New Years Eve

So what are you all doing tonight for New Years Eve? DH and I will probably start watching a DVD, fall asleep about 10:00, wake just before 11:00, and decide that it's bedtime. Woohoo! When the kids were little, we used to make 7-Up and orange juice "mimosas", put them in wine glasses, and I'd make special treats, then we played board games all night long. It was one of the few nights when the kids would beg to go to bed! "But I'm tired mom!" Good memories, those....

As for most of today, I plan to spend it in my craft room only taking time to make some dinner. Don't know if I'll post more cards, but I'm gonna try to get a bunch done today. Starting Wednesday, I will be putting in long hours at the museum for all of January, and may not have much time all month to create or post. I'll be checking in and will try to leave comments, but working full time + hours when I'm used to very part time will not be easy for me.

I started out my morning with the sketch from Unscripted Sketches 191. When I first looked at the sketch, I couldn't come up with anything. Then I saw Anita's entry there, and Ardyth's most recent cards, and voila!, ideas flew round and round my brain. Went back to US191, and my little fingers flew...! First, check out the sketch:

And this is my take on it:

Now, the navy looks a little black here, but trust me, it is navy. And yellow. Sigh. I love blues and yellows together. And the deets are: White, navy, and yellow Bazzill cardstock, TAWS stamp from the Awesome Blossom set, a scrap of yellow polka dot paper from Paper Studio, a button that I think is from Doodlebug, a smidge of cobalt twin from KFD for Scrapper's Spools, a few strips of white ric-rack, some mighty cute daisies from I only wish I knew where, and Spice Tin ink from Jenni Bowlin for Ranger. Happy dances everyone, and Happier New Year to you!

More Time in the Craft Room

Church was wonderful this morning. A great sermon on the 12-year old Jesus. Sun shining through the stained glass windows and a church full of "family". Every time I walk through the doors, it feels like I've come home. Do you suppose that's what heaven feels like, only better?!

So when I got home, I did the few Sunday chores I had to do, then hit the craft room. Whipped up another card for the Retrosketches #44 challenge. If you haven't played along, do check it out.

I've got some grandsons birthdays coming up in January, and figured I had better get on those cards. Keegan turns 3, and I thought the cute little alien was a good choice for him. The colors look really bright in this photo, but IRL, they look really cute.

Bazzill white and turquoise cardstock. A random scrap of orange polka dot patterned paper, striped washi tape, Paper Smooches Little Fella stamps, Stazon black ink, and orange Copic marker. Then just a random clear orange button with some raffia that I split and curled. Happy Dances!

Second Post for Today

With the exception of a quick run to the grocery store earlier, I have spent the majority of my day in my craft room. I won't post all the cards I made, but I needed a birthday card for my stash, and thought, what the heck, why not play along with another challenge?!! I found some really fabulous colors at the Runway Inspired Challenge, and while the lighting has changed the yellowy-greeny color, it looks, IRL, to be a perfect match. Here, I'll just show you the colors...

The skirt portion is where my inspiration comes from. I could almost feel the movement of that fabric, and wanted to capture its essence. Here's my take:

I used a pale, pale gray linen paper from my stash, it's probably years old, and then random greenish and navy papers from my scrap box. Bling is from e., stamp from PTI's Birthday Basics with Jenni Bowlin for Ranger ink. I cut the ovals with my Cricut. That's it. 

Ahhh...this is better

  

...And this card is definitely better than yesterday's card. I'm thinking I really need NOT to craft with migraines... It affects my vision and judgement more than I realize.
My craft room is right next door to our family room. My DH is retired and tries to watch sports as often as there are good games on TV. He's not one of those multiple TV set-up guys, or the kind of fan who has both cable and a dish in order to catch every kind of sporting event -- thank goodness, but he does like college basketball, the Yankees, Cubs, Dbacks, Bears, Packers, and the Bucks when our granddaughter is playing the drums at the game. What's relevant about this, you may ask...well, it seems that fairly often, I'm listening to some game while crafting, and sometimes, it seems that my mojo disappears if there isn't a game on! Go figure. Must be the rhythm of the sport, or maybe my subconscious thinks all those fans are cheering my cards! LOL!
Onto better things! Have you seen the way cool sketch over at Retrosketches, or the super fun color palette for this week's ColorQ Challenge? Well, check them out:

