Kris Kringle

Happy Tuesday! Had a doctor's appointment this morning that was very late. And tonight we have tickets to see the Oakridge Boys Christmas Show at Brown County Music Center. It's a Christmas show but I hope they sing Elvira. LOL! I did finish a card last night before I fell into bed.

Image: Bugaboo Stamps Santa Claus Peeker
Sentiment: Papercraft Magazine
Markers: Spectrum Noir
Papers: from scrap box
Embellishments: Crystal Stickles

I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Stella Sketch: sketch 
  
• The Outlawz Monday Greeting challenge: red, green and white
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: quick and easy
• Scrapping4Fun: Christmas
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: traditional Christmas

That's it for me today. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Donna

And Many More

It's a gray and rainy morning here. My mission today is to finish writing out my Christmas cards and get them sent out. Last night I did get a birthday card done that I thought I would share.

The image is Bugaboo Stamps Birthday Penguin Balloon colored with Spectrum Noir and American Craft markers. The red background is embossed with the Cuttlebug Swiss Dots embossing folder. The image is die cut with Spellbinder's ATC Card die. The banners in the background are MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. The die cut Happy Birthday is Simon Says Painted Happy Birthday. The stmped sentiment is from Hero Arts It's Your Day stamp set. The confetti paper is from the Paper Studio and a scrap out of my scrap box. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug: anything goes
• Sketch Saturday: sketch 
  
• Crafting by Designs: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• The Outlawz Festive Friday: birthday

I'm off to write my Christmas cards and hopefully get some more creative time. Thanks for stopping in today. Hope your day is bright and full of sunshine. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Another Birthday

Working my way through the December family birthdays. This one is needed right away. This is for Tom's Aunt. She is going to be 95 or 96 this year. I've lost count. But I think she'll like this.

Card details:
Image: Pattie's Creations Blackeyed Susans
Sentiment: Simon Says Big Birthday Wishes
Dies: My Favorite Things Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares
Designer Paper: Green background (Close to my Heart) Yellow and white squares(a thrift store find)
Card Stock: kraft and black
Ink: Tea Dye Distress Ink, Versa Fine Onyx Black
I am entering these challenges:

• Try Stampin' on Tuesday: sketch 
  
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: anything goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: favorite things (lots of layers and dies)
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Today is my busy day. Volunteering at 2 different organizations through the morning and afternoon. Tonight I'd like to get a start at writing out my Christmas cards and maybe some sewing projects too. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Donna

Bring on the Bubbly

Another birthday card today. Working on getting all my December birthday cards done. This one is for my niece. She has a 3 year old so I thought she might enjoy a drink on her birthday.

The image is a brand new stamp set from Beccy's Place called Girls' Night Digital Stamps. The background paper is from my scrap stash. I cut a circle from the designer paper and rounded the other three corners. The image is die cut with Spellbinder's Circles. The sentiment is from the same stamp set and die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. I inked the sentiment strip with Distress Oxide Salty Ocean. I used this week's sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. 

Since the bow on the sketch didn't quite fit my theme I decide to substitute some rhinestones. I also completed the inside of the card.

I used some more designer paper backed with black card stock. The sentiment is from Simon Says Big Birthday Wishes (retired). 

I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch (shown above)
• Beccy's Place December challenge: use a Beccy's Place image
• Carlin's Kaartenparadijs challenge: text and circles
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Penny's Challenge: anything goes

Back to my desk to get something else started. Or time to do laundry or get dinner started. A million and one things I could do. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Christmas Birthday

I have a friend who has a birthday just a day or two before Christmas. After I made this card for her I thought maybe she would have preferred something not so Christmasy since she'll likely get lots of Christmas cards. Oh well. Next year.

