Home for Christmas

Remember to click to enlarge this image and hopefully you can see the Rock Candy stickles on the ground and the Liquid Pearls/Icicles Stickles on the tree. I am enjoying coloring these detailed images with my Copic markers. I am by no means an expert but it is so easy to shade with these things! The card base is Whisper White, Paper is Wassail from K&Co. and the background red is Bravo Burgundy behind both image and sentiment which are from ta da! Home for Christmas by SU. I used some gold ribbon to pick up the gold in the DP. Hope you like it!

A call for prayer.....

I find myself on this dreary rainy morning here in Maryland wondering about life. I know God has a plan and I know His ways are not our ways but I have to wonder all the same. A very good Christian family we have known for years, our kids even went to school together, have recently been going through a bad time. Their youngest son who was in my son's class, has a brain tumor that is malignant and because of where it was, they were only able to remove 70%. He will undergo chemo and/or radiation. Tough, you are thinking, no doubt. Well they have already lost a daughter to malignant melanoma when she was a high school senior approx. twenty years ago and the father in this case had cancer last year. I can't begin to guess what they are going through, can't even come close. But what I can do is ask you to uphold this young man, Jeff, and his family in prayer. Many people are doing just that and hopefully this will have a good outcome down the road. I certainly hope so because I would like to put an end to my wondering and instead rejoice in God's goodness and mercy. Please join me.

The Christmas Tree Dilemma

For the last five years or so we have given up putting up a Christmas tree. My children are all adults, there are no grand children, and it just seemed like too much work. And You Know WHO does the work! But this year I inherited a multitude of old glass christmas balls from my Mother In Law. I had quite a few myself from my parents. So now I am debating about purchasing a tree, probably artificial because they are so nice now, and displaying these lovely ornaments. While pondering if I really want to do that or not, I made this little card with an Outlines tree stamp. I stamped two layers, colored them with Copics, and layered every other triangle and added stickles to the stars for bling. The band was done with a new Martha Stewart border punch called pines. The sentiment is SU Home for Christmas stamped with Bravo Burgundy ink and I added two small pewter tree brads. Hmmm, if only the artificial one was this quick and easy..........

Thanksgiving Candles

It's a cloudy day here and not good for pictures but I thought I'd show you the candles I have done for my neighbor's Thanksgiving table. She is doing a candle for each couple so I have done 9. Michael's had these on sale for $1.50 and I dressed them up with some bands of paper and ribbon, a tag from Labels 8 Nestabilites and a few punched leaves. Lastly, I added a few dots of Stickles here and there for bling. I think they turned out very well. Quick and easy!

Veteran's Day

Dragging out the soap box today for a short reminder: please never forget the service our veterans as well as our current military personnel have given to our country. Their sacrifices and their devotion have made it possible for each and every one of us to live the life we enjoy today. I take my hat off to every vet, especially those who served in foreign wars, and honor them as they deserve. Our country has forgotten many of our former soldiers. Many are homeless, some languish in outdated facilities, many have problems that seem unsolvable. Do what you can, even if it is just a quick prayer today, to see they remain our heroes.

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Let the Image Shine

This is a recipe for a quick and elegant card. Let your image be the shining element. No ribbon, no flowers, no glitz (unless the pearls qualify) and no trouble. Stamp a beautiful image in one color ink, mount it on some DP and your base. Quick, less than 5 minutes. This beautiful image is from Serendipity Stamps called Winter Walk. Enjoy!

I'm Liking Neutrals Here!

Here's another christmas card with neutrals, creamy whites, beiges and tans. This is another 5 x 7 card with Anna Griffin paper and ribbon from Michaels. The stamps are from Inkadinkadoo. The only problem I had was the Stickles seemed to "spread" for some reason. I shook them well as I always do but maybe this bottle is going bad or something. Anyway I am loviong these beautiful whites and creams. Elegant. Understated.

Creamy Christmas

Be sure to click on this picture to see the enlarged version so you can see all the details. This is a 5 x 7 card on cream stock with the DP from Anna Griffin's Chrismas Pack. The large tan snowflake is on grungeboard, painted with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. I rubbed on some stickles and then added iridescent stickles on the points. On top of that is layered a Poinsettia from Nestabilities. I used two each of the middle and small sections. I edged each with Ranger Glossy Accents and dipped it in glitter. The center is a snowflake brad with the same treatment. I used an EK Success fancy corner punch on all four corners and highlighted those with Liquid Pearls. Fancy schmancy!!!

What a Wreath!!!

