"No Time Like the Present(s)"

Can you believe that tomorrow is the first day of 2012???    What a year 2011 has been!   For our family, our friends, and our church this has been a year of great blessings, but also great trials.   It's been a year of great joy, but also great pain.   I don't know what 2012 will bring, and honestly don't want to know, but I know whatever comes, the Lord will see us through!!!

Christmas was just last weekend.  So... why am I making Christmas cards?   Because it's "jingle belle" time!! 

jingle belles - "No time like the present(s)" use present image, or paper with presents, or even wrapping paper
Mojo Monday 221 - sketch (round or square)

It is hard to see but the gold on the dsp does shine

~Paper Studio Christmas Traditions paper pack
~Scrappy Cat stamp
~Tim Holtz 'peeled paint' distressing ink
~Prima poinsettia
~ribbon and bling from my stash

Thanks for dropping by!!    I'll be back tomorrow with my blogiversary post!! :)

Year end sales!!!

Just an FYI post.  Here are some of my favorite sites (and I'm sure there are many more!) that are having sales ending today....

Clear Dollar Stamps had all its clear stamps 50% off.  Use coupon code CHRISTMAS50
http://www.cleardollarstamps.com/

Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps has everything in their store for 20% off.  EVERYTHING!  No coupon needed.
http://sweetnsassystamps.com/

This goes until January 2....

Doodle Pantry has 50% off regular priced digis.  Coupon code RINGITIN.
http://doodlepantry.com/specials.html

Just found another...
The Stamping Boutique has digis 35% off.
http://thestampingboutique.com/


Go check them out!!!

Sympathy cards

Yesterday, I went out shopping and went to 3 craft stores... ACMoore, Hobby Lobby, and Michaels.  Fun!!  But the best was Hobby Lobby!  They had all their Christmas stuff 66% off... including their Christmas scrap paper.  I got 5 pads (2-12x12 and  3-8.5x11) for less than $25!!  I am eager to make some Christmas cards -even though Christmas is over- and will soon, but I needed to make sympathy cards.  The day after Christmas, some of my relatives lost a close family member from the other side of their family . 

When I saw this week's Tuesday Morning Sketches sketch, I knew it would be good for sympathy cards. 

I made 3 of different colors... brown, burgundy, and blue. 
~Paper Studio cardstock
~Colorbok white cardstock
~Perfect Paisley embossing folder
~embossed the sentiment square by scoring edges
~Fiskars 'kind thoughts' stamp
~Hero Arts stamp on inside that says "Our caring thoughts are with you during this difficult time"
~ribbon and brads from my stash

Thanks for stopping!! 

Last minute Christmas cards

This afternoon, my husband took over the kitchen, and my daughter needed 7 cards for her friends (thanks for giving me lots of notice, kiddo!!!), so I headed for my craft room.  I knew they HAD to be clean and simple!!  They are CAS, and I was able to make them all in about 30 minutes!!
They are based on CAS's sketch 171 though mine are A2, not square.

I was really pleased with the way they turned out!

Basic Grey Wassail dsp

Recollections 'O Christmas Tree' dsp

Recollections 'O Christmas Tree' dsp

A piece of 'Wassail' with a piece of 'O Christmas Tree'

The stamp was a $1 Scrappy Cat stamp, ribbon from my stash.  Easy, peasy!!

This will be my last post until after CHRISTmas, so I want to wish you all a Merry CHRISTmas with your family and friends!!!!  


Thinks about this...

"You can never truly enjoy Christmas until you can look up into the Father's face and tell Him you have received His Christmas gift."  --John R. Rice

Thanks for stopping by!!!!

Merry Christmas -Tues AM sketch card

Here's my second card of the afternoon... (then I need to go do some more baking!!!!)  but first an announcement...

I just reached 100 followers!!!  Thank you, everyone!  100 followers plus my 1st blogiversary is next month, so I'll get my act together after Christmas and we'll have some kind of celebration with some blog candy.  Be sure to check back!

For this card, I followed Tuesday Morning Sketches sketch #125.

~Basic Grey Wassail paper (love this pack!!)
~free word art from Word Art Wednesday
~Scrappy Cat 'Merry Christmas' stamp

Thanks for looking!!!

Angel shaped Christmas card

I still need a few more Christmas cards and time is flying!  I made 2 this afternoon.  This first one has an angel welded to a rectangle to make a 'tall' card. 

sorry... should have cropped the pic!

Challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion - Christmas shape card
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - TRUE meaning of Christmas -and my digi is the verse they used! :)

What I used:
~Basic Grey Wassail paper (found this is a scrapbook store that I recently found and visited for the first time yesterday... I'll be going back!)
~silver paper is Slice embossed with Divine Swirls Cuttlebug folder
~angel from JOTS cut at 3.5" and welded to a rectangle
~free word art from Word Art Wednesday for last week's challenge that I missed!!  :(


Thanks for looking!!!

Popcorn balls and embroidered ornaments

I wanted a special treat for my Junior Church kids tomorrow and had seen this recipe a few weeks ago, so I made these Marshmallow Popcorn Balls from allrecipes.com.  I did as some reviewers suggested and added 1/2 c brown sugar to get more of a caramel corn taste.  I didn't have much left to taste after making them, but what I had was good.  Quite sweet, but that's fine with me! ;)

They took about 1/2 hour from start to finish which is another plus since I started them at 10:30 tonight because I was embroidering much of the afternoon and evening making ornaments for the kids, too.

These are made with Mylar and the designs are from Charming Station.  They stitch up so quickly and are so cute!  I added a back layer joined with a satin stitch and added the ribbon so they can hang them on their tree.  The round ones are left overs from what I made last year.   They came from Embroidery Library.

Thanks for looking!!

Christmas baking and embroidery

I'm so far behind on everything this year... just mailed my Christmas cards today... so decided to start some baking.  Good idea!!  I found this EASY but DELICIOUS recipe on a blog I follow...



Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies   click on name to go to the recipe.  :)  Yummy!!!!

Ready to bake...

 Ready to eat!!  Recipes says makes 24... I got 29 and may use small scoop next time to get more.  That way, I can eat more cuz they're small, right??

I've not started many of the gifts I planned to make and found out making this one that my embroidery machine may need servicing.  :/  The bobbin tension is not quite right but I was able to disguise it by using black for the outer stitching all around.  This is for one of my daughters to take for the white elephant gift exchange at the church teen Christmas party. 

I imagine that either guy or girl would enjoy covering up with this snowman!

Thanks for stopping by!!

Christmas favors, gifts, and goodies

Today has been a busy day!   With the help of my wonderful husband and daughters, we made 40 hot cocoa holders to give to my church ladies tomorrow at our Christmas meeting.  I made Pomegranate Hand Scrub for prizes, and I made Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars for the intermission at my daughter's band concert tonight.

Let me show you.... here are the cocoa packets based on the one I saw Mary over at CardzTV make.  Click HERE to go to her post and video.  (I didn't use my Cricut at all on mine)

 The snowman is a $1 stamp I got at M's last week.  The sentiment is from Sweet n Sassy.  Punches, brads, ribbon, and twine and we're all done. 

 Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars... so yummy!!  Got this recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!  Check her out... her recipes are wonderful!!  (Note the fancy plate... I don't want to have to worry about bringing it home again!)

And last but not least, I found this next great idea over at Greenbean's Crafterole.  It is a hand scrub made from sugar and dish detergent!  My girls tried it out and LOVE it!!  Made some tags and we're ready to give these away.   (6 pt and 6 1/2 pt jars took less than 5 lb sugar and about 2/3 my dish detergent... very economical gift, too!!)  I'm going to try the body scrub next!!

Isn't blogging wonderful??  I love the crafts, recipes, and ideas for just about everything that can be found!!    I hope you are inspired by something that I have shared!!

CAS Christmas card

The CAS sketch that I followed on the weekend to make a thank you card was great, so I decided to do another. 
This is Clean & Simple #169

I used scraps from my DCWV Holiday Premium stack.
I found the tree and directions at InkspiredTreasures.com - HERE.  Love it!!
Recollections stamp, a little inking, and a brad finished it off.

Thanks for dropping in!!

Fun Christmas card

It is so much easier to make cards when I have the recipient in mind!  That's the case with this fun card.  When I saw this "Pain and Pride" set of stamps over at ipity, I had to get it!  For Christmas, we got ski gear for our kids, so knew this would be great for them, but then thought of this friend who skis and will get a kick out of this card!  

Challenges...
~Get Hippity with Ippity - follow sketch
~Celebrate the Occasion - Christmas card with no green  (they are having a DT call until Dec 20...check it out if you are interested)
~Cuttlebug Spot (soooo glad they are back!!)- "leftovers" use scraps (emboss in some way)

~all paper from my scrap box
~"Pain and Pride" stamp set from ipitty
~American Crafts and Zig markers, white gel pen
~Christmas stamp from ???
~Swiss Dots embossing folder
~EK success in on edges
~Fiskars scissors (1st use in years!!!!!)

