Party Time Tuesdays and Sassy Cheryls!

Good morning! What a fabulous combination,,,,a sassy cheryl image and Party time tuesdays!!!

Today I have another card entry for Party Time Tuesday! They are allowing two entries per person, so I am going to take full advantage of that and post another card. You can find their challenge HERE! It's so much fun, you really should stop by,,,,

Yes, more MME Union Square paper LOL. I'm down to using up scraps of my favorite pieces, AND I wanted to practice my copics with red and black,,,,,,,two tough colors,,,,,,red bleeds A LOT and black is really shades of gray and very little (if any) actual BLACK. The Union Square paper was perfect for practicing. I did a bit better,,,,,,but I'd still like to improve my copic coloring, so practice makes perfect, as they say!

I've used Sassy Cheryl's "Flat Bottom Snowy" again, because it's so darned cute, I just can't stand it. You can find him here!

I've colored him with copics, added some sizzix snow flakes, a Just Rite 2inch square stamp, and a ton of bling.

I'll also be entering him into Sassy Cheryl's SHOW ME THURSDAY that you can find here! You don't HAVE to use a Sassy Cheryl image, in fact, you don't even have to show a crafty project,,,just show what you've been doing! However, when I use Cheryl's adorable images, I like to show her what I've been doing with them. So I hope she likes what I've done with Snowy!

To that end, I'm also going to enter him into the Sassy Cheryl challenge of WINTER this week,,,,nothing says WINTER more than a snowman! You can find this wonderful challenge HERE!

Have a wonderful Happy-Happy-Hump-Day, and I hope the rest of your week goes well!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Love is in the Air,,,,

Hello!! I hope your week is going well so far. I have another card to share,,,,,,I'm sure I'll get back to doing some last minute Christmas cards, but I'm just feeling "Valentines Day" this week, I guess :)

And, I am LOVING my little 6x6 stack of MME Lost and Found Union Square paper! so many of the papers lend themselves to V-day, maybe that's why I'm in that mood :)

I'm using this ADORABLE image from Sliekje today,,,,,and best of all, ALL her digis are FREE! and she has SO many cute ones! So pop on over HERE to get some darling digi stamps for free!

I've colored the darling birds with copics, matted some Union Station paper, some pearls a stick pin and a bow, a fancy corner embellishment, and I LOVE how this turned out,,,,,,I love red and black together to begin with, but the addition of the beige and a touch of gold really makes it pop, I think. And it's all ready for one of my daughters for V-day!

AND it's all ready for the Party Time Tuesday challenge of ANYTHING GOES this week! You can find this incredibly super fun challenge HERE! Get moving and hurry up because they have some SUPER prizes from FABULOUS sponsors this week!

Hope you enjoyed the card! And thanks for looking!

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!!!!!

Ok, so I'm a bit early LOL,,,but I've made about as many Christmas cards as I can stand to make (although I'm sure I'll make more later LOL) and I wanted to get a jump start on my Valentines Day cards,,,,,,

This is for the fantastic challenge over at Sugar Creek Hollow,,,,I was SO annoyed to realize that I'd MISSED the last challenge,,,The holiday week had me pretty busy, and I just didn't have time :(

So I made a special effort to join this time, because I truly LOVE this challenge,,,,,,

The theme for this challenge is "Fancy Folds" and you can find this fun challenge right here!.

I decided to use a vintage image that I got on the Graphics Fairy (button on side bar), the Lost and Found Union Square paper (LOVELY reds in this stack!) to make this little candy bar wrapper. It holds a king size hershey bar, and it's so cute,,,,,you just pull the ribbon, and out comes the candy bar! I've attached a little Valentines ticket inside that says FOR YOU, a bit of lace, dicut out of the Union Station paper, and it's finished,easy peasy!. I'm SURE I can find someone to give this little card to!

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for looking!

Pink Christmas!

Good morning! Hope everyone is well rested after the long holiday weekend,,,,,,sometimes it's more exhausting to have time OFF than to go to work!

Today I have a pink Christmas card,,,,I'm pretty much done with my christmas cards, and I'm about sick of green and red LOL,,,

so I thought I'd make this little card for my daughter who ADORES pink.

The image is a freebie from the very generous and talented Elizabeth Dulemba and you can find that here!

I;ve colored it with copics and used some nesties to cut out the image and some snow flakes,,,,,,,a bit of white pleated ribbon, some white sheer ribbon for a bow, a stick pin, and it's such an easy card!

Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for looking!

YES TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY!!!!!

