Happy (almost) New Year!!!

Well, it's Friday night, and the hubby and I are chillin' at his parent's house using the high speed internet...maybe someday we'll have it at OUR house! Anyway, I have seen some of my blogging friends posting about their favorite cards, so I thought I would join in on the fun! Sit back and relax for a bit while I check out my pics and I'll be back in a jiffy...

Ok, now that I've had a chance to review, here are my top five picks...

The first one is the very first card I entered into a Bugaboo challenge...and it won too! I colored him with Crayola markers, and I'm still pretty impressed with him! Next up is Barry and his snowman friend from Stamp Fairy. I just looooove Barry...he is so durn cute in that hat!!! I did manage to give him away this year. Third on my list is this little penguin from Whimsie Doodles. I love the little scene I made for him, especially the felt snow!Fourth is this snowman from Digi Stamp Boutique. I just love him and all his possible accessories! He made it to Mom's house for Christmas. Last but certainly not least is this adorable Meljen's penguin and friend image. I made this one and two other pink cards for the Breast Cancer Awareness prompt from Jingle Belles in October. I really like the layout I used on this one....I may have to repeat that for this year!

Well, that's it for my favs...I hope everyone has some fun tomorrow night, and I hope to see you all in 2012!

~Marie~ :)

Hello!

I hope everyone's Christmas was what they wanted it to be! We had a nice day at my Mom's, once I got done working and took another shower. I know we've all probably been pretty busy lately, what with all the buying, wrapping, baking, cooking, etc......I haven't had much time to craft or sit at the computer this month, as in the evenings before Christmas, we try to watch some of our Christmas movies as a family. Here's hoping we all are looking forward to the New Year with enthusiasm and optimism. :) I hope to get back to crafting/blogging soon...hubby has something planned for me that may put a dent in it for a bit, but it's a great thing!

Take care until we meet again!

Marie :)

JB48, Candy Kisses

For this last Jingle Belles prompt for 2011, Stef and Lauren are asking us to make something pertaining to food. Well, that is just too yummy to pass up! I colored cutie pie George here...well not him so much as his nose, scarf, and mug! And this dp from the pack called "Mrs. Claus' Kitchen" from DCWV is the perfect match!

I can't wait to make more cards with paper from this pad! It is YUMMY! Well, it's verrrrry late, and I work tomorrow, so I may come back after work to add more details. Have a good one!

Marie :)

A new challenge to me...

is the one at The Cheerful Stamp Pad. I found it thru Bugaboo, as they are sponsoring the current challenge, "Who's wearing Santa's hat?" I thought it sounded like a cute one to try, so I'm emtering this card. This image of Poppi Penguin on an ornament is really cute. Hmmm, it seems that my mind is a bit blank as to what to say right now...I am still up from yesterday...Black Friday shopping, don't ya know! Just taking a quick break at home until Lowe's opens at 5 am. So, I guess I'll just leave things as they are for now. Sorry for not being more "chatty!"

Marie :)

Hello, and good evening!

Just another quickie post to link up another card to the Digi Stamp Boutique monthly challenge. Isn't this guy handsome? When Sally-Ann posted this fella some time ago, I knew I had to have him! He comes with so many "acessories" too, the stocking is just one of them. He's colored with Bics and Sharpies, and cut out with Spellbinders Labels 8. I really like this layout, and the pleated ribbon was fun to do. Well, gotta run and get this in, we're making pumpkin roll later on!

Marie :)

JB47, A Non-Christmas holiday card...

As you may have guessed, Stef and Lauren have asked us to make a card for someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas. It could be for any of the other "winter" holidays or just a general winter hello card. I went with the second option, since I don't personally know of anyone who celebrates any of the other holidays. I *love* this card! The adorable penguin is part of the set called 'Tis the Season Images by Whimsie Doodles. I colored him and cut him out to pop him up against this snowy background. He is sitting on a mound of felt snow topped with Stickles. The snowflakes are from my stash, and I had fun tucking the sentiment in between the mounds of snow. Well, gotta get this posted and linked up over at Jingle Belles, so see ya!

