Merry Christmas

Good afternoon, and I hope everyone is caught up on their Christmas prep. Sorry to have been MIA for a while, and since there is a rare quiet moment, I'd like to wish all my blog followers a Very Merry Christmas. For those who have sent Christmas cards, Get Well Cards, and emails of encouragment, I want to say a heartfelt thank you.

For those of my followers who don't know why I have been away from Blogland and will continue to be away for a time, I will try to update you.

The October scan that DH had, showed a 4cm mass in the upper left quadrant of his intestine...Very likely malignant.We found to our distress, a colonoscopy nor an Endoscopy, show that area. (or so we've been told!) He was faithful in getting the tests we were told responsible people should have. He had surgery to remove that mass on Nov 7, and it was discovered he had other places in his intestines, plus the problem has metastized to both lungs. A 4-5 day surgical stay ended up being 14 days, of sheer misery.

A hospital oncologist saw him and was very brutal in delivering the news that if he does nothing, probable life expectancy of a couple months. With chemo, he  might gain a few additional months. But the condition is terminal, and he didn't mince words in saying so. Very difficult to hear this. This was shortly after the Nov 7 surgery. He was released on Nov 21, home for 4 days, began vomiting uncontrollably, so we had to rush him back to the hospital, as he had dehydrated. We think a lot of that was because the intravenous nutrition food he was being provided once home, was the wrong stuff (not what was given in hospital, and I DID question the difference in what I saw. Additionally he was on a clear liquid diet per his surgeon, and we had been told he could have 'shakes' made with whey powder, almond milk, baby food fruit - to build him up for chemo. Also WRONG!). So next time home, he was on the clear TPN (the liquid nutrition) & only clear liquid diet and that has seemed to work better. Additionally, we asked for anti-nausea meds, which (fingers x'd) so far have kept the vomiting away.

It's been a hellish several weeks, as I know nothing about how to take care of someone in this condition, and I'm having to inject vitamins, insulin into this prepared TPN, flush iv lines, connect & disconnect to a pump that feeds this stuff, and empty a belly drain bag too. My brain is in such a state, I didn't retain info, and most of the time, felt as though I'd break into 10 million tiny pieces from sheer nervous upset. I've pretty much learned how to do the TPN, still get scared doing it, afraid I'll do something wrong. But we are trying to take it day by day...and praying constantly

He is scheduled to get a chemo port on 12/27, and try to start chemo on 1-2. DH has a very low threshold for nausea, and I worry that he won't be able to tolerate it. Additionally, we've used up a lot of the 'couple months do nothing' scenario so not sure if the time that may be gained, if the tumors can be shrunk, will be worth the side effects of the chemo.

So for all of you who have sent up prayers on his and our behalf..PLEASE keep them going upward. We've prayed for a miracle...but also pray for courage to face whatever comes. I didn't have the time (nor the motivation) to send out any cards, but have been uplifted by all the lovely cards we've been sent. And the emails so many of you have sent, to say you're thinking of us. It means more than you will ever know, unless you have to face a situation like this. I know so many others have done so, and probably with a lot more grace than we are able to put into the journey.

I hope I can return to Blogland in the future, but right now, my biggest priority is looking after #1 DH. He's very precious to me, and I'm trying my best to do all I can to help him through this journey, keep him comfortable, and let him know just how much he is loved.

Again, thanks to all of you, and I wish each of you a Merry Christmas. Our daughter & SIL arrived this morning for a few days, so at least we can spend Christmas once more as a family.

God Bless.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 22

Good afternoon and welcome. I'm a bit late with my CCC post. Today Christine selected the theme as Winter Wonderland for our group of card makers who share Christmas cards every 2 weeks all throughout the year. One member decides what the theme will be for that week, but we have the option of "anything goes" if we don't have the necessary supplies, or want to take a different approach, as long as it's a Christmas theme.

My card was the usual last minute decision scramble as to what to make. After looking at Pinterest, Youtube and other time wasting places I enjoy...I searched through lots of stamp sets and decided on a 'look'. Combined 2 Penny Black clear sets to create today's card. I hope Christine will like it.