This is my second post for the day,,,,,,,scroll down for the first one :)

I hope you're enjoying these cards, I know I've had so much fun making them,,,,

This is a GORGEOUS Mo Manning stamp called "Sarah at Hanukkah", one of my very favs! It so reminds me of my little granddaughter when we light the menorah! I made it for her, and then liked it so much I made a couple more for friends celebrating Hanukkah,,,,

the paper is some stash paper I used a year or so ago,,,,,,the sentiment is computer generated,,,,,,,and the stamp, of course, is Mo Manning,,,,,,you can find Sarah Here!

a bit of lace for a bow, a prima, stick pin, doily and of course, I colored her with copics,,,,,and she's finished!

Hope you enjoyed, and thanks for looking,,,,,,,,,NO CHALLENGES this time Faint.

Monochromatic Snowy

Good Afternoon!!!!! I hope you are all having a lovely weekend, I know I certainly am,,,,,I've done next to nothing except make cards! One of my favorite ways to spend the day!

Today I have a card that I made especially for the challenge at Party Time Tuesdays,,,,,you can find their challenges HERE! It really looks like a lot of fun this week,,,,,the theme is "Snow us what you got!" Well, I have no snow here in central Florida,,,,in fact, it's about 85 degrees today,,,,,,,but after coloring this ADORABLE image from Sassy Cheryl, I almost WANT some snow! You can find "flat bottomed snowy" here! And isn't he just the cutest thing??? I have been dying to do him monochromatic, and I found the perfect papers for it,,,,,,,MME Lost and Found Union station papers are just GORGEOUS and I think they about do this little guy justice!. some jingle bells, (YES AGAIN!), a striped bow and some pearls and lace and pleated ribbon pretty much finish him up!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Challenge Time!

Have I mentioned that I love challenges? LOL.

I hope you all had a lovely holiday, and didn't lose half your brains and go to Walmart at 10pm on Thanksgiving night for something I can not mention, because some people who shall remain nameless for whom something was bought might read blogs LOL.

Anywho, it was an absolute NIGHTMARE. Never again, that is all I have to say!

I enjoyed the rest of Black Friday card making,,,,,,,,far more fun, I can assure you!

I am finishing up my Christmas and Hanukkah cards for those special people in my life, so I am really having fun!

Today I'd like to enter a card into Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge Blog that you can find HERE!

I actually used the same image and made two cards with it. Since you're only allowed to enter once, my entry will be the green red and gold card that has the jingle bells on it,,,,,,

but one of the things I love to do (and am illustrating here) is to use the same stamp and get a totally different feel on two separate cards,,,,,,,and I think I've done so here.

I've used Mo's "Not even a Mouse" stamp for both cards which you can find HERE!. The theme of Mo's challenge this week is fairies, elves, snowmen or santa. My little mouse has written to Santa that he is a good little mouse and would like some cheese,,,,,,,and it appears that Santa has heard his request, for there is cheese in his stocking,,,,,I just love this stamp, it's one of the first I ever bought from Mo,,,,so darling!

I've use Recollections paper for both these cards, colored both with copics and cut out both with nestabilities,,,,,,the postage stamps for the blue and brown card and eyelet circles for the red green and gold card.

The brown and blue card, I really kept quite simple. I've added two crafty secrets stamps (the post mark and the HAPPY CHRISTMAS), a few buttons and a gold corner embellishment, and it's done. The paper really carries this card, it's sooooo elegant, and you may remember I did a totally NON christmas card with this paper a week or so ago.

The red, green and gold card I've embellished a bit more,,,,a NOEL cut out with my nesties (part of the paper pack) some poinsettias I bought at Walmart (I am waiting with baited breath for my new poinsettia die that I ordered from Great Britain to get here, but it's a lonnnnnnnnnnng wait for mail from over seas!), MORE jingle bells (I can't help it, they're so cute and really cheap!) and some tiny gold holly leaf corner embellishments. The paper here is just so gorgeous, I had a hard time covering it up LOL.

I love the way both of them came out!

I hope you are enjoying your long weekend (if indeed you have a long weekend) and thanks for looking! I so appreciate it!

It's Time to get Serious.... about copyright infringement!

It's rare that I am a serious person. Especially on a blog. I like to be upbeat, happy, and sharing the craft I love.

But I've done some research the past three months or so, and I see a trend I do not like within the crafting industry. And I think it's dangerous to crafters.

I'll be blunt (another rarity).

