Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

"I always thank my God for you because of his grace given you in Christ Jesus.  For in him you have been enriched in every way, with all kinds of speech and with all knowledge."  

1 Corinthians 1:4-5

Wishing you a blessed Thanksgiving!

AYSI189 Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone!  Yay, it's Friday and the weekend is upon us!  Looking forward to it!  The As You See It challenge for this week is a fabby sketch:

What a great layout...terrific for using up little bits of DSP, right?!  I still need a few Thanksgiving cards, so I pulled out some DSP with fall colors and images, along with a new Spellbinders die I got recently:

I made my card 3 1/4" by 5 1/2"; it still fits in a standard envelope, but I could have my little acorn cap pop up above the fold!  All the papers are from Echo Park's Fall Is In The Air 6x6 pad, from which I chose four coordinating patterns for the background.  Then the acorn was diecut from two more different pieces, and I backed the cap with some So Saffron for better definition.  I added a stamped "happy" and the Thanksgiving was diecut from Old Olive cardstock:

I added a piece of Mossy Meadow twine on the stem, a little diecut leaf in Cajun Craze, then stamped a sentiment from Technique Tuesday on the inside, and added a little stamped leaf and a big diecut ampersand:

This sketch just makes me happy and I know I'll be using it again soon!  I hope you'll check out what the DT created, and be sure to share your creation with us as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

We got our first snowfall yesterday and I had filled the feeders a couple days before, so we got lots of finches and sparrows!  With taking the tree down in our backyard over the summer, my birds had no cover and didn't come around at all!  I put the feeder in a different spot and they are returning!  I think this is a house finch and some sort of sparrow:

Another sparrow, taking cover under the patio chair; maybe a white-throated:

and this duo, perched in the gutter, surveying it all:

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Merry Christmas to All ("happy"),So Blessed (Technique Tuesday)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Old Olive, Cajun Craze, Fall is in the Air DSP (Echo Park), Adhesive Sheets, Early Espresso, So Saffron
Ink	Early Espresso
Accessories	Mossy Meadow Twine, Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, October and November Small Dies of the Month (Spellbinders), Blends, Stitched Leaf Die (Lil'Inker)

Twofer Wreath Challenge #11

Hi peeps! I am running very late today...I have my last stamp club of 2018 tonight so I spent the morning getting ready, and this colder weather has my allergies acting up!!  Anyone else "suffering" the same way?  I think it's all those yucky wet leaves!  Anyway, I got a very little bit of stamping time in over the weekend and made a couple cards for the Twofer Card Challenge, in which I have never participated!  My friend Carol is a guest designer there, so I decided to give it a try!  They're extremely CAS because that's all the energy I had, LOL!  So here we go:

I used Fun Stampers Journey's Harvest Wreath for the wreath; the wreath on the Thanksgiving card was stamped with Soft Suede ink and embellished with some faceted gems from Amber Moon; sadly, the photo just doesn't capture how pretty they are here:

My diecut sentiment was from the same set, stamped in Cajun Craze and overstamped with a stamp from Timeless Textures; the together was from The Paper Studio:

I finished it off with a Braided Linen Twine bow:

My second card is a Christmas card; the wreath was stamped in Soft Sea Foam, and the sentiment was stamped in Balmy Blue:

I colored some pearls with a Pink Pirouette Blend and added a Powder Pink bow:

And since the Christmas Card Throwdown's challenge is to use pink, green and blue, I am entering this one in their challenge as well!

Thanks for popping in today!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Cassidy snagged another sunrise photo from her kitchen deck this morning:

And here is a sunrise photo my brother took very early one morning over the fountains of Longwood Gardens:

God's glory!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Timeless Textures, Christmas Pines, Harvest Wreath (Fun Stampers Journey), Everyday Expressions (The Paper Studio)
Card stock & Papers	Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, Whisper White, Powder Pink, Naturals Ivory (ret)
Ink	Soft Sea Foam, Soft Suede, Balmy Blue, Sahara Sand
Accessories	Pearls, Satin Pink Powder Ribbon, Braided Linen Trim, Faceted Embellishments (Amber Moon), Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Harvest Wreath Dies (Fun Stampers Journey)

SIP 175 Give Thanks

Happy Friday evening, wet, rainy, cold, damp Friday evening!  I don't usually post two posts in one day, but I wanted to squeak this card in for the Stamp Ink Paper gratitude challenge:

I haven't played with them for a while, and I just had to use some of the Authentique scrapping papers I bought recently....I always think they're so beautiful and then I never use them!!!  So I forced myself to make a Thanksgiving card with this sunflower image and some other goodies that I just got:

The embossed layer is some retired Confetti Cream, embossed with a Fun Stampers Journey folder called Cozy Knit; I gave it a little color with a sponge dauber and some Crumb Cake ink, just to bring out the pattern a bit.  The diecut sentiment is also from FSJ, stamped in Mossy Meadow.  I stamped just the word "give" from a retired SU set inside a little stitched circle and punched it out  tuck behind the "thanks".

I love the big bold image with the big bold sentiment!  Thanks for popping in this evening!

No Cassidy pictures, but I snagged this wee bit of moss growing in my driveway...it's only about an inch across, but it was glowing against the drab pavement of my drive:

Isn't nature resilient...and tenacious?!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Harvest Wreath (Fun Stampers Journey), Good Greetings (ret), Stitched Borders (Close to my Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Mossy Meadow, Confetti Cream (ret)
Ink	Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede, Crumb Cake
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Harvest Wreath Dies (FSJ), 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Cozy Knit EF (FSJ), Sponge Daubers

Thankful in Gold

Happy Monday, peeps!  What a lovely fall weekend we had!  Did you remember to set your clocks back?  I love having an "extra" hour, but hate that it gets dark so early!!  I have one of my stamp clubs coming this morning, so this will be short and sweet!  My card today is for two challenges, the Inkspire Me color challenge and the Festive Friday Thanksgiving/Thank You challenge:

And here we go:

I had a piece of Sahara Sand already cut to mat size in my folder, so I embossed it with Sahara Sand ink and the Buffalo Check background stamp.  The wreath is from a new-to-me company, Fun Stampers Journey; it was stamped in Mint Macaron and fussy-cut.  I heat-embossed some leave with Gold Encore ink and gold embossing powder, then added some "berries" punched with a 1/8" punch:

The "Thankful" is a die from Close to My Heart, as is the "give thanks" sentiment that I stamped on the inside left of my card; the blessing sentiment is from Right at Home:

I managed to give a lot of companies some love for this card, LOL!  

After our shoebox packing party on Saturday, Cassidy went to the pastor's house, where she took charge and gave the boys some karate lessons!  It gave the pastor's wife a little break and they were both sad when Daddy came to pick her up!

Thanks for popping in today--enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Buffalo Check, Harvest Wreath (Fun Stampers Journey), Grateful Heart (Right at Home), Inspired Words (Close to My Heart)
Card stock & Papers	Whisper White, Sahara Sand, Gold Foil, Adhesive Sheet
Ink	Mint Macaron, Sahara Sand, Gold Encore (ret)
Accessories	Gold Embossing Powder
Tools	Big Shot, Heat Tool, Thankful for You Thin Cut (Close to My Heart), 1/8" Circle Punch

PP417 Gather Together

Hi everyone!  Happy Sunday!  Hope your weekend has been wonderful so far!  Claire is our hostess at the Paper Players this week and she has a lovely theme challenge for us:

I am afraid my mojo has gone into hiding lately and my other activities are sucking the life out of it!  I just didn't do this lovely photo justice with my little card, but hopefully Claire will forgive me!  And really, this card looks better in real life than it does here!! So here we are:

My Thanksgiving stamp selection is a little sparse, so I went with the wheat spray from Wishing You Well and a sentiment from Painted Harvest!  I used the color challenge from TGIF:

I first embossed my base with the Quilt Top embossing folder; the image was stamped in Crumb Cake and Cajun Craze, and I added the sentiment and bow in Merry Merlot.  I distressed the Merry Merlot mat as well, and also sent the stamped panel through the Subtle embossing folder for a little interest.  I colored some pearls with a Bronze Blend and added them to the spray:

I pulled out some vintage goodies; the striped Cajun Craze is from many years ago, as is this sweet little sentiment from Falling Leaves:

I know I have more Thanksgiving stamps around, I just need to root around to find them, LOL!  Meanwhile, I hope you will get a head start on your Thanksgiving cards and play with us at the Players!  Can't wait to see you there.  Check out the DT to get more inspiration:

·        Claire

·        Jaydee

·        Joanne

·        Laurie

·        Nance

·        Anne Marie - on break

·        Sandy

·        Elizabeth

·        Annie - on break

·        Jan

·        Ann

Yesterday our church had its annual Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party!  The kids LOVE this!  We have a small church, but we collect items all year long and we were able to pack 118 boxes!  

