My Favorite Things

First Fruits Revisited

Hi there!!  

I hope you all had a fun Halloween!  It's now the first of November (Can you even believe that?!), which means that it's time for another Senior Design Team Challenge at Papertrey Ink!  This month, we've pulled out the classic beauty -- First Fruits -- to give it some love.  

For me, First Fruits represents fall and more specifically, Thanksgiving, which makes me think of making thank you notes.  Thank you cards are always a great thing to have on hand, especially with the holidays fast approaching and all the parties and gifts and such that tend to go hand in hand with the holiday season.  First Fruits makes it so easy to whip up a beautiful stack of elegant cards so that you're prepared when those occasions arise.

For this first group of cards I created, I started out with an aqua mist card base.  I used the pretty background building stamp from First Fruits, to create a small border along the bottom of the card by stamping the image several times in versamark ink.

I stamped the "Thankful" sentiment from First Fruits in dark chocolate ink in the middle of the card front.  Then I used the pretty mat stack 4 die, to cut out a bit of ledger paper from the Library Ledger collection.  I stamped the pretty pine branch image in the upper right corner with dark chocolate ink and inked all of the layers with vintage touch tea dye.  To the ledger paper, I layered on some aqua mist and dark chocolate card stock that was die cut using the Limitless Layers dies.  I LOVE the acorn image in this set, so I used that as my focal point.  This acorn is actually two separate stamps, so I stamped the bottom in dark chocolate ink, stamping it off on scratch paper once to lighten the ink up, before stamping it on vintage cream card stock.  Then I stamped the top, also in dark chocolate ink, so that it would be darker than the bottom of the acorn.  I simply cut out the acorn and added it to the card with foam adhesive.  All that was left was to add a few brown rhinestones to the mat stack layer.

While I was making one card, it was so easy to whip up a few more so that I've got a pretty little set of cards to have on hand.

For this card, I started out with a rustic cream card base and inked all of the edges with vintage touch tea dye.  I layered on a bit of Distressed Dots patterned paper in terracotta tile.  I can't get enough of this paper collection!  To that, I added a strip of terracotta tile card stock as well as a bit of coordinating saddle stitch ribbon.  I finished off that strip with a couple of harvest gold buttons.

For the focal image, I die cut a bit of rustic cream card stock with the mat stack 3 die and then simply stamped the beautiful wheat image from First Fruits in summer sunrise ink followed by the bow image in dark chocolate.  Lastly, I stamped the "Blessings" sentiment in terracotta tile ink just under the bow portion of the image.  This resulted in a fairly flat, easily mailable card, and I love how perfectly the wheat image fits the mat stack 3 die cut.  So pretty.

Well, that's all I've got for you today, but I hope you've enjoyed your stopover here at the blog-o!

Be sure to visit Nichole Heady today, as well as the other girls on the senior design team, as they've all got some gorgeous inspiration for you using First Fruits!

Mish Wooderson
Betsy Veldman
Heather Nichols
Lisa Johnson

And after you've bopped around and gained lots of new ideas for First Fruits, get that baby out, dust her off and show her some love!  If you don't already have First Fruits in your stamping arsenal, are you adding it to your wish list now??  ;)

Have a fabulous November 1, dear friends!

 

{Thankful supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, dark chocolate, vintage cream, library ledger
Stamps: First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye, versamark
Other: mat stack 4 die, limitless layers dies, brown rhinestones

{Blessings supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, terracotta tile, distressed dots
Stamps: First Fruits
Ink: dark chocolate, terracotta tile, summer sunrise, vintage touch tea dye
Other: mat stack 3 die, terracotta tile saddle stitch ribbon, harvest gold buttons 

Fallish Delights

Hello, Lovelies....

Thinking happy thoughts of fall today as fall is most definitely in the air around here.  Thinking of all the warm and cozy things that make fall feel so wonderful to me.

