Blessed Christmas

I believe. I believe in God. I believe that Christmas is to celebrate the "birthday" of Jesus our Savior. We all know that it's not about the presents. It's about God, family and "peace on earth, good will toward men." It's been a pleasure and privilege to share time and thoughts with you this past year, and I wish you all blessings and peace. With that said,  I'd like to share a few images that have somehow touched me.

And I'd like to leave you with part of the book of Luke, a section that all of my little Sunday School children know... even the three-year-olds...

"In those days, Cesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. 

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child

While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." 

(Luke 2:1-7)

Are you ready?

For Christmas, that is.... All the boxes that needed to be sent to far away places are either on their way, or have arrived at their destinations. No tree this year for us, no decorating, no baking, nothing big going on. None of the kids are coming to the house this year, and we'll be over in Madison the 29th for baptism/Christmas, so we just didn't see the sense in hauling everything down. My sister and dad will come for dinner on the day, but they don't care if we've decorated or not. I actually have a "tree" of sorts. It's a rosemary bush trimmed to the shape of a tree, and it has a fancy ribbon stuck in it. Smells really nice in the living room! I'm looking forward to the Children's Christmas Eve Service at church too. Small church full of love. This Saturday is our "dress rehearsal" and I always order pizza for the kids with the 'threat' that if they don't sing out or don't know their parts, there'd be no pizza for them. Naturally I wouldn't carry through on that ever, and the funny thing is...they know it! Great group of kids. I teach the youngest kids age 3-kindergarten, and direct the children's choir. It's great fun.

So while our Christmas will be relatively quiet, it will be good. I talked to my dear friend Val in Florida yesterday. Her holiday will be somewhat quiet as well, hmmmm....maybe she and her DH should come up here for Christmas! What do you think, Val??!!! We'd have so much fun!

And now I suppose you'd like to know what this post contains besides my ruminations. Well sweet little Anna's 11th birthday is Friday, and I made a card for her. Rather cute, if I might say so.

It's going into the Lawnscaping Challenge with its lovely "Artic Color" palette.

I love these stamps. They're the Winter Sparrows set, and I used the coordinating dies, both from Lawn Fawn. I stamped the sentiment using two different LF sentiments; Year Three and Winter Sparrows. The two white panels are die cut using MME dies, and MFT flags for the sentiment panel. A bit of MS glitter, a smattering of Copic markers for the birds, a bit of random twine, one white sequin on the bow, but it's not showing well...All the papers are scraps, including the light gray base!!!! And that's about it. I'll shut up now before I bore you all to sleep! Happy dances everyone.

Surprise!!! Happy Birthday Carol!!!!

Today is Carol's Birthday, and a group of us decided a little party was in order! Do stop over at her blog, Just Me: c,  and wish her a happy birthday today! Everyone needs a party on their very own special day! Now. First we need a few things to get in the party mood... I'm thinking that since Carol's weather has included Blizzard conditions as of late, we should start the party here:

or maybe here:

Or perhaps a little place like this...

But wait!!!!...This looks like it will hold all of us party goers!! WooHooooooooooo

And while we're celebrating Carol, we'll need something to make a toast or two:

Mmmmm....But wait! There's more!!

And we might need some of this, too:

or this...

However, unless I win the lottery, we'll all just have to dream we were all together celebrating with Carol! I hope, Carol, that you were able to envision yourself in these paradises, and that your birthday is filled with as much warmth as all this tropical sunshine! Happy Birthday!

Now it wouldn't be a party in our world without a card, so....

There are several of us wishing Carol a Happy Birthday. I'm hoping that this list contains everyone, and that all the links are 'clickable'. Be sure to visit the rest of the well wishers, and naturally, go and give Carol your best wishes too!

Ardyth 

Anita 

Geri 

Kimberly 

Shannon 

Darnell 

Barb 

Amy 

Dana

Cindy 

Savannah
Greta
Kylie

Lawnscaping Blog Hop

Welcome to Lawnscaping's Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from Erica's blog, and if you haven't, you can always head over to the Lawnscaping Blog for the hop's Master List. You'll want to be sure to start at the beginning to see all the wonderful creations made at each blog, and leave a comment too!

