First Christmas Card of 2009

Oh how I want to go shopping!

I want to run to the mall, buy clothes and makeup, pretzels and a coffee! I want to shop for my family! I want to shop for my friends! I want to walk down the hall swinging bags of fun new stuff. I want to push past other people, all spending money and happy with their family and friends. I want to look at boots and sweaters, search for video games and size tags! I want to shop and shop and shop!

But I can't. I must remain strong in these times, where all the television ads are clawing at my wallet. These times that cause sales to pop into my e-mail and tempt me to spend spend spend. I must remain strong. I must remember my budget. I must remember that I have an ultimate goal.

I must not say "This SUCKS".

In order to remove myself from all of society's temptations, I decided to finally work on some Christmas cards. Okay, really I just made one, in duplicate.

Stamps: Season of Joy

Paper: Chocolate Chip, Bashful Blue, Old Olive

Ink: Versa Mark, Old Olive, Bashful Blue, and Ruby Red

Accessories: Dimensionals, 1/2" Circle Punch, White Embossing Powder, Chocolate Chip Striped Grosgrain Ribbon

I must give credit to this card on Splitcoaststampers, it caught my eye as I was looking for inspiration. A true beauty...

For Kathy and Bob

My friend Kathy is stressed. And that is putting it nicely. Not even nicely. That's just the tip of the iceburg for her. She is struggling with family issues, with caring for her parents, with living life...but she manages to put a smile on her face, to help make my bad days shine, and she always is willing to listen.

Or, she pretends to listen and nods at all the right places...

Her husband had a stroke when my little one was out ill. I wasn't able to be there for her the way that she is always there for me. The moment that I returned to work, I ran to her desk and hugged her. Because sometimes, there are no words to convey all that your heart wants to say. Bob is getting better. They hospitalized him and he had numerous strokes while there. Fortunately, there is no permanent damage that the doctors can find. He is slowly coming around to returning to his spitfire self. He has trouble remembering how to do some things, but all in all, he is healing and recovering.

I made this card for them, to let them know that I was thinking and praying for them...

Stamp Set: God's Beauty, Trendy Trees

Paper: Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, So Saffron, Old Olive, Whisper White

Accessories: Circle Scissors Plus, White Satin Ribbon, Dimensionals

Still Practicing

Worked on this one...

And made this one...

MDS - My First Attempt

Okay, first off, let me warn you:

I am NOT a scrapbooker. My mom tried to get me started when my daughter was born with pre-made kits, embellishments, all sorts of stuff. But, I never really got it. As time has gone by (ten years +), I have come out of my creative coma and gotten into cardmaking and paper crafting. So, when Stampin' Up! came out with My Digital Studio, I thought "Perfect! Now I can do scrapbook pages that aren't permanent! It's okay to make a mistake!!" And so, when my life finally took a change for the positive, it was the first thing on my list.

Here is my first attempt. Look back, I said "attempt". I will get better.

Online Extravaganza!!

Shhh!!!!!
On Monday (the 23rd!!), SU! is having an online extravaganza! They are going to have massive discounts, up to 50% off on some items! The catch? You have to order online!! So hurry up! Make your wish list and hit up the site Monday! Prices are only good while they last, and I can guarantee that I will be checking the site as soon as the clock strikes 12:01!

Ack!!

Tomorrow is my son's 5th birthday, my baby, my sweet, sweet, little angel. Well, sometimes. Sometimes he is just the funniest, sweetest little person I have ever come across, ever. And then, there are moments where I feel like I see through his gorgeous brown eyes and can see extreme dislike emitting from the pupils, his brow furrowed to no return, and tiny horns protruding from his scalp...usually that's every morning on a weekday.
Today I am hoping to work on my stampin' stuff...I ordered the new My Digital Studio and I am currently downloading it onto my laptop as I type. I can't wait to work with it!! I also ordered the new 3D pop up tree with ornaments (Christmas cards need to be worked on!!), and I ordered two Build-A-Bear dies...absolutely cannot wait to play! Of course, it has to wait until after we get back from our Lowe's Build and Grow class today...hopefully I get a cup of coffee first.
I am also preparing my craft area for new stuff! The new Sale-A-Bration catalog and the Mini Occassions will be out very soon, and I need some room! If you are interested in checking out my list, please contact me at ambercerda at hotmail dot com. I will be selling lots of stamp sets for half price, and some rarely used ink pads, also for half off. I've decided to take on the Craft Ink Pads, I have found that I can create some interesting projects with the craft ink. Please stay posted, there is some more news I cannot wait to share with you!!

