Let It Snow - Snowflake Challenge

I'm feeling so much better today which is a great sign since I start classes again on Tuesday. I reorganized my scrap stuff and found that I still have a ton of Christmas papers, lol. Since Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge was up today, I decided to play with some of my Cosmo Cricket Christmasy papers and make a card. This week the challenge is to include snowflakes. I hope my photo came out alright. The last time I got online I used Paul's computer and my photos looked all yellowed. On my laptop they look just fine, but I'm wondering how they look to everyone else. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the card and have a lovely Sunday!

Tis the Season Josh

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge called to me this morning and with such a fun sketch posted, I couldn't resist playing along! Funny that I made my order specifically to get birthday Josh and Chloe, yet I can't help but reach for little cafe Josh for my cards lately. I'm finding he's quite versatile ;) Eventually, I would like to get singing carols Josh but until then, I'll improvise. I'm using up some Cosmo Cricket Christmas papers with this. Maybe if I get some Christmas pages scrapped, combined with making cards, I just might use up all my winter papers by this next holiday! I'm hoping I do because it was so hard not buying any new holiday paper this past year. I told myself I need to use up the rest of what I have before I can get more. So far I only have 7 full sheets left, but I do still have quite a few big scraps. Anyhoo, I hope you enjoy the card and have a lovely Sunday!

Christmas Challenge #5

I thought it would be a great idea to get a head start on my Christmas cards for this next year, at least so I've got enough for the ones I need to mail out ;) So I'm playing in Sparkle's weekly Christmas Card Challenge. This week is embossing. It's been so long since I last used my embossing folders! I forgot how fun it could be ;) Anyway, we didn't get snow for Christmas, but we did get some right after the New Year! It was nearly all melted by noon, but we got out there early at around 8:30, so I got a lot of super cute photos of the girls as well as some of Paul and me! I'm hoping to remember to always get pictures of Paul and I throughout the year and I'm so happy to have a good start. The big plus is I had a free Shutterfly 8x8 book to make, a gift from a friend, so I used those photos to create a fun book and it's on its way! I'm so excited to see how it turned out ;) Anyway, enjoy the card and have a fab Friday!

Home for the Holidays

I'm guest designing this week on Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog! Head on over to see the DT's wonderful creations ;) The week #39 challenge is to use Sparkle and Bling. I used glitter cardstock for the snow and some metallic embroidery thread to tie my buttons. And what is a chimney without a little puff of smoke? I added a pretty rhinestone smoke swirl to give it that finishing touch. What fun! The rules are simple to play, just create a Christmas card and put some sparkle or bling on it. Then head on over to Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge Blog to link it up! Enjoy and have a lovely Sunday!

Eskimo Kisses Paper by Basic Grey

Glitter Cardstock by Doodlebug

Kraft and Scarlet Jewel Cardstock by Papertrey Ink

Chipboard House and Sentiment Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey

Spring Rain buttons and Scarlet Jewel Ribbon by Papertrey Ink

Rhinestones by Kaiser

Kreinik Metallic Embroidery Thread

A Pink Christmas

Supplies : Stamps, Inks, and Cardstock from Papertrey Ink; Rhinestones by Kaiser; Ribbon by Pebbles;

Sparkle always makes the most darling cards. Her card today was for her weekly Christmas Card Challenge. The theme this week is to use mainly Pink. I haven't played in months, but the theme and her card inspired me to break out my stamps which I also haven't done in a while. Here's my first card. I simply pulled out pink cardstock and inks and played a bit. Paul was laughing at me because I was singing Christmas songs while I stamped these cards ;)

The second card was something I've wanted to try for a while, to use that deer from the Forest Friends set as a reindeer silhoutte. I love how pretty and elegant this one came out. So different from most of the cards I make.

I love hot cocoa, so of course I had to make a cocoa card ;) Each year I stock up on all the fun flavors by Stephens. I make it my own special way so that it's very warm, but not hot, using milk to cool it down and make it creamy. This last winter was the first time I saw the Pumpkin Spice hot cocoa and it's become a new favorite ;) It was so nice to get to play with my stamps today. I hope you enjoy the cards! Thanks for stopping by and have a lovely Sunday!

