Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone from our home to yours.   There are so many things to be grateful for in on this special day, besides the turkey and pumpkin pie. Here's a few of the thoughts I've had today on things I'm grateful for:

• I don't live in Japan where they are experiencing a major typhoon that is wiping out homes and has injured many people;
• I don't live in Calgary where following a major explosion and fire last evening they have had areas of the city without power for  many hours;
• I don't live in Western Africa where they are dealing with Ebola or work in the hospital in Texas where one man has died of Ebola and his care worker is quarantined and receiving treatment;
• I don't live in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan or any of the other countries in the world where fighting has taken many lives this weekend;
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• As a Canadian I'm grateful for my freedom and for the freedom of my family and friends and the fact that I live in a country that for the most part allows us freedom of expression to say what we want or believe in, to live the lives we want and which empowers us to grow and nurture our minds and explore the world we live in.  I'm grateful we live virtually in harmony and peace in Canada.
• I am grateful for all of those people who in some way protect my family, friends and myself from strife, assist in times of disaster and reach out with love for others not only on long weekends but throughout the year.
• I am grateful for the roof over my head, the food on my table, the continued good health of my family, my wonderful friends and the simple things that can be taken for granted.; and
• I'm grateful that I have a creative mind and have been able to share my love of paper crafting with so many like minded individuals through my blog and my community. 

 

Here are the projects I completed earlier this week when I attended the Artful Artisans tri-monthly meeting at Jennilee Paul's home in Chilliwack.  What a great evening!  It's so nice to get together with all these wonderful gals, see what they've been creating and talk shop. Also got in some driving time with one of my besties, Debby Evoy. 

Beverly, Betty-Ann and Jennilee all brought shoe box swaps, so we were able to make some great Make N' Take projects.  They did an amazing job showing us what to do and pulling it all together with all that's going on in their individual lives.  My hat is off to you ladies. 

Isn't this little Halloween goodie box just the cutest?  Beverly showed us how to assemble this awesome little box that is cut out using the Fry Box Bigz L Die.  It measures 3 x 3 1/3" and could be decorated for any occasion that calls for a small treat or gift holder.  I loved the combo of the Label Bracket punch and the banner on the goodie bag.  Super easy to put together. 

Jennilee Pauls our hostess designed this beautiful snowflake card for her  Make N' Take demonstration.  Isn't it stunning?

Jennilee crafted this card using the Snowflake Card Thinlets Die Cut, Lost Lagoon and Whisper White card stock. The dotted paper you can see on the right hand side of the card is from the All Is Calm Specialty Designer Series Paper #135823 and the beautiful ribbon is 3/8 Silky Taffeta Ribbon in Lost Lagoon.

The combo of Whisper White, Lost Lagoon and Dazzling Diamonds Glimmer Paper for this card was simply stunning.  We also die cut a small snowflake from the Silver Foil cardstock and it looks like real metal.  This is topped with one of the small snowflakes from the Frosted Sequins pack which includes over 450 sequins in small, medium and large sizes and white snowflakes.

These beautiful snowflake embellishments are from the "All Is Calm Snowflake Embellishments" pack featured on page 22 of the Holiday catalogue.  These simple and elegant snowflakes come 20 to a pack and give just the right finishing touch to this project.  The word "joy" is one of the three word die cuts in the Snowflake Card Thinlet Die set.  The other two words are Brrr and Snow......... how appropriate and what fun! 

Snowflake Card Thinlet Die Cut #135855 $40.40 includes 9 dies. 

Jennilee also drew for door prizes and I was fortunate enough to win this beautiful box she made with the new Gift Box Punch Board #135863 and it contained a roll of the Natural and Old Olive Two-Tone Trim #135837.  

Jennilee made this box out of Whisper White card stock that was stamped in Pear Pizzazz, Smokey Slate and Pool Party ink using the Endless Wishes Photopolymer stamp set featured on page 32 of the Holiday Catalogue.

It's easy to create your own wrapping paper with just a few stamps and some coordinating inks.  Check out all the great projects made with this design on page 32 of the Holiday Catalogue.

Endless Wishes a 19 piece Photopolymer two-step stamp set, available in English, French and Spanish.

The Natural and Olive Two-toned ribbon is super chunky and super fun.  I can't wait to use it on one of my projects.  It is five times thicker than baker's twine and comes in a 10 yard roll.

The Gift Box Punch Board #135863 page 5 of the Holiday catalogue

Last but not least, our third make n' take project was presented by Betty Ann and involved a brayer technique that I hadn't tried before.  She also demonstrated how to tie  a double bow using just your fingers.  Both were great techniques and the amazing thing is that this was one of the fastest cards I've ever made from start to finish. 

The Nature's Peace stamp set features 4 stamps including this large block. 

Well that's it for today folks.  I hope you enjoyed these cards and will leave a comment and come back again.  

Happy Stampin!
Penny Tokens