Marie :)

StampFairy *GLITTER* challenge

Now, who can resist a challenge that involves glitter? NOT ME! This is the second week of StampFairy's current challenge to use glitter on our projects, and here is my submission. This little guy is Lenny and he's part of the Lenny Ornaments collection. Isn't he just the cutest? I decided to try leaving him white this time, and added some shading with a BG10 Copic marker. Does he look OK? I'm still soooo unsure about shading!! The dp is from the Recollections pad called Bright and Jolly. I love this paper pad! Such cute designs! I decided to let the words on the paper stand as the sentiment. In case you can't see it very well, the glitter is all around the die cut shape. Well, I'm gonna post this and get it linked up to the challenge. I may be back with another card later on...who can tell?

Marie :)

Digi Stamp Boutique November contest

Boy, do I feel ambitious this evening! LOL At least as far as posting goes...so while I was reading my blog list, I came across the latest Digi Stamp Boutique post, and I clicked to read it. While I was there, I thought I would check out the monthly challenge. It's an easy one...just link up any card made this month using a Digi Stamp Boutique image. WOOHOO!! Lucky me, I have 2! BUT, I will only show one tonight, as it is late, and I'm tired!

This image is Polly Penguin. Isn't she cute? I'm not sure WHY I colored her purple here...I guess she whispered to me that she didn't want to be weaaring her usual shade. I decided to use a scrap of dp from a Christmas pad I got last year (that I can't remember the name of ...), and that's where I got the inspiration to mat her on a light yellow circle on top of the purple lacy circle. See the yellow dots on the dp? Anyhow, I hope this will do for the challenge. Better get this linked and head to bed. I gotta drive to the orthodontist in the morning! :)

Marie :)

Whimsie Doodles...TAG, you're it!

Hello all! This is my second post for this evening, believe it or not! I wanted to get this in before I get all distracted with finding Christmas lights to put up tomorrow. :) So this card is for November's Whimsie Doodles challenge; to make a tag, or incorporate one on a card. Since I don't make tags for gifts, I went with the second option. The adorable snowman image is one of nine from the 'Tis the Season set. I adore him! I love his scarf, his little carrot nose, and his little birdie buddy! This is a pretty simple card; I used a Sizzix die for the tag, a paper from a Target dollar bin set, a snowflake punched from a shimmery paint sample, a couple of sequins and a gem on top. Three different ribbons thru the hole of the tag, and a funky fiber tied around them to keep them in place. I placed the tag on a panel that was embossed and distressed, and adhered all that onto a dark blue base. I must admit, I am not very happy with how I chose to treat the sentiment, but it is done. *sigh* Whimsie Doodles is also having an extra special addition to this challenge. There will be two winners for this challenge. One random winner will win a free image of their choice from the latest release, and the second winner will be joining the team as a Guest Designer in January 2012!!! How freakin' exciting is THAT!!!!????? What a great opportunity for whoever the lucky winner turns out to be! Well, I gotta go get this linked up to the challenge! Have a great night...I plan on enjoying some Ben and Jerry's Half Baked some time later on! :)

Marie :)

Jingle Belles46

Hello all! I really wasn't going to participate in this week's prompt at Jingle Belles, until I remembered this recycled sticker that I have been saving for a couple years. That's right, I said recycled sticker. It was on an envelope in which someone had sent me something, and I thought it was waaay too cute to throw away. So, I cut it off. Thanks to those brilliant ladies, Stef and Lauren, this receycled sticker has found its purpose. Since I am running short on time to get this linked up, I won't go into any details...it's pretty simple anyway! Just a little card this time...something different! :) I figured I would just stamp a little sentiment inside when the time comes. Thanks for looking, and have a great night!

Marie :)

Stampfairy sketch challenge

Hello my blogland friends! I hope you had a good Friday, Veteran's Day! Let me take this opportunity to say "THANK YOU!" to all those who have fought and those who are fighting now for all the freedoms we hold dear. I was off today, and so were the girls, so Chad made us pancakes for breakfast (mmmmm!), and then we went outside to clean up the mess our summer garden had become. It was cold and windy today, so we tried to work quickly. BRRRR!!!!!