Walgreens Trip

Busy shopping today, going to be a busy week since I missed all last week with my daughter being sick.

I took off to Walgreens to take advantage of the 2 for $5.00 Ziplock deal, I needed some gallon size bags to put some corn meal away in, and I wanted to take advanatage of the SC Johnson $5.00 rebate. I also wanted to pick up some gummy worms that my son needed for his class, and today they were Buy One, Get One Free.

Here is what I bought:

3 boxes of gallon sized Ziplock bags - $3.59

1 Box of Quart sized Ziplock bags - $3.59

Buy 2 for $5.00

(2 coupons for $1.00 off)

12 pack of Charmin - on sale for $6.49

(coupon for $1.00 off)

6 rolls of Bounty - $6.49

(coupon for $1.00 off)

4 bags of gummy worms - $0.99 each

Buy one, Get One Free

Total Price before Walgreens Deals (before taxes): $31.30

Price after Walgreens Deals: $24.96

Price after Coupons and Register Rewards: $19.96

After SC Johnson Rebate: $14.96

I hope to get better at my couponing and rebates soon...with practice, I'm sure I will.

CVS Trip

So CVS finally opened here. I've been waiting for over a year, waiting patiently after I saw that the permit to build had been approved, then continued to wait, as the building came up, interviews were held. I read up on how to use as little money as possible for as much as possible.

Today I went, my first real trip with coupons, money saving websites were scoured last night, my coupon binder was sifted through, and I wrote out my plan on a sheet of paper.

Here is what I bought:

4 Colgate Total Whitening - Regular Price : $3.49

CVS Deal: Buy 2 for $5.50

(Limit 4)

$1.00 ECB with purchase of 2

(Plus I had a coupon for $0.75 off)

1 Gilette Venus Embrace Razor - Regular Price: $13.99

CVS Deal: Buy 1 for $9.99

(Limit 1)

$5.00 ECB

(Plus I had a coupon for $2.00 off)

2 CVS Green Bag Tags

- Starting November 1st, they will give you $1.00 ECB with scanning (bring your own "green" bag") to be paid out at the end of the month

Total that I should have paid, before tax and card: $29.93

After I swiped my card: $22.97

But, I already had $12.00 ECBs from the Grand Opening Coupon ($10) and one prior ECB ($2), so after ECBs: $10.97

And after my $2.75 in coupons: $8.22

Plus - I got $7.00 in ECBs to be used towards my next trip.

Not bad for just learning. I can't wait to see what's out for next week!

More updates...

I very rarely share pictures of my babies...their mine, mine, mine. But here is one of my daughter, I took while we were down south with family. Her aunt had promised my daughter and my niece face paintings, and on the day we left, we made it to the face painting booth. Here's my daughter, with purple swans across her face. If you look closely, you can see freckles that chase across her nose and sprinkle over her cheeks; she gets that from her dad.


Here is a picture of my son, playing with his DS in a box I had brought home to be recycled. Instead, the kids made a playhouse out of it. I let them paint it and tape it to their liking, and that evening, my son dragged it into his room and begged to sleep in it.

Here is a "Thank You" card I made for a co-worker who was very generous lately. Can't say exactly because he made me promise, but he is a great person and is the person you want in your corner when things start to get down and dirty...

Here are two of the butterfly cards I made for my Challenge Group. We are now down to the original two members, and I must admit that I slacked. However, I am hoping to get back into the groove of things and really let go.

Hope you enjoy!

Been gone way too long...

Okay...I know, I'm sorry! I've been gone way too long!

School has started for the kids and I've been busy with homework and class projects...trying to figure out how to make my itty bitty income work for the whole household, printing coupons, trying to get extra money into the house, trying to stay positive, LIVING.

DH finally got a job that he's been holding steady. Too many people were not making good on their promises, so he took something different and has been working about six days a week. Hoping that the income will start to make a difference, I know it took a severe toll on my health and I have been feeling significantly less stressed now that he has a job and something is being contributed.

Now, if I can only keep him on track and make my goal of becoming debt-free a mutual goal. Wish me luck!

Now, to keep you updated:

I have been making cards! Not as many as I would like, but some. So - prepare yourself, I'm going to make a list!

Here are some "Thank You" cards that I made for my co-w0rkers who helped make my 30th Birthday one of the best birthdays ever....

I tried to change it up a little, I don't want anyone thinking I just crank these out in five minutes...

This one I made for Liliana, who just turned 6! My girlfriend invited the kids and I to her birthday and we had a great time!

Pretty simple cards, but they took a lot of effort since I haven't been feeling very crafty lately...hoping that will pass soon!