4 Calling Birds

Supplies : Paper Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey; Mistletoe Card Slice; Sprinkles Thickers by American Crafts; white mini ricrac; white embossing powder; Fancy Flourishes stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Marvy snowflake punch; shimmer white cardstock; sewing machine w/white thread

So I started another card using four little birds and I just was not liking it. I kept thinking as I went along that it would come together but it never did and I did a big 'ulgh!' and tossed it, lol. Then I started this card, which I really like but if I could change one thing I would have picked plain cardstock, that same pale aqua, for the background so that the bird would have more pop. The blue and green print just seems a little too busy for the style I was going for and I didn't realize that until after I had already sewn my base together. Anyway, I really like this idea with the numbers and one big cut out so I might be doing all the rest similar to this. We'll see ;) The card is for Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge. This Sunday the challenge is no coloring which turned out easy for me since I haven't been coloring cards of late, lol. We've been having a lazy Sunday today. I've been reorganizing some of my crafting stuff again, mostly going through my scraps and tossing the ones that I probably won't use into the recycling bin then organizing them by brand into baggies instead of styles. I like to go through all my papers and scraps every couple months and sometimes switch up the way I have them organized. It helps me remember what I have and if I switch them around it gives me fresh eyes after I'm done. Anyway, thanks for visiting and have a lovely Sunday!

Tis the Season to be Freezin'

Supplies : Paper and Snowman from Colorful Christmas by My Minds Eye; Black Rhinestones by Kaiser; Pop Dots

Here's my card for Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge. The week #7 challenge is a fun sketch and I started by following it pretty exact, but without the outside mat. But my pieces weren't meshing well together that way so I turned my card horizontal and smooshed all the elements of her sketch together toward the bottom right corner. Much better fit for the chilly little snowman and his catchy matchy papers, and I didn't even have to trim anything! I added black rhinestones to his eyes and the sentiment for a little bling ;) Took me less than 10 minutes even with the rearranging. Love those little quickie cards! Don't forget to stop by Sparkle's blog for her darling card and tag! Enjoy and have a lovely Sunday!

The Second and Third Days of Christmas

Supplies : Paper by Basic Grey and My Minds Eye; Cardstock by Bazzil; Rhinestones by Kaiser; Button by Papertrey Ink; Slice and Mistletoe Card

I missed Sparkle's Christmas challenge last week so this week I did them both ;) The extra challenge this week is to use embossing and that worked perfectly with these little doves! A couple challenges ago I started with the little partridge image. I'm hoping to make an entire set of the 12 days of Christmas. We'll see how it goes. I used a bit of some border paper I had left of that My Minds Eye birdy set. The little cage was just what the card needed. It's really different trying to make cards with die cuts instead of stamped images, but so far I think I'm doing alright. Below is the card for last week. The extra challenge for week 5 was buttons. I tried to work more into the card but I wasn't loving it so I added just the one big button. I've started printing out the sentiments for these on the computer. I'm not sure how much I like them yet. Maybe if I print them on some colors next time instead of white cardstock.

This first week of school has been kind of hectic. New Years I was coming down with some sniffles and a couple days later I had the worst flu. Not the worst I've ever had, but definitely one of them. Luckily by this weekend it was back to simple congestion but I have to say that week was really a doozy. I'm so glad Mich and Paul helped out the first few days Caitlyn was back in school otherwise she might have ended up stuck at home. Then yesterday I was walking down the sidewalk to our apartment and I tripped and fell hard. I haven't fallen like that since I used to skate back before I had babies! Oh it hurt so bad, I have a huge palm size bruise below my knee now and my knee caps are still sore. No broken bones or anything, but still... ouch! I got to be a big baby all night and nurse my sore legs lazying on the couch with some tea, orange rolls, and the first episodes of Lost. Anyway, today has been much better so I'm hoping that's a good sign that the rest of the month will be too. I hope the New Year has been treating you all well ;) Enjoy the cards and have a lovely Monday!

