Sympathy with Just Rite

Good Morning!

I hate to make sympathy cards,,,,,,,I like knowing that my loved one will receive a handmade card from me at a difficult moment,,,,,but I dislike what they stand for. sigh.

Unfortunately, there's been a death in the family of a dear friend. Sympathy card called for. Since I enjoyed the sketch this month over at the Justrite Friday Challenge  , I decided to go with that for my card.

Here's the sketch that we were to follow this challenge!

  

Here's my rendition of this great sketch.

  

I used the little bird house made from Squares Large as my focal point,,,,,,a border punch and lace as my scallop layer,,,,,,,,and a leafy branch cradling my sentiment as my banner. I tried to recreate the peaceful feeling of a birdhouse cradled in the branches of a tree for this card. I hope it brings some peace to my friend and her family.

I used a fabulous Justrite set called "Be Strong". It's so appropriate to so many situations and has several phrases of comfort in cases of illness and/or death,,,,,,,,as well as several support ribbons and frames.  I've used a phrase and a frame from that set.  Here's the stamp and the little bird house close up.

  

You can see the intricate frame that I've stamped on the green paper and cut out with Lacy Ovals. It's gorgeous!

Here's a pic of the little bird I fussy cut from the fabulous Webster's Papers digi papers,,,,,,,,

  

can you see the shimmer on that gorgeous ribbon? It's the Silky Crush Ribbon from May Arts bought from Really Reasonable Ribbon!  It's gorgeous,,,,,,,,,,silky, shimmery, and oh so soft! It makes fabulous bows! And it's OH SO reasonable!!!!!

Card Recipe:
Papers: Websters Papers Digi papers, Coordinations,
Stamps: Justrite "Be Strong" set
Ink: Versafine Sepia
dies: Spellbinders Squares Large, Lacy Ovals, Classic Ovals Large (some oldies but goodies!) and Foliage.
Lace and Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon
Punches: EK Success Threading Water Border punch
buttons: Recollections

I hope you enjoyed the card,,,,,,,thanks for looking! You still have a few days to join the fun over at Justrite! (Link at the top!) So run on over there and link up your rendition of the sketch using Justrite Stamps!

Use Wrapping Paper!

Hello!!!! So anyone who knows me, KNOWS I love challenges,,,,,,but this one turned into a REAL challenge for me LOL. The challenge over at Scrapbook.com this week in the weekly Christmas card challenge was to use WRAPPING PAPER,,huh??? people HAVE wrapping paper in August? LOL, any that I have left is usually at the bottom of the holiday closet crumpled under the mistletoe LOL.

But I managed to FIND some, believe it or not,,,,,,,,one small square,,,,,,,,thick, good quality,,,barely manageable,,,and SPARKLY green,,,and so I made my cards,,,,,,,The sentiments all come from one set or another of Justrite Stamps,,,,,,one of my favorite brands,,and of course, I used my 2010 heirloom ornament nesties,,,,,,,and my Holly Motifs,,,,,,,I think they came out half way decent,,,,,,,,for wrapping paper!!!!!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you all had a lovely weekend!  Leave me a comment, and I'll come visit your blog!

May Arts Ribbon Challenge

Recently, May Arts Ribbon chose 25 people to produce vintage valentines projects using their ribbon. I am proud to be one of them. This ribbon is so gorgeous, and drapes SO beautifully, it just floats. I can't describe it any differently,,,,,,it's just stunning.

So to show how beautifully it drapes, I just HAD TO make this double bow with quad bow attached and EIGHT tails. Yep,,,,,eight. They just FLOAT down the card.

Truly, this is luscious, beautiful, ROMANTIC ribbon,,,,,,,,so I chose a romantic theme for my card. The card itself is 6x6, gate fold and opens in the middle,,,,,,,I used MME Lost and Found paper (I know AGAIN!) and cut an oval window out of the card base, putting this beautiful vintage Valentines day image behind. All the flowers are hand made, inked, glittered, and dew drops applied with glossy accents. I've used the spellbinders foliage die and the MS winter branch punch for the foliage amongst the flowers that create this demi-wreath surrounding the vintage image.I used a hole punch and cupped them with a stylus, shaping them for the bits of tiny baby's breath amongst the foliage.

