Thank You Rhonda!

My friend Rhonda over at Bumble Creations has given me this great award! Go on over to her blog and look at all her great cards!

I am to pass this on to 2 people, I am giving it to my friend Mary from Primitive Seasons , as she always is very inspiring to me...visit Mary's blog as she has had a hard last few weeks with a family illness and I know could use your prayers and thoughful wishes!

Also to Vicki as I also find her very inspiring!

Go Here for Blog Candy...very YUMMY!

I love to visit here for great ideas and inspiration....go and visit and sign up for some blog candy!

Check out The Sale...Order Early!

Here is the flyer (click on it to see)for the SU Holiday Extravaganza sale...You can place your order thru my site here http://www.stampinup.com/ECWeb/CategoryPage.aspx?categoryID=296 and clicking on the Holiday Extravagana icon........some great deals, check it out! Offer good Nov 26 thru Dec 1 or while supplies last!

Stampin'Up! Holiday Extravaganza

Go here on November 26 to take advantage of the Stampin'Up! Holiday Extravaganza.....there will be special "bundles" from 20% to 50% off...only thru Dec 1st...on a first come first serve basis...hurry, you won't want to miss out!!! Check out my NEW look of my website http://www.stampinup.net/esuite/home/stampinwithnellie/

Cuttlebug Tree and Ornament

I LOVE how this card turned out! I used the "Cord-in-nations" core paper (its paper that you sand and has a different color inside), ran it thru my Cuttlebug with the tree embossing folder,punched out a circle, sponged Pretty In Pink on it, stamped the snowflake from from SU Snow Swirled using Rose Red, added a "real" wire ornament hanger, a bow, and I have a finished card! I have to make more of these, Ithink these might be my Christmas card this year!

Sorry I have been MIA again, I was in a swap and had 3 different ones to finish, they are going out today, and I didn't take photos!!! Oh well, I will have plenty more to share after Thanksgiving!

Larger View of The Ornament Card

I wanted to show a larger view of the ornament card I did, mentioned below. The ornament, I punched out a reverse mask using the new SU large circle punch, sponged Riding Hood Red on it and then stamped (with the mask still in place), I used my SU Stampa-ma-jig to get the ornament "hanger" placed where I wanted it.....like I said I cased this and have the link in the post below. You need to go to Julie's blog, as she has fantastic idea's!

Upcoming Workshop Projects

I have a workshop on Dec 1st and because of Thanksgiving I need to get it all ready to go. I am a last minute girl and should have had this well planned out before now! I spent the morning on SCS looking for idea's as the girls wanted to make something other then just cards, which is okay, but I have to take in consideration the "time factor"!

I decided on the snowman kisses using the TicTacs (cased)as it is so cute, a photo wallet that I had previously made for myself and a card I cased from here I LOVE this idea and had so much fun making it, though I smeared my ink and will have to redo it, not a tragedy as it was fast, fun and rewarding!

The photo wallet, the pictures of the little girls, well they are 14 and 16 now!!

Go Here For Some More Blog Candy!!!

Visit here http://lynseys-place.blogspot.com/2008/11/my-blog-candy-giveaway.html to enter for some blog candy and checkout her great creations while you are there...tell her "Diane" from "NelliesNest" sent you!

Believe!

I bought this stamp several years ago and decided to finally use it! Its from All Night Media and I just love these animals...they make me wonder what they are looking at...Santa pehaps? I decided the sentiment "Believe" would be perfect for them. I used various watercolor pencils and the SU blender pen for this one. The Ribbon is soooooooo yummy, its from the SU mini Catty, you get this scrumpous stripe and 2 rolls of a brown felt ribbon. I hope they put this in the new catty! I used the MS punch for the branches, red DS paper is from SU mini also, called Ski Slope......ink and card base are Kiwi Kiss.

Scroll down for some blog candy info!

Snowy Friday at the Cabin!

This is the same photo like I took on Monday, just to show how much snow we got last night thru this morning!

These are our steps going up to the garage from the cabin. Looks like "someone" needs to shovel!

We got our next winter blast as predicted. It is snowing buckets right now and I have to laugh, as I have our local news on and they are saying "scattered snow showers"....they need to be here! We live off of Lake Michigan and this is what they call "Lake Effect". Anytime we hear those words we all cringe as we know we will get "dumped" on. We are lucky though as our schools are still open,, about 15 miles North, West and South of here they are closed. Not that they can't handle the snow, its just the secondary roads that get impassable, and as Michigan is broke, the snow plowing is not what it used to be. Tonight it is to be 7 degree's, but we have rain predicted for Thanksgiving with a high temp of 47.......thats Michigan life!

Don't forget to scroll on down for Blog Candy info!