So, onto what you came for...a card! I was reading Deanne's blog the other day when she posted about the sketch challenge going on at the StampFairy challenge blog, so I went over to have a look. I thought the sketch looked like something I could manage, so I saved it to print off later (I was at Dunkin' Donuts taking advantage of their free Wi-Fi!). I had already had this adorable Patches Christmas colored and ready to go, so I decided he was taking center stage on this card. I used a SB sqaure die to cut him out, and sponged around him in red while he was still in the die. Matted him in green using the next size up in the SB squares. I don't know if you can see them, but there are really faint snowflakes on the red dp. That paper and the candy cane strip both came from a pack of Christmas paper from Recollections. I'm lovin' the glittery green circle cut from glitter paper bought from the dollar bin at Jo-Ann Fabrics last year! Not sure where I got the green ribbon from, but I can tell you that trying to come up with the "perfect bow" almost gave me fits!! Three little red square gems from my large stash completed this card for me! I rather like how this card came out in the end...I hope you do too! It's late, so I'll talk to ya later! Take care!

Marie :)

JB45, It Came Upon a Midnight CLEAR...

OK, before I get into talking about the Jingle Belles prompt for this week, can I ask a question? Did I miss something? Did someone, somewhere declare today to be national cheese steak day, and NOT TELL ME?? I swear I made more cheese steak hoagies today than I have in a whole month! What is up with that??? OK, onto my real reason for being here...

In case you hadn't already guessed it, the lovely Stef and Lauren have asked us to use something clear on our cards this week. Be it acetate, glass, vellum, shrink plastic...if you can see thru it, they wanted it on our cards! Well lemme tell ya, I had the DARNDEST time getting this card done! I have a whole folder filled with pieces of acetate that I have saved from packaging, and I WANTED to use my very large Marvy snowflake punch to punch one out. Well, do ya think it would work for me? NO! No matter what thickness I tried, it just would not go thru. So I gave up on that idea. My next plan was to use one of the SB snowflake dies I have and run it thru the CB. And guess what? No dice. It would mostly cut thru the acetate, but EVERY TIME I tried to use my hands to work it the rest of the way out, I would rip it. Time for another plan. I decided to axe the acetate altogether in favor of some vellum. Well, wouldn't ya know, I have no "clear" vellum, only colored. I figured it was still sorta see-thru, so I ran that thru the CB with the snowflake die. No piece of cake here either, but after a few tries with some shims, I finally got a piece I could use. You can see it up in the top left corner there. Once I had it on there, I kinda feared that maybe it wasn't see-thru ENOUGH, so I searched thru my stash of punched snowflakes for a clear one. It has red glitter on it, but it's still clear! I hope that if you enlarge the pic, you can see it on top of the green one. On top of it, I added a sequin and a tiny red gem. My LO was inspired by this one HERE, by Deanne over at Three Trees. Thanks for the inspiration, Deanne! :)

WELL, after reading all my card-making woes, you really should go over to Jingle Belles, and have a look-see at what everyone else has made. I haven't had a chance to yet, but I'm sure it's all FABBY! :)

Marie

JB44...Not a creature was stirring...

Not even a...ladybug?? Yup, that's right, I said a ladybug. I wanted to pick something for this week's Jingle Belles prompt that wouldn't be your "typical" creature. I think Lauren has definitely over-acheived this with her gawjuss monster card, which I adore...have I ever given you my snail mail address? :) Anyway, the sketch is the current one at Unscripted Sketches, 130. I really liked it for some reason, so chose to use it for this card. Nothing extraordinary done on this one, but I do have a question...should I put a sentiment on it, or not? Well, I gotta get this linked up and eat supper, so have a good one! :)

ETA: I didn't mention earlier (cuz I was in a hurry to eat!) that this image is from Meljen's Designs, and I am entering it into their current challenge number 82, Christmas.

JB43, SOFTly falling snow...

Hello everyone! After a difficult day at work, I am glad to sit here and type up this blog post! This week's prompt over at Jingle Belles is brought to us by the lovely Noelle McAdams, who wants us to think of softly falling snow, or anything soft will do...fuzzy fibers, felt, flocking, velvet...whatever you can put on a card! I

*thought* I had white felt that I was going to use to make snow, but I only had cream, which I thought wouldn't make for good snow. So, I went this route instead. I colored Barry with Bics and Sharpies, added some Stickles where the snow and the flakes are, and cut him out with the lacy circle Nesties. Then I had this funky fiber that matched the colors I had used, so I decided to weave it in and out of the holes around the circle. I embossed the cs base with the snowflake embossing folder, and then tapped some Moonlight White Stazon over top. Well, I gotta get going...we are headed over to my in-laws for lasagna!! AND the hubby made some apple crisp for dessert! :) Take care! :)

JB42...A Caroling We Will Go!

