OMG I got a SS Gift ALREADY!!!! Received Thread 2011

[snake_lady]

as I already posted, I was quite blessed to have been completely spoiled by Duchess15. Thank you soooooooooooooo much Sweet lady, I appreciate everything.

The decorated box:



Opened box:





Noms, for both me and the kitties. Those crescent shaped cookies were soooooo yummy. I'd love the recipe.





These elephants are great. I love them so much. I could use some luck right now.



cute snowman ornament, beautiful.



Lotions and hand sanitisers, I really like the scented sanitisers, I carry them all the time. And you got one of my fav scents, the warm sugary scent.



3 gifts I was planning on holding out for, but it wasn't a great night and I ended up opening them after my girls went to bed.



A lovely homemade keepsake binder.... the picture does not do it justice at all. I LOVE it.



First page is filled with the card, a couple of the stickers from the box, and the adorable tape.

The blanket background was the 2nd gift, homemade throw blanket. Love it, already napped in it a few times.



The 3rd present was a bunch of my fav artist prints, Amy Brown, along with a card set.

Here you can see the blankie better.

All the amazingly thoughtful gifts. Thank you sooooooooooooooooooooo much Sabrina. Words are not enough. You warmed my heart so much with your thoughtfullness and creativity. Thank you thank you thank you.

 

[snake_lady]

Ah see, I thought the angry birds stickers might give me away too and the writing The newspaper was a gift for the kitties LOL, I had thought they might steal it before you saw where it was from LOL.

I did kinda figure you were tormenting me, but I was glad you opened on xmas eve..... when you posted 18hrs to opening, I was watching for your post.
 

I did this afternoon. And guess who is my Secret Santa? Yes, it is Chris (snake_lady)!!!!!!!
Yes Chris, the newspaper clipping from Strathroy gave you away the other day. I just wanted to torture you a little bit!

I'm in the middle of our Christmas celebration tonight (the turkey just came out of the oven) so I can't post pictures right now, and will be gone most of the day tomorrow. You'll all see the WONDERFUL presents that Chris got for us.
The treasure is a scrap book that Chris made of my critters, which included a section for the 3 bridge kitties that I lost in the last year. When I opened the cover and realized what it was, I started to cry. I was bawling by the time I got near the back of the book with the section on my bridge kids. I need to make sure that I have good pictures of this book before I get them posted here. It's going to take me a while to do that.
There were so many other absolutely cool gifts that would be perfect by themselves. You'll hear about them when I get the pictures uploaded and posted. I did get my first box of Tim Tams! Those will be tested tonight when I settle down with a cup of hot chocolate.
Chris, words can't adequately express my thanks to you. But I will try:
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
THANK YOU
!!!!!

You deserve it Amy, you are a wonderful woman, so kind and generous. I am glad you liked everything, and I can't wait for pics.

Merry Christmas

 

[momofmany]

Sorry - been so busy the last few days that I didn't make it online.

Wonderful presents everyone!!!

Give me a little bit here. Going to upload the pictures to photobucket and post them.

 

[momofmany]

What can I say about all the wonderful presents that Chris (Snake Lady) gave to me? Whew - this is going to take a while.

Of course I need to post the mandatory cat-plays-in-the-box picture. Scarlett hoarded that box, and smacked any cat that tried to come near her.


When I started to open up the presents, Muddy and Koko jumped on the table to inspect the progress. They knew that there had to be goodies in there for them!


I threw a wad of paper on the floor to distract Muddy, but look at Koko guarding the treats:

I finally picked up all the paper wads last night. Everyone played in that paper for a couple of days until someone ruined it and hacked a hairball on one of them, at which time Scarlett (my snitch) was all upset that it was ruined.

And guard them some more:


Ooooooo, can you open up this one mom?


What's in this bag? (Sorry my dear, that's chocolate in that bag)


Cool bracelet - just my colors!! Yes, I always have cat scratches on my hands!


Sorry, but I couldn't fit all the presents in a single picture. The kitties and doggies got treats (NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM), the humans got treats (can you say Tim Tams?!?!, chocolate bars, chocolate balls.....), a very cool angel walking a dog pendant, a cat necklace, and a dragonfly pin. 2 very nice candles (scents approved by the entire household), and some very nice cards.


Then there was all the cool stationary and the OMG scrap book (more on that in a bit). I go through a lot of spiral bound notebooks with my business, as well as sticky notes to mark pages in my pattern books. The cat note cards were absolutely beautiful (I'm going to frame one). And Chris read my mind with the pocket planner. The scrap book is at the back of the pic.


