3 Twenty Crafts Blog Hop

Hello, and we are on the final stretch of Year 2013. Over at 3 Twenty Crafts there is a year end Blog Hop going on to get ready to celebrate the coming 2014 with our DT members, and we hope you'll join in for a bit of year-end fun.

Here's my card using some of the 3 Twenty Crafts stamps that were released in November.

 

- The 3 Twenty Crafts sets used on this card were: Tags and Trimmings (ribbon swirls & top & bottom flourishes); Happy Harvest (glasses).

-Die cut with S/B Labels 2, edged with Delicata gold, then overlined with the Sakura Clear Star gel pen for more glitz.

- Paper Studio vanilla c/s from a postcard pack was stamped with the 3 Twenty Crafts elements in Versa Mark, then embossed with Silver Pearl EP;  die cut and colored in with copics. On this vanilla c/s, the colors looked much too flat so I used Spica pens to enhance the ribbons, flourishes - liked the effect much better..

- used the negative of the vanilla die cut as a cover over the card base. Lined the aperture with a patterned dark brown, popped up the die cut focal piece. Used the same paper to punch out the bottom border trims from MS & Recollection punches.

- Snippet of green glitter paper to die cut the year with Memory Box letter die. Tried using the dark brown, but the green seemed better to my eye.

So please join along with us over at Jo's Scrap Shack in the blog hop and have some fun.

Happy New Year, and thanks for joining me and visiting throughout the year. Your visits & comments make my day! Hugs.

Family, Dogs & Boats

Welcome to my world on a lazy Saturday afternoon. I am here with just the granddogs, as the family  deserted me. DH decided he was bored with watching football & went for a long walk. DD & SIL went off to do some errands. I didn't feel like getting gussied up to go out in public, and was finishing up some laundry, so here I am - dogsitting.

I would like to say a warm welcome to 2 new followers: Debbie of Life Refreshed and Princess Judy Palmer of Blog This. Whooee, just a few more new followers to reach my next goal level of 200 followers, and there's gonna be BLOG CANDY! When I get home, I'll take some pictures & post as some added enticements.  Thanks for joining me here, and I hope you'll like what I babble on about. Let me encourage my other visitors to check out each of these blogs...not only some beautiful work to feast yer peepers on, but get a few good giggles too.

Since I haven't any cards to share, I thought I would share a couple of photos of the family..those I could get to cooperate with the camera & me. SIL refuses to join in when I'm taking pictures, and the one I finally captured of DH & DD is not all that great. But still, will give you an idea of what they look like in 'at home attire'. (I can already hear both of them saying "You DIDN'T really POST that, did you?"



DH-DD-Breakfast_12-25-13  

Ossie_Charlie_12-28-13
 

Ossie is the oldest of the 3 greys (13 yrs), and he's lived here since he was about 4 & retired from racing. He is the 3rd grey that DD adopted. She lost the 1st two dogs to cancer, and Ossie has survived the longest. He has arthritis, and is being helped with acupuncture. He has lovely manners, is definitely the daughter's child - if she is around - and only suffers the rest of us if he has to.

Dallas(standing)-Reilly(relaxing)-12-28-13
 



Dallas was adopted as a 3-4mo old puppy. When she was 2 yrs, DD discovered the folks who had adopted her sister, Reilly, didn't want the dog. So you can guess what happened next. Reilly is the one I'm allergic to, and I have difficulty in telling them apart. I don't pet either one because of that. I only pet Ossie if the other 2 are not where they can see it. (Yes, it does hurt their feelings!). Dallas was extremely rambunctious at first; she loved to chew toes. Now that she's 7, she is better behaved. Reilly basically follows her sister's lead and whatever Dallas is doing, Reilly does too. When you see one, you know the other is right behind.





Optimist Charlie-12-28-13

Charles joined the group about 2 months ago. This is his face when he is absolutely positive that he's going to join you for whatever it is that you may be eating. Doesn't matter, he wants some of it. He has diabetes, so treats are forbidden and he has to eat special food. He much prefers to sneak in & gobble up the greys' food & really snarfs it down. He's also quite a Hoover when food & crumbs are dropped from your plate. He doesn't beg, he just sits at your feet, looking up with this very hopeful expression. 

 

 

The last picture is of a PT boat that we saw pass by on Christmas morning. This is the first of these boats we've seen on the water. These boats were used in WWII, just in case you didn't already know this!  Hope that you've enjoyed the pictures and seeing a bit of my family. Hugs & come again soon.

 

Merry Christmas Each and Every One

I pray that this day finds you safe, warm & happy with those that you love. I feel so blessed that we are able to be with our daughter & son-in-law & the 4 granddogs (3 are greyhounds, and a tiny dachshund that belonged to our SIL's Dad has come to live with our kids. Sadly, his Master is no longer able to care for him due to dementia problems. Charlie is a real sweetie & seems to have adapted quite well to his new home. He's definitely a people 'person' & is so optimistic at meal times. He has diabetes so table treats are forbidden and he only gets his own special type of treats on occasion).

 

We have been fortunate to have had some lovely days of warm sunshine and some relaxation. One day we drove about 2 hours up the road to the SIL's Dad's place to do some cleaning out. Not a happy occasion, but we were glad to be able to help just a little. Also had some nice lunches & usually had leftovers for dinner. Tonight we had a Christmas Eve meal from Chinese take-out. Yummm.

 

I took a couple pictures of the DD's Christmas tree, and the tree skirt that I made for her long ago, in another hobby-lifetime. I hope you'll like seeing them, as I have no card to share. I did get out an image to color this afternoon, but didn't make a lot of progress. Then it was time to pick up supplies to get ready for dinner. Too hard to drag out, put away and keep my motivation steady. I've really enjoyed Netflix & Acorn TV while I've been here. Lazy is me.

 

If you look closely at the clear ornament to the left of the "V" shape, it is the poinsettia Ritz glitter ornament I made last year. I loved this tree skirt, and the center diamond of each diamond has some machine embroidery - which also was a long ago hobby. I only made one of these skirts...I always wished I'd made one for our tree. Alas, I never did! Probably never shall at this late date. So it gladdens my heart that DD always uses it.