Penny Black Prancers Transparent set (trees)
Penny Black Nature's Silhouettes set(stag)
Sizzix Word Set

Created the sky using DI Shaded Lilac and Stormy Sky. At first created the snow drifts - which I thought looked pretty good (I rather struggle with creating snow drifts and it shouldn't be _that_ hard! Watched a couple of youtubes on that technique). Found I had trouble placing the trees well, even  using post-it mask. I did see one video that suggested starting from the top, and doing the sky first, and that was helpful. First effort not great with the tree placement & snow drifts, so flipped the Bristol Smooth Vellum c/s over, and started again. After creating the sky, this time I put the trees around first. Used different greens for depth, and Memento Gray Fog to create the background trees. Once I had the forest created, then used the torn hill/sky mask to brush some Shaded Lilac around to create the snowy drifts. Found that using a Inkylicious dual ended brush to swipe the 'snow' around, I was able to achieve a lighter touch than with using a dauber/blending tool.

Inked the stag with Black Versafine, stamped & used a black copic marker to touch up. A piece of double stick Sookwang was laid over the finished effort; added Cool Diamond Ritz Glitter & burnished well. Hope this finished look evokes a snowy forest wonderland. The sentiment was from a Sizzix words set, cut from some hologram glitter c/s.

Hope you have time to visit my fellow team members, whose blogs are listed on the left side bar.

The wedding came off nicely, although it was held outside (the actual ceremony part). While it was sunny, the skies had some dark clouds rolling up, and it was quite windy. The bride looked beautiful in a gorgeous dress. Lots of our extended family showed up, and the groom had an even bigger family. Food was delicious (southern bbq fare, with all the fixin's). Don't know any scan results yet; hopefully tomorrow will have a report from the GP. Appreciate all the good wishes on that.

Thanks for joining me today, and God Bless. Hugs too.

Santa Hedgies for Rudy Day

Good evening, and welcome. It's time for the October Rudolph Day Challenge, and next month will be the last one for 2018. In case you don't know about this challenge, it is a Christmas Anything Goes themed challenge, which opens on the 25th of each month, and closes on the last day of that month. Our hostess, Maureen always has some nice prizes, and it's just a fun and fairly easy rules challenge...just do something related to Christmas. 

Here's my entry for October....I've managed to join in each month of 2018 (I _think_!)

Penny Black image

CZ Design die sentiment

Hedgies colored with copics; Polar White Flowersoft for the fur and used a quickie glue pen over the string of stars. Then dumped some Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold over the wet glue. The glue pen allowed the EP to adhere fairly well, so IRL the stars have a nice glimmer. A silver slicci pentel pen helped the scissors to look metallic.

the snow was created by using a rather dried up snow writer (it wouldn't come out of the end so used an embossing paste spreader to put some on the card; then used my finger to spread it). Then dumped on some glitter while this was wet.

I sprayed a fixative over the flowersoft to keep it from falling off (hopefully) and the wet 'snow paste' held the glitter as it dried.

used red mats and a dot dp snippet piece to add some color on the background.

3 layers of snippets made up the sentiment. A red snippet in the middle, with 2 white snippet layers colored with copics. A business card was handy, so used the white back and sandwiched the red snippet between. The thickness of the business card gave a nice dimension. Nuvo Crystal glaze applied, once the layers were put together. Laid this on the kraft non-stick mat, as I applied the Glaze. This way when it blobbed over, as it does sometimes, it was not on the card, leaving a splodge that the camera picks up.

Please check out this month's Rudolph Day Challenge, and see lots of inspiration & then play along if you are able. Only a few more weeks to build your Christmas Card stash!

Hope to be back later with a card for our Christmas Card Club. Ya'll take care, and thanks for joining me. Hugs

Christmas Card Club Challenge #21

Good Morning. Here's hoping that you've had a good weekend so far;  for my American friends, I pray you were safe if you were in the path of our most recent storm, Michael. So many folks in that Florida Panhandle area had such devastation. It will take a long time for those communities to recover. So many prayers go out to them, and many thanks go upward that the rest of us were kept safe. In our area, we had been told to expect heavy rains and winds. We did get some good rains on one afternoon, then it stopped. Next morning, we had some good rain again, but in the afternoon, sun was back out. We did need the rain so it was good to get what we did. We've had 2 very pleasant days that have been more like what we normally experience at this time of the year.

Today is our Christmas Card Club Challenge, and our Kate chose today's theme of monochromatic. As always, we have the option of Anything goes. I was a little surprised to find myself struggling as to just how to do a monochromatic card...I hope Kate will approve what I did! (It was a good challenge to take me out of my comfort zone as I don't think I've ever done a monochrome card. I didn't use any copics!!!)