I did a bit to the inside, too...

Thanks for stopping by!!!

CAS Thank you card

I needed a quick thank you card, but was having a brain freeze, so checked out some blogs and saw this CAS sketch at Clean & Simple Stamping Challenge #168. 

Less than 5 minutes!!  I can handle that!  Wouldn't this sketch be great for Christmas thank you cards??  I believe I will be using it!

   
Recipe:
~Recollectins "Charming" paper
~Fiskars "Thanks!" stamp embossed

Thanks for stopping by!!!

"Happy Birthday" card

We can never have too many birthday cards on hand, can we?  No, we can't!! 

The sketch at CTO inspired me and this paper made it easy!

Challenges...
Celebrate the Occasion - birthday (must follow sketch)
Stampin' Sisters in Christ - bird on project
Birthday Sundaes - birthday card

What I used:
~Recollections "Charming" paper (love the brown and blue!)
~CM 2" square punch
~Fiskars stamp with Timber Brown StazOn ink
~Fiskars scalloped circle punch
~bird from April Showers (I narrowed him in DS and trimmed off his perch)
~Tim Holtz distress ink
~adhesive pearl, ribbon, and pop dots

Thanks for stopping by!!

Merry Christ-mouse to you!! :)

I don't have nearly enough Christmas cards made and just might have to buy some at the store find some somewhere! :)  But I decided to keep trying, so looked for inspiration at some challenges, and here is what I came up with....

 Challenges...
~BBTB2 - mouse from "Meow" or any cart - I used Create A Critter
~Whimsical Wednesdays - Christmas or winter project with layers
~Tuesday Morning Sketches - use sketch
~Fantabulous Cricut - make a holiday card
~Creative Cutter Room - animal
~Get Hippity with Ippity - embossing
          (don't have any ippity stamps yet, but I ordered some!)

I used...
~Recollections "O Christmas Tree" dsp
~Paper Studio CS
~mouse cut at 2 2/1" from CAC
~Sizzix snowflakes #8 embossing folder
~Fiskars Threading Water border punch
~Fiskars punch for my computer generated sentiment
~red baker's twine
~and an ACTION WOBBLE!!!  :)  They are so fun!

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Baby boy card

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are now looking forward to CHRISTmas!!   I know we are!!

It has been so busy around here that I have not spent much time in my craft room, but I needed a baby card for a shower last evening, so I got out Create a Critter (LOVE this cart!!) and made a card.  I also made a "1st Christmas" ornament but forgot to take a pic! 

Stair step cards are cool and I've been wanting to make one for awhile.  I decided to make a center stair step for this baby card and then realized that Cards for men are looking for 'fancy folds' this challenge, so I'll submit it there. 

 ~DCWV "All About Boys" dsp
 ~Making Memories "pitter patter" dsp
~Paper Studio cardstock
~Inkadinkado stamp
~giraffe from CAC cut at 4 1/2"
~hemp cord
~chalking on edges

I made the cake, too, and didn't have a lot of time to be fancy, but made some cutouts from Lettering Delights "Peek a boo" with MTC.

Nutri Whip icing!  Yummy!!  My parents bring me some when they come visit.  :)

Thanks for stopping by!!!

Happy Thanksgiving to you!!

I want to wish a very Blessed and Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! Enjoy the day with family and friends! Don't forget to count your blessings! And of course, eat too much!! :)

I have very many things to be thankful for and one on that list is those of you who are such an encouragement to me with your kind comments here on my blog! Thank you and have a great day today!!

Yippey!! I found blog backgrounds that don't mess up my blog!!

I have tried a few times to change my blog background to something other than the images Blogger has available.  Not good!!!  My gadgets disappeared, links covered my bar at the top so I could not sign in,  links would not work... it was horrible so I went back to 'normal.'  Well, today, I got tired of normal and wanted some cuteness and went looking.  I found "Simply Blog It Backgrounds" with step by step instructions -including pictures-  that even I could follow!  :)  I followed them and Voila!! Success!!

I tried several, liked them ALL, chose a Christmas one, and finally decided to wait until after Thanksgiving for that one. 

I'm so happy!  Do you like my new look?

*I did have to re-add my linkwithin.  Not a huge problem!

"Thankful" note card

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, with so many blessings to share, and with so many people I could/should thank, a 'thankful' note card is a good idea!  I really should make a whole bunch of these!!

Many challenges are looking for Thanksgiving themed projects this week, so I was happy to oblige!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ ~ "Gratitude"

Fantabulous Cricut ~ "Harvest Blessings" -use red, orange, brown

        *they are having a blog crawl.  Go check out the great projects!!

