Merry Christmas!

Hello! I purposely left the photo of my last batch of Christmsas cards for today, so I would have something to share.  This is another of the super easy designs that I pulled off at the last minute.  Starting with the glittery card base made it very easy.  I think the hardest thing was waiting for the dazzling details to dry so I could put it all together!

Now that my girls are a little older and share the Santa Magic with us, I'm hoping they will let us sleep in until a suitable hour this morning!  But even if they don't, I know today will be a beautiful day filled with family, lots of coffee, and the creation of many happy memories!

I also wanted to take a minute to share some love with my blog followers and visitors.  I know that there are many throughout the world who do not celebrate Christmas, so I hope that you will appreciate my deepest wish that you and your loved ones find happiness and peace as we approach a new year.  For the Christmas celebrators, I hope this season brings you closer to to the ones you love and that we all enter this holiday season with the knowledge that 'presence' is so much more important than 'presents', and for my fellow Christians, may we keep in mind the true reason for our celebrations and share His love with others throughout the world.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Seasons Greetings to all! 

Wish upon a star... with Anything But a Card Challenges

Hello! It is week number three of our 'Celestial' challenge and my turn to share.  It was so hard for me to narrow down the direction I wanted to go with this theme.  With Christmas right around the corner, I could go with a Christmas star creation, or maybe something with angels and the heavens... But in the end I decided on something a little motivating to place in my crafty work area to remind me of where I am and the direction I would like to go.  I created an ATC to add to my growing collection (really need to do something special with them...) and decided to play with some long neglected supplies too.  Once again, I have found my photography skills severely lacking.  This really sparkles with the gold and glitter, but the photo turned out very 'eh'.

I colored the background of a piece of watercolor paper with some black, purple, and blue pastels.  Then I pulled out my stars mask and dug out my bottle of gold Smooch that I've had for ages.  After the ink dried, I stamped my mantra words for the coming year.  The whole thing was treated to a smearing of dazzling details to give it just a little more sparkle.

The three words are a gentle reminder to slow down and not allow myself to become so busy that I don't have time for dreaming, creating, and inspiring.

I will leave you with a quote and the hope that you will find time to play along with us at Anything But a Card.  You still have a week left to share your inspiration with us! Have a wonderful week!

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Do you wanna build a snowman?

Anyone associated with young girls probably has the song from Frozen running through their heads now! Sorry!!  I am so very happy that you stopped by today!  We are counting the days (hours) until Christmas vacation begins and I for one am quite ready for the break even if I'm not finished preparing for the big day!  We have been baking cookies, shopping, and putting together gift bags for some very special people.  There was only one little snafu...  While I had made enough cards for our mailing list, I forgot to add the ones that we hand out with gifts. Doh!  So here I am, the week before Christmas making last minute cards!

As I was trying to decide what design I wanted to go with (obviously, simple was in order), I spied a box of sparkly card blanks that have been on my craft shelf for waaaaaay longer than I care to admit! A little dsp, a cute lil' snowman, some fun glittery snow, and taaadaa!!  

Cold Play is a very retired stamp set, but it is just so fun to make these little snowmen!  I also have to admit to a bit of an addiction to Snowtex.  I'm not sure which of you wonderful blogland people turned me on to this stuff, but it is awesome!!

Well, there are many things on my 'to do' list so I will leave with the promise to return soon and get some blog visits in as well!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe: Paper-glittery card from stash, whisper white, Christmas Cocoa dsp (ret),  Stamp Set-Cold Play (ret), Inks-memento tuxedo black, garden green, pumpkin pie, real red, Accessories-cherry cobbler bakers twine, snowtex

We need a little Christmas-a little Christmas gift idea!

Hello! I am so glad you stopped by today!  As many of you already know, things have been pretty hectic in my household, so I'm especially happy that I have something to share!

Quite a while back, my fellow ABAC teammate, Lynne, was in the spotlight and shared how to create these cute post it note and pen sets.  I loved them so much I made 60 of them for our ladies group at church!!  Of course, I did not have them finished in time to post on her spotlight challenge, and then actually forgot to take a picture until this past weekend (right before I packed them up for our party!).  They were a big hit and are actually pretty simple to make.  You can see Lynne's spotlight here, see a lot of her other marvelous creations (She makes the most wonderful quilts!!), and get to know a little more about her.

In an effort to use up my Christmas papers, I opted to make a Christmas version.  I used the Trust God stamp set for the sentiments, and I found the perfectly sized pens at Wal-Mart in their Christmas section.  I wouldn't be giving them an advertising spot but it was the only place I found pens that would fit!

If you would like to make your own post it sets, you can click on the 'here' link above and Lynne has very clear instructions you can follow.

There is a new challenge on the ABAC blog too! Our theme is Celestial and we would love to see how you interpret this into your artwork!  I would love it if you would link up and play along!

I hope you have a very pleasant week filled with creativity!  I will be back soon with a few more creations!