Go HERE For some Blog Candy

Want to try and win some fantastic blog candy??? Then go here and leave a comment, she is giving away Copics...yes you heard me right...hurry now....... http://passionforcrafts.blogspot.com/

Christmas Tags

These are my tags I made for "Anything But A Card " swap I am in using products from the Stampin'Up! Holiday Mini. I use the SU exclusive Top Note die a lot, and have 2 more projects for the swap that I can use this die for! If you would like to purchase one, you can contact me, as I am a SU demo. and can order one for you. They are only $21.95 plus shipping and tax. I think it has to be the best money I have spent in a long time!! Anywho, back to the tags, I made 6 of each one. The Joy one I cut apart Join In The Cheer Strip Die, Rudolph is a Sizzix die Ipurchased at JoAnn's. The little tags with the stars are from the ornament kit in the Holiday mini! The snowflakes are from the mini catty also. Click on the photo for a better "peek"! The DS paper, Imight mention is called Ski Slope from SU!

Day 2 Snow~Nellie Playing In Snow!

I am late in posting this, but this was Tuesday here after our snow. You can see Nellie had a great time playing! It's almost gone now, but we are on our way to our second round, we are to get 6 to 12" between now and Friday night. It is coming down very heavy right now and its COLD!

I WON This Wonderful Blog Candy

Go on over to http://kittiekraft.typepad.com/kittiekraft/ and see this fantastic blog! She was giving away this blog candy I am showing, and I WON! Her cards are amazing and just plain gorgeous! Now, this lady had talent!!!! Keep scrolling down and look at some of her past posts...wow.....they are so pretty and she has some great tips, too! Thanks Kittie for offering this great set, I can't wait to work with it!

Monday Morning Whites!

This is what we woke up to this am....winter white....now I heard we are to get 8" of this lovely, fluffy white "stuff"! Makes you just want to grab a cup of hot cocoa and sit down at the "art" table and make winter cards...sure wish I had a horse and sleigh stamp...sigh...............!

First picture is right outside my living room window, second is out the dining room slider...these look like black and white photo's..............not.......................if you look real close on the second picture, you can see little red berries on the dogwood! Three days ago I had bluebirds stop in on their way "South" and have a little feast on these. Saturday it was purple Finches and Sunday it was a BIG Blue Jay!

Saturday Workshop Cards to Share

These are the 2 cards we made at yesterday's Stampin'Up! workshop, and they were a hit!

The first card I saw on another blog and just loved it, so this is not my own idea, I cased it, but I did change the Top Note Die to a DS paper. I came across another blog and found the original designer and she made 145 of these beautiful cards, wow, I am very impressed with that.

Anyhow, it is very elegant, but simple! The cardstocks are the ever favorite Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red and of course Whipser White. DS paper is Bella Rose. The ink is Basic Black and Riding Hood Red, SU exclusive Top Note Die, 5 Petal Flower Punch, Stamp sets were Spotlight On Christmas and the sentiment from A Cardinal Christmas...extra's were Xmas Red Stickles and ribbon.

The second card, I used the Cris-Cross design. I had just received new DS paper from the mini called Ski Slope, I love that paper, its mostly all browns, reds, greens and the blues...pretty! Cardstock used is Whisper White, Kiwi Kiss, Baja Breeze, inks are Kiwi Kiss, Riding Hood Red and Baja Breeze, Designer Paper is Ski Slope as mentioned above, Punches are Round 1 3/8", Round 1 1/4", Scallop Square and the Tag corner....good use of punches!

Stamp sets used were Snow Swirled, and the level one Hostess set Punches 3. I also used the crimper for the belly band, extra's non SU were Crystals found in Walmart Craft dept in the MS bridal section...you get 60 for $2.99! Now this card looks like it must take alot of time, but it's pretty quick to make, they were amazed!

Sweet Music or Not So Sweet???

I just purchased this House Mouse stamp a few weeks ago at HobbyLobby, was up at 3am and decided to give it a whirl! I did make a few little mistakes on it, but was too far into it to trash it!

I love the colors of SU Baja Blue and the DS paper is Autumn Vine from the mini. I bought a new product (new here anyhow) called Glitter Glue by Hampton , I actually "painted" it on the wings...is is very much like Stickles, but I think it dries faster. They had it in several colors, now I want more!!

I colored my little mice with the ink pads and an aqua painter, using SU Ocean Pacific and Baja Blue for the gowns, Creamy Carmel was used on the mice. The candy cane I used a Versa-Mark Red, SU So Safron for the horn. I used a gold glitter pen for the halo's and the "sound from the horn. The brads are some I purchased last year. The sentiment is from a SU level 1 hostess set.

I really like the "soft" look of this card.