Snowy Cupcake Inspiration

Supplies : Rustic Snow, Signature Christmas, and Winter Swirls stamp sets by Papertrey Ink; Cardstock by Bazzil; Grid Paper by Scenic Route; Shimmer Cardstock from LSS; Rhinestones by Kaiser; White Embossing Powdery; Cocoa and White Daisy Ink by CTMH; Snowflake punch by Marvvy

Sparkle had such a yummilicious photo to use for inspiration for the Christmas Card Challenge this week! All I wanted to do was bake devils food cuppa cakes with cream cheese frosting after seeing it but I was a good girl and settled for some pumpkin swirl cheesecake. We have waaayyyyy too many goodies around the house from the holidays anyways. I feel like my new years resolution to get back in shape has already kicked the bucket and it isn't even 2010 yet, lol. Anyway, here's the card I came up with. I wanted to start making thank you cards for Christmas this year. While saying thank you works, I think it really makes such a difference to get a sweet note ;) Aren't these colors so gorgeous together! I wish I could catch that subtle shine on the white shimmer cardstock on camera, it is so pretty. I started out going for a cutesie card then before I knew it shimmer cardstock, white embossing and rhinestones entered the picture. I have to say though I really like this card better than the one I had in my mind. Things are slowly starting to settle down around here now. We had such a great holiday spending time with family and friends. I didn't get many pictures this year. Of course I'm also starting to believe that Christmas day produces the worst possible pictures because every year it seems all I get are badly lit, partial, blurred, or weird faces shots and not the cute weird faces either, lol. I might be staging a few shots before we take down the trees to attempt to get some nice ones to represent better the wonderful Christmas we had ;) Paul and I feel so blessed to have such amazing friends and family to make this Christmas extra special! And I'm so thankful to have such wonderful readers too! All of you have added so much cheer to my life year round! I hope everyone is having a fabulous holiday season. Thanks for visiting and I'll see you in the new year!

On the First Day...

Supplies : Paper - Eskimo Kisses by Basic Grey; Cardstock by Bazzil; Sans Small Lowercase stamp set and Ink in Cranberry and White Daisy by CTMH; Rhinestones and Pearls by Kaiser; Borders and Corners Circles stamp set by Papertrey Ink; Mistletoe Slice card by Making Memories; Stickles;

I've finally escaped my kitchen after baking too many cookies to count these past couple days (and eating far too many too!) Let's just say last night I wasn't able to make dinner since the kitchen was in such disarray and we all ended up snarfing down cookies anyway because you have to taste test each batch right? To make sure they are good enough to give away yes? Paul ended up trying to eat all the Scotchies. Anyway that's my excuse for having cookies for dinner. The girls however did make away with Panda noodles as well as cookies so at least they had something more than just sugar to eat before going to bed, even if we didn't! It's the holidays, we're allowed ;D This is my card for Sparkle's #3 Christmas Card challenge. The added challenge was to use a sketch and I thought it would be so cute to do a 12 days of Christmas set! So here's the first one - my partridge in a pear tree cut with the Mistletoe card on the Slice. I added some stickles, pearls, and a rhinestone for his eye to pretty him up ;)

And thank you for the birthday wishes! I had a really fun day. Paul took me to see Avatar in 3D and we got to hang out around town a whole 6 hours without kids!! Yay for very patient and loving sis-in-laws ;D And I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner! On the recipe yes it's cups for the shortening and molasses and yes you can use plain shortening. I just think it tastes better with the butter flavored which is usually right next to the regular at the store ;) On my reading, I'm starting the second book to a fantasy series I began some months back called Winds of the Forelands by David B Coe. If you're a fantasy fan the first book was an awesome read. So much happening and a lot of mystery and twists all intertwined with royal assassinations, magic, and a foreboding and unknown enemy. I'm excited to see what the assassin does, him and Grinsa are my favs. Anyhoo, thanks for stopping by. I hope everyone is having a wonderful and safe season. I won't have any posts til after Christmas so have a very Merry Christmas everyone!

