Fresh Squeezed Stamps: A Tennis Shoe Christmas

I know you are probably all done with thinking about Christmas so I really shouldn't be posting a Christmas card today.  But it's my day to post at Fresh Squeezed Stamps and since they came to my rescue on the 24th, I wanted to share.  We had planned to give my 13-year old son his pick of basketball shoes for Christmas.  This is somewhat different from our usual approach in which he wants the most expensive and we refuse to buy anything but the cheapest!!  His gift was to pick out his own (within reason) without us complaining about the price!  As I was finishing up on Christmas Eve it occurred to me that he wouldn't have anything from us under the tree because he had would have to go shopping for his own shoes after Christmas.  He's still so young - I HAD to have something for him to open up.  Fresh Squeezed and their cute tennis shoe from String Me Along came to the rescue!!

If you knew my 13-year old son, you would understand why I also HAD to include the "nice 2b naughty" graphic from Hello December!  (BTW - if you like the idea but not for Christmas, On Trend 2013 has a great birthday word bubble that could replace the "naughty" circle!  That set is also where I got the swoosh that I used for the ground.)

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and are now looking forward to the new year!!

• Stamps: Fresh Squeezed Stamps On Trend 2013, Hello December, String Me Along
• Paper: MFT Red Hot, Fuse Green
• Ink: MFT Red Hot, Fuse Green, Factory Green
• Accessories: Pretty Pink Posh Sequins

Sparkle and Shine and Merry and Bright!

I woke up this morning and decided to treat myself to some time at my craft table before the day began!! I have a number of Christmas stamps still in my NBUS stash (Never-Before-Used Schtuff).  I had big plans to use them in the last week, but you know how it is this time of the year - joyful and busy, excited and stressed, peaceful and frantic.  I am a bit of a pre-Christmas grinch but starting today - it's all perfectly wonderful!!  I have carols playing, great coffee in my mug, just a little cooking to do today and I am looking forward to candles and carols and His story at tonight's Christmas Eve service.


I love this bokeh style set from Neat and Tangled called Party Dots. I can't believe that it has been in my NBUS stash for so long.  Particularly given how well it works with the sentiment and ornament from the set Merry and Bright.  A splattering of Neat and Tangled sequins and it completely captures the glow that is so beautiful during Christmas.
I was going to stop at this card.  But there were a few more stamps and sequins calling my name.  I went out to a Christmas lunch with a dear friend yesterday and after a few Cucumber Mimosas(!) we wandered through a number of stores.  One of them was a high-end antique/craft type store that included a display of ornaments and decoration in colors and styles that took me right back to my childhood.  I'm standing in the middle of a crowded store almost in tears with the happy memories brought on by these kitschy ornament!!  (Or maybe it was the mimosas!)  I don't have the stamps to truly capture it all - but I did put together some of the colors and sparkle.

I also wanted to do cards today to use my NBUS Neat and Tangled stash along with the Little Tangles challenge of sequins, sequins, sequins.  I do like Neat and Tangle sequins.  Their mixes are fabulous and I love their Crystal Clear sequins.  It's amazing how different clear sequins can be.  Some are iridescent and take on other colors, some are truly clear - but Neat and Tangled's have a silvery cast to them (see first card) that work so well with snowflakes!

Have a happy Christmas Eve day!!!

Sparkle and Shine:

• Stamps: Neat and Tangled Party Dots, Merry and Bright
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Harvest Gold (light), My Favorite Things Lemon Drop (darker), Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Neat and Tangled sequins in Summer Sun and Crystal Clear, Studio Calico gem, Hemptique black

Merry and Bright:

• Stamps: Neat and Tangled Merry and Bright
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel, My Favorite Things Whip Cream and MME Mistletoe Magic 6x6
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel and Limeade Ice
• Accessories: Neat and Tangled sequins - Classic Christmas mix

Merry & Bright, the Twin Polar Bears

It's my day to post at Fresh Squeezed Stamps.  I definitely wanted to use the bear yet from Arctic Friends (I had used the penguin here and the walrus here.)

As I was pondering what to do with this cute stamp, I was remembering twin polar bears born almost 20-years ago in my local zoo. Their mother abandoned them, but zoo staff successfully raised them.  It was quite an experience for the entire city - we all stood in line for hours to see them, books were written about them - they were famous!

Their names were Klondike and Snow and they lived most of their adult years in Orlando.  Klondike died just this fall and Snow died a year ago at the ages of 17 and 18.

