Happy Holidays

Here's my dh's gift --- for 28 years he has made his "famous" salsa -- which he gives to our friends and family at the holidays. Here's this year's production.

Seasons Greetings! Merry Christmas! Feliz Navidad! Happy Hannukah! And Many Good wishes in other languages. And, of course best wishes for a Happy New Year --
"...peace on Earth and Goodwill toward men."

Thanks to all my followers and lookers -- I am looking forward to a stampingly and bloggingly good year!

Winter Wonder

Here's where to go for a great tutorial by Vickie Maduzia on how to create this "Magic Snowflake" -- browsing the blogs, instead of doing my laundry (and other housework), I discovered this beautiful technique -- after playing with this one, I went to bed with inky fingers - but oh, so worth it! Update: I just reviewed the instructions -- she used rubber gloves!

Stuff I used:

Stamps: Posh Impressions, All Night Media, Snowflake Punches, Martha S, Emaginations, Ice Stickles, Versamark, JoAnn's White Craft ink pad, clear embossing powder, re-inkers, ribbon and gems from stash, and a few other items listed in the tut.
(Isn't it grand when you have all the stuff you need for a project?)

Be Strong

The Stampin' Sisters in Christ DT has done another awesome job with the scripture:2 Chronicles 7:14 --"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land." (NIV)

and the challenge to make a card to let someone know you are praying for them. I am so glad for this challenge to remind me that I have a special Sister in Christ who needs comfort and prayer and now I have a card to surprise her with. The first photo has a little ray of sunshine so I took a second one but then realized that the sunshine is God's blessing so I've posted both.

Though this looks pretty simple, I used lots of Stuff:
Stamps: Stamps Happen, G-Rated, Penny Black -- Sizzix, EK Success punch, Bradletz,
Fiskar Border Punch, Prismacolor Metallic Marker,
Cuttlebug folder, Marvy Punch
The image is paper pieced and also colored with watercolor pencils -- I've raised up the little boy's collar with a pop dot for a little dimension
the heart charm phrase is computer generated

Thanks so much for looking,

Gingerbread Family

I'm wishing a very special family a Merry Christmas and to help with those wishes, I created a larger version of my coffee cozy recycle project to create a "carrier" for a Cashier's Check in an "undisclosed" amount (since my recipient might visit here). My dh and I selected this lovely family of four because they need a little extra help this Christmas. Inside is the "surprise" and a note telling them how my dh and I know what it is like to have "skinny" times and because the Lord has blessed us in so many ways, we are grateful to be in a position to pass on some blessing to others.

Someone Special

For Someone Special

Visit Just Magnolia's blog and enjoy the DT's beautiful creations for the challenge to make a card for someone special -- now that is an easy one! My Someone Special is actually two someone specials: This month, my son, Dain, is receiving his Master of Fine Arts in Painting; and his girlfriend is receiving her cap and pin for nursing. I am christening my very first Magnolia purchases for this event by making a celebration card for each of them. In Sherry's honor, the little Student Tilda now has a red cross for her hat. The bubbly has little gems mounted on a thin sliver of acetate behind the glass and inside for that someone special, I've stamped and colored a rose and added "It's Your Special Day." A Special Day indeed for someone very special.

For the other Someone Special -- Dain

I pieced Edwin and set him atop a collage of "famous art." Here's what the collage looked like before Edwin came aboard:

Sherry's: Stamps by Magnolia, Posh mpressions, All Night Media, Sizzix, Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, ribbons, gems, flowers from stash,Prismacolor Markers, Diamond Glaze, Art Institute Glitter
Dains: Stamps by Magnolia, PSX, Inkadinkadoo, Hero Arts, Zumbali, Rubber Tree, Museum Stamps, Ek Success - Image Tree, Sizzix, Diamond Glaze, Art Institute Glitter, Prismacolor Markers

Thanks for visiting, please tell me what you think.

It's Beginning to Look....

Penny Black has provided a wonderful sketch by Beth for this week's challenge (#77). Visit this blog, and you will be rewarded with some beautiful DT creations. I enjoyed this sketch so much and became so engrossed with stamping all the little squares, I forgot that it was supposed to have a Penny Black image.

The benefits of this forgetfulness, is that I now have two cards using this same great sketch! You may recognize this Penny Black image as "Moo Birthday" -- a delightful stamp that brings a smile to my face for several reasons: it was given to me by my sweet AZSIS and because I was raised on a farm and used to help herd and milk the cows. I have altered this "...to look like Christmas" by using just two cows, and by cutting out and mounting each of the gifts on a thin strip of acetate to suspend them above the cows. Components are raised with pop dots, and brightened here and there with Diamond Glaze. Here is a previous post using this image (also altered) . I could use this image until the cows come home. (My son is in the other room so he didn't "hear" me say this.)