We are blessed to have a Dansko shoe outlet right in my little town and they very graciously donate empty shoeboxes that would normally be bound for recycling:

After setting out all the school supplies, hygiene items, toys, shoes and whatever else collected, each person gets a shoebox and packs it up according to age and gender!  Sometimes the wee ones need a little help, but most of them are old pros at it!

Cassidy is one of the old pros, LOL!

Luke is one of our new pastor's children, and he was quite serious about his selections:

And when they're all done and stacked up, the boxes make a great place to take a picture, LOL!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Grateful Heart

Happy Saturday, peeps!  Hope all is well with you in your little corner of the stamping world!  I saw a pretty color challenge at Inspire.Create, and I am willing to bet when you see it, you'll be surprised at what came of it!  So first, I'll show you my card; it features an older SU image that I found on ebay, and it is perfect for some seasonal watercoloring:

And here is my challenge prompt:

These colors look very "flowery" to me, but when I thought about putting them together on this scene, they worked into some pretty fall colors!  I just used inks of all the shades with an aquapainter after stamping the image on watercolor paper with Stazon ink:

I framed it with an Avery Elle stitched rectangle frame, and then stamped a sentiment from Right at Home below it:

That's pretty good advice by which to start one's day, any time of the year, don't you think?!  And since my image was watercolored, I am also entering it in the Paperminutes challenge of watercolors!  Thanks for popping in today!

SO.....on Wednesday afternoon, Cassidy caught her thumb in the car door!  Youch!  It didn't break the skin (or even get a bruise that I could see), but Mommy gave her some Tylenol and took her to the ER for some x-rays anyway:

Dana said the doctor made her laugh!  And blessedly, she only had a sprain, so no cast, just a splint!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Harvest Home (ret), Grateful Heart (Right at Home)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Sahara Sand, Watercolor
Ink	Basic Black, Sahara Sand, Lovely Lipstick, Calypso Coral, Pear Pizzazz, Crushed Curry
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	Big Shot, Double Pierced Rectangle Die (Avery Elle), Aquapainter

CASC&S291 Give Thanks

Happy Monday, peeps!  HAPPY OCTOBER!  I have never been so delighted and thankful to turn September's calendar page to a new month!  Hopefully all the rain and humidity will stay away!  Looking forward to cooler days, I made a little CAS Thanksgiving card with some stamps that I got at the end of last year and finally had a chance to ink up:

I am squeaking this in for the CAS Colours and Sketches challenge sketch, which ends today:

My little mice are courtesy of Lawn Fawn, the leaves are from a Right at Home set, and they were all stamped in Memento ink and colored with blends:

I stamped the sentiment in Pumpkin Pie and added a tiny little heart in Cajun Craze.  I already had a Sahara Sand card base sitting on my desk, so I popped it on there and called it a day!  

Over the weekend, I had a friend of mine from upstate NY come down with a friend of hers for a visit!  Another family friend came to visit all of us and brought four of her six children (and she has another on the way!!).  The girls all love to do crafts and were enamored of my craft room, even though it was quite messy!  They wanted to make a card, but we didn't really have time, so I let them use some of my punches and scrap paper and take the punch-outs home!  Between looking at cards......

and punching out stars, hearts, butterflies and balloons, they ALL had a good time!  Even though Molly is only five, she mastered those punches like a boss!  Ruby, Gayle and Kay had fun too!

And just for fun, I found a picture of the oldest, Kay, (she is 14 now), from six years ago when she came to craft with me for an evening:

They all want to come back when Cassidy is home to play and craft with her!  Enjoy your day and be blessed, and thanks for popping in!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Thankful Mice (Lawn Fawn), Grateful Heart (Right at Home)
Card stock & Papers	Sahara Sand, Very Vanilla
Ink	Memento Black, Pumpkin Pie, Cajun Craze
Accessories	Dimensionals
Tools	SU Blends