These stamps aren't quite as cute as the real baby cubs - but pretty darn close!!  And these twin bears are wishing you a Merry & Bright Christmas!


This definitely works for the current Merry Monday challenge to use an animal on a Christmas card.

• Stamps: Fresh Squeezed Stamps Arctic Friends, Hello December
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Blueberry Sky
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Blueberry Sky, Winter Wisteria, Versamark
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Heat & Stick Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Crystal Fine Glitter, Divine Twine Black Licorice, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder (see here for details on this embossing folder)

CAS(E) this Sketch! Believe

It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch

I am determined to get through my Christmas NBUS (Never-Before-Used-Schtuff) stamp sets - so I ended up going in a slightly different direction.  I wanted to use My Favorite Things Holiday Subway Art, but when I used it I wanted to use a number of the words.  Instead of using a single word - I used a variety of words in a subtle color - then popped the word "Believe" in red.

The die is also in my NBUS basket - it's the Small Blooming Poinsettia from Memory Box.  I love how it layers up!
I think this is a very nice sketch - add a beautiful sentiment and a simple embellishment and you have a great card!  I hope you all find time to play along during this busy holiday season.

• Stamps: My Favorite Things Stamps Holiday Subway Art
• Paper: Stampin' Up Real Red, Papertrey Ink Soft Stone, Basic Grey 25th and Pine 6x6, Stampin' Up Silver Glimmer Paper (just the center of the flower)
• Ink: Stampin' Up Real Red, Papertrey Ink Soft Stone
• Accessories: Memory Box/Poppystamps Small Blooming Poinsettia, Hemptique 10-lb white twine

God Bless Us, Everyone!

I went shopping at Verve Stamps a few weeks ago, specifically to pick up the stamps for this project. While I was shopping, this dapper little guy just jumped into my cart.  He is SO perfect with the sentiment!


I didn't want to do anything fancy with him - he is cute enough to stand alone.  I did use some paper that I liked a lot - but in general would be too busy for my style.  I thought it gave the card a little bit of the older Dickens-look - appropriate for the sentiment.
This is out of my NBUS Christmas stash.  I was paging through that pile and looking at challenges for inspiration.  I am playing along with Merry Monday to use an animal. (I am assuming my bird is OK since the challenge graphic has owls!!).  Also playing with CAS on Sunday: Christmas.

I hope all is going well with each of you as we near Christmas.  I don't have my cards out yet, which is stressing me. They are made - but my little secret is that I have illegible handwriting - while my husband's is quite clear.  So he gets to address envelopes and hasn't done it yet.  I am going to my nieces' Christmas pageant this afternoon and my son's band concert tonight.  I have a few more rehearsals for Sunday and for Christmas Eve bell choir performances.  But other than that - I'm going into the final week feeling pretty good!

• Stamps: Verve Christmas Joy (it's on sale right now!)
• Paper: Carta Bella So This is Christmas 6x6 dsp, Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel
• Ink: Memento Black and Copics
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Scarlet Jewel button, Lil' Inkers Stitched Rectangles, Hemptique Natural 10-lb twine, one little gold dot on his hat

Simple Gift Box and Tag

My oldest son always takes hot chocolate mix as a gift for his teachers - see here.  My youngest prefers Pretzel Turtles.  I think that he thinks they are less work, but by the time he unwraps all of the Rolos - not so much!!  Particularly since he needed 108!  I contribute the tags.  (He has written to/from on the tag since I took this picture, but handwriting is not his strong point so I took the picture first!)

The tag is Papertrey Ink's Tag Sale #5 (the bottom is cut off on the white layer.)  The snowflake is My Favorite Thing's Let It Snowflake. The sequins are Neat and Tangled's Crystal Clear.  And the twine is Hemptique.  The paper and boxes are from Hobby Lobby.
We first started doing the Pretzel Turtles before they became so popular.  Now you can find displays in every grocery store with the pretzels, Rolos and pecans.  When we first made them, the teachers were in awe of these simple little candies. Now I think it is my son who is in awe - particularly of all the parts and pieces that he can nibble on while making them!  They are perfect for kids to make (as long as they are careful of the chocolate when it is hot)!  If you haven't tried them...