Stuff I used:
Stamps: Penny Black, Hero Arts, Mostly Animals, and maker unknown
Diamond Glaze, Pop Dots, Liquid Applique, Prismacolor Pencils
tiny gem, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder
Marvy Corner Punch , craft punch (Santa Hat)

The Gift

Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge: create something that has a gift somewhere on it -- inspired by the following verse: “After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Matthew 2:11. I am showing this off as a Christmas Gift for the C.R.A.F.T. challenge too! -- and for more challenge fun, go look at the Verve blog for a link to instructions for this mini-pizza box.

Now who doesn't like pizza? And, who doesn't like a little something delivered in a pizza box? So, not only is there a gift on the outside, inside are tiny little candy canes. I think my son, Dain, however, would prefer a gift card inside the mini-pizza box, and a real life-sized pizza in a real pizza box!

Stuff I used:
Stamps: PSX, Sizzix, silk flowers, DCWV for pizza box,
Polymark Fabric Paint - Crystal Glitter, rickrack from my sewing drawer, ribbons from stash.

Dain's Challenge

My son, Dain, left a coffee "cozy" on my worktable last night -- and I took it as a challenge to use it on a card. Now I have yet another reason to go out for coffee in the morning! And, the best part of all: you can have this one done before the coffee is cool enough to sip!

Cuttlebug embossing folder (I love these), Chalk, Memories Brown Ink Pad, Sizzix, brads, Diamond Glaze, Pop Dots, pretty ribbon from stash

Wishing you Joy

Would anyone think that one piece of 12x12 paper could wish you joy? That's the House Mouse challenge. Go see for yourself -- there you will enjoy the DT contributions and can find a tutorial for this double pocket bag. It was a delight to make and I am so glad that House Mouse has set me to work on it. I purposely kept the coloring light because I wanted to create a delicate look to match the DCWV paper. My granddaughter will find this dangling from a Christmas tree branch so I had to be sure to make it cute and girly by adding the pink ribbon and the pink tissue paper stamped with mice footprints. Thus qualifying it also for the Cute and Girly challenge blog spot. And I am really branching out this time and offering this one up to C.R.A.F.T Challenge too -- both of these I would not have discovered had it not been for my blogging friend Lorraine. What will be placed inside these little gift pockets remains a mystery -- but I will be wishing her Joy. And I wish you Joy too as you make some of these for yourself.

Stamps: Stampa Rosa, Michael's $1, Stampabilities
Martha Stewart border punch, bead string, ribbon, gems from stash
Prismacolor Markers

Aren't these images adorable? They can be yours -- just hop on over and visit Ceal at Simply Beautiful to see how. One thing she wants to know is what you are celebrating. My celebration and jubilation is that our youngest son is receiving his Master of Fine Arts in Painting!!!!

Precious Moments

Precious moments are ones such as these as we share with our friends and families -- whether our table is laden with food, or it is just a bowl of soup (and in this case you can bet it isn't turkey soup!) May everyone be reminded this Holiday to give thanks. I give thanks to God for all things and especially for my family and friends -- and that is why I stamped "Thanks be for Thee" and will be hand delivering this to my daughter and her family on Thanksgiving Day. I am presenting this here for a challenge from Stampin' Sisters In Christ and I encourage you to visit there and view the gorgeous work created by the DT. The verse inspiring this challenge for homage to the spirit of Thanksgiving is: Galatians 6:9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV) I am thankful for my blogging friends who give me courage and inspiration. Thanks be for Thee!

Stuff I used:
Stamps by Stampendous and Stampin' Up
DCWV distressed backgroud paper, Prismacolor pencils, Sizzix, Diamond Glaze,
Oval, Scallop, and hole punches, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder

Awarded the Shining Star by Stampin' Sisters in Christ!

High Handed

Card Trick No. 8. And indeed this is a trick because if you ask anyone who plays cards, they will tell you that this is a Royal Flush which is the highest hand you can get – and, of course, it is also the hardest one to get. That would indicate that this card is a real treasure and would indeed be a Royal greeting. I miniaturized the cards, painted them with liquid laminate and gave them a light Art Institute Glitter sprinkle. The pale blue Cuttlebugged background edged with gold is to simulate the design on the back of the cards and is dusted with chalk to bring out the interesting surface texture. The gold tassel was yet another trick as the gold cord was running rampant like a bad hair day until I finally got it to succumb with a little white glue blended into the fringe. The playing cards are foam mounted at the top and glued at the bottom to seem as though they are being held. The crown is from a foam mounted stamp set (unknown). See other card tricks under titles: King for a Day, Drama Queen, Gogh have great Birthday, A Perfect Pair, Lucky Draw, Queen of Diamonds, Queen for a Day. -- Just remember, when you can deal yourself a hand (such as I have done here), always give yourself a Royal Flush!