Giving thanks and making ornaments

Oh, my poor blog has been so neglected lately!  Seems like crafting and blogging has been getting put on the back burner more and more.  However, Christmas will soon be here and this almost always gives me a good excuse reason to be creative.  I have several things in the works and have managed to partially complete several projects, but since none of them are finished yet, I have no photos to share.

I do have some handcrafted ornaments that my girls made for our annual Thanksgiving/family reunion.  DD#2 is always so organized and knew what she wanted to do and had things to make them well in advance.  She would have been finished weeks before Thanksgiving if her mother had been more on the ball!  But I did manage to get her the rest of the materials she would need for her altered cookie cutter ornaments.

a gingerbread man complete with pearl decorations

Santa with his pack of goodies

After she finished, we discussed that a bit of glitter or sparkle would have really dressed these up.  She still has a few she will be making as gifts, so we'll have to see what she does with them!

DD#1 is most definitely her mother's daughter!  She was frantically finishing her ornaments Thanksgiving day!  Luckily, she went with a fairly simple paper ornament.  She is thinking about putting a decorative punch edge on the next ones she creates.

It was hard to get a good photo showing just how

pretty these were...  I love the papers she chose!

I know I am quite late with my Thanksgiving wishes, but shouldn't we be thankful every day?!  This year has been quite chaotic and it seems like we have very little down time, however, there have been so many positives for us that all of the stress has been viewed as a 'strengthening of the irons'.  My job has been quite the adventure this year and I am usually exhausted at the end of the day, yet it has also been so rewarding.  I am neck deep in the realization that I can make small differences that lead to great things for others.

I was also reminded of how amazing my girls are (moms need that sometimes).  We always sponsor a child at Christmas through our church's giving tree.  We do our best to get the things on the wish list while still keeping with our budget.  The girls were so caught up in shopping for a little girl they had never met (and probably never will) that the gifts were over our budgeted amount.  They both agreed that we could spend less on them so the little girl could have everything they picked out for her.  DD#2 even told me that she no longer needed us to get the game she had asked for.  She was going to save her own money and decide if she really needed it.  I love all of the little Christmas miracles that seem to happen every year!

My goal this Christmas is to make gift giving more meaningful.  Of course, this has added a lot more baking and creating to my list, but I'm looking forward to opening my busy schedule to do some fun things with my kids and sharing the love with others.

Well, it is past my bedtime and tomorrow is another busy day.  I hope you are also counting your blessings and preparing to celebrate this season with love in your heart! I also hope that you have a bit more luck than I at finding time to be creative! At least there is always Christmas break!  Thanks so much for stopping by! I am so thankful for all of my blog friends and visitors!

Anything But a Card Challenge 41-a bit late...

Hello there! So glad you stopped by! Did you ever have one of those months where things seemed to just creep up on you leaving you feeling totally inadequate and unorganized? November has been my month, or should I say 'has NOT been my month'.  But before I regale you with my story of woe, I'll share my creation for today.  That way you can read on if you like, but I won't submit you to my drama unless you're interested! You're welcome!!

Part of this has to do with my project for Anything But A Card Challenges.  We are having an Anything Goes Challenge (well, anything but cards!) and there is still time for you to join in!

I have a habit of buying things from the clearance section that generally sit and collect dust until I rediscover them during some random cleaning spree.  Today's mini Christmas album  is a chipboard mitten that I found in the 25 cent bin at Michael's, well after winter was over-a few years ago...  Since I am trying to use up my older Christmas papers, I thought this album would make a good project and possibly a little gift for someone as well.

This is the cover. The snow-tex made a wonderful

'fuzzy' cuff for the mitten.

I kept the pages blank in case this becomes a gift.

This page might hold an oval photo in the future.

a journaling page

The back of the book looks just like the front, so I didn't photograph it.  When it's put together, the ring is dressed up with red and white ribbons (didn't take a photo of that either!).

I used a lot of the Christmas Cocoa dsp for this album!  I finally feel like I might actually use up all of those older papers!

I'm not sure how but November managed to arrive and advance at hyper-speed.  One minute it was Halloween and the next thing I knew, my oldest was caroling for a local holiday stroll. She handed me the form and I commented that her choral director was really on the ball this year getting the paper to us so early.  I should have known from the confused and concerned look on my daughter's face that something was amiss. "um... Mom... It's next weekend..." What?!  So in less than a blink of an eye, two of my favorite shopping events have come and gone, and I barely remember enjoying them!  Then I got to thinking that it was almost my turn to post my project for Anything But a Card, only to realize that it should have been posted yesterday... Sorry, ladies!!

The sad thing is that there isn't really a 'good' reason for all of this.  For some reason, my brain is still thinking it's the beginning of November instead of almost Thanksgiving!  And to put the proverbial icing on the cake, we had our first snow day today-in November!!  Someone help me find the brakes!!!

Hopefully, the rest of the month will go by at a more normal pace and maybe December will decide to creep by (yeah, I know, but a girl's gotta dream!).  Have a fabulous week and may all of your creative moments go by at a much slower pace!

A Vintage Christmas Card for Halloween!

