Showing your Appreciation

Merry Christmas Eve!

First off, I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I pray that it will be a special and blessed time with family and friends.

I wanted to remind everyone of the importance of showing your appreciation for those who have taken the time to give you a gift... whether it was a plate of cookies from the neighbors or fancy jewelry from your hubby, everyone loves and deserves to know that you are thankful for the gift they gave you.


I think thank-you notes are important, and I haven't done the best job of sending them out in recent years. I hope you'll agree that writing a quick note of thanks is important, and I am writing this blog as a reminder to myself to send them out. You can find thank you notes at the dollar store, you can make your own, or I can design some for you.


Thanks to all of my wonderful clients for ordering Christmas Cards and gifts. I really appreciate your business, and I look forward to working with you in the future. You are a blessing to me!

Apple a Day

So I've been a slacker on posting gift ideas these past two weeks. Wedding Season was in full swing and I couldn't stop for fear of falling behind.

My gift of the week is something that we use frequently in my house: our Apple TV. No, it's not an actual television, it's a little silver box that magically links to your iTunes. It not only plays your music through your TV but also allows you to upload your photos and displays them in a slideshow.

The thing I love about it the most... you can buy and rent movies. Pretty much any movie I've ever wanted to watch is on there. It's the best. Plus, you can watch Utube videos. Check it out on the Apple Website.

Gifts for Pet Lovers

If you know me, you know that I LOVE dogs. I have two Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, and I think they're the sweetest dogs in the whole world. Pudge and Ellie would like everyone to know that they're working on their bad habits. They can't help it that they like to lick legs... you all make it very hard for them to restrain themselves when you wear that smelly good lotion. They are also trying not to jump on our guests. Here is a photo from our Christmas card shoot last year. Ellie is showing off in her Mrs. Claus costume.

I know that you are probably close to someone who adores their pet, so I thought I would post some gifts that they would love to receive for Christmas. Petsmart has tons of stuff online that you can't find in stores. They have mugs, t-shirts, key chains, socks (for humans and dogs), ornaments, calendars, journals, and the Monopoly Dog Lovers' Edition for only $29.99! They also have Charity Wrapping paper with Kitty Cats on it... proceeds go to charity! I love the little Cat photo holder for only $9.99!

Wrapables.com has this super fun Dachshund Salt & Pepper Set for only $14.95. SO adorable. They also have these unique Pet Stockings for the same price! If I had a cat, I would want the Diva Delights Fashionista Apron. SO cute! So are the Cattitude i-Pots!

If you want to buy your dog a Christmas present, I would go with any treat from Three Dog Bakery. They even have a Holidog Sampler full of Christmas cookies! Their treats are Pudge and Ellie approved!


I also highly recommend Mrs. Meyers Clean Day pet products. Her Oatmeal Pet Shampoo and Odor Removing Carpet Cleaner are my favorite products. Oatmeal is an important ingredient in pet shampoo in order to keep skin moisturized. Her products are environmentally friendly and have a refreshing scent. Currently, they are giving away their Peppermint Candles with any $30 purchase!

Christmas Photo Sessions

This is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love the anticipation of Thanksgiving and Christmas. I light all of my Gold Canyon fall candles and drink hot tea, hot cider, and coffee. I also start brainstorming ideas for Christmas cards.

Which reminds me... make sure you schedule your Christmas photo session! It's time to place your Christmas card orders. If you're not having a photo, it's still time to work on Christmas cards. If you would like to view the Flossy Christmas Card Catalog, e-mail me and I will send you a copy!

Contact me if you need referrals for Photographers!

I Voted!

Today is election day, so I thought it would be fun to give some Patriotic Christmas Gift Ideas. I went to vote today expecting it to take at least an hour, but I was in and out in 5 minutes! I was excited, but hopefully our neighborhood turns out to vote after work! I am proudly wearing my "I Voted Today" sticker.

It was actually a little difficult to find Patriotic Christmas gifts. One of my searches produced a Peruvian Alpaca Llama (see below). Tell me how that happens. I'm going to go ahead and post the picture just in case someone wants to buy someone a little Llama.

My friend Emily loves Llamas.

I have a few members of my family and many friends who are serving or have been in the military, so I'm all about the gifts that show love to the U S of A. I found some cute stuff. But first, the Llama. You can find it at Cost Plus World Market for $14.99.

JCPenney Americana set of 4 bowls- $19.99

Remember our Troops Ribbon Christmas Ornament- Target -$14.99

Remember our Troops Flag Christmas Ornament - Target -$14.99

Pottery Barn Flag Wall Art - $129

Statue of Liberty Christmas Ornament - Target- $8.99USA License Plate Puzzle - Target -$12.99

This is a book about America's First Presidential Campaign. I haven't read it, so if it's not good, it's not my fault. I thought it was an appropriate recommendation for Election Day!

