Here Comes Santa!

Happy Monday, everyone!  I hope you had a good weekend....the weather was FABULOUS yesterday, warm, no humidity, just gorgeous!  I had time to make a couple of Christmas cards; this one is for the Jingle Belles' challenge of Here Comes Santa:

At the end of the season last year, I snagged several cute Cottage Cutz dies; this one is called Santa Reindeer Border.  I also snagged a Graphic 45 pad at a thrift store while on vacation, so I put them both together with some Tranquil Tide cardstock and ribbon to make this quick, easy card!  All the papers are from the Graphic 45 pad; I diecut a stitched scallop border with a Pretty Pink Posh die and added a little ribbon accent:

And I just love the vintage feel to these papers:

I stamped some sentiments from last year's Stitched With Cheer set on the inside:

And yes, I celebrated my birthday on Friday---thank you to all those who sent cards as well as wishes!  I'll post them on my blog soon!  Cassidy got up bright and early (can you see how foggy it was?) to give me my present, which was a huge coloring book of birds along with some colored pencils!

Of course, she had to test out the pencils as well as the book, even before her breakfast!

That is SOME owl!

Thanks for dropping by today, and have a blessed day!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Stitched with Cheer
Card stock & Papers	Tranquil Tide, St Nicholas DSP (Graphic 45)
Ink	Tranquil Tide, Cherry Cobbler
Accessories	Tranquil Tide Ribbon
Tools	Big Shot, Santa Reindeer Border Die (Cottage Cutz, Scalloped Stitched Die (Pretty Pink Posh)

PP355 Tic Tac Toe

Happy Sunday, peeps!  It's time for another Paper Players challenge, and it's tic-tac-toe week!  Check out these fun options:

I chose the first row across, diecut, banner and birthday, and I happened to find a perfect sketch for it at Match the Sketch:

The Delightful Daisy DSP selection has some gorgeous florals, and since I know my friend likes flowers, this particular piece was perfect!

I used a few scraps from some other DSPs, including a piece of solid Old Olive, to make my banners; stamped the sentiments from Happy Birthday Gorgeous; added a little Wisteria Wonder scalloped mat and a Crisp Cantaloupe baker's twine bow, and it was done!

And I had to do some fun stamping on the inside too:

The DT has come up with some awesome samples; I hope you'll stop by the Paper Players' blog to check them out.  While you're there, show us your tic-tac-toe creation!  Can't wait to see them!

Claire

Jaydee

Joanne

Laurie--off this week

Nance

Sandy

Deanne

Annie

     Jan

A friend gave us three blackberry bushes back in 2014 and they are just finally beginning to produce fruit:

 

Some of the berries are enormous!!!

But they are the most sour berries I've ever eaten!  I don't know if it's the soil, the type of berries or what....they need a load of sugar to make them palatable!  If anyone has any ideas about how to grow them sweeter, let me know!  But this little guy must have thought they were okay:

You never know what you'll find in a garden!!  Thanks for popping by today...enjoy it and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Happy Birthday Gorgeous
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Wisteria Wonder, Old Olive, Delightful Daisy, Naturally Eclectic and Print Patterns (ret) DSP
Ink	Wisteria Wonder, Peekaboo Peach, Flirty Flamingo
Accessories	Crisp Cantaloupe Baker's Twine (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Stitched Circles Framelits, Layering Circles Framelits, Dimensionals

AYSI155 Lost Mojo

Hi everyone!  Yay, it's Friday!  Hope you have something fun planned for the weekend....or quiet, if that's your choice!  It's time for another As You See It challenge....I just love these challenges, check this one out:

SO.....what do you do when your lose your mojo?  When I lose mine, I turn to pretty patterned paper and diecuts!  You can never go wrong with either of those, separately or together!  For my sympathy card today, I used some pretty vintage papers from My Mind's Eye called "Oliver" from their Lost and Found 3 series:

I just received these Sweet and Sassy stamps called Hymn Blocks, and I stamped the verse directly on to the DSP in Crumb Cake ink, then added some banners from the same paper pad, including a scrap from my Christmas card on Monday.  The tree branch is from SU's Seasonal Layers Thinlets, and the birds are from Poppy Stamps:

Inside sentiments are from SU's Better Together:

When you use pretty patterned papers, everything just seems to go together so nicely!  