Stampendous wooden block - a very old NBUS stamp

Distress Inks Shaded Lilac and Chipped Sapphire

Paper Studio Blue Rose Cottage small paper pack

Used Shaded Lilac DI to sponge a white Bristol Vellum smooth cardstock. Dried the sponging with heat tool, then used the Bag Buddy so that I could do some embossing. After treating the sponged piece, stamped this fairly large block with Chipped Sapphire ink, as that stays wet enough to emboss with Ranger Clear Detail powder.

This was slow to emboss, and that's why there is a little yellow bit up in the branches. I decided I would leave this instead of trying to redo it. It sort of looks like the sun breaking through.

IRL the embossing has a nice shine, and added a narrow black mat to frame it... then placed on the blue dp that covered the side fold white cardbase.

My first effort, I used versamark to emboss a sponged piece that I'd made quite dark, using several blue shades of DI, along with a couple of the purple tones. I was pleased with that deep night sky look. But then I tried embossing with some dark blue cobalt glittered EP, and because the branches have so much tiny detail, that EP just stuck too much to even show the intricate tree branches. Other than the 'burn sun spot' I liked the final result on this effort, though.

Please take time to visit my fellow card club members. Their blog links are listed on the right side bar.

Thanks for visiting and apologies for being so behind once again in returning visits. I hope I can catch up this week. Have the birthday cards caught up until December!!! Have a great day, and God Bless.

Christmas Card Challenge #20

Good Morning, welcome to Challenge #20 for our Christmas Club Challenge. This time our challenge theme was selected by Rachel. Rachel wanted to see turkeys, camels or sheep. As always, if a member does not have any supplies that fit with the particular challenge for the week, it can be anything goes. I have plenty of turkey images, but they are for Thanksgiving or Fall cards, rather than Christmas. Discovered I don't have even any digi images of a sheep! So it had to be camels. As for those, only have camels with 3 Wisemen riding them.

So here's the card I made for today. As usual, it didn't end up as I'd envisioned when I started out.

SU Come to Bethlehem set for the 3 Wisemen and the sentiment

Die-Versions Bethlehem die

Taylored Expressions Poinsettia EF
Cuttlebug Snowfall EF

DI Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves (DOX) and DI Chipped Sapphire for the sponged sky, and Aged Mahogany DI for the ground.

Brutus Monroe Copper Penny, Gilded Gold EP -(Star) and Ranger Queen's Gold

After sponging the watercolor weight c/s, stamped the SU image and heat embossed. My idea was to mask and have the city of Bethlehem in the distance. That didn't work. Sponged another c/s, used just the wisemen to stamp part of the image and again emboss. Die cut the Die-versions City of Bethelem and that didn't fit my idea. Decided to fussy cut the Wisemen from the first boo-boo. Cut the City die and placed it on the card so that I could layer the Wisemen in front of the buildings. Used some dimensional foam behind part of that die. Placed the cut out Wisemen over the stamped Wisemen- which created a shadow effect.

Edged this piece with some more Copper Penny to frame it. Cream lightweight c/s was embossed with a Taylored Expressions Poinsettia EF, and another cream piece embossed with the Cuttlebug Snow EF. Cut a border from the Snow EF, adhered all to a tent fold card base. Lastly the sentiment from the SU set was heat embossed with Queen's Gold, and colored with gray & lavendar copics, hand cut to fit the space, and edged with Queen's Gold.

Please take time to visit my CCC team members to see their ideas on this challenge. Their blogs are listed in the right hand sidebar. As always, thanks for taking the time to visit, and have a wonderful Sunday. Hugs

CAS Christmas Challenge - September

Welcome to a Saturday afternoon CAS Christmas Challenge post. The theme word for September is Wreath and I have loads of wreath stamps, for one thing, because I have always loved these images. So I wanted to try very hard to join in this challenge. Have you ever worked on a card that it just seemed as though it didn't want to get made? Well this one today, falls in that category. Get a cup or a glass of something cold, and join me for a couple minutes!

Recently got an order from Hero Arts and got 4 of the new glimmer metallic inks. After using DI markers on the wreath with the Misti helping, had the image die cut, matted and adhered to the card front, when I decided to try using the red glimmer on the berries. The glimmer does indeed shimmer, but.....Look at this:

See all those smudges? And guess what? They wouldn't be scratched off with a pick tool or erased off with the TomBow sand eraser. Thought it had dried ok, but evidently had not. I was very unhappy when I saw what I'd done! Back to the drawing board, as the saying goes; did the same stamp again, same DI markers, same die shape...thought I'd just adhere it over the top of the messed up image - which I had removed to photo, messing up the first card front (that also had smudges on it, but not so bad as this image!)

