Just a regular post...

Hi guys!  Just stopping in today to share another Christmas card for the stash this year:

I love this image!  It is part of the Snowman Set 02 from Bugaboo.  This is the same set that the card from my previous post comes from.  I said there that when Jodie released this set, I knew I had to have it, and this image is why!  Such a sweet image, I think it would even work for a Valentine's card in a few months!  This is colored with alcohol markers in traditional Christmas colors.  The designer paper comes from the Season's Greetings 6x6 paper pad from Love, Nicole.  The red cardstock scalloped circles come from a Recollections red paper collection.  The edges of my white card base were distressed with Candied Apple Oxide Ink.

Challenges:

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #36:  ATG or optional "Christmas cupcakes" theme

The Merry Christmas challenge #46:  ATG Christmas

Sparkles Christmas #83:  Snowman/men

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG

Love to Craft #17:  ATG

Animal Friends #57:  ATG with an animal

Happy Little Stampers:  ATG with dies (I used Spellbinders)

Love to Scrap #104:  Winter Wonderland

Digi Choosday week #49:  ATG

Penny's paper Crafty challenge #358:  ATG

Tuesday Throwdown #371:  Christmas Scene

Crafty Gals Corner #152:  ATG

Polkadoodles week #49:  ATG

A Gem of a Challenge #209:  ATG Christmas

Christmas Card Throwdown:  Pick a previous challenge from 2012 or 2013 (I picked the June 2012 theme challenge of snowmen)

Crafty Creations #356:  ATG

Creative Fingers #141:  ATG

Di's Digi Design challenge:  Winter Holidays

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie #83:  

Jingle Belles:  2017 Holiday Wrap Up

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #71:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #312- #313:  ATG

Outlawz Paper A La Mode:  Christmas card

Muse Christmas Visions #90:  ATG Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas:  ATG or optional "stencils" theme

*Whew*, I'd better get to linking up to all these challenges!  Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!

~Marie~

CHNC Extra December DT Post

Howdy everybody!  I am here to share my card for the CHNC Extra DT post for December:

 As usual, our images are provided by Bugaboo, and this one is part of the Snowman Set 02.  SO CUTE!  When Jodie released this set, I KNEW I had to have it.  I cannot resist adorable snowmen!  It looks like Snowy and his little bird buddy are discussing something important, doesn't it?

Well, I've tried to avoid it, but I have some bad news for you.  This will be the last challenge at CHNC Extra.  Hazel has decided to close up shop for personal reasons, which she explains in the CHNC Extra blog post.  Don't worry though, she isn't disappearing altogether; she will still be doing her weekly challenge that is also anything goes Christmas.  You can find that here.  She is also on a few design teams out there in blogland, so she will still be around.  I have enjoyed my time being on her team, and I will surely be participating in her weekly challenge when I can!

Challenges:

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #36:  ATG or optional "Christmas cupcakes" theme

Sparkles Christmas #83:  Snowman/men

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG

Love to Craft #17:  ATG

Animal Friends #57:  ATG

Love to Scrap #104:  Winter Wonderland

Crafting by Designs:  ATG

Di's Digi Challenge:  Winter Holidays

Jingle Belles:  Holiday Wrap-Up

Little Miss Muffet #177:  ATG

The Holly and Ivy Christmas challenge #20:  ATG Christmas

The Outlawz Festive Friday:  Winter Bird

Thanks for stopping by, and take care. 

God Bless!

~Marie~

Santa Claus is Coming to Town, Cuties Style!

That's right, bloggers, the guy in the red suit with the long white beard is on his way in less than a month!!!  It hardly seems possible to me that 2017 is almost over.  It will soon be time to start on next year's Christmas card stash!  LOL!

 

But before we get too far into the future, let's stop a minute and check out what I made for the current challenge over at the Christmas With The Cuties blog:

 

 

Let me tell you, this card did not turn out how I wanted it to!  My original plan was to have the stamped HO HO HO! all the way across the background, but I got so far with it, and then mis-stamped it.  Even using my MISTI.  Bummer.  So I decided to cover up the majority of the bottom (I had a couple of smears to cover up too), with a piece of Swiss Dots embossed red card stock.  On top of that, I added a piece of plain green cs to the border between the red and the HO HO HO!'s, which made a perfect place for my sentiment.  The HO HO HO! sentiment and the Santa come from a Hampton Art stamp and die set from Michael's.  I picked up a bunch of different sets like this last year, and this is the first I have used one of them.  Bad, huh?  My main sentiment, by Memento, was stamped in VersaFine Onyx Black, and I attempted to clear heat emboss it, as I had done with Santa, but for some reason it didn't take.  Another boo-boo, but this one I didn't fix or cover up.  I gave Santa some sparkle for his hat with Diamond Stickles.