• Comfort foods like soups and chili, fresh baked dark chocolate brownies (from a box, no less!) and warm banana bread 
• My hubs watching football and me sitting beside him reading a good book -- I'm supportive like that, you know....   :) 
• Beginning to dress in layers to ward off the chill in the air
• Cozy sweaters and great boots
• A favorite pumpkin spice candle
• Our autumn blaze maple turning a fiery red color
• Pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks 
• Snuggling up in front of the fireplace to read a good book or watch a favorite old movie or a fall tv show
• The smell of our wood-burning fireplace when we step outside -- it makes the whole cul-de-sac smell wonderful!  

Ahhh....fall is here for sure.  And it most definitely gets a warm welcome from me.  

 

In light of such lovely thoughts, I thought I'd share a few pictures from around here today.  Of course, the first two are of our beloved "Blaze"......our new (last year) Autumn Blaze Maple.  She's gorgeous and she's sure to get prettier with each passing year.

 

We got some new mums and asters a couple weeks back -- the 4 lavender & purple plants in pots in the photo above.  However since they're perennials, we've now moved them from the pots to the flower bed you see below.

The front flower bed with it's spring and summer flowers pooping out and lots of mums bursting onto the scene.  The 4 new pots of mums and asters have since been planted in the bed above, as well as tulip and hyacinth bulbs for spring.

Awhile back, I was inspired by Becky Higgins' post about her fall dining room decor since I've been longing for a collection of apothecary jars of my own for quite some time.  It never occurred to me to check Hobby Lobby and Michael's for them, but thanks to Becky's post, I went on the hunt and ended up with these beauties for our dining room table.  And the best part is that they were all purchased at 40-50% off with sales and coupons!  Score!

I filled them with little red balls, faux apples, brown jingle bells and faux cinnamon sticks which I figured would transition nicely from fall to Christmas/winter.

And before I go, a picture of our neighbor's tree.  I think I take pictures of this tree every year now because I love it so.  While our "Blaze" has turned a fabulous red color, this tree is perfectly orange and I just think it couldn't be more gorgeous!

Last night, I went to watch Bartley ref a football game and it was SO much fun!  It's been years since I used to go to all of his football games so I'd forgotten a bit, just how much fun the atmosphere is at a big high school game.  And not only that, but I can't tell you how proud I was to watch my hottie hubs, out on the field, doing what he loves.  It made me so happy.  

It was cold, cold, cold, but it was also fun, fun, fun and you know what?  I just might go again next weekend when he & his crew refs a playoff game!  In the meantime, I took lots of pictures which I need to edit so I can share them here.

Tomorrow is Halloween but it's also Sunday, so it's off to church first thing in the morning and then I'll be counting down the hours until Bart makes a big, delicious pot of his famous chili for dinner.  It's our traditional Halloween meal.....chili and usually a batch of dark chocolate brownies!  (+ maybe just a little candy.  *wink*)  We'll watch the Amazing Race and answer the door when the trick-or-treaters start to ring our doorbell.  I'm not a fan of ghosts and goblins, however I do love the opportunity to be a blessing to our neighbors by handing out candy to their little ones.  And double bonus, if there's a little candy left over for us at the end of the night!  Ha.

Happy cozy weekend, Dearies.  What things are you loving this fall?

 

A Christmas Thank You

Hi-ya!  Happy Friday to you!!  Woohoo!  Don't you just love Fridays?  I do and today is gonna be especially fun because tonight, I'm going to watch Bart ref a football game.  Actually back when we were dating and first married, I went to almost ALL of his games -- both football and basketball.  But eventually, when my design career started getting busier and busier, I ended up staying home and using that time to work while he was reffing, so that when he was home I could spend time with him.  I've been to a few basketball games in recent years but it's been quite a few years since I went to one of his football games, so tonight should be fun!  