With the WINTER theme, I've got a couple of really fun little cards to share, created entirely with some of my favorite Lawn Fawn stamps. First up is a card with an incredible tag, and a sweet little snowman.

All the stamps are from the Winter Gifts set, and I'm fully in love with it! The tag, along with its matching die, are the perfect size and shape. I left out the "e" in the "Merry" and replaced it with a snowflake. The red polka dot dp is from Bo Bunny, a couple of red (gosh those were a great dime-store find!) jingle bells, a smidgen of bakers twine, three sequins, and a few different inks. 

I went all CAS for my next card, using only the stamps from the Peace Joy Love set. 

I created a wreath with one small branch from the set, and can you believe it, I managed to stamp it perfectly the first time! (That's part of the beauty of Lawn Fawn stamps; how wonderfully they stamp!) And the font on this sentiment...is that gorgeous or what??!! A bit of striped (and shiney!!) dp down the right side, a few bits of red bling, and done! PTI green, and SU black ink. The white panel is popped up with foam tape, though it's difficult to tell that from my photo. 

Now, before you hop over to WitchyFingers blog, be sure to leave me a comment. After all, it just wouldn't be a blog hop without PRIZES, would it??!!! In fact, you'll increase your chances of winning by leaving comments at each stop in the hop. But be sure to leave your comments by Sunday, December 15th, 2013 at 11:59 PM to be eligible for the prizes. For more information about the generous sponsors and prizes, be sure to head over to the Lawnscaping Blog homepage! Happy Hopping (and a little happy dance too), everyone!

One for the TMCD

A couple of things before we get down to the business of newly made cards. First, this card, was chosen as a TMCD Favorite! Thanks so much Paulina and also to the DT! Ever since Paulina started the TMCD, I've loved it, and have tried to play when time and inspiration allowed. Next, this card, was chosen as one of the Top 3 Featured Members this past week over at the Muse challenge. Thanks to all who voted for this card. I'm truly honored that my fellow card makers liked this one. (insert huge smile here!) (Twice!)

And now to the card... I've already mentioned that I really enjoy playing at the 10 Minute Craft Dash. It's really fun for me, and getting something made in under a 10 minute time limit is right up my alley!  Paulina chose a trio of killer colors, and a ping went off right away. So I gathered up my supplies, and in 5:53 minutes this little beauty was done. (Hands Up) I CASEd my Muse card (see above), which was a CASE of Laurie's Muse card last week. (got that?!) First are the colors:

Nice, huh?! I know you can see why I had to play, and hmmmm....you should too! And here's what took me just under 6:00 to make:

Under 6:00 minutes, you ask...yep! Under the terms of the challenge, one can gather up supplies before beginning to craft, which is exactly what I did. Hit the scrap boxes (one is cs, the other is dp), and found the three scraps I needed. In my tackle box, I've got all my brads and eyelets, and knew I had a yellowy/goldie brad, so found that right away. Grabbed my LF stamps, and PTI ink, and off to the races it was. Put the flower together, trimmed all three scraps to size, tape-runnered onto base, stamped sentiment, pop dotted flower, and then at the last minute, added a bit of Wink of Stella to the red leaves of the flower. Hands Up, Done! And I'm finding I rather like this one. Hope your day is warm and wonderful. Happy dances everyone!

Some shopping accomplished

I left the house this morning at 9:30ish, and ran my booty right off! Stopped and got gas, hit the Red Bell for educational toys (where, incidentally, I hit the jackpot), headed to T.J. Maxx and found a red box that I thought would fit Kelly's presents and perused the craft section. Make sure the next time you hit T.J.'s you find their craft section. I'm finding tons of 6x6 tablets, punches, wood veneers... Very cool. After that, checked at Hobby Lobby in case they had a better red box, no luck, popped into Office Depot for DH, and then found a few things at Michaels. Can you believe that I was home by noon!! With a dining room table half full of waiting to be wrapped gifts! Great day so far!!