 

I decided to put them together and make some cute little thank you notes. And this is what I came up with:

The stamps are from a Christmas present - Clear & Simple's Sweet Tooth. Bazzill white cardstock, a Bo Bunny scrap of red polka dot, a scrap of striped, green polka dot Washi tape, SU red and black ink, with Memento's London Fog for the sentiment, a bling from Pure, and a snippet of red and white baker's twine.  I pop-dotted the candy up from the sentiment and angled the whole creation on the card base. I think it's fun, and hope you like it too. Happy New Year, and happy dances everyone!

US190, 10 MCD, CFC83

Quick post before the migraine escalates to the "please just shoot me now!" stage. Wanted to pop this very fast card into three challenges. First, Unscripted Sketches - 190, which has a really great sketch. Desperately wanted to play along as soon as I saw this, and today is the first day I've had to get into my craft room and play with paper. Love the DT over there!



I also wanted to get in on the 10 Minute Craft Dash, where Paulina has hooked up with CAS-ual Fridays #83, in a double-ish challenge. This card took me 9.38 minutes to make. Once I had all of my supplies at hand, I set the timer, and crafted like crazy! While the Cricut was cutting the little frames, I typed and printed my sentiment. I then took my scrap of white, trimmed it to just under 1 1/2", and stamped my snowflakes and snowman. I added a touch of green to his scarf and buttons. Cut them apart and adhered them to the frames. Trimmed my sentiment, inked the edges, adhered it to the green patterned paper, then the red and then onto the card base. Next it was the little frames, and finally the 3 blings. Viola! As my four-year-old granddaughter says, "easy-peasy, lemon squeezy." I highly recommend checking out these challenges and playing along!

Bazzill gray, white and red cardstock. Paper Studio green patterned paper, SU stamps. Memento London Fog ink. Lemon Chicken computer font. Crystal Stickers bling. Happy New Year and happy dances everyone!

Merry Christmas

The presents are under the tree. The food and treats are made. The house is clean, and I'm just waiting for the floors to dry before I get in the shower, and get ready for church.

All the little Sunday School kids are practiced. And our beautiful service begins at 4:30. We have one daughter and her lovely family here in town, and by the time I get home from church, they will be here and ready to have a few goodies and gifts.

The week continues with more family arriving and a few more Christmases.

I just wanted to wish everyone a Blessed Christmas, and to give you a sneak peek at some of my blessings. This crazy looking group is a very large part of my family. Missing a few family members, but for the most part, we managed to gather in one spot for a few hours. How blessed am I, how wonderful is our God.

So from our family to yours... Blessed Christmas, blessed life.

Blessed Christmas

To everyone out there in 'blogland', Blessed Christmas! All the busy work of the holidays is done, and I might even have time to do a little baking. ALL presents bought, wrapped, and where necessary, mailed. The true meaning of Christmas has been in the forefront of my mind, and because I've emphasized that, the other Christmas duties have gone awesomely well. Feels really nice. Later tonight, we will get some snow for our white Christmas, though not nearly the amounts that have been falling west of here. Still getting rain here.

I need to thank the super DT over at CASology. My card got an Honorable Mention, for which I am grateful and pleased about. So many fantastic cards made by so many talented ladies. Be sure to head on over to check out the winner and other HMs, as well as playing along for the next challenge.

Onto this card...I made a special card for my most wonderful, bff, Jennifer. I was very inspired by the Sweet Dreams photo over at Moxie Fab's Tuesday Trigger. Some of my favorite colors here:

And who doesn't like gingham??!! I knew I had the perfect paper in my hoard (yeah, I saved this piece for just the right project....)

The gingham, blue, and gold papers are SU. White is from Bazzill.  Some SU snowflake stamps, as well as Stampabilities, and Paper Smooches. Making Memories stick pins. Gold Stampabilites ink. Random ribbon. I like it, and I hope Jen does too. She's been warned not to peek before she gets it! Happy Dances and Christmas Blessings to everyone! 