Hello and happy Halloween, well almost!  I can not believe how quickly this month has passed and I am sure November has no intentions of being any different!  It's a good thing I managed to get a few Christmas cards made.  That gets me a little closer to being ready!  

I stayed true to my plan of using older papers, and while I'm sure my DH would still say I have too much, I feel better that I'm actually using up what I already had!  I did manage to squeeze one new product on this card-the silver sequins!  They are part of a winter sequins pack in the Holiday catalog.  I loved the wonderful snowflakes too, but they didn't quite fit the theme of the card!

Even though this card has layers, sequins, and ribbon, it is still quite easy to put together so I won't bore you with details!  I may end up adding some dazzling details to the berries before I consider this 'done'.  I think it will balance the shiny factor of the sequins!

I am so glad you took the time to visit today and I hope to return the favor soon!  But now I have to get our home ready for the trick-or-treaters that will be arriving this weekend!  Happy Halloween!

Card Recipe: Paper-sahara sand, very vanilla, Be of Good Cheer dsp (ret), Ink-early espresso, gumball green, cherry cobbler, Stamp Set-Bells and Boughs, Accessories-sequins, cherry cobbler seam binding

ABAC Challenge 40-Springing into Fall

Hello there! Fall is in it's full glory in southern Indiana and I couldn't be happier!  This is my favorite season for so many reasons.  I love the beautiful colors that seem to appear overnight; the air is somehow 'cleaner' and cooler, and it is the perfect time for campfires. So needless to say, I chose to do a fall project for Anything But a Card's Autumn Magic Spring Wonder challenge.  Of course, if you are on the other side of the globe, Spring may be inspiring you to make something equally colorful but in a different way!  I hope you will join us in celebrating both Spring and Autumn with a project of your own!

I knew immediately what my project would be.  We have two wonderful friends who have done so much to help us over the past year, and while I know I can't repay their kindness, I can reciprocate with a special thank you gift!  I bought an unfinished wood birdhouse to alter for a fall decoration.

I started with a base of light blue acrylic paint to match the mixer in their kitchen.  DD#1 took one look and said "Isn't her mixer more of a greenish color?" AHHHH! So on went a coat of Bahama Blue acrylic paint which is a cross between mint and turquoise.  This was deemed closer to the shade of the mixer. The roof was painted with Antique Copper metallic acrylic paint and the base was painted espresso brown.

I glued a large piece of aluminum foil to some printer paper, then cut the pieces to fit the dimensions of the roofs.  These were painted with the antique copper paint, set off to dry, then ran through the Fancy Fan embossing folder. It made a pretty cool shingle-like pattern.  I added some bahama blue accents to the foil roof to give the oxidation effect.  The blue/green house was given a generous coat of clear rock candy crackle paint to age the paint job to match the roof.  When the crackling was finished, I brushed on some crumb cake ink to fill in the cracks and age it a bit more.

My final touches were adding a few punched leaves in pumpkin pie, real red, and chocolate chip dsp. and some buttons.  I rubbed a little of the copper paint onto two vintage buttons and threaded some coastal cabana bakers twine through the holes.

The ultimate compliment came when DH declared the house to be really cool! He couldn't believe that I made the roof. :)  

Whether you prefer Spring or Fall, I hope you will join us in this month's challenge.  We would love to see your creations!!

Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you have a fantastic week!

Flashback Friday and a little Christmas too!

Wow! Posted twice in one week!! That hasn't happened in a little while!  I am also happy to say I used up a bit more of the stash of older Christmas papers to make a few more Christmas cards!

Once again, the card is quite basic and was quick to create.  Hopefully, there will be a bit more free time soon for me to make something a little more time consuming.

This was as simple as cutting a piece of dsp, adding ribbon and a punched sentiment.  Then a metal button from a collectables/antiques store was threaded with some bakers twine and glued to the ribbon.  Easy peasy!

As the title of the post hints, the dsp is very retired and now there is only a little bag of scrap pieces left!  I may have to come up with a little something to use them so I can say I completely used the whole pack!

We have a busy schedule for the next few weeks, but I do have a couple of posts scheduled so there will be a little activity on my blog anyway.  I am hoping there will be some free time for me to visit blogs!  Somehow, there never seems to be enough hours in the days this school year!  I hope you find plenty of time to be creative and have a wonderful weekend!

Card Recipe: Paper-chocolate chip, whisper white, Ski Slope dsp (ret), Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Good Greetings, Accessories-real red stitched ribbon, cherry cobbler bakers twine, decorative label punch, metal button from stash

Now, how did that happen?!

Hello! I am so glad you stopped in today, and even happier that you haven't given up on my poor neglected blog!  Since school began, I have not been able to squeeze much creative time into my life, but I think things are finally starting to gel into a routine.  

My girls and I were recently talking about upcoming events and they mentioned Halloween.  I laughed and said we had plenty of time until Halloween was here...Ummm...Hellooooo! It's the middle of October!! Now, how did THAT happen?!  I don't usually make Halloween cards, so no worries about being behind on cards, but that does mean that the C word is just around the corner...