I love digi stamps. They're either free or very low cost as a general rule. I know I can't buy most good sized wood block stamps for less than 15 dollars. I can't even buy any decent clear stamp for less than six. Or I have to buy a whole set of clear stamps so I can have one stamp.

But I can buy a digi stamp for about 3 bucks, give or take. I can pay for them one moment and download them the next. I can resize them for smaller cards. I don't have to use my gas or my time to drive 10 miles to the store only to find out the stamp I want is out of stock. I don't have to wait for the mail man. I can shop at 3am or on a holiday. If I lose it, I can go to my account and download any stamp I've already paid for for six months or a year.

In return for offering this fabulous very low cost service, many artists are getting what?

Certainly not thanks and appreciation. Nope,,,,,

they're getting slapped in the face by crafters who are illegally sharing files. People are removing copyrights and uploading the stamps as THEIR own work. They are printing out STACKS of stamps and mailing them around the world. Those people then scan them into THEIR computer and have stacks of stamps they never paid for.
And it's not limited to digital stamps either. Some of the best brand names in the business are being stamped on paper, scanned into computers and downloaded onto CD's and sold for the profit of the thief. yes, the thief. Let's call a spade a spade here.

And the artists aren't being paid. That's bad enough, mind you,,,,,doing what's right is it's own reward, my grandmother always used to say,,,,

but it's also to OUR benefit NOT to support such illegal activities. How long do you think artists are going to work for nothing? How long do they continue to be disrespected before they just give up and go find a day job?

Again, I'll be blunt,,,,,,,that means fewer cheap stamps for you. It means more money spent on ONE stamp, rather than a few stamps. It means going out to shop, ordering online, PAYING POSTAGE, and not having the perfect stamp at your fingertips with just a few keystrokes and a credit card number. It means if you lose a stamp, it's gone. Go buy another. It means being stuck with the size stamp you buy. It means fewer artists holding challenges on blogs, which means less chance for you to WIN a free stamp.

So to those who do it,,,,,,,you are biting your own nose off to spite your face. What's worse,,,,,,,

you're biting my nose too. Your rights end where my nose begins, as the saying goes.

Do not share files,,,,,,,even free ones. Rather do the NICE thing for your best bud, and link him to where he can get the file HIMSELF,,,,,for a lousy three bucks.

Do not share print outs. Again, link your friend to where she can get it herself,,,,,there may be far more stamps he would enjoy from that company than just the one you give him anyway.

Do not scan any stamp for any reason. Do not give it away, and do not receive any stamps that are given to you this way.

Do not remove any copyright FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER.

Pay the lousy three bucks and buy the stamp.

If you want to change something on the stamp, or you want to share the stamp for a special purpose,,,,,,ASK. I've done so,,,,,and I've been nicely granted the privelidge. Gee, that wasn't so hard.

Do not sell stamped images on EBAY, ETSY or any other site. It's illegal, and you will get caught. I hope you do.

Because if we don't do the things listed above,,,,,,,,we'll all be out in the cold. Digi stamps will go the way of the dinosaur if we aren't all careful.

And wood block stamps will get more expensive,,,,honest people will have to pay for the sins of those who steal,,,,,,again.

If you still insist on copyright infringement,,,,,,,,visit this blog and see if it changes your mind.

If you want to help, God bless you. Same blog for information.

Thank you,,,,,,,,,Holly

The Helpful Elf!

It's time to do yet another Sassy Cheryl challenge, and I have to say I LOVE THIS CHALLENGE! I do a ton of challenges, but it's rare to enjoy myself as much as I do this one,,,,,,I just have to go back again and again!

You can find the Sassy Cheryl challenge HERE!

So the theme is "Anything Goes" again this week, and I colored this little guy not quite knowing what to do with him. Well, today, it hit me! I decided to pull out my Cinch and make a little notebook for my granddaughter (she's five). She loves to color with me and often carries a pad and a pencil with her to "write" things down.

So I fixed one up in a jiffy using a few pieces of chipboard, some paper scraps and Sassy Cheryl's "Noah the Helpful Elf" which you can find here which I had already colored using her favorite colors, tied on some matching ribbon and MORE jingle bells (Cheryl is going to think I am a nut case LOL!)a scrap bit of lace, and she's all done, ready to pop in my grand daughter's stocking Christmas Eve!

I'd also like to enter this into the Stamptacular Sunday challenge HERE! The challenge this week is to create a project using a boy or a man on it,,,,,well Noah, the Helpful Elf is certainly a boy elf! Such cute projects over there, be sure to stop by and try for a prize!

