Happy Halloween

Good afternoon, Friends! Or should I say, Happy Halloween! Our Halloween weather is turning out beautifully! It is still a little chilly with the breeze but the sun is shining! This morning I was up very early as I had signed up for a breast cancer awareness walk. The organization is called Making Strides for a Cure (I think). Anyway, my friend, Coleen, got me to sign up with her team. And when I signed up (way back in early September), I thought, no problem, I can do this! Now the walk was only a 5K which is just over 3 miles. I haven't walked that much on purpose and so I began to stress about it as the time came nearer. However, I did it with no problem! And it didn't take very long either. And the other great thing is that my son wanted to do the walk, too! He, of course, could probably walk the whole thing 10 times and not become one bit tired. He loved it!

Today's card layout comes from another one of Becky's card class cards. This is another simple layout and very versatile. Thanks for stopping by and have a delightful Halloween!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Eat, Drink & Be Scary, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Old Olive, Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie, Day and Night specialty designer paper; Ink- Basic Black, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive; Accessories- Old Olive grosgrain, scallop border punch, dimensionals

Happy Holidays

Good evening everyone! I hope that your week has gone by just wonderfully! Be sure to enjoy the last few days of October! And, we get to turn our clocks back this weekend. WOW! I was looking at my lesson plans for the next few weeks and was just shocked to see that there is not much time until Christmas! Is anyone else just as amazed as I am that the year is going so quickly? My goodness! This morning I had outside duty. Thankfully, I had just bought myself some warm gloves and a warm scarf. It was just plain COLD! I teased my students that they need to bring me a cup of coffee!! We will see if they remember next week.

Today's card layout is one that I got from my friend, Becky. She used a similar layout in her last card class. I thought it was just so versatile and made my own Christmas card. A super simple, quick and easy layout. If you are looking to do multiple Christmas cards, then this might be the layout for you. I used linen thread to 'hang' my ornament but I would have rather used silver cord. Maybe next time. I also thought that the square rhinestone brad in the middle of the ornament was a cool touch! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Delightful Decorations, Four the Holidays; Paper- Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Merry Moments designer paper; Ink- Real Red, Chocolate Chip; Accessories- square Ice rhinestone brads, scallop border punch, ornament punch, linen thread, dimensionals

Autumn Splendor Thanks

Good evening, Friends! I don't know about you all but I am FREEZING!! My goodness the weather changed awfully fast! We actually had a fire last night and then again this morning. I am sure we will have another once we get back from church. I finally went around the house and turned up all the thermostats. So, it should be warming up around here soon.

Today's card layout is one I copied from my friend, Becky. She had done a card similar to this one a while ago in shoebox club. As I was looking for layouts to use this one popped up again and I thought the leaves fit the bill with the fall like colors. Did say how much I just love this set? Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Thank You Kindly; Paper- Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Crushed Curry; Ink- Chocolate Chip; Accessories- Chocolate Chip corduroy button, linen thread, vintage brads, dimensionals

Another Catalog Copy

Good evening, Friends! I hope that you all have had a great start to a great week! I really can't believe that October will soon be over. And the weather is definitely letting us know that seasons are changing! I really don't want to think about how many days until Christmas. Our son's birthday comes right before Thanksgiving so we try to buy his birthday and Christmas items altogether then figure out what we give him for each event.

Last night we had our last flag football game. It went pretty good! Nick was able to score a touchdown so that is always a great way to end a season. Then later that same day we had our last soccer game of this season. And, he scored one of our two goals and assisted on the other! His goal was S. W. E. E. T.!!!! He was so excited about it, too. He makes sure that everyone knows he kicked it with his left foot! We will pick up with soccer again in the early spring. I can't wait!

So, for today's card I copied one from the catalog. Do you recognize it? It's from page 147. I thought the layout was very simple and that's what I am all about! I also just LOVE the Autumn Splendor stamp set! I believe that this card layout is very versatile. Try it out for yourselves! Thanks for stopping by and have a great evening!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Really Rust, More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal; Accessories- chocolate chip button from Button Latte, linen thread, ticket corner punch, dimensionals

Upsy Daisy

Good Sunday morning, Friends! I hope you all are having a super weekend! It's been a good one for sure around here. Last night we went to a Halloween party that some friends of ours put on. I want to say they do it every year but this is only the second time and and it sure is a LOT of work. We will see if they do it again next year. They clean out their garage and then decorate it all up. They have a strobe light, tons of food (that does get all eaten up), games, a "witch's" brew (or punch as most will call it), and lots of dancing. The kids come dressed up and she wants the adults to come dressed up, too, but Pat and I never do. I know it disappoints her but I can't find a good costume for this over sized body. She was very cute dressed up as a Pink Lady from Grease. Pink hair and everything. I told her that her costume would be really cute to wear when we do our breast cancer awareness walk next Saturday. I think she just might wear it!