On the 2nd effort, things were going good, and I had decided to forget about the metallic ink on the berries...as I didn't want to mess it up again. Then went to stamp the JOY with versamark & misti. Forgot to insert misti's black foam, (the image is cling, so I removed the black insert to get a good inking)...The J didn't stamp well. No problem... hey, with the misti you can restamp. Well, something must have moved, cause it didn't stamp 'just right on top'. Oh I thought, I'll just take a cloth, buff it out. Tried and I couldn't see the versamark ink; dropped on the gold EP. WRONG! Looked awful.

Once again, inked up the wreath, did all the same procedures, and kept that black insert right there with the clear JOY stamp so I wouldn't forget again! This time things worked ok. Here's that result.

- Stacy Stamps image, inked with DI markers Twisted Citron, Shabby Shutters, until I got the depth of color I wanted. Then used a regular brush, wet with water, to move the color around. It was a small round brush. I'm trying to learn how much water to use, without making blobs of color. Once the water coloring was finished, reinked the stamp with Mowed Lawn to crisp up the image. Cleaned the stamp, inked with versamark, and heat embossed with Clear Detail EP. Candied Apple and Barn Door on the berries. 

Hero Arts clear sentiment, heat embossed using Brutus Monroe Gilded Gold. S/B die for the circle shapes.

PTI impression plate for the texture on the card front.

Here's a picture of the stamp and what happened with the image that I messed up on the sentiment stamping. Decided to stamp the sentiment on a separate piece of c/s, add some dimensional tape under it to cover up the EP boo-boo. Added a S/B pinking circle mat. Spattered a card front with red & green Lindy's (I need to work on my spatters too!) and said "If I need an extra card, this is it". Ha!

So that's my CAS September Wreath card! You still have a few days to join in. 

Thanks for visiting, and have a great evening. Hugs & Blessings.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge #19

Good evening, and it's my 2nd post of the day. We're still quiet weather wise here in my area, and thankful to be so. Hope it stays that way overnight. We're expecting some rain (according to MSN, but MSN has predicted rain all week, and we got none)

It's time again for the Christmas Card Club Challenge, which is a group of card makers who share cards every 2 weeks on a theme selected by one of our members. We also have the choice to do 'anything goes' if we don't have the particular images needed for that week's challenge. Mrs. A chose a theme of Polar Bears or Teddy Bears. Had images for both but there's a NBUS set I've had for a while, found while looking (of course) for something else. So I decided on Polar Bears.

 

 

MFT Stitched Rectangle Frames

Avery Elle Snow Much Fun stamp and die set

Hampton Art Tree Die (this has some clear patterned tree  images with the die)

 

Frame die cut was versamarked, and heat embossed with Sparkle n Sprinkle EP in a dark blue, then re-inked and sprinkled an icy blue over the darker blue.

 

- snippet of snow flake paper added to make a sky background. Used the center piece cut from the frame, just covered it with the DP.  Various snippets of Christmas paper used to cut the trees. The solid green tree is the reverse side of the circle pattern tree. I decided to go for whimsical trees rather than make realistic ones.

 

- white c/s embossed with the C/Bug snowflake EF (it's called snowflake, but it looks like dots to me) Tore this embossed c/s to make snowbanks. Adhered, then tucked the trees around. Lastly added the polar bear and bunny on the sled, which was done with copics and WoS. The frame was adhered to the card base, then inlaid the 'created scene' inside the frame. Sentiment & sled popped up on dimensionals.Thought about using some Nuvo drops to put ornaments on the green tree, decided to stop. Sometimes I have a problem knowing when to quit :-)

 

Team member blog links are on the right sidebar. Hope you'll give them a visit and see what they've shared for Mrs. A's Bear Challenge.

 

On another note: Blogger is once again not sending all comments to my email. Some are coming in, some are awaiting publication. I don't know why. But I'm trying to be sure I don't miss anyone.

 

Ya'll take care and hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Be safe if you're having weather issues. God Bless and thanks for visiting. Hugs too. 

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 18

Welcome to another Christmas Card Club Challenge...The theme for Challenge 18 was selected by Zoe. Zoe's choice was Christmas Foliage/Trees. This group of card makers has a challenge every 2 weeks and our theme is chosen by one of the members. We also have the option to do something 'anything goes' as long as it's Christmas related. I hope Zoe will approve of my choice of "Christmas Foliage".

