Spreading Holiday Cheer

So there is alot of fun to be had as we spread holiday cheer!!

Finally Got My SLR!!!

So alot of you know that I have been saving for what seems like forever to buy a SLR camera. I had decided some time back to go with the Nikon. Terri and the local Ritz Camera store have been so patient and helpful, answering my endless list of questions about features and prices. Once the holiday pricing came out along with the new D60, I knew it was time. Plus, when I went into to make the purchase I found that they had come out with a limited edition "GOLD" edition!! Had to love that. So I am now the official owner of a new Nikon D60 Gold Edition. I love it and have alot to learn, but am looking forward to the adventure that a new toy brings!!! Not to worry as I have quite a few friends who have SLR that I can pick their brains and you guys know who you are!!! LOL...

Recent Additions To The Stash

So a true scrapper is always adding to the collection. It seems there is always room for a little more. So after much waiting I finally got the "Slice". Very cool and portable. There are quite a few tutorials out there on YOUTUBE plus Making Memories has a whole site dedicated to The Slice!! I am still playing with it and learning just how to position the paper to get the most out of a sheet. I also got the Cuttlebug after seeing how cool the dry embossing dies they offer work. You can emboss for card front as well as for scrapbooking accents. The Cuttlebug also works with my quikutz 2.5" dies and the sizzics big dies. Needless to say I am finding all sorts of possibilities for this baby!! There are just so many possibilities. I have also picked up some cool stamps of late. My favorite is the "Tis The Season To Be Freezin"!!!

A Fun Jewlery Item

I made this cute necklace as a gift giving idea too. It was fun and super easy. So, can you guess what the silver disc is??

Holiday Projects

I just love winter.... Snowman, Snowflakes, Cardinals and the smell of pine being my most favorites. I ended up making a slew of cute gift items including hot chocolate and marshmellow gift cards, mini albums, mini star album, embossed snowflake cards, plus the cutest cardinal gift tags. Then I found this super cute snowman arcylic stamp set by Hero Arts. I made the cutest and fun card with it.

School Days

I got this little coaster album in a kit some time ago. Once I punched it out & put it together, it was just to cute. After some discussion it was decided that I should do a childhood school days theme. It turned out pretty cute if I say so myself. Here is it!!

The Scrapside of Things

So it has been awhile since I posted any of the projects I have made. Well, I have managed to complete a few. Here they are:

First off, I finished the acrylic album that I started at the Hoe Down that I posted about in Sept. This was the 2 day crop held at Scarpbooks etc. and hosted by KNK scrpbooking kit club. I decided to make this an album about the girls and their horses over the years. It really turned out cute with it's western theme!!

Ringing In The Baking & Craft Season

So, with Thanksgiving, the baking and craft season has officially started at the Tomisich house. Each year we bake over 15 types of cookies and candies to hand out to family and friends. The list of recipiants grows every year as word travels of all the girls yummy baking. We have alot of fun doing it and enjoy the joy that it brings others. We also get busy making gifts, cards and tags amongst other items. Here is a bit of what we have baked and created over the last month!!!

Buckeyes - The Awesome Ohio Treat!!
Christmas Wreaths - I use to make these when I was in 2nd grade at Greensview Elem.
Plus a slew of other yummies!!

Our Little Lily Is Growing Up

So I thought I would post a few updated pictures of Lily, as she is now 10 months old and growing like a weed. We have discovered that she is afraid of our front loading washer and that she likes you so sit with her whild she eats. She is quite the talker too, so she fits right in with all the girls of the Tomisich family lol!!!

Celebrating Mom's Birthday

Mom's birthday fell on the biggest shopping day of the year, so we celebrated on Thanksgiving! We had a quiet, but fun day visiting, eatting of course and watching football. We even managed to work in a little scrapbooing!!

