Tea-Time Snickerdoodles!

I have had a long-time favorite holiday cookie that my great-grandmother, my "grandma", and my mom all made when we were growing up.  Nothing fancy, but they would simply add a bit of anise extract to a regular snickerdoodle recipe, and it would make them SOOOO much tastier with a cup of hot cocoa or hot tea!  I am told by my coffee-drinking friends that they are delicious with that, too!
Digital Delights is sponsoring a challenge on the SNR blog that requires a favorite "sweet" treat recipe for the holidays, combined with a [project using the adorable little gingerbread image (provided by Digital Delights!) 
Here is my project that I made to give to my mother. She loves to remember the old days and her mother's recipes!

I love the 50's look of the papers and doilie. The sketch I used was from this week's challenge over at Skipping Stones.

The papers used were the Paper Studio's, Heartwarming Holiday; Doily is from Sunny Side Up; Bazzill scalloped edge; and the adorable little metal cookie cutter and rolling pin is "Dress It Up".  The Digi Delights image , "Oopsy Daisy" is colored with Copics and highlighted with Stickles and white fabric paint for icing. The "buttons" are from The Stamp Doctor.
This project is also entered in the following challenges:
Easy Crafts (Christmas)
Your Next Stamp (clean and simple)
Penny's Paper Crafts (Merry Christmas)
Stamps R Us
Crafty Ho's (Red and Green)
Oh Alice in Wonderland Challenge! (Red, Green, and in my case, Brown)
Top Tip Tuesday

Snowflakes!

Now that I have 90% of my shopping done, I was able to take time out and make a card or two.  Some folks meditate to relax, some jog, I scrap!!

I loved this poem when I saw it and knew it had to go on a card!  The sketch challenge is from Mojo Monday, and the color inspiration is WHITE from Creative Inspirations.

I used the Cuttlebug embossing folder, Mistletoe Kisses; ribbon from Magic Scraps; tree brads and plastic snowflakes(?) ; Bazzill cardstock for framing; and the delightful poem I printed from the internet.

This card will be entered in the following challenges:
Stamptacular (Blue, Blue, Christmas))
City Crafter (Let it Snow)
Delightful Challenges (Embossing)
If the Shoe Fits (Texture)
Pixie Dust (Snow)
Simon Says Stamps (Let it Snow)
Bugaboo (Winter Wonderland)
Stamps R Us (Holiday)
Wags and Whiskers (Snowflakes)
Penny's Paper Crafts (Merry Christmas)
Incy Wincy (Non-traditional Colors)
Critter Sketch Challenge (NO Pattern Paper)
PollyCraft Monday Challenge (White)

MORE CHRISTMAS CANDY!

Sarah A is offering this fantastic candy to one lucky commenter on the Creative Craft World blog post! There are loads of goodies for you to play with – Dovecraft 6 x 6 Bumper pack of Christmas papers, coordinating ribbons, card toppers and stickers. Pink Gem Clear stamp “Mimi Skating”, pot of flower soft, pack of mini roses, pack of hand made papers, manila tags for altering, die cut tags, pop up card blanks, brads and much more…

Just look at all of the greeat stuff you can add to your stash!  I know I have my fingers crosssed!  I still have tons of Christmas projects to make, and there's ALWAYS next year!  Yummm!!!!!
Go to the above link and find out how, if I don't beat'cha to it!  Ha!

Ho Ho Ho!

When my grandson gets a gift of money or a gift card his reaction is always, "oh, yeah....!" Even at the age of 5, he has figured out that this means he can get something he picks out himself!  Pretty fantastic.
So when I saw the challenge at Crafty Creations was a Gift Card Holder and over at There She Goes the challenge was "KIDS", I knew I could easily combine the challenges!

I used, yes, once again, SEI Glitzmas paper. The two-sided heavy patterned paper worked perfectly for this project.  I tri-folded it and cut the pocket for the inside card holder. I ran ribbon through and around the front of the pocket to hold the metal buckle.
Ont he outside, I used an old image I had of the snowman (sorry, no idea where it came from) and colored it with Copics markers. Added a bit of dimension with white fluffy paint, and gave him a star cookie button.
My grandson will understand the sentiment, for sure! 

This card also entered on these challenges:
Crafty Ho's
Paper Romances
Digi Doodle Shop's Best

WOW! A KRAFT blog site and sale!

I just happened to be blog hopping this week and found out that Kraft Papers has a blog challenge site!  Yep! One more way to enable my "addiction"! Sure some of you are saying you've known about this for ages!  Well, new to me!
Go to
http://www.thekraftjournal.blogspot.com/ and check it out! 
They are having a great Holiday Challenge right now!

Click here for the full Challenge Details!

Challenge SUMMARY:
To enter to win one of the two (2) $20.00 vouchers create a holiday inspired project, card, tag, layout or altered art featuring the use of Kraft cardstock. Enter your projects using the Inlinkz below between now and December 18, 2010 at 6:00 AM Eastern Time. Enter as many times as you like with as many projects as you wish, just make sure they feature Kraft cardstock (the cardstock doesn't have to be purchased from Kraft Outlet, but we'd love it if you did!). Every project you enter gives you more chances to win! (We'll accept projects that you've made new or any time within the last month too, just make sure you link to the post on your blog so people can see your entry to vote for their favorite).



Don't have any Kraft cardstock in your stash? No problem! Just go shopping at the Kraft Outlet online store and enter this promo code, HOLIDAY10 to receive 10 percent off your entire purchase from now until December 31, 2010.

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!  :)