Another great blog give away...

http://lifeaslou.blogsome.com/2008/12/20/christmas-mini-album-pages-6-7-plus-150-give-a-way/
Can you say Cosmo Cricket?

We have winners...

to this post. See below:
List Randomizer
There were 13 items in your list. Here they are in random order:
maxine
jbarb
ray
kateb
pinky
tona
groovy deborah
turtlelady
laura
debby
sondra
linda
connie
I brought back two prizes, so the top two on the list are the winners!!!
Maxine and JBarb I need your addy's to send your presents to you. Here is a sneak peek of what you will be receiving! Congrats!


We made it safely home! It was a wonderful trip and thank you all for visiting my piece of the world.

We are returning on a jet plane...

tomorrow. I am kind of sad, because it has been such a nice relaxing vacation. I do miss our home, family, friends, and our furry kids. Our condo was approximately 500 ft from the beach on the Sea of Cortez. We spent tons of time on the beach and playing in the ocean. We would spend most of our day there, pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the sunshine. We even did this on Christmas day because we have never spent a Christmas like this one before. I would do it in a heartbeat again. I love being around family, but you have to admit that sometimes that can be stressful and needless to say, there was no stress on Christmas for us this year. One of the days a sea turtle washed up to shore and it was an itty bitty tiny thing. Of course I thought of a friend of mine who calls herself the "Turtelady," aka Sandy. You guessed correctly, she loves turtles! Wow, this is a first for me, blogging in Mexico, how cool is that!!!

Yummy blog candy..

Click here

Leaving on a jet plane...

doesn't that sound like a song!?!?! I am getting so excited, we are leaving for Cabo San Lucas tomorrow! We are going to Detroit today, to stay at the hotel since our plane leaves at 6:30 am tomorrow morning! We have had this trip planned for almost a year and it seems like it took forever to get here. Wow this is the first time my husband and I will be away from family at Christmas. I feel kinda of bad that we have to leave our kids behind. Wait, our kids are of the furry kind with four legs, so not feeling so bad now. Seriously, earlier this week I was feeling a little guilty about not being around our extended families for Christmas, but it was one of my weak moments and that was for a split second. My blog will be kinda of lonely when I am away, so feel free to make some extra comments on any of my post. If I get a chance I will blog from Mexico, wow that would be a first for me and I will also try and upload some pictures! I will miss you all! Merry, merry Christmas to you and your families! Do you want me to bring something back for you? If you would like a chance to win a little something from Mexico, please become one of my blog followers, see over on the top left hand side of my blog, click on "Follow this blog" and post a comment here! I might bring an ornament, a T-shirt, a purse, who knows what stuff may find it's way in my luggage, but there are lots of goodies to buy! Here are a few pictures of our trip in 2006 to Cabo San Lucas. We went with a group of 13 family and friends. Ooooh the memories! Update, please be patient, your comments will not show up unless I can get to a computer to display them!

Edited on 12/27/2008 Look at all that silver, yummy!

We made the news....

the Red Cross news and I was told local News Channels in Virginia. Click here to see the Red Cross article.

I am sitting here...

debating on whether to attempt going into work today. We have had freezing rain and snow that began sometime in the middle of the night and it is still dark out and I am suppose to be at work within the next five minutes. It is a 1/2 hour drive and I definitely know if I am going I will be late. I work in the Trauma Department and really do not want to be a patient, so I decided that I will wait until it is at least light out before I decide. Another reason not go in is that my husband and I are leaving for Cabo San Lucas on Sunday and we have had this trip planned for almost a year and I would really hate not to be able to go. Wouldn't it be a great day to just scrap? Ohhh that little voice inside my head may be getting my self in trouble! So.......do you think I have talked myself out of going yet, why didn't I bring my laptop home with me yesterday so I could just work from home, silly me!!! Stay safe!

UPDATE...Didn't take me long to decide to stay home after my husband left for work, he said it was like driving on a sheet of ice and that there were many, many vehicles in the ditches!

Christmas Quiz Answers....

