Winter Wishes

So, I got all of these cards assembled and realized that the Spray Mount adhesive I used isn't going to hold. Now I get to take them all apart and re-mount them with good, old-fashioned double stick tape. GRRrrrrrrrrrrrr.

This is the first group of Christmas cards that I will be sending out. Later this week I will be working on the second group, which will feature an entirely different design. Why not all the same? Honestly, I only had 2 sheets of the dp and don't have time to get to the craft store in the next few days. DH is traveling Thursday, Friday and then again Sunday, Monday, Tuesday. And then, the holiday parties begin. 3 so far, and those are just for work!

Anyway, back to the card. This first photo is the original, but I tweaked it a bit (as seen in the second photo). The stamp is The Cat's Pajamas, Polar Holiday; sentiment is from Verve Visual, Wonderful Wishes. DP is Provo Craft Holiday Slab V. Loving that paper and I have used it so many times, it will be sad when it is gone...

I colored Knut's catch and scarf with red watercolor pencils. The gift is Stickled for sparkle. I also used the watercolor pencils and brush to shade him. I saw how Kimmie shaded him here, and tried to copy it. The ribbon is from the craft store and the sentiment tag is attached with a silver brad.

Time to go re-adhere them all with tape. Thanks for looking!

Pay It Forward #1 Winners

Yay! We have players for the PIF #1. Please send me your addy, ladies, and I will get the goodies off to you. When you receive the goodies, please continue the game!

Elizabeth Wickland said...
I'll pay it forward!! I love this game!
November 19, 2007 2:02 PM


Elaine said...
Has no one else commented for PIF?? I will do it!!!
November 26, 2007 11:08 PM

Thanks for playing :)

Angel's Offering Weight Loss Buddies!

What's your excuse for not exercising? (mine - it cuts into my stamping time!)

What's the holiday party food that is your ultimate downfall? (mine - potato chips and dip)

We all know this is the hardest time of the year to lose weight. But that's just more reason to connect with others in Blog-o-Land to help us all get through it! If you are interested, check out this post over on Angelosity and sign up!

So maybe in January we can celebrate our new bodies along with our new card creations!

thanks for looking!

PIF Player Still Needed

We are still in need of one player for Pay It Forward! See this post to get in on the fun! I have some cute goodies that I would like to share...

After DS goes to bed tonight, I will be working on Christmas cards. I have an idea in my head and I hope it comes to fruition IRL. DS was up in the middle of the night with croup, though, so I don't know how long I'll hold out tonight. Let's just hope he sleeps well tonight because I can't get up again like that!

Thanks for looking!

What's Been Keeping Me Busy

I've decided to try to spread some holiday cheer around my workplace and surprise everyone with a little treat box. I found the nugget box template on Splitcoast Stampers. There are templates for all sizes of box here, and they are very easy to put together! Luckily, there are only 30 people who work at my library. I started these last week and am still putting on the finishing touches. Also, I made the mistake of buying one bag of Nestle Treasures instead of Hershey's Nuggets, and they just don't work! So back to Target for another bag of Nuggets, and more wrappers to stamp! Here's what they are looking like inside. I added a thin wrapper with a round stamp on the top. The wrapper just keeps the boxes from sliding apart. And I like how they look! The stamps are Lizzie Anne Designs Celebrations and Celebration Frames, a Michael's dollar stamp and a snowflake from Verve Visual Winter Wonder. Love these cute little stamps!! They are colored with color pencils, blended and highlighted with a white gel pen and a glitter pen. I hope they bring a smile to my co-workers' faces...I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday weekend! I worked Fri and Sat, so didn't get as much done as I would have liked. Oh, well, there are still a few weeks before Christmas! Thanks for looking!