I  want to wish all who visit & have visited here, a wonderful Merry Christmas, filled with all the things that give you joy & happiness. I am so appreciative of all who have visited, left comments & encouragement over the past year. It has meant so very much to me, and has been such a wonderful adventure that I certainly never expected to have. See you soon with some cards in the New Year. God Bless, and many warm hugs.



Miscellaneous

Good evening, and we only have 4 more days until the Jolly Fat Man shows up. (actually since it's evening, we really only have 3 more days...if I'm being strictly accurate). Thank you to all who sent us wishes for a safe drive south. Much appreciated, and it was a fairly quiet, easy drive (well, I sleep so of course it was easy for me! But if the pickup has to swerve, that wakes me up right fast). We had good weather leaving after having a breakfast locally, returning to our house to put away the garbage dumpster and then getting on the road. It was in the low 40's when we left home, and at each stop, we shed a layer of clothing. Finally had to turn on the a/c once we crossed the Florida State Line. Yesterday & today we've had mid 70 to mid 80's sunshine weather, and it's been lovely.

Last night we had a luscious full golden moon shining a lovely path across the water so I tried to capture it. Used a night setting and here's what I ended up with:

I took #2 first, then used the zoom to get #1 shown here. I was hoping the lights across the water would show up better, but ...it is what it is. At least I got the golden path on the water. So very beautiful to see it.

Christmas with Friends

Scheduled Post Alert!!! Back again to share another lovely card we've received & my photo does not do this marvelous one layer card justice. It has so much dimension that you really have to take a second look to realize it is just one layer.

Asha's Card (http://sunnysummercrafts.blogspot)

Asha lives in Portugal, and I've never had any mail from Portugal...how very exciting, and thank you so much, Asha. This is an absolutely stunning card.

Again, have a blessed day, and I hope that your seasonal activities are leaving you a bit of time to relax and think about what the holiday is truly celebrating. Most of our hurry is done, and we'll be relaxing a lot while away, dogsitting with the granddogs while the DD is at work. Hugs from me to you and thanks for stopping to visit today.

Christmas with Friends

Hi and I'm back with a scheduled post to share 2 more lovely cards we've received from blogging friends. I trust you will enjoy these as much as DH & I did. Again, we were very humbled to receive these beautiful cards from such talented card makers.

Loll's Card (http://www.stampingwithloll.com/)

Lynn's Card (http://creativecraftsbylynn.blogspot.com/ )



It occurred to me as I did this post, that I should add the links for these talented crafters' blogs. Sorry I didn't think to do that when I shared in earlier posts. Live & learn.

As you read this, we will be traveling south, so have a blessed day. I hope you can enjoy whatever it is that your day is bringing your way. Hugs & Merry Christmas

Christmas Truck

Good morning and we're counting down to the Big Day...7 more to go. My blog followers pictures had disappeared from its location for several days, and it appeared again yesterday. Did anyone else have the same problem? Also got some sort of error message as I opened up the New Post feature this morning, don't know what that was about!

Here's the card I did for Mr. DH and it's pretty simple. It's a cling red rubber stamp purchased at the September stamp show, colored with copics (airbrushed background) and die cut with S/B label 28. Impression Obsession popped up tree.

Papers are from some VOS Paper Studio packs, with an MS border punch covering the join. Several snippety pieces on the background & embellies, but time won't permit me to play in Pixie's Playground today (DH just wandered by and said "You need to get up from that computer and get busy". Hmmmm). However - if you have a few extra minutes, I'd invite you to pop over, have some roasted chestnuts & enjoy some lovely cards that the Playground Elves are sharing.

This is one of the simpler cards I've ever made for DH, but as he is a truck person, I think he'll like it. He's never had a blue pickup (we've had dark green and the last 2 were shades of gray- the current one being a very pretty silver gray). Thought this blue would show up prettier on a card. Shaded the IO popup tree with DI Pine Needles.

OK, that's it for me today. We're hoping to head to DD's house in Florida for the holidays, so got lots to get done today. I'll have a scheduled post tomorrow with some more of the lovely handmade cards we've received (at least that's the current plan).

So enjoy your day and thanks for your visit. We have sunshine - which made it hard to photograph without getting shadows. But that's ok, I'm loving having the sunshine. You have a lovely Wednesday, thanks for joining me, and many Hugs coming to you from me. I'm going to start saying Merry Christmas as a closing...just 'cause I love to say it.

Christmas with Friends

Hi and welcome. I'm back with 2 more of the pretty handmade cards DH & I have enjoyed receiving. Hope you'll like seeing them too.

Charlene's card

Julie's card

Two very gorgeous cards. Thank you to the senders. We loved receiving them.

Have a pleasant afternoon. Hope your Seasonal Scurry has slowed down just a bit, and you can relax and enjoy the meaning of this time of year. Today is last minute errands day for me. Many hugs.

Christmas with Friends

Hello and happy Monday. We have another day of pretty sunshine for which I am most thankful. I thought I'd share a few of the lovely handmade cards we've received. I didn't have a card ready to post, as we are trying to get things lined up so that we can leave to go to our DD's to spend the holidays. So I'll share a couple of cards with you each day, and hope you'll enjoy them as much as DH & I did. I'm awestruck at the skill & very humbled that these bloggers took time to think of us at such a busy time of the year.

Diane's card

 



Bonnie's card

 

 

Aren't these just 2 of the most gorgeous things you've seen? I'll post a few more tomorrow. Ladies, thank you so very much for sharing your talent with DH & me. And anyone else who comes into our home to see these cards displayed. We love them!

 

OK, I'm off to get some of my pre-trip "To-Do" list done. Ya'll have a wonderful afternoon, and thanks for popping in for a little visit. Hugs & hope the weather is not dreadful where you may be today. 

Christmas Club Get Your Skates On

Good afternoon, and after Saturday's constant rain throughout the day, we have sunshine again today. So very welcome to see. I worked on a card last night using PB Hedgies...I think these are among the most delightful of the Penny Black images. Here's my card:

- Used a Sizzix rectangle die to cut out the copic colored image, then used a stylus to emboss around the edges. The scarves have Spica pen & Wink of Stella glitz over the colors. The metal on the skates was done with a Gelly Roll Clear Star Silver pen and Glossy Accents on the ice.

- Memory Box snowflake corner trim, glammed up with some icy blue rhinestones. Background paper is from the stash, but probably is a Paper Studio brand.

This can be a Christmas card with an added sentiment, but could also serve for a winter birthday card, which I have need of 2 for January.

