A Stamping Year in Review

GOOD-BYE 2010!

It hasn't been an easy year...but God has blessed me and my family all year no matter what the situation was. I am hoping and praying that 2011 will be GREAT!.

Let's take a look at all the projects we did this year...

January



Our first Stamp Club project...

February

February Stamp Club project. This was also the month that Cassidy broke both bones in her right arm and ended up having to have surgery to put rods in. That is not a good memory of my poor baby being in so much pain.

March

This was the first Workshop on the Go project we did. I love this layout...it is so much prettier in person. I have saved it to add pictures from my daughter Ashley's wedding. I will re post once I get the pictures added to it.

April

In April, we completed a Display Album using the Veranda paper. It was also the 1st year without Uncle Harold at the annual Joyner Family Egg Hunt. We will miss him dearly.

May

Remember this fun layout? It is the Zippidee Workshop On the Go Kit.

June

June means sun and beach time so we of course had to do a layout about spending time at the beach.

July

July was a busy month. Stamp club members made this adorable mini album using the True Fit Folios plus I was busy making Ashley's wedding invitations once she decided on her colors.

August

Do you like the look of stitching on your projects but threading the needle is getting a little harder to  do? Then you will love this project...Faux Stitching!

September

September is a blur to me...I don't remember what project we did for Stamp Club but I do remember we had a great kit you could purchase for National Stamping Month, Can someone help me remember?

Plus....Ashley finally became Mrs. Mark Henry!

October

October was a double project month! We completed a 2 page layout using the Hooligans paper packet and those adorable little felt monsters, then we got a head start on our Christmas cards. Both projects were fun!

November

The Olivia WOTG was perfect for my Thanksgiving pictures from last year. Now I need to get this year's Thanksgiving pictures scrapped!

December

Even though Stamp Club took the month of December off, I was still very busy creating. The girls and I made these awesome Snowman Pops plus I made some Christmas cards for my sister-in-law. No, I never got ours finished. LOL! Maybe I need to do a monthly challenge and make 2 - 5 Christmas cards a month so I won't be scrambling at the last minute? It's a thought...

I hope you have enjoyed revisiting some of my posts from this past year.

Last Chance for Retired List and Plenty for Twenty!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas! We had a great time with our family and friends.

It's not too late...to order many of the Close To My Heart products before they are retired on December 31st! You will still be able to purchase most of the accessories in 2011 but ONLY the paper packets that are in the Autumn/Winter 2010 Idea Book will be available in the New Year.

Check out the retired list here and get shopping! They are only 4 more days to get these paper packets. While you are shopping, don't forget about the Plenty for Twenty special for this month. Remember, all you have to do is spend $20.00 on my website and CTMH will send you a D-size stamp set for FREE (retail value of $22.95)!

Ready to start shopping? Go to my website here and click to Shop Online.

Merry Christmas!

The GREATEST gift given on Christmas Day.....a Savior, Jesus Christ; yet  some still have not accepted this gift. Would you leave a present unopened under the tree on Christmas morning.....I wouldn't!

Tips for great Christmas photos

Christmas tree decorated...check, holiday goodies baked...check, Christmas packages wrapped...check. What am I forgetting? My camera?  Not me! But I want to make sure I get lots of wonderful pictures of my family and friends this holiday season so I took a peek at the tips here at Digital Photography School.

 I also printed out this Holiday Photo Taking Checklist from Creating Keepsakes. You can get if here free!

So hopefully I won't miss any shots!

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards...

I was busy all last week making these Christmas Cards.

Unfortunately, they are not for me but for my sister-in-law,

Tonya. She doesn't scrapbook so she asked if I

would make them for her. I made 16 of the snowmen

and 16 of the Santas.

So where are mine? I haven't finished them yet. LOL!



I can't get the slideshow any smaller....Uuuggghhh!

Snowman Pops

I Love Christmas!!!!

and I love looking at other creative people's blogs and finding

cute, simple Christmas ideas tomake and/or to eat.

As I was browsing some sites the other day I came across

this cute idea  from Speckled-Egg.blogspot.com to make

"Snowmen Pops" using marshmallows, melted white chocolate

and mini M&Ms. It also called for white lollipop sticks but our

local Walmart didn't have them so I iimprovised with some flat

sticks from the craft section.

The girls and I got up early on Saturday morning and started

making them. We used 2 bags of marshmallows and made 25

snowmen pops. We would have had 26 pops if we hadn't had to

taste the marshmallows to make sure they were good! LOL!

Gabrielle and Cassidy are sticking the marshmallows on the sticks.

A bowlful of white candy ready to be melted...

Dip the snowman marshmallows into the melted candy. Make sure

to completely cover the marshmallows so they don't get hard and

icky. I used a spoon to help make sure everything was covered.