CASology 23

Another fast post today. And I may not be able to post again for a weekish. Besides the Christmas things, I will be travelling north for at least three days. Wanted to share what I consider to be the greatest gift of all time. It fits well with this week's challenge over at CASology.

This is what I made

I free cut the manger scene, and both the black and white papers are Bazzill. A dab of  SU's Barely Banana ink, a computer generated font, and one little bling from a random sheet I found in the drawer. The top white is pop-dotted against the black. Happy Dances everyone.

CAS & 10MCD

Another gorgeous day here, but the weatherman says that there is snow in the forecast...Now, I don't mind snow, but I need to make the two-hour drive to watch three of my grandchildren tomorrow and would rather not have bad roads.

Today, however, I made a card for CASology and the 10 Minute Craft Dash. This little card really did take under 10 minutes to make. The key is to be very organized. have everything ready to go, then craft like crazy!  While the Cricut machine was cutting my circles, I made my "star" and measured the center where my first circle would go. Then it was just a matter of gluing those circles on, and adding a "trunk". Just made it, time was 9:47 seconds!!! Whew!!!

All Bazzill cardstock, and random bling. I purposely left the sentiment off the front. There is a verse inside. It was difficult to capture the red in the photo, but it is a bright, lovely red. Happy Dances

US187 & CAS22

Quick post today. But I have some good news to share. My card was chosen as the winner of the 10 Minute Craft Dash, week #7. I'm quite delighted! Wow. There were some very lovely cards, and I am very honored to be among such company. Check out the site on the link above and feel free to leave those wonderful crafters some comments on your favorites!

Today's card will be uploaded to CASology #22, Sparkle and to Unscripted Sketches #187. Another great cue card at CAS, and another really fun sketch at US. Be sure to stop by both places, and play along!

Bazzill white & black cardstock. Random scraps of glitter paper, and a random ribbon. PTI's sentiment from Birthday Basics with SU ink. Santa has promised that there will be a light box under the tree for me this year. I have been very, very good.  ; )

RS40

Good Monday morning.  Even though southeastern Wisconsin is blanketed in fog, the temperatures are in the 50s, and we have no snow to worry about for now.  A couple of years ago, as of yesterday, we were hit with a huge blizzard. I'm grateful we haven't been hit as of yet. Almost done getting my Christmas together. Just waiting for the cyber items to arrive then wrap and mail. A few cookies to bake, and then I'm done. Sorry if that sounds like I've really got things together, but I have to travel mid-month, and am unsure exactly when I'll be home. BIL needs some cardic care, and I am going to help my sister. Prayers for good outcome are sincerely appreciated.

I'd like to say thank you to the DT over at Unscripted Sketches. One of my cards made the Top 3, and I am honored and humbled to have been chosen. You can see the sketch and my card here: US Top 3. This is a very fun place to play; I highly recommend it, and you can bet I'll be playing there again soon!


I'm not sure about you, but I really like sketch challenges. This week over at Retro Sketches, there's a really fun sketch:

Thought I'd play along and here's what my take looks like:

Once again, I've used all scraps except for the white Bazzill cardstock base. The blue snowflake paper is from BoBunny, and its reverse is the red polka dot. SU ink, stamp, blue polka dot, and cardstock. Random red cardstock, a scrap of striped. Random button and mini-skinny ribbon. The center square is pop-dotted above the rest of the card. I do like this, and I hope you do too! Happy Dances everyone.

Friday...

I am blessed. I don't have to work on Fridays, or Mondays. Today is going to be filled with Sunday School planning, wrapping the presents for the little ones, hauling down the Christmas stuff, and whatever else I decide to tackle.
But before getting down to work, I photographed the card I made last night, and will play along with CAS(E) this Sketch. This card used only one piece of patterned paper, and a scrap at that! Gotta love that!

So. White Bazzill cardstock, Echo Park's Pride and Joy patterned paper, Imaginisce stamp, Jenni Bowlin for Ranger ink, Pure Bubbles & Bling stickers. I pop dotted the sentiment, and rounded some corners. So very simple, and I think this works well for a masculine card. Happy Dances everyone. 