Hope you enjoyed, it was fun, fast, cheap and quick!!!!!! And I think it's adorable too! Thanks for looking!

Show Me Thursday!

Today is Wednesday,,,,,,which means it's the last day to post what I have been doing this week on Sassy Cheryl's SHOW ME THURSDAY (link HERE!)

I love this challenge, because no matter WHAT I'm working on, I can link it up, and have the chance to win a prize! I won a free digi last week! And it's a ton of fun to see what everyone else is working on during the week,,,,,,,and walk away with some inspiration and some ideas!

And lemme tell you, I am busy like HECK this week!!!!!!! It's Thanksgiving here in the US tomorrow, and I still have to vacuum, clean the bathroom and bake for tomorrow. My oldest daughter and grands are coming over for Turkey day, so that will be a ton of fun!

I'm involved in about ten different challenges this next week or so,,,,,some bi monthly, some monthly, and several weekly challenges,,,,,I love them! And what's more, I think they are the key to improving my work so that maybe I can join a design team one of these days! So,,,,,,,,,challenges I shall participate in! And being busy will be par for the course if I'm ever on a design team, so it's good practice juggling LOL.

I've also got Christmas cards to finish, Hanukkah cards to finish (Christmas falls over Hanukkah this year,,WHAT THE HECK were they thinking??) and December birthday cards to finish!

E gads!

So without further ado, here's my Show Me Thursday photo!

I've been coloring several images so that I can finish up my holiday cards,,,,,,I've done two of the four December birthday cards I need,,,,,and silly me decided to go ahead and start a vintage mini book. Faint. What the heck was *I* thinking?

LOL, oh well, I love it!!! I can't wait to finish my mini, but if it doesn't get done for several weeks, it's ok,,,,,,I have no plans for it! I've covered all the pages inside, created pockets and started picking out images for it, but that's as far as I've gotten.

My mother and grand daughter's birthday cards are finished,,,,,,,,,and I just need to make another for my youngest daughter and my oldest daughter. Our family likes December to give birth LOL. As if it's not crazy enough during that time!

Hope your life is just a little less hectic than mine! Have a GREAT Turkey day if I don't see you all again til Friday!

Thanks for looking!!!!!

Jingle bells, Jingle bells!

OK, so I like jingle bells,,,is that a crime? LOL.

I think this is the third card which uses a jingle bell,,,or several jingle bells,,,,,,but I just LOVE them! They add bulk to a card, which is costly when mailing, but thank goodness for flexible plastic envies and clear plastic boxes. Sheesh.

Today's card uses Mo Manning's "Kai in the snow" which you can find HERE! which I've colored with copics,,,,,,cut out with Labels 3 and matted onto this GORGEOUS paper (I just couldn't resist making another card with it!) Lost and Found by MME. This stuff is delicious! I'm down to making the special cards for really special people, so I'm really having a ball!

I've used some lace, a brown ribbon to pick up on the slight browns in the paper, somoe jingle bells that I picked up at Hobby Lobby on sale, some K and co stickers, and a ton of punch outs with my MS branch punch (best ten bucks I ever spent! I use that thing for everything!)

I'll be entering this into two challenges,,,,,,,,,,Mo's challenge blog theme of WINTER which you can find HERE! So stop by and make a winter card and you might win a digi!

I'll also be entering this into the Stamptacular sunday challenge with the theme of PUNCH IT, using punches on your page, found HERE! It's an awesomely fun challenge this week, and I'm sure you'd love it!

Thanks for looking,and I hope you enjoyed,,,,,,,I'm being a bit quick today because my husband and I are off to Disney World to enjoy the sunshine and 80 degree weather,,,,,,Have a great weekend!

Challenge Time Again!!

Oh boy am I loving these challenges,,,I feel like they really inspire me and my cards have never been nicer!

Today, I have a pink and white and gold card,,,,,,which is the challenge at the Color Create Challenge blog HERE!

And oh, so pretty are these colors! so stop by and try your hand at a gorgeous card!

I've also used a sassy cheryl image (which are so danged cute I just can't STAND it!) "Going to see the Star" (colored in copics) which you can find HERE at Sassy Cheryl's shop!

And this week at Sassy Cheryl's challenge blog, the DT members are having a bit of fun trying to STUMP Cheryl! So stop by and see if you can guess who's card is who's! And it's extra easy this week, because it's ANYTHING GOES! So pop over and have some fun! You can find her challenge HERE!