As luck would have it, I had a bit of free time last week to make a few cards, and I will be sharing them over the next few days.  I decided that I really need to use up my older papers before buying anything new for Christmas!  I made good progress last year, but there is still quite a bit there. Maybe by the time I finish scrapbooking Christmas, it will be gone!

Today's card is pretty simple in design because the paper had such a bold stripe pattern.  It might be a little difficult to see, but the banner is actually three dimensional.  I scored the strip on either side of the sentiment so it would pop up a bit.

Not much more to say about this one-pretty basic!  

We recently had a family reunion at a local park with a beautiful walking trail.  The leaves are just beginning to change and I managed to get a few nice pictures when DD#1 and I went for a walk.

Well, that's all I have to share for today.  Hopefully, I will get another post up soon so my poor blog won't feel so lonely!  Have a wonderful and creative day!

Card Recipe: Paper-old olive, whisper white, Holiday Treasures dsp (ret), Ink-chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Good Greetings, Accessories-circle framelits, scallop circle punch

Steampunk Therapy

Hello! I am so glad to be back to my blog and creating once again!  I've been in a bit of a funk lately. Too many things keeping me busy and no time to create can make a girl grumpy!  I am so glad that it is my turn to share at Anything But a Card.  Gave me a good excuse to bypass laundry and cleaning since I 'had' to make something!

Our challenge this month is Steampunk and those of you who know me well, know that this is quite out of my comfort zone.  I had never made anything Steampunky before joining this team, but the ladies at ABAC are so supportive and encourage everyone to grow, so I can happily say this is my second Steampunk creation.  I still struggle with getting what I want in my head transferred to paper, but it is a lot of fun and a good excuse to buy new things or dig through your treasures for something that will work.

I honestly had NO clue what this was going to be when I started.  I'm still not sure I know exactly what it is, but it was a lot of fun to play!  All I can tell you it is an ATC that features some industrial flower- like things growing in an imperfect garden!

I started with a piece of watercolor paper since I wasn't sure how inky it would get and I wanted it to be sturdy with the metal that was sure to appear on a steampunk piece.  I used the dots mask and a stipple brush to apply so saffron,  crumb cake, and soft suede inks.  Then I added the background stamp Backgrounds Rule in soft suede.  I was sure I had some images or embellishments that would work, but couldn't come up with anything that I liked together. I had this cog image in my head at this point and had zero 'gears' stuff to use.  I improvised with the spoked wheel of a bicycle stamp.  When I finished stamping a row of them, they looked more like flowers than cogs... That got my muse going! Flowers aren't very industrial-unless they have metal centers and copper stems! I also came across a left-over die cut flower and colored it with a copper sharpie and stippled soft suede ink over it to dull it down a bit.  An old button and some metal brads gave the flowers just the right touch of punk, and the copper sharpie made some nice little stems too.  I thought the Tim Holtz tag was the perfect mantra for this piece.  Not everyone can make flowers from bicycle wheels...

I hope you have been inspired to step out of your comfort zone or at the very least, find a new way to use your stamps!  I also hope you will join us at Anything But a Card this month!  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Project Recipe: watercolor paper, Inks-so saffron, crumb cake, soft suede, early espresso, Stamps-backgrounds rule, bicycle from Paper Pumpkin kit, metal brads, crochet trim, TH metal tag, button from antique/collectable shop, copper Sharpie

Last Call for Design Team!!

Our ABAC design team call closes on September 13th.  If you (or anyone you know) are interested please check out the details here.  This really is an awesome group of ladies to work with and everyone is always so encouraging and supportive!

Here is what our leader, Susan, had to say about our team!

" ABAC has no sponsors + no expectations + no having to use particular stuff! No Rules and a variety of themes and possible makes = doing projects you REALLY want to do! We are all about CREATING and SHARING... ABAC is all inclusive – and all levels of expertise are welcome too. If you love to create everything under the sun that is NOT CARDS... throw your hat in and apply!"

Design Team Call!!

Hello! I don't have a new creation to share with you but I do have an invitation to share YOUR creations with us!  Anything But a Card is having a design team call and we would love to hear from YOU!!!

You can find the details here if you are interested.  Having been a team member from the beginning, I can say that this is a fabulous group of people to work with.  No drama, and lots of support and love!  It would be awesome to add some of my wonderful friends to this team too!  We are open to a huge assortment of creations and creativity.  The only thing we don't create on this team is cards, but you can share tags, scrapbook pages, jewelry, sewing, canvas, mixed media, anything else!  We also have a wonderful mix of skill levels.

I hope you will take the time to check out the details and I would love to hear that you are interested in joining us!

Have a wonderful week!

Challenge 38 Patterns-Bending the Rules!

Hello! I am so glad you stopped in today!  I am sharing my project for Anything But a Card's Challenge #38 which is to use patterns.  Originally, the plan was to make it Zentangling, but we decided to make it a little more open.  