Hope you're having a pleasant Sunday afternoon, and if it's ice & snow where you may be, that you can stay cozy & warm inside. Thanks for joining me this afternoon, and as always, Hugs from me to you.

Chickadee Sticker

Whew, this is the last of some scheduled posts I did after my Sunday evening card making marathon. Now I have to stop and get some of those Northwood bird stamps I bought stamped and colored for my Sweeties. So this is another sticker from the VOS I've had in the stash.

- Stickers were in a ?K & Co pack? from years ago. The frilly mat is a trim out from the Decorative Label 8 snippet on the Gold & Silver Baubles card, in an earlier post. I positioned the larger die to cut the frame, placing a smaller one from the same set inside to create this mat piece. Embossed it to enhance the intricate design since I intended to use it as a mat for Mr. Chickadee. The round date sticker was from the same package. These stickers are on dimensional tape.

- plaid paper from a 4.5 x 6.5 Paper Studio Vintage Christmas pack that I bought ?last year. Hobby Lobby still has this available in the postcard size and the 12x12 pack - at least last time I was in the store. Thought it went well with the plaid trim on the sticker.

- MS deep edge border punch from my travels, from a current year 6x6 Christmas pack.

Called it done. Now need to do some inserts (which I would love to decorate like some of the wonderful cards I see on blogs...but doubt I'll have the time to do more than stamp a verse). I need to get some labels made up and printed out for the envelopes; that's just about as decorated as I get with the envelopes. Some of the ones I've enjoyed, were nearly as pretty as the cards inside. I'd have a hard time trying to preserve the envelope if I received one that gorgeous.

Come again when you can. Hugs.

Friday Fun Day Challenge #30

Good afternoon & big welcome. Since it's Friday (Errgh - the 13th!), you know that's it Friday Fun Day at Jo's Scrap Shack . So pull up a chair by the fire, have a cup of something hot, and let's visit for a little while, if you've got time.

Our theme for this Friday was selected by fellow DT member Amanda who chose the theme Winter. Our sponsor was Stamp Art Design by Kathryne and I chose this little guy (Snow Mail). Isn't he adorable? Colored up very easily too, after printing on Copic Xpress paper, and I used copic markers with some spica glitter pens.

Here he is:

- Outlined one Snowmail image with a Sakura silver star gel pen after airbrushing the sky with B0000. Colored a second copy with copics, fussy cut Snowy & Mailbird, which were popped over the silvery outline. The little touch of silver that shows underneath the arms, adds to the frosty feel.  Sparkle n Sprinkle Cloud 9 added along the ground for some snowy texture. S/B Deckled Rectangle die cut the focal image, and thin black mat cut with Perfect Layers Rulers, which I'm trying to learn to use properly.

-  Dylusions Blues created the background on 90# water color paper. Some sprays were pure color, some diluted, some mixed with white linen. I spritzed the paper first so that the sprays would run. Added some pearly spray & a spritz of gold after the colors had started to 'set', but not yet dried, so that I could tilt the paper & get some color spreading. Sometimes I blot with a paper towel - which I did on this one - sometimes just allow to air dry. Air drying gives a more marble look I think. Thought this piece created the illusion of falling snow.

- Impression Obsession die cut trees (DIE084-V) out of a white textured snippet, popped up with tape, added stickles on the branches for glittering snow.

- MS drippy goo border punch using a glossy paper snippet which made great icycles, added some stickles just cause I was in the stickles mood! :-). This border is for Halloween I think, but it made some good icycles too.

- Winter sentiment is from the 3 Twenty Crafts Winter Wonderland set, stamped on a white snippet inked with Memento Bahama Blue ink.

We'd love to see what you create using the Winter theme, so please pop over to Jo's Scrap Shack for the simple rules, link up and play along with us for FFC 30 this week. Do check out what the fellow DT members have created for your inspiration today.

In the meantime, have a wonderful Friday, get ready to enjoy the weekend. As always, thanks for visiting & come again when you have time to chat! Hugs

Die-Namite Poinsettia





Good morning. Twelve more days to the Big Day. I'm hoping all of you have been Good Little Bloggers so Santa won't have to bring you a rock for your sock. I think I've been pretty nice this year. I helped Santa out when I was visiting the shops on our trip to Florida, so I've told him he can give me a pass this holiday. We'll see if he listens. All I want for Christmas is to be with those I love best in the world. Good Health for my loved ones would be a bonus gift. Oh yes, World Peace & Kindness would be a marvelous gift too, but with the world leaders as they seem to be -  and all the meanness that goes on, I don't see that happening. But...we live in Hope!



 



Here's today's card:

 

-Die-Namites Curly Poinsettia as the focal point. Diecut with red c/s, then a green glitter paper. Carefully glued the red over the green diecut, then snipped away the red curliques (see this great video here...)  Pam shows how to do this technique. I saw a simply stunning card done by the fabulous Loll using the Memory Box Glowing Candle die and Loll kindly provided the video link. I want to try this technique with the candle die, as I love that die. In the meantime though, I had the Die-namite die out on the desk and thought the technique would work well on this. I didn't fuss with putting the inside bits back in the outline as did Loll & Pam. Give this video a peek, I think you'll enjoy it.

- SU Square Lattice EF on the raised textured panel.

- Sentiment stickers colored with Copics in various shades of G & YG to compliment the green glitter curliques. The sentiment was silver before coloring.

Hope you enjoyed this one...I like it.

Will be back later this afternoon with a post for the Friday Fun Day Challenge, so I hope you can pop back for a 2nd visit today.

Off to the salt mines.. (an old American expression meaning 'get your duff in gear and do some work'!). Come again when you have time for some hot chocolate. It's the weather for it. Hugs.

Santa's Sleigh

Hello again. Welcome.

Here's today's card:

- Impression Obsession Santa & Reindeer die from pearlized paper, spritzed with Tattered Angels gold sprays. Adhered with Dimensional tape.

- Memory Box tree die from a snippet of silver, embossed with the TH poinsettia EF. Also on dimensional tape, and added more 'snow' after the trees were stuck down.

- American Crafts glitter paper with stars for sky

- torn white paper, using Sparkle n Sprinkle Cloud 9 for the snow drifts. (This Cloud 9 looks more like a glittered flocking than EP and I can't remember what Margaret at SnS explained to me about this product. It does look like snow though. I was pleased with it, and happy that I bought 2 small jars!)