The image is from Eureka Stamps Winter Set of 4 Digital Stamps. The card base is green card stock. The layers are black card stock. The sparkle background is from Hobby Lobby. The designer paper is from my scrap box. I colored the image with Prisma Colored Pencils. The adhesive rhinestones are from Recollections. The sentiment is from Simon Says Stamps Big Birthday Wishes (retired). I am entering these challenges:

• QKR Stampede challenge: anything goes
• Sketch Saturday: any past sketch #258 (from May 11, 2013)
• Simon Says Monday: let's sparkle
• Time Out challenge: celebrations
• Tuesday Throwdown: anything goes

Tomorrow is back to Head Start with the twins. We were off last week so we are kind of back to normal. I need to get moving writing out my Christmas cards and decorating the house. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Last Challenge for 2019

Today begins the last challenge at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. Our challenge is always anything goes although we give you an optional theme to play along with if you'd like. This month our sponsor is Scribbles Designs and our optional theme is 3 or more layers. Layering is one of my favorite things to do.

My card uses Elves @ Work digital stamp. I used several layers of designer paper from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles: An Eclectic Christmas Silver and Gold, Miscellaneous Textures Red and Green, and A Touch of Christmas Glitter and Gloss.  The gold strip is Altenew Gold Glitter Tape. The image is colored with American Craft markers and die cut with Spellbinder's Labels 35. I hope you'll join us this month at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up for a fun challenge. It's a chance to get your Christmas cards all wrapped up! I am entering these challenges:

• Simon Says Monday challenge: tape it up
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Stella Sketch: sketch 
  
• Crafty Friends challenge: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts: winter/holidays
• Christmas Crafts All Year 'Round: Santa, Mrs. Claus, or Elves

Can you believe November is gone and December is here. Hope you have your Christmas cards done or almost done. My cards just need to be written out and mailed but I have lots of ideas for gifts that aren't started yet. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Another Card That I'm Loving

After we got home today I decided to try to make one more card for Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards challenge. I love dies and have recently started receiving Die-Cutting Essentials magazine. I haven't bought a craft magazine for some time but thought I'd try this one because each month you get a die set that comes with the magazine and the magazine uses the die a lot in that month's publication. So there are lots of ideas. I received my first issue just last week but hadn't had time to try it out. So here's my first card with my new die set.

I used Beccy's Gnarled Wreath for the base of the image. It's a freebie by the way! I colored the wreath with Spectrum Noir markers. I wanted to round the corners but my corner rounder wasn't working. I tried using the ticket punch but didn't like it. So there is a little bit of an indentation from the ticket punch and then rounded the corners. Then I used the die set from Die-Cutting Essentials issue 59 called All Wrapped Up to die cut the snowflakes from silver and purple glitter paper. I also die cut the two piece bow and glued it together. The glue is attached with pop up dots. The snowflakes were glued with Gina K Connect Glue. To finish off I used DecoTime Pearl Stickers in the center of the snowflakes and a heart shaped pearl sticker on the bow. The layers are glitter paper and black card stock on a white base card. Super pleased with this one and loving my new dies. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards: what I love
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• The Outlawz Twisted Thursday: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts: winter/holiday

Thanks again to Beccy for the wonderful month of challenges. This challenge always seem to inspire me to make some really great cards. Hope you have a blessed day! Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Doing What I Love

If you visit my blog often, you'll know that I love to make cards from sketches. It gives my brain something to think about while I'm considering other aspects of the card. So that's what I did today for Beccy's last challenge. I picked a sketch and ran with it.

I used Beccy's Silver Bells Digital Stamps colored with Spectrum Noir Markers and die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. The papers are from my scrap stash and you might also remember that I LOVE to use plaid, so I picked that paper for a reason. The card base is yellow card stock to bring out the flowers in the image. The third things that I love about this card is the layering. I love to layer and especially in dark card stock as it brings the colors of the papers and image popping off the card. So sadly this is the last challenge for Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards. This month of November has flown by. I really want to thank Beccy for her generosity and tenacity at leaving comments. She comments on every card (and this year there are over 1100 cards and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it doesn't reach 1200.). And the comments are very informative, not just "great card!" I am so impressed with the time and energy that she puts into this challenge every year. Thank you Beccy! I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 30: do what you love
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Try Stampin' on Tuesday: sketch
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Outlawz Festive Friday challenge: Christmas

