I Think I'm Getting Sick of Christmas Cards LOL!

Good morning!

You may be happy to know, that YES, I am finally getting sick of Christmas cards,,,,,

I have two to show you today,,,,,,,

and at LEAST for a couple days,,,,,,I'm going to try and concentrate on fall cards LOL. For a few days. Hopefully. LOL.

The first is this pink, gray/silver and black card,,,,,,,,I'm not sure I like it,,,,,,,,but it's definitely a striking color combo,,,,

Card Recipe:

Papers: Recollections
Stamps: Justrite (snowman and sentiment), Inkadinkado (snowflakes)
Inks: Versafine Onyx black
Dies: Spellbinders classic large round, picot edge circles, and Cottage Cutz Tea time doily
Embossing folder: Cuttlebug
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon

My second card is this Poinsettia Card,,,,,,,,,,,again, not sure I like it, but the colors (more traditional) are pretty striking,,,,,,,

I absolutely love the focal point,,,,,,,,,it's striking. I should have used a different ink to stamp the sentiment on the DP though. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.

Here's a close up of that,,,,,,,,,you can see how I should have used something else,,,,,,,,,,,live and learn, I guess,,,,,,,

And this last pic is a close up of the Poinsettia and focal point,,,,,,,

I think that poinsettia is my favorite part of the whole card,,,,,,love that die!

Card Recipe:
Papers: K and Company scraps
dies: Spellbinders Ironwork Motifs, Parisian motifs, postage stamps, layered poinsettia
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon
Ink: Versafine
Stamps: Justrite Nested Christmas Sentiments

I hope you enjoyed this trip down Santa Claus Lane the past week or so,,,,,,,,,,

but fall is coming, and I must get my Thanksgiving cards started!!!!!! Thanks for looking, and please leave a comment, so I can find your blog!!!!!!

Have a lovely weekend! My husband and I are off to Disney World this weekend!

Just Rite Stamps and Things with Wings

Good Morning!

It's a gorgeous, hot, sunshiny day here in Central Florida,,,,,,,,,,and today, I'm showing you,,,,,,,,,,,,

you guessed it! More Christmas cards LOL

I am determined to get my cards done EARLY this year, so I can have some fun making some fabulous, fun gifts I've been pinning on Pinterest for days now!  I have some fun ideas I can't wait to share with you,,,,,,,,,,but I want my cards done FIRST!

It's been so long since I played along with the Justrite Stampers challenge, and so this week, I was determined to do it!

The theme this week is "Things with Wings",,,,,,,,,,,,and of course, with my current Christmassy mood,,,,,,,,I had to use one of my favorite Justrite sets,,,,,,,,,an oldie but a goodie,,,,,,Backyard Birds!

It was so much fun to create a gift set of a card AND an ornament to go with it,,,,,,,,I played with this image last week, creating a similar ornament, but for the challenge, I just knew I had to go one step further in the wow factor!

This cardinal is just so gorgeous for Christmas cards, I couldn't resist,,,,,,,,,,,,

and since Justrite stamps mix so well with each other,,,,,,,I paired it with the Justrite Merry Christmas background stamp!  I just LOVE how gorgeous this stamp looks all embossed in gorgeous glittering gold! So Christmassy!!!!!!!!

Here's a close up of the ornament,,,,

And a close up of the focal point on the card,,,,,,

You can really see that gorgeous embossing here in this pic!


Card Recipe:

Stamps: Justrite Backyard Birds and Merry Christmas Background Stamp
Ink and embossing: Momento black, copics. Recollections gold glitter embossing powder
Paper: Recollections red, cream and mirror gold card stock
Dies: Spellbinders Holly Motifs, 2010 Snowflake Pendants, 2010 Heirloom Ornaments, Lacy Ovals, Ovals Large
Ribbon: Really REasonable Ribbon
Pearls and Gems:REcollections

I have no idea yet who I'm giving this little set to,,,,,,,,but I do hope they like it!

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed the set!

You still have a day or so to join in the Justrite Challenge,,,,,,,,so ink up those Justrite stamps and get to it!!!!!!!