Playful Christmas Card

I made this card using the Kitchen Sink Stamps Playful Christmas set that I won from Becky. It is such a fun set! Go and get yourself some! I used a red base that I scored and sanded to distress a bit. Then I randomly stamped snowflakes (from Winter Wonder by Verve Visual) in Brilliance Moonlight White. The center panel is stamped in Real Red, Garden Green and YoYo Yellow using the circle patterned tree stamp. The focal image is the solid tree stamp in Garden Green, two of which are overstamped with silver and yellow. The snowflake was stamped and then glittered, the star is from Winter Wonder also. The sentiment is from KSS, in Garden Green, with glitter applied to glue pen dots for sparkle. The yellow and green panel layers are scraps that I had in my basket.

Oh, the sketch is from SCS SC149 .

Thanks for looking!

Produced With Blog Candy Winnings

One of the blog candy giveaways I won was from Julie at Out to Impress. She asked that I send her the creations I made. First, here are the goodies: pretty Christmas ribbon, fun stamps and cute dp!

Here are some creations I have made so far. The papers are really fun patterns and I will use them all up soon as I finish my Christmas cards! Thanks, Julie!

First is a 4x4 card. I punched the presents out of the label from the paper package using my concave square punch. Then I made the layered tag and stamped the sentiment, attaching them together with a gold brad.

Next is a standard 4.25 x5.5 card. I layered the green on top of the red, then punched the giga scalloped circle out of the striped paper so the green showed through. I was able to punch out the image and follow the scalloped edge by VERY carefully lining them up in my small rounded corner punch. The image (stamped with Baroque Burgundy) is layered on a slightly larger white circle so that it stands out. The ribbon is from my stash, tied in a simple knot and adhered.
The final item here is a cute little tea bag holder. The sentiment is embossed with Detail White and I used a white gel pen to dot each scallop. The inside also has the striped paper. Too cute for co-worker treats!
Ok, off to stamp some more. Today's project is nugget boxes, and more tea bag holders since I want to RAK a co-worker for each day from now through Christmas. Luckily, there are only about 30 people in my workplace! Thanks for looking!

Look Who Arrived! and JT Aloha RAK

Bookwormabella! Yippee! Cindy sent her to me out of the blue. How sweet is that? I can't wait to ink her up! Maybe tomorrow when I don't have errands to run and can spend the day playing in my stamp room :) Thank you!!

If you haven't seen Cindy's blog yet, Creating with the Heart, check it out!

I also received a package from Connie for JT's Aloha RAK game for November. This card is beautiful, and is made with no stamps! The die cut stickers are gorgeous, and the shimmery paper is fantastic! And check out the cute pins she included. Thanks, Connie!

I will be back later with one more pic of goodies from Blog candy that I won, plus the card I created with them. And before the end of the week I will be posting some blog candy of my own! I think it's time to share the wealth, don't you?

And don't forget to see my post for PIF! Thanks for looking!

Pay It Forward #1

I was one of the winners of Dawn's Pay it Forward a week or so ago, and it's my turn to pass it along. For the first two people to post a comment here, I have some goodies to send. The condition is that you agree keep it going and post to your blog if you win and send along goodies to the first 2 to respond to you blog, etc. I think this is a fun way to get some surprise goodies! This picture is of the goodies Dawn sent. I am still gathering the things I'll be sending.

Thanks for looking!

My Lucky Streak

Well, the last week has been a blog candy lucky streak for me! I feel piggish, but it's so much fun! Here are some things I've won...

First is from Denise over at Paper Ponderings. She had a contest in which you had to guess the Halloween costumes of her kids. I was the only one to get them all correct! Denise sent some fun winter stamps, great vellum snowflakes, fun dp and a packet of ribbons that I already put away before snapping the picture.

Then I received a set of Kitchen Sink Stamps, Playful Christmas, from Becky. She has some great tutorials for 3x3 and 4x4 cards and boxes that she posted this week. Check out her blog!

And then I got an altered notebook from Rosanne. I am hoping this will keep me organized with Christmas gifts, card lists, etc.

It's not over! I also got some great goodies from Jan forguessing her color combination. Phew!

That's a lot of candy...

