Tiffany's Challenge-October

Happy Halloween! Hope your evening is full of treats and trick-free!! We visited family last night and got the trick-or-treating finished a night early. So tonight we will just be hanging out (after church and choir practice) and snuggling in to watch some television.  The Great Pumpkin will be on and while we do have this on DVD, we still feel the need to see it on tv as part of our Halloween tradition!!

I do have a card to share with you, but it is not Halloween.  I don't usually make many of those and don't mail any.  I actually am sharing a card that has been finished for a few weeks, but I never got around to taking a picture.  I received the cardstock and DSP as part of our October challenge from our team leader, Tiffany.  I didn't make it to our meeting, but still wanted to play with the beautiful colors. Can't let those wonderful supplies go to waste!!

I stuck with a pretty simple design since the patterns were a little on the busy side.  I think the ornament balanced the two patterns pretty well.  Of course, I had to add some vanilla shimmer smooch spray to make it all sparkly.  I originally had not planned on ordering the Festival of Prints DSP, but after seeing all of the great patterns and the price (only $6.95 for 48 sheets of 4 1/2 x 6 1/2 paper), I went ahead and bought it.  The great thing is that the patterns aren't technically Christmas so they can be used for just about anything.

I am determined to make some time to do some major crafting this next week!  I am doing some fall cleaning this week and seem to be making more of a mess than tidying up, but hopefully by the end of this week, there will be a lot less clutter around here!! Wish me luck!!

I will leave you with a couple of pictures of my favorite ghouls!

They are such polar opposites and the funny thing is, the tomboy is dressed as the princess and my little diva chose to be a zombie bride! Have a wonderful Halloween!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-cherry cobbler, early espresso, lucky limeade,very vanilla, Festival of Prints DSP, Ink-cherry cobbler, Stamp Set-Ornament Keepsakes, Accessories-Holiday Ornaments framelits, rhinestones, vanilla shimmer smooch

Anything But a Card Challenge #5

Hello! So glad you popped in to visit me again! It must be getting close to Halloween because things have been completely 'batty' here!! A full moon two days before Halloween is not conducive to teaching a roomful of preschoolers...  But hey, things will settle back down shortly after Christmas, so I only have to survive for two whole months... Wish me luck!!

There is a new challenge up at Anything But a Card Challenges and it is so open to interpretation that I am sure you will find something that you can share with us!!  Here are the details lifted straight from the challenge blog...

"Hello everyone!  It's time for another Anything But a Card Challenge!  Challenge 5 is to incorporate the color BLACK into your project.  It doesn't have to be the only color, but it should compromise a good portion of it.   It does not have to be spooky! "

That's it. Black! Come on...you know you wanna join in and play along!!  The ladies on the week one design team have once again shared some absolutely amazing creations and be sure to check back in on Sunday when my project will be shared.  There's also a bit of an odd story to go along with my creation so you can always come back just to gain a little insight into my warped way of creating!

Well that's it for me today! I apologize for my lack of posting, and promise that I will have some fun things to share very soon! Have a wonderful week!!

Color Me Beautiful #9-Fall for fabric

Fall is in full swing in Indiana!  The leaves seemed to explode in color about two weeks ago and now, just a short time later, many of the trees are bare.  While I am sad that the gorgeous color show is coming to an end, I am thrilled that our unbearable hot and humid temperatures are a thing of the past.  In case you haven't picked up on it yet, fall is my absolute favorite season! Time to pull out the sweatshirts and sweaters, build campfires for family cook outs, go on hikes in the woods without being eaten alive by bugs, and snuggle in on the couch with a cup of coffee and a good book.  And don't get me started on the joys of Thanksgiving!!

It's no wonder that this week's challenge at Color Me Beautiful made me so happy!  Just look at those gorgeous leaves  inspiring us to use the wonderful Stampin' UP colors!!

When I saw the In Colors for the first time, Summer Starfruit was probably my least favorite...for about a week.  Then I started combining it with other colors and realized that it was incredibly versatile, picking up shades of orange, yellow, and even brown, depending on what was next to it.  As a matter of fact, when I saw the challenge colors, I looked for my source of Summer Starfruit first and then built my card around the beautiful strip of fabric I rolled into a flower (have I mentioned how addictive these things are??).

