Christmas Door

Good morning everyone! I hope that you are having a super weekend! It is always nice for me when I can sleep in a little. Especially since I have been having some sinus problems. I'm not cured but I do feel better. At least I don't seem to have a headache. So it is that time of year when we are supposed to set our clocks back an hour. I hate it when the time changes. It sure does mess with me! I always seem to be ready to go to bed by 7:00! It's so dark and it just feels so late. But, this all shall pass and we will be well on our way to spring before we know it!

But before we think about spring, let's think about Christmas! I am in love with this card! I found a picture in a magazine that did a wreath similar to this. Theirs was white and made from felt but I took the idea of punching a 1 3/8" circle from Always Artichoke cardstock and then punching the 2 3/8" scallop around that. Then I took some ideas from Sherri Barron to color the basic rhinestones and make the door! The card is really pretty easy to make and it really is a lot of fun! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Teeny Tiny Wishes; Paper- Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla; Ink- Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Accessories- basic rhinestones (colored with a sharpie), linen thread, 5/16" neutrals brads, sponge, dimensionals

SFF 110510

Good morning, Friends! It's Friday!! I hope that you all had a super week! I laid around all day yesterday with a headache brought on by sinus pain. Today it seems better but I can feel it on the other side of my head. I did take something so I am hoping I can get rid of it before long. I went to bed early last night and that helped a ton!! I really don't want to start out my weekend with a headache!

So today's card was inspired by the Sketch Frenzy Friday blog. And you may have noticed, from my side bar, that I am now a design team member for them as well! I haven't "officially" started with them yet, but I still had to play along!! I am really excited to be a part of this group and I hope that you all will decide to play along with our sketches each Friday! What a great way to end each week (or start the weekend - however you want to look at it)! Be sure to check out each designer's blog to see how they interpreted the sketch. For mine I wanted to try to keep fall-like colors. So I used Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, and Cajun Craze, along with Very Vanilla. A pretty simple card! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out the Sketch Frenzy Friday team and enter your own project! Enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Upsy Daisy; paper- Pear Pizzazz, Peach Parfait, Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla; Ink- Peach Parfait; Accessories- Pear Pizzazz ribbon, modern label punch, square lattice embossing folder, dimensionals

CCMC 123

Good morning everyone! It's Thursday and that means another challenge at Create with Connie and Mary! Today's challenge is a sketch challenge - my favorite!

And here is my interpretation:

A super versatile sketch! I really like the way this all came together! I used the Greeting Card Kids set. I am in love with this set when I feel like watercoloring! I used watercolor paper and embossed the image. The colors I used for this card are from the Color Coach: Blushing Bride, Perfect Plum, Early Espresso, and Pear Pizzazz. I also used Sahara Sand for shading, So Saffron for the star and Poppy Parade for the ornaments on the tree (which you really can't see even in real life). I used the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder for some texture and the punched the strip with the scallop trim border punch. And three silver brads finishes it off! The only thing I couldn't get to work on this card was the greeting. So I did mine a little different. And the greeting comes from the Teeny Tiny Wishes set.

So there you have it! Don't miss out on this challenge! Get on over to the Create with Connie and Mary site and see what the other designers have done! Then create your own and post it to the site so I can see it, too! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

FTL 114

Good morning, Friends! I hope your week is going wonderfully! I can't believe that we are already at the middle of the week. Yesterday I took my son shopping. He just grows way too fast for my pocketbook! Yikes! And because he is in three different sports, he needs shoes for each one. Well, he needed shoes for indoor soccer and basketball. But the worst part of it all is that he wears men's sizes!! And men's shoes are more expensive by at least $20!!! But we got it done and I do hope I can get at least 9 months worth of wear from these... But he did give me some really great ideas for his birthday (which is in three weeks) and Christmas (which follows close behind) so that was nice.

Today's card was inspired by the Fall-To Layout at Clean & Simple. It is basically a no layer card. I don't do many of these because I like to layer and give depth and dimension to a card. But this time I tried to do that with color. I think it turned out pretty nice and would definitely make a simple Christmas card to mass produce! But it wasn't finished until I added a little bling! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Four the Holidays, Serene Snowflakes; Paper- Crumb Cake; Ink- VersaMark, Crumb Cake, Marina Mist, Whisper White craft pad; Accessories- basic rhinestones, piercer, sponge

Peace On Earth

Good morning, Friends! Nick doesn't have school today so I got to sleep in a little. It was great! Congratulations to the San Fransisco Giants! They played an awesome World Series!! I was wanting the Texas Rangers to win but it was still great that the Giants did. It was just fun to watch. Nick was missing some of his favorite Colorado Rockies players. I guess we have to wait until March to see them. Now it is on to basketball. Of course, we are still watching football... Today is voting day and I hope that you all remember to cast your vote. I will be so glad to get today over with. I am tired of the political calls! That is why Nick doesn't have school today. His school is a polling place. But my husband and I did absentee ballots. Love that! I can do it in the comfort of my home and really think about it all. Nick said that they got to do student voting. He thought that was pretty neat. They will post their results tomorrow. So even he is ready to see the results of today!