A Prima "say it in pearls and crystals" adds some shimmer,,,,,,,,and the gorgeous bow is the star of the show!

Here's some more pics and close ups,,,,,

The stunning ribbon that went to make this bow, the gorgeous vintage image and flowers,,,,,and finally the inside of the card.

I hope you enjoyed the card, and thanks for looking!!!!!!!

Party Time Tuesdays Challenge 52!

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday! It's time to party! Today over at PTT for challenge 52, they have a photo inspiration for us! Isn't this GORGEOUS? It almost makes me want to brave the snow!

I took my inspiration from the more subtle of the blues, the snow and the towering pines, and the touch of almost SILVERY white.

We're being sponsored this week by the amazing Paper Pretties and the equally fantastic Digital Delights. I've colored this adorable snowman Breezy by Paper Pretties with copics, and cut him out with Labels 3. I've matted labels 3 on top of Labels 18. My paper is MME "O' Christmas Tree". I've cut a snowflake with a sizzix die, heavily glittered the tips and added a small snowflake charm to the center. A double bow of white organdy and silver metallic, and one of my fav stamps from Justrite and she's DONE.

Here's a close up of this adorable stamp!

I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for stopping by. Now RUN, do not walk over to Party Time Tuesdays and join in the fun! You might win a prize!

Sassy Cheryl's Challenge!

Good afternoon! I have a card today for the Sassy Cheryl's challenge blog!  The theme today is SNOW and they have a super sketch to start the inspiration!

I took inspiration from the layers on the sketch, and followed it a bit loosely :)  I used a Sassy Cheryl's Quilt digi that she was kind enough to send me and colored it with copics. I turned this into my focal point and created the layers from the bottom up: spellbinders lacy squares, two Holly Motifs set katty corner, standard squares large,,,,and I used a smaller standard squares large to cut the adorable quilt digi out with and finishing up with  the smallest snowflake in Spellbinder's 2010 snowflake pendant dies.

I then layered kraft cardstock with Recollections Oh Christmas Tree line, set the focal point in the lower right hand corner, saving the upper left hand for the largest die in Spellbinders 2010 Snow flake pendant. My sentiment is House Mouse and I hand cut the little flag. Some bling, a tiny snowflake charm a big double bow, and she's done.

Here's a close up of this gorgeous stamp!

I'd like to thank Cheryl for the gorgeous images,,,and I have a confession to make.

I have no idea why she sent them. I am wracking my brains to remember if she had a drawing or something, and she probably thinks I'm a nutcase, but for the life of me, I can't remember! . DH says I just have too many things, thoughts, plans and ideas cluttering up my head, and I think he's right! What's more, most of my reminders are saved in my computer,,,,,,,and it's being fixed by my DS right now LOL. So, I am at a loss!

Thank you, Cheryl!!!!! She's always super sweet, and you should run right over (link at the top) and join the fun. There's still five more days!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

52 Christmas Card Throwdown!

This is the SECOND post of the day. If you're looking for my DT post for Party Time Tuesdays, scroll down!

OK, I've had a short break, and I'm ready to start my Christmas cards for 2012! Yep, hard to believe, but I'd rather make them once a week than go nuts in November! Apparently, there are plenty more nutcases prepared people in the world, because there's a new challenge out there JUST with this idea in mind!

It's the 52 Christmas Card Throw down challenge! And I am so there!!!!!!

Today over at the challenge, they have a sketch for you! Isn't it awesome??

I played with it a bit, moving the sentiment to the center,,,,,,but I think it's pretty recognizable.

