Five for Friday

Happy Friday!

1. I'm pleased to say that I'm on the ball with Christmas stuff.... I have my presents purchased for 40% of my immediate family-- meaning I have something for Sage & Jonah and need to get something still for Austin and Cameron.... Hmmm, is that 50% or should I get myself a little something, too, for the extra 20%? ;)

I have also gotten something for my mom (but I need to add something else, still, so I guess 50% of her gift), my mother-in-law and my sister-in-law, who is my secret santa recipient---- shhh! don't tell though.....Cameron insists on secrecy for these things! ;)

AND, I not only have presents purchased for my brother, SIL and nephew, but I have wrapped them and will be bringing them to my mom's tomorrow (she'll be bringing them with her to Montreal when she goes to visit.) So, I thought I'd share these wrapped gifts for you.

The gift above is for my brother, Trevor. He sometimes reads my blog (Hi, Trev!), so I won't divulge what it is.... I'll just say it's fabulous and he is going to love it! Hee!

Here's a close-up of the tag I made:

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (white), stamps (snowflake medley, love lives here: holidays), felt, buttons, twine and dies (snowflake medley). The ribbon is Offray and the little chipboard heart is Pink Paislee, inked in PTI aqua mist ink.

And here's the present I wrapped for my nephew, Noah:

I found this paper at Superstore and had to get it, even if it wasn't on sale.... what a splurge!

For his tag, it's a little shaker one.... I made it using PTI cardstock (white, limeade ice), stamps (winter snow globe, super stripes) and dies (winter snow globe). The ribbon is Offray and the glitter is Martha Stewart.


2. I am pleased to report that I think I'm finally over my jet lag/sickness from being in the Congo! Yay! I'm sleeping through the night once again and am able to stay up past 10pm with little to no effort whatsoever.


3. I have a busy week coming up with 4 trips to Winnipeg in 6 days, which is a lot for me! Austin & I are going in on Saturday for the black belt promotion test. Neither one of us is testing, but we go to support the club and help conduct the test. We'll stop at my mom's to drop off the gifts, too.

Then, all three of my kids are participating with their choirs in ChoralFest, which take place on three different days. Thankfully, I was able to get on as a chaperone for Austin & Jonah's trips, so I won't have to take my vehicle each time. Sage & I have planned to do a little shopping in the city on Monday after her performance, so it's all good. ;)


4. I've decided to take up knitting. My mom knits and sounded quite pleased at the idea of (re)teaching me. (She taught me as a child and while I remember how to knit, I never learned how to read a pattern or do anything complicated. ) This morning, I was looking for free patterns online and found some scarves, cowls and cup cozies that I'd love to make. I'm going to bring in the patterns for my mom tomorrow and hopefully over Christmas, she can teach me.


5.  I looked through my supplies yesterday and started pulling things for my December Daily. In doing so, I came across this cool paper from Simple Stories and was inspired to make a card using this week's Make It Monday at PTI.

I used Papertrey Ink cardstock (rustic cream), stamps (nativity silhouettes, beautiful blessings: holidays), twine and dies (tag sale #3).  I heat embossed the stamped images on the front of the pocket.

The tag pulls out to reveal the verse:

And while I had the supplies out, I decided to make a second card right away, but changed up a few details...

I used the same supplies, but skipped the heat embossing on this one.

I hope you have a great weekend!

Thanks for looking!