Sunday, November 30, 2014

Lacy Challenge


There's a new challenge today...

http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.com/

Anything Goes with Lace

Sponsor: Stitchy Bear Digital Outlet


Here's the prize that will be given to a lucky winner:


 

As a design team member, I was given an image to use for this challenge - Christmas Lights.




Here's my card:



Here's the inside of my card:



I hope you'll participate in the OSAAT "Lace" Challenge!


I'm entering my card in the following challenges:

Crafty Catz - Anything Goes
Craftyhazelnut's - Patterned Paper
Craftyhazelnut's - Anything Goes as Long as It's Christmas
Sister Act - Anything Goes
Through the Craft Room Door - Anything Goes


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Image: Stitchy Bear Christmas Lights colored with Copic markers and a clear Zig Wink of Stella marker
Sentiment: Stampabilities Merry Christmas stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black ink
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Red
Designer Paper: Recollections Fa La La Paper Pad
Embellishments: Foof-a-La Buttons, Heidi Grace Satin Ribbon, and Grosgrain Ribbon and Lace from an unknown vendor

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Let It Snow!


There's a new Sweet Stampin' Challenge today - and it's going to be a good one...


Theme: Let It Snow!


http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/





Please join the fun by creating a snow'y project!


November 29 - December 5

Sponsor: Quixotic Paperie
£10 Voucher

Here's my card:






Here's the inside:



Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Image/Sentiment: North Coast Creations "Let It Snow"
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and White
Designer Paper: Recollections Fa La La Paper Pad
Embellishments: Spare Parts Starburst Brad and Stickles Glitter Glue

Friday, November 28, 2014

Calendar Girls Go Shopping


It's the 28th of November - and it's Black Friday! So the Calendar Girls blog group are going shopping!

Barb suggested a theme for this month's challenge - Make a card about anything dealing with shopping. Isn't that fun?!?

I actually LOVE the crowds, the chaos, the frenzy of Black Friday shopping, so I wanted to capture the "Black Friday" aspect of the theme on my card. Therefore I searched for some free clipart and found just what I wanted HERE. I also went with a mostly black color scheme (just a bit of white and gray) for my card.



I didn't photograph the inside of my card (*gasp!) because the inside is simply some layered black and white cardstock - BORING!

I hope you'll stop by the other Calendar Girl blogs to see their shopping adventures. You'll find the links in  my left sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Image: free clip art
Cardstock: Recollections Black and White
Embellishments: Foof-a-La Buttons and Studio G Ribbon


Tuesday, November 25, 2014

The Story of the Candy Cane


I's time for a new {PIN}Spirational Challenge...


http://www.pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/





Challenge #129

November 25 - December 8


Here's the {PIN}Spirational Photo:






The sponsors for this challenge are:

https://doodlepantry.com/shop.html



and

http://paperpretties.net/store/




We {heart} our Sponsors!


Here's my card:






images donated by Doodle Pantry



Here's the inside:




I hope you'll participate in the {PIN}Spirational Challenge!


Thank you for stopping by my blog today!


Images: Doodle Pantry Candy Cane Poem
Ink: Copic Markers and Zig Wink of Stella Marker
Cardstock: Recollections Black and White
Embellishments: Michael's Pearls and Rhinestones

Monday, November 24, 2014

Fun at the Pumpkin Farm


There's a new MelonHeadz Friends Challenge today...

http://melonheadzfriends.blogspot.com/





November 24 - December 7

Theme: Include a Pumpkin



Here's my card: 







The inside of my card:



I hope you'll participate in the MelonHeadz Friends "Pumpkin" Challenge!


Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Images: MelonHeadz Illustrating Punkin Patch 1 Bundle
Ink: Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Pumpkin Pie
Designer Paper: from my scrap file
Embellishment: Oriental Trading Pumpkin Ribbon/Brad and Ribbon scrap from an unknown vendor

Friday, November 21, 2014

A Peek at My Week




It’s Friday, so it’s time for…


A PEEK AT MY WEEK

Something I loved about this week…

Okay, technically, it was the end of last week (Saturday) but I absolutely LOVED the worship times at the Women’s Forum I attended! Travis Cottrell was the worship leader and even though he was fighting a virus and at the time – and on some pretty strong medication – he led us to the throne of God! WOW!!!

If you’re unfamiliar with Travis, click HERE to hear one of his songs.