Today's card is one that I came up with all on my own. I really didn't follow a sketch (although it probably looks like a sketch out there in "sketch land") but I did get some of the embellishment ideas from the recent Stampin' Success magazine. I was thinking of doing this one for the recent shoebox swap that demonstrators in our area had but I decided it might be a bit much. I do like the way it turned out, though. Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Peaceful Season; Paper- Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls designer paper; Ink- Early Espresso; Accessories- Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, Cherry Cobbler big designer button, itty bitty punch pack, basic pearls, dimensionals

Cajun Splendor

Good morning, Friends! And happy November! Really? Hard to believe! Thanksgiving is just a few weeks away and then Christmas! Yikes! I better get to planning! It was a nice day yesterday. I got to sit around and basically do nothing. Loved it! Nick was invited by another friend to go trick-or-treating in a neighborhood. I have to laugh... My husband bought some candy "just in case we would get some trick-or-treaters at our house". Yea, right. He just wanted some candy for himself!! And guess what? We didn't get any. It helps that he bought his favorite kind - lol!!

Today's card is from a sketch but I forgot to label it. So I am not sure where it came from. I just love these colors of More Mustard (which is hard to see but it is stamped lightly on the background of the greeting), Cajun Craze, Early Espresso and Old Olive. I really should have bought that designer paper out of the mini catalog. I still can and I just might... Anyway, it's another simple card! Thanks for stopping by! And thank you all so much for your encouraging comments! I do read them all! You are the best!! Enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings, Autumn Splendor; Paper- Cajun Craze, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso; Ink- More Mustard, Early Espresso, Cajun Craze; Accessories- Old Olive satin ribbon, square lattice embossing folder, dimensionals

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Good Sunday morning everyone and Happy Halloween! I think it is going to turn out to be a gorgeous day here! That hasn't always been the case for us. Yesterday the boys won their soccer game 4-0 and Nick scored one of the goals!!! He had many other shots on goal but only one made it. A great way to end the season! It was a gorgeous day and I even got sunburned. Then we came home and I got to work on my deviled eggs and other snacks. I was so tired by then but we packed up and headed to the Halloween party. Shortly after everyone arrived is when the storm hit. It was kind of cool because we took most of the older kids to a sort of "half" barn (it is more of a stall for their horses but it is covered and has walls on three sides). The wind is blowing and the rain is coming down pretty hard and we told ghost stories. Actually the kids made them up so it was really funny!! The kids had a ball but the adults were so tired! So I slept in and it felt so good!! I think we will all be taking it easy today. We don't get trick-or-treaters out here in the country so we don't have to worry about that. We will just sit and enjoy some football!

Today's card is one of my favorite Halloween cards. I used a sketch from Card Patterns as inspiration. It is an older sketch and I did make this card quite a while ago. It is so super simple! The black flourish jewels were a little tricky to put on. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Halloween and I pray that everyone is safe! Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Wicked Cool; Paper- Cajun Craze, Basic Black, Wicked Fun designer paper; Ink- Basic Black, Cajun Craze; Accessories- Raven lace trim, black flourish designer jewels, 2 1/2" circle punch, glimmer brad, sponge, dimensionals

Batty For You!

Good morning everyone! I hope your weekend is starting out wonderfully! It looks to be the perfect fall day today but I think that will change soon as the wind is supposed to pick up and it is supposed to rain. But then again, that is good fall weather! Last night, after soccer practice, we went and helped our friends decorate their garage for the Halloween party tonight. That was a lot of fun but very tiring. So we slept in this morning, (Nick's game is later today) and now I am boiling more eggs for tonight. The deviled eggs for Nick's class party were a big hit! I thought they tasted pretty good myself. I will try to post a picture of them tomorrow.