While it's not really a 'fall' card, I think it still has the feel, if that makes any sense!!  Plus, it uses all of the colors.  As much as I would love to take credit for the layout, the original design for this card can be found here.  Sandy also has a great tutorial on how to make these flowers at the same spot.  Be sure to visit her blog, and check out the gorgeous creations made by the design team at CMB!  Who knows?  Maybe you will be inspired to share your own creation with us!!

To help put you in the fall mood that currently surrounds me, I'm sharing a few pictures I took last weekend while the girls and I went for a walk.  The leaves were already beginning to fall, but there was still plenty of color.

I hope this has put you in the mood for fall and maybe even to play along with our color challenge! Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-chocolate chip, crumb cake, very vanilla, Orchard Harvest DSP, Subtles Stack DSP, Stamp Set-Wacky Wishes, Ink-chocolate chip, Accessories- Comfort Cafe fabric, Jumbo Sticky Rounds, Framed Tulip embossing folder, Little Leaves Sizzlit, Big Shot

Happy Mail!!!

If you have followed my blog for a while, you know that one of the main reasons I enjoy card making so much is the joy that comes from the simple act of mailing a card.  Now don't get me wrong, I love the therapeutic benefits I receive and the excuse to go shopping, and hand delivering a card is very nice as well.  But, it just doesn't compare with the feeling that comes from going to the mailbox and finding a CARD when you were expecting bills, political flyers, and junk mail. I like to refer to this as happy mail!  And if it arrives at just the right time, all the better!

My past two weeks have been nuts.  Not the normal crazy that seems to always be happening, but 'how in the world did I forget to do that' nuts!!  The end of the month is always a busy time for me at school, but this month seems to be worse than normal, and then adding to that two busy kids, and an even busier husband and I felt like I was being swamped with demands and requests for my time.  You know it's bad when you don't even feel like being crafty when you have a little free time.   This is usually when I get incredibly frustrated and overwhelmed and don't feel like doing anything. I was having one of those days last week and I walked to our mailbox and saw an envelope addressed to me. It wasn't my birthday and I wasn't expecting anything so I was so pleasantly surprised to open the envelope and see this...

It was from a fellow SU demo, Colleen.  Colleen and I are both a part of the same team and our challenge for October was to make and send out 5 cards. I was blessed that she chose me as one of the recipients.  It made my day so much better!  While you can't really see it in my pic, the centers of the flowers have silvery centers that shimmer so prettily! 

Imagine my surprise the next day when there was another card addressed to me. It was from my wonderful blogging friend, Heather 'witching' me a happy Halloween!  Now I'm really starting to feel special! Two cards in one week!!

This card has the most wonderful water coloring and she even added a little trim of orange glitter to the frame to make it extra festive!!

So by now I'm thinking things just might not be so bad and I just need to suck it up and tough it out.  I'm also beginning to race the girls to the mailbox to see what other treasure might be waiting for me, even though I know that the likelihood of receiving more happy mail is quite small.  Well...Surprise, surprise!! Look what showed up amid the bills and 'vote for me' papers this week!!

This lovely creation was from another wonderful blogging friend, Sherry.  I did a little searching and found some retired ribbon for her and she sent me this as a thank you-even though her ribbon arrived a week late...sorry!! She also included some gorgeous enamel dots for me to play with!! Such a sweetie!!!!!

So today I am sitting here not only sharing their gorgeous creations and thanking them for their thoughtfulness, but also reminded that we never know just how much those small acts of kindness can mean to someone.  I am sure that none of these wonderful ladies thought "I'll mail a card to Margaret.  It will thrill her to death and I will be the most wonderful person ever!"  They are much too humble and big hearted to use that as their purpose.  But all the same, their simple gesture made a huge difference in the way I was feeling and for that I thank them from the bottom of my heart!!

I also want to encourage all of you to follow their lead and join me in paying it forward by sending some  'just because' cards.  I don't send nearly enough of these, but intend to change that this week!