Have a Beary Happy Easter!!!

Good Afternoon!!!!

I have a challenge card today, using a new (to me) product! And boy did I have fun with it!!!!

Isn't that bear just the cutest thing???????  I loved it!  It's an SVG from Little Scraps of Heaven Designs!  They have the CUTEST stuff, and I just couldn't resist!!!!  She was standing, but she's quite poseable, and you can (with a bit of maneuvering) make her sit, stand, do splits, whatever!

Too stinkin cute!  I spent WAY too much money in their shop this week LOL.

Here's a close up of this darling bear!

I just had the BEST time shading her with chalks, doing the eyes and the cheeks,,,,,,,love her! And I love the bright springy colors too!!!!!!!

I'll be entering this into the Little Scraps of Heaven card sketch challenge! REally, you ought to give it a try,,,,paper piecing is easier than it looks (OK, so my first bear looked like a ninja bear because I put the eyes on wrong, but all t takes is a bit of practice LOL) and it's so much fun too!!!!

Card Recipe:

Paper: Graphic 45 Secret Garden 8x8 pack, Recollections

Die cuts: Little Scraps of Heaven Bear with Rough fur single, Spellbinders Labels 22, Die-namics Mini Royal Rolled Roses

Chalks and Inks: Pebbles, white Uniball, black artist pen .1, Versafine vintage sepia

Ribbon and lace: Really Reasonable Rbbon

button: Bazzill

Stamp: Michael's dollar bin.

Hope you love the card!  I'm so sorry I've not gotten around to any blogs this past week or two,,,,my youngest daughter is getting married in June,,,,,,,,I have three months to get this thing off the ground, and it's killing me LOL,,,,,,This week alone, we've chosen and deposited a venue for the wedding, chosen colors, invitations, flower girl dresses and today,,,,,,,,,,THE dress. Busy, busy, busy! But a fun time!

I promise I'll get around after Easter and Passover!!!!!!

May all my Christian friends have a lovely Easter,,,,,,,,,and may all my Jewish friends have an amazing Passover!!!!

For My Sister,,,,,,,

Good morning!

I've had such a lovely time playing with my new Silhouette Portrait (Her name is Sophie),,,,,she cuts so amazingly clean it's,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well, it's amazing!

This week, my sister is going through hell and back,,,,,,I'm down here in Florida,,,,,,,and she's 1200 miles away in New England,,,,,,,running over for coffee isn't an option,,,,,,,,

Sending a handmade card to tell her I love her and how amazing I think she is,,,,,,,,,well, it's second best :)

So here's the card I made for her,,,,,,,,

I can't believe how CLEAN this thing cuts!!!!!

Here's a close up of those intricate cuts!

I think my sister is amazing,,,,,,,,,she has many health problems that are life long,,,,,,and she still goes down kicking every night!  So, of course, I had to tell her,,,,,,,,,

Another amazing flourish from the Silhouette Store!!!!!! I just love how it dresses up the inside of my sister's card!

Card Recipe:

Papers:Coordinations, Recollections, GA Pacific, and MME Lost and Found Two Breeze Pack
Stamps: CTMH
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Dies and Die Cuts: Silhouette America Online Store, Spellbinders Classic Circles Large
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon
Cameo: Recollections

Thanks for looking at my card,,,,,,,,,,,and I hope you leave a comment so I can go visit your blog!

Justrite and some new dies!

Good evening!  It's the day before Valentines Day and I have been waiting impatiently for some new dies to come in in order to make my husband a valentine!  And Just Rite Stampers Friday challenge gave me some wonderful inspiration for my card today, and so I wanted to share!

Here's the challenge sketch for the week! I thought it would go so well with my new Poppy Stamps dies!

I am just loving how my card turned out!  I'm only hoping it's not TOO girly for my husband LOL

The dies, of course, are the well loved Grand Madison Window die and Grand Madison Window Box die. They got here at noon today, and I was cutting by 12:05!  The stamps are, of course, Just Rite Stampers!  A favorite set of mine is used here,,,,,,,,,"Just the Right Words",,,,,,,,because they are just the right words for almost anything!