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment sticker, colored with copics to pick up the blue of the sky.

Hope you like this one. I went downstairs early Sunday evening and worked like a little beaver trying to finish up some cards that I had in progress. I still have to get 4 images stamped and colored for the Loved Family VIP's - to take along with me to Florida. So that's one reason I'm trying to hurry with the cards I need to get in the mail. Thanks for visiting today, and many hugs.

Joy to the World

Howdy & thanks for the visit this morning, on another scheduled post. Are you scurrying 'round as I am, trying to accomplish chores, and the faster you go, the further behind things seem to be getting? We really aren't doing that much decorating, since we'll be at our DD's for the holiday, so I'm not sure why I'm feeling a bit pressured. Guess it's just the time of the year, perhaps.

Here's today's card:

Found some stickers (VOS = Very Old Stuff) from years ago. Decided using some of these stickers would make for some quick cards. Think this was from a K & Co. package, from Michael's. A few years back some of my stamp group buddies were making beautiful & fast cards using stickers like these, so you know me: Miss Copy if I can person. Didn't get very many made that year though...came in handy for this one however.

the papers are from more VOS - Paper Studio Christmas packs. The red stripe-y backing on the dimensional sticker is from a new 6x6 Christmas pack. Don't know which one, as I have a bunch of these piled on the desk, and I just flip through several trying to find a sheet that looks good on each project. I did hunt up the VOS packs though, because I wanted some 'shiny' papers for the trimming. Even the card base cover is a textured piece from the pack.

Memory Box die sentiment cut from a snippet of gold mesh texture Paper Studio, and now that I look at this for a bit, I think a red might have been a better color choice. Alas, it's stuck down now, and I'm not going to try to pull it up. Thought about trying to adhere red lettering over it, but....I think it's gonna go in the mail as it is.

Hope you like this one. It was a pretty fast card for me, other than hunting up the papers. Thanks for the visit, enjoy your day. Big hugs from me to you.

Gold & Silver Baubles

Good morning, and this will be the first of several scheduled posts as I try to finish up Christmas cards and get them ready to mail. And keep up with the other chores & things that are being carried on at this time of the year. So without further ado, here's the card I'm sharing today:

I saw this card done by Carol, and thought it was just gorgeous. I want to try making one very similar, but in the meantime, here's the one I came up with. Thanks, Carol for the inspiration shared on your beautiful card. I was using up snippets, and the green glitter piece was a leftover(snippet) from trimming out behind a layered card. The Decorative Labels 8 framing was another c/s snippet that was almost not the right size. Finagling some creative positioning, I was able to use the c/s. I had previously punched a few MS punches out of an 8x8 sheet of this metallic matte paper. The gold ornament (snippet from this card), embossed with a Holly EF. The silver ornament was punched with an MS punch. This was from a piece of packaging in... (dare I say...some new underwear). I thought the silver card the items were wrapped around, would be good salvage. (channeling Mrs. A on this one).  So I guess that could be called a snippet - well if I stretch the term snippet just a bit. Added some rhinestones & pearls because the gold & silver looked a bit plain once I adhered to the front. The ornament chains were just a sliver of the same gold used for the ornament, because I couldn't find the gold cord thread I intended to use as a hanger.

The ornament dp is from a 6x6 Christmas pack and the red card base cover is from a Colorbok 8x8 print pack - and was a bit of snippet too, just larger than the others I've used. But it WAS left from another card project!

Thanks for popping in to visit today. When this post goes live, I may dash back over to the Snippets Playground with it. There's still time for you to come & play with us, and the Head Pixie is offering the absolute cutest Penny Black stamp as a prize. She even has a card to show how it can be used. Hope to see you there, just bring along your snippety card & that's the ticket to join in for some fun and a chance to win this cute stamp. Hugs

Edit: Today we have SUNSHINE!!! As previously promised, this post is live on 12/10 (Tuesday), so now I can jump over to the Snippets Playground as I do have many snippets here as a ticket to play. This is my 3rd entry for Week 102, since I had to miss the Big 100 Anniversary. There's a very cute PBlack hedgie & duck stamp as the prize this week, so why not join in? Hope that you have a bit of sunshine where you are, and if not, at least that the ice is melting. More Hugs.

Jeweled Memory Box Tree Snippety Bits

Good afternoon and it's still raining in our area. No snow or ice though. Warm thoughts going out to those who do have the cold & ice or snow. Also warm welcomes to 2 new followers as well:
Lisa  of A Mermaids Crafts and Ann of Just for Fun.  Thanks for joining me here, and folks, do please take time to pop over for a visit to these wonderful blogs.

You're going to get very tired of seeing so many Christmas cards here, I expect, but I've got to get some finished. So here we go with today's card:

I'm not going into all the specs as to what company products I used. I found the negative of this Memory Box tree die (from last year) in my snippets box. Decided it would look nice against the mirror green c/s - embossed with a Darice diagonal stripe EF, MS punch trims to the side, and some tiny polka dot paper. The silver star was an MS punch from glitter paper (a snippet) and the punched border trim also snippets. Then just added a bunch of tiny jewels as ornaments. Had saved this negative to use as a mask for spraying, decided it would do for a focal piece instead.

Since I've got snippets, snippets and more snippets, you know I'm headed for the Snippet Playground, week 102. I have been told to wear mittens, and promised some eggnog. Love me some good eggnog! If you care to join in the fun, I'm sure you would be offered a glass of festive 'nog. So com'on along...love to see ya there. All you have to do, is bring a card with a snippet or two on it, and that's the ticket to get into the Playground.

Have a lovely afternoon, stay warm & cozy if it's cold in your part of the world, and Plenty Hugs. Come again when you have time.

Silent Night Christmas

Welcome to my world on a quiet Sunday morning. Hope that the weather where you are is not dreadful, and that you have electrical power. I'm back with another scheduled post.

Here's a card that was fairly easy to make. The idea started with the stamp.

- Inkadinkadoo ornament stamp, inked with Versamark, heat embossed with Ranger Queen's Gold (still my favorite of all the gold EP). Die cut with a S/B circle. This is my 3rd attempt on this embossing, as I kept getting specks of powder that wouldn't brush off without damaging the image (you'll know what I mean if this has ever happened with you). I'd use a brush to flick off the excess, I had used the Embossing Buddy, blown & huffed, then would think "Oh, this will be ok". Used the heat gun, and no, after looking at the result, I'd cut & stamp another one. The c/s is a pearlized white c/s snippet.