Be sure to check out the AYSI blog so you can see what inspires the other designers when their mojo takes a hike!  And we hope you'll share your ideas as well!  Thanks for popping in today!

Another thrift shop find....an "I Spy" puzzle!  She did a great job putting it together!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Better Together, Hymn Blocks (Sweet & Sassy)
Card stock & Papers	Very Vanilla, Oliver DSP (MME), Home for Christmas DSP (Kaiser Craft)
Ink	Crumb Cake
Accessories	Linen Thread
Tools	Big Shot, Seasonal Layers Framelits, Chirping Birds Dies (Poppy Stamps)

FMS298 Gold Bold Birthday

Happy Thursday, peeps!  A long week winding down...but it's been a nice one!  I needed a fast masculine birthday card and saw this sketch from Freshly Made Sketches and thought I could make it work:

I have to admit that I looked at the sketch very quickly, then went right to work and didn't really pay attention to the sentiment placement....SO, it's not exactly true to the sketch, but hopefully Linda won't kick me out!  I used some Eastern Palace Specialty papers on a base of Tranquil Tide...that gold stripe was just begging to take the part of that diagonal panel!!  I put a piece of Adhesive Sheet on the back some gold cardstock and used the new birthday die to cut out my sentiment:

The adhesive sheet makes it SO easy to adhere this large die, although you need to make sure you poke out ALL the pieces....I can see on the "h" in birthday, that I missed one!  Hopefully my BIL will not notice, LOL!  This was a really quick card to work up, too!  Love it when it all comes together easily!  Thanks for popping in today!

Cassidy has been attending a little science camp at our local library this week, and afterwards we went to the ice cream shop right up the street where she met another student....although she doesn't know her name, they certainly were full of giggles as they at their treats!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps
Card stock & Papers	Tranquil Tide, Gold Foil, Eastern Palace Specialty DSP, Adhesive Sheets
Ink
Accessories
Tools	Big Shot, Happy Birthday Die

LIM338 and CTS231 Joyful Christmas

Happy Wednesday, everyone!  How is your week going?  We have finally hit some cooler temperatures and it has been quite nice!  I squeaked in a card yesterday, and I used the Less Is More challenge of no stamping as well as the CAS(E) This Sketch sketch

I have a whole file of Crafty Secret papers and cards that I have been hoarding, so I thought I would use one today and make a Christmas card!  I used some burlap paper, trimmed the image down, added some washi tape for the banner and a wee little glimmer star:

 I adhered the washi to a piece of Very Vanilla cardstock so it would show up against the burlap, then cut it out with a banner die.  Easy and quick, just what I needed!

Another one to add to the stash!

Does anyone remember the old Password game?  I found this one at a thrift store and although Cassidy cannot quite come up with one-word descriptions for all the words on the cards, she tries VERY hard and drives us crazy wanting to play it constantly!!  It's good for her to stretch her word usage too!  We played a couple games in our kitchen/garage, and she and Wayne made quite a team!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps
Card stock & Papers	Baked Brown Sugar (ret), Very Vanilla, Home for the Holidays DSP (Kaiser Craft), Champagne Glimmer Paper (ret), Crafty Secrets Vintage Cuts
Ink
Accessories	Washi Tape (ret)
Tools	Big Shot, Banner Nestabilities, Star Dies (Verve)

SIP109 Company Store Inspired

Hi everyone!  It's Tuesday, and that means another Stamp Ink Paper challenge!  Lisa has a nice easy sketch for us this week:

As I was looking through my Southern Living while on vacation, this ad for The Company Store caught my eye!  I just loved the colors and those pretty florals:

So I thought about how I could recreate it....I chose Crushed Curry for my Blooms and Wishes flowers, stamping them on a piece of Shimmery cardstock.  I then pencilled in some stems and leaves and loosely watercolored around everything with Smoky Slate ink.  Finally, I took a Basic Gray marker and outlined the images, then added some marshmallow sequins and a sentiment from Better Together.  Since the bedding is gray and white striped, I added some DSP from last year's Foxy Friends series for a mat.  