Something I learned this week…

A person CAN survive a day without heat. Our new furnace arrived and the installation began early on Thursday morning. It took ALL DAY to install it and during that time we obviously didn’t have a furnace. But the temperatures were tolerable and the installation man was courteous and thorough. Oh, and on a funny note, when he left at 4:45 P.M., the fire alarms were blaring – as the new smell burned off of the furnace he’d just installed. But now our house is warm again – and hopefully our fuel bill will be lower now thanks to a high efficiency furnace vs. the one that was barely limping by and needed replaced.

Somewhere I went this week…

I didn’t leave town – since I’m decorating for Christmas. So I guess other than to church, to a meeting at an office here in town, and to the grocery store, I haven’t gone anywhere.

Something I created this week…

A HUGE mess! On Tuesday we got the Christmas decorations out – there are boxes EVERYWHERE in my teeny tiny house. EEK! But soon we will have everything looking nice.

Every year – no matter how many trees I put up (up to 43, our highest number) – I always start with Brock’s room. He just seems to not pester me much about the mess/transformation once his room is finished. This year was no exception. I started there. I put up the little decorations, including Christmas rubber duckies, Christmas bears (yes, even the bear he got for his first Christmas), his taxi from when he was a toddler learning to walk with Kermit from a visit to Disney World sitting in the driver’s seat, etc.

Oh, and did I mention, his 6’ tree. I put it together and string the lights and put the puppet bear on the top (that’s the tree topper) while Brock is at work. Then when he gets home, he puts the ornaments on it. He usually does a VERY good job at that. He doesn’t tend to put ornaments on the back side that is against the wall, but he does get ornaments on all of the other sides. Well, that’s what he NORMALLY does. Not so, this year.

This is what you see when you enter his bedroom door:



But I guess if you get into the room and look back at the tree, it doesn’t look too bad. ;)



Something I’m going to do this weekend…

I am going to keep decorating! It will also be a busy day at church on Sunday. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but I am helping our youth leader on Sunday nights, which means I prepare the food. We usually have 12-15 youth…. and they LOVE to eat….. a lot! I really am glad I get to hang out with them!

Something I want to accomplish next week…

I plan to have the Christmas decorations up before Thanksgiving day – and the boxes put away! A lofty goal – oh if you could see my house right now, you’d think it’s impossible!

Did I take the 30-Minute Challenge this week?
What is a 30-Minute Challenge? Basically, I choose something to do – perhaps it’s an organization task that is calling out to me, or a topic I want to research, or (*gasp!) an exercise I want to try, etc. – and I set the timer and invest 30 minutes in that challenge.

Oops! No, I didn’t.
*me bad*


SCORE TIME: Would I give this week a “thumbs up” or a “thumbs down”?




Thanks for stopping by my blog today! I appreciate you so much!

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

To Color or Not to Color (Part 2)


Last Wednesday I posted a card featuring a fantastic dachshund stamp manufactured by JessicaLynnOriginal. I didn't color the image and wasn't sure I liked it that way. You can see that card by clicking HERE.

I've now colored the  image - on that same card. Let me know what you think... is this card best colored or uncolored?



Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

I ♥ Pizza


Today is the day that the Mystery Image card swap is due. I am the hostess this round, which means I sent the image that all the swappers used.

I ♥ Pizza AND SugarPea Designs stamps, too...






Pizza anyone?


As the hostess, I can choose to create a card or not... today I'll show you two of the cards I've made with the SugarPea Designs Pizza My Heart stamp set.























Thanks for stopping by my blog today!





BOTH CARDS
Image/Sentiment: Sugar Pea Designs Pizza My Heart
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black and Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections (Black, Red, and White)
Designer Paper: Paper Pizazz (Brick Wall and Brown Leather)
Embellishments: Red Brads from an unknown vendor
THIS CARD
Additional Item: Pizza Paper (from a party invitation)

Sunday, November 16, 2014

Giving Thanks


Thanksgiving is almost here, so today's challenge card seems appropriate - and it should be a challenge that will be easy for you to join, since so many of us are making "thanks" types of cards right now.

http://onestitchatatimechallenge.blogspot.com/





Challenge # 224

Theme: Anything Goes with Giving Thanks

Sponsor: Stitchy Bear Digital Outlet

Prize Package:






Here's my card:







Here's the inside of my card:






Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Image: Pilgrim Bear colored with Copic Markers
Sentiment: A Muse Studio Essential Sentiments stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Stampin' UP! Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie
Designer Paper: DCWV Amber Autumn Stack
Embellishments: Brads from an unknown vendor

Saturday, November 15, 2014

To Die For with Thanks


It's a VERY SPECIAL day today - it's the Dueling Darling Challenge! PLUS it's the day for a new Sweet Stampin' Challenge.

