Happy Thanksgiving!

A quick note to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving!  If you are not in the states, I wish you a day of comfort and family!

Thanksgiving is one of those holidays where the focus is on family and giving thanks for all that we have! I hope that everyone out there can find both today!

From our home to yours - have a Wonderful Day!

If you are interested, the poem from yesterday in a printable format!

As always.... I am happy to share my tutorials and freebies / printables with you, I only ask that you do the following:

• Please leave a comment if you download one of my freebies / printables, I would love to hear from you and get to know what everyone likes
• If you enjoy the things I share with you, please become a follower so that you will see all the new stuff when it is posted (no pressure, join only if you want)
• Please do not share any of my digital images, printables, or tutorials directly with others, but please do send them on over to me so that they can peruse and collect the images themselves.
• I would be thrilled and honored if you would send me links to any images or posts that you've done using something that I have shared with you.  If you say it is ok, I will even feature your work here!
• If you want to recolor an images, feel free! 
• If you have a special request, please let me know and I will see what I can do.
• Most importantly - HAVE FUN!!

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Be Thankful

I received this poem from a friend in email and thought it was perfect for Thanksgiving and so I am sharing it here with you!

BE THANKFUL 

Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would there be to look forward to? 

Be thankful when you don't know something, for it gives you the opportunity to learn. 

Be thankful for the difficult times. During those times you grow. 

Be thankful for your limitations, because they give you opportunities for improvement. 

Be thankful for each new challenge, because it will build your strength and character. 

Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you valuable lessons. 

Be thankful when you're tired and weary, because it means you've made a difference. 

It's easy to be thankful for the good things. 

A life of rich fulfillment comes to those who are also thankful for the setbacks. 

Gratitude can turn a negative into a positive. 

Find a way to be thankful for your troubles, and they can become your blessings. 

~~Author Unknown.~~  

Isn't that a beautiful poem? Such an awesome thought and something that I hope to impart on my children!

So, as you prepare to sit down to your Thanksgiving feasts tomorrow, be thankful!

Have a Blessedly Thankful Day!

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Simply Sunday Snowy Pictures

Happy Sunday!

I thought I would share with you these snowy pictures... You might think that these are from last year? Nope, they are from Halloween! That's right. Some of you may be wondering why that is such a surprise, well, Halloween for us is in the Fall.  Most years the weather is temperate, but this year we had a Nor'easter come through and it was a biggie.  The trees were full of leaves as most had not begun to fall yet, so there were broken limbs and power lines that came with them.

We lost power early on Saturday and didn't have power returned until late Thursday (we were already asleep).  There were others who had it much worse than we did and made me realize how nice it is to have power - lights, heat things we really take for granted today.

We were going to do trick or treating in our neighborhood because my son's friends wanted to come here, but we ended up going to another friend's house whose neighborhood had power.  Too funny to see the kids trick or treating and there are snowmen! LOL!!

The border on these pictures is not part of the picture.

I am sharing these pictures on Shadow Shot Sunday #183!

P.S. The weather today is a beautiful fall day :-)  I hope you are enjoying a fantastic day where you are too!

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco

Filigree Friday Birthday Card

I know, not your traditional birthday card, but then again, isn't that part of the fun???

If only there were more time :-)  I would love to have more time to create, but for the moment I am trying to be content with the time that I have to create!

This is a birthday card with a distinctly fall theme, oh yeah, and I also *had* to play (I mean use) the Spellbinders dies that my friend Lucy let me borrow.  Oh, and I have to tell you they are addicting! I tried several of the dies that Lucy had (and bless her she has so many of them, and she let me borrow her entire collection and her cuttlebug for almost 2 weeks!! and another addiction was born)

So, for this card I was inspired during one of my blog walks (that is what I call it when I start out reviewing the posts on my blog roll and then end up following one link after another and end up someplace new... Unfortunately, I didn't save the picture, but made a sketch and then this card was born :-)

The following are general guidelines I used when I made the card, I just ran with the idea and didn't really measure anything (yes, I really just picked the paper and started cutting - of course this was after I took a post-it and made a little sketch - lol)... So...

I cut a 12x12 sheet of scrapbook paper in half (I chose one with no design because I knew I would be decorating it, but a nice decorative scrapbook paper would look great!)

I folded the paper into thirds at 4" and 8"

Next I lightly drew lines for the cake layers at approximately 2.5" and 4" and cut the layers of the cake - Yum!

The next part was pure fun, I used my Martha border punches and fun paper and created the cake decorations.  I folded them around the layers so they would be visible when the card was open or closed. The "Happy Birthday" is also a Martha punch.

The circle scallops are Spellbinders dies, I used various sizes and added lots of bling.

On the tallest panel, I added a scallop flower.  I cut 3 different scallop circles and then made several cuts, like I would for fringed flowers, and layered them.

The quilled element uses multiple quilling strips, I don't know that this has a name.  I grabbed a bunch of quilling strips in autumn colors and glued them in the center.  To create this look, I then started at one end and gently pulled the strips to create the bowed shape.  When it was something I was happy with, I glued that end and then curled the ends.

I placed the scallop, fringed flower in the center and added mini flowers on the curled ends (these are the cast offs from the flower border punch I used).  I also added the pine branch punch (this is a newly acquired punch and will definitely be making an appearance in my Christmas designs - too fun!).

I took these pictures at home and missed the final version of this card... just as we were ready to leave, I took a final look and added a rhinestone to the scallop, fringed flower and off we went.

I hope that you enjoyed this card and would love to see your creations!

Update 11/19: 
Linking up to these parties

BFF Open House Link Party #29 and Carmex Healing Lotion Giveaway

Whipperberry Friday Flair Link Party

Enjoy! Copyright for Personal Use Antonella DeFalco