And speaking of breast cancer awareness, my friend Sherry helped one of her friends with a fundraiser last weekend. They had many reps from different companies there but Stampin' Up! was well represented. She asked if I could help and so I came up with this card for people to make. It is super simple!! I think this is the most simple card I have made and very versatile! I did use the swiss dots embossing folder that is not Stampin' Up! but everything else is. The participants got to choose any greeting they wanted. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Upsy Daisy; Paper- Whisper White, Bermuda Bay; Ink- Bermuda Bay; Accessories- Bermuda Bay polka dot ribbon, swiss dots embossing folder, Big Shot

Three Little Words...

Good (way too) early Saturday morning! I can't believe that I am up this early on a Saturday! I think it is just plain wrong! Because I don't have a reason to be up this early. But I have a headache and lying in bed just made my back hurt so I thought I would just get up and see if I could do something in my craft room. It is nice to enjoy the peace and quiet right now. We have two soccer games and a Halloween party to enjoy today. The weather should be pretty nice but it looks like it will start getting a LOT colder later next week. I better find my gloves and hat.

Today's card layout is one I got from Becky. She used a layout similar to this in her card class this month. And she used the ornament punch as a flower pot. I had seen this done before but finally decided I needed to give it a try. I also had just gotten this stamp set and wanted to get it inked up. And, yes, I did cut out that "T". It wasn't easy but I think it is a nice touch. I also decided to use some of my In Colors. I haven't used them in quite a while. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Three Little Words; Paper- Old Olive, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade designer paper; Ink- Melon Mambo, Old Olive; Accessories- ornament punch, linen thread, dimensionals

Wonderful Friend

Good Friday morning! I am so very happy to have this day off! I got all my conferences done last night so I don't have to go in today. Some of the teachers are getting together to have brunch later this morning and that should be really fun. My conferences went really well but I really have a great group of students! So I am looking forward to a day where I can relax and hopefully play a new toy I got!! I just got My Digital Studio! I am going to try to take the certification class. I have heard really great things about this new tool and I think it will be fun to play with!

Today's card may look familiar to those of you who browse the catalog quite frequently. It comes right off of page 142. I just love that card! So, I decided to recreate it. I did have to use different ribbon and a different butterfly but the rest is pretty much the same. And with my circle scissors I was able to cut my circle out very easily! So, a super easy card! Thanks for stopping by and have super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Wonder Favorites, Great Friend; Paper- Rich Razzleberry textured cardstock, Old Olive, Very Vanilla; Ink- Rich Razzleberry, Old Olive; Accessories- Mistletoe ribbon originals, piercing tool, vintage brads, dimensionals

Ride On!

Good evening, Friends! We are over "hump" day! Tomorrow we have a half day of school and then an afternoon and evening filled with conferences. Thankfully, I only have 10 students and was able to fill my Thursday with the conferences so I could sleep in on Friday! I am SO looking forward to that! I always dread conferences but they always turn out great. So I am really going to stay positive. Tonight we had our last soccer practice of the season. I can't believe that it will be all over this weekend. It sure has been fun! I am already looking forward to the spring season. It's amazing how much they mature in their playing! But now I have basketball and indoor soccer to look forward to. But that all won't start until January. So, I guess I will enjoy the rest.

Today's card is from a sketch I picked up somewhere. I wanted to break out this dirt bike stamp set again. I really like it and I know that my son enjoys every card I make with it. He is the reason I bought this set in the first place. And the Extreme Elements set just works beautifully with it! Simple and fun! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your evening!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Extreme Dirt Bike, Extreme Elements, Ride On (retired); Paper- Kraft, Basic Black, Dusty Durango; Ink- Basic Black, Dusty Durango, VersaMark; Accessories- black brads, black embossing powder, dimensionals

Note of Thanks

Good afternoon, Friends! Another day down and the week is almost half over! Hard to believe! The rain has sure been nice around here. It's been awhile since we've had any. Not too much to post today. This is the last week of sports practices and games. Seems kinda sad. I have really enjoyed it all! One more weekend and then we will have to find something else to occupy our time!!