And now onto the cards...With my big family, many months of the year have multiple multiple birthdays in them. December isn't too bad, but they all seemed to be fairly grouped together. I'm starting with baby Kaylin's card. She's two. And when she was here for Thanksgiving, I gave her her birthday present. All's left is the card. Not that she'll care, but I'm sure my most treasured dil will put it in Kaylin's baby book. I used the sketch from Seize the Sketch. It's a good one, and seemed perfect for her card.

Bazill pink card base, scrap of dp, and a flower from my stash. The sentiment and #2 were cut with my Silhouette, and I used a smidge of ribbon from Michaels.

My youngest son has a birthday on the 13th. The baby of the family. Can't believe how fast these years have gone. He's a doctor now, and has 4 kids of his own...34 years old. But he's been such a blessing. Well, most of the time, lol! As soon as I saw the sketch over at CAS(E) this Sketch, I just knew what I wanted to do for Chris' card. Turned out exactly the way I wanted it to, too.

I used a creamy colored base, but not sure who made the paper. All the other cardstock are bits and bobs from my scraps box. The cool chevronish paper is from Studio Calico. I stamped "happy" with black SU ink, within a LF speech blubble. The "birthday" parts are cut with a PTI die. MME black dots. Manly enough, and he'll like the colors. Well, that's it for me for the moment. I'm heading back to the desk, and try to get the next cards done! Happy dances everyone.

Good Day for Crafting

It's gloomy and overcast outside today, though I will say that it's warm out. Any precipitation today would be rain as opposed to snow. Later this week our temps dip into normal December weather. Before moving onto my projects, and just in case you're interested, I've got grandkids photos in this post. And if not, keep reading! : )

I've got one card and one project for today's post. First up is the Muse Challenge. Don't you just love this challenge? Every week, the DT has an amazing Muse, and I swear, all the entries are fantastic. Do take the time to check it out...if you haven't already! : ) Now. This week's Muse is the lovely and talented Laurie Willison. Her cards are always gorgeous, and this one is no exception:

For my card, I went with a fairly literal interpretation of Laurie's card. Fairly. Large plain panel, and ampersand, and stripes. 

Using my Cameo, I cut three ampersands and stacked them. The "peace" and "love" are from Lawn Fawn. Random red and green cardstock scraps, and the stripes are from AC. Red VersaMark ink, and I covered the ampersand with Wink of Stella. EZPZ. Or as Darnell would say: QACAS. 

Next up is my project for the Lawnscaping Challenge #71. We are to make a project using a tag or a treat bag. I made both. I have to tell you that LF stamps are so nice. Every time I break them out, they stamp perfectly. And it's always fun playing in the Lawnscaping challenges. This treat bag is full of peanut butter cups for my DH. He loves little treats, and on Christmas morning, he'll find this on his desk in the family room. He'll be delighted with this! 

And here's what I made:

First, it has polka dots. How fun are they??!! And next it has glittery ribbon. The very last little bitty bit of it. *sniff-sniff*. But don't overlook the jingle bells...I love jingle bells. Even typing the word "jingle" is fun! I've used one of my favorite LF stamp sets, Winter Gifts, and its matching die. Black SU ink, and colored with ProMarkers. I tore the legs off (gee...doesn't that sound cruel???) a large brad, and popped up the cap. IRL it matches the Reminisce polka dot paper. I cut the treat bag with my Cameo...turned out cute and DH will find this amusing. Well, that's it. Heading back to the mess I left, and am going to hopefully start work on another project. BTW.... don't forget to watch for the Lawnscaping Winter Blog Hop. It's coming up December 13th. Hope to see you there!! Happy dances everyone. 