---

Pretzel TurtlesSmall mini pretzelsRolosPecan halvesPreheat oven to 300. Arrange the pretzels in a single layer on a parchment of foil-lined cookie sheet. Place one Rolo on each pretzel.  Bake for 4 minutes. While the candy is warn, press a pecan half onto each Rolo.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Catered Crop: Small Size Matters

The current challenge at Catered Crop is that (small) size matters!!  Make some mini cards - they can be tags or gift card holders or anything teeny tiny.

The challenge came at the time when my kids were making hot chocolate mix for their teachers.  We've done this for a number of years and I have a template in Word that prints off tags in just the right size for one of my tag dies.  I just change up the teachers name's and it's ready to go.  However, the mini card challenge got me thinking of how easy this makes it for my kids - too easy (other than the fact that they measure out the hot chocolate mix).  A card would require them to write something on the inside - and think a little bit about each teacher as they put the gifts together.

I just got the Holiday Treats set and dies from Verve Stamps and with its mini cups, I knew it would be perfect for my mini cards!


Here's a close-up.

It's a very nice hot-chocolate mix - rich chocolate with a dash of peppermint.

The layers are:
1 cup powdered milk1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder1 cup granulated sugar1/2 teaspoon salt1/2 cup miniature chocolate chips1/2 cup crushed peppermint candyIt all fits in a 1-quart jar and makes 12 servings









On the inside flap of each card, I did pre-print instructions and added my favorite stamps from the set "Have a cup of cheer". 

The jars aren't actually done yet - I made one so that I could write this post.  So, after my kids and the entire high school marching band perform in today's Christmas parade - we'll come back and the powder will start flying and the sound of crushing peppermints will echo!!

• Stamps: Verve Holiday Treats
• Paper: Stampin' Up Crumb Cake
• Ink: Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Certainly Celery, Crumb Cake, Memento Cottage Ivy, WPlus9 White
• Accessories: Verve Cup of Cheer die set, Hemptique Twine, Pretty Pink Posh sequins

Deck the Hall with Inky Paws Blog Hop

This is my third post today. 

If you are looking for the Fresh Squeezed Stamps Happy Walrus, it's here.

If you are looking for the My Favorite Things Release Countdown, it's here.

December is already busy.  I am amazed every year at how much there is to do and how much I should have done in advance!!  Making cards becomes even more important to me in December as a break from the insanity.  And it always helps when I get to play with stamps that make me smile.  Newton's Nook Designs has the perfect stamps for brightening my day (and I'm sure it will make the recipient smile too!), so I happily agreed to be part of the Deck the Halls with Inky Paws Blog Hop.

I am owned by two cats and their antics amuse and annoy me daily.  So I am a huge fan of the cats in Holiday Mischief.  This one is pretty true to life...

Newton's Nook Designs does have great cat stamps, after all, "Newton" from "Newton's Nook" is a cat!  But they aren't just about the cats so I wanted to be sure to show you a holiday tag using an entirely different set.  These stamps are from Holiday Wishes which includes a variety of holiday lines and words.

If you started with me - be sure to head back to the beginning at Newton's Nook Designs.

If you have been doing the hop - you are at the end {sad face - no more Inky Paw today}.  I hope that you have played along with the contest and have been leaving comments, because you can tell there are some great stamp sets that you are going to want to win!  

And if you want to order right away - through Monday, Dec. 9 and Midnight CST, Newton's Nook is offering free shipping with the code  INKYHOP13

Would you like to win a $10 coupon for Newton's Nook Designs online shop?

We will be choosing Two lucky winners! 

Here's how to win: 

Comment on the Design Team Member and Guest blogs (see list below)! One winner will be chosen at random from the collective blogs in the blog hop. Make sure to check out each of their blogs and comment for your chance to win. You will not know which blog has been chosen so the more you comment on the better your chances are of winning! 

You have until Sunday, December 8th at 9 pm CST to comment  -- winners will be announced on the blog post on Monday, December 9th.

Make sure you check out all the blogs below to enter.

Newton's Nook Designs Blog

Jennifer Ingle

Tessa Wise

Jocelyn Olson

Samantha Mann

Shelly Mercado

Rachel W K

Jessica Esch

Chan Vuong

Ashley Marcu

Danielle Lounds

Alice Wertz

Danielle Pandeline

Kim Singdahlsen

Fresh Squeezed Stamps: Merry Walrus

This is my second post day.

If you are looking for the My Favorite Things Release Countdown, it's here.

