My Little Christmas Star!

Christmas is so much about children, that it's hard NOT to include them in your holiday cards!  Just Magnolia lends itself perfectly to the dreams and desires of children around Christmas. I thought abot all the kids out there who are wishing for a better Christmas than the past year they have seen.
This is my "Wishing On A Christmas Star" card.
It's hard to see in the photo, but I popped up the girl and had her stockings dangling out underneath!

Kerri's inspiration card - 'Tis the Season

For the sketch, I went to Waltzing Mouse, and found this perfect card challenge, which matched nicely with Just Magnolia's this week also! And I was fortunate enough to be scanning through Kerri's blog who is on the DT for Your Next Stamp, and lifted her "Tis The Season" card with the images extending over the edge of the card!  Loved it!

Paper:  Basic Grey "Figgy" Star sticker and cardstock;  Copics markers; and stock ribbon. A bit of white fluffy fabric paint on her hat!

Contests also entered:  PaperTakeWeekly

Visions of Sugar Plums!

I really enjoyed playing with this challenge over at Polka Doodles (Twas the Night Before Christmas). It opened the challenge for any number of directions! I chose "While visions of sugar plums danced in their heads..."  Of course, we, today, do not eat plums dipped in sugar, but CANDY is always a big part of Christmas. At least around our house! 
For the sketch, both Simon Says and Pixie Cottage had sketches so similiar, I decided to go with BOTH! Kinda tilted and mixed the elements of each.

Great minds think alike, right?
Now, here is my card:

These "sugar plums" from MYGRAFICO were painstakingly fussy cut and glued together. One of my first "paper piecing" projects in years!  I am happy with the results, but will choose a much larger image next time!  LOL! The fantastic prize of a beautiful stamp set from BlackLeaf Stamps was enough to convince me check out the Grafico images. How adorable!
I used papers form my long-time stash of Daisyd's and Provocraft. The little gingerbread guy is a button from "Dress It Up" (JoAnn's)

SEI and Skipping Stones

This card I made with my SEI favorite collection, Glitzmas (Gaby Abby is having a SEI Challenge and giveaway!) and for the Skipping Stones Sketch Challenge using their dragonfly stamp from Skipping Stones Designs. I love the beauty and quality you get from their clear stamp sets. It matched up perfectly with the challenge this week at Stamps R Us, create a HOLIDAY CARD.

Paper used was SEI, Glitzmas; punched with Fiskars Lace punch; journaling box cut with Nestabilities Label 4; and the very gorgeous dragonfly stamped with Staz-On ink onto the glittery white Glitzmas paper! I added just a touch of Gunmetal Stickles to the body to add extra sparkle!

I received the SEI pack around last Christmas from my dear friend Liz, and have been using it on EVERYTHING!  I love that paper! (Don't worry Liz, you won't see a lot more.  I've almost exhausted it!)

SOME ODD GIRL BLOG HOP!

Welcome to the first Some Odd Girl Hol-ODD-day Blog Hop! We're having this hop to not only show some love for all our Oddies this holiday season but to have a hop that includes them! So take a hop thru our list and make sure to leave comments at every stop because the Odd Girls have some prizes to give away to celebrate, but you have to complete the list to be entered.

We started at the Some Odd Girl Blog and are ending up at Kristy's blog and I am SURE along the way you'll see some amazing projects!
You should have arrived here from Diana's blog. If not, start at the beginning to complete the hop.

Now, here is my project! It was just recently that I discovered Some Odd Girls, and immediately felt I had stumbled upon kindred spirits! These gals come up with the cutest and most adorable digi images! I used the "Tiny Tia" image that was a freebie some while back. She is so adorable, I couldn't resist pairing her with a sentiment "letter" to Santa!  Sorry for the colors in the photo! Apparently, the red dress is looking pink. It IS the same red as the bows...  It was so much fun, I hope to add to my SOG images!

The DP is from the SEI, Glitzmas collection, with the stamp frame being Hero Arts. I used my Copics to color Tia and then cut her and the stamp letter out and popped them both up to give it dimension. The holly berries are Zva bling. You can't tell in the photos, but the bottom mat is a dark hunter green pattern paper from Bo Bunny.