NOW, I'm off to stamp. Have a good weekend. Thanks for looking!

Another Fun Contest to Check Out

Have you seen the 12 Days of Christmas contest over at Terri Conrad Designs?

Shop at Terri Conrad Designs boutique for gorgeous creations!

Leave a comment Here to play and win! A new winner each day!

And don't forget to check out the awesome new Webster's Pages dp while your out there.

Thanks for looking! I'm really going back to work now...

Blog Candy Alert

Who doesn't love a cool alphabet stamp set? How about one from A Muse? Head over to Erika's blog here! Good luck :)

I'll be back tomorrow with a post for stamping. This week has been an utter stress-filled week as my ds has decided to exercise his opinions in full force. AND he is behind on his sleep, which has made for VERY trying mornings. We had to punish him by removing ALL the books from his room and now he has to cooperate each day to earn some back. It's not been a fun week and as you can imagine I have had no time to stamp!

Thanks for checking in!

How Bad Am I...

That I bribed my son with a trip to Wendy's for lunch if he gave me 10 quiet minutes in a scrapbook store? Since we are in NH on vacation this week, I had to check out The Paper Tree. Oh, if only he wasn't exhausted from travel and playing with his friends up here (and if I had brought a bigger suitcase) I would have spent A LOT more money!

The papers were gorgeous, and there were ebellishments I had never seen before. Maybe next time when we drive, we'll have to stop in again. Since I forgot my camera at home, I can't share my purchases, but will when I get home. Then I will hide the goods from DH ;)

Hope you are having a good weekend! Thanks for looking!

Winged Things Friends

I'm here this morning trying to kill time before leaving for the airport. Justin is so excited he woke up extra early and keeps asking "WHEN are we going to go????" Luckily DH is home this morning so I have a bit of quiet time to pack, clean up, post to blog, etc...

Here is a card I made back in September for my in-laws. It was their 26th anniversary (yes, second marriage). I absolutely love this dp - Paper Pizazz Friends Definitions. I have to go and find more at Michael's. The dragonfly is from SU! Winged Things and the ink colors are Going Grey and Pale Plum. The flourish is from Rhonna Farrer. Of course I used my glitter pen and colored pencils with OMS to blend them. The solid paper is random gray and lilac that was in my stash. The photo doesn't do the gorgeous DP any favors. Check it out IRL if you have a chance...

Well, I see my blog counter is creeping up. If I get to 1500 it will be time for some more Blog Candy. As I was cruising through past posts, I can see my cards improving. To think that some of those early cards were creative! Yikes! There's still so much to learn :) I love it.

Have a great weekend. We'll be in cold NH (which reminds me - I have to go find the hats and mittens) Thanks for looking!

Star Light...

Just two more of Angel's sketches, and then I'll move onto something else. But they were all fabulous, so you will probably see them again!

For the colors in this first one, Sketch #19, I was inspired while doing laundry. My red blouse came out of the washer next to my husbands True Thyme-ish shirt, and voila! I hope you like it! The base is True Thyme, stamped with the swirls from SU! In the Sky. The dp panel is Perhaps, by Basic Grey. Ribbon is from the craft store. Sentiment is hand stamped with SU! Brushstroke Alphabet and the stars are SU! In the Sky embossed with holographic ep. The star and layers are scraps that were on my table. Enjoy :)

The next card is for Sketch #28 and is MUCH

busier than most of my creations. Again, I wasn't sure of the final product, but it's not so bad... The dp is from my new DCVW The Mini Stack 3. I picked it up today at the craft store. Flower stamps are from SU! Teeny Tinies, stamped in Gable Green, Rose Red and Apricot Appeal. The "to you" is made with rub-ons. I sponged the oval with Gable Green because it stuck out way too much when it was just white.

I am working tomorrow night and then am going away for the weekend Friday afternoon. So I may not be blogging while I'm away. See you next week! Thanks for looking!

Greater Than the Sum of Its Parts...