Today's card comes from a sketch that I really can't remember where I got. I didn't mark it and now I don't have the time to try and find out. Not my favorite but it works. I wanted to post something halloween-y for today and tomorrow. It is a super simple card! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings; Paper- Cajun Craze, Basic Black; Ink- Basic Black; Accessories- bat punch, black flourish jewels, spider web embossing folder, dimensionals

CCMCHM 4

Good morning, Friends! It's Friday and that means the weekend is here! I can not believe that we are at the end of the month! Where did it go? Nick has his last soccer game of the season tomorrow and it is supposed to rain. But Nick says he really likes playing in the rain. Guess it makes him a little tougher. I don't like watching the game in the rain, though :) So yesterday I went to Wal-Mart and shopped for a Halloween costume. Still not sure what I was looking for. But what I really liked about Wal-Mart is that they had pieces of items that you could put together for a costume. So, I bought some pirate stuff, a cape, a fake beard, and a scary Frankenstein looking mask. I just knew he would love the mask. Then I bought a black shirt. So when he got home from school I gave him all the stuff and told him my idea and he went to town! We found an old pair of black slacks and cut the cuffs uneven and took the black shirt and did the same and he cut holes in it. He already had an old pair of black shoes. Then he put the mask on and... Well, let's just say he makes a really great zombie/Frankenstein/scary looking thing!! Sigh... Glad that's over! Then he got a clever idea and put the fake beard on over his mask! I can guarantee that no one will have a costume like that! I was really proud of myself and of him for coming up with something! Now to make the deviled eggs for this afternoon's party...

So today's card is for the challenge on Create with Connie and Mary. This is their Holiday Edition challenge that you have to subscribe to. And you still can! Anyway, the challenge has two parts and the first part is to use the colors in the Deck the Halls designer paper (Soft Suede, Cherry Cobbler, Early Espresso, Always Artichoke, Very Vanilla, Crumb Cake). The second part was to make a card that was "over the top" or one that you would only make one of. So here is my version of the challenge. What better way to use all these colors on your card than to use different pieces of the designer paper itself? And that's what I did. I cut strips of various pieces of the designer paper and then used the Tasteful Trim die to cut the scallops. I staggered them and glued just the top part down so that I could sort of "ruffle" the scallops to make it look more dimensional. I don't think I will be making more than one of these. It truly is special!! But it was fun to make. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Grateful Greetings, Tags til Christmas; Paper- Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls designer paper; Ink- Early Espresso, Always Artichoke; Accessories- Cherry Cobbler seam binding ribbon, ornament punch, corner rounder, Tasteful Trim die, basic pearls, dimensionals

CCMC 122

Good morning everyone! It's Thursday and that means another Create with Connie and Mary challenge! This week is a super fun and easy challenge! Halloween! Make any kind of creation with a Halloween theme! Too fun!

As you can see, I went with something other than a card. And boy did I have fun making this! I have been wanting to try this idea for quite some time and finally decided it was time to just dig in and do it. I love how it turned out! There are lots of different tutorials out there so I just combined them to make my own. So super easy! There was so much that I kept wanting to add to the panels but had to make myself stop. Each panel is made with Basic Black cardstock and part of the top is folded over and secured with a gold glimmer brad. Then after I was done decorating each panel I took some linen thread and threaded it through the folded part to string them together. I added some satin ribbon in between each panel. You will also see that I used the Raven lace trim and bats punched from Rich Razzleberry, Basic Black, and Old Olive cardstock. I also used patterned paper from the Wicked Fun designer paper. The letters are die cut using the Alphabet Simple Letters dies.

For more inspiration, go see what the rest of the design team has come up with at Create with Connie and Mary! And then go create! I can't wait to see what you all come up with! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Polka Dot Seasons

Good morning, Friends! It's the middle of the week and that much closer to the weekend! Lots going on this weekend for many of us with Halloween being on Sunday. Nick still hasn't nailed down a costume and I am not sure what to do. His school has a parade and then a party in their classrooms. I volunteered to take a snack and I decided to make deviled eggs that look like eyeballs. I thought that would be fun! Well, Nick LOVES deviled eggs and I asked him how many to make. So he tells me 40!! Yea, right!! Are you kidding me? Ha!! So I am thinking that I will probably make one for each. That is still two dozen eggs. And then I volunteered to make them for another party that we are going to this weekend. I will be making deviled eggs in my sleep! Lol!! And Nick has his last soccer game this weekend. Thankfully it is at home. I still need to figure out the costume thing...

So I made this card quite a while ago but didn't want to share because it is Christmas. I did want to focus on Halloween and Fall/Thanksgiving cards. But I haven't made anything in a while so this is like my last thing to show. Yikes! I guess I had better get on the ball and get serious about making some cards! Like I said, lots to do! So with that I will sign off and say thank you for stopping by! Have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- A Cute Christmas, Four the Holidays; Paper- Real Red, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Whisper White, Candy Cane Christmas designer paper; Ink- Basic Black, Blushing Bride, Real Red, Baja Breeze; Accessoresi- 2 1/2" circle punch, Northern Frost decorative strip, Norther Flurry embossing folder, basic rhinestones, dimensionals

A Cute Season's Greetings

Good morning, Friends! Well, I didn't float away yesterday! Actually, the rain stopped pretty much before lunch and then the sun came out a little bit. But the wind was constant and that made it cold. I felt cold all day long! My husband finally fired up the furnace and got the heat going later that evening. It is supposed to get cold again tonight but then it will be close to normal the rest of the week. It is really pretty around here when you look at the mountains because there is some white on them! Just as long as there is no white where I am!!