"INNOCENT "

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Holiday and are ready for Christmas!
Yes, I said it, ready for Christmas! 
Your next stop in the hop is Cassie's blog. Thanks for hoppin by!

This card is also entered in:
Digi Doodle Shop's Best Challenge
PaperCutz
Cards For Men

Some Happy Birthday Blog Candy!

Go to http://creationsofasparetimestamper.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-birthday-blog-candy.html and wish Crystal a Happy Birthday. You could win a very nice collection of scrap goodies!  And check out her cards! She does a great job with the Magnolia kiddos! CHECK IT OUT!

Hey, Join the fun!

Some Odd Girl, one of my favorite card challenge and image sites, is hosting a Blog Hop on November 30th at 9am, through December 1st at 6pm!

AND GUESS WHO IS GOING TO HAVE A PROJECT POSTED???  ME!!!


Besides hopping along with their fav peeps, they will be debuting their E-Cards and new digis, having giveaways (open to hoppers too), announcing the Guest Oddie for December and have a lil contest to debut. Who knows what other fun we might have?

Come see why I love them so much!
Post a reminder to check it out! And maybe win a prize! See ya there!

DCWV Give-away!

Quick,  Go to the DCWV blog and see the wonderful Give-Away that Erin has during the great Triple Play Hop! If you love the papers from Die Cuts With A View as much as I do, you won't want to miss a chance to win some!

A Different Twist on Turkey Day!

When I make cards for the Doodle Dragon's card challenge, I usually keep it on the very light side. Dustin's images don't really make for serious messages! I love them! And let's face it, aren't we all a bit weary by now of the "What we are thankful for" theme? (No, I am NOT a grinch!)
This card addresses what more Americans are thinking about on that day than we want to admit! I, myself, feel watching a football game on TV is the perfect setting for a good nap. But I know a lot of guys who will be crashed in front of the tube this Thursday!

The image I used  is one of Dustin's, of course. The paper is DCWV from the Fall Stack, and the "Turkey" University monogram is hand cut from Bazzill cardstock and white felt.
PLAY card is one of Jenni Bowlin's Bingo cards, Mini Sports.

Thanks to my BFF's everywhere and It's a Magnolia Christmas!

This week's challenge at Shirleys2girls is all about being "thankful" for whatever makes you happy in your life!

And note there are little leaves in the paper.

(the second requirement of the card challenge!) 

I used the S2G stamps from "BFF Mazie" and the chipboard peace sign is Little Yellow Bicycle. To provide the background paper, I went for the DCWV, Citrus.

Also, I had so much fun with this Magnolia image and my Copics! This challenge over at Just Magnolia is "White and One Other". I chose blue because I wanted to work outside my comfort zone and Scrap Creations is having a "Blue For You" challenge and Totally Paper Crafts is all about "Non-Traditional" colors for Christmas ! Normally, I would have automatically reached for the reds for Christmas. I like her in blue, and the little striped socks are always adorable!

The paper I used was the SEI "Glitzmas" (I'm really getting a lot of use out of this line!). I used their sparkly white cardstock AGAIN, and ran it through my Cuttlebug with the Snowflake embossing folder. She appears to be sitting on the ribbon! Which worked out wonderfully for the challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbons this week!

I'm having waaaay too much fun for someone who needs to be unpacking yet more moving boxes!
This card is also entered in a newly found blogsite for me, and with a new store, Karber Christmas Challenge! They have the cutest images, which I'm hoping to win some! Check out their stuff here http://karberchristmaschallenge.blogspot.com/p/shop-here.html
Posted on Digital Tuesday Challenge for their "let it snow" challenge.
AND last, but definately not least, the Incy Wincy Designs Challenge! (BLUE) This is the best blog idea ever! Profits from their store sales go to charity! How cool is that?  I intend to visit this blog often!

Blog Candy!

Paper, Ink, Color is hosting another blog candy giveaway! Be sure to check out Chrissy's blog page and send her some good thoughts. Sounds like she could use some love!   She has the Magnolia "Twins" stamp this week to give to some lucky individual!

Also, her November giveaway is the entire set of these adorable stamps!
Here's what you'll receive.  Stamps from Lili of the Valley!  Love those images!