Have a great day (it's almost Friday, that in itself makes it great!) and find some time to be crafty!!

Big News for Digital Scrappers!!

Yes! You read correctly!!! Starting October 29th thru November 5th, you can visit your favorite SU demonstrator's website and receive FREE downloads, plus take advantage of the special pricing on all digital kits!  

What's that you say? You don't have a favorite SU Demo??? I would love to help you out!  Just click here to go to my Stampin' UP website.  If you don't already have My Digital Studio, now is a great time to purchase!  Just look at all of the free and discounted things you could add in just a few short days!!!

The MDS website is sure to be full of great ideas and lots of sharing and I will be doing my very best to share some of my digital pages during this time as well!  You can find more information at 

My Digital Studio during these special days!

Anything But a Card - Challenge 4

Here we are in week 2 of the Fall/Halloween challenge at Anything But a Card.  I had such a hard time deciding what to do.  There were so many different ideas! But in the end, I went with a scrapbook page since I am still plugging away at the mountain of pictures in my files.

Because I had 4 pictures to squeeze onto the page, I kept the layout fairly simple.  I also found the perfect excuse to try making some wonderfully textured leaves that I have been seeing on so many different pages and cards.  I used my new leaf die to cut out the leaves, folded them in half, and ran them through the woodgrain embossing folder.  Add a little sponged ink to the edges and raised areas and voila!  Of course I couldn't pass up the chance to add one of the new brushed bronze buttons either!

My nephew's birthday is right before Halloween and he always has the most fun parties.  His cakes often have gummy worms or  plastic bugs crawling on the icing, and it gives all the kids another chance to wear their costumes.  The year my Dad's pumpkin patch did incredibly well, we all carved pumpkins.  It was fun seeing all the different patterns and freestyle designs.  The three in the bottom picture were made by my husband and daughters.

Page Recipe: Cardstock-orange base from my stash, chocolate chip, real red, daffodil delight, Ink-soft suede, more mustard, cajun craze (sponged on leaves), Accessories-chocolate chip scalloped dots ribbon, woodgrain embossing folder, autumn accents die, brushed bronze button, twine (ret), vellum quote from stash

Color Me Beautiful inspired

Well, if you happened to see my post yesterday, you know that I was taking full advantage of my first day of fall break.  I did manage to spend a good part of the day in my jammies.  It was rainy and chilly so the weather was perfect for this.  I did several loads of laundry, blog stalked and started getting caught up on my emails, and most importantly, I crafted!  I even managed to tidy up my crafting space a little bit before starting, not that you can tell anymore! Teehee!

I managed to get a few scrapbook pages completed for upcoming DT projects and found some time to play with the colors from this weeks challenge at Color Me Beautiful.  I already had the paper on my table, so it wasn't too difficult to get started!  After pulling out a variety of DSP patterns, I knew I wanted to make a quilt card...um...make that two!

Such an easy way to play with all of the colors and now I have two more birthday cards for my stash! Well, I have quite a busy day planned-bridal shower and a family reunion, so there won't be much crafting today, but there's still two more days left of my fall break!! Woo! Hoo!

Have a wonderful weekend and happy crafting!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-river rock, soft suede, Comfort Cafe DSP, Brights and Subtles collection DSP stacks, Floral District DSP, Stamp Set-Curly Cute, Ink-soft suede, Accessories-square lattice folder, big shot

Color Me Beautiful #8 Winged Hues

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by my little ol' blog today!  I am enjoying a much needed day off of work for fall break! I may just stay in my jammies until it's bedtime again!!

It's time for another wonderful color challenge from the ultra talented ladies at Color Me Beautiful.  I am not joining in as a DT member this week.  I had hoped to get a project put together and even have my colors setting on the table, but between work and family, that is as far as I got.  But like I said, a day to stay in my jammies... this sounds like the perfect outfit for crafting!!  But enough of my gabbing!  Here is the gorgeous inspiration photo for this week...

and the beautiful SU colors...