It's my day to post at Fresh Squeezed Stamps and I've been wanting to play along with Merry Monday's challenge to use the chalkboard technique.  It turns out it's a perfect match.  I thought that the cheerful walrus from Arctic Friends would look just perfect on a smudge of snow and ice, and might just be thinking "merry" thoughts!  (The "merry" is from Hello December - I love its woodgrain.)


I bet you are feeling "merry" after seeing this sweet guy.  The set includes this walrus and a penguin that I used here, and there is a bear.  I'm don't quite know yet what I will be doing with the bear, but I'm sure you will be seeing him soon!

• Stamps: Fresh Squeezed Stamps Arctic Friends, Hello December
• Paper: Stampin' Up Coastal Cabana
• Ink: WPlus9 White
• Accessories: Hero Arts white embossing powder, The Twinery Caribbean

CAS(E) this Sketch: A Merry Bow

This is my second post today.

The My Favorite Things Release Countdown can be found here.

It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!

I have to admit to being a little stumped by this one. Not so much that I couldn't cut a triangle and follow the sketch - but I would like to have come up with something unique and different.  Not so much! But it is a great sketch for letting paper do the work for you.

I hope you play along with this one...let your paper do the work - or think outside of the box.  I look forward to seeing what you create.

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Tiny Tags
• Paper: Echo Park 'Tis the Season 6x6, Stampin' Up Old Olive
• Ink: Memento black
• Accessories: Simon Says Stamp Perfect Bow die (yes, I know I glued it together upside down!), Stampin' Up Jewelry Tag

Curtain Call: Christmas Countdown

It's time for a new challenge at Curtain Call.  Could it get any better than a Christmas countdown??

photo credit:  thesewingloftblog.com

Actually, it could get better.  Our sponsor for this challenge is Sweet Stamp Shop and they are offering a $15 gift certificate to the winner of this challenge!

I got to play along with my Sweet Stamp Shop goodies and used a number of sets.  Here's the card...

I used a Sizzix embossing folder to get the countdown.  From the Sweet Stamp Shop, I knew that I had to use the reindeer from Speedy Greetings - he is so...hmmm...sweet!!  I used a retired sentiment and, with my apologies, it is gone from the clearance section. The little sparkles are a weakness of mine.  Sweet Stamp Shop's Happy Hour set is really cute and a little quirky, and would be perfect for New Year's or any drinking occasion.  But I got the whole set for the sparkle stamps.  There are a number of sparkles so it was a good purchase...right??!
Be sure to head over to the Curtain Call blog for lots of design team inspiration!  You do not have to use Sweet Stamp Shop's stamps on your card - but you do get a chance to win some.  Create a card based on the inspiration and link up!  I would love to see you play along.

• Stamps: Sweet Stamp Shop Speedy Greetings, Happy Hour, Holiday Sentiments (retired)
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Kraft
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics, Stampin' Up Green Galore, Real Red
• Accessories: Divine Twine Holiday, Papertrey Ink Tag Sale 3, Sizzix embossing folder

Seize the Sketch and Merry Monday: Merry Penguins

Whew!

Card done in 16 minutes.  (That's really, really short for me - thus the reason I have never participated in the 10 minute challenges!)

One minute to spare when I got this up and uploaded to Seize the Sketch.  I posted and now I am writing the words!  (Sorry for you Feedly users - I don't think it updates so you just got a pix!!)

And the photo is a little dark - but that's what happens with one minute to spare!

It's a great sketch - I love the panel that hangs off the edges a little bit - plus it was designed by my good friend Stacey Schafer.  She's got more creativity than I could ever dream of having - I keep hoping some will rub off.  {Sigh!}  For now, I'll just content myself with playing along with her sketch!

I also managed to Heat & Stick and glitter it so I'll also be posting this to Papertrey's Make It Monday challenge!  

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Tremendous Treats: Christmas
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Pure Poppy, Limeade Ice, Stampin' Up Marina Mist, MME Mistletoe Magic 6x6
• Ink: Memento Black, Copics, Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow (sentiment), Versamark
• Accessories: Papertrey Ink Tremendous Treats Christmas die, Stampin' Up Heat and Stick Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter, My Favorite Things snowflake die

Make It Monday: Heat & Stick Snowflakes

This week's Papertrey Ink Make It Monday was a MUST-DO for me - using heat and stick powder and glitter.  I love glittering entire images and die cuts and even the entire fronts of cards for my holiday cards and Heat & Stick makes it so much easier.  PTI provides a video with instructions.  Even though I do it regularly, I watched the video and was glad that I did.  I recently had a friend struggle because her glitter wouldn't stick and I couldn't help her because it always worked for me.  The video had the answer. Did you know that if you heat the Heat & Stick for too long it loses its stickiness?  You are supposed to heat it just until it changes and no more!