Many Thanks!

I recently "celebrated" my 55th birthday (as much as you can celebrate being over 50!) and recieved some lovely gifts. It was just at the right time I found the challenge on Polka Doodles blog for "Give Thanks" as I was sitting down to make some Thank You cards.

I used the beautiful flocked paper from DCWV, called La Creme; and it was my first opportunity to use doilies like so many folks have been doing. The little bird stamp is Inkadinkado. I like the way it turned out! I owe a big thank you to my friend Del, who made helpful suggestions along the way!  It's always mroe fun to scrap with a buddy!

True Gifts of the Holiday

When you take away all the commercialism of Christmas, and the ham, and the cookies, what you can really concentrate on are the true gifts that we all share at Christmas. That's the feeling I wanted to relate on this gift box for this week's challenge at Polka Doodles.  I partnered it with the sketch over at Sassy 'Lil Sketches and the "What makes you happy" challenge at Simon Says!  Sharing the feeling of Christams is what really makes me happy!

I plan to make a mini-album of all the members of my family for my parents, who are in their later years. I hope it holds memories they can enjoy often over the next years.

Paper used was Glitzmas, from SEI.  Red layer was cut from SEI glitter cardstock with the Nestabilities "Dalia" folder.

Blog Candy !

Tracy's Stamping Corner is having a blog candy giveaway to celebrate her 100th Follower! I can relate in that I don't have so many followers myself! I commend her on reaching the magic 100!  So if you want a chance at winning some really amazing products, check out her blog and definately become a follower! You won't be disappointed!
GO, TRACY!

More Card Challenges!

I am now addicted to card challenges!  I have been without internet all day, and it about drove me nuts! Turned out it was only a 7 year old ethernet router that was installed in this house 6 years ago! It finally crashed during the night!
Well, all is well again, so here are my two most recent cards.

The first is for Waltzing Mouse this week.   The sketch is simple and sweet. 

The second is for I(heart)To Stamp. I love this sketch and the blog!

Enough for one day!  I'm just thrilled to be back online! 

Sassy Lil Sketches Challenge!

Boy, they've really outdone themselves this time!  This week's challenge consists of a Recipe Hop (5-ingredients) layout that you have to put together and post on their blogs! Along with that, is the Blog Hop itself where you get so many ideas for the challenge and an additonal little surprise "Hop within a hop"!  So many chances to win a prize! So go to Sassy Lil Sketches and see what all the fuss is about!

All I can say is included in this card are lots of ink, lace, embossing with my Cuttlebug ("Textile" folder), and "da bears" .
Check it out!

Christmas challenges have begun!

It's hard to believe, but Christmas is right around the corner!  Fall is so short, especially here in Arizona, and the holiday decorations and goodies start showing up about now.

For the Digital Delights challenge, Glitter It Up!, they provided the cutest Nutcracker for the project!  I had so much fun coloring him with my Copics and glitzing him up.

"Waiting For Christmas Morning"

The popped up images really make it more 3-Dimensional.

I used the "Glitzmas" paper, stickers,  and glittered cardstock from SEI, along with stock Christmas bead trim and gold ribbon purchased at Michaels several years ago. The shapes are Nestabilities "Labels Four".  It's hard to see in the picture, but I have Stickles glitter on his buttons, hat and plume, along with the ornaments!

I am still scrapping out of boxes, but thank goodness my Christmas stuff was all together!

This card also qualified for the challenges over at:
 Some Odd Girl Early Bird Challenge, where they were requesting layouts with "stand-up" or popped up embellies/images. Love their images, but this I just finished today and it just fits!
A Crafty Little Place has a great Red, White and Green Challenge.
The Crafty Purple Frog!  I just love thename of that blog and their images are breathtaking! Would love to win some!  The challenge there was to "add some sparkle"!
Whoopsie Daisy has a challenge that requires only that it be a "Christmas" theme!

Fall is FINALLY here!

Phoenix has finally cooled down, somewhat, and Fall has officially arrived! Now, for those of you in other parts of the country, that means that our days highs will be less than 90. Yes, 90.  For months all we saw were highs in the three digits, so this is a welcome change. Will we see changing color on the leaves, crisp cold nights, layered sweaters....?  No, but I can finally unpack my long sleeve blouses for the evenings. Yep, that's about the best we can hope for until winter.