So on to my card! I've used MME Lost and Found paper here, which is incredibly, deliciously YUMMYYYYYYYYYYY and I just had to buy a few pieces! I think I need the rest! Ive blocked 4 blocks of it onto kraft card stock, and then matted my image onto gold glitter paper. Some white doilies, white lace, a gold and pink stick pin, some delicious gold jingle bells (smaller ones this time!) for a bit of SHINE, and a few K and company dimensional stickers, including this gorgeous pink poinsettia, and it's DONE! It was easy peasy, and I totally think I got a ton of WOW factor out of such a little bit of work!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Up On the Housetop!

Good Morning everyone! I have yet another card for the Sugar Hollow challenge--dots and stripes-- this week,,,,

I tell you what, I can NOT stay away from that challenge. I think I SQUEALED when I found it online LOL. Vintage is probably my favorite style. I love tons of styles, but vintage is what my heart goes to over and over again. Please consider stopping by and participating if you love vintage, shabby chic or primative cards and paper crafts! Here is the link!

Now, on with the card. I used Recollections Christmas Traditions paper pack for this one (I am seriously in love with their paper this year!),,,,,,the red is rich, deep and vibrant! It's just stunningly gorgeous all on it's own!

first I matted with the red, green and gold plaid (stripes) paper onto Kraft card stock, then cut a smaller mat out of the "Up on the House Top" paper and cut the top with a fancy border punch. I then used my Banners 2 to cut some kraft cs into the fancy border shape I've adhered to the top,,,,,but first, I embossed the entire thing in gold embossing powder. I tell you, if you've never tried gold embossing powder RUN, do not walk, to the store and buy some! it's messy as heck, but OH BOY, the sparkle. Unfortunately, I do not think my camera did the sparkle justice!

Then I adhered the negative cut of the border punch on top of that and gemmed it up (bling bling!), coloring my gem dots with copic markers.

next, I embossed (again with gold!) some snow flakes, and set more gems (dots!) in the centers of all the snow flakes and embossed the SEASONS GREETINGS stamp (both the sentiment and the snow flakes are Crafty Secrets stamps).

I printed this gorgeous vintage santa and colored him with copics cut him out with classic circles Large and antiqued it with sepia ink. I embossed some gorgeous branch punch outs with more gold, a fancy gold button and a North Pole ticket, and she's done!

I just LOVE it! It sparkles so much, and nothing is more classy than red and gold for Christmas, I think.

I hope you enjoyed, and REALLY, pop over to the challenge and try your hand at some vintage goodness!

A Baby Boy!

I must admit,,,I admire the view of Europe about baby boys far more than the American view. It's not uncommon in Europe to dress baby boys in clothing that may be considered "too girlish" here in the USA.

Tons of white, pastels, lace, scalloped collars, etc,,,and so I've made this baby boy card in a style that I always think of as more "European",,,

no primary colors nor any trucks LOL. And I even added a touch of lace.

My friend, Teresa, was so sweet to ask if I had a baby boy card I could send her for a gift she was sending to a new mother. I went through my stash, and I didn't like any of them LOL,,,so I put this together in an hour.

I hope she likes it,,,,if not, I'll be happy to make another,,,,,,and this will go into my stash.

I used MAMBI baby boy stack (which I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!) for the image and the papers,,,,,

a quick banner declaring A BOY was made with Banners 3.

and just a touch of brown to make it a bit more masculine,,,,,,,,I just love this style, and I hope she does as well.

Thanks for looking! and thanks for stopping by!

Once in a very great while,,,,

I go overboard. Yeah, hard to believe, I know,,,,,,,,but every now and again, I over embellish LOL.

And such is the case with this card. I think I over did it,,,,,,but,,,,I think I like it,,,,,

anyway, it is what it is LOL, and what it is, is an entry into the Colour Create Challenge you can find HERE!

The challenge was to use aqua, deep pink, and ivory. And the optional "glitter".

I've used paper scraps from my stash to make this card,,,,,mostly DCWV, I believe,,,,,,the pink paper is glitter cs. I've matted the most adorable Sassy Cheryl Image called I love you THIS MUCH (girl)! you can find Cheryl's adorable images HERE!

As a matter of fact, I'm going to link this blog post to Sassy Cheryl's SHOW ME THURSDAY blog where you can win a free digi just for showing her what you've been up to! Here's the link for that! It's great fun, stop over and see what everyone is doing,,,it doesn't even have to be crafty!

I've used feathers, a stick pin, a butterfly bow from the sheerest of ribbons and some home made flowers to accent the adorable image,,,and my spellbinders postage stamps add the perfect frame!