I used the window as my focal point, a Recollections heart border punch as my scallops,,,,,,and the window box in place of the banner in the sketch..

Here's a close up!

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 Card Recipe:

Papers:MME Noel stack, Recollections, DCWV , GA Pacific white card stock, silver mirror card
Stamps: Justrite Stampers
Ink: Versafine Onyx Black
Dies: Poppy Stamps/Memory box Grand Madison Window, Grand Madison Flower box, Spellbinders Classic Hearts
Punches: Recollections border punch, Martha Stewart border punch, Martha Stewart winter branch punch
Ribbon: Recollections
Glitter: Martha Stewart Copper tinsel glitter

I hope you enjoyed the card,,,,,thanks for looking!  I appreciate your comments, and I'll be getting back to you as soon as I'm over this virus!

Love is in the air,,,,,,,,,

Good Evening!

It's almost Valentines Day,,,,,,I've been busily making valentines for my children, grand children and husband,,,,,,,,,,,and enjoying every minute of it,,,,,

when I had a request from a sweet friend to make her a couple valentines.  I think I can handle that :)

She needs two,,,,,,,,,one for a sister and one for her boy friend.

So without further ado,,,,,,,,,Teresa's valentines.  I hope she likes them!

And here is the inside,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Card Recipe:

Paper: scraps, Coordinations
Stamps: Justrite, Inkadinkadoo
Ink: Versafine Onyx black and Sepia
Embossing folder: Cuttlebug Polka dots
Dies: Spellbinders Classic Scalloped Hearts, Floral Ovals, Ribbon Banners, Ovals Large, MFT Die-namics Sentimental Flourish, Memory Box Elegant Scrollwork
Ribbon and gems: Recollections

The second card is a card for her boy friend,,,,,,,,guy cards are SO much harder LOL

Here's the Inside!

card recipe:

Paper: DCWV, Coordinations, The Paper Company gold mirror card stock
Stamps: Justrite
Ink: Versafine Black Onyx
Dies: Spellbinders classic scalloped hearts
Ribbon: Recollections





I hope Teresa loves the cards and they make her valentines extra special!

Thanks for looking!  I do so appreciate your comments!

2013 Calendar.

Recently, I was in a swap with some great "fake" online friends. The talent was amazing!

My swap buddy was in Canada,,,,,,,,and I knew I wanted to make a desk calendar,,,,,,so I had to go digging for a few Canadian holidays.  For instance,,,,,,,,Canada Day is on July 1st and is the equivilent of our 4th of July,,,,,,,,,,,and Thanksgiving is in October.

So without further ado,,,,,,,Amanda's calendar,,,,,,month by month.

I hope Amanda really enjoys it,,,,,,I even put a little poem on the back.

I hope that you've had

a wonderful year.

Now that you're done

don't toss me on my ear

Take a picture you love

for each of the months

and glue over top

of each calendar fun.

So keep me forever

don't throw me away.

A mini book I'll make

of some sweet, precious days.

The hardest part about this little project was keeping the embellishments down so it wasn't too thick to sit nicely on a desk.

Calendar Recipe:

Papers: variety of scraps

Ink: Versafine

Stamps: Justrite (several sets)

dies: Grand Labels 23 for the months, 2010 snowflake pendant, nested hearts, Memory box open loralai leaf, postage stamps, labels one, squares large, picot edge circles, Cottage Cutz filigree leaf, Marianne Designs poinsettia die, ovals large, lacy squares, Labels 3

vintage images: Crafty Secrets

punches: Martha Stewart butterfly punch (large and small)

Binding: Cinch 1 inch binding rings and bound with the Cinch.

Sugar Creek Hollow!!

Good Morning!!!!! We have a really fun challenge for you over at Sugar Creek Hollow this week!!! We want to see your vintage animals or animal scenes on your cards and projects!!!! How fun is that?

Here's the card I made for the challenge!

I found this vintage image of Mary and her little Lamb on line, printed it and used it for my focal point!!!!

I really love how my flowers came out!!!!! Here's a close up, all sugary and glittery!