Remember this quiz?
We have a winner, BishopsMommy! Congrats!
Answers:
1.”White Christmas”
2.Ebenezer
3. “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen”
4. Dasher, Donder, Dancer
5. New York
6. By the chimney
7. Green
8. Tim Allen
9. Eggnog
10. Hershey’s Kisses
11. Rudolph
12. Comet and Cupid
13. “Deck the Halls”
14. Tinsel
15. “I’ll be back again someday”
16.34th
17. Nine
18. Reindeer games
19. Alvin, Theodore, and Simon
20. The youngest child
21. It’s a Wonderful Life
22. A button
23. Italy
24. Blitzen
25. Sugarplums
26. None
27. Angel
28. Cookies
29. Coca-Cola
30. Norelco Electric Shaver
31. Bells
32. Silver and gold
33. To, From
34. Underneath the mistletoe
35. Upon the roof
36. Dasher

I kinda of used someone this weekend...

my Sister-in-law Becky. Here was the challenge:
"Simply make a layout all about cookies!
Now you don’t have to bake a batch of cookies right now to get the layout done. Get creative! The possibilities are endless. If your totally drawing a blank in how to pull this off in just a short amount of time, here are some fun ideas:
You can do a layout that includes a photo of a bag of flour and your favorite cookie recipe.
A layout that includes a favorite photo of your Grandmother and a journal that includes a favorite memory about baking cookies with her while you were a child.
Memories of putting milk and cookies out for Santa.
Take the easy way out and run to the kitchen and snap a photo of those Oreos that are in your kitchen cabinet. After all, they just may be your favorite cookies.
Now remember, you are not limited to these ideas. This is your layout. Make it your own. Post your layout (one made specifically for this challenge and not previously posted anywhere before now) right here in the Fiskateer gallery and leave a link to your layout here in your comments. Although it’s not a requirement, be sure to leave a list of Fiskars tools you used in making your layout too!
Now I’m going to be totally honest with you. I just thought up this challenge within the last hour and created my cookie example to kick things off. And since this is a on-line Fiskateer Holiday Party, I’m going to take on the challenge too! I’m going to create my layout this weekend and post it tomorrow, Sunday 12/14 at 9:00 pm Eastern time along with the name of the random winner of this fun and yummy challenge."

So you ask how did I use my Sister-in-law, well do you see the chef in the layout below? Well I didn't have any pictures of myself, so what the heck, we kind of look-a-like, NOT, so I decided to use her picture on my favorite receipe cookie layout! How fun was this challenge! Yes I did spend almost all weekend on this computer playing with other crafters!

One of my friends use a vanilla cake mix, 1/3 cup of oil, 2 eggs and plenty of chocolate chips and she thought she was cheating!!!! LOL!!

Ok, it's a new day...

and I wanted to show you what I worked on today! It was another challenge that I did. The challenge rules are below:
"Any model will tell you how important it is to have a Glossy. They seem to vary in size but they all contain the model's vital statistics and **GASP** a photo of her. Some Glossy's even have two pictures, a headshot and a body shot. As for their statistics.... they are generally, age, height, eye and hair color, measurements, clothing size. It also has a general resume as well.So, your mini challenge for this week is to create your own Glossy. It can be any size BUT it must contain at least one picture of you and some vital statistics. Be creative and have fun!"

Creative Imaginations pattern paper, Fancy pants Christmas Felt, Creative Imaginations overlays, Prima flowers, vellum pen, xmas red Stickles by Ranger, miscs lettering and number beads and brads.

Do you think I would do I recent picture and use "today's" measurements? Instead, I aimed for the creative part of the challenge!

Had a great day...