I pulled out Papertrey's Snowflake Flurries because I knew that I was simply going to stamp them on circles and then glitter the entire circle.  I love the delicate look of these flakes.  The sentiment came from a newer set called 'Tis the Season.  The snowflake set does have sentiments but none of them fit on my layout.  Also, in yesterday's mail, I got my PTI package from their last release and had to use the Tilted Tops dies.  I can't believe that I paid for dies that  cut a shape that would be very easy to cut with a paper trimmer!!??  But it sure made it easy!

• Stamps: Papertrey Ink Snowflake Flurries, 'Tis the Season sentiments
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow, Webster's Pages It's Christmas dsp
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Hawaiian Shores, Limeade Ice, Hibiscus Burst, Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Spellbinders Circles and Rectangles, Pearlized Crochet Thread, Stampin' Up Heat & Stick Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter, Neat & Tangled Crystal Clear Sequins

25 Days of Christmas Tags: Season's Greetings

The wonderful Tracey McNeely at In My Creative Opinion is doing 25 Days of Christmas Tags!  Her work is amazing and she has doubled the fun by having guest designers each day.  Guess what?  It's my day to guest!

I realized that I don't do a lot of tags and that's definitely a mistake.  How perfect (and easy...and fun) would it be to wrap gifts in basic kraft or stone color paper and add a bright tag as decoration? I need to find a gigantic roll of basic kraft paper - maybe with monochromatic stripes or snowflakes - and then just have a tag day.  (Has anybody seen paper like that?)

In my Christmas NBUS stash are two sets by Clearly Besotted Stamps.  The first is Signature Christmas and was part of their very first release.  I fell in love with it - but, at that time, I was concerned about international shipping.  Then recently they came out with Signature Christmas Additions and with matching dies.  I've learned that CBS ships quickly and the postage is cheaper than most companies in the U.S.  So I finally own the set I fell for a year ago!

My first Christmas tag!!
Now if anybody can answer my question about basic kraft wrapping paper - here's to many more!
I'm also playing along with the Clearly Besotted Challenge with a Christmas theme.

• Stamps: Clearly Besotted Stamps Signature Christmas and Signature Christmas Addition
• Paper: Papertrey Ink Simply Chartreuse
• Ink: Papertrey Ink Limeade Ice, Hibiscus Burst, Simply Chartreuse, Smokey Shadow
• Accessories: Clearly Besotted Christmas Signature Christmas Die Collection, Reverse Confetti Tag Me die, Neat & Tangled sequins, Trendy Twine Tickled Pink, My Favorite Things Glitter Glaze (on the star)

Fresh Squeezed Stamps: #HOLIDAY FUN

I am loving the trendy look of the holiday stamps from Fresh Squeezed Stamps Hello December.  Check it out - word bubbles and a hashtag!


I love how cheerful this card is.  Personally, I am not a cheerful holiday person, at least until the evening of December 24th.  In my opinion, everything up until then is money and stress and busy-ness - but it all gets better on December 24th!  I know people who actually love everything about December, but I don't think that I am the only one who is a pre-Christmas grinch!  These cheerful stamps could bring a smile to someone who needs it, don't you think???  Or maybe I just need to frame it and keep it above my own craft desk to keep me smiling!
I hope the next month stays Merry & Bright for you and that you have continue to have #HOLIDAYFUN!!

• Stamps: Fresh Squeezed Hello December
• Paper: Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Webster's Pages It's Christmas (my fave Christmas collection of the year!), scrap of gray
• Ink: My Favorite Things Jellybean Green, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo, Papertrey Ink Smokey Shadow

CAS(E) this Sketch: May Your Days Be Merry

This is my second post today.

It's time for a new sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch!  And you will plenty of time to play along as it is a two-weeker.  The link will stay open until December 5th.  So even in this busy season - Thanksgiving in the U.S. or just general Christmas/holiday preparation - you have time to play!