I love to doodle and have made zentanglesque pieces (new word!) without really knowing what I was doing.  However, I haven't made an actual project where this was the intent and I thought it would be fun to try.  My original plan was to go with the traditional black and white, but after I stamped my flowers, I changed my mind and used three different colors for my patterns.  I also bent the rules of patterns by using my new star mask.  The stars are very random-no pattern there!

 

I've had a pretty stress filled month so far and making all of those dots was very therapeutic!  When I finished, I was looking at all of the white space around the flowers and while I know it doesn't fit the Zentagle design to leave it, I really didn't want to 'over-doodle' this.  The quote was one that I saved from a card I received many years ago and I love the message of hope it delivers.  Is there anything more inspiring than knowing that even in the barest soils, we can grow a garden?  Quite fitting for our return to school too!

If you are a regular visitor to my blog, I am so sorry I haven't been around!  We've had some family medical issues added to my already busy  back-to-school schedule.  Everything is going fine now,but it's going to take me a bit to catch up.  Hope to see your blogs soon!

Project Recipe: Quotes Journal, Stamp Set-Time Well Spent (ret), Ink-Memento Tuxedo Black, Crisp Cantelope, Bermuda Bay, So Saffron, Baked Brown Sugar, Stampin' Write marker, Accessories- Star Mask

Flashback Friday- Unpacking the Packed

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  Yesterday was the first day of school for us and thankfully it was only a two day school week!  It seems like no matter how prepared you are, things are still a bit hectic.  Add to that mix a new principal and two new supervisors at my school and let's just say I'm so thankful it's Friday!

Before my summer break ended I tried to make several birthday cards so I would have plenty on hand.  I also tried to use some stamps I either hadn't used before or hadn't seen ink in a while.  Today's card features one I haven't used much.  This is all one image and could be bought individually or as part of a set of 'packed' items.  I decided to try coloring only a few of the images and it didn't turn out too bad.

You will also notice I went back to my 'go to' layout! Old habits die hard!! I did manage to sneak another strip of ribbon on there and I noticed this particular ribbon is almost gone-makin' progress!

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderfully creative weekend!

Card Recipe: Paper-Play Date dsp (ret), whisper white, chocolate chip, Stamp Set-Packed for Birthday(ret), Bloom with Hope (sentiment), Ink-old olive, so saffron, tempting turquoise, real red, chocolate chip, Accessories-modern label punch, real red grosgrain ribbon, brights candy dots

Flashback Friday-Visiting some old friends

Welcome! I am so glad you are here! Today's card is a true flashback; the only current items are the whisper white cardstock and the crumb cake ink. That's it!!  I pulled out two much loved and long neglected stamp sets and one recently retired set.  

After my recent table cleaning/organizing, I decided that I really need to use more ribbon! I have so much in so many different colors, yet I don't usually pull it out.  You may have noticed I started adding ribbon to my cards and projects in July, but I don't think you can tell by looking at my collection of ribbon!

The sand dollar is one of my all time favorite images.  This was one of my earliest Stampin' Up purchases and it has seen so much ink over the years.  The 'celebrate' comes from another favorite set that I used quite a bit when I first started making cards.  Even the card design is a copy of one of my first cards although I think I like the original card better than this one.  I think I should have gone with island indigo ink for the sentiment and star banner to zazz it up a bit.  I do like the little folded up flap tied with ribbon on one side and stapled on the other. Don't look too closely though; my first stapler did not do a good job and I had to remove the staple and try with a different one-didn't quite line up...grr...

I hope I have inspired you to dust off some of your old favorites and use up some of those neglected supplies!  Have a great weekend!  

Card Recipe: Paper-Sycamore Street dsp, whisper white, sahara sand, Stamp Sets-Nature's Wonders, Wonderful Words, Banner Blast, Ink-crumb cake, Accessories-whisper white stitched ribbon, island indigo satin ribbon, hole punch

Book Rental Blues...

Hi! Things are a bit melancholy here today.  We are heading to the schools to pay book rental and verify schedules for the new school year.  It seems like just yesterday we were cleaning out lockers and bringing everything home...  DD#1 and I are hoping for a freak summer snowstorm delaying the start of school, but DD#2 can't wait to be back with her friends.  I'm not sure where I went wrong with that one... (just kidding, but only a little!).

I have another card to share with you today.  It is pretty much a flashback card since so much of it is retired, but I did use my blendabilities again, and a new stamp set for the sentiment so that balances things out a little.

The pear is from the retired Faith in Nature and is one of my favorite images.  I always liked using pastels to shade and color this, but thought I would try my hand at the alcohol markers again.  I still have a long way to go, but at least I didn't want to throw this one out when I was finished!  I seem to be in a rut on the layout of my cards too! This seems to be my default design with the blocks of layers and perfectly straight lines.   Hopefully I will find some time to pull out some sketches and try something new this week.

Well, I better get going so we can take another step closer to starting back to school.  We still have some clothes shopping to do and I have some unfinished jobs at home that I really need to finish.  I hope you find some time to be creative today and have a terrific rest of the week!