Canning Apple Butter

So..... there was a bumper crop of apples in the North Carolina mountains this year. My Dad's trees were so loaded down with apples that the limbs touched the ground. His trees are totally organic with not pesticides used, so the taste is awesome!! Everytime I would talk to them, Mom would say how Dad picked another 5 gallon bucket full. By the time they got them all home, they had apples coming out their ears. So we decided to can applebutter. Mom had never canned before and neither had my girlfriend Tanya, so I said to come on over and bring your peeler and your jars (the more peelers the better) We spent a whole day canning applebutter. All together we did over 50 jars of butter plus the girls each made an apple pie with a homemade crust. Boy were they tasty after a busy day of canning.

Photo Shoot

Since the weather has turned a bit cooler it was time for my annual photo shoot of the girls. I "make them" wear the clothes and do their hair the way I like it and we go around our yard snapping pictures. It is pure torture for them, especially Samantha. The whole thing takes them less than an hour, but you would think it was a lifetime!!! LOL!!
Here are a sampling of the results. Can you guess which one likes the photo shoot more???

14 years

Mike and I celebrated our 14 year wedding anniversary with a day cruise in the gulf. It was a beautiful day, so it seemed until we got out on the waters and the winds kicked up. Heidi and rough seas don't mix and it wasn't long before she was seasick (along with about 30 others on board). The sun finally reappeared and the waves subsided just as we pulled back into port and then amazingly I began to feel fine!! This picture was taken B4 we got on the boat - Thank God for small miracles!!!

Retirement Day For Mike

After 21 1/2 years (plus a 4 year buyout) of loyal service to the citizens of Cape Coral, Mike retires today from the CCPD with 25+ years of service. It is a bit of a change after so long, but we are thankful for the opportunity at such a young age. Mike has secured a new job with LCSO and will start with them shortly. He will be continuing in the aviation field.

The Big How Down

One of my local scrapbookshops (Scrapbooks Etc.) along with KNK hosted a scrapping weekend loaded with awesome classes. It was a western, hoe down theme complete with a chuckwagon BBQ dinner on Saturday night. Me and a bunch of my scrappin buddies went and we had so much fun. Saturday was dress up day too, so we all dressed in western attire. It was a blast and we made ended up completely a whole western themed acrylic album, learned how to make acrylic cards and did a 2 page layout using this very cute western paper collection. Everything turned out so cute. I can't wait to finish the album and the layout. I will post once they are done.

Pineapple

The girls Nana gave them the top of a pineapple to plant last spring. By the end of August it was ready to harvest and then they got to enjoy the "fruits" of their labor. It was so yummy, they promptly planted the top of the freshly harvest pineapple to start the growing process all over again!!

6th Grade Begins

It is hard to believe that the girls are eleven years old and are now in 6th grade. The summer went by wwwaaaayyyyy to fast and before we knew it we were deep into back to school shopping. They had grown so much in the summer, we bought new shoes, new uniforms plus they got new backpaks. Plus, we had to accessorize their new lockers. I think we spent more money on locker decorating than on the acutal school materials lol!!! Girls... ya got to love them!!! Here we are all dressed, ready for that first big day. They have block classes again this year, so will have a homeroom, plus 3 other main teachers along with an elective (ART for this quarter). They just could not wait to get back to school and see all their friends.

Acrylic Album Class

So acrylic albums and eveything acrylic is the latest rage in scrapbooking. I had not really worked with it much, so I took a class at Strawberry Fields with my mom and my friend Francesca. We made a whole summer themed album. It was alot of fun and I learned all the tricks for working with clear acrylics. Fabric Tac is the adhesive of choice as it dries clear, plus stickles show up great on these albums. I will be doing more of these in the future, that is for sure.

July Barn Crop

All the Barn Girls got together at the house for a crop and dinner. We try to do this once a month as we so miss our times together at the barn. As usual we did more talking than scrapping, but we had a blast and it was so great to see each other!

Learning To Sew & Quilt

The girls spent one week of their summer break at sewing camp. They had a blast learning how to use the sewing machine and made a total of 5 items. They even made a quilt top and then tied it. They had so much fun they couldn't wait to do more, so we signed up to make oldfashion aprons. I even got in on the fun for this one!!