We arrived home this afternoon from our Thanksgiving trip home. The twins came with us and Arthur entertained everyone with his alphabet and numbers. I noticed this weekend he is tracing the letters in the books now. Soon he'll be writing I guess. That's pretty impressive for a little guy who just turned 3. I am trying to get one more card done for this challenge. There are so many things that I love about card making that I couldn't get them all in one.  So I hope to get that one up soon. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

Z is for Z-Fold

Happy Thanksgiving to all my U.S. friends. I hope everyone has a chance to celebrate with family or friends. I am so thankful for all of you. I am truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. Today is Day 29 at Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards and the challenge is Z. I made a double Z-fold card.

I used the tutorial from Beccy's Place to make the Double Z-Fold. The gorgeous poinsettia spray is from Beccy's Place Poinsettia Digital Stamps. I colored the image with Prisma Colored Pencils and fussy cut  the image. The designer paper were all scraps from my scrap box. I found the little ticket in my Christmas stash.

The card looks so much better in person. Really like how this one turned out. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 29: the letter Z
• Rudolph Days: anything goes Christmas
• 613 Avenue Create: scrap your stash
• The Outlawz Twisted Thursday challenge: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

This month has been fun using the alphabet for prompts and dedicating the challenge to my grandson Arthur who is learning the alphabet. Arthur's usual Z word is zebra. So thrilled that he's so smart at 3 years old. Thanks for making so many nice comment about him this month. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed Thanksgiving day!

Donna

Y is for Yum

Happy day before Thanksgiving, at least for us in the U.S. We spent the afternoon driving to Tom's Dad's house to celebrate tomorrow with his family. The twins will have Thanksgiving dinner at home early tomorrow afternoon and then they'll drive here to meet up with us. Day 28 at Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards is the letter "Y". I thought for a long time about Y before I decided to make this tag.

I found this plate that I thought would be great to add some gingerbread cookies for Santa. So I turned this into a cute tag. The Jolly Gingerbread and Joyful Gingerbread are free at Beccy's blog. The sentiment is computer-generated and die cut with MFT Essential Sentence Strips. Then I added the To and From stamps from a retired Gina K stamp set. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 28: the letter "Y" Yum and yellow)
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Digi Choosday: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes

Arthur's Y word is yo-yo. He's gets so excited and he says yo-yo really fast. He's a real cutie. If you live in the U.S. we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. May you have a restful and fun day together. Thanks for stopping by and have a blessed day!

Donna

X is for Kisses

Day 27 of Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards is the dreaded letter X. The most obvious would be Xmas but I rarely use that term as Christ needs to be in Christmas. So I usually go in a different direction.

This image is from Beccy's Place called Finn and Molly. It was perfect for my X card with the mistletoe on his hat. I have an retired stamp set from Simon Says Stamps called Big Holiday Wishes that has a stamp of the X and Os on my card. It also has the sentiment that I used. I cut the image panel with MFT Blueprints 13 die. It has a stitched edge around the panel. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 27: the letter X 
• Christmas Crafting All Year Round: stockings or other winter clothing
• Outlawz Monday Greetings: use an animal
• Tuesday Throwdown Challenge: punny sentiments
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes

Arthur's X word is ziyophone (xylophone); at least that's what it sounds like. Arthur and Valerie are on break from Head Start this week so we took them for a chuck of the day to give their parents some time to themselves. Since the rain hadn't arrived yet and it was in the 50s, we decided to go to the playground for a while. After that we had lunch at Culver's Restaurant where the kid's meals included frozen yogurt. So I'll leave you today with pictures of Valerie and Arthur eating their ice cream. My husband texted these picture to the while family with the caption: "Ice cream so good you need two spoons." Have a blessed day. Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Open Border Die Technique

Hope your day is going well! I have another Christmas card that I made with the Open Border Technique. You can see my first card that I made with this technique.  I really like the way these turned out and they are really easy to do.