Well, I am a day earlier than usual with my Jingle Belles entry...woohoo! This week, Stef and Lauren have asked us to go caroling...how fun! I love to go caroling, especially when there are goodies at the end! :) So, we were to be inspired by any holiday song, and I chose my favorite, "O Come, All Ye Faithful." This has been my favorite hymn for years...I especially love to hear the Bing Crosby version. For this card, I used another of those song papers, and chose the colors of my cardstock to match the image. My stamped image is another from the O Holy Night set from Inkadinkado that I used a couple of posts ago. It's layered with a large scalloped circle adorned with some small red gems from my stash. I used a gold gel pen over the halo on the image. And behind the image, I used the 3 colors of MS bakers twine I have, twisted them up three different times, adhered them behind the red panel, and used all three colors to tie a bow around them. Wow, I didn't mean to go into such detail over a simple card like this...I guess I was just chatty this evening! I hope you all are "having a good one", whatever you're doing! Take care! :)

JB41; Dreaming of a PINK Christmas...and a cure!

With October being Breast Cancer awareness month, this week Lauren and Stef have asked us to use pink on our cards. For each card uploaded to the challenge, they will EACH donate $2.00 to Susan G. Komen for the cure! How awesome is that??? So, to try to help things along, I have made 3 cards for this week's challenge. The snowgirl with tree image is from Whimsie Doodles, and the penguin and mitten images are from Meljen's Designs. ALL are adorable, if you ask me! My favorite part of the mitten card is the funky MS glitter I found in my stash! :) Well, it's getting late, so I'd best get this linked up...I'm also entering this into Whimsie Doodles's challenge for this month, Think Pink...of course I'm only entering the one with the Whimsie Doodles image on it! ;) Thanks for looking, and take care! :)

ETA: I am also entering the penguin card into Meljen's current challenge...Use a Ribbon

Tag...you're it!

Well, Linda sent me this tag, so I guess I gotta try it...I'm supposed to list 10 things about myself. Beware, this could get boring...lol

1. I am a food service manager by day. This keeps me very busy for 8 hours a day, sometimes one or two more.

2. I have many, many Canadian relatives. Alot still live in Newfoundland, but only my mother and one of her sisters live in the US.

3. My teeth were awfully crooked as a kid. Thank goodness for braces!

4. My favorite color is green.

5. I LOOOOOOVE Ben and Jerry's Half Baked ice cream. I hardly ever eat any other flavor. Some people say that the name suits me....

6. I am 40 and have not yet had any cavities.

7. Hugh Jackman is my favorite actor.

8. I love the smell of huneysuckle in the summertime...and freshly cut grass.

9. I named my second daughter after a one time character in the show Hercules...Who remembers how Kevin Sorbo looked in that shirt?? LOL

10. My favorite group of all time is Foreigner...with Lou Gramm as the lead singer.

Well, that wasn't as hard as I thought it might be. If anyone is still here, I hope you enjoyed this post. Now to tag some other bloggers:

Carol, my oldest crafting buddy...here

Lauren, cuz she's just cool...here

Jill, a sweet lady...here

Steph, another cool lady...here

Stef, co-creator of Jingle Belles with Lauren up above, and another cool lady...here

I hope these ladies don't mind me doing this to them too much... have a good night! :)

JB40...Peace

Wanna hurry and get this linked...will describe later...

OK, now that I am linked up, I can tell you that the theme over at Jingle Belles this week is Peace. Don't we all need some more of that over the holidays, and all year round, for that matter? I've been wanting to make this card for awhile now, a couple of years to be exact. I'm a bit disappointed about my sponging, but it is what it is. I really should be more vigilant about getting my challenge cards done in a more timely fashion...hehehe! Good thing I already knew what I wanted to do! :) Here is a link to the page I got the sheet music from for anyone who may want it. My image is from a set from Inkadinkado.

So, what does everyone else have planned for this evening? As soon as the girls go to bed, we are gonna pop Lethal Weapon 2 into the home theater system. We watched the first one the other night...I had forgotten how hot Mel Gibson was back then! LOL Whatever you do, I hope you enjoy your evening! Take care! :)

Jingle Belles 39...Here Comes Suzy Snowflake!

