2012 in review

Good morning,

I've seen many bloggers sharing a "year in review" and thought it would be fun to do the same. Here are some of my faves from the past year. It was hard to chose in the busier months!

January

February

and

March

and

April

and

May

and

June

and

July

and

August

September

October

November

and

December

and

Hey, that was fun! So wonder so many bloggers are doing it! 

Thanks so much for stopping by, I so love to hear what others think of my work. 

Sending wishes for an entire year of health and happiness! Happy New Year!

Sincerely,

Shanna :)

Precious memories

Unfortunately, I have need of sympathy cards to send. There has been great sadness intermingled with all the holiday cheer this year for several people we know. This particular card is for my cousin who lost his girlfriend to a terrible car accident just two days before Christmas. She was just twenty years old with a bright future in Television broadcasting. I didn't even know where to start with this card, but thank goodness I visited Danderella on Christmas Eve and noticed this stamp set sitting out while visiting in her craft room. I love the verses in this fantastic set from Verve. Thanks for loaning me this great set Dan!

I took these pictures with my new Nikon 7000. I don't know much about it yet, but so far, what I see I really like! 

Here is the sketch I used. I deviated slightly from it, but love the simplicity of this one. I would like to share my card at The Sweet Stop.

Well, I better run and feed the boys some lunch before we head out to the hill for another afternoon of skiing.

Thanks for visiting,

Shanna :)

What I used:

papers: Prima Reflections collection 6x6

burlap

Verve "Forever in our hearts"

Deck the Halls

Hello and thanks for stopping in to say hello! Here are a couple more quick and simple Christmas cards I made last minute and had not yet posted. 

I would like to share my cards at:

Christmas Card Challenges

and

TSG - last minute Christmas

and

Little Red Wagon - Boxing day (use boxes or squares)

And here are a few photos of this year's Christmas decor...

at our front entryway - remember we are a skiing family so we LOVE snow!!! (This is the best orgranizer shelf whatchamacallit since there is a small drawer for each person plus one extra. It holds car keys, sunglasses and cell phones amongst other things. Thanks lil sis for helpling me find a place to hang it earlier this year!

This is just part of our Nutcracker collection...

The fireplace downstairs - we've started using this as a reading area now that it has been tidied and decorated. I am very fond of the "tall and skinny" tree and put two of them up this year rather than our usual 7 ft artificial douglas fir that is probably 5-6 ft wide - it just takes up way too much space. I was much happier with how nicely these two trees simply fit in with the existing floor plan without requiring major rearrangement of the furniture.

The far end of our kitchen where the boys practice on Grandma's piano. See how nicely I was able to squeeze a tree into my kitchen!?!

Here's hoping you are having a fantastic weekend! My eldest has a friend over for a sleepover or should I say "awakeover"! Should be an interesting evening!

Thanks for your visit!
Shanna :)

Stockings

Here is the very last Christmas card I made for this year...

I have been anxious to colour this adorable Saturated Canary image since I purchased her back in November. So glad I finally found the time! She was so much fun to colour. I even tried a new hair colour using Suzanne Dean's recommendation for colouring dark blonde hair - YR23, E35 and &23. 


I must admit I had some design difficulties with this one as there is a lot of "white space" in the upper half of the card. the brads helped, but I didn't want to add too much and distract from this cutie patootie. So, I didn't add anything else. Here she is...

And here is the inside:

I would like to share this at:
TSG - last minute Christmas project
JUGS - photo inspiration - I have incorporated some of the colours, the circles and the design element of lining things up all in a row.


Cute Card Thursday - anything goes
Christmas Card Challenges - holiday card

Well, we hit the slopes today and will probably be heading out again tomorrow. The conditions were not too bad considering any real snow we've had has mostly melted. I am grateful for the fresh air and sunshine - it was a fantastically sunshiny day!

Thanks so much for stopping by!
Shanna :)
What I used:
image - digi from Saturated Canary
papers: Jillibean Soup - winter tortellini & spinach 6x6 mini pad
sentiment: CTMH
courduroy brads - Fancy Pants
copics: BG10, 11, 32, R81, 83, 85, 89
YG17, 25, C00, E77, 
skin: E00, E11, E13
hair: E35, YR23, Y23

Gingerbread to go

Happy Boxing Day!

Here is another version of the "to go" cups I decorated as Tim Horton's gift card holders. I had so much fun decorating these! I forgot to remove the excess glue that squeezed through from the back and trim his "scarf" before shooting the photo - I was in a hurry, please excuse, lol.

I would like to share at Cute Card Thursday where the challenge is "Eat, drink and be merry".
I would also like to share at There She Goes Challenge blog where they are looking for last minute Christmas projects. I think I have a few more for this challenge as I always have just "one more" things to sneak in!

Have a fantastic day!
Shanna :)

What I used:
burlap, white liquid pearls
twine, K&co. pearls
misc. ribbon from my stash
Basic Grey mini die by Basic Grey (Gingerbread man #3)
to go cup is from Dollarama

Wish upon a star...

I had a great deal of difficulty photographing this one. It has a bit of shine to it that was impossible to capture. It is double-sided and stitched together. This one is for my Mom and Dad. 

I would like to share at Winter Wonderland where the challenge is "Wish upon a star". 