Be sure to stop by the challenge blog and see what the fabulous ladies have created to share with you this week!!  And if you're having a 'stay in your jammies' kind of day, feel free to link up and join us!!!

ABAC's new challenge

Good grief! Where did my weekend go?!  I have been dealing with a wonderful head cold and decided to take it easy this weekend, but I guess I took it too easy, because I forgot to post about the new challenge at Anything But a Card.  It is the perfect challenge for this time of year and flexible enough that anyone can  play along!!

"Our challenge here at Anything But a Card for the next two weeks is to create something with a Fall or Halloween theme or simply use fall colors- golds, rust, reds, browns, deep green, etc.  I think that gives everyone a way to participate!  I know Halloween isn't celebrated in all parts of the world!   We cannot wait to see what you create for this challenge!  Remember you can create Anything But a Card!"

So there you have it! Whether you are preparing for Halloween and want to share your creative project, or just want to use some gorgeous fall coloring on your next creation, be sure to link up with us so we can 'oohh' and 'ahhh' over it too!!  I am always so impressed with the variety and talent that is shared and can't wait to see what YOU can share!!

Have a wonderful week and happy crafting!

Color Me Beautiful #7 and a scrappy page

It's Friday!!! Yippee!!! We have survived another week and it's time for a new challenge at Color Me Beautiful. I absolutely loved these colors as soon as I saw them and the wheels started turning when I saw this wonderful blue boat!! 

  

Doesn't that picture just make you want to pack a picnic and set off to your own little private island?!

I have always been something of a 'water baby' and love spending time anywhere near the water.  The colors for this week's challenge felt so aquatic and I really wanted to stay with the watery inspiration.  I also have a ton of pictures begging to be scrapped and after a quick look through the box, I found pictures from a pool party we attended this summer. BINGO!!  My next problem was trying to fit 5 fun filled photos onto one page...  I hunted through some old Page Maps sketches and found one with hinges on the bottom picture.  So rather than making the hinges simply decorative, I made a little mini album to house the extra pictures.  This also gave me a perfect place for journaling too!

I managed to use all of the colors in the challenge and found that I really love these colors together!  I even managed to find some old alphabet stickers in my stash that fit the theme and used them for my title.  

I hope you have a fantastic weekend, find some time to be crafty, and maybe even accept our color challenge and link up your fabulous creation!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!

Page Recipe: Cardstock-sahara sand, old olive, river rock, bashful blue, pacific point, Ink-old olive and pacific point markers, Accessories-2 1/2" circle punch, modern label punch, perfect polka dot embossing folder, metallic brads,stickers from long ago, 2 bowls for making larger circles

Scrapbook Wednesday with a hint of Flashback Friday

Hi! So glad you stopped by to visit my blog today!  I decided to rearrange my scrapbook posting day to Wednesday instead of Monday.  I'm hoping this will give me a little more time between design teams to get my regular posts on here. I'm also calling this a hint of Flashback Friday because I have used a lot of retired goodies from my stash on this layout.

The pictures are from a few years ago when DD#2 was chosen as the student of the month for her class.  As if that recognition wasn't enough to make her head swell, she was then chosen as the corporation's student of the month for the entire elementary school.  She received a very nice award at the school board meeting and even had her name on the school's message board.  We were a little proud as well!  I wanted both pictures on one page and since she wore pink in one picture and red in the other, I thought Sending Love DSP would work nicely.  There are hints of glitter in the DSP which DD loved.  I used an old Page Maps sketch for the layout and as I was working on the layout and digging through my stash, I found a pretty in pink scallop circle from who knows where.  This sparked the idea for the little 'flower' embellishment on the bottom half.

Well, I think I hear a mountain of dirty laundry calling my name... better go tell it to be quiet :P

Hope you have a fantastic rest of the week and find some time to be crafty!

Page Recipe: Cardstock-red base from stash, very vanilla, Sending Love DSP (ret), real red, pretty in pink, chocolate chip, Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Notes and Details (ret), Accessories-scallop trim border punch, 2 1/2" circle punch, 1" circle punch, 2 3/8" scallop circle punch, large scallop circle punch, corduroy buttons (ret), chocolate chip twill ribbon (ret), bakers twine (dyed chocolate chip), snow burst embossing folder, big shot

ABAC-Shiny, Sparkly, Blingy, OH MY!