Hope you enjoyed looking and thanks for stopping by!

Sugar Creek Hollow Again!

LOVE their challenges! I just love vintage images like this one here on the card I'm entering.

So if you love vintage, shabby chic, or primitive cards and projects be sure to check out their challenges HERE!

This week's challenge is stripes and spots,,,,,,and I've used both on this card. Most of the paper is Bo Bunny Father Christmas, with just a tad of Recollections Naughty or Nice tossed in. I've cut sizzix snow flakes from gold glitter paper and also used the gold for a touch of sparkle in the gold branches. A big gorgeous bow, some bling and a stick pin, and this card is done!

Hope you enjoyed, and do pop over to the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge and check it out!

Thanks for looking, I so appreciate it!

House Mouse and Friends!!!!!

Aren't they adorable????/

I am having so much fun playing with my new HMF stamps, that I just couldn't resist entering this card into two challenges!

I'll be entering this into the HMF Monday challenge THANKS HERE!

I'll also be entering this into the Pixie Cottage Blue for a Boy challenge HERE!

The beautiful blue paper is actually Christmas paper from Recollections "Naughty or Nice" paper stack. It's so elegant and NOT Christmassy, that I had to use it here. The adorable image is "Bunny Lift" from House Mouse, of course. A bit of lace, pearls, a ribbon and just a touch of sparkly gold branch punches add a lot of sparkle to this Thank you card!

I hope you enjoyed looking, and thanks for stopping by!

Pearls and lace!!!!

Two of my favorite things to put on cards! So who can blame me for wanting to play along with Addicted To Stamps with their PEARLS AND LACE CHALLENGE Here!



Additionally, I'd like to enter into the Midnight Madness sketch challenge HERE!

I flipped the sketch and went a little wild with it, but I SO LOVE HOUSE MOUSE and that's the prize this week! I was having a blast! so go on over to those challenges and check them out! You still have a bit of time left!

I've used one of my brand new House Mouse Stamps "Light as a Feather" to make this darling Get Well card for my daughter's future Mother In Law who is sick in the hospital. DCWV's Preppy Princess Stack provided the gorgeous pinks and greens,,,,,,a stick pin (pearls, OF COURSE) my image colored in copics, a bow, some branch punches a prima flower, and of course,,,pearls and lace! I've computer generated my custom sentiment and cut it out with my Happy Everything Tag Making kit from Just Rite.

I hope you enjoyed the card, and thanks for looking!!!!!

The Saddest kind of card,,,,,

I think my least favorite card is the sympathy card. I love to give them because I want to let the recipient know my thoughts and prayers are with them. But I think they're just so sad to have to give, that I get no true pleasure from making them.

That said,,,,they are a necessity,,,,,,,,unfortunately. In life, there comes death,,,to everything there is a season,,,,and so occasionally, I must make one.

This particular card is for a lovely on-line friend (fake friends we always joke!) Unfortunately, her dear brother passed away recently. When I heard the news, of course, I started a sympathy card. I knew she was sitting shiva (the Jewish tradition of 7 days--sometimes 3, depending on the movement of Judaism--formal mourning in which loved ones come to call on the mourners.) and I wished so badly that I could be there for her in person.

I used DCWV paper (The Main street Stack) for this 5.5x5.5 card.I put one paper on the top portion,and another paper on the bottom portion. I used an EK success edge punch to punch the bottom of the top portion and lined above that with lace. A few nesties to cut out the sentiment, a stick pin, fancy gold corner embellishments, and some flowers, and it's done. Easy,,,,but not on the heart.

I hope you enjoyed,thanks for looking, and I sincerely hope that I have a happier card for you tomorrow!

Another challenge at Sassy Cheryl's!

I so enjoyed the last challenge that I did at Sassy Cheryl's, that I just HAVE TO do another! and LUCKY ME, my card was chosen at random to receive a 5.00 store credit! So I was able to buy some Sassy Cheryl digis! YAY ME! Love her digis! SOOO this time, I have some sassy cheryl digis to use on my card,,,,,it was tough choosing, believe me, but this little HO HO HO stamp just called to me,,,,,

the minute I saw it, I KNEW what I was going to do with it, and what paper I was going to use,,,,,,,,I wanted to create a card that was sort of country Cristmas-ish, and I hope I've done that!