Red and Green Christmas

Supplies : Paper - Figgy Pudding by Basic Grey; Tree Trimming Trio, 2008 Holiday Tags, and Signature Christmas stamps by Papertrey Ink; Cocoa, Olive, Bamboo, and Cranberry Ink by CTMH; Nestabilities Labels 1; EK 2" scallop punch; Epoxy Circles by EK Success; Diamond Scallop Edge Punch by EK Success;

Sparkle's extra Christmas Card Challenge this week was to use the classic red and green colors. I must confess that I don't use those colors often for Christmas! I broke out my Tree Trimming Trio and some Figgy Pudding scraps to put together this card. I finally used some of my clear circle epoxy stickers too. I cannot tell you how many times I've lost these things, lol. They and my 3D squares keep disappearing just when I want to use them! Anyway, this card was made for a set of cards that our friend wanted me to make for him to give to his family. The others are the blue flat bulk cards I made when I first got this set since he wanted flat ones for mailing to the rest of brothers and sisters. This particular card is for his mom since he wanted something more special for her. Below is the little stack all tied together. I included some envelopes for the cards since he's a single guy and probably doesn't think of that kind of stuff, lol. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Wintertime

Supplies : Paper, Sticker, and Elementes by Cosmo Cricket; Rhinestones by Kaiser

Another simple card, this time for Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge! Even though I didn't play in all of them, I am so glad I played in many weeks this year. I had more than enough Christmas cards made and even a few extras just in case. I love the colors in this, that radish red, eggnog cream, and crayon green. Hot cocoa with marshmallows and standing under mistletoe is what this color combo reminds me of. This was all made from scraps too which is an added bonus since you all know how much I love to use my papers on layouts first ;D Winter here is one of my favorite seasons. It doesn't get terribly cold, enough for sweaters and scarves maybe but you rarely need many layers with fluffy jackets. If we're really lucky we might get a day or two of snow in January or February, but for the most part we have mild winters compared to most places. And since my favorite clothes happen to be fallish, it's perfect that I can wear them all through the winter as well since it's not too terribly cold. Just cold enough to enjoy being chilled and appreciating pink noses and mittens, hot cocoa and quilts. Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to visit Sparkle's site for her Christmas card. Have a lovely Sunday!

Holiday Pie

Supplies : Paper by Creative Imaginations; My Punny Valentine, Fancy Flourishes, and Signature Christmas stamp set, wood buttons and jute by Papertrey Ink; Creme Brulee, Bamboo, and Cranberry Ink by CTMH; Apron Lace punch and pinking scissors by Fiskars

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge this Sunday was to make a card that involved cooked/baked holiday goodies. What a fun challenge! Okay I know I probably say that about all of them, but yes they are all fun! I have been wanting to use this pie for a while and it's just one of the many things I hadn't gotten around to trying yet so I broke out my Punny Valentine set and made a simple homespun card. The crust is stamped in creme brulee the top rolled in brown bag so that it came out a little more 'golden' on the top ^_~ I used Fancy Flourishes for the steam in bamboo and then stamped both the sentiment and pie tin in cranberry for some pop. Wood buttons make a fun statement on the side of the card. A trick I learned was to turn some of them backwards to get that lighter color. Some of the buttons are less polished on the back too so it gives them a more woodsy feeling. A simple quick stamping card, I'm really loving quick cards lately! Don't forget to visit Sparkle's post for the challenge and her yummilicious Sarah Kay card (it's got cookies!) Have a lovely late Sunday night/very early Monday morning!

Cozy Up for Christmas

Supplies : Paper by Imaginisce; Snowfall and Signature Christmas stamp sets and button twine by Papertrey ink; Twilight Ink and organdy ribbon in white and col white by CTMH; Button by My Minds Eye; Apron Lace punch by Fiskars; Embroidery Floss; kalidescope glitter embossing powder

It's been a few weeks since I've played in Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge. I miss getting to sit down and craft every Sunday. Today I got a chance to so I logged online to see if there was an added challenge this week and there was - to use winter clothing. This was the perfect challenge to break out my favorite winter set from last year : Snowfall by Papertrey. I did something fun with the mittens that I haven't done before. I glitter embossed the image on pattern paper for a fun shimmery mitten. You can use glitter embossing powder or make your own by mixing a little bit of prisma glitter with clear embossing powder half and half. I stitched some simple snowflakes with white embroidery floss and then sewed a little more detail on the wrists of the mittens since the clear embossing didn't really show that stamping detail very well over the pattern paper. One large button adds to the cozy theme. I love the fall and winter, the cooler weather, warmer clothes and colors, and that cozy feeling where you just want to snuggle at home under a warm quilt and watch a fun flick or read a good book. It's still fairly warm here (it got up to 90 this weekend) and I really can't wait for it to start cooling off! Don't forget to visit Sparkle's blog for the challenge and her darling hanging winter clothes card. Have a lovely Sunday!