Catching Up

I had to take DH to Dr. yesterday--back spasms, (he's okay), so this morning before I put my running shoes on and hit the errand trail, I wanted to play for the second time at Unscripted Sketches. It's one of those sketches that I know I'll go back to time and again. Be sure you stop over there and check it out, and while you're there, be inspired and play along!

It's a beautiful day here; sunny and fairly warm for the end of November. The kind of day that you want to put in a box and take out on those bitter, gloomy January days. Folks have taken advantage of the nice fall days and put up their outside decorations. Really gets me in the spirit. And speaking of spirit:

I found an old package of stickers in my Christmas stash, and rather than let them collect anymore dust, I used them here.  They are Deja Views Flurries & Frost. White and red Bazzill cardstock, and SU ink and sentiment stamp. Nothing too fancy. Just my style.

Lemons

I know, I know. Strange post title. However, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade! I wanted to play along with The Alley Way Stamps #16 Be Inspired Challenge, but didn't have any TAWS Christmassy stamps. So, I made lemonade...or rather, a snowman--out of bowling balls. Their challenge is filled with fun colors and great images, so you see why I wanted to participate. And while I was at it, I saw that the Color Throwdown had really similar colors! So I thought, what the heck, I'll play there too! Love these color combinations, don't you??!!!

  

Here's what I created, taking my inspiration from the circles on the stocking, and of course, the snowman.

I added a smile to the top bowling ball, and, voila, a cute face, this is from TAWS AdoraBowl set. For his little arms, I used a stamp from TAWS Awesome Blossoms set. I masked off the finger holes on the bottom bowling ball, and put some pop-dots underneath both.A washi tape scarf, and the little fellow is complete. My sister Sue punched out some silver snowflakes for me a couple of years ago, and everytime I tried to throw them out, something stopped me--glad I didn't! Then some layered circles out of Bazzill colored cardstock, added a couple of small blings, and there you have it. I used a computer generated font for the "Merry Christmas." The snowman and card base are Bazzill too. Hope this makes you happy dance a bit today.

CASology 21

Fast post today. Bad lighting, can't be helped, sorry. Wanted to play at CASology, where the cue card for this week is "time."  Mine's a bit sassy........

Bazzill white cardstock base, scraps of striped patterned, Imaginisce stamp, red stickles for the bow, and a computer generated font.

Unscripted Sketches #186

Quick post this morning before Jen comes over and we scrap till late afternoon (yipee!!!) I wanted to play along with the really fun sketch over at Unscripted Sketches #186 so I made a birthday card for granddaughter Kaylin who turns one year old early next month.

I'm sorry I don't know what the patterned paper is, it's just a scrap I found. All the cardstock is from Bazzill. SU ink. Pink letters from Jillibean Soup Pickled Pink Alphabeans, green 1 is from Thickers. Stamped banner is Hero Arts, stamped HB is from Imaginisce. Roses are from Arco Iris Flowers. Random yellow ribbon scrap. Someday little Kaylin will like this, I'm pretty sure. Happy Dances everyone!

RS39/10 minute #7

So here's hoping that everyone who celebrates, had a great Thanksgiving and a successful black Friday. I didn't shop yesterday as we had our second Thanksgiving dinner! Wouldn't have gone out anyway - too crazy! Leftovers are great - no cooking at least until Monday! Today I am putting dishes back up on the top shelves of the cupboards, and paper crafting! Woohoo! I made a birthday card for one of the granddaughters, and will play along with Retro Sketches #39 and the 10 Minute Craft Dash #7.  This was a really, really fast card. Once I gathered my materials, this card took me only 9.47 minutes to make. I will admit that I made a test card, but changed up some of the design, and materials, so that the card you see here is the final, under 10 minutes card.

This is what I used: SU ink, stamp, Baja Breeze cardstock, corduroy brads, and ribbon. MME Moments navy patterned paper, a scrap of kraft cardstock, and Crystal Stickers blue bling. It seriously took less than 10 minutes to make. Kinda fun to try! Happy dances everyone.

Happy Thanksgiving

I'm about to go and make pies, but took a quick look at my blog, (ok, and a few other blogs too...) and I just wanted to wish all those out there who celebrate, a happy and blessed Thanksgiving. There are so many things to be thankful for, and as Pastor said in his sermon last night, we should be thankful first and foremost for God himself. Yes, I'm thankful for all He has given/done for me, but how often am I truly thankful for Him? Got me wondering and thinking. Will try to be more aware of that in the future.