First off, I want to apologize to Steph and Lauren for taking so long to get this posted to my blog, but I hope this is a good excuse...I had some LOOOOOONG overdue cleaning to do, and I wanted to get it finished before I sat down at the computer and got so VERY easily distracted by the cyber fun I knew I would find here. So, with my apology made, let's get onto my card.

Thie week the prompt over at Jingle Belles is based on an old Rosemary Clooney song called "Here Comes Suzy Snowflake", and the guest star this week is little ole ME! I do have to give credit where credit is due...I had never heard of this song until about 9 or 10 years ago when an older friend of mine started singing it around the holidays, and I asked her about it. It really is a charming little song, and I sure did love to hear my friend sing it. So thank you Dolly, for the inspiration!

As for my card, I knew I wanted to use one of the snowflake ornaments I got at the dollar store a few years ago. They are a lightweight plastic, AND covered in glitter, so they are perfect for embellishing a card. To help keep the glitter from flaking off too much, I sprayed it with hairspray the night before I made the card (go Aqua Net!!). I also knew that the light blue cardstock I have would look really nice with the snowflake, but I gave it some texture with the snowflake embosssing folder from CB. I LOVE that folder! I use that one more than all the others I have! Now if only I could find the other snowflake folder they had made... ANYWAY, I had cute little Lenny already printed out and waiting to be colored, so I colored him up with my Bics and a few Copics, then added some Stickles to the snow and snowballs (of course!). I added a couple of scorelines to separate the embossed top area from the smooth bottom, and stamped my sentiment in brown ink. It's a Studio G, of course, and clear so I could bend it. I love that about clear stamps!

Well, I guess that's all there is to say for me, but please make sure you jump over to the Jingle Belles blog and have a look at what everyone else makes this week. I know I can't wait to see what they come up with! :)

Marie

JB38

Holy cow! What a time I just had trying to get this linked up in time! BUT, I did make it, so here is my card for the 38th installment of Jingle Belles prompts...Hybrid Holidays. This prompt encourages us to use digi images on our cards/projects! Not a problem, I say! I LOOOOOOOOOVE me some digis! The one I used here is from one of my favorite digi companies, Bugaboo. I went pretty simple with this one, using some holographic paper recycled from a gift bag for some pop. The sentiment is a Studio G, and I colored the image with Bics and Sharpies. I also added some Stickles to the snow. Thanks for looking...gotta go eat some spaghetti! :)

JB37, Deck the Halls!

"With boughs of holly, FA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA, LA!" Heehee! How is everyone today? I am one day closer to taking my Labor Day holiday...YEA!!! Where I work, we are open 24/7, 365, so holidays don't always fall on the days they do for everyone else! So, who's ready to deck the halls for Christmas. Right around the time the season changes to fall is when I get in the mood...but I have to wait a little longer! Anyhow, I know you're all here to see what I have created for the 37th prompt at Jingle Belles, where we were to do any or all of the following:

make a freestanding (2.5 x 3.5") Christmas themed Artist Trading Card

-OR-

add an ATC-sized element to your holiday card

-OR-

incorporate a playing card into your design

-OR-

use a recycled Christmas card (or an element from one) on your (newly made) holiday card

I did 2 of the 4...added an ATC-sized element to my card, and recycled a Christmas card. I used the rest of the torn piece of paper from last week's card, and made it match the slope of the snow on the card piece, added glitter glue along the edge for some sparkle, cut snowflakes from the card, and added them randomly around the penguin. A small sentiment from Studio G completes my card. I hope you all like it! :)

GGSC80

Whimsie Doodles is sponsoring three challenges this week, two of which I'm entering this card into...C.R.A.F.T. challenge, (children), and Scrap-Creations, (Winter Wishes). This adorable image is called Snowboy's Stars, coincidentally from Whimsie Doodles! I colored his clothes to sorta match the colors of the paper...I realize the orange isn't quite right, but it was the closest I had. Of course I had to add lotsa sparkle to all those stars with some yellow Studio G glitter glue. I did some sponging around him in a lime green ink too. The sentiment is a Studio G, as well as the three little stars in the upper right corner. I guess that's about all there is to say tonight...take care until our next visit! :)

JB36

Just got this linked up...now to talk about it! This week at Jingle Belles, we were to CASE (Copy And Selectively Edit) any fellow Belles' card from the beginning on. I chose the colorful card pictured above by Jennifer of Styles Ink. I really liked the simplicity of it, while still being interesting. I kept the 3 trees, and the torn "snow", but instead of colorful dp, I used plain white paper embossed with different folders, then inked with Studio G green ink. I also added some glitter to the edge of the snow for a little more oomph. I don't have a clever sentiment like Jennifer's, so I just picked one from my stash of Studio Gs. I hope you like my CASE Jennifer! :) Time for supper...I am starving!