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Sweet Stampers #14:  Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas:  ATG

Mix It Up #7:  ATG or optional "stenciling" twist

Crafty Creations #355:  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #146:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #70:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #310- #311:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #176:  ATG

Winter Wonderland:  Traditional Christmas colors-- red and green

CHNC #361:  ATG or optional "use doilies" theme

Christmas Card Challenges #26 (their final challenge):  ATG or optional "candy cane" theme

Sweet Stampin':  Use your favorite Christmas color (green)

Create and Inspire #68:  ATG

Hiding In My Craft Room #328:  Any Holiday

Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

The Merry Christmas Challenge #44:  ATG Christmas

 

Well, I guess that will be all for tonight.  Time for this chickie to go to bed...after I do all this linking up, of course!  Thanks for stopping by, and God Bless!

 

~Marie~

 

A Christmas card for a special boy...

Hello bloggers!  I'm back again tonight to quickly share a card I made for Jacob Thompson.  In case you haven't already heard about him, he is a nine-year-old boy who is dying of cancer.  The article I read says that he may not live until Christmas, so he wanted Christmas cards to be sent to him from all over.  My MIL said that she heard he loves penguins, so that is the direction I took with this card:

 

 

I used the penguins and the larger Santa hat from Toboggan Together, and the smaller hat from Cheery Christmas, all from Lawn Fawn of course.  The igloo is a cut file I purchased from the Silhouette store.  I inked the outer edge of the main body of the igloo, and also each ice brick with Broken China Distress Oxide ink.  I inlaid all the bricks back into their places either with Tombow glue or clear dimensional Scotch adhesive squares.  The penguins are also popped up with Scotch foam tape.  I glued all of this to a blue "outline" of the igloo shape that is glued to an identical piece to make a card.  I stamped "Merry Christmas" from Toboggan Together using the same ink on the inside, as well as some snowflakes from the set.  I hope this card will help to brighten his day when he receives it!

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Merry Monday #265:  Outdoor Activities

CHNC #359:  ATG or optional "reindeer" theme

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #145:  ATG

Crafty Creations #354:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #69:  ATG

Holly and Ivy #19:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Cute Card Thursday #504:  Birds/animals

 

 

That's all for tonight.  Thanks for stopping by, and if you can, please send Jacob a Christmas card!  You can find his address on the web if you just type his name in.  Night all!

 

~Marie~

 

CCAYR mid-November 2017 DT post

Hey everybody!  How's it going?  Things are mostly OK here.  I am a little bit unsettled, as my current job will be ending December 22.  Depending on the workflow, it could be sooner than that.  I have interviewed for another job in the same field, but have yet to hear anything one way or the other.  I am supposed to hear this week...it's been a nerve-wracking week!  On a good note, tomorrow we are having a company-sponsored Thanksgiving dinner at work, so that is something to look forward to!  I haven't worked at this place for very long (3 years), but I will miss the friends I have made when the time comes to leave. 

:(

 

Anyway, on to happier things...how is your Christmas card stash coming along?  I think mine is looking pretty good, but I gotta keep adding on...Christmas will roll around again next year!  LOL!  So, here is the latest card for my stash, which I made for the Christmas Cards All Year Round mid-month inspiration post:

 

The theme for this month was Candies, Cookies or Gingerbread, and I had a plethora of images I could have chosen from my collection of digis, stamps, and cut files.  I decided on a print and cut Silhouette file, which printed out with lines on it?!  I tried to print it again, but it was worse, so I used this one.  For the rest of the card, I used a piece of green glitter card stock to cover the card front, a smaller piece of designer paper from the DCWV Mrs. Claus's Kitchen stack, and the 2 fishtail banners are also from that stack.  Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide ink was used to ink the edges of the image panel while still in the Spellbinder's die, to get that nice white border.  I will save a sentiment for the inside on this one.