I cut the flowers out of coffee filters with spiral blossoms 1, the white one I left natural, the pink one I inked with pink ink and the brown one I colored with a copic before rolling,,,,,,,some Martha Stewart glitter glue and a sprinkle of chunky glitter, and they really sparkle!!!!!  I think it will be so perfect for my daughter!!! she so loves my cards, so this one is getting ready to be sitting on her desk waiting for her when she comes home this weekend!!!!

Card Recipe: (I am really liking this method of the recipe at the bottom)

Paper:Authentique Essentials 6x6 pad and Recollections Kraft paper
Dies: cottage cutz tea time doily/spellbinders spiral blossoms 1/Memory box Elegnt Scrollwork and Open leaf Loreli dies
Stamps:Justrite Just the right words set
Ink: Versafine vintage sepia/unknown pink dollar spot ink
pearls and ribbon: my stash. (Joanns and Michaels)

I hope you enjoyed the card,,,,,,,thanks for looking, and run right over to Sugar Creek Hollow and link up YOUR vintage or shabby chic animal card for a chance to win!!!!

I love CHALLENGES!!

Good Morning!!  I love challenges,,don't you? They are fun, you might win a prize, AND they often push you to make something you wouldn't ordinarily,,,,,

sometimes what you make turns out to be a new favorite!!  As it was with this card I made today!

Here's my card!!!

This card just turned into something that I just LOVE. I don't know why! I think it's because I totally LOVE shabby chic,,,,,,,,and I'm not that great at the style,,,,,but this is probably the best shabby chic card I've ever done,,,,,,YAY!

Here's a close up of those gorgeous stamps, and that stunning doily die cuts and I'm VERY happy with how nicely my flowers came out!

AND yet another close up from a different angle!

I'll be entering this into the following challenges,,,,,,,

Justrite Friday Challenge,,,Be Supportive!
and the Shabby Tea Room where we were to use this photo for inspiration AND use flowers!

I hope my friend, that has been going through a lot lately, really likes this card!

Card Recipe:

Papers:Pink Paislee London Market
dies:cottage cutz tea time doily/Memory box elegant scrollwork/spellbinders spiral blossoms 1, spellbinders foliage
punches: Martha Stewart winter branch punch and butterfly punch
Stamps: Justrite Stampers "Just the right words" set
Inks: Momento angel pink and new sprout/Versafine Onyx Black
ribbons and pearls: my stash

Thanks for looking!!!!!!  Sugar Creek Hollow is up tomorrow!!!! I so appreciate your comments!!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

Brand New American!!!!

It's Wednesday,,,,,,and on Friday, the mother of my husband's co-worker will become an American Citizen. Yesterday, I showed you a card I made to go along with her gift,,,,,,a hand made patriotic themed mini book,,,,,

And today, I'd lie to share the mini I made for Gisella,,,,,I'll list all products at the end, because otherwise, this post will take forever to read LOL.

Here is the cover,,,,,,,I cut lightweight chipboard with spellbinders, and cut the papers the same, slicing off the left hand side for ease of binding,,,,,,in this way, it was a simple thing to just cut all the pages quickly,,,,,it saved a TON of time!

and a close up of the bling,,,,,,

pages one and two,,,,,,

the right hand side opens up for 3 photo spots,,,,,and the left side is for a larger photo.

pages 3 and 4,,,,,,,a pocket page on the left,,,,,,,,,and the right has a small tag in it and it opens up to reveal 16 photo spots,,,,,

like this,,,,,,,

pages five and six,,,,,,,,,left hand side is for a larger photo,,and right hand side pocket holds a pull out for eight photo spots,,,,,,sorry, forgot to photograph the pull out, but they are tag sized.

pages seven and eight,,,,,

photo on the left and pocket on the right,,,,,,,,the right side says US CITIZEN.

and here's the tags,,,,,where Gisella can write all about her journey to become a new US Citizen,,,,,

Products Used:

Paper:MME Christmas Paper, Recollections card stock
dies:Spellbinders Grand Labels 23, Floral Ovals, labels 18
stamps: Tim Holtz, Justrite
images: Bumble Button and freevintagedigistamps.com
ribbon: Hobby Lobby
inks: Versafine Onyx Black and sepia, color box cranberry
bound with the Cinch binding tool 1 inch black O-wires.
bling: Prima, colored with copic markers.

