So Very Thankful

It's a wonderful day of Thanksgiving for all that God has given each of  us. I am so thankful for life and love and family and friends.

I 'll be off-line for several weeks as unfortunately I've been a klutz and taken a spill, managing to break both of my hands #@^%*@*. I know can you believe that!!! Seriously it could have been so much worse and I am grateful to God for protecting me.

So no stamping, no typing (Jerry is taking my dictation), no pictures, no nuttin'...

Be back in no time, or 4 to 6 weeks.

May you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with gratitude, love and laughter.

Blessings  From the Reed Ranch!

xoxo

Pam's Christmas Picks

Last Saturday I spent another great time at Pam's playing with stamps and hanging out with so many great friends.... just love those times together! Here's the cards Pam (and Ruth) had for us to make... Christmas theme of course!

Even though we made these fantastic Christmas cards, 

just a few days before Winter is setting in, 

we still managed to sit outside in the patio to have lunch... amazing!

That's a California Christmas for ya!

Do you know the way to San Jose?

I was so tickled as yesterday I got to spend time with my dear friends from San Jose! Gloria and her family were down for the weekend visiting and fortunately I was able to squeeze in a lunch with them... I have only seen Antonio, their 6 year old one other time when he was probably about a year old... and this was the first time I got to actually meet Graciela.. she's already 3 and such a little sweetheart... and charmer!

Gloria and I met on a flight from San Francisco to San Diego about a dozen years ago.... it's a long story.. but a good one... someday I'll have to tell you all about it... Regardless of distance and time, we've manged to keep in touch and seems like when we do get to see each other, it's like no time has passed....

Here's the family... Mark, Antonio, Graciela and Gloria!

What a treat this was and how appropriate 

to be during this special time of Thanksgiving... 

that's when we realized that the family and friends we have 

must never be taken for granted....

Gloria you are such a blessing and and a gift!

I'm so grateful for our special friendship...

You have been blessed with a beautiful family!

Giving Up Chocolate

I was walking down the street when I was approached by a particularly dirty and shabby-looking homeless woman who asked me for a couple of dollars for dinner. 

I took out my wallet, got out ten dollars and asked,'If I give you this money, will you buy chocolate with it instead of dinner?'

'No, I had to stop eating chocolate years ago', the homeless woman told me.
'Will you use it to go shopping instead of buying food?' I asked.

'No, I don't waste time shopping,' the homeless woman said. 'I need to spend all my time trying to stay alive.'

'Will you spend this on a beauty salon instead of food?' I asked.

'Are you NUTS!' replied the homeless woman. I haven't had my hair done in 20 years!'

'Well, I said, 'I'm not going to give you the money.. Instead, I'm going to take you out for dinner with my husband and me tonight.'

The homeless Woman was shocked. 'Won't your husband be furious with you for doing that? I know I'm dirty, and I probably smell pretty disgusting.'

I said,'That's okay. It's important for him to see what a woman looks like after she has given up shopping, hair appointments, and chocolate.'

New SU Paper Trimmer!!!

Well the new Stampin' Up! Paper Trimmer was released November 1st so is now available .... finally!!!.... and I love it! Yes I know I already have a half dozen other varieties but that's like anything else, you gotta keep huntin' until you find perfection, right??

Want to make this fun and easy 3D card for the holidays or a birthday? well.. the new SU trimmer can help you!!!

The top three reasons why I love this trimmer:

- The extra wide 6 1/4 cutting base with the extension arm that extends to 14 1/2". The days of trying to find that tiny 5 1/2" mark in the crevice of my old trimmer are finally over! In addition, the 1 1/4'' section on the other side of the cutting base allows me to cut thin pieces easily.
- The hidden storage compartment underneath to hold my bone folder, stylus, eraser, pencil, extra blades, etc is fantastic!
- The locking mechanism that keeps my cutter from flapping open and exposing my blade while I am moving it around. I have bent way to many blades on my old cutter because of this.

Please also watch this video from Stampin' Up! that shows you how great this tool really is.  At $29.95, it's a fantastic item to put at the top of your holiday wish list from Santa!






Supplies used include:  Stampin' Up Trimmer (126889), Snow Festival Designer Series Paper (126908), Scallop Oval Punch (119856), Large Oval Punch (119855), Petite Pairs Stamp Set (122497), Cherry Cobbler Stamp pad (119669), Gumball Green Satin Stiched Ribbon (126848), Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding (120992), Cherry Cobbler Cardstock (119685), and Gumball Green Cardstock (126840).