 

Challenges:

 

CHN Patterned Paper:  ATG with patterned paper

Sweet Stampers #14:  Christmas

Happy Little Stampers Christmas:  ATG

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional "Star Struck" theme

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Crafty Creations #354:  ATG

Crimbo Crackers #145:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #69:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #308-#309:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #175:  ATG

CHNC #359:  ATG or optional "reindeer" theme

Card Mania #98:  ATG

Create and Inspire #68:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Holly and Ivy #19:  ATG

 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.  I hope you all have a blessed day!

 

Take care,

 

~Marie~

 

 

 

 

 

 

CHNC Extra DT post for NOVEMBER!!!!

That's right folks, it's NOVEMBER 2017!!!  What the HECK happened to this year?!?  I can hardly believe that we are 8 short weeks from Christmas (according to QVC anyway!), and the Hallmark Channel is playing it's Countdown to Christmas movie series. 

 

Speaking of how many weeks there are until Christmas, are you ready to send out those cards to friends and family?  Have you joined us every month at CHNC Extra to help build up your stash?  If not, you'll just have to work a little bit harder these next couple of weeks to finish up.  But anyway...here is what I have to show you for my contribution to the CHNC Extra November challenge:

 

 

Christmas Bear was my image of choice for my card this month.  I decided to try "digital masking" (that's what I'm calling it anyway!) using my Silhouette Cameo program.  The bear in green was the png file, and the bear in red was the jpeg file.  I just flipped the jpeg file around and situated it next to the other one to make it look like a pair of bears sitting there, looking all cute!  I am really happy with the result!!  I used alcohol markers to color the bears, and added some Spectrum Noir clear sparkle brush pen to the white parts of the hats and coats.  I die cut the image with Spellbinders' Labels Eight, and then used the die to trace and cut a black mat.  The red polka dotted paper comes from the Love Nicole Seasons Greetings 6x6 pad.  Added another black mat behind that layer, and glued the whole thing to a white A2 card base.

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #35:  ATG or optional Star Struck theme

Jingle Belles:  Not a Creature was Stirring (animals)

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Craftyhazelnuts Patterned Paper:  ATG with patterned paper

Sweet Stampin' Challenge:  Bears

Animal Friends #56:  Merry Christmas

Card Mania #98:  ATG

HIMCR #324:  Any Holiday

Word Art Wednesday #306-#307:  ATG

Crafty Creations #353:  ATG

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #18:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Fridays:  Christmas

 

 

Thanks for stopping by today.  Don't forget to join us at the CHNC Extra blog for your chance to win 4 images from our sponsor, Bugaboo!

 

Catch ya next time!

 

~Marie~

 

Happy (almost) November everybody!

Can you believe it?  I know I can't.  2017 is almost over, and I feel like it has only just begun!  But guess what blogger friends?  I have a surprise for you...I am now a member of the Christmas With The Cuties design team!  Isn't that great?  Now I have even MORE of a reason to get cranking on those Christmas cards throughout the year!  The challenge for this time is "tags," and this month's sponsor for the challenge was Sasayaki Glitter, who has the CUTEST digi images!  Check out Naz's Etsy shop, if you haven't already by now!  Here is what I created with the sponsor images:

 

I don't usually "do" Christmas tags, so I may put these onto card bases at some point.  The images are "Snowman and Duck" and "Candy Cane Penguin."  I used alcohol markers to color both tags, and cut them out using Labels Eight from Spellbinders.  While they were still in the die, I went around the edges with Picked Raspberry and Candied Apple Oxide inks, respectively.  I really love how that turned out!  I really need to make time to play more with these inks!!

 

Challenges:

 

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #34:  ATG

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Jingle Belles:  Not a Creature was stirring (animals)

CHNC #357:  ATG or something with wings

The Cutie Pie Challenge #116:  Think Pink

HIMCR #324:  Any Holiday

Word Art Wednesday #306- #307:  ATG

October Rudolph Days:  ATG

The Outlawz:  Festive Fridays- Christmas

 

Thanks for stopping by this evening, and have a blessed rest of the week!