Pretty Trees

Supplies : Rustic White Cardstock, Tree Trimming Trio, Signature Christmas, Fancy Flourishes, and Text Style Backgrounds by Papertrey Ink; Juniper, Twilight and Crystal Blue Cardstock, Inks (same plus Sweet Leaf, Cocoa and White) by CTMH; Kraft Cardstock from LSS

Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge this week had no extra challenge aside from making a Christmas Card and since I just got my Tree Trimming Trio and Signature Christmas set Friday I had to play with them and made 8 total bulk cards. One sheet of Rustic White the pieces cut 4 1/4 x 2 3/4 started the bulk card making (you will get exactly 8 pieces from one 8 1/2 x 11 sheet). I stamped the trees in sweet leaf offsetting them to the right, then the stand, and last the ornaments in the tree blues. After that I lightly distressed the edges in cocoa and set them all aside. The blue cardstock is all scraps from my stash and I cut up enough to make 8 bases. I ended up with 2 Twilight, 2 Crystal blue, and then 4 Juniper. Stamping the flourish first in cocoa I then lightened it up by adding some text background in white. I distressed the base edges in white and set those aside with the trees. Last was the sentiment. I cut one 2 1/4 x 12 strip from a scrap of kraft I had and then cut out 8 of the labels with my nestabilities (it fit 8 just barely so if you do this make sure you're cutting them close together). Instead of stamping the same sentiment on all of them I thought it would be fun to mix it up a little so on 4 I stamped Season's Greetings, 2 Joy to the world and 2 Holiday Greeting to coorispond with the 3 different cardstock bases I had then distressed those in white. Putting them together went by in a jiffy and the total time was about an hour plus the cards are flat, perfect for mailing! Don't forget to stop by Sparkle's Blog for the challenge and her gorgeous Sarah Kay Christmas Card. Have a lovely Sunday!

Have a Sparkly Christmas

Supplies : Papers - Snowed in by My Minds Eye; Stickles; Kaliedascope Embossing Powder; Rhinestone;

Thanks Alanna and Karen for your wonderful comments! I love hearing what my readers think especially about real life and I'm glad to know I'm not the only mom that feels this way about time! I did get some play time in today. Not as much as I hoped, but more than I've had all week :D I made a quick and pretty card for today's challenge. I keep finding ways to use these birds. These pieces are from the pattern paper now since I only have one little tag left with this robin on it. The sentiment mat is embossed with glitter powder, you can't see it very well in the photo, but that distressed color change around the edge is all shimmery! The bird cage was also outlined in stickles for more sparkle and I added a tiny rhinestone to the muted snowflake for a small accent. I love the simplicity of the card and the sparkle just makes it extra special! Don't forget to visit Sparkle's Blog for the challenge and other cards and thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful night!

Christmas Card Challenge #37

Supplies : Paper by Basic Grey; Stamps by Papertrey Ink; White Embossing powder, White Gel Pen; Black ink by CTMH; Rhinestones

I finally got around to making my card for last Sunday's Christmas Card challenge on Sparkle's Blog. The added challenge was to make a hot cocoa or similar themed card. I did a tea theme since I've been wanting to play with my Tea for Two stamp set. I love this paper but I think I'll be happy when it's all used up since I feel like I've been using it for so long and on so many Christmas projects.

Sometimes I wonder where I find the time. Time to craft, time to watch a show with my hubby, time to organize .... with what seems to be a never ending to do list and new responsibilities cropping up like volunteering at the school, PTA, and being called as a Primary President, I really wonder - where do I find the time and do I really have this time I think I've found. I've had more work this past week with Caitlyn between her school homework every weeknight, her therapy homework, and dealing with her re-emerged tantrums than in the past month all together. Somehow even with that I've managed to volunteer at the school, organize getting the primary started for our new ward, along with all the regular hair brained things I feel I have to do at random moments like completely reorganize our room and clean out the storage closet as well as the refrigerator this past week.

