Thanks so Much

Pulled out my neglected Gelatos to make a thank you card for a blogging friend.  The stamp is Hero Arts Tall Flowers, also neglected.  The sentiment die is Impression Obsession & the dots are done with Paper Smooches Dots & Dashes die.  MFT Glitter Glaze adds some sparkle to the sentiment.

The floral panel & sentiment strip are mounted with foam tape for more dimension.  Last minute entry for Paper Smooches & a2z Scrapbooking. Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

New Foil for a Birthday

I'm still loving foil on self-adhesive fun foam, so used a coupon to get one more color. Actually, there are still a few I don't have, but not many--haha! This one is called Opal & I thought it was white.  Actually it's iridescent with pink & green--very pretty, I think.  My blossoms are MFT Layered Rose & the flourish is MFT Large Flourish.  One of the items I bought recently wasn't on sale or part of a prize, but I just couldn't resist the WP9 Lattice die after seeing a card made with it.  The sentiment is from an older Penny Black set & I stamped it in Brilliance Starlite Black on a white panel cut with Lil' Inker Designs Stitched Rectangles.  Hope my blogging friend will enjoy this.  Now that I have one WP9 product, I'm entering Throwback Thursday #10--hoping this qualifies.  I'll also add this to Word Art Wednesday. Tomorrow I cross off one more shift in the Countdown to Retirement & there will only be 3 left!  I'm calling it retirement, even though I may work a few shifts in 2016.  No set schedule & no obligation pretty much means retirement! We're so grateful to have dry weather now, even though it's 20s-30s at night.  As you can see, Fritz still thought it was sunbath weather!  

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Papertrey December Blog Hop Challenge

Hope everyone enjoyed Christmas--very quiet at our house.  Fritz & I were thankful for a break from the rain allowing some longer walks.  We watched Christmas movies including a couple I'd never seen or had forgotten.  I loved the musical version of A Christmas Carol with Kelsey Grammer! By then I was too tired to write my PTI Blog Hop post which I'd put off doing even though the card was made & mailed several days ago.  
I used the inspiration to make a circle thank you card using PTI Twig Wreath & Autumn Adornments. Fun figuring out how to put my little arrangements together.  Added Stickles to the berries die cuts & tried to add some sequins, but I really liked it better without them.  Lots to see & I imagine some of you are bargain shopping. Just checked my recent receipts & decided I've spent my limit (& where would I put anything else?!) but I'll let you go with our pictures from yesterday. I'm also entering at The Playground as I used all scraps. Thanks so much for stopping by. 

Merriest Christmas Wishes

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.  Luke 2:11

Wishing everyone a blessed, joyful Christmas! Turned out I needed another Christmas card, as I found a container of homemade cookies on the porch from our neighbors.  They're a couple with 2 young kids.  We say hi & the little boy loves to talk if he's in the front yard when I'm walking Fritz.  We've never exchanged cards or goodies--such a nice surprise. Here's the card I made for them using Taylored Expressions Snowfall embossing folder & Hero Arts Merriest Christmas Wishes stamp set.  I love the look of the dry embossed vellum & this is a great stamp to show how gorgeous Delicata Golden Glitz ink really is.

The sentiment is stamped in Memento Rich Cocoa & I trimmed it into a flag.  The little wooden star is Studio Calico & I clear embossed it for a bit of shine.  The image panel & sentiment are both mounted with foam tape. Lots of dimension, so I'm entering the challenge at a2z Scrapbooking.  I used the Tic Tac Toe row "no printed paper, vellum, gold" for the Share Joy Challenge.  My layout is based on the wonderful Freshly Made Sketches 217.  I'm also entering at Twofers.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog.

Joy

Merry Christmas Eve! Most of the country where snow is expected won't have it this year, so maybe my snowy card will help set the mood--haha!  I used my new Heidi Swapp glitter paper (50% off!) for the Memory Box Frostyville Border die.  I've had the pretty snowflake ribbon for ages & thought it made a great border.  The Penny Black "Joy" was die cut from a darker teal cardstock mounted to a lighter teal.  It was a bit tricky gluing in the tiny dark pieces, but worth it. Finished off with some sequins from a very inexpensive pack I picked up months ago--just the right color! I'm entering these challenges: Memory Box, SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday, Color Throwdown & Dies R Us.  Wishing everyone a blessed holiday.

First Card for Next Year!