The challenge at SC's is to use embossing on your card,,,,either dry or wet. I've chosen dry embossing here, and embossed the cream and burgundy paper with a Tim Holtz "snow flurries" embossing folder. I inked everything, colored the image with copics in what I HOPE are complimentary, country Christmas-ish colors, cut it out with long rectangles large, nested over long rectangles scalloped large, wrapped some twine around it, popped on a checked ribbon, tied on a sleigh bell, a hand made stick pin, some fancy gold corner embellishments, and a quick sentiment (Merry Christmas!) from JustRite stampers,,,,I used my HAPPY EVERYTHING tag making kit to cut that out, and it's done!

and I LOVE it,,,,,,it's exactly what I was thinking in my head,,,,and that doesn't happen too often!

Admittedly, this card won't mail easily,,,,either I'll hand deliver it to my neighbor across the street,,,,or I'll use a flexible clear plastic envie and pay the extra postage for being too thick.

But that sleigh bell was calling to me,,,,,and I still have SEVEN LEFT! (dollar store!)

Paper is Recollections Holiday Traditions,,,,,,really, check out Michael's,,,,Recollections has some gorgeous paper out there this holiday season!

Now if someone would just make GORGEOUS HANUKKAH PAPER, I'd be in Heaven :)

Stop over and give Sassy Cheryl's challenge a try,,,,,and you just might win a 5.00 store credit to get you some new digis!

Check it out HERE!

Oh and to get yourself one of these adorable HO HO HO stamps,,,,,or any of her other adorable stamps,,,,,,check out her store HERE!


Oooooooooooooooo, I have to enter this into the BAH HUMBUG! challenge as well!!! such cute snowmen AND WOMEN they have over there! why not give it a try? you can find their blog HERE!

They have an AWESOME prize pack!

Let Them Eat Cake!!!!!!!

Of course, that was before she lost her head LOL!

I so enjoyed the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge I did the other day, I decided to do another! You should really go by and see this challenge! It's so much fun, and you are allowed to enter 3 times every challenge,,,,,,,this week's theme is TRASH TO VINTAGE/SHABBY CHIC TREASURE! you can find the challenge HERE!

So for this project, I chose the cardboard packaging that came with my LaBlanche stamps,,,,I had several such packaging that I thought just too pretty to toss in the trash, and so therefore, decided to use it for this project.

I've cut out the picture of Marie Antoinette in Labels 4, second to the largest,,,,and one of the packaging I cut with the largest labels 4 to nest behind the image. I cut another fancy shape from my cricut with some pink and white scraps,,and then mounted the entire thing onto one of the packaging, framing with an old black frame I had sitting around the house. A bit of lace, some pearls, a butterfly bow from blush satin ribbon,,,,,,,,,,some primas, a pink and white pearl stick pin and a few feathers, and really, this project was too simple. And I have no idea what to do with it LOL,,,,,,,but I think it's pretty, so I'll think of something!

I hope you enjoyed looking, and thanks so much for coming,,,,,I appreciate it far more than you know!

Inside Tags

Here is a photo of the tags inside the box. Thanks for looking!

From Trash to Treasure!

Good morning,,,,I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend,,,I know I have been. I spent the better part of yesterday and several hours this morning working on an altered box for a challenge over at Sugar Creek Hollow,,,,,,omg, I love this site! I stumbled upon it quite by accident Saturday, and went immediately to work on my box!

The idea of this challenge is to take something from trash to treasure,,,It's a totally FUN challenge and I love it! You can find their challenge HERE! If you love vintage or shabby chic, this is a challenge for you!!!!!

I was delighted to play along for this one!

I apologize in advance for the unusual amount of pics in this post, but I had to show my box before,,,,,,,,and after.

so without further ado,,,,,,,here is my entry into the challenge,,,,,,

I got the yellow box a couple years ago,,,,,it was mailed to me, and I believe it was a "spring organizer",,,,,,,,there were different cards for which flowers to plant in which month, etc,,,,,

well, if you know me,,,,I KILL anything green and growing, just by walking by them,,,,,I'm amazed my children survived, but they came with their own sounding devices LOL!

I knew at the time that I'd do SOMETHING with the box, but I just could never decide WHAT. So I kept it,,,,,,,,,and kept it,,,,,,,and kept it,,,,,,

I considered trashing it many times, but it was a nice sturdy box,with a magnetic closure,,,,,,and I just couldn't bring myself to trash it,,,,,

and now I am so glad I didn't!