Here's some closeups of the florals....definitely a different look than my normal style, but I like the loose flowing look!

This sketch is an open book for any style, theme or occasion!  I hope you'll play with us at Stamp Ink Paper this week!

Another favorite vacation photo....so cute!

Enjoy your day and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Blooms & Wishes, Better Together
Card stock & Papers	Thick White, Shimmery White, Smoky Slate, Foxy Friends DSP (ret)
Ink	Crushed Curry, Smoky Slate
Accessories	Marshmallow Sequins (Pretty Pink Posh)
Tools	Aquapainter, Dimensionals, Basic Gray Marker

MTS186 Birdie Hello

Happy Monday, everyone.....I've gotten a very late start today, I can't seem to get out of vacation mode!  I wanted to play with the Match the Sketch sketch before it runs out!  Here's the sketch:

And I challenged myself to use some papers and colors with the (dreaded) Lemon Lime Twist! The Naturally Eclectic DSP fit the bill perfectly:

I used the retired Tags & Labels dies to make the Berry Burst tag and "hello" tag, which was stamped with a Paper Pumpkin sentiment, and the retired Adorning Accents Edgelit and Delicate Designs embossing folder to make my horizontal piece.  My little bird was diecut from the Birds & Blooms Thinlet and accented with some Blackberry Bliss twine.  The Lemon Lime piece was stamped with Timeless Textures, and the tag was stamped with Touches of Texture: 

I also added a little LL sprig from Bouquet Bunch and a wee little glimmer dot!  So fun!

This is one of my favorite pictures from the kids' vacation---it really makes you realize how small we are and how big God is!  Enjoy your day and be blessed!

PP354 Thinking of You Sketch

Hi peeps!  I am back from my wee little vacation, went to the Delaware shore to see my dad and soak up some sunshine!  Not that we didn't have sunshine here in PA, but seashore sunshine is definitely different than PA sunshine!  I had to come back for Jaydee's pretty, easy sketch:

I knew I wanted to use some new DSPs, particularly ones I hadn't delved into yet!  It is always challenging to make masculine cards, so although the dinosaurs on this paper are geared more to little masculine people, I thought it would be fun for any age, really:

The papers are from the Pick a Pattern DSP pack, and I used a retired die called Word Bubbles to frame my sentiment, which seems to be coming right from this little fellow's mouth:

The sentiment is from Hero Arts and is stamped in craft white and embossed with white embossing powder.  Other than that, there's no stamping at all...I let the paper do all the work!  I did add a little Pick a Pattern washi tape at the top and bottom of my middle layer...looks so fun with these patterns! Easy as can be!

I hope you'll play along with our sketch this week...endless possibilities!  Check out what the DT did as well:

Claire

Jaydee

Joanne

Laurie

Nance

Sandy

Deanne

Annie

Jan

On their vacation, Dana and Cassidy went to a fisherman's pier where one of the fisherman had caught a small shark, and let Cassidy touch it!  She was SO excited!  

Thanks for popping in today, and be blessed!

Project Details—All Products SU! Unless Otherwise Specified
Stamps	Hero Arts (CL342
Card stock & Papers	Emerald Envy, Basic Black, Pick a Pattern DSP
Ink	White Craft
Accessories	Pick a Pattern Washi Tape
Tools	Big Shot, Word Bubbles Framelits, White Embossing Powder, Heat Tool, Dimensionals