There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found......

Good day! First, I wanted to share the fabulous Snowman & Woman that my family built with my boys on Christmas Day. The snow started on Christmas Eve morning and my parents, sister and brother-in-law were due to fly in at about 6:30 pm. As the snow got heavier, I must admit I was a little concerned that they may end up stranded at the airport in Toronto. Apparently though, they were meant to come this year as they got here safe & sound (and only about half an hour late) and we had a wonderful snowy white Christmas together for the first time in our home here in the great white North! It was very snowy, the snow just kept coming, but it was okay with us as we had nowhere we had to go - that just makes snow so much more fun!

So, after an early start on Christmas morning - a bit of breakfast and caffeine, opening stockings, then gifts, a few of the crew dozed off for a few zzz's before heading outside to shovel and build some snowpeople and a snowfort while I prepared the Christmas meal. That meant a quiet house and no children underfoot as I worked in the kitchen, a welcome peace. :) When I peeked outside the window to see how things were going (they must have been out there for going on 2 hours!) this is what greeted me! Made me think of the line in "Frosty the Snowman"- when they sing "he'll say are ya married, we'll say no man, so you can do the job when you're in town". It was like we had a Snowman Wedding on the front lawn!

As for my card, I figured it was high time to show you something Un-Christmasy...

So, here is the card I made for my baby brother as he and his fiance moved into their 1st house in the middle of December. I wanted to get it done to send home with my Mom along with a little basket of gifties, and this is what I came up with. I must admit I had so much fun making this one! I used my previously un-inked "Around the Block" which was CTMH's stamp of the month for November. Originally, I had thought to myself, ooh that just looks like a lot of work because it's the kind of set you use to "build your own". However, I am so happy with the outcome, I think I'll be reaching for it more often. The sentiments that go along with it are great too, though I opted not to use them in favor of showing off the paper and focusing on the house with their house number added beside the door. I used this fabulous line from Love Elsie for the card. I had purchased this line two years ago while at Scrapfest and have been hoarding to do layouts with pictures from when we purchased our home in October 2007, but figured I could spare a little to make a great card. I did a little coloring with my copics, paper pieced some trees and added a couple of Kaiser pearls and voila. So fun!

Well, I think I've been long-winded enough for today! Have a wonderful evening celebrating the coming of 2010 and please drive safely wherever you are going!

Cheers!

Shanna :)