Today's card is the third card that I did with my stamp club this month. I think this card is my favorite. I really liked how it all turned out. And it is pretty simple. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Thank You Kindly; Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Taken With Teal; Accessories- Chocolate Chip corduroy button, linen thread, My Way punch, dimensionals

Krafty Snowflakes

Good evening, Friends! I hope that your Monday was just wonderful. Sometimes Mondays are not real great but mine was really nice! I feel like I have so much to accomplish in my classroom this week (before Thursday afternoon). I just hope I can get it all done and that the students cooperate. Other than that, it is pretty uneventful. Which is good, I guess.

Today's card is the second of three that I did in my stamp club. I really enjoy this group of ladies! They are too much fun to be with!! While this card was not my favorite (I'll show you that one tomorrow), and was not a favorite of others, they never said a word and just made me feel like I had created something wonderful. Don't you just love crowds like that? Can't wait until we meet next time!! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays; Paper- Kraft, Bordering Blue, Bella Bleu designer paper; Ink- Bordering Blue, Vanilla craft, VersaMark; Accessories- Very Vanilla taffeta ribbon, vintage brads, dimensionals

Ghouls and Goblins

Good Sunday morning, Friends! It looks to be another gorgeous day! I think that later in the week we are supposed to get some rain but that would be o.k. as we need a little moisture. But for today it is just beautiful! And we have a football game a little later on. That should be fun! Not much to say other than we will enjoy the day for tomorrow we go back to work.

Today's card is one that I did for my stamp club ladies. We met last Monday and had a fabulous time! I wanted to make a Halloween card and show off these cute little sweet treat cups. So I made the one with the slider door. I think they really liked it. I know that they liked the m&m's!! The card itself is pretty simple but the whole thing with the punch and the slider door can get a little confusing. To see how it's done check out this post where I have a link to the blog where I found the instructions. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Sweet Centers; Paper- Whisper White, Old Olive, Lovely Lilac, Pumpkin Pie; Ink- Basic Black; Accessories- black brads, 1 3/4" circle punch, sweet treat cups, tab punch, chalk

Peace on Earth

Good morning everyone! I hope your weekend is going super! Mine is!! It also seems to be flying by. I got so much done yesterday. I was able to finish up my calendar toppers for the shoebox club that I participate in. Each one of us in our group takes two months and does a calendar topper. Then we spend our shoebox time creating them. By the time we are done we have a full calendar of handstamped toppers! It is really fun! Now I am working on my other month and should have that figured out today. I was also able to get cards cut and ready for a breast cancer fundraiser that my friend Sherry is involved in. I wanted to help out somehow and this is how I could do it. Then I was able to get a swap card ready! I will show all of these in the next few days. I think you will like them.

I decided to take a break from the Autumn Splendor set and look at some snowflakes. I really like this snowflake set. It is different and very vintage looking. This card didn't come out exactly like I had planned but it isn't that bad. I don't know if you can tell, but I stamped some small snowflakes on the vanilla piece with vanilla craft ink and then embossed with clear powder. The hardest part was cutting out the big snowflake. Anyway, I hope you enjoy your day! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Serene Snowflakes, Four the Holidays; Paper- Kraft, Very Vanilla, Bordering Blue, Bella Bleu designer paper; Ink- Bordering Blue, Vanilla Craft; Accessories- Kraft taffeta ribbon, clear embossing powder, vintage brads, dimensionals

Truest Meaning

Good Friday morning! Ahhhh! No school today! And I have all my grades done. Everything is ready for report cards on Monday! Woohoo! I still can't believe that the school year is a quarter of the way over! It is really flying by. Last night I had card class at Becky's. Boy did she show us some really great cards! I can't wait to try to recreate some of those to show you all! And of course I had to buy some of that beautiful paper!! I swear, I collect more printed paper and stamps than anything!! I really need to sit down and use it all up. Somehow. Hmmm...

Today's card is another one using the Autumn Splendor set. This was a sketch that I got from Stamp Addicts. It looks a lot like another sketch from Splitcoast but the main panel is skinnier. So, it is a super simple card! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Chocolate Chip, More Mustard, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Chocolate Chip, More Mustard; Accessories- sponge, dimensionals

Stampin' Up! Copy

Good evening, Friends! I hope that your week has gone by just wonderfully! I think mine is just flying by!! I mean, I dread Monday's but in the blink of an eye, it is already Wednesday! I just can hardly believe it! Nothing really new or exciting going on in this household. Which is probably a good thing. We only have two more weekends of sports and then there will be some time 'off'. Well, at least until January.