- Card base is also pearlized white but a different shade from the ornament snippet. I inked the Sizzix embossing folder with Delicata Gold before running through the Big Shot. Sorry I can't provide the specific name on this folder. When I removed the folders from the packing materials, I embossed a piece of GP white C/S for each folder, writing the mfgr & name on the folder. This piece of C/S is somewhere in the mess on my desk or at the cutting area. The Sizzix name is on the plastic though. I may have to take a black marker & write down all the names on the plastic instead of my white samples that are meant to stay inside the plastic. I keep all the folders in a storage box, trying to have these arranged sort of by subject. I keep the holiday folders in a separate box so I don't have to hunt through these when I want a folder. I need to devise a more accurate filing system too, rather than florals, leaves-trees, etc.

- gold gauze ribbon and a Britannia die sentiment snippet (Joanna Sheen) - Thanks Mrs. A for telling me where to find these dies!

Have a happy Sunday, and I hope you're doing something relaxing & enjoyable today. Hugs from me to you, and come again soon.

Edit: This was a scheduled post, but now that's it has gone 'live', I'm going to zip right over to the Pixie's Crafty Snippet Playground for week 102 to link up. I really missed playing in the 100th week anniversary so I want to try to make up for that. My snippets were the ornament paper & the gold sentiment which came from the Mbossibility Reindeer card on the previous post. So off I go, and my plan for today, will be visiting some lovely blogs and trying to get a couple more cards done. Yesterday we did some much needed house chores. Still haven't done any Christmas decorating to speak of. We'll be away, but I do like to have some festive things about, especially our nativity, which is as old as our daughter. Hugs again.

Mbossibility Reindeer Christmas

Hello, and welcome to you this morning. Also a big welcome to another follower, Lisa of A Mermaids Crafts. Please take a few moments and check out Lisa's great work.

My thoughts & prayers are going out to all in the Midwest who are suffering the effects of this monster ice storm moving across the country, with the extreme cold. DH talked to a friend from Oklahoma Friday afternoon, and he is expecting minus temps overnight, and had ice and snow. Fortunately he heats with a wood stove, and had just gotten a load of wood. Some areas had already lost power, and for those having health problems (and truly anyone--) the lack of heat can be a very serious problem.

This is another scheduled post, as I'm trying to get some chores done and some posts scheduled. Here is my card, and very hard to photograph it was; (we've had the drearies so not great light..but honestly, even if there had been good lighting, I doubt I could have taken a better photo! LOL)

- Mbossibility Reindeer folder, on mirror gold c/s.

- sticker from a K&Co pack (VOS = Very Old Stuff, not sure when I bought this pkg, but some years ago!)

- Elizabeth Craft sentiment sticker (which is probably a bit too small, but the next size I had was too large, so there you go! And I didn't want to use a die to cut out the sentiment and obscure the lovely swirls & furls on the embossing). That's it folks. Easy card.

The hardest part about this card was
(1) getting that Mboss folder through my Big Shot. I had broken an old style C/B a while ago, using an Mboss folder. Strictly my own fault as it appeared to go through just fine. As it was at the last of the plates, though, I heard a crack - Ooomph, no more tension on the C/B rollers. So I'm very careful when I use these thicker folders. Read the sandwich instructions when using the Mbossibilities, and then proceed carefully. I ended up taking out the B/Shot base plate after I had tried with all the tab pieces removed. Still felt too 'thick' to pass through with no problems. I used the 2 clear plates, and added a stack of chipboard shims until I felt enough tension to emboss the gold c/s. This was thick c/s that has a 'backing', which contributed to the ultimate sandwich thickness

(2) taking a photograph since the c/s was so shiny. The picture does not really do the pretty c/stock justice as it really gleams. I was pleased with this one, and it will be designated for a VIP on my card list.

Also used a little wooden easel I bought on my travels.

Thanks for joining me this morning. Be safe & warm if you are in this ice belt, and Hugs from me to you.

Friday Fun Day Challenge #29 at Jo's Scrap Shack

Hello and since it's Friday, you know it's time for Friday Fun Day Challenge #29 over at Jo's Scrap Shack. I hope you'll play along with us; the rules are posted on Jo's blog, and are very easy to follow. This week we are following a sketch, and our sponsors are Bugaboo and The Paper Nest .

Here's my card using a Bugaboo digi stamp since Bugaboo is the sponsor of my Team A.

- Bugaboo Christmas Bells printed on Xpress paper, die cut with a S/B circle & colored with Copics. Used a clear Wink of Stella pen for some shine on the bells and ribbon. IRL this gives a nice shine, especially on the bells, creating a look of real metal. Used a circle scallop S/B die as a mask to shade BG0000 shading around the bells.

- SU Top Note die for the green tree Kringle & Co. design paper, highlighting the stitching with a white gel pen. The reason I purchased this die was because I can't do a decent faux stitch, and a friend pointed out the stitching lines in this die.

- card base is from a 12x12 Colorbok pad picked up at Walmart ($5.99!) and the paper has sort of a metallic shine to it. Embossed with Brenda Walton Starry Night Flourish (658753-Sizzix - 2pk set).

- the scallop trim was a snippet from this card, using the 3 Twenty Crafts Background Builders. I used the dot border from the Builders set, inked in Memento Black Tuxedo, then punched with a Fiskars scallop border. You have to look very hard to see the dots, but they are there!

Haven't decided where the sentiment will go, but I'm thinking a small one popped up in the top left corner.

Thanks for visiting today, and please be sure to check out what my team mates have done for today's sketch challenge over at Jo's Scrap Shack and if you have time, play along with us. We'd love to see your interpretation of the sketch, which you will see over at Jo's.

Hugs & have a lovely Friday.

Friends Cards & Make n Take

Good morning - Happy Friday. I'm scheduling this post because I really need to get busy & get more Christmas cards ready. First I need to clean off my stamp desk so I have a place to work!!! I'll be back later this afternoon with a Fun Day Friday Challenge post, so please do drop back again.