Celebrate the Occasion ~ "Thanksgiving" -must use a punch

Whimsical Wednesdays ~ "Happy Turkey Day"

Tuesday Morning Sketches ~ sketch + "Giving Thanks"

Gotta work on my  lighting... colors are much richer IRL

*edit...I'll add this pic taken next day in daylight

This is a little better though now the red looks pink!

~ dsp that I got free with my Action Wobble order (not sure who made it)

~Fiskars Threading Water border punch

~Swiss Dots Cuttlebug folder

~Fiskars "Thankful" stamp

~label from Sentimentals cut at 1 3/4" and 2"

~Tim Holtz walnut stain distress ink

~buttons and hemp from my stash

Thanks for looking!!!

Christmas card w/ action wobble!!

I really don't have time to be crafting this week with quarterly reports due and so much going on, but I got my Action Wobbles in the mail and I HAD to come play!  These are awesome!!!  I wish I could post a video to show just how cute they are!  Plus I was given Create a Critter for my birthday and have not had a chance to use it yet, so it was just time to make something! :)

So since I NEEDED to make a card, I made it for these challenges...

jingle belles JB46 - "Stick-y and Sweet" -use stickers
Cards for men challenge #24 - "It's Nearly Time for Christmas" -Christmas card
Opus Gluei challenge #117 - "What's on Your Head?" -someone or thing with something on it's head   

I really wish you could see him wobble!! 

~Kraft 5x7 card
~reindeer from Create a Critter cut at 3 1/2" with shadow and all layers
~Colorbok "Believe" and snowflake stickers
~baker's twine
~white gel pen doodling
Thanks for looking!!  And if you can find you some Action Wobbles, you will LOVE them!!

a few more 2011 LO's

The last few weeks have been crazy for me.  I've been gone 3 weekends in a row, and sick a couple of times in between.  Not fun!  So I haven't made any cards for awhile and have not made any layouts for a looooong time.  I got back in my craft room yesterday and decided to  make some LO's.  These are not for any challenge, they are just for we, ourselves, and us.  [Get it?  It's the plural version of me, myself, and I ;-) ]

I know that I will never be able to scrap all my 23+ years of marriage, nor my 15+ yrs of children, so I decided to scrap this year as it went.  A girl can dream, can't she??  I'm only on Feb and it is already Nov!!

My kids have bad eyes like their mother and all got new glasses in January.  One of my daughters got glasses for the first time.  No longer can she brag about not having them! :)

~Basic Grey Recess paper
~LD Red Hatter's Hand font
~Nymphette scroll
~Wingdings glasses
~all cut in MTC

I am doing a title pg for each month, so rather than love as would be expected for Feb, I did snow because I love snow and we got so much!!!  :)

for the 2 pg LO...
~DCWV paper
~scroll from HA
~snowflakes from WICO
~"snow" and branch from WW
~K & Company sticker
~snowflake punch
~stickers I've had forever for "playing in the"

A friend always gives us an Amaryllis each year and this year it was so beautiful!  It had 3 stalks, the first had 2 blooms, the 2nd had 3 blooms, and the third stalk had 6 blooms!! 

Can't remember what all I used for this and am too lazy to go to my craft room and look, so no 'recipe' for this one.  Sorry! :( 

I'm at least making progress, so I'm happy about that!!

Thanks for stopping by!!

pink wedding card

My niece is getting married this weekend and I just made her card today!!  How awful is that??!!??  but since I was so slow, I needed some inspiration, so I looked at my usual challenges to see what I should do. :)

This is a little different because wedding cards are not my forte.  And it was a busy day!  I made 4 cards -this one, 2 sympathy cards, and a thank you card- plus am getting ready to go to the wedding... flying to MN on Fri, and back on Sat.  Quick trip!  After posting this, I'm heading to bed... I will need to be up and out by 4 AM on Fri!!! 

~Tuesday AM Sketches -sketch ('think pink' all month)
~Stampin' Sisters in Christ - sharing...2 of every element
         (I used 2 papers, 2 Cuttlebug folders, 2 ribbons, and 2 stamps)

Here's the inside...

~Basic Grey paper
~Inkadinkadoo stamps
~Divine Swirls and Perfect Paisley embossing folders
~ribbon from my stash
~computer generated 'congratulations'

Thanks for stopping by!!!

O Come All Ye Faithful!!