This is the first card in quite a while that I made in numbers. I kept telling myself that I would make seasonal/holiday cards for friends and family, but have been very bad about it. I usually make my Send Love Today weekly cards and hit a few challenges along the way. THIS TIME I made Fall cards, and lots of them!  I may even get Thanksgiving cards made, too!  But I think this one says it all. (Just in case)

                 Inside reads,  "Give Thanks for Fall!"    If you're here in Arizona, you get it.
I figured I may as well follow a sketch challenge, and found a particularly nice one at Cardibilities.  Also, entered it into the Shirley's2Girls card challenge that was all about using "Thanks" on/in your card!  At this time, I can't think of too much that I am a whole lot MORE grateful for! (wink, wink)

Cosmo Cricket Giveaway!

Leah Killian is having a Birthday Bash Giveaway over on her blog that is being sponsored by
COSMO CRICKET!  Yep, that's right!  One of MY favorite paper lines, too! Check it out and see how you could win $100 worth of CC Goodies!!!

Included in the prize package are:


1 Material Girl Kit

1 Togetherness Kit

1 Joyride Kit

1 Pixieliscious Kit

1 Garden Variety Kit

1 Circa 1934 Kit
(Did you know all these kits come with the stickers and the borders and the elements? Its true!)

GOOD LUCK!

Cocoa Power!

Anyone who loves chocolate understands why a hot steaming cup of cocoa, especially with marshmallows, gives a person renewed energy and whole new outlook on life!  YUMMM!

I took my love of the beverage and made this card for the DragonDoodles and the Waltzing Mouse challenges.  Dustin made it easy this week, and the theme was "Anything Goes!" while over at Waltzing Mouse it was a sketch challenge with a tag pocket!

Well, that was enough for today! Think I'll go have a nice relaxing cup of cocoa!

Love is in the air!

For the challenge over at Phindy's Place, I made this card using MY favorite color, RED! No particular event or holiday in mind, just because. My PP images are few, so perhaps this will help me win a few more!  Love their digis!

I had the scrap Sandylion paper and Bazzill flowers within reach, so this is what they turned into! Thank goodness my Copics are never out of my sight!

Autumn's Around the Corner!

Despite the warm temperatures we are experiencing here in Arizona, Fall really is coming!  You can see it in the shopping malls and on the houses! Now that Halloween is past, we can start looking forward to Thanksgiving and cooler weather! (I hope!)

I sat down and made this card today from the few materials I'm able to get access to. My scrap room is still in disarray, with boxes everywhere.  It will be entered in several card challenges just to get my mojo back! It's been horrible not having access to my computer and my scrappin' goodies!  Maybe I'll win something to get me back in the mood again!

The sketch is from Sassy Lil Sketch's website, and the colors fit well into PolkaDoodles' "Autumn Colors" challenge.  Note: I couldn't help flipping the sketch upside down for this challenge!
It's not fancy, but whatcha gonna do when you have one box of scraps and some adhesive?

Halloween Night

I would love to say I had a wonderful time, but I felt so bad, it was difficult to enjoy the festivities. My daughter prepared a delicious tofu meal (I'll HAVE to get the recipe) and watching the grandson run from house to house was great. But this is one Halloween that I will have to rely on pictures for the memories. Thanks, Nyquil!

TRICK OR TREAT?

Just moved into the new house, and the first day I have to myself, I'm sick!



MY TREATS FOR HALLOWEEN

I woke up Saturday morning feeling congested and feverish, and spent most of that day laying on the sofa and throwing in an occasional load of laundry.

Convinced myself I was feeling better yesterday (Halloween) and insisted on going to the DD's house and taking my grandson out Trick-or-Treating.  Between the cool night air, and the running around, I woke up again this morning feeling terrible!  Sinuses, Allergies, Cold, who knows....  I know I'm sitting here looking at 20-30 more boxes that need unpacking and couldn't care less.

Turtle Time!