I was uncertain what this card was going to look like upon completion. But overall, I think it came out pretty well (it's ok if you disagree - my feelings won't be hurt). The paper is bolder in color than I usually use and it uses *GASP* two patterns on the same card! The paper is from CTMH, but I'm afraid I don't know which collection. The stamps are SU! Year Round Cheer, stamped with True Thyme ink. I was afraid the sentiment was a bit lost, but it fits nicely in the circle. The base card was Certainly Celery and the ribbon is a piece of scrap. The image and sentiment panels are layered with True Thyme and a bit of the striped paper, laid horizontally so that the white strip shows at the top and the red at the bottom.

This is one of my final entries for Angel's birthday celebration. Thanks for looking!

Check out Barefoot Stamper's Candy!

Talk about generous blog candy. Go here for your chance at free stamp sets. And check out her awesome work while you're there!

Angelosity Guest Sketch

While I had that gorgeous paper out last night, I decided to do just one more card before going to bed. (It's always just one more, isn't it?)

Angel chose this sketch as a winner from her sketch contest. It's from Monica, at Monica's Crafts. The paper is the same Making Memories Maddi Narr Stripe and Maddi Paisley from the last card. I used a piece of Bazzill Basics shimmery orange cs to mat the main image, though. The butterfly is from the Rhonna Farrer Autumn Leaves set, same as the sun from the previous card. I watercolored the image with Regal Rose. Brads are also Making Memories.

I purposely left off a sentiment so that this could be used for any occasion. Hopefully tonight I will be able to get one or two more cards done. I hope you all stop over to wish Angel a very Happy Birthday tomorrow! (and keep your fingers crossed that I win all the goodies from the drawing!)

Thanks for looking!

Angelosity Sketch 27

Well, it looks like I won't get to complete ALL of Angel's sketches in the appropriate time frame, but I will definitely keep them on record to try in the future. Here is my card for day 27. I have to say that this card pretty much pulled itself together. Don't you love when that happens?

I've had the paper for a while, and haven't had just the right project for it. But then I saw these stamps that Laura sent me for the October Aloha RAK and it came to me. The base is a soft butter yellow and the dp is Making Memories Maddi Narr Stripe and Maddi Paisley. The stamp is Rhonna Farrer for Autumn Leaves. Sentiment is Verve Visual Thoughtful phrases. (These little sentiments are perfect for fitting in the SU! Word Window Punch! I can't wait to see what's new, coming out on November 10!...) The ribbon is some scrap ribbon that was in my bin. The ink is Marigold Morning. I think it should be a little darker on the sentiment, but IRL you can see it more.

Thanks for looking!

More From the Weekend

What will we do after Angel's birthday passes this week? I've been looking forward to her sketches every day! Maybe I'll have to start creating my own?

Here is card #24. I have to say I don't love it and this will NOT be the Christmas card I send out. But here it is anyway... I started with dark green cs base, then put a strip of Provo Craft Holiday Slab V striped paper, mounted on a panel of glacier blue. The snowflakes are stamped with Color Box Chiffon White. (What white ink does everyone use? I have 4 that I've tried and haven't found the perfect one yet.) The snowflake on the scalloped circle is stamped with silver and then clear embossed. I put rhinestones in the centers of the snowflakes and Stickles the tips for some bling.

The second card here is for sketch #25. I have to say, I REALLY like this one. I was going to head up to

bed but decided to crank out one more card. DS

is going to a birthday party tomorrow, and I needed

a card for a girl turning 4. Her mom will probably appreciate this more than she will, but still... I used a pink cs base, then put the dp on - Chatterbox Scrapbook Walls in Rosey Nook Plaid and Ribbon Stripe. The panels are burgundy and pink and white scrap. The stamps are SU! Border Builders stamped in Old Olive, Pretty in Pink and Pixie Pink. I stamped the white twill with the flower from the set in Pretty in Pink and Old Olive. The sentiment is from the Mike's $1 bin on pink scrap in Baroque Burgundy. Oh, and of course I Stickled the centers of the flowers. I have been Stickling everything since I received my first bottle last week ;)

Well, off to bed now. My eyes are starting to feel gritty because I'm tired, so I know my day is ending. I hope you all enjoy your extra hour! Thanks for looking!

