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!

This Week's Card Challenges

This week's card challenge at Some Odd Girl, is Monochromatic.  I love the use of colors that are all in the same color family, but when you have to choose ONLY those colors, it does get tempting to go outside that box!  Here is my Yellow/Orange card that I made. It will be sent to my little gal from Send Love Today. She just started riding the bus to kindergarten, and started chemo treatments the same week. She has had a rather rough time of it.  I hope this cheers her up a bit!

I also entered this card in the sketch challenge above from Skipping Stones Designs.  They have some really sweet and easy layouts!
The image is "Bussie" from Some Odd Girls, (the freebie provided for their challenges), pattern paper from DCWV, some Bazzill ric-rak, and a Bazzill paper flower that I spritzed with my Copics. I liked the retro look of the card even though Harley's much too young to "get it".  LOL!

OOOPS! I DID IT AGAIN....

Yea, went to the Bazzill Warehouse Sale on Friday and spent more than I had planned to! Hahaha! Funny, that happens all the time! It was a fantabulus time, for sure!

I went with a new scrap buddy, Kim, and we had a blast! Laughed and talked till my throat was raw, and spent more time looking for LSS's than anything else! I can see more road trips and "girl trouble" ahead! I also can't wait till I get my new scrappin' digs set up at the new house! I scored big time on a tall paper storage rack at Bazzill that will hold ALL my new and old cardstock and then some. No reason to be unorganized now. They also had the cutest little accordian books for 25 cents that I can't wait to see what I can turn them into!

Yesterday was my annual Wildlife Rehabbers symposium at the Fish and Game here in Arizona. Learned a lot, got to see my old friends from Fallen Feathers and good friends, Pam and Mark from the Lake Havasu Rescue. We were even given a behind-the-scenes tour of the new Wildlife Zoo Aquarium in Surprise. Very cool....


I am calling it a weekend! Whew! Gotta start in tomorrow doing some serious packing (everything except my scrap stuff, that is) and catch up on all the blogs I haven't read in days!


Hope your weekend was a good one, too!