It's week two of the challenge at Anything But a Card, and it's my turn to share a project. Our challenge is to make something shiny, sparkly, or blingy and I think this will qualify (wink) as sparkly. I am loving all of the creations that have been linked up so far!  There is so much variety and everyone has their own style that shows through all of the bling-bling!!  

I really need a class on taking pictures of my layouts as they never appear as nice as they are in real life.  I give you exhibit A...

I sprayed vanilla shimmer smooch spritz all over the base, added a couple of strips of silver glimmer paper and a glitter brad in the center of a distressed flower.  The butterflies are heat embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder. You would think that the glint from the sunlight would be blinding in this picture, but it's not.  So you will just have to take my word that it is VERY sparkly!!

This blurry close up of the flower shows a hint of the shine...

This was a fun page to create.  DD#1 loves purple and I thought the elegant eggplant and silver would give these holiday pictures a festive look.  The grungy flower was a first for me.  I punched 3 scallop circles and misted them with a little water, then mushed them into a ball. This gave them such wonderful texture.  I attached them together with a glimmer brad and sprayed them with vanilla shimmer.  Not to bad if I say so myself!!

When I finished my page and was looking at the pictures, I noticed DD had a jeweled belt buckle on her shirt. How perfect is that?!

Well, i hope you like my sparkly page and I would love to see what you can create with a little sparkle, shine, or bling! Have a wonderful week!

Page Recipe: Cardstock-elegant eggplant, silver glimmer paper, Ink-versamark, Stamp Set-Precious Butterflies, Accessories- scallop circle punch, elegant eggplant dotted scallop ribbon, silver glimmer brad, vanilla shimmer smooch spritz, iridescence ice embossing powder, heat gun

Color Me Beautiful-An unlikely card...

Well hello! It's Friday again and that means a new color challenge at Color Me Beautiful .  We have some beautiful, soft colors to work with this week!  I really liked the inspiration photo and was doing some serious thinking about a soft, pretty, floral card using Reason To Smile.  I ended up doing something completely different and then had to laugh when another team member used this set for her card. Great minds!!  There are some wonderful creations made by the design team to get your wheels turning and we would LOVE it if you linked up and joined our party!!

So here is the wonderfully springlike inspiration photo...

and the corresponding SU colors...

After a little thought, I took these colors in a totally different direction.  I already have a lot of flowery, girly cards in my stash, and while I send out quite a few, I didn't really need another.  What I will be needing is Christmas cards.  Hmm...  I tend to play it safe with colors for Christmas, lots of reds and greens, with the occasional browns added for a more vintage feel.  But today I threw caution to the wind and made a Christmas card using these colors and GASP! a non-traditional stamp as well!!  Quite the 'wild child' today (insert eye roll here!)!! Somebody stop me!!

Quite simple and quite non-traditional... After inking the wreath image from Apothecary Art, I pulled out my pastels to add some color. I actually fussy cut the image and then used the framelit to cut the basic gray layer.  I added some sharpie colored rhinestones to balance the card. This is a pretty flat card, so it will mail nicely to someone on my list.  I need to check my stash of Christmas cards and see how many more I need to make.  It will be here before I know it...  My sister actually has a Christmas countdown going on her facebook page.  I lovingly remind her how much I hate it about twice a week!!  Let me know when it's less than 10 days!  Then I'll be interested, and panicked!!

Today I am spending the afternoon with DD#1 and her bestie to hunt for Halloween outfits.  They have an idea in their head and need to find the clothes to make it work, so we will be hitting all of the thrift stores.  I just might have to take a peek in housewares and see what I can find to alter or dress up.  I hope you have a wonderful weekend and that no one tells you how many days til Christmas!  Happy crafting!!