I wanted to share 2 lovely cards made by some friends

Brenda's Card

This lovely card was in our mail when we returned from Fla. It's from my blog buddy, Brenda.
It is just so very pretty...the leaf is done with alchol inks, has the trunk sort of die cut into the leaf. Very unusual, and we just loved the layout, with all the gorgeous shimmering papers. Brenda & her family are dealing with a tough health issue at the moment, and I was so humbled that she took time to think of me and send this beautiful card. Thank you Brenda.

Edit: Brenda sent me a link to the leaf card above...you can find the how-to here.

Next a card from another blog buddy, Candee.

Candee's card - front view

Candee's card - center view

Candee's card - fully open

Northwoods Christmas Joy

Good afternoon, and welcome. Sorry that I've been MIA, but after getting home Sunday evening, somehow I've just not been motivated to do anything but just idle around. We got things unpacked on Monday, had some bills & phone calls to handle..and the week has been very gray & dreary. Raining or misting off & on, and weather like that really affects my mood. I'm one of those people who need sunshine. I can do ok with a day or 2, but I was already a bit blue about saying goodbye to the DD. So I counted my blessings, gave me a pep talk, and tried to snap out of my funk.

OK...things are better, and last night I did work on some cards. (Next I need to work on updating my die database, and CLEANING MY STAMP AREA!). Whoo Hoo...Santa ain't coming to see me cause he'd take one look and think he'd break his neck to venture in that room.

I wanted to say Thank You to some new followers:

Lorraine   Welcome to My Little World of Craft

Starcyl  (I'm sorry I don't have a blog link for Starcyl, so if you see this post, please contact me, so I can post your link.) 

Wynn  Sunshine Cards and Crafts

Donna  Creative Smiles

Shona  Shona's Stamping Stage

Please do yourself a huge favor and check out these blogs. I can promise you're in for a lovely visit to some extremely talented card makers. Thanks Bloggers for joining this blog. You're helping me reach my next goal of 200 followers, and I didn't expect to have ANY followers except a few local friends, when I started this blog in March of 2012. (THINK BLOG CANDY!)

Here's today's card:

Another Stamp Store Visit

Good evening, and welcome. For my new followers, I will be attempting to list your blogs here - once I return home, and can add your names & blogs to the database I keep of my following list (and I don't know how to do that for those who follow via Bloglovin). I think there might be some blog candy in the near future, and I use that numbered database with the Random Generator thing-y in order to know who the lucky number is! So if you follow here via bloglovin, I'd sure appreciate a heads up with your name and your blog name, so I can be sure to include everyone when I do some candy!

OK! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving (and if you don't celebrate the day as a holiday as the USA does, at least I hope you had something you were thankful for). In my case, of course, my sweet husband & daughter, son-in-law, granddogs and I still have 3 of my 5 brothers living. And so very many other blessings.

Several bloggers and some local friends who winter in Florida had suggested we visit Violette's Scrapbooking in Lakeland. I hesitated at first, as this city is about a 1 1/2 hr drive from where the DD lives. DD had to work today, so DH suggested a drive to find the place. We didn't set off real early, but we got there in plenty of time to browse a really wonderful & extremely well stocked store; very attractive displays in a well lighted, spacious - multi-roomed store. Oh My Goodness! I was pretty bad today, because there was a good supply of Northwoods stamps - which I love; some wonderful dies. (- Nope I don't like dies...NOT MUCH I DON'T!) DH is very good to hunt around, bring me back things he thinks I'd like. So we had a lot of fun. And No, I did NOT buy any paper here. :-)

I will have to say this, and perhaps I should not: We did not find this store to be as friendly as Sparkle N Sprinkle. We were greeted when we entered, but no one asked if there was anything specific we might be interested in, no offers to demonstrate any products, etc...Not a big thing of course, but since the visit to S/n/S earlier in the week was such a delightfully friendly visit, we both noticed the difference. DH talked with the lady who was manning the store, and informed me that she was not the owner. That may have made the difference, I don't know. This evening I chatted with a friend on FB who had suggested the visit, and her experience was totally different from ours today. There were not that many other customers - no Black Friday sales - which was ok by us. The sales person was kind enough to make a copy of 3 cards for me, since I had forgotten a camera, but we did have to purchase the stamps in order for her to do that. She was pleasant, just not especially welcoming, we felt. Like I said, I'll try to be honest in my opinions of things on any post I make. Not to say I'm gonna be right..but it's what I think! Overall, we did enjoy our visit, and yeah, I left a chunk of change. We'll call it an early Christmas present. From me to me! :-)

So g'night. Have a wonderful weekend. I'm told it is to be in the 80's tomorrow...typical Florida winter weather. Yay! Hugs from me to you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Good evening from finally sunny Florida. The sun did come out this morning, but it has been quite windy all day. The temperatures were pleasant early in the day, but mid-afternoon, had begun to drop. We finally got our predicted thunderstorm & rain last night, so I closed up computer operations about 10pm, and went to bed and read for a while. Earliest I've been to bed in a long time.

Here's a couple of pictures (same view as yesterday - ) with the sun shining. The water looks like diamonds were dropped it was so sparking.

The sky was  not the gray lead of yesterday, but still had not gotten the pretty blue I love to see. It did have that luscious blue later in the afternoon in the 2nd picture. Oh yes, DD said what I thought was a bird in my water picture of yesterday, was just a buoy out in the water.

This is what Florida should look like! But as anyone who has ever visited here knows, it rains & gets gloomy & chilly in South Florida too. Fortunately for us, we lived here long enough that we don't get that upset with the weather.  We got a phone call from relatives who live in our subdivision that snow flurries were happening there, so the Florida gray looked better than what it must be at  home!

Got out & about today and headed for Ruskin, Fla. to visit a store called Sparkle n Sprinkle, a lovely place a blog follower (KathyK) had told me about. To get there, we had to cross the famous Skyline Bridge in Tampa (maybe it's called Skyway..I'm not certain).  Anyway, I really dislike having to drive over it!  I was in the back seat, DD was driving, and it was very windy. We could feel the wind buffeting the car. Needless to say, I closed my eyes and said "Tell me when we get down". She took pity on her ole Mom and we came home another way.

It's not a large store, but oh my, was it packed with goodness. Lots of products that were new to me. The owner, Margaret, was so friendly and welcoming, knows her stock and knows how to use the products too. We did a fast make & take which I enjoyed and will try to share here. She explained how to use any number of new products and if I forget, there's an online gallery where I can refresh the instructions. I behaved myself pretty well (relatively speaking) and had such a great time.