He's reffing one of the biggest games in the city tonight, so it'll be a packed stadium.  I know he's looking forward to this game which makes ME look forward to the game too.  One of the other referee's wives is also coming, and afterward a whole group of us are gonna meet up for a late night dinner.  I'm also taking along Laverne, the Nikon, so I can get some pictures to share with you.  You'll know Bartley in the pictures.....he'll be the hot one.  Hee.... :)

 

So, let's talk cards, shall we?  Besides cranking out the Christmas gift tags, another thing I like to get a jump start on is thank you notes to send out after Christmas.  Honestly, sending a hand-written thank you note seems to be a bit of a dying art these days, which is really a shame.  I know by the time Christmas is thru, everyone's just sort of ready for a break.  We've shopped and wrapped and crafted and wrapped and baked and wrapped and stressed and the last thing we want to do is to make a stack of thank you cards to send out.  BUT, if we get a jump on those cards now and make them early, then all that's left to do after Christmas is to jot a note of thanks in each one and send them on their way. 

I still had the whole red & cream color combo on the brain when I made this card.  The sentiment is one from my Signature Christmas stamp set.  If you don't have this set yet, it's a great one for the entire holiday season....lots of different sentiment options, including this sweet little thank you sentiment, perfect for those post-Christmas thank you notes.

The snowflake image is from the 2010 Holiday Tags stamp set and the pretty, dotted flourish image is from Round and Round -- one of Papertrey's free anniversary sets.  I also used the mat stack 1 die as well as the limitless layers dies and a bit of vintage book print served as my patterned paper background.

As for the scalloped ruffles, I used all three of Papertrey's scallop border dies -- small, medium and large, to give the ruffles a slightly different look.  I die cut strips of Distressed Dots patterned paper and inked the edges a bit with vintage touch tea dye ink.  I topped the layers off with a pure poppy classic grosgrain bow.  I love Papertrey's grosgrain ribbons.  They tie so beautifully!

Well, that's it for me today.  I hope you have a great day and get your weekend off to a great start.  I need to plan my outfit for tonight's football game -- gotta gather up some layers and BUNDLE UP!  It's gonna be cooooold out there, I'm sure!

See ya tomorrow, Crew!

{A Christmas Thank You supplies}
Paper: rustic cream, pure poppy, distressed dots, vintage book print
Stamps: Signature Christmas, 2010 Holiday Tags, Round and Round 
Ink: pure poppy, vintage touch tea dye
Other: small, medium & large scallop border dies, mat stack 1 die, limitless layers dies, pure poppy classic grosgrain ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestone, corner chomper, sewing machine/thread

Having You As a Friend....

Hello, Dear Readers....

Just poppin' in with a friendly little card for you.  Ahh.....this whole card started because I really, really wanted to use that yellow damask paper!  It's a pattern from The Thrift Shop collection by October Afternoon.  I happen to think that paper is gorgeous.  So, that started it all.  To the paper, I added a scalloped strip of Distressed Dots patterned paper in the terracotta tile color.

 

I then took a regular doily (cake decorating section at Hobby Lobby) and distressed it by rubbing some vintage touch tea dye ink all over it to tone down the stark white a bit.  Then I created a fun little flower by using a leaf die from the Leaf Prints Die collection with dark chocolate card stock for the leaves as well as one of the Limitless Layers dies (the doily-ish one) with a bit of terracotta tile card stock.  For that fun felty flower, I used the Beautiful Blooms II #3 dies and some harvest gold felt.  I die cut 2 of the largest size flowers, 2 of the medium flowers and just one of the tiny flowers, stacked them up and attached them to each other with a tiny little Making Memories brad.  Scor-tape was used to secure the flower to the scalloped doily and foam adhesive to adhere the terracotta tile doily to the card front.

Lastly, how about that sentiment??  Sigh.  I love it.  "Having you as a friend is like curling up with a good book."  You KNOW how much I love a good book, so this sentiment pretty much says it all.  :)  It's from the All Booked Up stamp set and I stamped it on a scrap of vintage book print -- love the perfectly vintage color.  No distressing required.  :)

Have a wonderful evening.  I'm getting a bit of work done tonight while my hottie hubs is off reffing a football game.  