I started with a base of Kraft paper (Hum,,,,,I'm using that a lot)  and cut and embossed one of the inserts in Spellbinders Classic Ric Rak to the left of center. I backed it with a shiny gold ribbon, so that the gold was peeping through. I then layered on K and Company Christmas paper in this yummy sepia/goldy color and inked well all around the card. For my center focal point, from the bottom up, I cut and embossed Spellbinders Holly Motifs, 2010 snowflake Pendants, and circles large, stamping right in the center of the top layer with a Just Rite stamp "I believe". I love this set! I inked all the layers well and adhered them all with pop dots.

A bow, some gems and a little gold (fake) bell charm, and she's done!

Here's a close up of the layers!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed! And if you want to get your cards done and completed by November this year, come on over and play!

Party Time Tuesdays Challenge 50!

Good Morning and Happy Tuesday! I hope everyone is staying warm! It's been chillier than normal over night here in Florida, although not nearly cold enough to have snow!

Today I have a card for PTT challenge number 50! It's time to PAR-TAY! The challenge is to use a bird image in honor of Save the Eagles Day. That's IT! Easy peasy! It can be any kind of bird!

We're being sponsored by the wonderful and fabulous Digi Doodles Shop and the Paper Shelter! I've used this adorable image called Happy Penguins from The Paper Shelter! Aren't they adorable?

I took my sentiment from the name of the stamp! They just seem like they are doing the Happy Happy, Joy Joy dance to me :) See?

Paper is a mixture of DCWV paper and Hanukkah paper of all things LOL. I built the snowflakes out of glittery chipboard pieces and plastic embellishments I bought at Walmart and then added a gem for a bit more shine. I cut the adorable penguins with labels 4 nesties after some copic coloring and matted them with the largest labels 4. A nice bow with the snowflake on top, and she's finished!

So come on over to Party Time Tuesdays and join the party! You just might win a prize from our fab sponsors!

Thanks for looking, and have a great rest of the week!

Reveal Day! PTT 49

I can't even tell you how excited I am! I've kept this secret for weeks, and it's been KILLING me! But today is Reveal day, and I can finally tell you all! I have the incredible honor of being a new member of the fabulous design team at Party Time Tuesdays!!!! I couldn't be more happy or more thrilled! Every Tuesday, PTT hosts fabulous challenges with incredible prizes and fabulous sponsors and a ton of amazing DT creations for inspiration! This week is PTT challenge number 49 "Something new you got for the holidays".

We're being sponsored by the fabulous Crafts and Me for a prize and the uber gorgeous images of the Wax Fruit Company! Wax Fruit was SO generous with the DT and sent us each an image to play with! I chose the gorgeous Kindness Seed Packet for my card. I simply could not resist it!

I printed the image several times at various sizes on my printer, colored the beautiful pansies with copics on my main image and then cut that out with Spellbinders Lacy Squares (NEW for Christmas!). I then fussy cut several pansies from my extra print outs, coloring those with copics as well. I shaped the cut pansies with my bone folder slightly, and popped them up on pop dots next to the seed packet. for a bit of sparkle and dimension, I highlighted many of the pansies with Glossy Accents, finishing off with a simple yellow bow and a pinky purple stick pin to highlight those colors in the paper (K and co Watercolor Bouquet). I created a tiny tag out of a tiny paper bag containing a few pansy seeds, and adhered directions for planting on the front of the tag, slipping it behind the the lacy squares. Easy peasy and as simple as that!

And lucky me!  I had the opportunity to do a SECOND card with the BEAUTIFUL image from Crafts and Me.

Isn't this image GORGEOUS? I colored her in copics,,,,,

I created the focal point from nesties,,,,,,,,from the bottom up, lacey squares, fleur di lis, pendants, 2 layers of Holly motifs, angled slightly differently, and circles large was used to cut the image out.

Here's a close up of the layers and this stunning image!

The bow is a triple butterfly bow made with two different color ribbons. I left the tails of the gold ribbon long and allowed them  to peek out the bottom.