Once again it's time for my little turtle guy to come to my rescue! With a friend's birthday fast approaching, and little time to make cards, I grabbed some of my materials that aren't yet sealed in boxes, and made this Birthday Turtle card!  Everyone knows the Birthday Turtle, right?  He's right up there with the Easter Bunny, and the St. Pat's Leprechan!
The folks over at Flourishes helped me out by providing this great sketch this month!

Birthday Greeting!

My daughter's birthday is fast approaching, so that has been my last assignment before this chaos gets all sealed up!  On top of everything else, I just got the call that they are showing this house again today!!! Boxes everywhere!  Ugh!  Oh well....whatcha gonna do? 

I made this card to enter in the Polka Doodles Homemade Embellies card challenge.

I love the metal butterfly. Simple! Just cut a soda can up, and run it through your Cuttlebug with the butterfly die and then emboss with the same set!  Be very careful!  The edges will be very sharp! I suggest NOT giving this to anyone under the age of 16!
Well, better "fly" myself!  I can at least make a path for folks through the boxes!!!

Monday Morning!

What a crazy weekend!  We decided on a house and signed all the paperwork, and will get the keys on October 15th!  So, needless to say, I've been packing up stuff anticipating the movers on the following Wednesday. My scrapbook room is in a sad state...

I am having a hard time letting go, even if for only two weeks until I get everything organized at the new place.  It's "just one more card..." or "I need to send out my SLT cards to the kids!"   I have lots of excuses, but have pretty much run out of time. I just have to tell myself that I'll make up for it later.

PHINDY"S PLACE is having a really cute challenge this week. The theme is CUTE. Well, I usually don't do really cute, only boy cute. But I got out the pinks and purples, and grabbed the freebie on thier website, "Petticoat Patty".  With limited products at my disposal, I put this card together that will be sent to Harley, my little gal from Send Love Today.

The papers were some old Miss Elizabeth's I bought at the Dollar Store years ago, I colored "Patty" with my Copics, and made a little tulle flower with a bling center. The bee was a little button I had left over from an ancient project.

The second card was for the challenge over at Shirleys2Girls, or S2G.  The only requirement is that you have the word BOO on the card.  Well, needing to make some Halloween cards on the run before we move, I made my first out of eight that I'll send out.  

The ghost with balloon is a free image I downloaded some time ago and didn't tag (I THINK it may be a Dustin Pike), the "B" is a chipboard piece that I covered with paper and ran through my Cuttlebug with my new Tim Holtz folder, Circles.  And the "O"s, well you know those little Bazzill washer-looking things? I bought a BUNCH of them last year at the sale. Don't have a clue what to really use most of them for!  So I painted two of them black, and those became my "o's.  It gave the card some depth and weight. Wrapped the little balloon floss through them, and done! Oh, and I love the font that I found on my computer (have no idea where half of these came from) called KA Monster. It even has little skulls on the letters!

These cards are also entered in the Polka Doodles card challenge asking for examples of our homemade embellies! The tulle flower was my very first attempt at making the fabric flowers. ( hint, hint: Tulle is NOT the easiest thing to start with! ) and I thought using the Bazzill pieces was kinda clever....


Well, except for a Birthday Card for my daughter, I'm done until after the move.  I'll post it here in the next few days, and then quit...I have to. The house doesn't pack itself!  :)

Big Paper Tower Giveaway!

Priscilla Styles is having a Paper Tower Huge Contest Giveaway !



The Original Scrap Box is celebrating Back to School with an awesome new product-- The Paper Tower! This is the perfect storage solution for paper lovers and scrapbookers everywhere and The Original Scrapbox is giving one away! Paper Tower (value up to $545.00)



The Paper Tower was designed as a companion to the Workbox and Craftbox line of brilliant storage solutions from The Original Scrapbox.

There are so many possibilities with the Paper Tower. It can be used for any type of crafting storage from quilting to beading to stamping. Store your material, paper, stamps, accessories, anything your heart desires. The see-through totes make organizing a snap and I love the handy velcro storage bags on the inside of the door!

This is the answer to so many of my storage problems!  All those tiny items that are constantly getting lost or misplaced!
Check out the contest and maybe one of us will win!  Good Luck!

Dragon Doodles Does It Again!