Toodles, Peeps......

{Having You As a Friend.... supplies}
Paper: dark chocolate, terracotta tile, Distressed Dots, vintage book print, October Afternoon-The Thrift Shop
Stamps: All Booked Up
Ink: dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: medium scallop border die, leaf prints die, limitless layers die, beautiful blooms II #3 dies, harvest gold felt, paper doily (cake decorating supply), Making Memories brad  

 

 

Christmas Color Combo - Red & Cream

I've been a fan of red and cream together for quite some time.  There's something so pretty and vintage-y and just plain cozy about it and pulling out this favorite color combo couldn't be more perfect than at Christmas time.  Betsy did a beautiful red & cream blog post last year that I loved.  Mishie just had a red & cream blog post last week and one of my all time favorite blog posts from Leslie over at A Creative Mint, also featured lots of red & cream.  

I was also SO inspired by Nichole's "lazy stamper accordion medallion" idea a couple weeks ago that I decided to use her technique along with some red & cream supplies to make a set of gift tags for Christmas.  While I'll use a variety of different wrapping papers this Christmas for gift-wrapping, red & cream tags will surely coordinate with a lot of them because it's such a simple and versatile color combo.

I started by pulling out a variety of red and cream supplies.....ribbons, buttons, rhinestones, patterned papers, card stock, ink and even glitter.  Next up, I used the tag sale #1 and tag sale #2 dies to die cut a dozen tags from pure poppy and vintage cream card stock.  Then, it was time to start building my tags!  

Here's a look at the entire completed collection.  LOVE!  

Oh my stars!  Doesn't that photo just make you happy?!  I love all of those little tags and can't wait to add them to my packages this Christmas.  And couldn't you even see a collection of tags and/or cards similar to this for Valentine's Day using the same color scheme?!  Swoon!

Here are some close-up shots of the tags so you can see you the details in case you want to make a set for yourself.  Keep in mind that even if you're not really into making gift tags, all of these could be adapted to use as embellishments on cards as well!  

I used lots of the same supplies but changed up the details on each tag just a bit.  For all of the accordion medallions, I used vintage book print as well as my favorite dotty patterned paper from the Distressed Dots collection.  

Tip: When using vintage book print for the accordion medallions, be very careful as the paper is likely to be thinner than patterned paper weight.  Especially when scoring the vintage book print, you'll want to use a lighter hand, so as to not tear the paper.

All of the 1.75" circle tags were stamped with images from the 2010 Holiday Tags stamp set.  To secure each circle tag to the medallion, I used a piece of foam adhesive.  Then, to secure the medallion to the tag, I used two pieces of foam adhesive, stacked one on top of the other, and placed right in the center of the medallion.

I added a few sentiments from the Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers stamp set to a few of the tags, such as the "Merry Christmas" in the photo above on the tag on the left.

As for glitter, I used 3 different kinds......Stampin' Up!'s dazzling diamonds glitter, Martha Stewart's coarse glitter in crystal (love how snowy it looks!) and Martha Stewart's white gold glitter.  You'll see that I adhered the glitter in different places on different tags.  Changing up little details like this, makes each tag unique but still coordinated with the rest of the collection and also makes it so easy because you're using the same supplies you've already got out on all of your tags.  

I have to say that I'm LOVING making groups of tags like this.  I have a feeling you'll be seeing a few more of these types of posts from me before Christmas rolls around.  I'm super excited to have lots of tags on hand this year, to dress up my gift wrappings and there's no time like the present to get started!

Hope you're having a great day!  I'm off to do a little fall planting in the front flower bed with my hottie hubs......tulip bulbs, hyacinth bulbs and moving some new mums and asters from pots to the bed.  I'd better bundle up a bit, as it's chilly out there today!  I'm also gonna whip up a cozy pot of potato soup for dinner.  Goodness, don't you just love soup season????  My favorite!