DH and I had a great chuckle over this:


DH's comment when he saw this: "This looks like Scarlett when she first opened her eyes are saw me!!!" He's actually right. She was born to a feral cat just off the front porch at our old house. We built a shelter around the litter to protect them, but when she was old enough to crawl out of the box (OK, a little older than just opened her eyes day), she would do everything in her power to climb up the 6 inch step to get onto the front porch whenever DH opened up the door to keep an eye on them. She did literally fall in love with him the day she opened her eyes, and to see her struggle to get on the porch to be close to him was a sight we'll never forget. This is actually what she looked like. Replace branch with porch step in your mind.


I've saved the best for last. Chris spent a LOT of time on this scrapbook. Please realize that Chris has bad hands, and the effort that you need to do this type of intricate work had to be grueling. I opened up the front cover, realized what it was and started to cry. I didn't post every page in here - there are more pages than this:








When I hit the section for my bridge kitties, I was all out bawling:


Once again Chris, how can I ever thank you enough for your thoughtfulness and generosity? Words will never be enough.

my friend!!

 

[nurseangel]

Recipient- Santa
3catsn1dog- Resqchick
-_aj_- - ?????
Alley Girl - Kailie
Alison Joy - Sillyitilangrl
BlueRexBear - Cheylink
BMW Kitty Cat - ????
Carolina - Blue Rex Bear
catbehaviors- Cat Person
Catkiki - CATTYBIRD
CATTYBIRD- Gemlady
cheylink - ????
Denice - Rianna
Duchess15 - ?????
GailC - ????
gemlady - Ruthyb
GoldyCat - Carolina
JazzyTheCat - Mrblanche
jennyranson - gailC
Kailie - -_aj_-

katiemae1277 - nurseangel
Kluchetta - GoldyCat
mbjerkness - Ms. Freya
Milkmaid - Yayi
Momofmany - snake_lady
Momto3boys - mbjerkness
Mrblanche - Jennyranson
Ms.Freya - orangishcat
nurseangel - AlleyGirl
orangeishcat - BMW Kitty Cat
Pollyanna - Jessy
Resqchick-Anita1216
Rianna - Pollyanna

RubSluts'Mommy - AlisonJoy
RuthyB - Milkmaid
Sillyitilangrl - 3catsn1dog
SillyJilly - StarryEyedTiGeR
StarryEyedTiGeR - capt_jordi
Tara & Rob - ????
White cat lover - Momofmany
Yayi - TCS Secret Santa Elf

 

[jennyr]

That is an awesome scrapbook -well done, CHris!

Here are some photos of my haul. It is just amazing, the trouble and work that Gail and her hubby, Neil, went to for me and hte kitties:

First the box, that sat under the tree for awhile. Milo wanted to make sure I had not forgotten it


The first glimpse of the contents


And here is what we had


Unwrapped - something for everyone


Starting with the card



Ellie was first to lay claim to a catnip fish


But Bonaparte soon decided what he liked


Ellie found she had to defend 'her' present


And lost it to Persil


For me, things to eat and things to look at and a beautiful handmade wooden bowl . This wooden star decoration is absolutely gorgeous.


Thank you so much Gail. I feel totally spoiled. Everyone has gone to so much trouble this year.

 

[alleygirl]

Beautiful gifts everyone!

 

[GoldyCat]

I finally have a few minutes to post, so sorry to my wonderful Santa that I made her wait....I received a BEAUTIFUL southwestern Nativity, Indian Cotton Flower shower cream (mmmm), an adorable kitty cat noteholder that's going RIGHT into work, LOL! Also 2 fleece dog pulls, kitty toys, and 4 fleece VERY POPULAR catnip toys!

(don't forget the wonderful pre gifts I got as well )THANK YOU SO MUCH, my Secret Santa

....

GOLDYCAT!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

Glad everything was such a hit.  I have to say my plan for misdirection this year didn't work out quite the way I expected.  I dropped the first gift in a mailbox on my way out of Palm Springs, CA, after a cat show.  I can understand the hand cancel, but without Palm Springs on the stamp?

  The second one I sent home with my sister so she could mail it from a different state.  Another hand cancellation without the name of the town?!? Now that's just weird.

Carolina, I tried out the mouse attachment for Da Bird, and it's an even bigger hit than the feathers.  The kitties are also loving the blankie and the cube.  My mother sends a special thank you for the chocolates.  I also thought I was going to have to do a luggage search before I took her home, but she resisted temptation and left the Sudoku book here for me. 

 

 

[bluerexbear]

Such beautiful and thoughtful gifts!  The scrapbook is AMAZING!  I have always wanted to be able to scrapbook like that (but I really can't!).  There are all the so many wonderful hand-made items that many of you received this year.  The drawings I received from Cheyenne were so beautiful and such treasures to me.  This is a wonderful site full of wonderful folks!  I am pleased to be a part of this group! 

 

[momofmany]

The scrapbook is AMAZING!  I have always wanted to be able to scrapbook like that (but I really can't!).  