met my brother and his wife for lunch at Texas Roadhouse! They were car shopping and got an excellent deal on a 2008! If anyone is in the market for a car, it is definitely a great time to buy, that is of course anyone has any money left!
The rest of the day I played online at the Fisk-a-teer blog, they are having a Christmas party crop, goodies given away all day! You know me, I love getting those scrapbook goodies! I have been pretty darn lucky this past week on winning different scrapbook goodies. I just know I should have bought a lottery ticket and just never did. Gosh and Monday I could of called in "rich" to work!
Ok keeping with the spirit of Christmas, how many can you get correct?
First person to email me with all the correct answers at mardid56@yahoo.com will win a surprise! Yes you can try as many times as you like, please post that you sent me an email. Have fun!
1. What is the biggest selling Christmas single of all time?
2. What was Scrooge’s first name?
3. What carol contains the line “O tidings of comfort and joy”?
4. Name the three reindeer whose names begin with a “D”?
5. In what city did Miracle on 34th Street take place?
6. In The Night Before Christmas, where were the stockings hung?
7. What color is the Grinch?
8. In the movie The Santa Clause, who starred as the substitute Santa Claus?
9. What holiday drink contains sugar, milk, and eggs?
10. What popular bite-sized chocolate candy comes wrapped in red and green foil at Christmas?11. What one reindeer is never mentioned in “The Night Before Christmas”?
12. Name the two reindeer whose name begins with a “C”?
13. What carol contains the word “Fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la”?
14. What glittery bits of metal are hung on a Christmas tree?
15. What were Frosty’s last words?
16. On what street did a Santa Claus miracle occur?
17. Counting Rudolph, how many reindeer are there?
18. What did Rudolph never get to join in?
19. What three characters sing “The Chipmunk Song”?
20. Traditionally, does the oldest or youngest family member open the first present?
21. What holiday film annually appears on television more than 300 times?
22. What is Frosty’s nose made of?
23. What country started the tradition of exchanging gifts?
24. Name the reindeer whose name begins with a “B”?
25. Visions of what dance in children’s heads?
26. How many times is the name of Santa Claus used in “The Night Before Christmas”?
27. What is the most popular tree topper?
28. What snack is often left out for Santa?
29. What cola company was known for its ads featuring a big, smiling Santa?
30. What men’s grooming appliance became a sled for Santa in commercials of the sixties?
31. What do most elves wear on the tips of their shoes?
32. After red and green, what are the two most popular Christmas colors?
33. What two words are normally pre-printed on gift tags?
34. Where was Mommy when she was kissing Santa Claus?
35. Where did Santa land his sleigh in “The Night Before Christmas”?
36. What is the name of the first reindeer Santa calls in The Night Before Christmas?

Oh Scrappy Rat, the elf...

don't you just love that name! Scrappy Rat is the winner of a USX, she is Fisk-a-teer #1135, see Pinky's video if you are not familiar with a USX! Congratulations! It will go postal on Monday, December 15th. Thank you everyone for playing! See the results below:

21 Eleves
17 Rudolphs
7 Santas
5 Mrs. Claus'
4 Scrooges
and one who did not post their results.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Plans...

A very dear friend of mine ask for volunteers to create bundles of 10 Holiday cards to give to the VA Hospital for the wounded Vets to send to their family and friends for the Holidays. I am always ready to put a smile on someones face and I thought this would be a great way to put smiles on so many faces! Oh yes, I started this post out with "Plans!" I realize there are so many VA Hospitals around and would love to make some "thinking of you" cards to send to the VA Hospitals so the wounded Vets can send a card out whenever they would like to. Are you up for it? I ask my very dear friend, Sharon to send me some pictures of when the cards were delivered and I have to warn you, these pictures brought tears streaming down my face! I also want to thank some special family members, who helped me send those smiles around the world! Valerie, Megan, Hailey, Heather, Dave, and Ruthie I can't thank you enough for joining in and creating some wonderful cards! Sharon is the one on the left in the 2nd photo! See what Sharon had to say at the bottom of the last photo!

"Here we are delivering the cards at the hospital to a representative of American Red Cross with reps from the military who plan on taking the cards room to room to see who wants and needs them to send out. What a great feeling and it could not have happened without all the help from my talented and giving friends and Fiskafriends."

Happy Holidays!

Wanna win a prize...

well take this quiz and tell me which Christmas character you are? Click here.

I am Rudolph
OK, so maybe you won't go down in history for having a glowing nose or being heckled by the reindeer gang (thank goodness), but like your Christmas counterpart, you're a good friend who'll stick with the people you love through thick and thin.

Who are you???

Please make sure I know how to get ahold of you if you win so I can send your prize to you! It will go in the mail on Monday, December 15th!

Wow this is so beautiful...

Click here!

Three Great Nieces...

Did you ever pick up a photo and took a look at it and knew exactly how you were going to do the layout? Not sure why, this all came together for me fairly quickly. I did this as a challenge. The challenege was to choose 4 numbers out of fifteen and the hostess would email you back with a description of what needed to be included in your layout. I chose the following:

11. Ink or paint the edges of your paper

12. Use chipboard and either paint it, chalk it or cover it

13. Use patterned papers from different manufacturers

14. Add bling to your layout

I think I will plan more layouts by doing this. Write down a bunch of different techniques on pieces of paper along with coresponding numbers, drop them in a container, and only choose 4 or 5 of them and proceed with designing my layouts. How fun is that?