After leaving Sparkle, we headed back to Tampa, stopped at Ikea to pick up a couple of small shelves for the cabinet over our laundry sink. The shelves are always cluttered and I had seen these small metal shelves last visit (got 2 for my kitchen cupboards and they work well). Daughter picked up a few things, and we had lunch in their cafeteria. It wasn't a 'great' lunch, but pretty good - and we were hungry.

I've had the laptop cluttering up the table while we've been here. Since tomorrow we will be using it to have the holiday meal, and since the SIL is arriving home tonight, I'll have to clear up my clutter. Might not be back to chat tomorrow evening.

Oh yes, I am missing the fun at the last Rudolph Day of 2013, and the fun at Pixie's Snippet Playground to celebrate the 100th Snippet week. I have to dash over & see how long that is going on...maybe it will still be running by the time we get home, and I can submit a card. I would urge you to check out both these lovely blogs for some extremely inspirational cards, because as we all know, Christmas is not that far away. (well at the Playground, your card just needs to have snippets, but there will be a lot of holiday cards I can assure you!)

So, from my family & me, to all of you & your families - Happy Thanksgiving, if you celebrate that day. If not, well all of us have many things for which to be thankful for, so Thankful Blessings to all of you who don't celebrate the day as a USA holiday. Thanks for joining me.

Hi from Florida

 

 

Good evening. I remembered to bring my camera USB connection on this trip, so this afternoon, after we got back from lunch & shopping, I stepped out on the deck to take some pictures of the gloomy gray day. It was misting & drizzling rain as I snapped these and the little blob you can see in the water, is some kind of water bird I think. I didn't see anything until I looked at the imported pictures. Actually, I was hurrying the dogs along, and just snapping some photos.

 

We found a new scrapbook store this afternoon, which we had spotted as we were coming to the DD's house Sunday evening. Since she knew where it was, we checked it out today - Scraps of Art in Seminole, Fla. I don't scrapbook, so I never know if I'll find 'my kind of schtuff' in a scrap store. I had a very pleasant visit, and found way too many goodies. Some lovely Christmas papers (and YES, I DID NEED more Christmas papers TOO!), some nice Stampendous stamps, and some other supplies. We had intended to drive about 45 minutes to Ruskin, Fla. to visit Sparkle & Sprinkle, but some thunderstorms had been predicted this afternoon, and we decided to stay closer to home. Maybe we can get up to Sparkle & Sprinkle tomorrow, since one of my blog followers had told me about it after our last visit to DD in October.

 

Of course I had to check out a Michael's & JoAnn's...after promising myself I'd stay out of those stores. I did find a couple of new MS border punches..at least I've not found them in my local stores. We also managed to visit Bed, Bath & Beyond & a Home Goods store (like Marshall's if you aren't familiar with this store). Home Goods is the sort of store that you visit, not be looking for anything specific, and can find all kinds of nifty things like pretty towels, dinner ware, dust collectors - that type of thing. Then we had a nice late lunch; everyone had leftovers from yesterday's lunch + today's lunch, and we didn't have to think about what to have for dinner = which made my kinda day!

 

I hope your day was pleasant too. That if the weather is nasty where you are, that you were able to stay inside, cozy & warm, either crafting to your heart's content or dozing by the fire. Thanks for stopping in for a visit, and Hugs from me to you. Be safe if you are traveling for the holiday.



Hello from Florida

Good evening & welcome to some new followers. How delightful see your faces appear in the following list. Once I'm at home again, I'll give a proper shout-out and try to list your blogs so that Carolina Cards' visitors can pay a visit.

We had an easy ride south Sunday from South Carolina down to the Tampa, Florida area where our DD lives. Traffic was not terrible, and we didn't encounter any road construction or slow-downs as can frequently happen on the route that we take south.

Left 30F & windy temperatures at home (and the wind made it feel much, much colder) to arrive in mid-60 temps, but still very windy. Today was quiet, overcast and the waterway outside DD's house, was very choppy. No dolphins playing today, and very little boat traffic on what is usually a very busy waterway. DD had a business meeting during the morning, but when she came home, we went out for a while to have a lovely lunch. The restaurant has an Italian grocery in the same building, with some luscious homemade bakery items - not the sort you can find in a typical bakery, but strictly the kind of Italian desserts that you just drool over, and can't decide which to select. We brought some home after eating our lunch. The place was terribly crowded as well, so I can't begin to imagine how it will be on the day prior to Thanksgiving.

Stopped at a couple places for errands on the way home (dog food at 2 different places for one thing!), and it was nearly dark when we got back to the house. I don't like the early darkness of late fall & winter. I understand we're to get a cold front moving in, but can't complain...just saw on MSN weather that there may be an icy rain at our home!

Just wanted to pop in & say Hi this evening. No cards to share. I brought some copics and stamped images to color, but also brought some dvds I've been wanting to view; I can  watch those on the laptop while everyone else watches tv. So goodnight, and I'm going to try to get around to pay some visits. Thanks for stopping tonight, and Hugs from me to you!

Friday Fun Day - Thankful

Good afternoon, and since it is Friday, of course there is a Fun Day Challenge 27 over at Jo's Scrap Shack.  The theme was Thankful and Team A is being sponsored by Stamp Art.  Since I did not get the sponsor's digi requested in time to prepare a card for today's challenge, I selected an old stamp of my own, just so that I could join in.

- Cornish Heritage Farms Fall Harvest image;  this stamp was purchased from the original company. I think another company bought the business and I'm not sure if this image is still available. Stamped on Xpress paper, using Versafine Vintage Sepia. After using Versafine to stamp, I heat set the ink as I planned to do a little copic coloring. Memento inks work best for me with copics, no heat setting, no smudging. Since this stamp has lots of dark on it, I wanted to use the Vintage sepia. Happy to report, I didn't have any smudging problems.

- die cut with a new SU Top Note die, which looks like S/B Labels 8 to me, just a bit. However, I liked the Top Note for the pen stitching round the edges. Also, I tried to use a Label 8 for matting, and folks, they don't match up on the scroll bits! So I did a faux mat, just tracing the outside of the die cut piece, enlarging a bit.

