SENDING BEAR HUGS

With the Christmas Season over and flu season in full swing, 

I thought I would make a stash of 'feel better' cards for those in need

of a bit of cheer.

Fred Bear Gives Comfort (by MFT) is one of my new stamps and I could

hardly wait to ink it up.  The tissue box screams for a real

tissue and it makes for a very cute embellishment.

I had a lot of difficulty colouring this image with my Copics.

It's a very open image with no stamped shaded areas to guide you.

So, the second card was coloured with Distress Inks.

Here is a close-up of the tissue.

I decided to paper piece the blanket for a bit of interest, too.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

CHRISTMAS PUPPIES

It was Abbey's first Christmas with us and poor girl, she had no

idea what was in store for her.

Santa left Lily and Abbey, smoked bones for Christmas.

But as with many rewards, comes a task.  And so, Abbey was initiated into

our Christmas traditions.

Isn't she sweet?  Well, she didn't think so and was rather embarrassed.

And of course, Lily doesn't care what you do with her, as long as

she gets her treats for doing it!

Here she is in her Christmas dress.

Christmas would not be the same, if not for our fur children.

And when they allow us to indulge ourselves with photos like these, 

well, it just makes Christmas Day that much sweeter.

Thanks for stopping by,

~Bonnie~

TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS

 The song "CHRISTMAS SHOES" brings true meaning to Christmas for me 

and I wanted to share it with those who may not have ever heard it.

May you be blessed this Christmas with love and special memories.

Merry Christmas,

~Bonnie~

Mmmmm .... CHOCOLATE

One of my clients stopped by on the weekend and surprised me with

a very unique Christmas gift.

It is a chocolate box, made from solid chocolate, with a lid also made 

from solid chocolate. And inside, is a wonderful selection of chocolate truffles.

It's so pretty and unique that I almost hated to taste it.  Now, notice that I did say

'almost'.  Here are the before photos (while it still looked like a 

chocolate box filled with truffles).

 Suffice it to say ... it doesn't look quite the same anymore!

Mmmmmmmmm....

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

POINSETTIAS

One of the many things that I love about this time of the year are poinsettias.

I recently came across a blog that I am totally addicted to.  Kittie is not only 

amazingly talented but very generous in sharing her knowledge through

well written and easy to understand tutorials.

Here is the link to her blog ...   http://kittiekraft.typepad.com/kittiekraft/

I have been having so much fun making these poinsettias 

and thank Kittie so much for her tutorial.  

I would not be having the success I am, without her tutorial.

Since I love red at Christmas, I decided to try some red on red and I really loved how it turned out.

I have a ME week between Christmas and New Year's so I plan 

to try as many of Kittie's tutorials as I can.

I have also been playing with some digital images and came across

these adorable snow people, which I made into cards for some of my neighbours.

(the nice ones!)

Took the image and cut it out with an oval Nestie.  Cut out a shadow mat.

Embossed the background with a snowflake folder. 

 Punched out a border strip.  Used tiny ovals for the greeting.

Added some glitter to the image, around the image oval and to the greeting.

Stuck it all together and there you have it ... fast, easy and sweet little

Christmas cards.

Don't forget to check out Kittie's blog ... you won't be sorry.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

AN ABBEY UPDATE

It's been over 2 months since we adopted Abbey and our lives will never be the same.

Boxer's are a high energy breed and Abbey is DEFINITELY no exception!  She

gets out every day for a run in the cherry orchard and if WE have any extra energy, she gets out twice a day.

We've had one private training class with her where she demonstrated 

how eager and quick to learn that she is.

Here are some random shots of her.

It's a good thing that she is a SHE because she is usually sporting

glitter on her head and nose.  She loves to come to visit me from under

my craft table, where she often nose-butts (and believe me ... that 

is one very big nose!), my hand for attention.

It is said that 'things often happen for a reason' and I am a real believer 

in that statement.  Abbey was meant to come into our lives and we 

hope we are blessed to have her for many years to come.

Now, if only she would stay still long enough for me to

photograph her in her 'reindeer antlers' ....

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

WORKSHOP FRIDAY

Well, this project took two Friday's to complete and after a lot of tedious work, the finished project was sooo worth it. 

It was Cathy's turn to host and she designed this rosette wreath for us to make.

Thankfully, Cathy cut and scored every rosette for us ... we just had to 

fold and assemble them.  Now I say "just ", like it was nothing but

in actual fact, it was a lot of work.

After a few hot glue burns, some tired eyes and some frustrated hands, the

project was completed and now hangs proudly in my craft room.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~ 

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!

One of my all-time favourite projects is an advent calendar clipboard, that my friend Cathy (http://thestampwhisperer.blogspot.com/) designed and
invited me over to make with her.
Of course, I chose PINK.

I have it displayed all year long in my craft studio
but really enjoy actually using

it during December.

I covered the clipboard front with DP and began to layer my pieces.

The Ornaments are a Sizzix die and have a magnet attached to the back.

Behind the circle nestabilities, I cut a small piece of sheet metal for the magnets

to adhere to.

The ornament magnets are stored on the back side of the clipboard,

by attaching a piece of sheet metal and then DP to cover the metal sheet.

I also made a plastic pouch using a heavy duty sheet protector and s/a velcro dots 

to keep it closed.

The trees were made from a Sizzix die, 'glitterfied' and then popped up.

The tag was also made using a Sizzix die .

 The next card was made for my friend Curt (http://curtsplayhouse.blogspot.com/).
When I saw the stamp of the dog with the Santa hat,
I knew that I 'needed' it to make a card for Curt since

the image reminded me so much
of his Shotsy and Gunther (Curt's giant schnauzer kids).

The little oval tag just tucks inside the top of the Santa stocking.

We have new neighbours and our Abbey has been smitten with their

little beagle, Jessie.  So this card was to Jessie from Abbey with

a little gift for Christmas.

And finally, this little gatefold card was made and sent to a few of my blogging

friends.  I have had these Justrite stamps for quite a while and finally put them

to good use.

Well, that's it for now.  

I'm off to my kitchen to make some Christmas caramels.

Thanks for stopping by.

~Bonnie~

SO VERY BLESSED

Once in a long while, if you are fortunate enough, someone comes along and enters your life and blesses you with their friendship, support and generosity.  My post today

is about someone who has done just that and I feel so blessed that

he came into my life.

My special friend is CURT.  You may know him from his blog, http://curtsplayhouse.blogspot.com/

and he has created something very special and dear to my heart.

If you have ever shared your life with a fur-friend, then you may also know about

the heartache that you endure when you have to say good bye to them.  My dear little Gadget left me in July and Curt was of great support to me through this time and he knew in his own heart from personal experience, just how much my heart

was broken.

Well, yesterday I received a parcel from Curt and this is what was in there.

First there was a beautiful card with some very touching words written inside.  The background is fabric that Curt stitched onto the black c/s.

  

Then, a most unexpected surprise ... a beautiful handcrafted book.  The book closure 

is a genuine dog collar and the dog tag reads "GADGET".

There are pockets, tags, embellishments, hand stamped images, journalling pockets, sentiments and sayings combined with adorable puppy printed papers.

 And look at this adorable puppy made from punched shapes.

One of my favourite tags is this one that Curt hung dog bones from string 

that dangle when opened.

There's even a 3D fire hydrant complete with the chains.

No words can express how Curt has made me feel by creating this wonderful book so that I may use it as a tribute to my sweet little Gadget.

"Life isn't measured by the breaths we take but rather by the moments

that take our breath away".

This is one of those moments. Thank you Curt from the bottom of my heart for this treasured gift and the gift of your friendship. 

~Bonnie~