Sharing Christmas

Hello friends~  Are you all recovered from the busy-ness of the holiday?

Our Christmas turned out differently than we had planned.  Our son, daughter-in-love and sweet P all came down sick just before they were to fly home.  Allison contracted a bronchial infection and our sweet P had RSV.  Our son Christopher was the healthiest of them all, having had just a cold.  Needless to say, they didn't make it home for Christmas.  

"A man's heart plans his way, But the LORD directs his steps."

Proverbs 16:9

Perhaps The LORD has a better plan in store for us in His good timing.

Just thought I'd share some cards I made this season, that I never got around to sharing.

The Waffle Flower Postage Collage die and stencils have been such a hit this season.

I used up some bits and bobs that have been sitting in my die cut box just waiting to be used.

Various companies and so many possibilities.

This one is my favorite.

I hope you have a wonderful rest of your week!  Looking forward to the new year!!

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Christmas Tags

Good morning friends~ I'm popping in today with some retro style Christmas tags I made using basic supplies from my stash.

The tag die is an old one from My Favorite Things, called Stitched Tag Stax.

Each tag is adorned with Stitched Banners from Elizabeth Craft Designs and a button card that I made using Papertrey Ink's Button Boutique.  A set that will never go out of style in my opinion.

The Santa and elf images are from Pretty Little Studio.  They have the most beautiful vintage and retro images there!

I cut the holly leaves out of printed scrapbooking paper and added little pre-made flowers to finish them off.

These tags turned out so fun!  I challenge you to dig into your stash and use what you have.

Click HERE to visit Pretty Little Studio
Click HERE to visit My Favorite Things
Click HERE to visit Papertrey Ink
Click HERE to visit Elizabeth Craft Designs

Thanks for stopping by!

Hot Beverages ~ Double D Challenges

Good morning~ There's a new challenge starting up over at Double D Challenges, and the theme is "Hot Beverages".

Whether you like coffee, hot cocoa or tea, this challenge is for you!  I pulled out a few of my favorite dies to create this warm winter snack for you.

The coffee cup is an oldie from My Favorite Things, while the macaroon is from Elizabeth Craft Designs.  I added a little Christmas bauble from The Greetery.  Random glitter on the macaroon and ornament adds whimsy and a bit of texture. 

Please stop by Double D Challenges to see more amazing inspiration from my talented teammates and join in on the fun.

Here's the inspiration block to help get you started:

And here's what you could win when you play along:

ETA:  I'll be adding this card to the Fall / Winter Coffee Lovers Blog Hop

Thanks for stopping by!

Mixed Media Monday ~ Sweater Weather

Breezy days...

Pumpkin Latte's...

Nothing better than sweater weather

Welcome back to Mixed Media Monday (MMM)!  Today's page celebrates the wonderful scents and sights of fall.  For this entry in my stone paper art journal, I ink blended Spiced Marmalade, Carved Pumpkin and Gathered Twigs DOX inks to the background, adding polka dots and vines, using stencils from Heidi Swapp and Create Happiness Borders 1 stencil.  I then stamped text over the background using a stamp from Create Happiness Elements stamp set.  

I die cut this wonderful, Into The Blooms ~ Pumpkin from Papertrey Ink out of white card stock and added more of the same DOX inks, using blending sponges.  I randomly stamped a bit of text over the pumpkin and distressed the edges of the pumpkin again, using Gathered Twigs DOX Ink.

The leaves are and older set from My Favorite Things.  I cut the leaves from white cardstock and blended lots of fall colored DOX inks until I was happy with the colors.  I let them dry and then stamped the veins using the coordinating stamps from MFT.

I created the sentiment on my computer and cut the words into strips.  I added some white gel pen edges to the words to make them stand out better.  The loopy twine was the same color as the twine bow, but I dipped it in DOX ink that I squished onto my glass mat and sprayed with water.  I let the twine absorb all the color then wrapped it around a pen and let it dry.  I then added it to the pumpkin, added the twine bow and topped it off with an old button from my stash.  I finished it off by adding some white splatters using Dina Wakely White Heavy Body Acrylic Paint.

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I'm not 100% thrilled with how this turned out but you've gotta trust the process and learn along the way.  There are a few spots that I had to strategically cover.  I tried using alcohol ink on this page but discovered that alcohol ink does not work well on porous paper.  Lesson learned!  Thankfully, it's mostly hidden.    

Here are some links to the products I used today:

Entire Create Happiness Line 
A5 Stone Paper Journal
Borders 1 Stencil
Elements Stamp Set
Into The Blooms ~ Pumpkin
Distress Oxide Inks
Dina Wakely White Heavy Body Acrylic Paint

Thanks for stopping by!

Retro Halloween

Hello friends and happy fall!  Our leaves are changing to their brilliant colors, and the temperatures have definitely taken a dive.  I love the colors of fall, but I am not fond of what's coming after.  But I'll stick to the "here and now" and share this quirky card I recently made.  It follows the sketch from The Paper Players Challenge.  

I started with the giant Candy Corn Shaker die from Frantic Stamper, but I opted out of making a shaker card this time.  You can see the previous shaker card I made using this die here.  Instead, I chose to use patterned papers found in my scrap box.