This is a Penny Black image which I decided to try water coloring with Tim Holtz DI markers. Used a Direct to Rubber technique, stamped and restamped using the Misti. After getting the ink down, I used a regular #4 round brush dampened with water to spread the color around a bit. I'm trying to get accustomed to the proper amount of water on a brush so that it moves the color and doesn't 'blob'. First stamped this using 140# watercolor paper on the smooth side, and was not happy with the result...too much texture. So tried again using a smooth Bristol card stock, and liked the results much better.

A Sue Wilson Double Stitched rectangle die cut the piece, which is popped up on craft foam; added some candy stripe washi tape to each side of a top fold card, then glued the berry piece and this one is done. 

Edit: Thanks to Brenda for advising  that the above card will also fit into the September CAS Mixup Challenge. So linking that allenge. 

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Decided to use another Penny Black cling image, but this one I colored with copics.

Used the same white Bristol card stock, stamped with Tsukineko Rich Cocoa, then used various copic markers to color...adding some white highlights to the berries with a white gel pen. Then used some DOX to edge around the corners and edges to tone down the 'white'. Used a snippet of Christmas paper as a mat (cut out the center)...and this one is done. I found coloring the pine cones much easier than  #1's berries.  I'll keep trying to work on my watercolor and hope I can improve over time. I know it takes practice, practice, practice.

Now I hope you'll take time to visit my team members, whose blog links are listed on the right side bar. As always, thanks for spending time to visit here. I'm trying to visit all the sweet people who leave comments - still not getting the comment notices in my email, although I've followed the instructions in order to get blogger to send me a 'subscribe' notice. Not happened yet. I hope I don't miss anyone.

Ya'll have a good day, and for my American friends, have a wonderful Labor Day weekend. Be safe. Hugs and Prayers to those of my friends who are needing them. Blessings.

Rudolph Day August 2018

Good morning, and Welcome! It's Rudy Day for August 2018, and gosh, not that many more challenges left in this year...So best get a move on, and start making some Christmas Cards. For any who may not know about Rudolph Day, it's an Anything Goes Christmas Challenge, opens on the 25th of each month, closes on the end of that month. Only rule is the theme must have something to do with Christmas. Lots of inspiration and some good prizes too, with our hostess, Maureen (aka Scrappymoi)

Penny Johnson Stampavie Jolly Holly (thanks Bonnie)- colored with copics, Sakura clear star, Nuvo Rhubarb (holly berries)

- P. Black Snowflake Stitch Frames

- P.Black Curved Stitch border

-  Gina K 6x6 Cold Snap pack

- Sookwang tape with Ritz Glitter for the green border

- clear stamp inked with Gina K Red Velvet for the sentiment

Now ya'll c'mon and join me in playing in this month's Rudolph Day Challenge. And thanks for visiting. Have a super great day. Hugs

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 16

Hello and welcome to a new Christmas Card Club post. Challenge 16's theme was selected by our Scrappymoi (Maureen, she of the Rudolph Day fame). Maureen wanted to see  winter activity themes such as sledding, skiing, or sleighs. As always, we members have the choice of 'anything goes' if we don't have suitable images for that challenge's theme, which is helpful. Anyway, when I saw the challenge theme, I immediately remembered an old Penny Black Snowie, which I've always loved to color. In looking for him, discovered another old wooden stamp, no manufacturer name on it, so made 2 cards this time. I needed a bit of copic coloring therapy.

 

 

 

The 'icy snow' on the hillside looked a bit pink when I spread it out with my fingers for 'snow'. It's Stickles Stardust. All of my stickles are pretty old stash, so I don't know if this product discolors with age...It doesn't look pink in the bottle, and didn't at first when I was smooshing it around. As it dried, it has a pinkish look.

 

Some Impression Obsession and Sue Wilson die trees cut out of snippets, colored with various copic greens. The die is a Memory Box one, cuts 3 pieces. Adhered the larger rectangle to Snowie, then inlaid the outer rectangle, finished with the oval center. The DP is from an older 6x6 winter pack. Since I knew I'd be using the additional trees for dimension, thought it would work.

 



 

 

No idea who made this cute little sled of mice, but it was fun to color. Did some cloud practice on the sky and added white flocking for the snow. Again, some stardust stickles right around the sled, and this didn't look pink (same Stardust bottle though). MFT stitched frame with red & white dots. Hmmm...then tried to find something besides plain white to use as DP. Thought the blue snowflakes DP would work, then added the MB Christmas die in the leftover red from cutting the frame. After I looked at this one for a while, sort of wished I had stayed with just plain white, maybe embossed with a snowflake EF. Oh well....Sometimes what is in my creative thinking doesn't turn out as I hoped it would!!!