I covered the box with Recollections "Naughty or Nice" paper,,,,,a gorgeous stack of really vintage papers,,,,The large santa in the middle is also cut from that same stack and I cut him out using classic circles large nesties,,,,,,I made all the flowers and holly on my cricut, shaping them with a bone folder. I had some gorgeous antique lace that a friend found for me (Thanks Tereesa!) and I strung that along the bottom and then topped with a string of pearls and a hand made stick pin,,,,,and I hung a hand made tag and a large jingle bell on the side of the box with twine and a fancy hook. All the stamps used in my box are Crafty Secrets.

I inked everything with sepia ink to really antique it, including the corners of the box.

Most of the images are K and company, cut from last year's Christmas paper that I cut out in various ways,,,,,,,

For the inside, I covered all the index cards that came with it in Christmas paper from various stacks (mostly K and Co and Recollections) and then decorated each with images and gold corner embellishments,,,,,,,and a fancy "hook" that works perfectly well as a paper clip. Each of the tags is labeled with a label that represents some aspect of Christmas preparations. Gifts, Food, Shopping, receipts, etc. My "useless" box will now serve as a Christmas organizer for our family,,,,,I can keep track of all my shopping lists, gifts to purchase, cards to send, etc. There's room behind each tag for lists, receipts, etc.

I'd like to thank Sugar Creek Hollow for hosting such a fabulous challenge,,,,,,,I'd never have thought how to use this box without it! What was a nuisance that I simply couldn't let go, is now a gorgeous box that I can keep all my Christmas prep ideas and lists in. Thanks again for letting me play along!

There's still plenty of time if anyone else wants to create some treasure out of trash! Just click the link above, and get to work!!!!!

I am also entering this into the Addicted to Stamps blog challenge HERE! Such a bunch of vintagy goodness going on this week that I was able to use this for two challenges!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!!!!!! Please see my second post for an additional photo of the tags inside the box. I could only add five photos to this post!

Yes,,,,,,,,two posts in one day!

I know, unheard of! But I wanted to show you yet ANOTHER card that I've done for a challenge,,,,,,I am beginning to love these challenges!

This is also another Mo Manning image,,,,,,,and I love it! You can find her stuff HERE!

I'm entering it into the challenge over at the Pixie Cottage HERE! It's PC # 95 and it's a challenge to make a christmas card,,,,,,I surely think that this image qualifies! I've also used their sketch to make my card, and I love how it turned out,,,,,I flipped the sketch on the side, and really, it's one of my favorite Christmas cards so far this year! I've used Recollections Christmas paper "Naughty or Nice" and OMG I love that paper! I told my husband no more paper until after Christmas, and then they just HAD to come out with this paper,,,,,,,it was a no brainer,,,I bought it!

I've colored it in copics, used a MS branch punch to make the swag, and added a bow, a gorgeous stick pin from my friend Glenda,,,,,and a few sparklies! Easy peasy!

I've also decided to enter this into the Emerald Faerie challenge number 12,,, to use Christmas Red,,,,,I do believe I've qualified LOL. You can see this challenge HERE!

Hope you come join us at some of these challenges! They are so much fun!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Happy Friday all!

Good afternoon! I had a lovely time on my anniversary trip, and have many pictures to make into a mini book, so I hope to be showing you that before long,,,,,

but today I have a card to show,,,,,,,who's surprised? LOL.

The House Fairy image is from Mo Manning,,,,,,,you can find her adorable images here!

and to think I thought I had this linking thing down LOL,,,,,,,something looks wrong, but it should still link :)

I'm entering this into Mo's challenge #107 "Give Thanks",,,,,either a thank YOU or Thanks giving. Since I really needed a thank you card to put some $ in for my daughter who took care of things at home for me while I was gone, I went the thank you route,,,,,and this image was PERFECT,,,,she WAS my House Fairy this past week!

The paper is scraps (I'm trying to use it up!) and I'm sure you've seen it recently LOL, but the colors were perfect for this card,,,,,,,and I've colored her with copics,,,,a double bow, some nesties (classic squares and postage stamps) a gorgeous stick pin from my friend Glenda,,and a few sparklies,,,,,,and VOILA! the perfect thank you card!

I'll also be entering this into the Sassy Cheryl challenge this week,,,,,Also a THANK YOU or THANKS GIVING theme,,,unfortunately, I do not YET have any of her images, but I'm sure that will change soon! Luckily, that's not required,,,,but Her images are adorable,,,,,but my extra $$ have been eaten up on copics recently LOL,,,,,,but I'll be buying some soon! And maybe I'll get lucky and win some in her challenge! See her challenge HERE http://sassycherylschallenge.blogspot.com/

Hope you all enjoyed the cards and thanks for looking,,,,it means so much to me!