I added the black cat from Elizabeth Craft Designs and a very old button die set from PTI and My Favorite Things.  The little bats are shaker elements from the Candy Corn die set.  This card kind of has a retro feel to me, maybe it's because most of the products I used today are oldies and have been discontinued for a while.  I was feeling sad that my old supplies get overlooked.  

Here's the inspiration sketch:

And you can play along here at The Paper Players

I'll also be adding this card to Two Old Bats Halloween Challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

Magical Wishes ~ Double D

Hello friends~  It's time for a new challenge over at Double D Challenges and we've got a fun theme I think you'll love!  We're looking for anything with a rainbow, unicorn or mermaid.  

All the sets I used on today's card are retired but still very much loved.

MFT's End Of The Rainbow is the perfect soft landing for this Magical Dragon.

He's making a magical wish on this cupcake from MFT's All The Cupcakes.

The sentiment is from Paper Smooches Magic Sampler and the star sequins are from my stash.

Join in on the fun here!

Here's the inspiration photo:

And here's what you could win:

Thanks for stopping by!

Just My Type ~ TSOC

Hello friends.  The Sisterhood of Crafters is starting a new challenge today and we're looking for you to create your own background.  

I created two backgrounds for this card:

For the larger background, I used Concord & 9th Plaid Background, stamping the plaid in Worn Lipstick DOX ink onto pink cardstock.  The lines are stamped in red.

For the smaller background, I stamped a Typewriter Text Background from MFT using Versamark ink and heat embossed it using clear embossing powder.  I rubbed Worn Lipstick DOX ink over the text and then using an old heart stencil, I added more DOX ink.  

The typewriter is from Marianne Designs.  I tucked in a couple of mint green leafy twigs using Frantic Stampers Assorted Foliage.

The finished sentiment on the inside of the card reads "Thanks".  

I hope you'll hop on over to The Sisterhood of Crafters blog to join in on the fun!

Thanks for stopping by!

Birthday Bear Hugs ~ TSOC

Hello, hello!  The Sisterhood of Crafters is back from our holiday break and we're starting a new challenge today, asking you to use die cuts and/or an embossing Folder.  Sound fun?

Here's what I came up with, using both embossing and die cuts:

I started by embossing a piece of green cardstock using an FSJ Evergreen embossing folder.  I gently rubbed some Pine Needles DOX ink over the raised areas and cut a circle out of the center.

I stamped this darling image from Uniquely Creative Polar Pals and colored it with Copics.  I backed the circle using a piece of watercolor printed paper, tucked the bears in and stamped the hearts from the stamp set, surrounding the bears with love.

To finish it off, I adhered a  Happy Birthday die cut from My Favorite Things.  

I hope you are inspired to join in on the fun over at The Sisterhood Of Crafters.

This will be co-designer Vicki's last challenge with the team as she'll be taking care of family needs.  I wish you the very best Vicki! 

Thanks for stopping by!

Santa's Coffee To Go Please ~ TSOC ~ Any Shape but Rectangle

Hello friends~  The Sisterhood of Crafters is starting a new challenge today and we're looking for "Anything But Rectangles".  Fun! Fun!  

 I made up a few of these darling little travel cup gift card holders to have on hand for gift giving this Christmas.  The Honey Bee Coffee Gift Card Holder is so fun to work with as it comes with everything you need to create these darling cards or gift card holders. 


 I cut the travel cup die out of red cardstock and the coffee sleeve out of white.  I then cut a white strip using a die from Lil' Inkers to add to the center of the travel cup to act as the trim on Santa's coat, and added some black buttons that were cut using a button die from Papertrey ink.  I added a medallion backed with gold cardstock using an old MFT Blueprints #13.  The Stitched Holly leaves & Berries from Poppystamps  are the finishing touch.

 The sleeve holds the gift card holder closed 

 and then slips off to reveal the message and gift card.

Now it's YOUR turn to play along.  Add your project using any shape but a rectangle.  You can find all the details at The Sisterhood of Crafters or by clicking here.  We look forward to seeing what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!

Gnome-y Warm Thoughts ~ TSOC ~ Autumn

Happy Fall' Yall!  The Sisterhood of Crafters is starting a new challenge and the theme is "Autumn".  

I've had these darling Gnome images, "You Gnome Me" from My Favorite Things sitting in my coloring pile for a really long time and finally decided it was time to color them up.  Sadly they're discontinued by I think Gnomes will always be popular.

I also remembered that I had this cute little Nut House from Pink & Main that seemed to be the perfect home for these little gnomes on a slimline card.

A bit of ink blending in the background and some die cut grass  brings this whole card together perfectly.  Wouldn't you love to live there or at least come across these little fellas in your garden? 

I would!  

I'll be entering this card into the following challenges:

Simon Says Monday Challenge ~ Use your favorite stamp

Time Out challenge ~ Season with optional twist of coloring

Now it's YOUR turn to play along.  You can find all the details at The Sisterhood of Crafters or by clicking here.  We look forward to seeing what you create!

Thanks for stopping by!