I am blessed. Family, friends, and countless comforts. Here is a photo of one of my newest blessings:

Emelea Rayne, is just shy of three months old. She is the daughter of my oldest son and his lovely wife. I've fallen in love again! Hopefully next year, we can be together for Thanksgiving.

I don't know what possessed me into thinking that I had any ability to blog. I'm not very good at it, but over time, I hope to improve in both my blogging efforts, and my paper crafting. With the kind support of my DH, family and friends, and with blog friends like you out there, I will strive. One of my blog friends, Geri, has created a card you should all see. I was blown away. Here's a link; you'll be as delighted as I am:

manitobastamper

Time to make pies!

cqc164/rs38

I've been getting ready for Thanksgiving this week, but wanted to do a quick post for two challenges. Great colors over at ColorQ and a really fun sketch at Retro Sketches.

     and   

I probably won't be able to do much more until at least Saturday... Going to one Thanksgiving dinner, and making one the next day.  And absolutely NOT going to any black Friday sales. This is what I came up with:

The darkest tree is really close to Concord Grape, though it almost looks black in the photo. The yellow is actually a scrap of More Mustard from SU, but the rest are just random scraps. White Bazzill for card base. An old pair of stickers, package long gone. I die cut the trees using my Cricut. 

CASology 19 #2

Couldn't resist another CASology THANKS card. So-so lighting today, but as promised, more polka dots!

Bazzill black and white cardstock, and scraps (yea!!!!!) of some of my favorite itty-bitty polka dot paper. I cut the letters with Cricut's Cherry Limeade cartridge. Happy Dances everyone.

CAS 19

Still have to get to work, so will get right to the CASology challenge. This week it's Thanks. I kept it really, really simple. If you haven't played along there, I highly recommend it!

Bazzill white cardstock, Authentique patterned paper, yellow scraps, SU ink and stamp. That's it; and I really like the lines of it! Hope you do too. Happy Dances everyone.

PSSC

I really have been busy....I really have been making cards, but haven't had time to post.  That darn job sure gets in the way of the things I want to do!! ; )  My job is fun, I have to admit. I work with one of my dear friends, Mary, and time goes by so quickly at the Museum Archives.  Research, photographs, maps, books, and literally, tons of paper. And speaking of work, I have to get another post in, and make it there yet this morning. So without further ado, here is my take on this great sketch for the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge

Bazzill white cardstock, yellow scrap, LYB Babysaurus Blue Geometric patterned paper, PS Eco Friendly stamps, SU ink, and a bit of unknown silver rub on the clouds.

Color Throwdown 217

First, a big thank you to all the veterans out there. My dad is one, so I have a special place in my heart for those men and women who have served their country so selflessly.

Had a busy morning at church today. I teach the littlest ones in Sunday school, and they are so cute and so eager, and boy, do they tire me out! We have a wonderful newly-formed women's group at church, and it's great to see what's coming up through this group. New Bible studies, gatherings, projects.... Can I just say I love my church?!! Naturally, God is first, but this community of believers is like having another family who loves you, teases you, encourages you, consoles you, and lifts you up. I pray you all have a community like this wherever you are.

I made a card for Color Throwdown #217, and they have an incredible color palette this week:



And here's my take:

The cardstock is all Bazzill, the rosette is LYB Blue Reverie, the other blue patterned paper is from a 6x6 MME pad. SU ink, stamp and white ribbon, random blue ribbon, and the bling, which isn't showing up very well, is Webster's Sparklers. I love rosettes, don't you?!! Happy dances.

Happy Friday

Quick post today as I have boatloads of errands to run. I loved the trend watch over at Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge, and this is what I came up with:

I used SU cardstock for the base, scraps for everything else, Paper Smooches Spring Groves and Sentiment Sampler stamps, a silver gel pen for the dots on the mushrooms and that's about it. My take was to use the colors and stack the mushrooms and birds instead of wood.