Card Recipe: Paper-daffodil delight, whisper white, subtles dsp (ret), Stamps-Faith in Nature (ret), Bloom with Hope, Ink-memento tuxedo black, daffodil delight and old olive blendabilities, Accessories, daffodil delight stitched ribbon (ret)

In the Spotlight- It's a Small World!

Hello!  Today I'm in the spotlight at Anything But a Card Challenges and I'm feeling a bit small about it!  Not in the psychological sense, but literally!  I am challenging you to think small and join me!

Here's a sneak peek of my post...

Please stop by for more detail and be sure to link up and join me!!  Have a wonderful week!

A 'latte' love for the perfect blend

Hello and welcome!  In keeping with the theme of today's card, I'm offering you a complimentary cup of cyber coffee and a magic muffin-it can be your favorite kind if you like!

This is not a typical anniversary card which is quite fitting since it is going to a very special couple!  Regulars of my blog will remember I worked with my sister on some wedding goodies for my nephew and his wife.  They were so easy going and fun to work with, and almost always had a coffee drink of some type in their hands.  No wonder we got along so well!  Their anniversary isn't until later this year, but the idea of a coffee themed card popped into my head and here I am completing a card well ahead of schedule! Yippee!!  The inside is a sentiment I made on the computer.  It says "to a perfect blend.  May you have a 'latte' more happy years together!"

I used my Blendabilities markers on this and really was happy with the results-not perfect but pretty good by my normal standards!  I used the rich razzleberry set since their wedding colors were purple and silver.  I dropped the silver and replaced it with coastal cabana since I didn't want it to be a total flashback to their wedding, not to mention that I really liked the colors together!

If you haven't made the leap to Blendabilities or the similar copics, I can tell you that they work so well for coloring images.  I love that the Blendabilities come in sets of three markers taking all of the guess work out of choosing colors for shading.  I am not very good at that!  The set of three also makes them an affordable option if you want to try out the alcohol based markers.

Well, we are preparing for the annual police/kids camp and I have to go grocery shopping for 20 hungry boys so I better get out of here and head to one of my least favorite places-Walmart.  Wish me luck and I hope you have a marvelous day! I'd like to 'espresso' my feelings and thank you a 'latte' for stopping by! OK... I'm done now!

Anything Goes at Anything But a Card Challenges # 37

Hi! I am so glad you stopped by today! It's my turn to share a project for Anything But a Card Challenges.  We are having an 'anything goes' theme this month which means you can share just about anything under the sun with us! Gotta love that!

I have been doing some major cleaning and purging of my home this summer and came across some cardboard jewelry boxes. They weren't anything fancy, just plain white boxes with the store's logo.  I'm not sure what my original plan was when I saved them, but they were the perfect size for gift cards, so they were covered and decorated to be used as pretty packages for some thank you gifts.  

Rather than cover the entire lid and base with paper, I cut scraps to cover the top of the lid and glued ribbon to the sides.  Then I added a strip of paper around the base.  This kept them from getting too bulky.  I colored a couple of stamped clay pieces that I made ages ago, added some punched leaves and a few candy dots.

This one seemed like it needed a little pizazz, so I added

stickles to the flower in the center of the clay piece, and 

some cherry cobbler dazzling details to the candy dots.

This one had a more masculine feel, so I left it pretty basic.

Well, I hope you enjoyed my repurposing project and we would love to see what you have been creating this month!  Please stop by the challenge blog and share your creation with us-as long as it's not a card, you're set!  Have a fabulous week!

Project recipe:  Paper-Junior Varsity and Summer Smooches dsp (both retired), Stamp Set-Riveting (ret), Ink-old olive, real red, daffodil delight, rich razzleberry, Accessories-simply pressed clay, real red grosgrain and old olive scallop dot ribbons (both ret.), brights candy dots, cherry cobbler dazzling details, non SU leaf punch, non SU yellow stickles

Summer Smoochin' Cutie

Hi! I am so happy you are here!  I had some time this week to create and will be sharing them through the next few weeks.

I can not believe that our summer break is almost over!  How did that happen?  We are going back to school shopping this weekend and that just makes me a little sad...  On the upside, I did get quite a bit accomplished this summer and hopefully will finish the last of my 'to do' list before school starts.  I know once August starts things will get all mixed up with routines and requirements, so I'm glad there's scheduled posting for Blogger-keeps my blog from feeling too neglected!

Since I'm wanting summer to last a bit longer, I thought today's card was a good one to share.  I used a free digi from Cuddlebug Cuties.  The print quality was not the best on this one and I'm not sure if it was my printer running low on black ink or the actual digi stamp, but it was free so I can't complain too much!  I used a lot of bright happy colors on the image and when I was finished I knew I would use Summer Smooches dsp since it is also full of cheerful colors.

One of my accomplishments this summer was cleaning off my crafting table. It's not actually clean or empty, but it is a lot more organized than it was before.  I even found some ribbon from a swap that I forgot I had! It's like shopping without the travel or money!  Of course, we won't be sharing with my DH that I found supplies I forgot I had... 