So, remember that I told you that I hoped you all would like this Autumn Splendor stamp set? I was serious! I have quite a few cards done with this set. I have really fallen in love with it and I will probably get it out this weekend to play with some more. This particular card is pretty much copied from the Stampin' Up! website. If you have visited it in quite a while you should stop on over and see some of the great samples they have. I really liked this sample. I did change it up just a bit from the original. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! Thanks for stopping by and have a super evening!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- Chocolate Chip, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Chocolate Chip, Really Rust; Accessories- corner rounder, linen thread, mini library clips, dimensionals

Thankful Thoughts

Hello, Friends! I hope that your week is going super! I would probably be a little happier if the Rockies had won last night but what can you do? I guess we will just try again next year. Bummer. Not much going on around here. Just work, sports, eat and sleep. We do try to get the homework done.

I had wanted to post this card yesterday but the computer was so extremely S-L-O-W!!!!! I could hardly stand it! So, I at least downloaded the photo thinking that I would post it from school. Well, I got a little too busy with that and didn't have time. So, here I am today with the card. I sure do hope you all like this Autumn Splendor set as much as I do! And to think, I wasn't even going to get this set! Shame on me! I've been having a ball with it! Anyway, this card is a layout that we did in Becky's card class last month (?). Well, it was awhile ago. I just really liked it so I recreated it using Stampin' Up! stamps and paper. Super simple!

Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Autumn Splendor, Grateful Greetings; Paper- More Mustard, Chocolate Chip, Really Rust, Very Vanilla, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Really Rust, Chocolate Chip; Accessories- Chocolate Chip taffeta ribbon, oval punch, Perfect Details texturz plate, Big Shot, dimensionals

Sweet Ornament

Good Sunday morning, Friends! I hope you are all having a super weekend! I can't believe it is almost over! Bummer! We have a short week at school this week. The quarter ends on Thursday and Friday is a teacher workday. But our principal is so generous that he said if all our work was done and grades were done then we didn't need to come in! YEA!! That shouldn't be a problem for me. Just to let you know, the boys did win their game in New Castle yesterday! The score was 2-0! It was such a beautiful field! We had fantastic views of the mountains all around us. I should have taken my camera!! The fall colors were gorgeous! Maybe next time?

Today's card isn't really a card at all. I used the sweet treat cups from the Holiday Mini to make this Christmas ornament. The only thing it is missing is the silver cording that I would make a loop with to hang it on the tree. I need to get that ordered. This actually turned out to be super simple. I stamped my image then punched it out with the 1 3/4" circle punch. Then I used my circle scissors to cut out two circles the same size. One is from the patterned paper that you can see and the other is from a Whisper White piece that you can't see because I wanted it to cover the back and provide some stability. The cup is self-adhesive so it is stuck to the patterned piece. I wrapped white grosgrain around the cup and there you have it! This idea is not original to me. I saw that someone else and that's where I got the idea. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Holiday Best; Paper- Whisper White, Holiday Lounge designer paper; Ink- Old Olive, Real Red; Accessories- Whisper White grosgrain, sweet treat cups, dimensionals

Autumn Meadows

Good morning, Friends! I hope that you all had a marvelous week! I am glad that it is the weekend. Our school had the silent auction Thursday night and I helped out at that. It was crazy and super fun but I was sure tired at school the next day! My two boxes of cards went for $25 each!! I was really surprised and excited about that!! Not all of the totals are in, but I think that we made a little over $3,000! Not too bad! This morning we will be leaving for New Castle for a soccer game. I think it should be a gorgeous day. Maybe a little chilly but nothing like last weekend where we had the rain and wind! I am really hoping that the boys will win today. Third time is a charm, right? Then I should have plenty of day left to work in my stamp studio!! Just what I have been wanting to do for a long time!

Today's card is actually one that I pretty much copied from Becky. She made a card just like this for card class last month. I thought that I could recreate it using some of the very pretty Autumn Meadows designer paper. I love this paper but I haven't used it much. And I like the way this card shows off the designer paper! Super simple!! Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend! Here's to the Rockies!!!

Card Recipe: Stamp- Grateful Greetings; Paper- Really Rust, Taken With Teal, Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Autumn Meadows designer paper; Ink- Taken With Teal; Accessories- Chocolate Chip grosgrain, vintage brads, dimensionals

Season of Joy

Good afternoon, Friends! I hope that your week is going great! Mine is going quickly! I had a little 'down' time and thought I would get a quick post up. I am hoping that I will have some time to stamp this weekend. I got a few new sets and some fun stuff from 'other companies'. I don't know if I am supposed to say that out loud or not but I did. I just can't help myself! So, I just hope that I get some time to play.