Place the chocolate covered snowman on wax paper to harden.

Mini M&Ms...we could only find them in Christmas colors.

As soon as the snowmen were placed on the wax paper we placed

2 M&Ms for the eyes, 1 for the nose and then 1 on each of the

remaining marshmallow.

Ta Da!!!!

The finished product! Isn't he adorable?

We let them harden completely and then we placed them in

individual clear bags tied closed with a twist tie. Dummy me

forgot to take a picture of that!

So how did they taste? Delicious!!!!

Discount on CTMH products...HURRY, HURRY

Close To My Heart just released a selection of products at a huge discount!  The products can be viewed on my website-  www.nancyhoover.myctmh.com.

Some items are up to 90% off.  And… don’t forget about the Plenty for Twenty!  If you order $20 or more, you will receive a free $22.95 stamp set or free.

Hurry…. things are sure to go fast.  Also, be sure to check back.  CTMH will occasionally add to this collection of products when we have retired items left in inventory that we know you will love. Because inventory can fluctuate, check my site often to take advantage of these products that are offered while supplies last!

December Stamp of the Month Blog Hop - Amore

CTMH’s December Stamp of the Month: D1445 Amore is a wonderful stamp set that can be used for Valentine's or Weddings.  Don't forget you can get this stamp set FREE with a qualifying purchase. Check out the detail here at my website.

Grab your cup of coffee and sit down and enjoy the more than 60 different blogs showcasing this stamp set.

Here’s the complete list of all the participants in the CTMH December Blog Hop. If you get lost along the way or want to refer to it over and over again – this is the place to come.



Kathleen Androlewicz	Mini Pizza Box w/ Insert, Clear Card – Magnifique
Helen Onulak	Wall Hanging using Olivia
Jenifer Benner	Love Card – Creme Brulee & Smoothie
Melissa Burch	Scrapbook Page – for Baby Girl
Melissa Laverty	Scrapbook Layout – Magnifique Level 1
Dawn Ross	Hearts Card – Magnifique
Debra Van Patten	Heart Shaped Card
Carol Horton	Spellbinders Cut Card – Sky & Pacifica
Sarita Schraeder	Christmas Card – Mistletoe
Jill Lucas	Amore Card – Tha’s Amore
Judy Burger	6" x 6" Card w/ quilted look – Magnifique
Lori Leng	Circle Card w/ scalloped flower
Laurie Newton	Amore Candle
Shirley Ross	Love Card – Cocoa
Kimberly Smith	Scrapbook Layout – That’s Amore, Plus Cards
Michelle Loncar	Card w/ small diagonal squares – Gypsy & White Daisy
Carla Ironside	Scrapbook Page – Amore – Veranda
Katy Donaldson	Love Card w/ Pretty Pins – Bella
Krista Ritskes	3" x 3" Cards – You’re First Class – Emporium
Kristie Herdener	Christmas Card w/ Tree – Passages
Lori Brown	Gate-Fold Card – Black, Vineyard Berry & New England Ivy
Michelle Nist	Card – Two Hearts… – Pear & Smoothie
Wanda Riley	Card – Amore
Toni Hinchcliffe	6" x 6" Card – Love – Olivia
Beth Naumann	6" x 6" Card – Mistletoe…for Valentine’s Day
Haley Dyer	Card – You’re First Class – Magnifique
Tammy Lea Pinchard	Card & Random Stamped Paper
Angela Tutton	Love Card – Olivia
Traci Godbee	I Love You, Be Mine Card – Jingle
Melinda Everitt	Amore Card – Mistletoe
Dawn Heuft	I Love You – Magnifique
Shannon Buck	Amore Card – More to Adore
Teri Baxter	Tri-Shutter Card – Love – Magnifique
Georgia Hauglid	Love Card – Olivia, Love Bag
Pamela O’Connor	Love Tag – That’s Amore
Susan Brooks	Flower Card (made with Hearts), Spinner Card – large flourish heart
Kami Welter	8" x 3.5" Card – Amore – Magnifique
Caren Goldstein	Clear Card – Two Hearts… – Olivia
Adeline Brill	Love Card – Olivia
Mary Eisen	Love – More to Adore, Love Heart on pleated cardstock
Chris Shouse	Love – embossing – Cherry-O
Annette Green	Tag/Card – Cherry-O & Bella (black & pink)
Doreen Guilfoyle	Christmas Love Card – Mistletoe
Jody Gustafson	Variety of Projects (candy box, cards & box) – That’s Amore
Sheila Bennett	Together Card – Olivia
Jen Rubio	Variety of Cards – Olivia
Brae Montgomery	Scrapbook Page – Love My Girl – Baby Pink & Chocolate
Melissa Robinson	Love Card – Magnifique
Wendy Coffman	Love Card – Splendor
Tamytha Jenkins	Variety of Cards
Angel Sawyer	Quilt Pattern Page, Wall Hanging – Magnifique
Vickie Tagatz	Magnet & Card
Jean McNulty	Amore Card w/ three heards – Cranberry & Chocolate, plus others
Kathy Lickenbrock	Card – Olivia
Wendy Kessler	Scrapbook Page – Topstitch
Wendy Fording	Amore Card – Magnifique

Plenty for Twenty! FREE STAMP SET!