MORE Granddaughter Bragging Part 2

I am off to do a SU workshop today, sorry I have been "lame" in posting, but have been super busy making cards for swaps, cutting my kits for workshops and just plain having everyday life get in the way of my blogging! So, I decided I would post another picture of Kendall taken a few weeks back when it was in the 70's, can you believe we have snow predicted for today and a "winter blast" next week? That is what happens when you live off of Lake Michigan and get that darn "lake effect".

Kendall was having a tea party with her frog friend, but stopped long enough to "plant" some more Dandelions for her "Mommy", isn't that nice of her??? More of Kendall's photo's can be seen on http://www.loridianephotography.blogspot.com/ .

Family Blessings Top Note Banner

I have been working on this Family Blessings all week, a little here and there. I am very disappointed that my pictures are so "dull", but thats how it is here outside...gloomy and dull!

I made this for an entry into the creative section on So Shelli's blog.....but I wish you could see it "in person" as it is so much more colorful and nicer "in person" :( !!!

But, at least I have it up and it it beautiful hanging on my mantel. That Top Note Die, well, I am going to have it worn out, I use it almost everyday!! I just love it!! I used "On Board" chipboard for the letters, sanded them, added some of the SU embelishments, and used my all time favorite paper from the SU Holiday mini catty "Autumn Vine".

For the "challenge" we were to say what we are thankful for...wow...there is so much I am thankful for that I wouldn't have room to list it all, so that is why I chose "Family Blessings" to do, as I am most thankful for my wonderful family, I am hoping to place several "family" photos behind the banner on my mantel for all to enjoy!

You can see Shelli's blog here if you would like to visit and see all the other entries.

Visit "Ann" For Some Fantastic Blog Candy!

Go and check out "Ann's" creativeness on her blog here http://creativeantics.blogspot.com/and be sure and post an entry for her blog candy! It's yummy!!

I was a Winner...go on Over and Sign Up For a November Weekly Candy!

I am so honored that I won this fantastic Firecracker set! Thank you so much!!! Would you like to win, too? Go here http://www.stampedsmiles.com/ and sign up, she is giving a blog candy each Saturday in November, and they are awesome!!!

Best Blog Candy Ever

Go here for some wonderful blog candy and view her blog...fantastic!
http://scrapbitz.blogspot.com/2008/11/biggest-blog-candy-evah.html

Easy Peezy Vintage Christmas Cards

Sometimes its just fun to sit and relax and make easy cards! I love the look of "vintage" Christmas, so when I saw this chipboard box of goodies at Michael's, I knew I had to have them! These are from KC Company and you get 55 pieces of this great chipboard and all for only $4.99! I decided to make a few fun and fast cards. The background papers are also from KC & Company. The sentiments used are in the $1 bin at Michael's.

Now the pictures are not the best, but its a cool and dreary day here in the cabin, so I take what I can get, and I have to say, they are not the best! The colors are more of a "prim~vintage",not as bright as they look!

Come back tomorrow as I am hoping to have a yummy pumkin recipe on............mmmm good!

Chocolate Cat

I went shopping at our local Niles Scrapbooking Store to get some new "core" paper and look what I found, the brand new core paper called "Chocolate".....oh my, I JUST love this paper as I knew I would!!! She also has another new one in called "Black Magic" and I have to go back for that. The paper is all in various colors of brown, the back of the paper is the color that is inside that is the "core". You can use your embossing folders and sand, just plain sand, tear it (look how great it is under the cat) and also, (this is so neat) you can put your chipborad letters under it and sand and "viola" you have words spelled in the core color!!!

I did this card for the "Caardvarks" challenge that was called "chocolate", now how perfect timing was that! I just got my email from them before I left the house! You can see all the cards submitted so far for this challenge by going to http://www.flickr.com/ and search for caardvarks and then chocolate and you will see some amazing "chocolate cards"...now who doesn't like chocolate!!!

Bit of Granddaughter Bragging~Sorry, I Can't Help Myself!

Here is a darling photo of my granddaugher Kendall. She will be 3 in February. My daughter has her own photography buisness so she won't be too mad at me for "stealing" this photo. Check out her cool blog HERE to see more of Kendall's pictures and other great photo's.

Please Help Bentley

My friend Brenda in Delaware is trying to help a kitty "Bentley" to have surgery to fix his deformed legs. She is asking for donations to help him get this done before it is too late to "fix". Here is a link if you would like to read more about it and to help Bentley out. She says he is very playful and a very happy cat, but he needs to walk right and lead a normal life if possible.