Image & mat were both smudged with DI Tea Dye, Vintage Photo. Used dimensional tape to mount on card base.

Card base was cream c/s, also smudged the same DI's around the outside with the sponge applicator tool. After looking at the color against the image & mat, came back in with Evergreen Bough because I wanted a little contrast in the earth tones. Liked that better.

Sentiment is a snippet of cream, stamped with an IO clear stamp from the Count Blessings set. Used Memento Teal Zeal. Colored 2 pearls with copics in BG shades, and that's it for this card!

Please join us over at Jo's Scrap Shack and let us share in what you may be thankful for. I was honored to select the theme for today, and since our USA Thanksgiving is next week, thus my choice of theme. However, realizing we have a lot of international folks who play along, I didn't want to choose something USA specific. I think we can ALL be thankful for the good things in our lives, no matter where we live. So - jump over to Jo's, where the rules are posted and very simple, and help us all say Thanks!

I will have another post today, because I'm thankful for some lovely new followers. I was trying to list them at the top of this blog, but was having so much trouble with formatting. I finally decided, Heck, quit messing about with it, do in a separate post! So thanks once more for joining me here. I'm so blessed to have many, many things in my life to be especially thankful for. All of you lovely bloggers who have joined here, been so kind & encouraging - would be at the top of my list. Of course my family & being a child of Christ, tops the list! Hugs from me to you.

Miscellaneous

Hello. I wanted to finally be able to say a huge thank you to some new followers.

Gail  - I Like Paper
April Stampwilly Designs
Carol CM Designs
Melissa Moe Creations

Marilyn  Who 'Dat Scrapper

Sarah Sarah's Stamping and Stuff

Erin Erin's Owl Nest Tina Card a Day Blog Linda Linda Plus Three I am so delighted to have all of you as new followers. Also many thanks to all of you who checked in to see the 3 Twenty Crafts blog hop posts the last 4 days. I hope you enjoyed the cards I created using these new stamp sets. They were fun to stamp, and each of the Design Team members created something so totally different with each set. I was amazed at how each of us saw a different way to create something pretty with the same sets. So good luck to the random winner(s) of the stamp sets that were offered as prizes. I had shared a tip for using fine grit sand paper to condition new stamps. Another talented card maker and blogger (Benzi) shared another conditioning tip: to use a Staedtler eraser. She very kindly sent me the link to this tutorial. Thanks Benzi! I'm having formatting problems with this post. For some reason which is totally unknown to me, the post wants to set up as a table. I've tried removing formatting, going into the HTML and looking around to see what I can fix.  Sorry, nothing I've done has worked! I did want to acknowledge my new followers, but time is speeding away, our new door is getting replaced this afternoon (and I'm still in my Pj's); so .... I'm going to have to go with the messed up formatting. Please forgive me, and if any of you Guru's know what I should do to fix this - help me out here! (cuz I know it will happen again! I was doing linking and I think that's what has messed me up! But maybe not!)... We will be leaving Sunday to head to South Florida to spend the week with DD so won't be sharing any cards next week (maybe some pictures!). We haul down enough 'schtuff' without trying to drag along card making supplies. (well, if there's room, might take my copics & some images to color. Then we get busy, and I don't do thaanything!).Tomorrow is another Ritz glitter class with my buddy, Gloria, up at Scrapbook Creations in Spartanburg. So gotta run. Thanks for popping in, have a wonderful weekend, and Big Hugs from me to you. Have a wonderful day, a happy weekend, and thanks for your visit. Big Hugs from me to you.

3 Twenty Crafts - Tags & Trimmings

Good afternoon and a big welcome to our 4th and final day of Jo’s Scrap Shack’s Surprise Blog Hop!

All week long the design team and I have been showing stamp sets from a new company - 3 Twenty Crafts. We hope you have had fun hopping along all week with us and enjoyed all the wonderful projects that the design team created. Remember that all the stamp sets you saw this week will be available to purchase today at 3pm and will be shipping on Monday.

Today we are showing you the new and awesome stamp set “Tags and Trimmings”

 

 

Here is my card created using this stamp set

  

This was a pretty fast card, once I remembered I had some Paper Cuts card blanks purchased years ago. The longest part of the process was trying to find the card blanks! When I saw this stamp set, I knew the tiny images were perfect for this type of card, for inchies,  stamping on tags...very versatile. I chose the candy cane & ornament, stamping them with Colorbox Fluid Chalk ink.* Easily colored the red stripes with copics; covered that with a red Silver Star gel pen for sparkle, then a white touch with a Signo pen for highlights. Added the bows after adhering the circles to card. 

Ornament stars colored with Spica gold, then a yellow Silver Star pen. Colored remaining space with Clear Silver Star - so lots of sparkle. Easy & fast. Santa was colored with the Red Silver Star too. All these little motifs were punched out with an appropriately sized SU round punch, adhered to inside card base. Card  insert will cover this & provide a finished surface. A tiny circle mat frame around the motif would have been pretty, but as is usual with me, the idea came after I had the first image affixed. Well, there's always next time, cause for sure, these little goodies will get used again. The tiny tag & sentiment were stamped with Colorbox ink & hand cut; the larger sentiment from the set was stamped on an MStewart pre-made tag. MS border punches from a 6x6 American Crafts Kringle & Company pack  & green rhinestones finished off this card.

*Got a tip to try sanding clear stamps before first use with a fine grit sand paper - so used the TH sander to sand the stamps lightly before inking. This is a good tip to get crisper images and one I had forgotten. Just something to keep in mind.

This is my project for today, concluding our week long blog hop. I have had so much fun playing with these lovely new stamps.  I hope you enjoyed all the different ways each Team Member presented their projects with the stamps.  Good luck to each of you in the random draw to win a set of the stamps presented during the blog!!

Just a reminder.. In order to win Tags and Trimmings, visit each blog along the hop and leave a comment. Be sure to check Jo's blog on Monday to see if you were one of the lucky winners of one of these awesome new stamp sets! Don't feel like waiting and want to grab your set of stamps now? Simply click here!

Soooo----- ready for some Blog Hoppin Fun???  I'm the last stop on hop, but if you  stopped here first or got lost along the way, just start at Jo's Scrap Shack at the beginning! 

Thanks for visiting today, for playing along with our 3 Twenty Crafts hop this week, and have a lovely afternoon. Hugs from me to you.