You're gonna want one.. trust me!

Better ask Santa!

Sneak Peek Christmas SAS

So on December 1st I'll be having my Christmas Stamp-a-Stamp.... and wanted to give you a sneak peek of one of the cards the gals will be making... found this idea on LeeAnn Greff 's site... then of course I'll put my own twist on it to make it my own!!! Simple yet Elegant!

Let's see, I think it's time for another Door Prize clue too....

Randomly throughout the day,  

stand up and announce any one of these facts from this 

article on The History of Christmas Ornaments

This is gonna be a crack up.

The Next Cupcake Wars????

Watch out all your Cupcake Wars fans..... 
                  we're raising up the next generation!



The best part is not the licking of the beaters or the frosting on his chin... it's the way he's standing and positioned his toes that makes me wanna just scoop him up and smother him with kisses!!!!

These were taken by Grandma Darleen when she and

Brayden were preparing for daddy's birthday!

love it love it love it!

Whew! That was Fun!

I love my job..... how often do you get to go to work and "play"??? Well that's how I felt yesterday at least... getting to be a part of the Qualcomm Craft Show was a treat and I had a great time... the weather was FANTASTIC.. goodness and here I was afraid it could rain... what was I thinking?

Probably the best part is that Jerry came and helped me and hung out with me all day... that was cool... and so glad he was the muscles on the team... that's always the hard part about these things is hauling everything around.. but still very fun!

We didn't do fantastic.. but then again the goal wasn't to make gobs of money (good thing).... the goal was to have fun and share what we love!!!  Having not just my cards and paper craft projects, but also Jerry's woodworking and Allen's ceramics made it a family affair!

Several of my co-workers came by to see me so that was special.. and I also got to see several people I hadn't seen in eons so that was bonus! Here's a few shots we took of the booth and goods displayed... after that I completely forgot to take any more pictures...

So we cleared $4 bucks short of $300.. not too shabby!

Today's the Day!

 The address is 5770 Morehouse Dr, San Diego 92121

(off MiraMesa and Lusk)

You can find driving directions through Mapquest here. 

Come on by today and check it out...

 "Gail's Gifts" is Booth #14.. that's me!!!

It's about in the middle of the two main rows.

 

There will also be several "Gourmet Food Trucks"

on site if you're hungry..

and some booths giving demos and lessons on the

Potters Wheel, Guitar and even Quilling!

 

Let the Festivities Begin!

Arts and Craft Show (Christmas Items)

Now here's some of the Christmas items I've made for tomorrow's Craft show at work.. I'm kinda getting excited and sure hope it won't rain on us as it's outside in the parking lot... it's a "rain or shine" event.. so we'll see what happens!

Remember the little candy gift boxes that perfectly fit 

four of the Hershey's Nuggets??

well here's the Christmas versions....

And again, the candy is also individually 

wrapped in matching Designer Series Paper!

Who doesn't love Almond Rocca?

I bought a container at Costco and when I started making the 

 Hershey Nugget  candy boxes,  

I discovered that four of the Almond Rocca's also fit perfectly.... 

so to step it up and make it elegant,

I made these boxes from the elegant flocked Designer Series Paper....

These are so beautiful in person the picture doesn't do them justice....

For eons I've had a few of these great little turquoise slider boxes 

and kept trying to find something that would fit perfectly inside...

so guess what fits?? ... six of the Almond Rocca's!!! Sweet!

These are "square round" or "round square" containers... either way you look at it they're pretty cool....

made with the same beautiful flocked paper so it's velvety finish and again has matching Hershey  Nuggets inside each bag.... 

I made a few more Stationary Boxes similar to those 

we made at the Rubba Sista Fall Festival last month... 

More of the Gift bags... plus I made matching note cards and completed it 

with some fancy matching tissue paper....

I'm so in love with the new Christmas stamp set I got with the awesome Angel... I embossed her in gold and they came out super elegant.. topped with some gold wired ribbon made these "heavenly" to look at! too! Again the picture just doesn't do these justice.....

I had alot of the "easel cards" from Fall Festival left over,

so I made up a couple of different packets of these as well...

This one is "For the Birds'... literally.. made using the Christmas stamp from that set...

I made a few other miscellaneous packs with a variety of four cards each....

I was so tickled cuz Jean came by on Saturday to pick up her SU order and while she was here she saw all my stuff I had out getting packaged up and still stamping some new things... so she was my first customer and made me feel really encouraged!.... Thanks Jean!!! I hope my co-workers are as excited over my goodies as you were!!