I added some crystal effects to the balloons and glitzed up her top with some purple stickles.  Other than that, this was a pretty basic card.  My shading skills leave a lot to be desired.  The hair turned out ok, but I really botched the jeans...not at all what I was going for!  But it won't get better if I don't keep at it!

Thanks so much for visiting! I hope you have a fantastic day and if it's summer where you are, enjoy it while it lasts (unless it's really hot and humid then you can totally wish for fall!).

Card Recipe: Paper-whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Stamps-digi image, Remembering Your  Birthday(sentiment), Ink-skin tone blendabilities, memento tuxedo black, copics, Accessories-scallop dot ribbon (ret), purple stickles, crystal effects, banner punch

Hooray! A scrapbook page!!

Hello! I'm finally getting around to posting again!  Between visiting friends and family, and trying to downsize our 'stuff', I haven't been very crafty.  I keep thinking that once all of my cleaning is finished I will have lots of time to create. But for now, I'm doing my best to squeeze in a few cards and scrapbook pages as I get a chance.

I did manage to get a scrapbook page made after we returned from our trip to Chicago.  I have a ton of photos that were recently printed and I am really trying to work my way through them and get a few more books completed.  Besides, using up supplies and getting photos put away is cleaning right?! That's what I told my DH anyway!

The photo is of my youngest DD when she received an award at school and her name was listed on the school's sign.  I remember being so glad that she wanted to pose by the sign since I couldn't get her older sister to do that when she won an award a few years earlier.

I hadn't made a banner in a while and I thought since it was a celebratory page, the banner would work well.  I also used our school colors making it easy to coordinate everything! I also managed to squeeze in a few new goodies!  I used the basic black bakers twine (a new color option), and the Alphabet rotary stamp was used to put the date on the page.  That thing is HUGE and will be getting a lot of use on my pages!  

I have several other new items waiting to be used and hopefully I'll get around to using them and sharing with you soon!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you find some time to be creative and have a wonderful day!

Page Recipe: Paper-real red , basic black, whisper white, Summer Smooches dsp (ret), Ink-tuxedo black memento, Stamp-Alphabet rotary stamp Accessories-pennant punch, basic black bakers twine, scallop dot ribbon (ret), non SU alphabet stamps

Happy 4th!!

Hello! I want to wish my fellow Americans a very happy 4th of July (aka Independence Day)!  We will be spending the day with family and appreciating the freedoms we have in this wonderful country of ours.  She's far from perfect, but I couldn't imagine living anywhere else!

I'm sharing a card I made several years ago for my dad for Veteran's Day, but thought it worked equally well for today! The original post can be found here.

For the rest of my blogging friends throughout the world, I hope you have a marvelous weekend and I'll eat a s'more and 'oooh' at the fireworks in your honor!  Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll be back soon with some new stuff to share!

Gimme Five- 5th Sunday Challenge at ABAC

Hello! I am so glad you are here!  Today is the fifth Sunday of the month and that means it's time for a special challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  Any time a month has five Sundays we do a 'five' challenge.  Your creation can have the number five, five embellishments, five stamps, five anything!  As long as it has something to do with five and is NOT a card, you're good!

I decided to do another page in my quotes journal and used five flower stamps to create my garden.  I found a quote by Hemingway "When you stop doing things for fun you might as well be dead." and I thought this was a great reminder to not take life so seriously.  I also wanted to make a fun page to go with the quote so out came the bright colors and a stamp set that I have not used in a very long time.  I had a lot of fun using the blender pen to 'paint' the flowers and the butterfly.  I also used pastels to create the sky.

I hope that you decide to do something for fun and join us in our Five Challenge!  Have a wonderful week!

Project Recipe: Stamp Set-Time Well Spent, Ink- assorted inks from the brights collection, Tuxedo black (memento), blender pen, pastels

A Mooving Card! Flashback Friday

Hello! As this is posting, I am road tripping with my girls to visit my best friend who lives near Indy.  We have been friends since I was in 7th grade and she was in 6th.  She was frequently my partner in crime and was also in my wedding.  Shortly after that she moved and we lost touch for a few years, but things were quickly back to our version of normal after a weekend reunion.  She often comes 'home' since they still have family living in the area, but I have yet to get up to see her.  So after a rather crazy week last week, I decided I needed a change of scenery and she was more than willing to be my get-away location!  I couldn't however leave you without sharing my most recent Flashback Friday!

I've had the cow image for so long that I have no idea where it is from... I'm sure it was a freebie, but have no clue who made it.  This was another of the images that went camping with me, so it was all colored up and in my stack of things to do.  My blogging friend, Lynn is always making fun and fabulous cards for her blog.  This cute cow reminded me of something I might see on her blog.  I think she probably would have done a better job with it too! :)

 

Along with the old digi, I also used a very, very old piece of hay dp-no clue who made it as it was a leftover in my scrap container.  The denim ribbon is now retired and thankfully I was able to buy an extra roll before it left. Love this ribbon!! The red dsp is from Summer Smooches (ret). Oh, and I couldn't resist using wiggle eyes either! I stocked up on those too! That means the only current items on here are the whisper white cardstock and the markers.  On the inside, I used part of a Michael's $1 stamp.  It says 'You're getting too old!'  I'm not sure who will be receiving this, but it will probably be one of my older siblings!