I hope you enjoyed, and I appreciate your stopping in! Run, do not walk, to PTT and enter this challenge for a chance at a fabulous prize! And while you're there, take a look at the new DT members work and revisit the talent of the Senior DT. I promise,,,,it's worth it!

I'm Dreaming of a Pink Christmas!

I have to admit,,,,as much as I love holiday cards of all kinds,,,,,,,I AM SICK OF CHRISTMAS CARDS! LOL, I think I've been making them pretty regularly since AUGUST (and before). So when I opened the Stamptacular challenge (HERE!) , I will admit that I groaned at the thought of one more Christmas card, and I considered not doing the challenge this week. I love challenges,,,,,,but could I squeak out ONE MORE Christmas card? Well, the saving grace was that it was to be a PINK Christmas card,,,so I decided to go for it. What the heck. All mine have been sent out already, but there's always next year!

And so, I chose my favorite pink paper (anyone guess MME??? You'd be right!) and I tried to make the LEAST Christmassy card I could! Some layering and border punching, some frames with nesties, a gorgeous Justrite sentiment , some branch punches, velvet ribbon and a few die cut poinsettias, and she's finished.

Thank God.

LOL! Really,,,,,,I do love Christmas cards,,,,,,I'm just ready for a break! Anyone have a birthday??? Retirement?? Baptism? Bris? ANYTHING???

Merry Christmas!

And a Happy Hanukkah to all my Jewish friends,,,,,,,,,may you grow fat on latkes and jelly donuts!

Vintage School Girl!

Good afternoon! I hope everyone else has gotten more accomplished today than I have. I have been LAZY! Husband is working, and I have done nothing but lounge in bed and take pics for my blog LOL.

Whatever you're doing today, I do hope you have a bit of time to relax in this crazy last week before the holidays!

It's time again for the new Sugar Creek Hollow challenge! YAY! the theme this week is THANK YOU. They want to see our thank you cards, and you can find that challenge HERE!

Well, it just so happens, I have a lovely reason for a thank you card. My MIL sent us all some money for the holidays,,,,,,how sweet! I think I am going to spend mine on several sets of nesties and dies!

So, onto the card I'm sending my MIL. This is an adorable image from a new site I happened to run across yesterday,,,,awesome site! You can find the button on my side bar (Pointing finger), but the name of it is freevintagedigistamps.com. FANTASTIC SITE! I took this darling school girl and cropped out the ABC that was above her,,,,,I pulled her into Picnik and added a THANK YOU to the bottom and printed her in sepia. I then colored her with copics. I wasn't too worried about blending, because I wanted the old 50's children's book illustration look. Plus, I was going to be toning all the colors down by tapping sepia ink onto the colored image with a sponge, so blending wouldn't show as well anyhow. I layered on the MME paper (Market Street) using the sketch over at the MME blog here! A bit of lace, some stickles, pearls, hand died seam binding in this GORGEOUS peachy pink, a bit of border punching, a stick pin and TONS of inking, and she's done! Isn't she adorable????

Do go have a look at the two challenges here,,,,,the Sugar Creek Hollow and the MME challenge. But HURRY on the MME, it's got less than a day left!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed! I hope you have a lovely last day of the weekend!

OK, one more time LOL!

Just ONE more entry into the sugar creek hollow challenge LOL. This time I thought I'd ATTEMPT a bit more of a primitive style. Not sure I succeeded,,,,,but I tried LOL. Again, you can find this challenge HERE!

I cut this shape on my cricut, using my gypsy out of kraft paper and then border punched strips of scrap paper, layering them onto the base. I inked everything, stamped the tops and bottoms with a music note background stamp.

I collected some dried twigs in my yard and heat embossed them with just a bit of gold,,,,,and then I collected some Holly (the kind that had the LEAST pricklies!) from my back yard,,,,,tied tiny bundles of the real holly and the sticks,,,,,,,tied on some baker's twine, a jingle bell and a bit of bling,,,,,,and VOILA.

These probably won't last til next year unless the holly dries SUPERBLY. But it was fun to use as long as I have a ton in my yard!