Now this in an incredible special! From December 1, 11:00 am (EST) – December 31, 11:59 pm you can place a minimum order of $20 (excluding tax and shipping/handling) on a MyCTMH site and receive a popular, retired D-size stamp set FREE! The stamp set will be a SURPRISE from Close to my Heart, meaning they will choose it but it will be a $22.95 value and no doubt a great KEEPER! Imagine that, spend just $20 and get a $22.95 value as a GIFT FOR FREE! And even better......

There is no shipping/handling or tax assessed on the free stamp set. Free stamp set will be selected by Close To My Heart. Qualifying purchases must include shippable products (since Studio J memberships and 5-packs are online products, they will count toward a qualifying order only when purchased on a MyCTMH site and if shippable items are also ordered).

You read that right, no shipping or tax on the FREE stamp set. Wow! Talk about a great Christmas present for a loved one or yourself!! Remember it goes on for the whole month of Decembers so take advantage of it now RIGHT HERE!

Gobble, Gobble, Gobble!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to all! 

I hope this day brings you lots of GOOD food, family and fun!

We will be headed to Glennville to spend Thanksgiving with my Daddy's side of the family. It is held every year at my cousin, Tyrone's house and includes his wife Jane's side of the family also. Needless to say, there will be plenty to eat!



Later in the afternoon, we will be going to Baxley to celebrate with Tony's Daddy and sister, Tonya. Yes, we will still be full from all the food that we consumed (gorged on)  at Tyrone's. LOL! Even though there will only be eight of us, Tonya will cook like she's feeding an army! She always does. The only thing she will let us bring is Sweet Potato Souffle.

I will post pictures later. Meanwhile, I will leave you with this poem I saw on Facebook.

May your stuffing be tasty,
May your turkey be plump,
May your potatoes and gravy never have a lump.
May your yams be delicious,
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner stay off your thighs!

In my case, I hope it doesn't go to my stomach. LOL!

What I've been working on lately...

Okay, so after getting so much inspiration from other blogs and websites, I finally sat down and did some creating. Here are a couple of the items I have finished. I hope it inspires you also.

I saw a picture of some trees like this on the cover of the December 2010 Scrapbooks Etc magazine and fell in love with them. They had a link to the directions and it was fairly simple to make. I was able to use up some of my leftover paper to complete it. My only complaint was that I kept burning my fingers because I couldn't find my low temp glue sticks....

Now, aren't these the cutest little fellows?

They are called "Snowman Kisses". I first saw this project at Kerry's Papercrafting blog. She has a lot of craft fair items which is what I was looking for since I am debating about entering our local Dogwood Festival next Spring.

I found written instructions here. They were very easy to follow. Again, I was able to use some leftover Christmas paper.

The picture quality on this is lousy! Sorry about that. I also saw these Hot Cocoa Sliders on Kerry's Paper crafting Blog. I used up some retired Christmas paper I had and used the new "A Sip" stamp set on the front. This is a great stamp set because you can use it for coffee, tea or cocoa and it is only $7.95!

This card is one that were being shown on the CTMH Bulletin Board last year. I made a couple last year using this stamp set but not this particular design. I love this stamp set , it is such a fun design. It is called Ms Holiday Cheer. The gift bag she is carrying was blank and so I wrote "Belk" on it. LOL!

Okay, that's it for now. Thanks for stopping by!

Stencil, Sparkle & Shine!

You can watch the latest CTMH Art & Soul webisode called Stencil, Sparkle and Shine by clicking on the picture above.

When you're done, you can order the supplies used in this project here. Have you missed some webisodes? Just click on the links to the left to see other webisodes.

Meet my croppin' friends

I alway forget to take my camera to my workshops with me (bad, bad scrapbooker!) but last month I finally remembered it much to the dismay of my friends.  They are a great bunch of girls though and I would like you to know them also..

Mrs. Janice

Mrs. Mary Anne

Ms. Judy

Mrs. Helen and Mrs Linda

My sister, Nadalie and my choir director, Denise

Mrs. Gail (she was trying to tell me not to take that picture)

Mrs. Gwen

and finally Mrs Sandi who secures the dates for us to use the Church.

I have scrapbooked with these women for years and am fortunate to not only have them as cutomers but to be able to call them friends.