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Does anybody really know what time it is?

Hi!  I want to apologize for the Chicago earworms that may have been turned loose upon reading my title!  I had just realized that my last post was a Christmas card and today I have a Halloween card to share.  This led to a momentary bunny trail wondering how many days/weeks it was until Halloween and wondering what in the world was inspiring my creative process for early holiday cards.  The words entered my brain "Does anybody really know when it's appropriate to post these.", quickly followed by Chicago singing "Does anybody really care? About time?".  I'm not sure if you know this or not, but when the lyrics spirits whisper to you, you have to listen!  This led to my post title and an increased probability that my visitors would have the song running through their heads for the rest of the day (aka earworms-Thanks Butterfly for teaching me this word!).  My post really doesn't have anything to do with time or the band Chicago-like I said bunny trails...

Enough rambling!  I do have two cards to share with you.  The images were colored in the great outdoors on our camping trip.  I decided to use bright, fun colors on an  All Dressed Up's freebie.  They were too cute to be made scary anyway!

I don't normally 'do' Halloween cards, but there has been a recent increase in little people in our family and I thought they would like to get a fun card in the mail.

I am so glad you stopped by today and I hope you take some time to be crafty this week! If you live in most of the US right now, it's a good excuse to stay inside with the A/C!  Have a wonderful day!

Card Recipe: Paper- Summer Smooches DSP (ret), Island Indigo, Tangerine Tango, Whisper White, Ink-daffodil delight, real red, lucky limeade, island indigo, tangerine tango, Image-All Dressed Up, Accesories-blender pen, daffodil delight ribbon

Christmas in June- Early or Late? You decide!

Well, hello! Today is officially the first day of summer...longest day of the year...a wonderfully warm 92* with a humidity level that slaps you in the face if you're crazy enough to venture outside.  So I did what any 'normal' person would do to celebrate the first day of summer-I made a Christmas card!

Yes, I know there are oodles of days before December 25th, and believe me I'm nowhere near ready to think about shopping!  I did however print out several digital images to take along on our recent camping weekend.  It is a lot of fun to sit at a picnic table near a campfire and color.  One of the images was a wintery theme and a freebie from Newton's Nook Designs.  So today, to take my mind off of the extremely humid day, I made a bright and cheerful Christmas card using my colored images.

I also used some retired products including almost the last of my pumpkin pie dots dsp from the brights stack-I should try to do this more often. I really don't think I would 'need' to buy paper for several years, but what fun would that be?!  The midnight muse ribbon is also retired (we won't discuss my ribbon stash...). I think the only current supplies are the real red and whisper white cardstock, and the markers used to color the mittens.

Speaking of retired, I was starting to freak out a bit when I looked through the new SU catalog (check it out on my sidebar) and didn't see any Christmas sets.  Then I remembered an update I had seen.

You can still order some of the recent Christmas/Holiday stamp sets that are not shown in the new catalog.  Click here to view the carry over stamp sets.  These will be available until August 27th, so if there is a set on your wish list, don't wait too long!  There will be some new Christmas and winter holiday stamp in the new Holiday catalog that will be released later this summer.

Well, the family is vegging out in front of the tv so I think I'm going to try to get a little creative time squeezed in before bedtime!  Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Paper-real red, whisper white, brights dsp stack, Image from Newton's Nook, Ink-real red, pumpkin pie, not quite navy, Accessories-snow burst embossing folder, midnight muse ribbon, staples

Anything But a Card Challenge-Summer Lovin'

Hi! I am so happy you stopped by today!  It's my turn to share my project for the Summer Lovin' challenge at Anything But a Card Challenges.  I am sure that for most people, summer brings to mind beaches, barbecues, and swimming. Those are all marvelous summer activities, but in our household, summer has always meant SOFTBALL!  So I created a scrapbook page of DD#2 playing softball.  

This was her second year of softball-back when it was all about the cute socks, visor that matched the uniform, and picking clover in the outfield.  Now she is much less concerned about the socks, traded her visor for ultra cool sunglasses, and enjoys the constant activity of playing third base.  Of course, you can still catch her and her teammates giggling in the dugout, probably about boys... Sigh...

I started with a softball themed dp which made the background quite simple.  I did dress up the letter o in softball with a handmade softball embellishment.  I also added 'stitching' to the yellow mat.  The softballs on the journaling card were made using the retired stamp set, Home Run.

I hope my softball page has encouraged you to document your favorite summer activity too!  If you're not into scrapbooking, why not try an ATC, art journal page, mixed media, or just about anything else you can think of!  We would love for you to link up with us!!

Page Recipe: Paper-softball dp (not sure of creator), crumb cake, yellow cardstock from my stash, Stamp Set-Home Run, Just Journaling, Ink-crumb cake, real red, Accessories-1 3/8" circle punch, 1" circle punch, real red stitched ribbon