Golden Pinecones Christmas

Hi peeps!  I was experimenting with some watercolored backgrounds....I definitely need more practice!  My card today is for the 52 (Christmas) Card Throwdown:

as well as the Jingle Belles' "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" challenge, which is to use music on your card!  So here we go:

I hadn't put away my new Christmas Pines set, so after doing the watercolor background on my el-cheapo watercolor paper (wet it, dab on Pear Pizzazz ink, then dry with a heat gun), I stamped the pine bough in Garden Green, the "Noel" in Cherry Cobbler, and added some gold accents and stars:

But I thought it looked a bit bare, so I decided to try out one of the pine cone dies from the Pretty Pines set with some gold foil; WOWZA!  Check these out:

I haven't been this jazzed up about a die for a long time!  It creates an awesome effect!  I added some sheet music DSP from last year's holiday catalog on a Cherry Cobbler card base, then stamped another sentiment and some more gold stuff on the inside, using a leftover piece of that el-cheapo stuff:

Another Christmas card for my stash!

And a little photo from Sunday's Fish Fry...my dad, Jim, with his two great-grandchildren, Jamison and Cassidy!!  Love!

Thanks for popping in today!

TSOT286 Boo!

Hi everyone!  Tuesday means it's time for a Try Stampin' On Tuesday sketch!  Here we go:

The option for this week is Holiday Blessings, but I went in a different direction:  Halloween!

I began with some My Mind's Eye Happy Haunting papers, rounding the edges of my main panel, and stamping my "boo" in Memento Black, and some bats and stars with Smoky Slate, using an older Rubbernecker Halloween set.  I also cut some scraps of the same papers into little banners, added some orange, black and silver sequins, and "hung" them on some retired SU thick baker's twine:

For the inside, I used an old, old favorite Crafty Secrets Halloween set to stamp my sentiment in Memento Black, bats in Smoky Slate and some stars in Cajun Craze:

I always love banners, they're so fun to create and a great way to use up little scraps, so I hope you'll play along with us!  You can submit your card on the TSOT blog, or why not try our Facebook page?

Yesterday, it was the first day of school, and Cassidy was up early and ready to meet her new teacher!

Seems like just yesterday I was pushing her around in a stroller!  Thanks for popping in today!

CCMC421 Masculine Birthday

Happy Monday, peeps!  Hope you had a great weekend!  We went to a birthday party/picnic/fish fry yesterday to celebrate my nephew's birthday, so I used the Create with Connie & Mary sketch for his card:

 

I chose some papers from the Serene Scenery 6x6 pad and paired it with Gorgeous Grunge and Perfectly Wrapped:

My sentiment is from a past Paper Pumpkin kit; I added some Soft Sky stars to break up the "brown-ness", and a few candy dots for simple embellishments, and for the horizontal element, a little sliver of Crumb Cake was stamped with the arrow stamp from Perfectly Wrapped. I distressed it with a bone folder and popped it up with some dimensionals!

John gave Cassidy a bank for her birthday; there were sections for tithing, saving and spending! Need to get her in the habit early!  She had fun putting the stickers on:

The finished product:

We took all the money out of her piggy bank, separated each set of coins into groups of ten, then she put one coin in the church (tithing) portion; four coins in the store (spending) portion; and five coins in the bank (savings) portion.  She hasn't quite grasped the concept that she could actually spend part of her money yet....although I am sure she will figure it out soon enough!

Thanks for visiting today!

Paper Players 310 Christmas Blessings

Happy Sunday, everyone!  I am back from my vacation and ready to stamp!  I missed everyone!  I have to admit that I did a whole lot of nothin' while on vacation, so I am happy to get back into my craft room!  Nance is our talented hostess today for the Paper Players, and blessedly, she had a wonderful, simple sketch for us!  

I had a few new goodies waiting for me when I got home, so I went to work creating a Christmas card:

I used This Christmas specialty paper and the new set, Christmas Pines, along with its companion thinlits die, Pretty Pines.  I diecut several pine boughs from Garden Green, a bow from Cherry Cobbler and arranged them under my banner, stamped in Cherry Cobbler as well:

I accented it with a little enamel star, too!  And the great thing about these pine boughs is that you can cut them to length!  