I used Beccy's Place Snow Angels stamp set that I colored with Spectrum Noir markers and then fussy cut him. I added some Stickles to his halo and some Diamond Stickles to the snow at the bottom (hard to see). The die cuts are from Spellbinder's Holiday die. I backed that area with dark green card stock so it would show through the die cuts.

I didn't show this angle on my first post but you can see better the actual die cut areas and the extra car stock piece. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards: any number of days: A for angel; O for Open Border; D for die cut
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: snowman
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: begins with R (red)
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

That's it for now. Have a blessed day and thanks for stopping by!

Donna

W is for Winter

While my card today is all about winter, our weather has been rather mild. We hit 56 today and had some sunshine. There was a cool breeze. But changes are coming. If you are in the snow storm my thoughts and prayers are with you. When it hits here, temperatures should be too warm for snow. We are just supposed to get a lot of rain. But here's a winter card.

I have a really great Internet friend (waving hi Valerie) that I met once a few years ago. This will be her Christmas card. She lives in Vancouver, Canada and we had the opportunity to meet up while my husband was attending a conference in Vancouver. We became fast friends. So this card features Beccy's Place Snowman Digital Stamp; both the image and sentiment. The designer papers are from American Craft and Close to my Heart. The panels are die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitched Rectangles. All layers are backed with black card stock. The snowflakes are dies from My Favorite Things and Paper Smooches. The snowflakes each have a pear; at the center. I embellished with some silver sequins that are filled with Dimensional Magic for some sparkle. The edges of the image.sentiment panel are inked with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 26: letter W
• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Scraping 4 Fun: winter
• Creative Knockouts; Snow Much Fun
• Cupcake Inspiration: snowman 
  

Arthur's "W" word is "wa-ter-mel-in". He really spaces it out when he says it; likes he's practicing his diction. He's such a character. Thanks for stopping by. Have a blessed day!

Donna

V is for Vintage

Day 25 at Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards is the letter "V". I chose vintage as my "v" word.

The image is from Luna Girl Digital Stamps. The sentiment is from Create with TLC and directly printed on the designer paper. All designer paper is from American Craft. The pearl embellishments are from DecoTime.  A pretty easy card. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 25: the letter V
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: November sketch 
  
• Winter Wonderland: holly and or ivy
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• The Outlawz Monday Greetings challenge: include an animal

Arthur's "V" word is "viowin" (violin). You have to love how little ones say things while they are learning new sounds. Somewhere he is hearing a song or something that's telling him the sounds because he's suddenly saying "B sound like bah, bah, bah. He picks things up so fast. Today and tomorrow we'll be getting ready to travel for Thanksgiving. It's so late in the month this year. There won;t be much time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I'll be going into panic mode after we return home. LOL! Thanks for stopping by today. Have a blessed day!

Donna 

U is for U-Fold Card

The Piano Guys concert was awesome last night. A little too loud for me but I love their music! Nice to be home to sleep in my own bed tonight. Today I have a U-Fold card for Day 24 of Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards.

I used a non-Christmas Stamp for this card. The image is The Three Tenors Digital Stamps from Beccy's Place. I fussy-cut the image. Since they weren't very Christmas-y I added a bow tie to each from a W Plus 9 set called Unforgettable. I paper pieced the bows with Christmas paper scraps. The designer paper is from American Craft. I computer-generated he sentiment and die cut it with Spellbinders Labels 13 and inked with MFT Elf Green ink. To finish off I added some stickers from my stash that were music/Christmas oriented. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Month of Holiday Cards Day 24: the letter U
• Tuesday Throwdown: punny sentiments
• Addicted to Stamps and More: holiday 
  
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• 613 Avenue Create: scrap your stash (all paper is scraps)
• Outlawz Festive Friday: Christmas

This card will likely go to one of my sons. They both have two cats so they'd both get a ckick out of this card. The twins are napping at the moment so I thought I'd get this posted. Arthur's word for U is "unicorn." Today he's been busy with numbers rather than letters. So we haven't talked about the alphabet much. Hope your Sunday is blessed and thanks for stopping by!

Donna