Still VERY Thankful

Last Thursday here in the US, we celebrated Thanksgiving. What an amazing time. Our son Tad and his family came from Minneapolis on Wednesday evening, and stayed until Saturday. Another son, Christian and his family made the drive over from Madison on the day, and our daughter Cathy and family popped in too. At one point, we had 10 of the 19 grandchildren here in the house! Can you just imagine??!! The youngest was Avery, at 2 months, and Jessica was the eldest at 20. Those two girls share the same birthday - how cool is that??!! I'll post some photos later on in this post, but I actually do have a card I'd like to share.

Before the deadline passes, I really, really want to play over at Color Throwdown. I'm rather enamored with this palette, and knew I just had to make a card. Or, in my case, several cards before I made one that didn't end up in the recycle bin! Lol. Went all CAS on this one. But first, check out the color palette:

Totally yummy or what?! After several attempts, this is the one I liked best:  

Now, for some reason, the card didn't photograph well today; I'm blaming the overcast morning when I took this...The snowflakes are really a shiny silver, and my sister Sue punched them out for me a long time ago; I've been hoarding them... The polka dot strip is a bit of Washi tape, the greens are just scraps, and I used my NBUS SSS "Merry Christmas" die. The smaller white panel is popped up with foam tape. Now there's a new toy I'm loving! Keep reading, if you want to see some fun little kidlets...

First up is Avery. She just turned 2 months old and is as cute as can be. She loved her Uncle Tad, and of course, her grandma!

What a smile!

Next is Kaylin. She'll be two on the 11th, and what a smart little girl. Her vocabulary is extensive, and her comprehension of multiple step tasks is amazing! We had fun together.

Now there's a face!!! She looks just like her daddy, though when he was that age, his hair was strawberry blond. This photo just cracks me up!

On Friday morning, mom and dad went to do a little Christmas shopping and grandma happily volunteered to watch the little ones. We got our craft on. These three made photo frames for mom and dad and when they were done, we wrapped them so they'd remain a surprise. I let them use all the stickers and embellies they wanted to, and they decorated them the way that pleased them!

That's big brother Carter in the center, and Sammy on the left. Wait till you see the next photo of Samantha... she's quite the girl...

She and Carter have November  birthdays, so I just saved their birthday gifts till they came for Thanksgiving. This girl is in hog-heaven with her new bride dress. She calls herself a "princess bride". Mighty cute!

And last, I have a photo of five of the grandchildren sitting on my kitchen floor. They all love olives, and were funny enough to put one on their fingers so grandma could photograph them. Drew is the darling little redhead, Lily has on the amazing tights, Grant is the blond goofball, and you've already "seen" Sam and Carter. The other two little ones were napping, and the older grandkids hadn't gotten to the house yet. What a wonderful family; so much to be thankful for. I'm still smiling at all the newly made memories. And thanks everyone for wading through this batch of photos. Happy dances everyone.

Struggling

I've been struggling with migraines for over a week now, and haven't felt much like crafting. Today is tolerable, and after seeing my sister (yay! Hi Sue), I came home and made the last card for the 10 Minute Craft Dash. Oh, Paulina, I love this challenge! Sometimes when I'm crafting, I play around with the ideas, and change the layout. With the TMCD, I just go with what was in my head (besides the migraine, that is..). Great color combo at the TMCD, be sure to check it out:

This card will also go into Addicted to Stamps and More, where participants need to "make your mark". Using pens, markers, colored pencils... This qualifies as the cake and frosting were colored with Copics!

Here's my card:

Scraps from my scrapbox, and I only know that the yellow polka dot is an MME. A bit of navy ribbon from SU, Jenni Bowlin navy ink, magenta and yellow Copics, all LF stamps, and a dash of MS glitter. The flag was cut using my MFT dies. And yes, this only took 9:49!!! Talk about a "WHEW"!!! But if you look at the basic design, it really went together quickly.

My next card is for the Pinspired Challenge. They have a fun and funky pinspiration photo for us, and if you hurry, you can still play! Check it out:

Coffee and cake. Sweets and flowers. My main inspiration came from the horizontal stripes (cake), and the colors. Oh, and the coffee of course! See what you think.