This is the final result of my Christmas card swap that I participated in. I used a sketch from the Clean & Simple blog. I have used this sketch on a few other cards. I just love the versatility of it! And it was super simple to do!. The most time consuming part was cutting out the Christmas tree. And that's not that bad. These were a lot of fun to make. I got my other swaps back and they are just gorgeous! I look forward to recreating some of them!! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Season of Joy; Paper- Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Merry Moments designer paper; Ink- Chocolate Chip, Old Olive, Real Red; Accessories- gold brad, Real Red grosgrain, corner rounder, dimensionals

Delightful Decorations #2

Good Sunday morning everyone! The sun is definitely NOT shining this morning. Hmmm. Looks like it will be a cold blustery soccer game. Better get my coffee to help keep me warm. If we win today we will be in the championship this afternoon. This is a tough team. I know we can do it but they are a lot more aggressive than we are. I just hope the boys are awake for this game! But if we don't win, then we hop in the car and get back to Fruita for a flag football game. I don't want you all to think that we will have any down time!! Then my son must get to work on his book report that's due tomorrow. Yeah, he's not going to enjoy that one!

Today's card is the second of a set of Christmas cards that I made for our school's silent auction. Again, super easy and not a lot of 'bulk' for mailing. I did forget to mention yesterday that I used the ornament punch to punch out the stamped ornaments. That make it so much faster when putting these together. Love that thing!! Well, have a super day! Tomorrow it's back to work. UGH!!

Card Recipe: Stamps: Delightful Decorations, Four the Holidays; Paper- Whisper White, Taken With Teal, Holiday Lounge designer paper; Ink- Taken With Teal; Accessories- silver brad, silver cording, ornament punch, Perfect Details texturz plate, Big Shot, dimensionals

Delightful Decorations #1

Good afternoon, Friends! I hope that your weekend is fantastic! We started out very early today. Not something I am fond of doing on my weekend but we didn't have a choice. In fact, my husband didn't get up as early as he had wanted and that made for a harried morning. But we made it to our first game on time. It was cold but sunny. We did lose our first game 5-0 but won our second game (against a different team) 4-0. We have one more game tomorrow against a team that we have lost to before but I know that we can do it! It is just so much fun to watch!

Today's card is one that I did for my school's silent auction this next week. I made twelve of this kind and twelve of another. They will be packaged separately. I wanted to make something very simple but nice. And I wanted to make sure that they could be mailed without having to have extra postage. So, neither of the cards got ribbon. I think that they should mail just fine. We will see what happens! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Four the Holidays, Delightful Decorations; Paper- Sahara Sand, Real Red, Whisper White, Holiday Lounge designer paper; Ink- Real Red; Accessories- silver brad, Perfect Details texturz plate, Big Shot, corner rounder, silver cording, dimensionals

Sweet Treats

Good Friday afternoon! I hope that you all are ready for a fabulous weekend! I know I am! We started our weekend a little earlier. We didn't have school today - Yea!!! I took this opportunity to sleep in and it felt so great! The weather has turned colder here the last few days so it felt so good to snuggle under the covers and sleep. Then I got up and lounged in my jammies with a cup of coffee and browsed blogs and found some new card sketches. I came up with some really easy Christmas card ideas to make for our school's silent auction. I will be sharing these later. I am going over to stamp with some friend's this evening and will be working on these. When you have been out of the stamping loop for so long, it is really hard to get back into it. It's like I have to re-train my brain to think creatively. So, I am hoping that I can get back into it this weekend. My son has a big soccer tournament this weekend so I will be kept busy but still hope to find time.

So, while browsing some of my favorite blogs I came across Becky Roberts' tutorial on making these little cards using the new Sweet Centers stamp set. I bought this way back when demonstrators could get it for $5. Yeah, I wasn't passing up that deal! But I haven't even broken it out yet. So when I saw her tutorial I thought that I would give it a try. I didn't have any Halloween candy to put in the little cup (which reminds me that I need to get some). But I did find some black jelly beans that my friend Judy Smith passed out at last month's shoebox meeting. Thanks, Judy!! I don't really care for black jelly beans but I thought they would work great for my project! Do you see that little tab on the side? Well, when you pull on that tab, the black jelly beans will come falling out! You don't even have to 'tear' into the cute little card to get them. Isn't that just so clever? I can't wait to try it again! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Sweet Centers, Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper- Green Galore, Only Orange, Whisper White; Ink- Basic Black; Accessories- 1 3/4" circle punch, round tab punch, sweet treat cups, black jelly beans