Ta-ta!

{Red & Cream Christmas Tags supplies}
Paper: pure poppy, rustic cream, vintage book print, Distressed Dots, It's Official, 2008 Bitty Box Basics, October Afternoon - Thrift Shop
Stamps: 2010 Holiday Tags, Friendship Jar Holiday Fillers
Ink: pure poppy, true black, versamark
Other: tag sale #1 die, tag sale #2 die, limitless labels dies, 1.75" circle punch, pure poppy baker's twine, pure poppy classic grosgrain ribbon, pure poppy buttons, Kaiser Scrapbook rhinestones, Stampin' Up! dazzling diamonds glitter, Martha Stewart coarse glitter in crystal, Martha Stewart white gold glitter, scallop & zig-zag scissors

Guest Designer - City Crafter Challenge Blog

tap, tap.....this thing on?

 

Haha!  Hellooooooooooo, Peeps!  

I'm happy to report that after several days in the shop for repairs, Shirley (my computer -- not to be confused with Laverne, my camera) is back home and better than ever!  Hallelujah!  It just wasn't the same around here without her.  Plus, I totally missed being here with you guys.  :)

So, now that we're back in action I have a card to share with you today that I made for the City Crafter Challenge Blog.  (Thanks so much for asking me to play along, Kirsty and friends!)  

 

I pulled out my favorite order ticket stamp from my It's Official stamp set as well as the spiral notebook page die and the leaf prints dies to put this little card together.  The sentiments ("Thankful", "for" & "you") are all from the First Fruits stamp set.  

I die cut the leaves from two different pieces of patterned papers from the September & October Color Couture Downloads.....so sweet.  Gosh, don't you just love Papertrey's dies?

All righty, I hope you're all having a fab-o week so far!  I've got a fun project in the works in the studio.....can't wait to finish it up so I can share it with you.  

Ta-ta, Dearies....

 

 

{Thankful For You supplies}
Paper: terracotta tile, rustic cream, Color Couture September & October Downloads 
Stamps: It's Official, First Fruits
Ink: terracotta tile, dark chocolate, vintage touch tea dye
Other: spiral notebook page die, leaf prints dies, harvest gold classic grosgrain ribbon, Kaiser Scrapbook brown rhinestones, orange zest button, chocolate baker's twine   

 

Weekend Update

Photo: Country Living

Hello, my dears....

Just a little pop-in to let you know that my dear Miss Shirley (my beloved computer) is currently a bit under the weather.  In fact, she flat out decided to stop turning on last night.  Bummer.  So, after much fiddling here at home to no avail, she's currently in the shop and I'll hopefully get an update on her condition Monday.  In fact, I'm hoping to be able to bring her home Monday too, so we'll see.  I've been saying a few prayers for dear Miss Shirley.  :)

In the meantime, I hate to leave you completely post-less for days on end so I've popped on to Bartley's computer to post this little update and found a couple of fun photos around the net that I thought I'd share with you since I can't get to my photos on my computer.  

The above photo is from the Country Living website and just makes me happy.  If you feel in need of a little informal color challenge to jump start your creativity this weekend, consider yourself challenged!  Create a card inspired by the colors in the photo above and post the link to your card in the comments section on this post!!  We'd all love to see what you come up with!  We'll have a little fun this weekend, even if Miss Shirley can't come to the party!

Before I go, how about a photo of a dreamy bedroom (also from Country Living)?

Sigh......don't you just love that pretty exposed brick wall?  I do!  Even prettier when paired with a delicate chandelier.

Enjoy your Sunday, my dears.  I'm singing at church in the morning and after church, Bart's working a football scrimmage in the afternoon.  Perhaps while Bartley's gone, I'll get a little crafty time in the studio. 