 

~Marie~

October 2017 CHNC Extra DT Post

Howdy fellow bloggers!  Can you BELIEVE that it's October already?  CRAZY!!  Just plain crazy!  I'm ready for the change in the weather, but not sure I'm ready for sending out my Christmas cards just yet.  To add to the collection though, here is my card for the CHNC Extra challenge:

 

I had fun making this card!  I've been on an embossing folder kick lately, as well as a kraft card stock kick.  I picked out a bunch of folders from my collection, cut down some kraft to fit, and went to town!  Since this folder has that lovely snowman on it, I thought adding some white ink would be perfect to enhance the embossing.  I pounced and pounced my white ink pad all over the paper while it was still in the folder (to keep the dimension), and let it dry overnight.  I didn't want to cover too much of this cute folder up, so I searched through my Bugaboo stash until I found the perfect image:  BUGSMBLOCKS.  If you click on the link to take you to the image, you will see that I cut it apart to use just the peeking fellow in the top right corner.  My Silhouette Cameo came in quite handy for this.  The snowman was colored with alcohol markers, and I added him to the upper right corner of my panel.  The panel was added to a piece of bright blue card stock to match the colors used on the snowman image, and the whole shebang was added to a kraft cardstock base.

 

Challenges:

 

CHNC #353:  ATG or optional black, white and one other color

Christmas Card Challenges #22:  ATG or optional inspiration pic

 

Crafty Creations #351:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #302-303:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #172:  ATG

Simon Says Wednesday:  ATG

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Digi Choosday wk #39:  ATG

Penny's Paper Crafty #348:  ATG

Polka doodles wk #39:  ATG

The Merry Christmas Challenge #36:  ATG

Christmas at Sweet Stampin:  ATG

Hiding in my Craft Room #320:  Freestyle

 Winter Wonderland:  ATG

Pammie's Inky Pinkies #1739:  ATG

12 Months of Christmas Link Up #34:  ATG

 

 

That's it for today!  Please join our CHNC Extra challenge, because you could win some fabulous Bugaboo, and don't forget to check out what my teamies have created as well!

 

~Marie~

CCAYR September Mid-Month DT Inspiration

Apologies to Deanne and my teamies at CCAYR for my blog post being so late.  You know how life can be sometimes!  Anyway, no time for chatter, here is my card for the mid-month challenge of "Leaves."

 

 

And what better leaves to use for a Christmas card than holly leaves?  I have 2 holly embossing folders, and this one is from the Paper Studio.  I decided to make this an easy card, and just colored over the embossed leaves and berries with Prismacolor pencils.  I left my panel in the folder while I colored, so as not to flatten the design.  I distressed the edges with my favorite Frayed Burlap Distress Ink, and popped it up on fun foam.  The sentiment comes from the Lawn Fawn "Deck the Halls" stamp set.

 

Challenges:

 

12 months of Christmas Link Up #33:  ATG or optional picture inspiration

 

Jingle Belles:  Tic Tac Toe

 

I chose red, cardstock, bling.  HONESTLY, there is Spectrum Noir clear sparkle pen on those red berries.  You DO believe me, don't you?

 

CHNC #351:  ATG or option to use 3 different patterned papers

Christmas at Sweet Stampin':  ATG

Christmas Card Challenges #21:    ATG or optional photo inspiration

 

Crafty Creations #350:  ATG

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #66:  ATG

Word Art Wednesday #300- #301:  ATG

Little Miss Muffet #171:  ATG

Simon Says Wednesday:  Clean and Simple

C.R.A.F.T Challenge #433:  Christmas

Cute Card Thursday #495:  Add a banner/flags

Outlawz Festive Friday:  Christmas

Love to Craft:  ATG

Love to Scrap #101:  ATG

Mix it Up #5:  ATG or optional inlaid die cut technique

Digi Choosday #37:  ATG

Penny's Paper Crafty #346:  ATG

Polkadoodles wk #36:  ATG

The Paper Shelter #309:  Embossing of any kind

Glitter 'N' Sparkle #257:  Embossing

The Merry Christmas Challenge #34:  ATG + Christmas

 

Whew, that was a lot!  I really need to organize my favorites!  Thanks for joining me today, and don't forget to join in the CCAYR challenge to use leaves!  There's a cool prize to be had!  :)

 

~Marie~