 

Hope you have time to check out the other team members interpretation of this challenge. Their links are in the right side bar. Wishing all of you a happy Sunday and our heat is back. I will be doing some blog visiting this afternoon to see what lots of you have been sharing. Thanks for joining me, and big hugs coming your way

 

 

 

 

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 15 Carolers

Good Morning, and welcome to another Christmas Card Club post. This week our theme was chosen by Margaret  and the theme is Carolers.  I chose a Penny Black image, colored with copics.

After coloring the image with copics, some Nuvo Crystal Glaze was used on the Mouse glasses, a white gel pen to add a pattern to the turquoise scarf and Sakura Silver glitter pen on the book pages.

A S/Binder die shape to cut out & emboss the image, edged with DI tumbled glass while still in the die. A green, red and white stripe glitter paper was cut from a larger size of the same die used for the image; then inlaid the image into the stripe frame. The center portion of the stripe shape will be used on the inside of the card.

Red cardbase was debossed with a holly EF that had been inked with Delicata gold.

- used red and green cardstock to stamp Heartfelt Poinsettia set with a red and green ink. Heat embossed the wet ink with Ranger Queen's Gold, then die cut and formed the poinsettias using the Heartfelt Poinsettia mold. Added gold rhinestones for the centers.

A simple sentiment stamped in Gina K red velvet, heat embossed with clear EP to make it shiny, and it's done! I hope you'll visit my team members to see their inspiration on this theme. Their blog links are listed in the right side bar.

Also there's a new card on the Cards by Friends page that I think you'll feel is as beautiful as we did!
So thanks for joining me today, hope your weekend has been good. We had a fairly relaxed weekend, but were a bit busy over the past week. Trimmed some tree limbs and then had to clean up the mess. Took 2 days to recover from our labors.

Hugs & Blessings. Come again when you can.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 14 - White on White

Hello and welcome to another Christmas Card Club post. These 2 weeks fly by so quickly it seems. Christine selected the theme for Challenge 14 to be White on White with just a smidgen of color. So let's get to it.

 

 

- Sizzix Tim Holtz 3D Botanical was used for the background behind the Memory Box Shining Candles die. Cut white cardstock with a S/Binders Scalloped Labels One die. Then used WOW embossing ink over the EF, embossed this, then heat embossed with WOW White Pearl. This made the background show as pearl paper, while the flourishes are just the white cardstock. Very pretty look I think.

 

- Used Sookwang tape over white c/s to die cut the candles. Not a great idea, as the outlines of the candles were extremely fussy to try to place properly. Kept the flame part of the tape in place, while Ritz Cool Diamond microfine glitter was applied to the outlines and holly base, then burnished to a shine. Removed the flame portions, sprinkled a gold glitter over that part. Glued this over the background...(and that was a bit touchy as well, as the skinny outlines did not want to stick to the raised surfaces.)Then inlaid the inner parts of the candles into the frames, added a Warm Diamond micro glitter to the 'candles' and IRL - the slight color difference in the glitter whites shows quite nicely.

 

Heartfelt Poinsettia & Holly Clusters Stamps and Dies were used with a pearlized vellum to stamp, heat emboss with Wow White Pearl, die cut. Then used the matching mold to shape the flowers. Sprayed the vellum very lightly before using the mold to shape the flowers, and again, probably would have been better to not spray. However, once the petals had dried, I was able to glue and arrange the poinsettias. I wanted the poinsettias to hide the places where the vellum sentiment was glued down. The sentiment hides a lot of the holly cluster at the bottom of the candle arrangement, and I rather wish I'd just skipped having a sentiment on the front.

 

Do please take time to visit my team members to see their inspirations on Christine's White on White theme. Their blog links are on the right sidebar.

 

Have a lovely day, come again when you have time. Hugs

 



Rudolph Day June 2018

Hello, and here it is the 25th of the Month. That means Rudolph Day! That's an Anything Goes as Long as it's Christmas challenge hosted by our Maureen, otherwise known as Scrappymoi. The challenge opens the 25th of each month and ends on the last day of that month. Maureen always has some nice prizes on offer, and lots of lovely people join in.

My card has snippets and left overs from this card.

- S/Binders Candy Cane die. Used the glitter white paper left from the Christmas Card Club one, ditto the red bits from cuttingthe red card stock.

