Happy Halloween...or....

Or should I say, "Merry Christmas?!" Wait till I show you the photo of the weather here in SE Wisconsin in a minute. Not a surprise, but I wasn't quite ready for this yet:

It's tapered off considerably now, and we've only gotten an inch or two. By this time tomorrow, it should all be melted, so it's no big deal to me. And since I'd done my grocery shopping yesterday I don't even have to go out in this if I don't want to! It's the Trick-or-Treaters I feel bad for. They'll be wearing winter coats and boots over their costumes if they decide to come out at all. Poor little things!

I have a card today made using the sketch at The Paper Players challenge. I gave it a Fallish-Masculine flavor.  I'm also entering this into SSS Wednesday Challenge. 

Here's my card:

All these different cardstocks are from my scrap file. I had the full chunk of the gray, just a bit of the orange; enough to cut the wide strip and sentiment, and exactly enough to make those green stripes. The square was cut with an MFT die, and the stripes with the EH Skinny Stripes die, and the sentiment is from Card Deco. I masked off part of a Poppystamps sentiment for the 'to you' portion to complete my card. That cream-colored square was another scrap with tiny flecks of color in it. 

I am diligently working to get some commenting done, however, we are expecting more company for a long weekend and I'm not sure if I'll get to much in the next several days. You all have a great weekend, and I'll see you soon. As always...

Still Here

Yep. I'm still here. This is my first non-scheduled post in months. DH had some (more) health issues which started in early June, and after a battery of tests, labs, doctors' visits, and medication changes, he's finally on the mend. Just in time to attend our grandson's wedding! We'd had a ton of family in and out, and it was lovely. Will show you a shot from the wedding.

That's Melissa, sil Jerry, Jessica, the groom Christopher, our daughter Cathy, and Elizabeth.

Such an amazing family, and when I can find more photos, I will do my best to share another one or two, but not overshare...unless you twist my arm, lol!

After our company left, so did my mojo. It took several days for me to find it hiding in with all the extra blankets and pillows, where it complained that it was just plain exhausted. Wuss.... So while DH was sleeping in this morning, I found a challenge or two and worked on some cards.

Here's the first which will head off to Less Is More, where the brief is a one-layer card using Winter Flora.

All the stamps are from WPlus9's Woodland Wreath set. It's an NBUS for me, but has been on the market for several years. The card looks crooked, but that's just my "amazing" photography skills (or lack thereof!). 

I used the some of the same stamps for my second card which I made for the current Color Throwdown challenge. Pretty Fall colors...

I stamped the branches and berries twice in AE Fizz and ME Smoke inks. The sentiment is from Gina K. Another one layer card, which is a nice and easy way to get that sleepy mojo going again!

For now, I will close. I'd like to visit your blogs and leave a little love, if time and DH's demands permit. That's my goal for today. It's nice to be back and as always...

Twofer Challenge #21

Here we are already in the midst of October. How in the world did that happen?! It was wonderful to see you all playing along with last month's Twofer Challenge "Critters" prompt. I really enjoyed seeing all those adorable images and the fun ways you used them. This month, we've got a fun prompt too, and it's quite apropos for Halloween.

See...I told you! I have a peppermint, tootsie roll, gummy bear, M&Ms candy, and a host of other 'sweet' candyish stamps. But my brain went in a bit of another direction. An ice cream bar and popsicles. They're sweet, too! Together they look like this:

When I was a kid, I loved orange popsicles, but I always had to break them in half and share with my sisters or brother. But ice cream bars were 'built' for one! This ice cream bar has a lovely strawberry ice cream with a deep, rich, dark chocolate coating. Yum! Sweet! 

Both treats were created with scraps, using a Studio Calico popsicle die. I added some bead "sprinkles" and an EH hand on my first card, (which is a thank you card and had a GC enclosed) and fussy cut the chocolate coating using the outside of the die as a template. A Hero Arts sentiment, and a white gel pen for some shine finished this rather CAS card. For my orange popsicle card (for one of my many grandchildren's birthdays), I used an RC patterned paper, and cut a scrap in the same color family with an Altenew frame die. I added a panel of vellum beneath to accentuate the treats, and the sentiment is from Sunny Studios. Sure wish you could see these in person; they look delicious!

Where "Sweets" take you this month? Halloween candy? Christmas candy? I can't wait to see what you create! The premise of Twofer is so easy, too. Two different cards for two different occasions using the same stamps, dies, stencils as your focal point. And as always...