I tell you what though,,,I have tiny scratches all over my hands from collecting the holly and cutting off the prickers.

Only me.

Have a lovely weekend!!!!! and thanks for looking!

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Yay, it's the weekend almost! Although my poor husband is working 10 hours both saturday and sunday,,,,,,,and I need to finish shopping. Hanukkah starts Tuesday and Christmas is just around the corner. I hope you all are further along than I am!

Well, I just had to go for a second try with Sugar Creek Hollow. I am addicted to that challenge, I tell you!!!!! Love it!

I've created a foursome of tags that can be used for ornaments when the gifts are opened (I HATE the idea of them being tossed away!). I cut the shape on my cricut using my gypsy, once out of kraft and a smaller size out of that same gorgeous MME paper I used for a card yesterday. It's DELICIOUS!

I then used nesties to cut out a window and placed vintage christmas images behind. Check out all the freebies over at the Graphics Fairy, button to the right. Tons of inking, some bling and pearls, a jingle bell and a pretty satin ribbon, gold embossed Holly leaves, and they are all set to go.

Easy peasy, but I am LOVING the effect!

Here's the sugar creek hollow challenge,,,,,,,and while you're there, check out the yummy Christmas candy they have! You won't believe it!!!!!

White On White BLIZZARD!!!

Good morning! The week's half over!

We don't get many blizzards here in Central Florida in the Tampa Bay area,,,,,,,butttttt I do remember a few from living in Massachusetts LOL. This week over at Sassy Cheryyl's they are having a white out!!!!

A white on white BLIZZARD that is!!!! The challenge is HERE! and so much fun! I love white on white,,,,so elegant and pretty!

Normally, when doing challenges, I try and use the images of the challengers, if possible. However, my computer wasn't allowing me to print a Sassy Cheryl image (or any image for that matter), and I already had this little number colored, and thought it would look stunning on a white card,,,,,,,,so on he went. You can get this little cutie FREE at Sliekje's blog HERE!

Do you see how impatient I am? LOL. But I just LOVE white on white challenges!!!! I started by embossing half my 5x7 card with Tim Holtz snow flurries embossing folder, and half with a cuttlebug folder for a bit of a fancy start. Then I created the center medallion starting with lacey ovals, contemporary hearts pendant, postage stamps (I cut out the middle with standard squares large) and then nested Floral doily motifs into the center of that,,,,,,,then I cut more contemporary hearts pendants and another floral doily motifs to top that off. I then cut more floral doily motifs for attaching to the sides. I'm pretty happy with it!

I used some sparkly white chipboard snow flakes, a white organdy bow and topped the whole thing with a frenzy of white pearls.

I colored the little guy with copics, of course,,,,,

and I truly like it!

So go on over to Cheryl's place (link above) and try your hand at a white on white card!

Thanks for looking, and I love your comments! They are so appreciated!

Santa Tags!

Well, it's that time again, time for the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge,,,one of my very favorites that I find myself going back to again and again. I had the honor of winning card of the week last week, and I'm THRILLED.

This week's challenge is TAGS. They can be stand alone, or attached to a project. Well, My oldest daughter is hosting the Christmas dinner this year, so I wanted to make a little something for favors to put on the dinner plates for all the adults (Children will have more cutesy images on theirs, I haven't made them yet!). And this challenge gave me just the right idea!

These are little tulle "bags" I constructed simply by cutting roughly an 8 inch square of tulle (red and antique gold), putting some small candies and snow flake confetti inside, and gathering them up at the top. I've tied them with dark red satin ribbon and bright shiny gold ribbon, attaching a santa tag to the ribbon and then tying in a simple bow.

I made the tags by stamping the two vintage Santas (Crafty Secrets) in sepia ink onto white card stock, cutting them out with classic ovals large and classic circles large, and then antiquing with sepia ink, really inking the edges well. I then embellished with a few rhinestones that I colored red with my R39 copic marker. For the backs of the tags, I cut burgundy poinsettias with my maryanne die, creating leaves out of the same die, just switching the paper to green, and glued them to the backs, just peaking out the front. I then embossed the poinsettias with a bit of sparkly gold.