Card Recipe:  Cardstock-always artichoke, basic gray, whisper white, regal rose and pink pirouette DSP from the color family stacks, Ink-basic gray, certainly celery, Stamp Sets-Apothecary Art, Curly Cute, Accessories-pastels, rhinestones, Labels framelits

Bling it on! at ABAC

Hello!  I just realized that my reminder post for the new challenge at Anything But A Card was not on my blog.  Went to check and 'doh' I forgot to schedule it... I really hate to see what shape my mind is in when I'm 80 if it's this bad now!!  So here it is!!

Hope everyone's week is off to a fine start!  We are enjoying the last day of one of the local festivals with a parade today.  The weather is perfect and we had a great time catching up with friends.  I am also having a great time because the new challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges starts today and it's a fun one!! Here's the info from the challenge blog...

This Challenge is to make sure your project incorporates something shiny or sparkly or blingy!  Easy, right?  Especially if you like glitter and rhinestones, metal tape, gems, glossy accents, - but there are also lots of other ways to get a shine of some sort! 

I can't wait to share my project with everyone next week!  I think this just might be the most glitter you will ever see on anything from me!  I would love to see your shimmery, shiny, blinged out creations, so please feel free to link up and share.  I'll be waiting with my sunglasses on...

Scrapbook Monday!! A little time to play!

Surprise! It's been a little while since I've posted a Scrapbook Monday, but I actually made a little time to play on Friday and managed to get a few pages done.  Several weeks ago I tried my hand at rolled fabric flowers and realized they can be quite addictive.  I liked them so well, I used them as my 'make and take' project at our team meeting.  There were a few strips of fabric left over and as I was cleaning my work space, I found them.  Hmmm.... So much for cleaning!  I pulled out a few sticky rounds and got busy making more rolled flowers.  

The fabric was from Candy Cane Christmas, but I didn't feel like making a Christmas project.  Instead, I chose a picture of 'the girls' getting ready to head out to our local Christkindlemarkt. *insert history lesson here*  Our surrounding communities were established by German immigrants and continue to have a strong German heritage.  A nearby town honors this history by holding a town-wide Christmas market the weekend before Thanksgiving.  It marks the beginning of advent as well as following an age old tradition of craftsmen, bakers, and artisans selling their wares in preparation of Christmas gift giving.  My Mom, sisters, daughters, and I go every year and have a wonderful time seeing all of the handmade crafts, tasting delicious foods, sampling wine from local wineries, and browsing the antique booths and shops.  We spend the entire day shopping and while we don't buy a whole lot, we have a fabulous time together.  My oldest DD has an amazing relationship with a milliner that sets up shop every year.  DD saves her money to buy a new hat and then spends some quality time trying on the various hats and visiting with the hat maker.  The hat she is wearing in the photo is one of Patrica's creations.  DD#2 waits patiently for our last stop where she buys a huge bag of kettle corn that is made on site in a HUGE copper kettle.  Warm kettle corn is also a bit addictive.  I have two downfalls at this annual event...

  1. wine tasting (I don't hit every booth (yikes!) but always have such a hard time deciding what to buy)
  2. antiques (see story below)

Last year I came across some old printing press letters.  I looked and looked at them and talked myself out of the complete alphabet set for $100 and settled for a few individual word blocks.  After I got home, I kicked myself for not buying the alphabet.  Especially after I actually inked up the word blocks.  The effect was so cool!  I am sure that somewhere an antique expert is freaking out that I inked up and used them, but what good would they be if I just let them sit?!

I am just as bad at the booth with the vintage post cards!  Good thing there are Grandma and Auntie to take the girls as my other sister (and partner in crime) spend an eternity looking at things!!

I hope you enjoyed my little story and learned a little about German history as well!  Have a wonderful week!!

Page recipe: Cardstock- real red, whisper white, garden green, Baja breeze, the DSP is SU, but I'm not sure which collection it came from..., Ink-basic black marker, Accessories- Candy Cane Christmas fabric, sticky round, blushing bride ruffled ribbon (ret), bird builder punch, and some letter stickers from my stash that amazingly enough matched the colors. *the large circle was made by tracing a saucer onto whisper white and cutting it out.  I drew the journaling lines with a basic black marker.