Today's card was inspired by a sketch that I got from somewhere. I thought that I was doing a better job of marking where I got my sketches but I really can't remember what my "code" for this one stood for - lol! I did this card a while ago and the memory just can't hang on that long. I really like how it turned out, though, and it really is super simple! This is a 3 x 6 card. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- A Cute Christmas, Four the Holidays; Paper- Real Red, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Whisper White; Ink- Basic Black, Real Red, Baja Breeze, Blushing Bride; Accessories- 2 1/2" circle punch, Northern Frost decorative strip, basic rhinestones, dimensionals

A Thankful Pumpkin

Good morning, Friends! It is hard to believe that we are into the last bit of October! And the weather is proving that, too! It has been raining since Thursday (off and on) and now we have a lake in our barnyard (I say barnyard but we have no animals:) and I just found a new leak in our basement which also happens to be my stamp room. Hmmm... At least the wind seemed to stop for now. Most of Colorado is under a winter storm warning. And the Loveland ski area opened this weekend for skiing! What a change! We went to a local pumpkin patch yesterday to pick out some pumpkins. And then Nick went to town carving his. Then he insisted that Pat and I do the same. So we have our three little (well, mine is little-theirs are much bigger:) pumpkins out on our deck. And then I couldn't resist. I just had to have some of those really pretty reddish pumpkins and some white ones and some really little ones for decoration. We had a great time!

Today's card is one that I did for a recent swap and one that I did with my club ladies this month. It is super simple. And it uses my least favorite stamp set. Maybe it's growing on me? Maybe ;) Time to go make more coffee! Have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Paisley Prints, Paisley Party wheel; Paper- Peach Parfait, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla; Ink- Peach Parfait, Pear Pizzazz, Early Espresso; Accessories- Pear Pizzazz ribbon, itty bitty punch pack, basic pearls, dimensionals

A Vintage Merry Christmas

Good Sunday morning everyone! I hope your weekend is going splendidly! Ours got off to a great start when the soccer team won their game yesterday!! 2-1!! Nick had three shots on goal but none of them went in. Bummer! Their goalie was pretty good and got a good work-out from our team. One more game for the season and then it's indoor soccer time. The boys played so great! It is so fun to watch them work as a team!

Today's card is one that I did for a Holiday shoebox swap. Last night local demonstrators got together to make holiday cards (Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's). We had so much fun!! Well, I know that I did!! There were 14 cards total to make and I got a ton of great ideas for workshops! Super simple and beautiful! For mine I combined several ideas that I have seen from magazines and blogs. The layout is not necessarily new but I saw someone who had taken our little trinkets and use them in a way that I had never thought of. For the safety pin, I stuck it through the knot of the ribbon and closed it. Then I poked a hole in the tag and took the button brad and stuck it through the bottom hole of the safety pin and then through the tag. Cute!! I really like how this turned out and it really is super simple! Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- Bells & Boughs; Paper- Crumb Cake, Early Espresso, Very Vanilla, Deck the Halls designer paper; Ink- Early Espresso, Crumb Cake; Accessories- Very Vanilla seam binding ribbon, scallop border punch, decorative label punch, corner rounder, basic rhinestones, vintage trinkets, sponge, dimensionals

Club Snowman

Good morning everyone! I hope that your weekend is off to a great start! Last night I was able to stamp with some really good friends. We ate chili for dinner and apple crisp for dessert - Yum!!! It has definitely turned into fall around here! It is rainy and colder and it's just a good day to stay in bed cuddled under the covers or to grab a nice cup of coffee and sit by the fire. But Nick has a soccer game today. And I was just thinking about how lucky we have been that all of his soccer games, so far, have had such nice weather. I think the only thing we have complained about is getting sunburned. So this will be our first game in the rain and cold. Nick says he loves to play in the rain. I hope he has is "game" on as we need to win today!

Today's card is one that I did for my stamp club ladies. They seemed to love it. I know I do! I have several more with this same little snowman. He is just so cute!! Thanks for stopping by and have a super day!

Card Recipe: Stamps- A Cute Christmas; Paper- Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze, Real Red, Garden Green, Whisper White, Candy Cane Christmas designer paper; Ink- Basic Black, Real Red, Blushing Bride, Baja Breeze; Accessories- Northern Flurry embossing folder, Northern Frost decorative strip, basic rhinestones, dotted scallop ribbon border punch, dimensionals