Easy peasy,,,,,and when the candy is gone, the tag makes a lovely christmas ornament.

It couldn't be simpler,,,,,and I love the effect.

So if you're looking for a simply elegant christmas stocking stuffer or favor, these couldn't be easier! They whip up in no time, and the sparkling gold of the ribbon and the embossing powder is an amazing effect.

Here's the link to the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge! Come on by and try your hand at some tags! You might win a prize! And you know you need them anyway! Might as well have a chance for a prize for them!

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed!

Beauty and the Beast!!!!!

Good morning, scrappy friends!!!!!

Well, here you have it,,,,,,Beauty and the Beast,,,,,,

The beast is the current state of my bathroom,,,,,E gads, it's disgusting! The previous owners had let the tub leak for months, and it created issues with the floor. they "fixed" the problem poorly, and it was a YEAR before we figured it out,,,we haven't used the tub in over a year, so it's going to be WONDERFUL to get a brand new bathroom,,,,,,,,until then,,,,THIS is my view LOL. As you can see, they are in the midst of tearing the flooring out,,,

In addition to this disgusting disaster, I have a card today that I finished last night (no WAY I'll be scrapping today with power tools and bath tubs tromping through my livingroom,,,,,

It's my mother's birthday in less than a week, so I need to get this baby in the mail. I'll also be entering this into the Penny Black and More challenge HERE! for a happy birthday card. In this challenge, you may use any stamp you'd like, but NO digi images.

I've used a fiskar's sentiment stamp from the Happy Birthday kit, and stamped it onto MME paper with versafine black onyx ink. some matting, a few gorgeous flowers made with my Create a Rose die out of this stunning MME paper (aren't you all glad it's NOT a poinsettia? LOL), a bow, some ribbon and a fancy corner embelly and it's' DONE. I hope my mother likes it,,,,

Happy Birthday, Mom. I love you!!!!!

PARTY TIME TUESDAY!!!

Hello again, bloggy friends! I've had a bit of a lazy day because I'm having a great deal of difficulty with my back today,,,,,anyone with back problems knows what I'm talking about,,,,sooooo,,,,,might as well scrap the day away if I can't do anything MUCH more thrilling,,,,you know,,,like clean the bathrooms or dust the ceiling fans! LOL.

And since I want to make sure any immediate challenges are handled before they rip my bathroom apart and trudge through my living room and scrappy room lugging huge bathtubs,,,,,I'm here with my Party Time Tuesday challenge entry.

Since one of the sponsors for December is My Mind's Eye, and I just HAPPEN to have two new MME paper packs,,,,,,I thought I'd make mine out of MME paper. It's a tough job bur someone has to do it. Yeah, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!

The theme of this fantabulous challenge for this week is "Holiday Greetings". They want us to make a card or project with a holiday greeting as the focus. Anything that lets me play with MME paper is my pleasure!

And so onto my card. I've used MME Madison Avenue and Market Street from the Lost and Found collection to make my card. They are super yummy, and I couldn't resist.

I've used a Just Rite sentiment as the focus of my card, from the Justrite Christmas nested sentiments, and I've stamped it on this gorgeous olivy green MME paper and made a frame of sorts with spellbinders Labels1.

a bit of ribbon, another poinsettia (geez, are you getting sick of them yet???), some holly cut on my cricut, some berries and a tiny bit of bling, and it's done. I love it,,,,,,

but since when have I disliked anything with MME paper on it? ummmmm yeah, not happening!

So if you need to do any last minute cards, run right over to Party Time Tuesdays and enter the challenge! You might win a prize!!! Here's the link to make it extra easy for you!!!

Thanks for looking and I hope you enjoyed! Your comments mean the world to me!

AWESOME MME card challenge!!!!!