Whatever you decide to do, I hope you get some rest squeezed into the schedule.  If you do decide to get crafty, don't forget that you can play along in this little weekend color challenge if you'd like!  

Smooches, dear ones.....

Thursday Chit Chat

Hi-ya,

How's your week going?  Been busy over here.  Now that the Countdown is over, I'm back to checking some graphic design projects off my to-do list.  I've also got a few paper crafty projects in the works, which I'll share as soon as I can.  Something to look forward to.  

There's also something pretty spectacular happening right in our back yard.  (see photo above)  Remember the sad day we lost a big beautiful ash tree in a storm and then how we went tree shopping and eventually replaced our big tree with an Autumn Blaze Maple?  Well, the Autumn Blaze Maple (or "Blaze", as she's now affectionately called) is starting to change colors!  She's definitely autumn-y and she's well on her way to blazing.  I'll be sure to share more pictures as she turns more red.  She's gonna be the prettiest tree on the block, one of these days.  :) 

A lot of you have mentioned lately, how much you appreciate my book recommendations, so as long as you find them helpful I'll keep posting them.  I've got quite a stack to share with you today......I've been saving them up for awhile.  There are quite a few historical fiction titles in this group, but don't worry -- they're not all historical.  And even if you don't think you like historical fiction, you might give one of these a try.....you just might find out you like them after all.  Think, Anne of Green Gables.  Or Pollyanna.  What's not to love about Anne of Green Gables and Pollyanna, right?  And those are historical fiction stories.  So see?  You just might like these too!  :)

Sixteen Brides by Stephanie Grace Whitson -- A very entertaining story about a group of women that were duped into thinking they were heading off across the country to own their own land, when in fact, they were really heading off across the country to be potential brides!  This was a fun read and don't you just love all of those different dresses on the cover?  

 

Under a Maui Moon by Robin Jones Gunn -- Now this book is definitely not historical fiction!  It's very modern day and couldn't be set in a more beautiful location.  A story of struggles both personally and within a marriage, and of renewal as well, this is a book that perhaps a lot of people could relate to.  Robin Jones Gunn has been one of my most favorite authors since I was in my early 20's.  She's written the bestselling Sisterchicks series as well as the widely popular Christy Miller series for teens.  Plus, the colors on this cover couldn't make me happier!

 

Twilight's Serenade by Tracie Peterson -- Ahhh......the 3rd book in the Song of Alaska series......SUCH a good story!  Tracie Peterson -- another of my all-time fave authors has done it again.  I am at the point now, where I don't really even have to read the back of a Tracie Peterson book to know whether I want to buy it or not.  I just know that if it's written by Tracie, it's sure to be well written and the story is sure to hook me in from the start.  Twilight's Serenade did just that....I love these types of stories that are full of mystery and intrigue or some type of tragedy that has to be overcome in order to bring the story full circle, and of course there's a love story thrown in for good measure.  Tracie Peterson has written over 80 novels now and while I'm sure I haven't read all of them, I've read a LOT of them and I've yet to be disappointed with any.  Check her out!

 

the House on Malcolm Street by Leisha Kelly -- Another great story, though this one isn't set quite so far back in history as some of the others.  This one begins in 1920 and tells the story of a widow and her sweet little daughter and the struggles they go thru.  Leisha wrote The Wortham Family Series that started with Julia's Hope.  While I didn't enjoy The House on Malcolm Street quite as much as The Wortham Family Series (those books were OUTstanding!), this was still a beautiful story and one that I would definitely recommend.

