Snapshots of Life - Thanksgiving at 4 PM

Just about four o'clock, we sat down to eat dinner. This year we sat downstairs in the family room. Nicholas joined Joel , Mom and me at the bar. Usually we sit upstairs in the dining room  with the "grownups." It was fun to watch football on while we ate!

Check out eighteen25 to see what other people were doing at 4 PM on Thursday, November 25.

And the winner is....

The winner of the Operation Write Home blog candy is

Please send me an email with your mailing address (christi (dot) spadoni @ gmail.com)
I will mail your goodies out this week!

Operation Write Home Blog Hop!

Welcome! Today's post is part of the Operation Write Home Be My Valentine blog hop. Operation Write Home supports our nation's armed forces by sending blank handmade greeting cards to write home on, as well as cards of gratitude to encourage them.  Over 670,000 cards have been sent to the troops. 

Last month, my mom, my best friend Jen and her mom and sister, Heather made a big batch of Christmas cards and sent them to Operation Write Home. The deadline for sending Christmas cards has passed, but they are always looking for birthday, thinking of you and love you cards. 

Heather is a captain in the Army Reserves and spent 18 months in Iraq. A group of Red Hat Society ladies sent her blank handmade cards that she could send home. Making cards for Operation Write Home is a way for us to pay it forward.


The theme for this blog hop is Valentine. Now it may seem strange to see Valentines in November but Operation Write Home has to work ahead of the calendar to get cards to the troops so they can send them home to loved ones. If you would like to donate some cards, the deadline for sending Valentines is January 7. Visit the Operation Write Home website for all the details. 

Here's the Valentine that I created. It's loosely based on this week's sketch #63 at Get Sketchy.

I'd also like to do a little giveaway to continue spreading the love. So leave me a comment by Monday, November 15 at noon. I'll pick a name at random to win a few fun embellishments. 

Now hop on over to see what Paula at Handmade by Paula has created! If you would like to start at the beginning go to the Stars and Stripes blog!

Don't forget to vote for Operation Write Home in the Joann's Craft for a Cause contest. You can vote once a day. 


Supplies Used:
cardstock: Die Cuts With a View (coral), Papertrey Ink (chocolate)
patterned paper: Basic Grey, Jillibean Soup
stamp: Studio G
ink: Papertrey Ink (snow white)
punch: Fiskars
felt embellishment: K&Company

OLW26 - What's Black and White and Red All Over?

The challenge at One Layer Wonders this week is What's Black and White and Red all over?


I did two cards for this challenge. It's been a great way to get started on Christmas cards.
On the first card I stamped and embossed the candy canes and embellished with stickles. I finished with a hand drawn frame to ground the images on the white background.

This card is also for the Christmas Card Challenge #48 to include candy canes, or some kind of Christmas treat, on your Christmas cards.

This time, I reversed the color combination letting the bold red background take center stage with some white embossed jingle bells. I used the FTL114 sketch again for this card.

Happy Halloween

The new moderators of the Silhouette Users group on Yahoo issued a challenge to create a fall item with the new Silhouette Studio software.

I die cut the card fronts with my Silhouette SD. Then I added a strip of patterned paper and stitched them onto the black folded card bases. I finished with a looped banner of ribbon and a sparkly chipboard sentiment.

Inside, I stamped and embossed the sentiment in white and added our own little greeting at the bottom. Then mailed them all off to the kidlets - and one college kid!

Supplies Used:
cardstock: Bazzill
patterned paper: Basic Grey
chipboard stickers: Making Memories
stamp: PSX
ink: Colorbox (frost white)
embossing powder: Filigree (white)
die cut: jack_o_lantern_card_C20090904130829_19210
ribbon: May Arts
bling: Heidi Swapp
pen: Uniball Signo

Snapshots of Life

The girls over at eighteen25 started a challenge to take a photo at a specific time of day. They are calling it Snapshots of Life. This first round was for Thursday, October 28 at 5:00 PM.

We served red velvet cupcakes at our wedding. To celebrate our anniversary, I bought two for dessert. Behind the cupcake is my absolute favorite wedding photo taken by our fantastic photographer, Lea Lawson.

Can you believe I served these cupcakes at 2 parties last year and never ate one until today?? 

The bakery was closed on our actual anniversary, so much like birthdays, it's become Anniversary Week around here.