Find it at Barnes and Noble.



If anyone has an other ideas, let me know!

The Daily Ritual

This week's Christmas gift idea is for the men in your life. I found out about the product while working at Moors & Cabot.

Ritual is a really cool company that has an original, useful, and unique product line. For starters, their motto is "Goodbye Metrosexual, Hello Machosexual." So cool. They produce Men's Health and Grooming Products that come in manly packaging and have a manly scent. My favorite product is called Nature Calls. You can drop a couple of drops into the toilet, and the odor is eliminated. Very useful and helpful to others. My gift of choice would be The Kit. It is a gift set full of products that come in a branded box. It's only $79 and is full of good stuff.

My hubby used the products, and he LOVES them. He has The Kit, and he will be VERY sad when it runs out. Visit their site to order at http://www.myritual.com/. David Arquette liked it. You will too.

Word!

This week's Amazingly Wonderful Christmas Gift Idea has been a favorite of many, but I thought I would remind everyone of the infinite ways to use Uppercase Living products.

You can stick these bad boys on walls, votives, hurricanes (the big glass vases, not the natural disaster), wood, glass blocks, windows, cars, picture frames, picture frame glass, white boards, front doors, plates, sinks, refrigerators, trifle bowls, serving dishes, metal signs, pizza pans, pumpkins, Christmas ornaments, mirrors, wood blocks, shelves, breakfast trays, wooden chairs and other furniture... WOW! They have quotes, graphics, and all sorts of wonderful things.

On a wooden tree, beautifully created by my Grandpa...

On a glass block...
On a wooden board... beautifully painted by my hubby. I can't wait to hang it on the wall for Christmas. Pudge wanted to be in the photo...
"Our Wedding" on the wall above a frame from Red Envelope...
Graphics on a wall above the bed...

To order, contact me, and I will put you in touch with my wonderful Aunt Nancy Cummings, or you can e-mail her at ncummings@att.net.

Personalize It!

This year, it's easy for you to make Christmas gifts extra special by personalizing them! My favorite personalized gifts throughout the years include a pillowcase my mom gave me with my name embroidered on it (for college) and a throw pillow we created for my high school girl friends with our photo on it. The options are endless!

A cool idea... Paint a small canvas a fun, bright color, and have your child put his or her hand print right in the center. They are cheerful decorations and great gifts for a grandparent. Red Envelope even has a kit!

$39.95 from Red Envelope

Red Envelope is a fantastic place for personalized items. For the man in your life, consider this personalized watch case. For the girls, you can never go wrong with jewelry. I love the "B" that Betty wears in Ugly Betty. Either make your own or purchase a beautiful piece! My favorite initials are from Tiffany's Alphabet Collection. JCPenney has their version as well! See below.

$79.95 from Red Envelope

$165 from Tiffany's

$149.99 from JCPenney

This year, I created the Fat Stack, which is a tall, personalized, square notepad tied together with a ribbon. I don't have a very good camera, so I couldn't capture the fatness, but basically, it's a really tall stack of paper, and each piece has the person's name (or whatever you want) at the top. They work really well for grocery lists, reminder notes, etc. I also have them available in spiral bound. Stationery is a great gift! I always love having notecards around to use for thank-you's. Contact me to order!

Fat Stack-

5x5 = $13.50 7x7 = $18.50

Stay tuned, more gift ideas to come!

Tis' almost the Season to be Jolly

Christmas is upon us! It's starting to feel cooler at night, thank goodness.

This year, I promised myself that I would be organized and get a jump start on gift buying. I LOVE buying gifts. I also love wrapping gifts. I want to have extremely unique and pretty packages, so I come up with a theme and color scheme. I've done it since junior high, and it's a skill that I learned from my mother. We had pristine, coordinated trees that were way cooler than the ones in department stores. Her packages were BEAUTIFUL, and she would make her own bows. She is like a short little Martha Stewart, but with a way better personality and a better sense of style.

So, that's why I'm blogging about Christmas. I know that it's annoying that they already have Christmas stuff out at the stores, but it's time to think about family photos, Christmas cards, gifts, travel plans, wrapping paper, and decor.

I will be posting gift ideas... from handmade gifts to designer duds throughout the next three months.