Good morning and happy friday to you all!!!!! Finishing up my challenges here so that I can get them out of the way before the weekend (hopefully!)

There is an AWESOME challenge over at the My Minds Eye blog that you MUST ENTER if you love MME paper as much as I do! You can find the challenge HERE!

The prize is an ENTIRE COLLECTION of the winner's choice!!!! I'd die and go to heaven!!!! Some stiff competition, though, so I did my best work,,,,,,and I'll keep my fingers crossed LOL.

So this card is almost entirely created out of MME Union Square paper,,,,,the very LAST bit of it I have,,,,,LOVED this paper! Following the sketch over on the blog, I have diecut the gorgeous Eifel Tower out of the Union Square paper, stamped a sentiment from Justrite near it and then layered it in black,,,,,,I cut them both with labels 4. I have then diecut two poinsettias out of MME paper from Union Square to place on either side of the eifel tower diecut. A couple of delicious layers with this paper, some border punching, TONS of inking with sepia ink (my FAVORITE!), a bow, some pearl pins and some bling, and it's done! I love love LOVE this card,,,,,,,it's Christmassy,,,,,but not overdone! My biggest problem,,,,,who to give it to? LOL, I might just save it and frame it, I love this paper so much! I'm just sorry it's gone :(

Not to worry though,,,,,I picked up two more pads of MME paper (Madison Ave and Market St) at HL, so I'm sure you'll be seeing more gorgeous MME paper on my cards,,,,,

probably today LOL.

If not, thanks for looking, and have a WONDERFUL weekend!

Half Moon Santa!

Good afternoon,,,,,,,Hope you all are looking forward to a nice weekend. I'm going to have half my house torn apart,,,,,,we're putting in a new bathroom. Currently, I have a vanity, sink, toilet etc sitting in my living room in boxes. Good thing I have a huge living room. And good thing they are bringing the tub/shower when the workmen actually come to do it LOL.

Seeing as how I'm not sure how much I'll be able to scrap this weekend, I decided to go ahead and do my challenge entries this week.

And this week, over at Sassy Cheryl's challenge blog, the theme is SANTA. And boy does Cheryl have some darling santa's to use!

Isn't this one just DARLING? I loved it the minute I set eyes on it, and I had to have it. I tried various paper, and it just didn't seem to go right with the colors I chose,,,so I ended up falling back on plain white cs. I love love LOVE red and lacy white together, so I border punched the three layers each with a different border,,,,,then I die cut some spellbinders lacy motifs which I arranged around Santa to simulate snow flakes. I stamped a Just Rite stamp in the middle of one of the flakes, tied on a bow, a bit of bling, and it's finished! Of course, Santa is colored in copics.

Santa is called "Half Moon Santa" and you can find him HERE at Sassy Cheryl's digi shop!

And he's being entered into the challenge HERE!

Hope you enjoyed, and if you need to finish those last Christmas cards, hop on over to Sassy Cheryl's and enter the challenge,,,,,,you might just win a free digi to help finish off all those cards!

I love challenges!!!!

But I mean, really,,,,,,,,,,WHO doesn't love a chance to win a prize? I know that challenges bring out the best in me, I love having a theme, or a color or a sketch to get my creativity flowing,,,,,,so exactly WHO doesn't like challenges? LOL.

So today, I have a very vintage card with a GORGEOUS Victorian santa that I just could NOT pass up,,,,,I got him at The Graphics Fairy (button to the right), and I just HAD to make a card with him. I loved the turquoise blue in his outfit, so I paired him with some Recollections paper that was turqoise/Aqua, and some that had some gold shimmers. I cut out the key, key hole and flourish on my cricut out of brown paper, then I heat embossed this gorgeous sparkly gold glitter embossing powder, purposely missing some spots so that it would look even more vintage and old. I cut the poinsettia out with my Maryanne die (of course!), and I stamped a Tim Holtz Believe stamp and a crafty Secrets post mark with sepia ink. I then inked EVERYTHING with the archival sepia ink, to really antique it (I love this stuff! I think it does a better job antiquing than even Tim Holtz distress inks!) Finally, I wound some thin strips of paper around a pencil to create the curly q's, and added a gold corner embellishment, and I called him done,,,,,,,not even a RIBBON! So easy, really!