From soft and pretty to bold and classic! I just bought this stamp from Flourishes called simply Christmas Wreath. I couldn't wait to color it with Copics. It was so much fun. When I finished, I "sugared" the fruit with Stickles as well as dotted the red on all the berries on the background paper and dots on the sentiment which is from Inkadinkadoo. This card is 5 x 7 on a cream background. The DP is DCWV. It's a big stamp which made it wonderful to color.

A cup of hot chocolate anyone?

I made time this morning to "create" because if I didn't I was going to get crabby! I just love this image from Impression Obsession. The sweet little mug of hot chocolate loaded with marshmallows is so charming. This would be an excellent image to use on Snowman Soup packages as well. I started with a Whisper White base, added the new SEI Winter Song DP and then mounted the image on some Tempting Turquoise. Colored it with Copics which I am getting to love more and more. The snowflake and gemstones are K&Co. Enjoy your weekend!

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Just checking in...........

I haven't forgotten all of you out there in blogland. It's been a very busy week. We are still chipping away at cleaning out my MIL's house after her death October 1. It is quite a chore as she was a "saver" and literally saved EVERYTHING. So much is trash. Some things we really get a laugh out of and some things are just sad. Her dementia was so bad the last few years that she would buy things she already had a ton of and forgot about. Also, last Sunday I had a nasty fall of a chair, hitting the hardwood floor face first, and knocked off a cap from one of my front teeth. I had a benefit dinner to go to Wednesday night and the dentist saved the day getting me in to fix it on Tuesday. The last three days we've been spreading 15 yards of mulch all around our flower beds and yard. What a back breaking chore. Hopefully, this week things will settle enough to allow me some much needed creative time. I have some projects in mind for you and hope you will be patient a little longer. Hopefully it will be worth the wait! Have a great weekend everyone!

HAPPY HALLOWEN!!!!!!!!!

Hope you all have a spooky, frightful but still delightful evening tonight. Enjoy all the little tackers in their costumes and savor the innocence of childhood.

Snowball Fight

I was so taken with Sherry Cheever's snowflake technique on her blog today (http://sherrycheever.blogs.splitcoaststampers.com/) that I had to make a card to try it out. These are fun to make and as Sherry says you can use Crystal Effects or Ranger Glossy Accents. The snowflakes were cut with Spellbinders Create a Flake 2 but you could use any die cut snowflake. I didn't distress the edges of mine just added some Tim Holtz Broken China ink here and there. The DP is ancient, have no clue of its origin and the ribbon was old too, from JoAnn's several Christmas seasons ago. Try this out....I think you'll like it.

Great Blog Giveaway!

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My Weekend Project

This was a project I worked on over the weekend. The template/tutorial for this is from Becky Roberts and is called a magazine holder. You essentially make three of the basic box and then embellish. I was about to begin making cards from matching DP when I realized I had so many cards already made so I filled the box with an assortment of birthday, friend, christmas, get well etc. cards. I have 15 cards in there but it would hold more. I used SU ribbon and a prima flower on the front. This would also be great for notepads, coupons, receipts, desktop files, etc. A great gift for anyone!

3 Posts---Working Overtime!!!

OK this is me doing some showing off here. This creature is Gertie the Witch. I made her and had the most fun outfitting her special hat with all kinds of Halloween goodies. I tried to show you the hat from most angles so you can see what's on it, including a vintage Halloween paper cat/chenille figure. Her face is hand painted and she and her magic hat are distressed and given a vintage Halloween appearance. She is for sale. If anyone is interested they can contact me. In any case, enjoy her as I have!

Sparkle!!!

Another christmas card with lots of sparkle. HOWEVER, I used the new Rock Candy Stickles on the icicle strip at the top and it wasn't quite dry when I took the picture but it made it wavy. Not so nice to my taste. Anyway, I used the Nesties Label 9 for the medallions and the chipboard medallion is a K&Co. from last year but I see it is still available this year. The image is from Inkadinkadoo Winter Shapes stamped with Anna Griffin Crimson ink and heat embossed with clear EP. Highlighted with Perfect Pearls. The Icicle punch and the lace punch are Martha Stewart. Maybe icicles are supposed to be wavy OR I am too fussy. Probably the latter. Have a good weekend everyone. Fall is slipping away.........

Snow Swirled Card

I am so behind.....in everything! Yikes! We have been spending every spare moment cleaning out my MIL's house and it is a chore let me tell you. After 92 years you accumulate a lot, mostly junk in this case. It's a tedious process and I haven't had much time to create.

But here is a little card I did this evening which is 5 x 5 on Whisper White. The blue paper is textured, I think DCWV. Ribbon is from Mike's. Snowflake is Inkadinkadoo Holiday Silhouettes and the sentiment is from SU Snow Swirled. I used Stickles to pump up the snowflake a little and the corner punch for the same reason. Enjoy!