I'm ashamed to admit that I bought new stuff for this sketch (as if I don't do that regularly!!!)  I have been eyeing the Fill in the Blank series by Avery Elle.  Since the die matches that rectangle panel - I took it as a sure sign that it needed to be part of my collection.  I started with the holiday series, but the non-holiday series is just as fun - and they all work together. 

(There's a great "& Bright" stamp to go underneath but I was trying to stay true to the sketch!)

• Stamps: Avery Elle Holiday Fill in the Blank
• Paper: Stampin' Up Gumball Green and red glitter paper
• Ink: Stampin' Up Gumball Green
• Accessories: Avery Elle Holiday Fill in the Blank Elle-ments, Papertrey Ink Holly Jolly die, Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder, Neat & Tangled clear sequins, misc red gems

Curtain Call Reminder: Looking a Lot Like Christmas!!

I was having so much fun playing with my CAS-ual Fridays Stamps as part of the joint challenge between CAS-aul Fridays and Curtain Call that I made one more.  I made three cards when the challenge started, but this card has been in my mind since then.  I love that long sentiment and wanted to use it like an ornament hanger.


The stamps come from two different sets.  The long sentiment and the poinsettia is from Christmas Carols and the circular Season's Greetings on my ornament is from Snowflake Greetings.  I love that the fonts work together to give me more options!
The theme for the current Curtain Call is CAS-ual Christmas.  You don't have to use CAS-ual Fridays stamps but you do get a chance to win a set.  You have until 8 a.m. CST on Monday, November 25th to play along!

• Stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Christmas Carols, Snowflake Greetings
• Paper: My Favorite Things Jellybean Green, Webster's Pages It's Christmas 6x6
• Ink: My Favorite Things Jellybean Green, Stampin' Up Melon Mambo
• Accessories: gold cord, circle punch

Merry Monday: Deck the Halls

I am having one of those weeks.  Thank goodness I had pre-done most of my posts for this past week, because I was in no mood (or health) to deal with them!!

First, my kids coughed throughout last weekend and, even with extreme precautions on my part, it's my turn.  Apparently Colorado is in the middle of a whooping cough epidemic.  I don't know if that's what we have but it's a cough that's deep and nothing seems to help.  On Wednesday, my son's high school had their highest absence rate in their history.  The very worst part of it was that I missed a gathering of my favorite Colorado crafters.  I was planning to go until my husband gave me that look and asked if I thought the crafting group would ever forgive me if I spent the time coughing on them.

Second, the good news is that my husband is painting my bathroom and hallways (WAY overdue!)  We are having a large gathering of friends in my home next Tuesday and the house needs to shine.  (My house isn't a shiny kind of house so it takes a lot of work!)  I am sitting downstairs, coughing, being upset that I wasn't crafting with my friends, when I hear a thump, thump, thump and then extreme swearing coming from upstairs (very rare with my husband).  I cautiously went upstairs to check it out, and I see paint everywhere. The paint tray had slipped off, bounced down all the carpeted stairs, spewing paint everywhere, and landed upside down on the freshly shampooed family room carpet.  Bummer.  (I think I should have gone to cough on my crafting friends because I ended up scrubbing carpets!)

The final straw was our attempt to make the outside walkway look a little nicer (in advance of the Tuesday party).  We live in the country and anything we plant gets eaten by deer and rabbits.  Plus we have a dog that digs.  So the front walkway, with its supposed landscaping, has begun to look just a little trashy.  We decided to do a xeriscaped rock-garden.  Clearly, the whole xeriscaping part isn't going to happen before Tuesday - but since our guests are coming after dark, we thought some rocks and mulch and a couple of miniature pines would make it look like it would be a beautiful garden in the spring.  We spent two hours at a landscaping materials place (never, ever go rock-shopping with a geologist).  We finally picked a one ton palette of boulders.  Not small rocks - but boulders!  They weighed it, we paid for it, then it occured to us to ask when they could deliver.  Guess what?  Their truck is out of commission.  So guess what is in the back of my Suburban waiting for my men/boys to wake up and deal with this morning - half a ton of boulders - we'll get the other half on Monday!

Are you bored with my drama yet?  I'm so glad my life isn't boring - it seems to change daily - but I am blessed by the fact that every little drama is something on which I can look back and laugh!

If you've made it this far in my story - say a little prayer for my Tuesday gathering.  A church in trouble, so much so that many long-term members including my family had left. After a year many are still feeling hurt and lost, now a new interim pastor with a sincere desire to meet those who left - thus the gathering at my home.  We will need prayers.