What I didn't tell you is that this was the first scrapbook that Chris has ever made, which makes it even more amazing. When I was going thru it the first time, I kept thinking about how professional it looked and that she must have been doing this for a long time. Then I read her letter afterwards and realized that this was the first one she had ever made. Chris has an untapped talent.

 

[snake_lady]

What I didn't tell you is that this was the first scrapbook that Chris has ever made, which makes it even more amazing. When I was going thru it the first time, I kept thinking about how professional it looked and that she must have been doing this for a long time. Then I read her letter afterwards and realized that this was the first one she had ever made. Chris has an untapped talent.

Thank you Yep, this was my first scrap book, and I'm glad it turned out well. I was kinda worried about it looking too cluttered and asked an anonymous friend to look at a pic of a page, and she said something along the lines of "You're a graphic artist Chris..........." so I think that helps. I've seen some scrapbooks that are not as cluttered, but............................. bottom line is, I had fun making it, and I am glad you like it. ( of course I'm also glad you ended up posting more pics LOL, I couldn't steal enough from here or FB to fill it).

What I really hope, is that I didn't mess up any of the names. I never realised how much a lot of orange kitties can look alike LOL. Beautiful kitties, but, I hope my doublechecking, and my daughters help (pssst kids, do you think this cat is the same as this one) that we got it right.

 

[mrblanche]

I got enough gifts from Jennyranson that I could have opened one gift each day for the whole Christmas season...and that was my plan.  However, when the job got crazy, I was lucky to get enough sleep, let alone do anything extraneous.

Before I show the remaining gifts, let me say Jenny has one amazing skill.  She can wrap gifts entirely without tape, and they stay wrapped!!!

Two small throws.  About the right size to place on the seat of a chair to keep down some of the cat fur.



No, not chocolate covered snails.  Yummy pralines!



A card game with pictures of cats, in a little wooden box.









Cat-themed napkins.



A jingly cat toy.







Six French-themed drink coasters.



Another little Christmas decoration.  The cats think they are cat toys, of course.



Chocolate sticks.



So the kitties, Dottie, and I made out really well.  Thanks, Jenny!  (I would love to visit your place someday.)

 

[bluerexbear]

How very cool!  I love France and speak the very tiniest bit of French (un petit)...tres tres petit!  Those gifts are just too neat.  All of the gifts from overseas make this little American girl go googly eyed for all the culture in this big world (that she hasn't ever seen beyond the Southeast USA!).  So neat!

 

[momofmany]

Thank you Yep, this was my first scrap book, and I'm glad it turned out well. I was kinda worried about it looking too cluttered and asked an anonymous friend to look at a pic of a page, and she said something along the lines of "You're a graphic artist Chris..........." so I think that helps. I've seen some scrapbooks that are not as cluttered, but............................. bottom line is, I had fun making it, and I am glad you like it. ( of course I'm also glad you ended up posting more pics LOL, I couldn't steal enough from here or FB to fill it).
What I really hope, is that I didn't mess up any of the names. I never realised how much a lot of orange kitties can look alike LOL. Beautiful kitties, but, I hope my doublechecking, and my daughters help (pssst kids, do you think this cat is the same as this one) that we got it right.

You clearly have a talent for this Chris - I'm very serious when I thought it was made by a professional!!

And you got everyone's name right. Yup, I have a lot of red cats!

 

[duchess15]

With some extra hints....I think I know who my SS is, but I am waiting on confirmation first!

 

[jazzythecat]

I received another package in the mail today, yep, another SS package! This one contained almost all cat toys and a bag of gingerbread men, I hope they weren't cat food because they're all gone now

Thank you Mike, so much for all the toys, in the future I'll be show to upload lots of videos of the cats playing with them, my compliments to whomever made those gingerbread men, they were delicious! Thank you so much, Mike!

 

[duchess15]

My SS was SillyJilly!!

 She did an amazing job!!!

Thanks sooo much!!! I hope you were able to see the video of Keira going crazy over those pads, Jill. lol

 

[momto3boys]

I hope my Santa gets her stuff soon

I havent been able to track it since it left Canada

 

[jennyr]

Mike, it was such fun to put together a package for you and I hope you like everything. The Zen guitar book seemd just right for you - as long as you haven't already got it in your collection! And I would love to welcome you and Dottie here any time. Happy New Year!

 

[sillyjilly]

My SS was SillyJilly!! :heart3:  She did an amazing job!!!

Thanks sooo much!!! I hope you were able to see the video of Keira going crazy over those pads, Jill. lol

Yup Yup Yup! It was me!!!

I was able to see the video and I laughed my butt off!!! Like I said before, I was so glad they went over so well as they were the very first cat pads I have ever made! I loved the colors a lot and wanted to make them all different for the girls and I just couldn't pass on the patterns! I am glad I could bring a little sunshine and happiness to your holiday and I hope you have MANY MANY days of laughing ahead of you with the way she's playing with those pads!