christmas ornaments, bells & ribbons to the paper flags for extra interest.

To compliment it I finally (been wanting to do it for ages) made one of those cute paper evergreen trees's showcased on Martha Stewarts web site. It was easy as pie once I worked out how to use my blokes glue gun....we won't mention the glue strands stuck to everything within a 2 foot radius~ Um!

I also had a chance to pull out some more of my 'LUVERLY' Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co collection. Cards...cards...are definietly the way to scratch the scrappy itch when you have but an hour before having to run to the grocery store.

The fabulous glitter paper I used in silver & gold are one of American Crafts new lines. The colour are amazing & it is great to work with, you should give it a try!!!

Well I am off to the beach to eat fish & chips with the family! Have a good one!!

KJ

Gifts from Bella Boulevard!

Bella Boulevard is one of the sponsors for the CK Dream Team. Last week I received  the most amazing box of goodies from Stephanie filled with their latest lines....& I just couldn't help myself reaching for some of the Christmas one, December Details, to make another of my Teachers Christmas gifts on my to-do-list.

The range is fun & so easy to use & I really love the bright colors & cheerful designs. The line includes five great papers, alpha stickers, die cuts, flowers and stamps.  Everything I needed to make this project & some others I'll post soon :o)


The mug is filled with mini marshmallows, candy canes and a bag of the most delish Cocoa hot drink mix ever!

If you are looking for thesuper hot cocoa drink recipe....try this one out, it's my fave!

The secret ingredient in this mix is the mini chocolate chips, which melt when combined with the boiling water and give the cocoa an extra-rich flavor. The recipe makes enough for four gift-size portions, each of which can be measured into a small plastic bag and tucked into a cup or mug filled with mini marshmallows, candy stick stirrers, and a spoon. Wrap each filled gift cup in cellophane and don't forget to include a tag with the following instructions: "Spoon 3 or 4 generous tablespoons of cocoa mix into your cup (depending on the size), add boiling water, and stir well."

Ingredients

• 2 cups nonfat dry milk powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa

• 1/2 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup powdered nondairy creamer
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Measure all of the ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk them until they are evenly blended.

2. Store the mix in a tightly covered container at room temperature until you're ready to package it. Makes about 4 cups of mix.

Thanks for stopping by!
KJ

Gearing up for Christmas!

I am so much more organized for Christmas this year than I was last year...& I have actually made a bunch of my Christmas cards & teachers gifts, as well as made most of my Christmas gifts instead of store bought ones. It is quite liberating knowing that by making my own I am in a small way supporting 'Handmade ROCKS!'. I will show you a few of them next week.

I wanted to share some of the goodies I have been busy with. Today I'll showcase some of the ones made using American crafts, Merrymint line. If you don't already have some in your stash, do yourself a favor & go grab some...it is so cute & festive!!

This is one of the teachers gifts I made. The box has a removable lid to get to the yummy cherry Christmas cake inside.

Max my 5yr old wrote the tag for his teacher....I wrote 'Aunty Sue' on another piece of paper so he could get the spelling correct! Look how he fancied up his name with little curls~sweet hey! hehe!


This is the card that goes with the gift! The sentiment is one from a wide range from Stampendous!

A few of my Christmas cards....the one on the far right, has a photo CD inside a little pocket for a family member.



That's all for today guys! I hope they have sparked you to try some?
Have a super day!
KJ

And we have a winner!

Thanks so much to all who played along, I wish I had a truck of them to give away.
So, not to drag this out any longer.......the winning comment is:


Jen, please send me your full postal address so we can get you your copy of your book!
All the Best!
Santa.....um! I mean Kim :o)

Here's another peek!

OK, so if you haven't read my last blog post...here's a recap. A bunch of us from CK are giving away a copy of 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges by Elizabeth Kartchner. The book is out & looking gorgeous! 

Below is a peak of page 126.....how fabulous are those droplet shapes?


Elizabeth & her team have such a fresh unique style with inspiration in all the interesting detailing & I just know you are going to want a copy of this baby in your Christmas stocking this year.....

SO.....

Remember to go to this post , & leave me a comment for a chance to win!!!
You have until Sunday night!
KJ

I have a great book giveaway!

I don't know if you have heard the super news but 52 More Scrapbooking Challenges by Elizabeth Kartchner, is finally out! She was CK’s 2007 Scrapbooker of the Year & her work is ridiculously inspiring!!! I received a couple copies of Elizabeth's book this week and all I can say is WOW! I am in love with it! The challenges are both inspiring,fun & seriously cute. I am itching to get going on some of them & I know you will feel the same way too. I just know you are going to want a copy of this gorgeous book! Well the good news is that I have one copy to give to one of my blog readers!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this post for a chance to win! Please don't forget to check back to see if you've won or include your email address with your comment, so I can contact you if you're the winner. Yup! it is that easy!

NB: Only one entry per person please.You have until Sunday, December 6th at midnight EST to enter. I will randomly draw one winner and post the name here on Monday, December 7th. The winner will have until Thursday, December 10th to email me their info or a different winner will be randomly drawn.

For more chances to win a copy of Elizabeth’s book, you can also check out the Creating Keepsakes blog and the blogs from these Dream Team members and CK contributing writers:

*Wendy Sue Anderson

*Jen Jockisch

*Elizabeth Kartchner

*Jennifer McGuire

*Suzy Plantamura

*Mou Saha

*Cindy Tobey

*Laura Vegas

*Susan Weinroth

And if you know Sara Winnick, she’ll be giving away a copy on Facebook.

Have a super Thursday everyone!

KJ

La Vie en Rose.

What a way to start off the Christmas season...than with this gorgeous kit from Cocoa Daisy (and a lot of Pink Paislee too :o) All the Divas outdid themselves by creating the most gorgeous projects. If you are looking for inspiration & a good reason to sign up for one of these beaut's, take a look here!

Even though the kit wasn't specifically Christmas orientated, I couldn't resist one Christmas page. The Jenni Bowlin chipboard buttons were easily changed into Christmas ornaments. This photo is one of my faves of the kids.

Was so excited to hear that we had some Websters pages products in this kit. I love the nostalgic yet modern vibe they do so well. And of course the Hambly lace transparency & Maya Road pearl pins.....what more could we have wished for??

The turquoise sequin accents from Prima worked so well with that sweet pearl flourish from Zva Creative and one of my fave alphas from Pink Paislee.

Opened some of my punches I very generously received from Fiskars as part of my Dream Team stash. This 3 in one corner punch was a perfect addition to this page.

Well thanks so much for looking....if you have a moment, take a look at the NEW Cocoa Daisy web site, forums & galleries; everything is cooking over there right now :o)
Chat soon.
KJ