Gine Marie frame die (sorry I can't find a link at the website so perhaps it's been discontinued) that has some holly flourish corners with the frame die. Used the flourish die, for the holly under the ribbon, and the ribbon is also part of this frame set.

- S/Binders Holly Ribbons E/F, and Wplus9 Hand letter Holiday die for the sentiment. There's 4 layers...2 white snippets colored red, a red snippet from the candy cane left overs, then a white glitter snippet. Tried to show the red as a shadow. Used up a lot of the snippets left from cutting the red and then white glitter candy cane shapes. YAY!

The aqua mat was cut with a S/Binder and was also in the snippet box. Just big enough to die cut and use behind the candy canes!

So okay, off to join June's Rudy Day, and  hope to see you there! Thanks for visiting, & I'm still catching up, still trying to find files (where the new files go!) on this Windows 10 computer. I've learned about One Drive, and then learned I don't want to pay for extra storage. So downloaded a bunch of files I put on One Drive to an external hard drive. Windows 10 isn't using the file hierarchy that I've always used, and I'm finding I can't always create new folders when I want to, where I want to. I very much dislike having everything go into the Documents folder!

Since I have a good many snippets on this one, AND since I'm behind in commenting anyway, I think I'll jump to the Snippets Playground for challenge 329 -  and say Hello to my little buddy, Parsnip. Another neat challenge where it's very easy to have something that gets you in the door...Just Have used Snippets (or scraps!). Miz Pixie also has some good prizes on offer too.

Come again, when you have time. Hugs & Blessings.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge - Challenge 13 - Candy Canes

Good evening, and welcome to a late post for our Christmas Card Club Challenge. I'll just skip the excuses and get on with it! Today's challenge theme was chosen by Lorraine who asked the group to do Candy Canes or Gingerbread (and this year we also have the option of an "anything Christmas" if we don't have the images/supplies for the selected challenge). I decided to use a NBUS Spellbinder die and go for Candy Canes.

- S/Binders Candy Cane die and the ribbon was part of the set.  Die cut from red c/s and then from white glitter c/s.  Inlaid the white glitter pieces into the red canes (saved the glitter frames and red pieces for another card). Applied some Nuvo Crystal glaze - comes out of the tip so much easier than Glossy Accents. Several layers of white snippets cut the bow, colored all the pieces with green shades of copics, then added some Nuvo glaze after it was adhered to the oval doily.

- S/B Floral Oval die

- Simon Says Marilyn Full Card Die   (cut fairly well after using the super-duper metal shim that I have). Next time this die is used, must remember to use some Stick it, as there's lots of places that glue had to be dabbed on, in order to get it to adhere well.

- Dark green cardstock covered the white card base.

- Wplus9 Hand lettered Holiday WP9D-103. several layers of the dark green c/s, then topped with 2 layers of red snippets from cutting the candy canes. Added the Nuvo glaze. (the link is to the stamp set. Simon Says apparently doesn't have the matching die in stock at the moment).

Hope you will take time to visit my team members to see their inspiration for Challenge 13. Their blog links are in the right side bar. And big apologies, Lorraine, for being so late with this post!

Thanks for visiting, and ya'll have a great upcoming week. Blessings and Hugs.

Christmas Card Club - Challenge 12 Anything But A Square

Hello and welcome to another Christmas Card Club Challenge - No 12 for 2018. Our team member Sylvie  selected this week's theme as "Anything But A Square". I was pressed for time as we had a first cousin pass away Thursday (although she had been ill for a few months, it was one of those 'improve some' 'regress again' kind of things). We had a 3 hour drive to our hometown with my 2 brothers; other mishaps ensued over the day, but finally we reversed the 3 hr drive, and arrived home safely about 8pm Saturday evening. Call us Tired.

 I made this card last night (Friday) after  discovering a recycled card from  years ago. I decided it would look cute to  cut a circle with the Hero Arts Infinity Circles, put some UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) on it, and turn it into an ornament. When you see it, you'll know exactly why the card got saved.

- Cut the part of the card desired into a circle; applied DI Chipped Sapphire round the edges; before applying the UTEE, another circle was cut and glued to the backing, to add some stability to the original cut..  Did one more UTEE coat. It looks very glossy  and quite like a 'for real' ornament surface. Next 2 larger size circles in that set  cut some lightweight red glitter paper for a frame.