Over the Top Award

I received this award from my blogging friend Sue at Sue's Rubber Stamping Adventures Thanks dear heart! Sue's rubber stamping is an adventure and I encourage you to visit her because she has a lot of great things to share. I always have a wonderful time visiting and I know you will too. And, before I could acknowledge and comply, what to my wondering eyes to behold! I'm awarded "Over the Top" by Suzie Q! Her "Craft Creations and a Little Monkeying Around" is a delight -- visit her blog and read her answers to the questions posed for this award, and you'll see what great humor she has as well! (for example, Q No. 27 -- "What you are not wearing") Ah, but now on to the specs of this award.

In this award, you are asked to pass this on to 5 others, post on their blog to let them know, and answer a list of questions in ONE word.

1. Where is your cell phone? Lap

2. Your hair? Dyed

3. Your Mother? Amazing!

4. Your Father? Smart

5. Your favorite food? Mexican

6. Your dream last night? Stamping

7. Your favorite drink? Milkshake

8. Your dream/goal? Stamping

9. What room are you in? Studio

10. Your hobby? Dreaming

11. Your fear? Fear

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Studio

13. Where were you last night? Studio

14. Something that you aren't. Working

15. Muffins? Yes (please)

16. Wish list item? decluttered

17. Where did you grow up? Michigan

18. Last thing you did? Stamped

19. What are you wearing? Jeans

20. Your TV? Off

21. Your Pets? Weineramer

22. Friends? Cherished

23. Your Life? Happy

24. Your Mood? Hopeful

26. Vehicle? 4-wheels

27. Something you're not wearing? Shoes

28. Your favorite store? Food

29. Your favorite color? Blue

30. When was the last time you laughed? Today

31. Last time you cried? Yesterday (sad movie)

32. Your best friend? Husband

33. One place that I go to over and over? YMCA

34. Facebook? Daily

35. Favorite place to eat? Home

The five people I would like to pass this on to are: Susa, Dani, Julia, Annie, visit all of these creative ladies for great stuff. And, Elaine who is a new blogger and has some wonderful things to share.

and more Thanks!

Two more thank you cards for our Heroes! When I am in the designing mode, I always end up with extra elements -- extra images, shapes, bits of cardstock, papers, and ribbon. Mostly I set these aside probably never to use them again. This time a new challenge: Make those into cards too! So that is why I am still working on the theme of the thank you cards for Heroes.

The camo background is from a Stampendous stamp, and the netting you can guess is from produce netting (my always recycling nature), other stuff includes a Sizzix pieced flag with a bamboo skewer for a flagpole, and a cuttlebug embossed panel.

This one is simple and clean in design and makes me very satisfied to use as a thank you except that there is a "little glitter" behind the acetate window (couldn't resist) -- so I will duplicate this one sans glitter.

Stamps: Stampin' up!, Comotion; Sizzix, brads, EK Success corner punch, pop dots and a bit of ribbon.

The challenge here is to keep making cards to send to our Heroes (Operation Write Home) - and especially for our troops who are away from home during the Holidays -- let's remember to give them special attention.

The Path

"The path to a friend's house is never long" for a challenge to make a shadow box card. These cards are a delight to make and if you haven't tried one, here's a tutorial from Splitcoast Stampers. The challenge is inspired by 1 Corinthians 13:12 (King James Version): "For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." and interpreted for a shadow box challenge by the talented Peggy Sue Turner. More details on this challenge and to see the wonderful creations by the design team visit Stamping Sisters in Christ. The home scene was stamped on blue card stock, heat embossed, areas bleached and then re-colored with watercolor pencils. The outer frame was easy peasy with my favorite Sizzix and yellow seed beads for the flower centers. The delight of the shadow box is that the recipient receives it flat in an envy but when it is revealed, it stands on its own to give great dimension into the scene. I'm making a path to my friends' houses (blogs) today -- won't you come along?

My stuff: Stampendous, Darcie, Bleach, Seed Beads, Sizzix, Watercolor Pencils

Lucky Ducky

I took the suggestion for the Sweet N Sassy challenge blog to use their Thursday Freebie Digi stamp to participate in the challenge to use Holly. While a duck seems to be an unlikely candidate for a Christmas Card, I waddled ahead by dressing this lucky ducky in a winter cap (liquid appliqué and cotton added) and scarf. He is set in a Sizzix frame that has been textured with a cuttlebug folder, embellished with the required holly from a sizzlet die, and red gems for berries. A little Art Institute glitter for a bit of sparkle and a pipe cleaner candy cane sets him to dreaming of a ducky Christmas as a Martha Stewart snowflake border punch and shimmery paper completes the border. My granddaughter will be the lucky ducky that will receive this in the mail next month. When my MFA son wasn’t looking I put the blue bow back on this card – he said it looked better without it. His rationale is that the duck already has a blue "bow” around his neck. What say you?