JB35, The Midas Touch

We're talking GOLD!! There's gold in them thar hills! Heehee! Ok enough silliness, this week's prompt over at Jingle Belles was given by faithful Belle Leslie, the crooked stamper! As I'm sure most of you know, King Midas' touch turned everything into gold...so we are to use gold to craft with. To broaden the horizon a bit, the Belles in Charge, Lauren and Stef, decided to include silver, as well as white or cream. Based on all that, here is my take on the prompt. I didn't use any silver, but I do have white and cream. Several elements of this card are from Martha Stewart...the dp, the punch (one of her punch around the page type), and the stamps. The punched element behind the bird is a textured paint sample from my HUGE collection of samples. The gold ink is from a stamp set by The Paper Company. I added some bling on the four corners of the paint sample, and rounded two of the corners of my dp and the corresponding corners of the base. I wanted to see if the punch would work on a smaller piece of paper for the sentiment, and to my pleasant surprise, it did. :) ANYway, I guess that's about all there is to tell about this card, so I'll get to posting it now...LATER!

Meljens 72

"Sparkles, Shine and Glitter." Well, I have no problem with any of those, how 'bout you? :) I LOVE me some glitter, especially in glue form! That's the challenge this week over at Meljens Designs. I just love this image Melissa posted as a freebie near last Christmas. Doesn't it remind you of the Charlie Brown tree, but with that special Meljen's touch? I kept this card pretty simple. I embossed the dp with the snowflake ef, and then sanded over the top. Then I distressed the edges with scissors and brown ink. I ran the inkpad around the image and sentiment too, and added three little bits of bling to the sentiment too. If you can see it, there is also a sheer ribbon behind the image panel. Well, I must get going! Take care! :)

JB34 and FTL154

Hello! This week over at Jingle Belles, we are working with a wonderful sketch from Clean and Simple Stamping Blog. It is FTL154. When I showed it to Chad, he said "Oh, that's a snowman." And I thought, "Hmmm....YES, a discomBOBulated snowman!!!" So, after some more thought on it, this is the end result. What do ya'll think? I think it's funny...LOL
Well, gotta run, Chad is needin' the computer soon...take care! :)

Hello, and good evening!

We're almost to the weekend...YAHOO!!! My kids are finally home from visiting relatives most of the summer, and I have the weekend off! And a trip to Mike's is in the plans...did any of you know that they now carry Copic markers?? I am sooooo psyched!!! I have already started to "collect" them, starting with the light skin tone colors. I told the hubby that is what I want for every occassion until I have them all...LOL!

So, onto today's card. I made this for the current challenge over at Catch The Bug, distressed or shabby chic. Well, I'm not sure I could ever pull off shabby chic, so I went with distressed instead. This little guy looks like he's having some fun in the snow, doesn't he? The image is called Turtles-Winter from Bugaboo...you can find him HERE. So you can probably see I distressed the card by sponging ink on the edges of the square, and around the edges of the embossed red panels. I also took my scissors to the edges of the square to rough them up.

Well, I must cut this short, as the kids need to get to bed, and so do I! Take care until next time! :)

JB33, BLING on the holidays!

Happy Wednesday ya'll! I'm SO happy it's finally Wednesday, cuz I worked 8 days in a row this past week, and I'm needin' a break! I have off tomorrow, work Friday, and then off the weekend. WHEW! Well, enough about ole' hum-drum stuff, let's get to the real reason for this post!!