I just had to share these photos of the littlest guests at my Christmas Open house on Dec. 14th. They had so much fun playing away at the piano. It seems there was a lot of mistletoe around as well!

Happy Holidays from our home to yours! I plan to do a lot of chillin', snugglin' and staying close to home over the next several days. I see some pyjama days in the near future and lots of huggin' on my boys. With all that has happened, spending quality time with my boys seems that much more important. Give 'em all a big hug and tell them how much they mean to you, I'm sure gonna!

With love and hugs,

Merry Christmas!

Shanna 
a.k.a Bananastamper :)
xoxoxoxo

Noel etc.

What a busy week it's been! Last week of school, last week of work, parties, goodies to send, teacher's gifts, piano recital, The Nutcracker (it was fantastic!), Christmas Carolling, gift wrapping.... Yikes I think I need a nap. And then this morning I learned of a family tragedy. Yesterday morning my Mom let me know that my cousin's girlfriend had been in a head-on collision on the way home from work (inclement weather) and was in a coma. Bad news, but she's young I thought and strong. This morning I found out that she didn't make it. I had only met her once, but she was my youngest cousin's girlfriend and my heart just aches for him. It is a tragedy no matter the time of year, but here we are only two days from Christmas. There are no words for this sort of thing...

However, we must continue on. Yesterday evening a number of families gathered together to do some old-fashioned Christmas carolling in our neighbourhood. We decided to collect donations from the RFDA (the local foodbank) - it was super fun (you should have seen the little ones running up to the doors, ringing the bells and holding up their sign!) and then we gathered at our house for hot chocolate, cider, goodies and visiting. In approximately 45 minutes, we collected almost $100 plus a box of food. Not bad at all for our first go round! Before we even got back to our house, everyone was talking about "next time" this and "next time" that, so we have decided to make it an annual thing. So - after learning the sad news this morning, I decided that TODAY was the very best day to gather the kiddos and deliver the donation we had collected to the food bank. It was definitely a feel good kinda thing to do! I'm so, so, glad we did it!

Anyhow, today's tag is for the current challenge at the Little Red Wagon, to make a Christmas Tag. I thought I had a photo of this tag on the gift where it belonged, but alas it did not turn out, so here you have simply a naked tag, or at least a tag without it's gift, lol!

I would also like to share at CASual Fridays where the challenge is "the 10 minute craft dash" - this one was that quick especially since the cricut cut stars and the diecut music note were leftovers from another project.

I think I'll make me a few more of these ones since they were quick and easy.

Best run, heading out to a Christmas party - perhaps it will lift my spirit!
Hugs from me to you,
Shanna :)

Take it to go

 Hello and thanks for stopping by!

Here is part of the gift I did up for my boy's teachers for Christmas. These "to go" cups hold gift certificates to Tim Horton's. I got this idea from Creative Miss Laurel a couple of years ago when she did up something similar for gifts. I went out hunting for to go cups that could be easily turned into gifts and found these fabulous ones at Dollarama. They have a texture similar to corrugated cardboard. I love them because they have a neutral colour plus the fun texture. They were so much fun to play with and only cost me $2.00 for a pack of 10.

I rooted through my stash of vintage buttons to find ones that seemed to work. I love this one in the middle of the snowflake so much that I almost didn't put it on there, lol! Oh well, no point in hoarding them in a tin where nobody seems them! (It came from the tin of fab vintage buttons my Mom and Lil Sis found me at the Thrift store - thanks girls! They know I have a thing for buttons!)

Today's project is for Laurel's current challenge at Inspired By - this is the photo prompt. I incorporated some of the colours and the snow and who doesn't need a cuppa something warm when they head out shopping? Starbuck's or maybe a David's Tea? What's your fave blend?

I would also like to share my project at The Ribbon Carousel where the challenge theme is "The Holidays" and you must use ribbon or twine.

I almost forgot to link my project up over at The Paper Players where the challenge is currently Snowflakes.

Have a fabulous day!
Shanna :)

What I used:
to go cups from Dollarama
burlap
chipboard
stickles
paper from scrap bin
vintage buttons
Little Yellow Bicycle felt stickers

Tropical wishes

Today's card is for the current challenge over at Papercraft Star - a tree.
I went with a tropical tree as this card is for my supervisor who will be retiring to St. Lucia in the New Year. I just couldn't help but to bling it out a bit. 

I do love this paper pack - isn't this the one we were talking about the other day Lee-Ann? Its from "12 days of Christmas" by MME. Such a fun colour palette!

I struggled a bit with this one as it is out of my comfort zone for sure. One minute I love it, the next I really don't, lol! Oh well, it fit the bill in this case.
Oh, and here is a shot of the inside as well as the matchy gift!

I would also like to share over at Winter Wonderland where the challenge is "Oh Christmas Tree."

I also thought you may get a kick out of at shot of my extremely messy craft space! I had to have this totally cleaned up for my Annual Open House last night - what a job!

See you soon,
Shanna :)

The conspiracy of love

I just love this quote and the vintage feel to this paper line. When I saw the panels I thought they might make some quick and simple last minute cards. Here is a really simple one I came up with. Just as I like them this close to mailing deadlines!

This card is for Shopping Our Stash where the challenge is to make a quote or sentiment the focal point.
I would also like to share at Christmas card challenges
and
Cupcake Craft Challenges - Merry Christmas.


Be back soon,
Shanna :)