A wonky photo. Guess I just suck at photography...Anyway...More scraps. Every little piece is out of the scrapboxes. Colorbox brown ink, PS coffee cup stamp, MFT sentiment, MME yellow dots, and I made the pink ones. Not sure if you can see the sparkle on the pink ones. I used my paper punch and punched out the pink paper. Added a layer of Wink of Stella, and then Glossy Accents, et, voila! Cool in real life. 

Now, if I promise only one more card today, will you still look? Hope so, and I do promise! It's for Retro Sketches and Less Is More.  At LIM, we're to use patterned paper in a CAS way. And check out the cool sketch from Laurie Willison:

So love this sketch! Very cool. And my card:

Scraps. Again. Yay!!! SU baby stamps. I stamped and fussy cut the boat. EZPZ. A bit of brown ink from Colorbox, SU yellow, and an aqua-ish/blue/green ink from Colorbox. Love the simplicity of this sketch. Okay, I'm done, as promised and will try, head willing to do more tomorrow. Happy dances everyone.

Squeaking One In

There's just a bit over an hour before the current Lawnscaping Challenge closes. Like I mentioned in yesterday's post, I had wanted to make a card similar to this one; I couldn't stop myself. Compulsion driven. Inability to stop. The addiction called. I answered.

I had leftover paper. The inks were still out. I. just. had. to. make. another. But this one's a bit different...

I recieved the navy polka dot paper, the woodgrain sticker strips (and a host of other goodies) from a dear sweet friend. Thanks again for them honeygirl. They're from Fancy Pants. The greenish paper is from a 6x6 Kaiser Craft pad. Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin ink (love this pad!), a scrap of twine and some pop dots. The tag die, and the sentiment is from LF. I adore that font! And now, off I go before the deadline passes and I'm still posting...Happy Dances Everyone!

Why is it?

Why is it that as the holidays approach, that we seem to get busier? So many things to do, and so much less time. I could make a list. I could describe appointments, baking and cooking and cleaning, shopping, and the like, but you all know how busy it is without me telling you. There all the things we have to do, and then there are the things we want to do. And amid the haves and the wants some perspective is in order. The Biblical account of Mary and Martha comes to mind. My first priority, no matter the season or "busy-ness", is to put God first in my life and everything else follows well and good. So that's what I'm going to try to do.

I wanted to make cards today. The rest of the week is iffy. Too much going on, including an overnight trip to watch the grandkids in Madison -- and I get to watch the new baby too!! So while I have the time, I'm popping in three cards for three challenges. My first card goes into CASology, where Geri G. is Guest Designer over there this week. The cue card is "Triangle."

This is a "well-shut-my-mouth" card. Darn clever!! 

My card goes something like this:

You might ask where the triangles are...well, some are on the paper airplane, and if you really think about it, all the stars on the scrap of dp are made up of them too! That was a happy accident, finding that dp in my scrapbox. I was actually looking for a cloudish paper, but this blue struck my fancy. The stamps and die for the paper airplane are all LF and stamped with black SU ink.

Next up, I have a card for Seize the Sketch, a challenge I've been wanting to play in, but haven't had the chance until today. 

Very cool sketch. I can see using this one again. Since I wanted to make some little girl cards, this worked out well.

It's a prettier pink than it shows, and it actually is somewhere in between the 3-petaled flower and the bottom half of the strip above the polka dots.  Scraps again, both the cardstock and the dp. The felt flowers are from SU, and the stamp is Imaginisce. Studio G ink. Pretty darn easy. And I think a young lady will like this one. 

And last but not least, I am playing along with the Lawnscaping Challenge, where the sentiment is to be made the focal point of the card. 

I liked the idea so much, that after I finish this post, I'm hoping to make one more card along these lines. We'll see how it goes...

All the stamps and the little smiley face are LF, of course. A scrap of white for the speech bubble, some Kaiser Craft dp, and the navy polka dot strip down the left side is a sticker from Fancy Pants. Jenni Bowlin Spice Tin ink, and a smidge of Studio G. Oh, and an MFT die.

So that's it for today. Happy dances everyone.