This is the card I made for this week's prompt over at Jingle Belles, BLING on the holidays! I just love all the clever titles they give to their prompts! HEE HEE!! This image is a real cutie from DigiStamp Boutique that I just HAD to have, called Rocky and Family. Isn't this little robin family just adorable? I colored them with my trusty ole Sharpies and Bics, and gave them some sparkle on the brims and balls of their hats with Stickles. After I cut the image out, I decided to make the snow they're standing in sparkle by glueing on some shaved up styrofoam ball...not very easy to work with, lemme tell ya! Maybe I just don't have mine shaved finely enough, I don't know. When I finished fighting to keep it in place, I then added some Stickles to the dots of snow in the image. If you notice, they also have some styrofoam on the fur of their boots! This is layered onto some green glitter paper I got at JoAnn Fabrics in the dollar bin (YEA!), and then layered onto a Petite Scallop Large Nestie. I decided at the beginning just to make this a teeny little card, so the back is another Petite Scallop Large Nestie. There...I hope that is enough info about this card! Just on a side note, I think I was not supposed to make this card! Either that, or I was tired, cuz I just kept dropping stuff I was trying to use on this one! Heehee! OK, enough jabber, off to get this posted and linked up! Have yourselves a great night! :)

ETA: I also just added this to the DigiStamp Boutique's August competition.

OK, everybody, let's get in shape!

One and two, and one and two. LOL Did I have ya goin' there for a second? As my title might suggest we ARE getting in shape, but not with exercise! This week's prompt over at Jingle Belles is to Shape up for the Holidays...aka to make a shaped card. Something other than the usual square or rectangle. I briefly considered doing a circle-shaped card, but then I thought that wouldn't be stretching my imagination much. After some thought, I remembered this template I saved from Diane Zechman's blog, HERE. BINGO! Perfect for what I wanted. The more I thought about this template, the more the iris folding technique entered my mind as well. Here you see the end result of all that thinking! Of course, I pictured it much prettier in my head, and I had thought of embossing the front , but by the time I got the opening cut out, I forgot all about that part. Does that ever happen to anyone else? Well, once I got all the iris folding done, and I was examining the front, I wondered what I was gonna "frame" the opening with. So, I had to peruse around my stash to find this sequin trim, and it fit the bill for me. Although I am not completely happy with my end result, I will still be entering it in the Jingle Belles challenge for this week. Thanks for having a look, and perhaps you could join in over at Jingle Belles this week. :)

ETA: I have also decided to enter this in the Fussy and Fancy Christmas in July/August, challenge 42, and Crazy 4 Challenges C4C99, Shape it Up.

ETA again: This card got me featured over at Jingle Belles yet again! YAHOO!!!!

Friday Bugaboo challenge and cdacsc28

Friday is here! It's not my Friday yet, but that "Friday feeling" is still in the air, if you know what I mean. Today is the last day for Bugaboo's week of challenges, and the theme is anything goes, as long as it's Christmas related. Bugaboo is also sponsoring the sketch challenge at CDAC this week, so I thought I would combine them and kill two birds with one stone. They even provided a freebie for the sketch challenge! Jodie is so generous with her talent, it just blows me away! Thank you Jodie! I have included a pic of the sketch, along with my card of course! She is colored with Bics and Sharpies, and Gelly Roll pens. The sentiment is one of the many Studio Gs that I have. Well, I best get on with it and get this posted, we have some house cleaning to do. Take care! :)

Bugaboo Thursday challenge...SNOW!!

I don't know about the weather where everyone else is, but here in PA, it is hot, hot, HOT! Kinda makes it hard to think that in just a few short months the snow will be flying! Until then though, for today's Bugaboo challenge, we're all about snow! My card for today was quite the undertaking for me...even though I had the tutorial from SplitcoastStampers up on the computer screen, it still took me 3 tries to get the base right! But thankfully, once I finally did, it all came together. I used the ever adorable Poppi the penguin from Bugaboo again...me thinks I'll have to get more of these, as Poppi is just too cute!

Well, I should get this posted, as I have been wasting time in between watching the baby robins who are living on our front porch as they learn to fly...so cute! Take care! :)

Bugaboo Wednesday challenge AND JB29

Good day everyone! I am entering this card in two challenges today, the Wednesday challenge over at Bugaboo, which was to use this sketch, and the Jingle Belles challenge which was called Reindeer games...or to use a Christmas critter on your card/project. I hope this cute little turtle qualifies as a Christmas critter! Well, I gotta get supper outta the oven and link this up, so I'll wrap it up for now. Take care! :)

Bugaboo Tuesday challenge...cutting it close!

And no, that's not the theme of the challenge...I'm just very late in posting it! Chad and I went out of town this evening, and just now got back. Thankfully, I had my card made, photo'd and edited last night, so I can just talk a bit about it, and get it posted and linked up!