"My Confession:

I am a Jew, and every single one of my ancestors was Jewish. And it does not bother me even a little bit when people call those beautiful lit up, bejeweled trees, Christmas trees.. I don't feel threatened. I don't feel discriminated against. That's what they are: Christmas trees. It doesn't bother me a bit when people say, 'Merry Christmas' to me. I don't think they are slighting me or getting ready to put me in a ghetto. In fact, I kind of like it. It shows that we are all brothers and sisters celebrating this happy time of year. It doesn't bother me at all that there is a manger scene on display at a key intersection near my beach house in Malibu . If people want a creche, it's just as fine with me as is the Menorah a few hundred yards away. I don't like getting pushed around for being a Jew, and I don't think Christians like getting pushed around for being Christians. I think people who believe in God are sick and tired of getting pushed around, period. I have no idea where the concept came from that America is an explicitly atheist country. I can't find it in the Constitution and I don't like it being shoved down my throat. Or maybe I can put it another way: where did the idea come from that we should worship celebrities and we aren't allowed to worship God as we understand Him? I guess that's a sign that I'm getting old, too. But there are a lot of us who are wondering where these celebrities came from and where the America we knew went to. In light of the many jokes we send to one another for a laugh, this is a little different: This is not intended to be a joke; it's not funny, it's intended to get you thinking. Billy Graham's daughter was interviewed on the Early Show and Jane Clayson asked her 'How could God let something like this happen?' (regarding Katrina) Anne Graham gave an extremely profound and insightful response. She said, 'I believe God is deeply saddened by this, just as we are, but for years we've been telling God to get out of our schools, to get out of our government and to get out of our lives. And being the gentleman He is, I believe He has calmly backed out. How can we expect God to give us His blessing and His protection if we demand He leave us alone?' In light of recent events... terrorists attack, school shootings, etc. I think it started when Madeleine Murray O'Hare (she was murdered, her body found a few years ago) complained she didn't want prayer in our schools, and we said OK. Then someone said you better not read the Bible in school. The Bible says thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, and love your neighbor as yourself. And we said OK. Then Dr. Benjamin Spock said we shouldn't spank our children when they misbehave because their little personalities would be warped and we might damage their self-esteem (Dr Spock's son committed suicide). We said an expert should know what he's talking about. And we said OK.Now we're asking ourselves why our children have no conscience, why they don't know right from wrong, and why it doesn't bother them to kill strangers, their classmates, and themselves.Probably, if we think about it long and hard enough, we can figure it out. I think it has a great deal to do with 'WE REAP WHAT WE SOW.' Funny how simple it is for people to trash God and then wonder why the world's going to hell Funny how we believe what the newspapers say, but question what the Bible says. Funny how you can send 'jokes' through e-mail and they spread like wildfire but when you start sending messages regarding the Lord, people think twice about sharing. Funny how lewd, crude, vulgar and obscene articles pass freely through cyberspace, but public discussion of God is suppressed in the school and workplace. Are you laughing yet? Funny how when you forward this message, you will not send it to many on your address list because you're not sure what they believe, or what they will think of you for sending it. Funny how we can be more worried about what other people think of us than what God thinks of us. Pass it on if you think it has merit. If not then just discard it... no one will know you did. But, if you discard this thought process, don't sit back and complain about what bad shape the world is in. My Best Regards, Honestly and respectfully, Ben Stein"
Wow, how powerful is this?
Have a great one!

Want a chance to win some stamps...

click here Good luck everyone, if you win they are mine! LOL!

This is what the VA Hospital in Virginia...

will be receiving. My friend, Sharon ask if anyone would like to make cards for the wounded Vets to send out to their family and friends. Well you might remember that I posted earlier on my blog about asking my family to help me, click here if you don't. I sent the 180 cards off in the mail on Saturday and Sharon received them today and this is what she had to say, "OMG.......Mardi, you are the best. I received your card sets today and I have to say that you went above and beyond the call of help. I can't thank you so so so much for all the beautiful cards you sent. I think my jaw dropped when the postman delivered your package. You are the best!!! Keep a look out on the boards for a post about my experience delivering them. Thanks again, Mardi. Sharon" They were enough cards there to pass out to 18 wounded Vets. We had fun doing those Sharon, thanks for asking me to part of this wonderful idea! Let's send some "thinking of you" cards to them so they have some to send out all through the year! Thanks to my family for their help! Want to have some more quality bonding time with me? Love ya!