Now...for what everybody really comes here for - a card!  Here's my attempt at this week's Merry Monday challenge.  There were a lot of requirements on this one and I carefully checked them off as I went - stripes, red and chocolate, stars or hearts.  Whew!

I realized a few weeks ago that I had absolutely no ornament dies.  I looked around and found this set just called Christmas Ornaments from My Favorite Things.  It has a coordinating stamp set too but I just got the dies.  They come with toppers and other decorations like holly, poinsettia and a little tag.  They are a good size - you can see how nicely three ornaments work on this card.

Since I was using My Favorite Things dies, I pulled out some NBUS sets - the newly released Cheerful Christmas Greetings for the sentiment, then I saw the row of stars in another Christmas set LLD Holiday Subway Art (I'm not sure inking up just the row of stars qualifies as truly using Never-Before-Used-Schtuff so you'll be seeing this set again!)

I have most definitely typed enough (can you tell that I'm avoiding the cleaning in front of me the next few days!)  Thanks for making it to the bottom.

• Stamps: My Favorite Things Christmas Greetings, LLD Holiday Subway Art
• Paper: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Poppy Parade, Bo Bunny Elf Magic stripe, shiny silver and gold from my stash
• Ink: Papertrey Dark Chocolate, Stampin' Up Poppy Parade
• Accessories: My Favorite Things Ornament dies, Hemptique white twine, Studio Calico Sequin Stars

Curtain Call: A CAS-ual Christmas

This is my second post today.  It's just a short

scroll down for a Fresh Squeezed Anniversary!

It's time for a new inspiration challenge at Curtain Call!  Check out this gorgeous graphic:

photo credit:  myhomeideas.com

CAS-ual Fridays Stamps is our fabulous sponsor and graciously gave each design team member one of their Christmas sets. And the Lead for this challenge will get to choose a CAS-ual Fridays stamp set of their choice! AND you can play along at the CAS-ual Fridays challenge also for another chance at winning!  

I had a very tough time narrowing down what I wanted to do for this challenge because I do have a growing collection of CAS-ual Fridays Stamps.  This is probably because CAS-ual Fridays headquarters is just 5 miles down the road from my house!!  (That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!)  I ended up making three different cards.  This first card is the card that I used for the Curtain Call blog.   I think it best represents the challenge graphic - warm and just a bit rustic.  The set is Merry Kiss-mas and includes mistletoe, holly and about every sentiment that you can think of that would be appropriate for mistletoe and holly!



My second card uses the set Snowflake Greetings.  I liked the blue furniture and fireplace in the photo (although I went for aqua just because it feels fresher) and I noticed the snowflakes on the trees in the inspiration photo.  This set has a number of traditional Christmas greetings with snowflakes as the "O"s. The colors on this card come from Festive Friday.

Then I have one other CAS-ual Fridays Christmas set that was feeling lonely - it's Christmas Carols.  I can't say there was any inspiration from the challenge - maybe the big gold balls. Mostly, I was just having fun and I kept making cards! This set has a coordinating die called the 4-Petal die and, in their brand new release, they have a set called Wallflower that uses the same die!  I adore the sentiments in this set!

I hope to see you each creating card(s) for our CAS-ual Christmas challenge.  Even though we focused on CAS-ual Fridays Stamps, you don't need them to enter - but you do stand a chance to win them!!  The challenge is open until November 25th.  Have fun!

Stampin' Royalty and Freshly Made: Oh What Fun! NOT!!!

This card stretched me - probably a bit too much!  I'm not overly comfortable with Summer Starfruit - per my rant on yesterday's post - and I'm not real thrilled with my use of the sketch.  Does "Oh What Fun" apply for me in making this card?  NOT!  But that's what challenges are for, right?  So you get to see the results of my stretching!


The colors are from Stampin' Royalty.

The sketch is from Freshly Made Sketches.

I've used Summer Starfruit twice now.  Now I can set it aside and continue to ignore it!!

• Stamps: Stampin' Up Festive Flurry, Christmas Messages
• Ink: Stampin' Up Raspberry Ripple, Summer Starfruit, Chocolate Chip
• Paper: Stampin' Up Raspberry Ripple, Project Life Midnight Edition (the stripe)
• Accessories: Stampin' Up Festive Flurries dies, Heat and Stick Embossing Powder, Martha Stewart Fine Crystal Glitter, Neat & Tangled sequins