I love him,,,,,,and I'm entering him into the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge this week, which has the theme of "Non-traditional Colors". It's my second entry to that challenge, and needless to say, it's a fantastic challenge that I find myself going back to week after week!!! You can find that challenge HERE!

I'll also be entering him into a challenge I've never tried before! I'm always on the look out for new challenges, sometimes I try them once, and sometimes I'm hooked! But this one sounds like a ton of fun,,,,,It's the Mami Doodles challenge and you can find this challenge HERE!

And finally, one more challenge for this santa! I'd like to enter him into the Simon says stamp challenge HERE! There's a gorgeous photo montage this week for inspiration, so pop on over!

I hope you all have a lovely week,,,,,,,,,it's ALMOST OVER!!!! And stop by and try a few challenges,,,,,you might just get hooked!

Non-traditional Christmas Colors!

Good morning, everyone! I hope everyone had a lovely weekend. Mine was full of shopping for a new vanity, medicine cabinet/mirror and toilet for our guest bath that we are re-doing next weekend. Everyone OOOOOOOOOO. Everyone Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. See how jealous you are? LOL, actually, we got a trip to Disney in but it was really crowded so we came home early. I also got a bit of scrappy shopping in to replenish some supplies, and a bit of card making in, so I shouldn't complain!

I have two cards to share today for a challenge.I got this image on The Graphics Fairy (button to the right) and I just love it! Well, the challenge at Sugar Creek Hollow this week is "Non traditional Christmas colors,,,,,,and the challenge at Stamptacular Sunday is blue, brown or black, tan/beige and very limited on the white. You can use any shade of those colors, just limit on the white please. So I whipped up the brown and blue card to enter into these challenges. I then whipped up the blue and tan card because it's just as easy to make two cards as one with the same supplies. I wasn't in love with the blue, but this morning, I am wavering LOL. Who knows what will strike our fancy?

First for the challenge entry card,,,,,,,You can find the Sugar Creek Hollow challenge HERE! It's so much fun,,,,I love vintage! Come on over and give it a try!

You can find the Stamptacular Sunday Challenge HERE! you must use a stamp on the Stamptacular Sunday challenge, and I've used Justrite nested Christmas sentiments on this one. Isn't that such a lovely sentiment? and the fonts are always delicious on Just Rite stamps! I've cut them out with nesties,,,,,,lacy ovals for the blue card and labels 4 for the blue and brown card.

I used my poor neglected cricut quite a bit for these two cards,,,,which really makes me happy since I spent so much money over the years,,,,I found a gorgeous corner embellishement on my gypsy that I have spent good money BUYING in sticker form when I can just CUT ONE, for goodness sake,,,,,I did NOT tell my husband this! LOL.

On the challenge card (brown, blue and cream/tan card) I've printed the image on Kraft paper for a really vintage look, cut fancy corner embellishments and a fancy christmas ornament out of brown, some flourishes out of kraft,,,,,,and then I used my Big Shot to cut two poinsettias with my Maryanne Designs die which I LOVE,,,,,,did you guess?? LOL. My snowflake is a combo of brown, kraft and tan papers and cut with both the cricut and the big shot.

Again, I'm entering this card into both challenges.

Now onto the blue card,,,,,I cut a fancy square doily and the flourishes out of cream paper, and again the poinsettias out of the maryanne die and the snowflake is a combo of cricut cuts and big shot cuts (sizzlet snowflakes).

In both cases, I really think the sentiment just is so elegant, and I think I really love them both!

I do love taking the same stamp and/or the same image and making them very different,,,,,,it's kind of a challenge to myself!

I hope you enjoyed, and thanks for looking! I hope to be back later today with a short post and an easy, adorable gift card holder!