I love Christmas music!!  That is always the first sign of the season around our house.  (And the last to be put away after!)  My family love Christmas music, too!  We have request night at church once a month, and one of my daughters picks a Christmas Carol every month all year long!  And making Christmas cards is becoming more fun since Christmas truly is coming quickly!!! :)

This card is for these challenges...
~jingle belles - "A Caroling We Will Go" card inspired by a song (I got excited when I saw this prompt!!)
~Celebrate the Occasion - any occasion using red, black, and white
~Stampin' Sisters in Christ - Mk. 10:27 "...with God all things are possible" so "anything goes"

O Come All Ye Faithful is one of my favorite carols!  In high school, I learned a descant for it that was so pretty!  Even though that was over 20 just a few years ago, I still hear it in my head when I play the song, and I still sing it when we sing this song.  

~Red CS
~DCWV 'Performance' mat stack
~Allegro Cuttlebug folder
~Digi sentiment from Stitchy Bear Stamps
~Nestabilities
~gold ink rubbed on (sorry it looks yellow in the pic!)
~ribbon, adhesive pearls, white gel pen

Thanks for stopping!!!

Pink Christmas??

I have mentioned before that I am the traditional red/green Christmas colors person.  Really!!!  So straying from that is a challenge.  But I can do it!! :)   Especially for a very good reason.

This week, jingle belles challenge is "I'm dreaming of a PINK Christmas" and two members of their DT are each donating $1 for every pink Christmas card entered this week.  That's wonderful!!!

Tuesday Morning Sketches is "thinking pink" all month in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness and this week's even has an inspiration photo to go along with the sketch. 

Here's my pink Christmas card...

I used...
~Kraft paper card base
~Basic Grey "Infuse" DSP
~Nestabilites for the label
~Olive Bazzill CS
~Perfect Paisley Cuttlebug folder (LOVE this one!!)
~MME Noel stamp using StazOn Timber Brown
~Threading Waters border punch
~snowflakes cut in MTC
~Paper Studio adhesive pearls

Thanks for stopping!

'faith hope love' note card

October is breast cancer awareness month.  I'm sure we all have been touched by this cancer, whether personally, or with someone we love.  It is wonderful to see the advances in treatment but there is still a need to getting the word out is important!!


Tuesday Morning Sketches is a great challenge blog and this month, Theresa, one of the blog owners is having 2 birthdays!  Happy Birthday, Theresa, for how many years you have been here!  And Happy 4th Cancer Survivor Birthday!!!  That is wonderful!!

Celebrate the Occasion is focusing on breast cancer awareness this week, too, so with both of these in mind, here's my card and let's 'think pink'!!

~card shape made in MTC
~CS from my stash
~Basic Grey "Infuse" DSP
~Cause ribbon from MTC basic shapes, shadowed
~computer generated sentiment
~Cat's Eye ink on edges
~grosgrain ribbon

Thanks for looking!!!

"HOO"s having a birthday?

Challenges have been asking for owls in projects lately, so I made a card but first, take a look at the pic my mother took this spring near their cottage...

How cool is that??  She said he just sat there, posing nicely. :)

Now, for my owl.  This is a birthday card for 3 challenges...
~Birthday Sundaes - ribbon (and birthday wording, as always)
~Opus Gluei - owl
~Tacky Tuesday - owl and "hoo"

~4x9 Kraft paper card
~owl from Sentimentals at 3 1/2"
~"HOO" from AK (it is really 'whooo' but I trimmed it)
~I computer generated the rest of the sentiment
~MS ribbon
~Recollections 'Charming' DSP
~pop dots and gel pen for doodling

Thanks for stopping by!!!

simple "So Thankful" card

I love fall colors, fall scents, and fall activities!  (I just don't like the getting chilly part since I'm shivering most of the year!!)  We went apple picking yesterday and had a great time.  Not sure if we will make it to our local pumpkin patch this year.  Their times are limited since they were flooded, too.  I like pumpkin seeds, but that is about all I like about pumpkins... other than their color! :)  But I really like the Thanksgiving cartridge and this cut!

I'm submitting it to 3 challenges...
~Stampin' Sisters in Christ - use fruit (pumpkin IS a fruit)
~Fantabulous Cricut - 'pumpkin time'
~Clean and Simple - sketch ...this is my first time participating over there :)

I cut this card a little larger than A2 to fit some envies that I have.
~Bazzill CS (embossed the background with Divine Swirls)
~DCWV Rustic Stack DSP
~pumpkin from Thanksgiving cart cut at 1 3/4"
~Threading Waters Fiskars border punch
~Sentiment from Doodle Pantry's "Harvest Bounty" set

Thanks for looking!!!!