I hope you enjoyed the mini book, and thanks for looking!! Your comments are treasured!

Christmas in July!!!!

Good Evening!!!  Believe it or not,,,,,,this is the time of year I start my holiday cards,,,,,Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah,,,,,,yep, I start them in July. I am wayyyyyyyyyy too busy in November and December to do them then LOL.  Well, in the course of making my holiday cards, I decided to make a little set for a dear friend of mine who loves my cards and is always so appreciative when I send her one. I know she will love and use them,,,,,,,and it was a warm up for me LOL, seeing as how I'm going to be making a hundred or more between now and December :)

So without further ado, the set I made for my friend,,,,,

Paper is Recollections Holiday Traditions from last year (nothing out yet this year LOL) and I used a variety of spellbinders to cut out the stamps, which I stamped on Kraft paper with versafine onyx black ink. So quick and easy to put together, yet they look lovely as a set.

Doreen, I love you hon,,,,,,,hope you enjoy them!

Have a lovely weekend! My Sugar Creek Hollow post is up Saturday!

Happy Saturday!!!!!! Sugar Creek Hollow!

I am so excited this week! Sugar Creek Hollow has a DIE CUTS/Punches challenge for you this week! YAY, I love die cuts,,,,,,I love Sugar Creek Hollow,,,,,,,,

ANDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I love Sassy Cheryl, who is our amazing sponsor this week!!!!!!

Her images are darling! I used to do her challenges all the time, but with starting my own business and being on TWO design teams, I just haven't had time recently,,,,,but as soon as my business is off and running, I plan to go back and play some with the Sassy girls!

Anywho, Cheryl was so kind to give each of the DT girls an image to play with,,,,,,,THANK YOU CHERYL!!!!!! You can find Cheryl's amazing digis HERE!

Here's my card!

I made a shaped card with my spellbinders Grand labels 23, and loaded it with die cuts.

Some of the dies I used are:

Eyelet Pendants (I thought these looked like sand dollars!)
rectangles long.
Romantic Rectangles
Labels 23
Banner basics 1
circles large
ovals large

I used plain red and blue card stock to create my card, and then Webster's papers "By the Sea", I believe it's called, to create my card. I colored the image with copics, and I think they look ADORABLE! I also used a Tim Holtz embossing folder . I'm pretty happy with it!

So run right over to Sassy Cheryl's shop  and get yourself a darling image, and then hop on over to Sugar Creek Hollow and upload your die cut and/or punches card!

Just one more note,,,,,,Sugar Creek Hollow is having a Design Team call! Check it out HERE!

Shabby Chic Altered Tin and an announcement!

Good morning!!! I have the most exciting news!!!!!!

Are you ready for this? I have the distinct honor of being one of the DT members for Sugar Creek Hollow,,,,,,,,one of my absolute FAVORITE challenges in the whole of blog-land!!!!!!!

I may or may not have danced around the kitchen like a mad person when I was asked LOL.

AND this week's challenge is one of my FAVORITES that they do too! WOO HOOO off to a good start!

Trash to Treasure is this week's theme! Take something that would ordinarily head to the trash or the recycle bin, and make vintage/shabby chic/ or primitive TREASURE with it! Although you may USE scraps, they can not count for your "trash", so go get crafty with it and make something GORGEOUS.

Without further ado,,,,,,,,,,here is my "trash"! It's a cookie tin, the tall skinny kind.

I have been wanting to make something with this tin for weeks now! And I was so THRILLED that I get to use it for my first DT project with Sugar Creek Hollow!

Here's the front,,,,,

Here's the back,,,,,,,,,,

I covered the tin with this gorgeous pink, pearlescent paper from DCWV's Luxury Stack,,,,,,it's stunning. I found the vintage ballerinas on the Graphics Fairy, button to the right,,,,,,,,,,aren't they GORGEOUS? I just LOVE them,,,,,,I actually used the same prints for another project about a year ago, but they seemed so perfect for this project, I couldn't resist them.