Here is her message I received from her: Bentley is an adorable 5-month old orange kitten who was born with both hind legs severely deformed. He drags the right leg behind him because it cannot hold any weight at all, and the left leg is gradually bending further & further under his body as he grows and gains weight. He "hops" on the left leg for now. His disability does not stop him from getting where he wants to go, or being playful and affectionate, but soon he will not be able to get around without dragging both useless legs and he will most likely develop severe arthritis in all the leg joints, causing constant pain. I have taken him to a surgeon who tells me that luckily the muscles and bones are strong and normal, but the knees are dislocated and cannot hold the weight of his body. Performing the surgery now while he is still young and his bones are flexible will give him the best chance for a better recovery and more mobility as an adult. He will always have a disability, and he will not be able to run or jump, but the hope is that he will at least be able to walk. The surgery will cost $2,500 per leg. The surgeon suggests fixing the worst leg now and hoping that correction will eliminate the necessity for operating on the second leg. His surgery will be shortly after Thanksgiving, with confinement & recovery of 4-6 weeks. Bentley is such a sweet, special kitty; he deserves every possible chance at a more normal, pain-free life. Thank you so very much for your kindness and generosity (prayers are greatfully accepted also). Bentley thanks you too!

Happy Harvest Turkey Scrap Card

I made this little turkey all from scraps from the Stampin'Up! Basket & Blooms die set. The flower that comes with the set has these little inside petals that punch out, so I put them to good use! The body of the turkey is also a "leftover" scrap piece from the same set. His head is a 1/2" circle punch. I "popped" him up with a foam dot. I stamped the leaves and cut each one and placed them where I wanted them.

I am entering him in the creative challenge on "So Shelli's" blog.

Other SU items used were:

Paper: Mellow Moss, Old Olive, Chocolate Chip, and Creamy Carmel, and of course the DS scraps from the flowers.

Ink: Mellow Moss, Old Olive, and Chocolate Chip

Stamp Sets: Season of Friendship, Loads of Love Accessories (sentiment) and Curly Label Punch Bundle

I bought the Seasons of Friendship set when we could pre-order and can you believe it, this is the first I used this tree!!!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe

Here is the finished poduct!

This is what is looks like before adding the streusel.

Finally, here is the Pumpkin Coffee Cake Recipe I promised! This one is just a little more involved then the pumpkin bars I previous posted, but well worth it, if you like pumpkin! You might want to read the entire recipe thru before starting and have all your supplies on hand, makes it easier!

Pumpkin Coffee Cake:

Wet Batter: 1/2 cup butter 3/4 cup sugar 1 tsp vanilla 3 eggs Cream butter, 3/4 cups sugar and vanilla in mixer bowl. Add 3 eggs beating well.

Dry Batter: 2 cups flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1 cup sour cream Combine flour, baking powder and soda. Add dry ingredients to wet batter alternately with sour cream.

Filling: 1 3/4 cup pumpkin (solid pack 16 oz) 1 slightly beaten egg 1/3 cup sugar 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Combine pumpkin, beaten egg, 1/3 cup sugar and pie spice.

Spoon half of batter mixture into 13" x 9" pan, spreading to corners.

Streusel: Cut 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar, 1/3 cup butter, 2 tsp cinnamon together until mixed (will be crumbly), add 1 cup chopped nuts (walnuts or pecans). Spread 1/2 of streusel mixture over batter.

Spread pumpkin filling mixture over streusel. Carefully spread remaining batter over pumpkin mixture. Sprinkle remaining streusel over top. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 50 to 60 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. I keep mine refridgerated after cooling. Enjoy!!

I've Been Tagged~And My MIA Excuses!

I have been tagged by Holly at http://hogwildaboutstamping.blogspot.com/, so go and visit her for great inspiration and be sure to check out the 5 blogs I am tagging!!! I will be posting new items, soon, we were gone on a mini vacation and I need to catch up my housework, plus its 70 here in Michigan today and I am headed outside to work in winterizing my flower gardens, I'll be back, I promise!!!!
Five things I love:
1. My dog Nellie
2. My grandkids
3. My kids
4. My Hubby
5. Stampin'Up!
Five things I don't love:
1. Credit Cards
2. Overeating
3. Cold Cold Winters
4. Animal Abusers
5. Getting OLD!!!
Five songs on my mp3 player: Well I don't have one, so I'll list 5 fav. songs
1. You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban
2. Picture by Kid Rock & Sheryl Crow
3. Party For Two by Shania Twain
4. Amazing Grace
5. Wonderful World by L Armstrong
Five Favorite Foods or Drink:
1. Cheesecake
2. Salads...any
3. Starbucks
4. Squash
5. Pie
Now I have to tag five more bloggers:
Mary
Rhonda
Libby
Sue
Cindy

Go Here for MORE blog candy!!

Go here to enter for some month long blog candy, a winner every Saturday for the month of November.....say you saw it on Nellies Nest blogspot...here is the link http://www.stampedsmiles.com/2008/11/week-one-blog-candy.html

Go Here Bumble Creations for MORE Great Blog Candy!!

Want some more blog candy??? Go here and say Nellies Nest sent you!! Here is the link http://bumblcreate.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-turn-for-blog-candy.html