So, the challenge for today was to use this particular image from Bugaboo called Ruby Christmas Tree. Isn't she saucy? I colored her with a combo of Bics, Sharpies, colored pencils (skin), and Gelly Roll pens. The poinsettia is made by layering 3 of those wedding flowers from Michael's, and cutting another to make the leaves. I also added some MS fern punches to it with some gold Stickles for added sparkle.

Well, it's getting later and later as I type, so I'll close for tonight, and get this linked up over at Catch The Bug. Take care! :)

Bugaboo Christmas in July Monday challenge

I have high hopes of completing all the challenges Bugaboo is having this week during their Christmas in July and Jolly Good Time celebrations!! One card is done, and the plan is to make Tuesday's and Wednesday's tonight after I post this one. The challenge for today is to make a card/project using non-traditional colors. I have made a card with this color combo before, and really liked it, so thought it would be good for this one too...it's also secretly inspired by Dunkin Donuts' color combo of hot pink and bright orange! AND, I SWEAR, I had this in mind before I saw the gorgeous bag made by Bugaboo DT member Tammy A.

Well, I best get this posted and linked up, so I can move onto the next card! Take care! :)

JB28 and BBW9, all in one!

As the title implies, this card was made to cover two challenges, the one over at Jingle Belles, and the one being held by Bugaboo on both CDAC and PCP...hmmmmm, I guess technically that is 3 challenges, but who's counting! The image is Bobblehead Reindeer by Bugaboo...so cute!!! Jodie's images just speak to my cute-lovin' side! :) Anyhow, the challenge at JB is "Holiday Leftovers", aka use scraps to create your card. Bugaboo's challenge is the sketch. I hope this card fits the bill for both challenges! Well, gonna post this now! Take care til next visit!

Winter Wishes

Isn't this little guy so cute? He's called Poppi Xmas Candy Cane, and he's one of Jodie's adorable creations over at Bugaboo. I *LOVE* HIM!!!!!! I colored him with Sharpies and Bics, with a red glitter gel pen for the berries. Cut him out with Nesties and did some sponging while still in the die. The sentiment and snowflake are from a set I got a LONG time ago called Happy Everything. I had been wanting to try pleating ribbon for some time now, and finally did so on this card. The striped DP is from a pack I got at Target last year. The top section is embossed with the Swiss Dots EF. Believe it or not, I am actually entering this card in a few challenges:

Catch The Bug challenge blog: Anything Goes

Jingle Belles: Stars or Stripes forever

Catch The Bug on PCP and CDAC: wet and/or dry embossing

Well, it's late, so I best get to linking, and then to bed! Thanks for visiting! :)

Excited!!!!

I finally got a chance to enter the Bugaboo challenge over on Papercraft Planet and CDAC last week...and guess what? My card was randomly picked as a winner! WOOT! WOOT! I really liked this card when I made it, but didn't expect it to be a winner. I won five digis from Bugaboo, and let me tell ya, it took me HOURS to make my decision! Jodie's images are just so dang cute! Of course, I couldn't resist the Christmas images, so be expecting to see some of those in times to come. Jodie also gives out a freebie every Friday...yes, EVERY Friday! Anyone who hasn't checked out Jodie's images yet really should!! :)

Well, thanks for having a look at my blog today! Enjoy whatever you're doing with the rest of your day!

Hello!

Here's something different from a Christmas card! Not made for any particular reason, I just wanted to try out some new stamps. The border, owl, and sentiment are all from a little Studio G set I bought awhile ago that was sitting on my desk...staring at me. It took awhile for me to like this card, but it has grown on me. I think maybe I'll make some more versions in different color schemes, just for kicks. Thanks for having a look, and take care 'til I come back. :)

HELLO!!!!

Sorry for the long absence, but we had no dial tone for over a week...GRRRRrrrrrrrr. But, I have been making some cards while I couldn't get online at home. Mostly holiday cards, trying to keep ahead of the game. The Santa and snowman cards are made using napkin images. I really like this napkin Carol sent me! :) I don't know if it's visible or not, but the doily was smeared with some Stickles. It looks really pretty IRL. The red bird is a Dustin Pike image...he is cute! That card was SUPPOSED to be my entry for JB23 over at Jingle Belles, but my phone line had other ideas! :( I have quite a few more cards to share with you, but I don't wanna overwhelm you all! :) Take care until I post again!