CASology 18

I've been distracted. Had ANOTHER family funeral yesterday. That's four cousins this year...Dang! My comfort in all of this is that while I will miss them for a number of years here on earth, I know the promises of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Because He lives, we shall also live. I will get an eternity (emphasis on eternity) in heaven with all those who have gone before. That is real comfort! I can hang on. The funeral was held in Oshkosh, WI, about a 2.5 hour drive from here. I did get a chance to see my dad and my sister Sue, and several other family members, so that was an upside to yesterday. I made one stop on the the way home....

I went to one of my favorite places -- My Paper Playground, in Oak Creek. Shout out to Sharon! Great store, and Sharon is wonderful. So if you live in the Milwaukee area -- GO!  MPP has great papers and goodies, and Sharon said that she's about to get some new stock in! MPP gets two thumbs up; check it out!

On to the challenge over at CASology.  The cue card this week is orange. Not so difficult. I managed to make a sweet little card, well, I think it's sweet! ; )  Do check out CASology. It's got a great design team, and the folks who participate make some inspiring cards! Here 'tis:

Sorry about the lighting. Not great lighting today...

Bazzill white cardstock, and orange from MPP. The vase and flowers are from Alley Way Stamps Awesome Blossom set, and the sentiment is from Paper Smooches Sentiment Sampler. Copic marker for the vase, Versacolor orange for the flowers, with hand drawn stems. Just a smidge of Martha Stewart's orange glitter in the centers of the flowers. A couple of popdots under the fussy cut vase, and there it is. Took me maybe 15 minutes to make this! Happy dances everyone! 

retrosketches #36

Quick post, on to other cards/scrapbook pages..This one is for Retrosketches. Great place to play, awesome design team, and just plain fun! Anniversary card for son/daughter-in-law's 1st! 11/11/11

Bazzill white cardstock, all other papers are scraps!!!!!!! unknown washi tape, Random ribbon and tinsel, Mark Richards nailhead bling. SU ink and The Alley Way Awesome Blossom stamps. Happy dances everyone.

Yellow x 2

Something got into me today, and I just had to make 2 cards, both with yellows. Yellow is one of my favorite colors, so this was way too much fun.  I did manage to get some other things done, as well... But the best part of the day was cardmaking.  The first card is going into the Paper Smooches Sparks Challenge.
This is the picture perfect inspiration,

and this is my take:

I used all Bazzill cardstock, Paper Smooches Stamps Spring Groves (bird), and Sentiment Sampler. SU inks, and Mark Richards red nailheads bling.  Super easy.

The next (Yellow) card I made is for the Dynamic Duos #26

You just can't go wrong with a baby card, and using yellow is pretty safe.  This is what I came up with:

I used We R Memory Keepers (gingham), and scraps of polka dots, SU So Saffron ink, star and sentiment stamps, Paper Smooches Eco Friendly dotted line stamps, Memory Box Marshmallow Clouds die, and Memento London Fog ink.

CFC76

Don't you just love the clean and simple designs over at CAS-ual Fridays???!!  It's "Kraft" week over there, and this is what I came up with:

Bazzill craft and white paper, Paper Smooches Eco Friendly stamps, Copic markers, computer generated sentiment and ribbon scrap. Kinda cute!

CAS(E)d today

Another quick post. Too much going on this weekend, but wanted to play at CAS(E) This Sketch. Have to run to the grocery store before the migraine makes me practically blind.  Love the sketch, btw...

Bazzill white and purpley-blue cardstock.  SEI Serendipity Elemnent vellum stickers, computer generated font.  The stickers are oolllddd. But I love using up old stuff; it's a great excuse to go out and get brand new goodies!! ; )  Happy Dances....

RS#34

Quick post today, have to get to work pretty soon.  Will be putting this into Retro Sketches #34. What a fun place to play!  Granddaughter Samantha's birthday is coming up, and thought I'd make a girly card for a girly girl.

Bazzill white and yellow cardstock. Echo Park yellow and white striped scraps, pink scraps, patterned scraps for ice cream,  Taylored Expressions Sprinkled with Love stamps, Doodle Bug bubble gum twine, Sticko flowers and metal edge stickers, Thickers 3 sticker, random ribbon, and pop dots. I think she'll get a kick out of this! Happy dances all.