I recount the week and have found that despite my busier schedule I actually got 4 nights with my hubby to watch a show after the girls were in bed, a movie with my hubby and a friend (District 9), plus a couple layouts, two more dolls, and this card. Maybe it's all the insomnia from the stress I've been having. Getting less than 5 hours of sleep a night allows me approximately 21 more hours in the week to complete more tasks but it definitely has some mean consequences. Like the coming down with a sinus cold and a horrid stomach ache at the same time though I'm pretty sure the stomach ache is stress combined with hormones.

How do mom's find the time? Do we get some sort of dimensional time lapse to allow us enough moments to get homework and reading time done as well as play chauffer and get dinner on the table every night? Somedays I feel like I've done it all and others I feel like the day just disappeared in a black hole. Are those black hole days payment for the done it all days? And how do the mom's of more kids do all this? I just have 2 and only one of them is in school right now. I feel like I'm ready to come apart yet I see all these other moms with 4 and 5 kids running through activities like a well practiced dance routine. Will I get to that point sometime or do I look like that with my girls too and we're all just going crazy with everything that happens in our lives?

I've run out of future posts after Monday. I am hoping today I can take a day off and create though I'm sure all the other moms reading this are going "A day off? What's that?" Maybe I won't get a complete day off, but I can get as much me time as possible in. We'll see and you'll know for sure if I got that time to play if I get to post a creation for the Christmas challenge for today. Don't forget to visit Sparkle's Blog for the Christmas Card Challenge if you want to play and see the links to the other cards. Thanks for visiting, enjoy the card, and have a lovely Sunday!

Season's Greetings

Supplies : Paper - My Minds Eye (bird and stripe); Basic Grey (blue); Pebbles (red stripe); Bird Element by My Minds Eye; Buttons and Sentiment (Faux Ribbon) by Papertrey Ink; Pop Dots

Here is the card I made for the week 36 challenge on Sparkle's Blog. She had us take whatever inspiration we wanted from her card again for the extra challenge and so I took the sketch she used for my inspiration. I used her card as my example instead of going to the site though. I went with the bird theme like I have a few times in the past for these challenges and I've almost used up all of these little cuties. This sketch was perfect for using up this circle element I had and the sentiment fit perfectly in the blank corner. Another quick card since it had minimal stamping! I have been doing a lot of sewing this week (4 more dolls and a monster for gifts and a commission) so I haven't papercrafted until today. It was so nice to take a break from fabric and go back to my favorite medium :D Don't forget to stop by Sparkle's Blog for the challenge and links to the other cards. Have a lovely Sunday!

Tis the Season

Supplies : Paper - Making Memories (green snow), Pebbles (brown swirl and red stripe), My Minds Eye (red snow); Sentiment sticker by Pebbles; Buttons by Papertrey Ink; Cardstock by CTMH; Embroidery Floss

It's late but here is my card for Sparkle's #35 Christmas Card Challenge. I loved the green, red, and brown that she used in her card and began with that for my inspiration. I also used 3 buttons on my card like she did and Riley's Christmas tree spurned the idea to make big paper pieced trees. I had a lot of fun with this card. It was quick and easy - no stamping at all! I'll be posting my card for this week's challenge in a little bit here. Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Merry & Bright & Sticky

Supplies : Paper and Sticker by Pebbles; Cardstock and Ribbon by CTMH; Buttons and Jute by Papertrey Ink; Scallop Scissors by Fiskars; Snowflake Punches by Marvy; Rhinestone by Kaiser

I finally made my card for Sparkle's Christmas Card Challenge. The extra challenge was to use a sticker on the card and even though the card isn't sticky, the sticker sure was! Early Sunday afternoon we left to go spend the day with friends and were gone until late so I didn't get around to making it until today. I also cheated a little and bought some clearance sentiment stickers from Pebbles since the only stickers I have are thickers letters and some girly pebbles ones that I won. They are way cute and I scored the last sheet of double sided matching paper as well. You know you're a scrapping nerd when you buy the supplies just so you can do the extra challenge! Stop by Sparkle's blog for the link to the rest of the cards and have a nice evening!