Snowman Wars!

So at the big family Christmas dinner, I was all happy about the snowman my brother and I made (see post below). I told my cousin about it and showed her a picture, suggesting it rivaled the snowman she and her brother had built earlier this year. Well, one day later, I received an email from my cousin with the following picture attached and a message saying... "BRING IT!!!"


(that's my aunt beside the snowman. my cousins made this one on Boxing Day. LOL it's hilarious!)

And so begins the war of the snowmen. Oh I'll bring it. I'll bring it...

Giant Snowman!

I've been out in the BBY since Christmas Eve - it was a treacherous journey on transit from Van to BBY, and it hasn't been nice enough to return comfortably so here I am for now.

On Christmas Eve, I was supposed to do some holiday baking for the big dinner and gift-exchange on Christmas Day, but when my 22-year old brother went outside announcing he was going to make a snowman, I had to follow. I guiltily left my mom to do the baking... heh heh heh... Thanks Mom! *voice fading* *running down stairs* *Slam!* Ah, to be 8 years old again, if only for a moment, trying to make the biggest possible snowman.

Here we are making the base and mid-section.



The base quickly got too heavy to be pushed by one person, so here we are finishing off the base.



The snowman was pretty tall, so we used a step-ladder precariously lodged in the snow to reach the top.



The finished product!



In many ways, snow is a major inconvenience. But the snowman... Totally worth it!

Return of the Hedgehogs

Greetings! I am waiting for my friend Angela to dig her car out of the snow so that we can go shopping... don't know if that's gonna happen, but in the meantime, I'll post more cards I've been working on. These 2 use the same skating hedgehog stamp... but with a blue "winter-wonderland" theme. (Shaddap drk! >:| this is serious stuff! Seeeerious!) The top one is for my friend Eunice, and the bottom one's making its way to China! I guess that's the problem with posting all your cards up on a blog. Everyone knows what they're gonna get.

 

Christmas Tree

I think having a Christmas Tree at Christmas time is important. Now, I don't have a lot of extra space where I am, so I bought this little one, about 3 ft high. I have a lot of ornaments, but they wouldn't all fit :( and some of them are big. And a lot of them are M&M's ornaments... but i put the smaller ornaments up here on this tree.

Now, a closer look at my favourite ornaments:

First up, Dilbert in a Cup. First, Dilbert is AWESOME! And to be inside a generic office coffee mug with his wiggly tie sticking out? Even MORE AWESOME! I'm not too into reading the comic Dilbert, but I love the DVDs of when it was a cartoon on tv. This is like circa 10 years ago, and not a lot of people really get that kind of humour (which is probably why the cartoon went off the air after only a year or 2), but I find it really rings true - all those little office-isms. Plus bonus: Danny Elfman did the opening theme. Does it get better than Danny Elfman!?



Next up, Snoopy. Ok, so a realize it's a little hongged-out be a snoopy fan, but I am!



M&M's I am also a fan of. Not so much the actual candy, but the dudes in the commercials. Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange. Here, Red is depicted trimming a gingerbread tree. It's great!



I also like quirky ornaments. Just ask my friend Derek. Every year, I try to get him an outlandish ornament. If it's not a Santa in sunglasses and beach shorts riding a giant sparkly fish with lipstick from Hawaii, it's a glass ornament of a chinese ricebowl, or a mushroom. Anyway, this ornament was a gift from my cousin. Love it!



OK last one. This a Polar Express (the movie) ornament. One of my favourite Christmas movies - it's about how you should always believe in the spirit of Christmas no matter how old you get. No need to become cynical about this Santa stuff. The jingle bell was a key component of the movie, and so this shows the movie scene inside a jingle bell shell.



That's all folks. Still drowning in cards... more to come.

Tin Can

This is an "altered Altoids tin" as they call it in the craft world. Or something of the sort. Basically they sell these small metal containers in craft stores that you can decorate yourself. So... here 'tis, one I decorated up myself. As the picture denotes, it's for my friend Mandy in HK, part of her Christmas gift. Inside there's a little charm thinggy from Hawaii. Made from random leftover paper and some prima flowers. I don't think there's much else to say about this...

Skating Hedgehogs!

Yeeps! Where did the time go? December is always so crazy... it's Christmas Card Making Monsoon Season. I apologize for neglecting my blog duties. I will be off work soon 'til Jan so hopefully that will mean more time in the stud(io). But for the time being, my home currently looks like a Michaels store threw up in the main living area. Every horizontal surface is covered with stamps, ink pads, spools of ribbon, loose strings of ribbon, gluesticks, glue dots, glue in tubes, double sided tape, scotch-tape, brads, eyelets, stickers, paper, paper trimmers, cardstock, punches, chalk, markers, pens - you name it, it's here on my desk, couch, bookshelf, kitchen counter, floor, chairs. It's bad. But quite a sight to see. It's like driving by a bad accident... you don't want to look, but can't help it....

Ok, so this card is skating hedgehogs! Got the stamps at making mems a couple years ago, inaugural inking (can you say that?) last night. "Oh yeaaaah!" <-- like how Kool-Aid guy says it as he breaks through the brick wall with ferver holding that red pitcher of kool-aid. Whatever happened to kool-aid anyway? Don't see it around anymore. Maybe it's because I'm not looking. I was only ever allowed to buy Kool-Aid once. ONCE. in my entire childhood life. Don't remember what the occasion was, but I chose Orange. And boy was it ever orange. Packed to the brim with artificial flavour and coloring. Heh heh... it will probably give me diabetes later in life... good times.

Gotta get back to it. I'll post again soon. <--and now I really have to because I wrote it down...

Christmas Tree Card

Yes... Christmas is near. A little TOO near. Every year, I vow to 'start early'. It never happens, despite my best of intentions. In any case, last Friday, my friend Eunice came over to do a little carding. She is leaving for HK in Dec and well, her cards are to be in circulation this Friday. YEEPS! I am piles behind.

This Christmas Tree card is pretty simple. The trees are from It's Snow Time, a stampin' up set I bought a couple years ago and never inked up. Stickles for snow, and merry christmas ribbon (which, admittedly, Eunice and I went on an after-work run to Michaels in Richmond the previous night, followed by Won-Ton noodle soup, then Superstore, and then Daiso, then bubs - Bubble Tea that is! :P It was GREAT!) The Merry Christmas ribbon is from said shopping excursion.

NSR (non-stamping-related) Sidebar: Went to the opera for the first time this weekend. The opera. It was Eugine Onegin by Tchaikovsky, a story about unrequited love. (Cliche, right? LOL) Many, many old people. I can see how the opera is an acquired taste. Even having studied the history of opera, and a good number of operas in depth, down to memorizing the libretto (the words), the music, the acts and scenes, it was a stretch for me. I suppose it didn't help it was in Russian. But there were subtitles. It was a cool experience - thanks Gabriel! :)

That's all for now. More to come soon. :)