Thanks

It is Veteran's Day here in the United States and so today I made a thank you card. The Stamping Sisters in Christ challenge (No. 12) this week is to make a card for folks in the service -- either a thank you card directed to one of them or a blank card that they can use as a greeting to a friend or loved one. If you would like to participate, take this link -- there you will see some lovely work by the DT and also some important information about Operation Write Home and how you can share your talents with our troops. The approved card size is A2 and cannot have any glitter -- making it a bit more challenging as lately I have been making larger sized cards. But I did manage to get a lot of "stuff" on it (and with my son's approval). Because I couldn't glitter it up, I pounced a gold pigment ink pad on the star string and heat embossed with Northern Lights Embossing Power.

For a bit more interest, I continued the star strand on into the inside:

Stamps: Posh (All Night Media), Stampendous, Stampin' Up
Other stuff: Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Northern Lights Embossing Powder,
Nestabilities, Sizzix, brads, and water color pencils


Thanks for dropping by --

I'm on a Roll

I'm on a roll - rolling the Cuttlebug that is. The challenge at the Cuttlebug spot this week is "fruity" -- the DT's lovely creations that are fruity and delicious are here. Since I just vacationed in Hawaii -- I'm still dreaming of eating those wonderful Pineapples. I had more stuff planned for this one and my MFA son told me "no more stuff." -- After he left for school, I tied on the little circle labels -- LOL.
So, here's one I made for my son's approval (without so much stuff) --and since it isn't so fussy, I think my special AZBIL will love it as he is from Hawaii. Happy Birthday Jeff!

Some of my regular visitors will be surprised that I can't come up with a fruity joke - so I guess all the creative juice has been squeezed out of me. Thanks for coming by -- please tell me you were here.

The pineapples and flowers are Sizzix, stamps - PSX, Comotion, Hero Arts. Other stuff, DeNami blue ice glitter, gold pen, Memories Brown Ink pad, Marvy Orange ink pad, watercolor pencils, Liquid Laminate, DCWV paper

Hound Dog

The Penny Black challenge -- No. 74 (this week) is to depict a song or lyrics of a song using a Penny Black image so I opened up my Penny Black drawer to see what stamp would sing to me -- and "Birthday Dog" -- sang "pick me!"

This was a perfect choice because a very special person was in need of a birthday greeting. The birthday dog is on the inside of the card and can be viewed from the oval window cut out with an exacto. My song is, of course, "Hound Dog" as sung by Elvis Presley. To see the excellent DT's tune depicts -- go here. And, while you are doing that, I'll just pop this in the mail to "Hound Dog", the birthday dog. Happy Birthday Michael!

Stamps: Penny Black, Cornish Heritage Farms, Clearsnap (rollograph) Tools and other stuff: watercolor pencils, Sizzix, Marvy punch, celestial blue embossing powder, Cuttlebug embossing folder - words computer generated.

White Christmas

The Penny Black Blog Challenge this week is White on White. I encourage all who visit here to go take a look at the Design Team's amazing contributions for this challenge. In the laundry room, I have no trouble with my whites -- but when there are so many yummy colors to be had in the studio, I had to wash away my desire to use colors -- though thank goodness the challenge does allow for the image to be in color. Most all elements are raised with pop dots -- except for the textured layers of snow. Because there is (subtle) shimmer to this card -- I am also presenting this to Our Daily Bread Designs Blog challenge "Show us the Shimmer".

Here's a better look at the shimmer:


Stuff I used:
Penny Black Rubber Stamp: "Aiming to Please" (scarf paper pieced)
5 different Cuttlebug Embossing Folders, Martha Stewart Snowflake Border,
Emaginations Snowflake punch, Sizzix tree die,
white satin Picot ribbon, shimmery paper,
crystal gems, Art Institute Glitter, mica powder,
asst. fibers, water color pencils, pop dots

All to show my dh that it takes a "Lot of Stuff" to make a card! Thanks so much for dropping by...please take a moment to tell me what you think.

Not a Cross Word

Happy Anniversary to my dearest cousin and her husband as they celebrate another great year together. They are so in tune with each other that they work several crossword puzzles in tandem each day -- Mary will work on one for awhile and then pass it to Jeff as he passes the one to her that he was working on. Together they solve all their problems -- and not a cross word between them. (oh, my son is cringing on that one.) And so this is my heartfelt greeting to them.

Stuff I used:
Sizzix die for tree, and a crossword puzzle that I worked on and then modified with a PSX alphabet and "Love." My very first ever punch -- the heart punch, leaf swirls - EK Success Corner punch, Cuttlebug embossing folders.