So hang on... here we go..............................



The Sweet Stampin' Challenge Theme: To Die For 
Use at least one die - I used 5.

http://sweetstampinchallengeblog.blogspot.co.uk/


Sponsor: Yours or Mine Papercrafts - $10 Voucher

I hope you'll participate in the Sweet Stampin' To Die For Challenge!


Here's the inside of my card: 



The DUELING DARLINGS is a group that's been together for about 4 years now. WOW! Each month two of the members (a DIVA and a DAZZLER) put their heads together and come up with a theme and put together kits for the team member to use, based on that theme.

This month Diva Kadie and Dazzler April came up with the theme - THANK YOU. Their idea was to use the sentiment only, no image this month.

THANK YOU for a great theme, Kadie and April!

The kit the DAZZLERS received included these items:

 • Recollections and Prima flowers, misc sizes/shapes
• Favorite Findings and Basic Grey buttons
• Offray Twill ribbon (tan stitched)
• Craftsmart sheer ribbon (from Germany) – mint blue
• Kaiser mini pearls
• Recollections paper rope – white
• Recollections Fall Foliage paper doilies – beige
• DSP from SU! ~ Le Jardin (in yellow, green, beige, blues)
• Kraft cardstock, PTI
• Images: Thank you (Flourish) from Inkadinkadoo and Thank you (cursive) from Michaels $1.50 bin


Now, let's check out the other Dueling Darling blogs....

DAZZLER

Deb

DIVA

LJ

Thank you for stopping by my blog today!

The only thing I used in addition to items in the DAZZLER kit I received was a piece of cardstock for my card base - Stampin' UP! Blue Bayou.

Friday, November 14, 2014

A Peek at My Week


It's Friday, so I should be posting about my week, but instead I'm going to show you where I am today...








Yes! I'm in Nashville Tennessee for a HUGE event - a Women's Forum. To learn more, click HERE. I am so excited!

Our state Executive Director took a few of us from Illinois to this event and I feel so honored that I was one of the women she chose to take. Thank you, Carmen!

This makes it a two thumbs up kind of week!



I hope you're having a great week, too!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

To Color or Not To Color (Part 1)


I tend to feel more comfortable coloring "cutsie" types of images - like the adorable JessicaLynnOriginal owl, Brentwood! ;) But sometimes I see  adorable stamps/images that look so realistic (like the JesssicaLynnOriginal Dachshund Weiner Dog stamp) and then I feel inadequate in my coloring abilities.

Am I the only one?

So today I decided to try making a card with an "uncolored" dachshund image.






If you like this stamp set you can find it HERE.



Truthfully, I'm not sure I like leaving the image/s uncolored. I think I might try coloring the images (on this same card) next week and we'll do a comparison and see what we think.... so stay tuned to my blog.)


Here's the inside of my card:



Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Images/Sentiment: JessicaLynnOriginal Dachshund Weiner Dog Set
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Cardstock: Recollections Black and Stampin' UP! Marigold Morning
Designer Paper: Reminisce Fire Hydrant Stripe (double-sided)
Embellishments: Brads from an unknown vendor

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Colorful Indian Corn


It's time for a new challenge at {PIN}Spirational Challenges.

http://www.pinspirationalchallenges.blogspot.com/





November 11 - 24


Here is the photo to {PIN}Spire our creativity:






Our sponsors for this challenge are:


http://fred-she-said-store.blogspot.ca/






and


http://www.freshbreweddesigns.com/



We our Sponsors!


Here's my card:





Image: given to me by Fresh Brewed Designs!
THANK YOU, Heather!


Here's the inside:






I hope you'll participate in the {PIN}Spirational Challenge!

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Image: Fresh Brewed Designs
Ink: Copic Markers
Cardstock: Recollections Kraft and Stampin' UP! Early Espresso and Pumpkin Pie
Designer Paper: Cloud 9 Designs Seasonal Paper Pad
Embellishment: Stampin' UP! Grosgrain Ribbon