Maid to Match by Deeanne Gist -- Oooooh, this one was sooo good!  Part of what made this book so fascinating to me was that it's story takes place at the famous 250-room (!) Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina, which is totally on my list of places I'd like to visit one day!  While the story is fiction and all of the characters are made up, there are elements of fact that were included in the story (the author explains this at the end of the book) and I just found this story to be soooo interesting.  Working for the famous Vanderbilt family in the 1890's.....the rules back then were so different from today, that's for sure!  This was a heart-warming read that I was kind of bummed to finish.  I would have liked to have kept reading this one for awhile longer!  A sequel would sure be nice!  *wink*

P.S.  If you've been to the Biltmore, leave me a comment and tell me all about it!  I'd love to hear what it's like.  I've heard that all of the furniture in the house is still original family pieces -- not replicas!  

The Lightkeeper's Bride by Colleen Coble -- Ahhhh......another really fun story.  Anytime there are pirates and treasure in the story, it's likely to be one that I'll enjoy.  Sort of the Swiss Family Robinson coming out in me, I guess!  Ha.  I've shared several of Colleen's books with you in the past, as I've been reading her books for quite some time.  Now in the interest of being completely honest with you, I should mention that I think I discovered a few minor discrepancies in this one -- you know how when you're watching a movie and the person is holding a drink that's almost empty and one second later, it's suddenly almost full?  Just minor little things like that, however the little details that didn't quite match up were not in any way, detrimental to the story.  It was still a great story of mystery, love and family and I would give it two thumb's up.  :)  In fact, I can't wait for the next in the series -- The Lightkeeper's Ball -- which I believe is due out in January.  Yippee!


All righty, before I get back to the crafty projects waiting for me on my desk, I just want to share a couple of links that you might be interested in....  

Vera Wirianta Yates is hosting a card drive to collect cards to be sent to the elderly living in nursing homes this holiday season.  If you'd like to participate, check out all of the info on Vera's blog.  She's even got drawings for prizes for each person that participates!  Vera will also be hosting a blog hop this Saturday which, I'm sure, will be full of inspiration.  If you'd like to participate in that, you can email Vera with your blog address and get in on the fun yourself.

Lastly, my friend Pam Wilson is hosting a card challenge on her blog in celebration of her 1 year blogiversary.  She's also got quite a prize package put together for one winner, so check out her blog to see what you need to do to be entered to win!  

Ok, Crew....that's all I've got for you today, but hopefully I'll be back soon with a crafty project for you.  Time to crank up my mojo and get busy!

Toodles!

Blogiversary Giveaway Winner!!

Howdy, Friends!

Remember about a week and a half ago when I had a little blog-o anniversary?  Remember that I decided to do a big giveaway and 1,846 of you left sweet comments for me?  Remember when I told you that I'd post the winner sometime after the Papertrey Countdown?  Well, that day is TODAY!

The winner of the Raspberry Suite stamp set prize package is MICHELLE COLLINS!!

Congratulations, Michelle!  Please send me your mailing address (email me, left hand side bar) and I'll send your goodies on their merry little way to your house!

Thanks so much to each of you for leaving me such sweet comments, not just for giveaways, but all the time.  You're dears and I'm so grateful for you!

Big ole smooches,

Guest Designer - Christmas Card Challenge Blog

Hi-ya, Guys & Dolls!

This card was made for the Christmas Card Challenge Blog -- they were sweet enough to ask me awhile back to be a guest designer for them today.  (Hi Steph!)

I love how this card turned out.  I'm honestly thinking of making another stack of them to send out this Christmas to some of our loved ones.  I used the Peaceful Poinsettia stamp set for the flower, leaves and sentiment.  I used a bit of Library Ledger patterned paper as well as more Distressed Dots with the mat stack 3 die.

I stamped 2 of the leaves directly on the card base/ledger paper.  Then I stamped 3 more leaves, cut them out and tucked them just behind the flower.  I love the dimension this created!

Well, I hope your day is turning out to be a cheery one.  :)

Smooches!!

 

{Merry Christmas supplies}
Paper: aqua mist, vintage cream, library ledger, distressed dots
Stamps: Peaceful Poinsettia, Butterfly Dreams
Ink: dark chocolate, pure poppy, aqua mist
Other: mat stack 3 die, rhinestones