Those of you who know me are not surprised I made another Christmas card.  They're my favorite & I make them all year. Today's card was inspired by the beautiful board for the Ellen Hutson Pin Sights Challenge.  I took advantage of her latest sale to add another EH product to my stash, so now I have 2!  Lots more on my wishlist, so I'll be entering as many of the EH challenges as I can hoping Mr. Random finds me--haha! I'm still hooked on foiling (or glittering) self adhesive fun foam & this card started with that technique using the EH Bold Blossom die.  
It truly is breathtaking in person & such an easy technique!  As you can see I used the colors in the photo & Distress Rock Candy Glitter on the leaves gives a bit of the snowy effect, I think. The sentiment is my new purchase--EH Merry & Bright dies.  I love that some of the words can be used year round & the font is so beautiful.  The blue cardstock is shimmery & was in my scrap bin.  I used a Copic marker to color the pearl for the dot over the "i". 

Sometimes cards made earlier in the year no longer appeal to me when it's time to send them, but I don't think that will happen with this one.  I love how it came out!  I used the wonderful sketch at Freshly Made Sketches, so will enter there and all but the card itself were scraps, so I'm off to The Playground.  The glittery leaves let me also join in the last challenge at Virginia's View.
Wishing everyone a lovely, peaceful Christmas.

Sympathy Card

The fields near our house are full of water, but so far no trouble with the streets.  Nice to have some breaks in the rain & today there was even a few minutes of sun while Fritz & I walked.  One nice thing about dark days is that I can enjoy my inside Christmas lights all day long!

Christmas cards are all mailed or delivered.  I'm working on a birthday card, but had to stop & make a sympathy card for hubby's daughter who lost her grandma.  I began by blending Distress Inks bundled sage, shabby shutters, pine needles & vintage photo. SSS Clustered Leaves were die cut from the panel & I trimmed off some of the leaves. I used vintage photo to stamp JudiKins bamboo (one of the last stamps I bought at my LSS before it closed & think this is it's first inking) on a strip of kraft which is matted to another strip colored with the same ink.  I mounted it over the leaves using foam tape on the top edge.  The sentiment is from PTI Through The Leaves.  I'm entering SSS Flickr (All About Die-Cutting), Inkspirational (Anything But Christmas) & The Playground (use Snippets).  I know everyone is super busy, so your visit means a lot to me.

Hubby's Valentine

Amy's Card I Cased

As most of you know, I love the PTI challenges. During release week it's Create Along With Us instead of MIM.  So many projects to choose from, but I ended up being inspired by one of Amy's Gem Inspirations cards. The glitter frame is so beautiful & made me wonder if I could do the same sort of thing with the PTI Hexagon coverplate. Gave me a chance to use a sheet of red glitter paper still sitting on my table unused for Christmas cards this year.  

It's layered 3 times for depth. I carefully cut out the area I needed for the PTI Love die (cut from black cardstock & clear embossed) and the sentiment from PTI Wonderful Words: Friends stamped in Versafine Onyx Black.  I added the black heart from the love die cut & brushed the negative heart space with MFT Glitter Glaze.  

Gotta say, this was a really fun card to make & hopefully hubby will love it! Three Valentines made before Christmas--might be a record--haha!  I'm entering SSS Monday, SSS Wednesday & Virginia's View.
I'm on vacation until after Christmas & so glad I don't have to commute during our stormy weather.  Just hoping the river stays in it's banks. Today I made my annual pumpkin bread & tomorrow I'm meeting a friend for lunch.  Wishing all of you a blessed holiday season.

Another Valentine

The current Ellen Hutson Mix It Up Challenge is with Memory Box.  I decorated the MB Grand Heart with EH Bold Blossoms.  The top heart is cut from DCWV glitter cardstock.  The sentiment is done with my favorite alphabet stickers by Teresa Collins.  Decided aqua & red was a nice combo for Valentines as well as Christmas cards. The Bakers Twine are some of the free strands included with my order from The Twinery--pretty sweet.  Sure glad I bought the super cheap black gems a few years ago as I love using a whole row of them like I did here. I'm also entering Virginia's View All About Glitter--her last challenge. I work tomorrow & then I'll be down to 4 scheduled shifts--hard to believe! Thanks so much for taking time to stop by. Edited to add: Entering the December challenge at Stamplorations with my Valentine going to a friend.

First Valentine!

Last minute entry for the Impression Obsession challenge Love You More.  Both stamps are IO: Heart to Friend & Heart Flourish.  I white embossed on vellum & colored the hearts on the back with Memento Lady Bug & stamped the sentiment in VersaMagic Red Magic.  I'm also entering City Crafter Challenge Blog & The Playground. Thanks for stopping by.