GIFT POST NUMBER UNO-------------- Anything from Cross

A Cross pen... I know some people may not understand the value of a good pen, but I've loved school supplies since forever, so I love nice writing utensils. Cross has the cutest paisley pens for the girly girl in your life, and really nice chrome ones for a gentleman. They also have watches, computer bags, journals, etc. My picks are the Fulham Cross Town Computer Bag in Grape, the Women's Slim Envelope Wallet in Pink and Orange, and their New Paris watch for men. For pens, I like the aforementioned New Century II Paisley in Rose Blush. Be prepared to spend a little more for these gifts, but it's well worth it! You can have the pens engraved to add a personal touch.$195- Fulham Cross Town Computer Bag $60 - Rose Blush Paisley pen$90- Slim Envelope Wallet

$150- Paris Watch

Bold Black and White

Jenna and Travis were a fantastic and beautiful couple. Their wedding was coordinated by the always amazing Sandy Walker of In Awe Weddings. You can check out more of their pictures on the In Awe Weddings Blog.

Jenna had really creative ideas for her paper products, and it was a pleasure to work with her. It was a joy to create products that were unique. Thank you to Kevin King for the photos.

Jenna chose a patterned paper from Envelopments. They had a black and white color scheme, so it worked well and set the tone for a fun, yet elegant, atmosphere. I LOVED that she chose such a bold pattern for the outside of the invite. We put them in clear envelopes, so it had a lot of impact upon arrival in the mail. Jenna wanted stand up menus, which also included a favor, for each guest (pictured below). It was a refreshing twist to the normal flat menu!

Martha Stewart Blogging Show

If you want to learn a few tips and tricks about blogging, tune in to Martha Stewart tomorrow, Wednesday, September 17th. Perez Hilton is going to be on, so it should be interesting! Go to Martha's website for more info.

Sneak Peak

Here is a Sneak Peak of my new blogplusweb site designed by Ryan Brannen :) I am so excited to be nearing completion! Recently, Emily Estfan of EME Photography and Renee Bergman of Renee Bergman Photography each shot photos of my work for my website. The photos are EXCELLENT, and I can hardly wait for everyone to see their fine work! Check out a few of the photos on Emily's blog!

My mom and I have started the Christmas shopping process. Wedding Season will be in full swing soon, which won't leave us much time to shop! I have been having a hard time getting into the Christmasy mood, so I watched Elf and the new Miracle on 34th Street while designing the 2008 Christmas cards. Both are excellent flicks, I must say! Starting in October sometime, I am going to post the "Christmas Present Idea of the Week" so make sure you check back in for that!

Christmas is Coming!

Okay, so it's not so soon, but it's time to start thinking about your Christmas cards! You have 3 months to have a family photo taken or to choose the theme for this year's cards. I love designing anything and everything that has to do with Christmas! The designs above are some of my favorites from last year. Thanks to Emily Estfan of EME Photography for the photos.

I can create a custom design just for you, or you can choose from the Flossy Catalog. You can have anything from a beautiful photo card to an elaborate creation.

3 reasons why I love to receive Christmas cards:

1. Receiving anything in the mail is really exciting to me (except for bills).

2. I love Christmas.

3. I love seeing all of the family photos and reading the fun notes.

Speaking of notes...

I am offering designs for electronic newsletters. My sister inspired me to create some designs to which we can add personalized letters. Yearly Christmas newsletters are great to send to family and friends to inform them of the year's events. I like to include photos on the newsletters as well. I'm offering these designs in a format that you can either e-mail or mail to your recipients.

Speaking of Photos...

Check out what EME Photography is offering for family Christmas photos this year! This is a fantastic deal! Isn't the Ad super cute? :) Click here to visit the blog.

My Pretty Wall

My Aunt Nancy is an Uppercase Living distributor. She gives super fun in-home demonstrations to showcase their products, which are basically words and designs that you transfer onto your wall. They have quotes and graphics, and you can also create a custom expression. I created a design for my office wall featuring my business name. I have plans to order many more for the rest of the house! It looks like it is painted right onto the wall. If you have any questions about the product, e-mail me and I will forward you her contact information.

Cake Wrecks

I can't believe it has been 3 weeks since my last post! Shame on me!

I had to share this funny site. It's a blog called Cake Wrecks. I'm sure many of you have already enjoyed the hilarity of these sometimes disturbing cakes, but the dialogue is great also. Check it out! This girl had a life-sized cake made in her image.

Maeghan & Nick

Maeghan and Nick were a pleasure to work with, and they were very helpful throughout the design process. They are extremely appreciative, kind, and thoughtful. Their wedding colors were inspired by an Arizona sunset. These photos make me so happy. Thanks to Jane Jordan Photography for capturing the paper products. They look like true works of art! You can see the rest of the spectacular photos on the In Awe Weddings Blog.

Summer and Jason

I posted some pictures of Summer and Jason's paper products not too long after their wedding in February, but I wanted to add the rest. Thanks to EME Photography for the photos.


We hung the escort cards from a chandalier, another fun idea from my mom of In Awe Weddings and Events. It looked very pretty and feminine!


We created custom pockets for the programs and hung them on the ceremony chairs.



We used this monogram on the menus, invitations, and thank you notes!



Place Cards




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