It's time for another great Dragon Doodles card challenge!  This week it is a MASCULINE card using products that are less glitter and lace, and more plaid and manly.  Which was a fantastic theme since I wanted to send my grandson an "I miss you" message anyway! 
The inside reads, "I really, really miss you!"
I used pattern paper from ChatterBox, inked the card edges, distressed the edge of the plaid paper, "stitched" around the edge, printed the message in a juvenile font, then stamped the notebook lines on the journaling tag with Stampin' Up in artichoke ink. I have yet to meet a Dragon Doodle image I don't like!

Since 90% of my scrap room is now in packed away for our move, this will probably one of my last cards for a few weeks....eek!  Going through withdrawals already.  I think I felt my hands tremble as I put my papers and supplies in boxes today!  I MAY be able to dig out a few papers and sneak in a project or two before the BIG day!

The Holidays are here!

I have officially started the Christmas holidays here at our house!  Amidst the packing and the stress, I made the first Christmas card of 2010!  For this card challenge, I used the image provided called "Harriet".  Since I am a sucker for all things vintage, she stole my heart!  Go over to Waltzing Mouse Stamp blog, and check out all of the gorgeous cards submitted for this challenge! I'll also be able to submit it at the Waltzing Mouse Sketch challenge (see below).  Talk about "two birds with one stone"!  That's good, because these days, I barely have time to figure out what's getting moved, and what isn't!  I love Freecycle!

The papers used were all Bo Bunny, and I used my Copics to add her personality and that cute little ermine coat!  You can't really see it well in the photo, but the gift is silver and her hair bow is gold.  Both I colored with Sakura pens.  She looks just like she stepped out of a Charles Dickens book.

Thanks for looking!  Have a pleasant 'hump-day"!

Here is the sketch for this week's Waltzing Mouse Sketch challenge!  Easy Peasy!

This card was also entered in the Skipping Stones sketch challenge with a very similiar sketch!

Good Times!

For World Card Making Day, I pulled out some projects I had been working on and decided to FINISH a few! Thanks to ALL of the scrap blogs who help encourage all of us to get those cards made!  This one actually worked out well for the 9/14 challenge over at Sassy 'Lil Sketches and this week's challenge at I (Heart) to Stamp!. I love my Ippity stamps from the Thoughts2Paper store, and if it weren't for the DT over there, I would still be afraid to step out of my little box! Thanks, girls!
Well, I won't be doing much the next two weeks. Starting to pack up my scrap room and anticipating my new space !  Kinda sad and kinda exciting....  Maybe I'll just leave THIS box open, and these Copics out, and maybe this ribbon box. And I can always pack this stack of pattern paper the last minute....oh, oh, this is going to be harder than I thought!

PLAY BALL!

One of the September sketch challenges at Sassy Lil' Sketches was this adorable three-photo layout! I decided it worked better "weightwise" with my pictures of my grandson by FLIPPING the page, with the title on the left and the baseball embellie and swirl on the right!  I've been asked what paper line I used for the "newspaper srticle" used in the background...well, being frugal to a fault, it is an actual scanned article from our local Arizona Republic! I printed it onto tan paper and aged it on the edges.

 This one will go in my mother's (great-grandma's)  8 X 8 album.   Future Diamondback?  Probably not....

Home Tweet Home

This week's Waltzing Mouse sketch challenge is shown below. This is the card I made to send out to a friend who, like us, is moving this next month!

It was so very easy using the DCWV paper pack, Songbird. I simply fussy cut the bird houses (popping center one up), cut the flower with my Cricut, and stamped the sentiment with a stamp from Jillibean Soup. 

                                               Waltzing Mouse card sketch
Enjoy your day!

Graphics Card

My mother's birthday is this weekend, and I wanted to make something she would cherish. I made this card using the Graphic 45 Domestic Goddess image and Rennaissance Faire in the background. The black rose and ribbon added the perfect balance with the metal embellie. And guess what that was?  A corner reinforement on an old office storage piece!  Just tore it off the cardboard!

So, here you go, Liz, the glue isn't even dry yet! LOL!  I plan on decorating a small birdcage and stand to match, and will post that later this week when I get it finished!

                    Graphic 45 rules!  Love all of the collections!