I cut each of the prints out with Ovals large, and then matted with more pink DCWV Luxury Stack paper which I cut out with Lacey Ovals. I adhered beautiful white eyelet lace around the bottom and layered a string of pearls around that,,,,,,,,and trimmed the rim of the lid with 1/4 inch velvet ribbon. I covered the lid with more pink paper and then a gorgeous rose vintage image was adhered on top.

I cut several heart locks out with my big shot (spellbinders Heritage dies), glued them together for thickness and then painted the whole with TH crackle medium,,,,,,a bit of white paint and a center pearl to look shabby chic, and I hung that on a silky ribbon with a gold key. A gorgeous bow with both pink and white sheer ribbon, a flower and some looped pearls,  a vintage rose ticket, and she's done!

Here's a close up of the heart, key and bow,,,,

We at Sugar Creek Hollow would also like to welcome Sherri Willshire as guest designer!!!!! Click on the link to see her phenomenal stuff! Thanks so much, Sherri!

I hope you enjoyed the altered tin, thanks so much for looking, and be sure to go dig through your recycle bin and get crafty!!!!!!!

A Sexy Little Valentine!!!!!

I don't generally do this type of card,,,,,in fact,,,it's pretty much NOT my style,,,,,,,buuuuuuuut,,,,I happened to win a couple images from Kenny K, and for some reason,,,,,this image (Sexy Cupid) stuck in my head as something kinda cute to give my DH for Valentines day,,,,,,,You can get this and many other cute digis from Kenny K here!

We can all dream LOL!

I used AGAIN my favorite paper Lost and Found by MME (I loved this stuff so much, I ended up buying a HUGE pad of it at HL,,,,,,the sheets are thin, but I didn't care,,,and that's saying something! I am normally quite picky about the thickness of my papers!)

I layered on this deep red paper over black and cream dots,,,,,I cut the edges of the card and the pp with nesties edgeabilities (classic Ric Rak) and then layered the whole over red and cream dots,,,,,,

the image was colored with copics,,,,,,not my best job, but black is a tough color to get right. And hair confounds me every single time,,,,,,,eh, practice makes perfect! I stickled her wings liberally and it has hints of gold in it,,,,,,which led me to dig out the very last (sob!) tiny piece of my gold mirror card and cut this key and heart lock. I believe the nesties set is called "Timeless Heritage", and I bought it YEARS ago before I knew I'd someday have almost 40 sets of nesties LOL. I do not think it's available any longer.

A few sticky gems and a small ribbon and she's finished!

Here's a close up of the image!

I think he'll like it,,,,,,,and get a kick out of the sentiment,,,,,,,, "We can all dream. Happy Valentines Day".

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

May Arts Ribbon Challenge

Recently, May Arts Ribbon chose 25 people to produce vintage valentines projects using their ribbon. I am proud to be one of them. This ribbon is so gorgeous, and drapes SO beautifully, it just floats. I can't describe it any differently,,,,,,it's just stunning.

So to show how beautifully it drapes, I just HAD TO make this double bow with quad bow attached and EIGHT tails. Yep,,,,,eight. They just FLOAT down the card.

Truly, this is luscious, beautiful, ROMANTIC ribbon,,,,,,,,so I chose a romantic theme for my card. The card itself is 6x6, gate fold and opens in the middle,,,,,,,I used MME Lost and Found paper (I know AGAIN!) and cut an oval window out of the card base, putting this beautiful vintage Valentines day image behind. All the flowers are hand made, inked, glittered, and dew drops applied with glossy accents. I've used the spellbinders foliage die and the MS winter branch punch for the foliage amongst the flowers that create this demi-wreath surrounding the vintage image.I used a hole punch and cupped them with a stylus, shaping them for the bits of tiny baby's breath amongst the foliage.

A Prima "say it in pearls and crystals" adds some shimmer,,,,,,,,and the gorgeous bow is the star of the show!

Here's some more pics and close ups,,,,,

The stunning ribbon that went to make this bow, the gorgeous vintage image and flowers,,,,,and finally the inside of the card.

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