The inside was stamped with images and a sentiment from the same set:

The design team has some spectacular samples....they covered a wide range of occasions!  Check them out here:

• Claire
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Laurie
• Nance 
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

And we hope you'll play along!  Can't wait to see your creations!

Cassidy starts school tomorrow, sporting a new 'do!  Here she is enjoying a word puzzle (just like her grammy!) while waiting for her breakfast at Perkins!   Enjoy your day!

Paper Players 309 CAS Sweet

Happy Sunday, peeps!  It's time for another Paper Players challenge!  Sandy is our "sweet" hostess with a "sweet" challenge:

 

My original plan was to do a Christmas card, but while I was cleaning up my craft room, I came across one last piece of corrugated Pumpkin Pie paper from a Paper Pumpkin set a couple of months back (say that three times fast, LOL!).  It sparked an idea for a Halloween card using Lawn Fawn's cute little candy corn from their Trick or Treat set:

 

I had limited time, so I colored them in with markers....my poor markers have seen better days....punched them out, and mounted them on some black glimmer paper. 

I had a new Impression Obsession trick or treat die, so I cut that out of some glimmer paper too....added a star and a new enamel dot from SU and glued it all together!

I added some sentiments from My Creative Time's Mixed Holiday Sentiments and some Lawn Fawn bats on the inside!

I hope you'll play with our sweet challenge this week too!  Check out what the DT created:

• Claire
• Jaydee
• Joanne
• Laurie
• Nance - off this week
• Sandy
• Linda
• Hannelie
• Colleen

Cassidy loves to help me, but she loves to help Grampy, too!  He recently did some rewiring and he let Cassidy help:

She's pretty good with that screwdriver!

I hope you enjoy your week....I am taking a little bloggy vacation....see you on August 29th!  

CYCI133 Basket of Wishes

Hi peeps!  I originally intended this card for Saturday but I checked this challenge:

and it was almost over!  Yikes! So two posts in one day....please indulge me!  I just got this new set called Basket of Wishes...it will be available in the upcoming Holiday mini catalog from SU....and I must be in the watercoloring mood, because I just couldn't wait to play with it!  Here we go:

I stamped the image in Memento black ink on SU's watercolor paper, and colored it with several fall shades of ink...it's a quick, easy little image to fill in with my aquapainter:

Then I mounted it on a square of Delightful Dijon which was diecut with the Layering Squares die...I also ran a small strip of Garden Green through the same die and used it as a little border atop the new DSP called Warmth & Cheer!  I love that I can get additional uses from my dies!  The sentiment was stamped in Soft Suede, and it's easy to miss, but I added some green enamel dots along the side of the DSP!  A great way to introduce fall!  Thanks for visiting today!

The birthday continues:

And, as promised, some beautiful cards!  This "happy" creation is from Miss Robyn, her Sunday School teacher:

and another sweet confection from Miss Sally:

and a close-up of that fun ladybug card from Miss Debbie:

Thanks, ladies!  Don't forgot to come back on Sunday for the latest Paper Players challenge, too!

SPDMIX12 Just a Line

Happy Friday, peeps!  Yay, the weekend is here! I have my second card for the Sugar Peas Design Mix it Up Challenge, using an oldie but goodie stamp set:

My sweet, generous friend Teri gifted me with this set called Just A Line, from 1997; I loved these line art images that SU used to have!  I got out some ink pads and my aquabrush and went to work!  First I stamped the image on SU's thick cardstock with Stazon ink and then just colored away; since it was a large image, I didn't color the background (plus I was sure I would mess it up!) and just filled in the images loosely!  I love this sweet little cat napping in the sun:

along with the little bluebirds:

and I wish I had some aprons like these....mine look a wee bit tattered compared to these pretty ones!

And on the inside:

I thought this fit with the laundry theme of the challenge!  Once I finished coloring, I diecut it with a Lil'Inker Stitched Rectangle die and mounted it on a card with a mat of Graphic 45's Secret Garden Patterns & Solids....a perfect country finish!  Thanks for looking!

Tomboy that she is, one of Cassidy's favorite gifts was a Nerf gun, LOL!  This one can even shoot around corners...John told her she could practice on the squirrels that steal my bird seed!

She showed Grampy how to load the bullets:

and of course, he had to take a turn!  I am not sure who was more excited about it, John or Cassidy!

Enjoy your day!