Adhered the skinny red frame to another circle backing, thenlaid the UTEE embossed circle on the frame.  This backing had Chipped Sapphire sponged so that no white would show between the frame and image. Fitted the birds piece into the frame.

An S/B Delite set that had a coffee cup, with one of those holders (so you don't burn your hands) was used to cut the metal top. It's hard to see, but there are grooves cut into the silver (3 layers of  snippet silver that had been lying on my desk for who knows how long).  Just the right size to cut 3 pieces, with a more sturdy white c/s behind to stabilize.  Used a piece of gold cording to make the hanger, and there you go.

Please check the right sidebar for links to my team members and if you have time, see what they've shared in the Anything But a Square Challenge this week.

Hugs & Blessings; Have a great Sunday. Come again when you have time.

Ducks for May Rudolph Day

Hi, and it's time for Rudolph Day for May 2018. In case you don't know about this challenge, it's a Christmas Challenge hosted by Scrappymoi (Maureen). It starts the 25th of each month and runs until month ending. The only rule is that the card must have a Christmas theme ...of anything you wish. There's always some good prizes, and lots of participation & inspiration from the Design Team. So I urge you to check it out, if you're not familiar with it.

Now my card was started for a previous Christmas Club Challenge but I didn't get this one finished in time. Brilliant idea: save it for Rudy Day. It's an old Penny Black image, which I think was an eBay purchase. Just cause I think these silly ducks are adorable. But...the image is long, so it was a challenge for me to think of how to use the finished image as I normally make card sized 5.5x4.25.

Colored, of course - with copics and some WoS. Die cut & dry embossed with a S/B long rectangle and did some antique distressing along the edges while still in the die so there is a white outer frame on the image.

Cut mats - each one successively larger but trying to keep it from growing way too large. The mat closest to the image was edged with double stick tape, then applied a Rose Copper Glitz Ritz. Burnished and thought that looked pretty ok with the colors in the image. Next mat did the same, using a gold Ritz, etc. The outer mat was cut from white (as were the other 2 mats), but then used the same copic reds in the Noel letters to color the edges. Inked with WOW embossing ink, and applied 3 coats of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE). Heat the first application, and immediately re-ink and add another coat of UTEE, heat emboss. I did 3 layers to get the shine I want, and the gleam that is visible in the top right corner - is from the UTEE, and the light reflection. Actually I think it looks quite nice with the enameled mat combined with the glittered mats. The card base is white, and it WILL fit into a size 10 envelope (a business size). It's not quite as long, so I may choose to make an envie that it fits better.

Please do look in at Rudolph Day, it's a great way to build your Christmas card stash, and who knows, perhaps you'll win the prize Mo has on offer for this month.

Take care, God Bless and come again when you have time. I've been MIA on the posting & blog visits of late. Just been busy. (Oh, yes, for all those who were kind enough to ask about all the medical tests...they are finished - we hope! - and all went well. Thank goodness).


NOTE:  Today it seems I'm having the same problem with comments coming into my email. I just happened to think to check the Awaiting Modification section, after I'd done the Christmas Card Club post, as no comments were being notified as of late evening. No biggie, I was late with my post; just thought nobody had seen it to comment. Then when I was getting ready to publish this draft I'd done earlier, I thought to double check the awaiting section, and there were about 13 to be published. Not sure why this is happening again. I've changed nothing. I'll call my provider tomorrow. I did already check to be sure I've not blocked anything. I think it's Blogger, as another blog pal had asked me how I fixed it last time. Don't think I fixed anything, honestly!!! I just don't want to miss returning visits to someone who was kind enough to spend time looking at my post :-).

Christmas Card Club - Sentiment as the Focus

Hello and welcome. Also a big Happy Mother's Day to all of you Mothers who might visit today.

It's time again for our Christmas Card Club to share our cards for Challenge 10 - and today's challenge theme was chosen by Carol ; Carol wanted our cards to be geared to having the sentiment as the main focus. I hope she'll like what I am sharing today.

- Northwoods Stamp - Colored with copics, WoS on the letters and some slicci gel pen on the 'doodles' - with some gold highlights on the pine branches.

 - Memory Box Oval Master Frame (99357) cut in red c/s and white c/stock. Used the red for the framing, and white for the holly embossing.

- Holly embossing folder - dry embossed, then used versamark to ink generously

- WOW Atlantic Seaspray WS99R embossing powder

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you'll take time to check out my team mates' cards to see their interpretation of this challenge. Their blog links are on the right hand sidebar.

Ya'll have a lovely day. Blessings and Hugs