A Very Productive Weekend So Far...

So what are YOU doing with the extra hour this weekend? I plan on stamping some more tomorrow and also finishing The Memory Keeper's Daughter. It's great so far!

I've been plugging away at Angel's sketches, and completed 4 between last night and today. Here is Number 9. Although I think it looks like a paintball exploded on the pickup truck, I like this color combination. The base is True Thyme and then I used dark green and Soft Sky panels also. The dp is from the Provo Craft Holiday Slab V. I'm getting tons of use out of that pack that Cindy sent me a few months back. Thanks, Cindy! The images are from SU! Loads of Love, the tree and sentiment stamped in True Thyme, the truck in Basic Black. The polka dot ribbon is from Target.

This next card is from Angel's sketch #11. I really like this sketch, and can see myself using it lots and lots. I have printed out all her sketches and they will be kept in my sketch book for future reference. It really helps me if I have a starting point and Angel has made some great sketches this month! The base of this card is Soft Sky and the inks are Soft Sky, Vintage Violet and Pretty in Pink. The panels for the image are scrap, not SU! papers. The stamps are Lizzie Anne Designs flower from Celebration Frames and sentiment from a set I just got and threw away the label for. Sorry! I watercolored them with the above inks and Stickled the centers. The only thing I have to complain about here is Vintage Violet. As cs, I love it, but the ink on paper always looks a little muddy to me. Maybe that's the "vintage" part, but I never can decide if I like it or not. What do you think?

I don't want to make this post too long, so the next two cards will be in another post. Thanks for looking!

Double Duty Challenge Card

I love when I can multitask, and this card lets me do just that. It fits for Angelosity Sketch #14 and also for the SCS Color Challenge 138. The stamp set is Baroque Motifs which I have seen everyone use for beautiful cards. I may CASE some and create my Christmas cards. I guess it's about time to decide on a Christmas card design, huh? It's getting close!

Ribbon on this card is some grosgrain that was in the clearance bin at my local craft store. It's a great rich red. The ink colors I used are the color challenge colors: Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, and So Saffron. Thanks for looking!

Angelosity Numbers 6 and 7

These two sketches were fun for me! And believe me, after this morning's battle with my DS, I was in DIRE need of stamping therapy. Yikes, he was in an ugly mood and would not do anything I asked him. He ended up getting himself so upset and yelling so much that he almost sent himself into an asthma attack. So I panicked and kept him home from daycare. Luckily, his mood has improved...

This first card is for Sketch # 6. I absolutely love fall colors and like to give Thanksgiving cards to family members whom I don't see very often. I think I'll send this one to my aunt. I watercolored the leaves on the background (SU! Year Round Cheer oak leaf and Tags & More maple leaf. The turkey is from my Lizzie Anne Designs Celebrations set. The sentiment is from SU! Everyday Flexible Phrases. Ink is Close to Cocoa and the turkey is also watercolored. The dp on the center panel is Basic Grey Perhaps, the ribbon is luscious gold silk from May Arts that I got from Verve Visual this week. (Don't tell DH that I went online shopping twice this week ;)

For my second card, I used Sketch #7 from Angelosity. Have you SEEN the pile of goodies that Angel is giving away? Wow! DP on this card is from the Provo Craft Holiday Slab V. The red is some scrap I had laying around and the ribbon is standard craft store ribbon. The images are Lizzie Anne Designs from Celebrations again (yes, I'm using this set A LOT). It's so versatile! The sentiment is from SU! Loads of Love, punched with the word windo punch, stamped in Old Olive. I added a little Stickles to the packages for some sparkle.

Well, DS is playing nicely now, so I'm going to take advantage and make another card. Thanks for looking!