Santa is Coming to Town

I know it's February. We had more snow this morning and I had this thought that I hadn't made any Christmas cards recently. I have to get a move on if I want enough by the time Christmas rolls around. So I thought it was time to start on Christmas.

The vintage Santa is an image from The Graphics Fairy.I printed it and fussy cut it. The background paper is a scrap from my box. The die cut is Spellbinders Scalloped Squares. I heat embossed the sentiment from Gina K. Then added some sequins and pearls. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch for the design.

I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Simon Says: anything goes
• Rudolph Day Challenge: anything goes
• 52 Christmas Card Throwdown: sequins and pearls

Thanks for stopping by. Happy almost weekend! One more day of work. Not much time to craft this weekend because we are visiting Tom's Dad this weekend. Hope you have a wonderful, relaxing and hopefully crafty time!

Donna

Miss You

Happy Hump Day! A half week down and heading toward the weekend. It wasn't sunny today but we got above freezing for one day! It almost felt balmy outside after being below zero for so long. But tomorrow we are back to the below zero again. I'm beginning to think of a yo-yo. LOL!

My card tonight is one I am sending to Operation Write Home. The sentiment is perfect for one of their cards.

The image is from From the Hearts Stamps called Apple Market. I colored the image with Copic markers. I used the From the Heart sketch #98. The twist was to use colored pencils but I forgot that when I started working on the image. Oops! Here's the sketch.

\The background paper is from Basic Grey. I added some twine and a scalloped border from a Stampin' Up! punch. I really like the way this turned out.

I am entering these challenges:

• From the Heart challenge: sketch
• Inspiration Destination: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you can find some crafty time. See you again soon.

Donna

Sweet Birthday

Brr! We are back to below zero again. But the good news is the next two days are supposed to get up into the 20s again but with a chance of snow. I will take the snow over the below freezing temps. Funny how the weather is all the topic of conversation all the time.
Coming up very soon will be the birthday for some very special twins. So my card tonight is for the little girl of the pair.

The image is from Doodle Pantry called Heart Candy Ants. I overlayed one of the sentiments into the heart and then cut the image out with Lawn Fawns's Stitched Banner die. All the background paper is from Doodle Pantry from my scrap box. I used my Martha Stewart Laurel Leaf punch for the bottom border. The happy birthday sentiment is from Gina K Say it with Flowers stamp set. The ribbon thread through the banner is Organza from Bucilla. I used the Friday Mashup sketch for the card.

I am entering these challenges:

• Doodle Pantry: use candy and a ribbon
• Friday Mashup challenge: sketch
• Cut It Up: exotic animal
• Inspiration Destination: anything goes

That's it for me tonight. I am tired tonight. It was tough getting up to go to work this morning. I hope I get back into the swing so it's not such an effort at work. Be safe and warm and thanks so much for visiting with me! Come back any time!

Donna

Thinking of You

Welcome to another Sunday edition for the Outlawz CAS group. We have another fabulous challenge for you this week and it's always clean and simple. The challenge this week is to make (and send) an RAK (random act of kindness). My card is the companion card from last week's challenge.

The image is from Bugaboo and called Tall Flower Bear. I colored him with Copic markers and popped him up so he was 3-D. The background was made from scraps. The black card stock has a border made from a pencil eraser and white ink. I thought that gave it a nice touch. The sentiment is from Gina K.

I am entering these challenges:

• Cupcake Inspiration: cute critter
• Bugaboo Bingo: border, flower, 3D object
• Hiding in my Craft Room: use an eraser
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

I hope you will join us this week at the CAS Outlawz challenge. It's definitely an easy one. I did a little grocery shopping this morning before the temperatures started to drop. Down below zero again most days this week. I don't mind the snow so much but I do hate the below zero temps. I guess I'll have to go visit my son in Florida to warm up. Certainly not visiting my son in Boston right now. We visited him in early December before all the snow hit. Wishing you a wonderful beginning to your week. Thanks for stopping by!

Donna

Hey Chick

Happy Saturday! We are getting more snow today. We have about 6 inches of new powder so far. I am hoping that it doesn't rain on top of it and become ice. After the storm we are supposed to go back down below zero again. Winter has finally arrived in central Indiana!
With the weather being nasty outside we are stuck inside and I have time to play! Here's one of the cards I made today.

It's very pink! I don't use that color much. LOL! But I like the spring colors. The image is the stamp of the month at From the Heart. I die cut it with Spellbinder's Inverted Circles and then inked the edges. The image is colored with Copic and Bic markers. I love the bright ribbon that I used across the background. This is a ribbon from my MIL's stash so I have no idea where it came from. My MIL passed away at Christmas time and I am inheriting all of her craft stuff: ribbon, wax, buttons, floss, etc. So lots of new stuff to use. The sentiment is from a Gina K kit. I used Freshly Masd Sketch # 174 for the card.

I am entering these challenges:

• From the Heart Stamp of the Month: use the stamp
• Freshly Made Sketches: sketch
• Less is More: wings

Hope you are staying safe, warm and being crafty this weekend. Have a wonderful day! Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Cinderella

I think we need a fairy godmother around here. We had a 20% chance of snow last night and by morning we had 4 more inches of snow on the ground. Tomorrow during the day we will have wind chills of -25 degrees. Our low tonight is -10. Schools are off again tomorrow. I shouldn't complain. I know Boston is in much worse shape than we are. I have a feeling that winter is just starting with us.
My card tonight is about Cinderella and shoes. I wouldn't dare wear something like these out in the weather we have. Who am I kidding. I'd break my neck in a pair of shoes like these. LOL!

The Cinderella sentiment is from Bugaboo. The shoe image is from Digi Shack. Images a re colored with Bic and Copic markers. The die cut is a Spellbinder's Fleur de Lis Pendant. The embossed background is a Spellbinder embossability. I cut some stars and embellished them with Diamond Stickles. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch for inspiration.

I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo February Theme: girls just wanna have fun
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Papertake Weekly: bingo: die cut/free(sentiment)/glitter
• Crafty Boots: sentiment

Thanks for stopping by. Wherever you are I hope you are warm as your week progresses. Heading toward the weekend! 

Donna

Kiss Me

We are in the deep freeze! The schools have been out for the last two days with the snow. With the cold descending there may be more days off. I think we are supposed to have several days of this. And then more precipitation coming for the weekend. At least we won't be traveling this weekend. My card tonight is for St. Patrick's Day. I don't use glitter very often but I used my glitter paper for this sketch from From the Heart Challenge.

You can use any sketch from the gallery and any twist. I used Sketch 95 and the twist for that sketch too which was to use a black or colored card base.

The image is from From the Heart called Hamlet Pigwit Think Spring. The sentiment is also from the stamp set. I inked the sentiment and popped it up. The border was punched with a Martha Stewart punch. The image is backed with Spellbinder's Scalloped Rectangles.

I am entering these challenges:

•  I Heart Card Sketches: sketch and twist
• Hiding in my Craft Room: super scraps (glitter paper and shamrock paper)
• Friday Mashup: farm animal
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today! Hope you are all safe and warm. Take care!

Donna

Happy Mail

Snow today! We aren't anywhere near poor Boston but we got 6 inches of snow today. Tom and I spent more than an hour shoveling our driveway tonight. I should sleep good tonight. LOL! I didn't get any time to craft over the weekend but I put a fast card together tonight.

The image and sentiment is from the February Stamp of the Month at Imagine That!. I cut the image with Spellbinders oval dies. The card base and the background for the image is kraft card stock. The sentiment is cut into a banner and backed with a scrap from my scrap box.. I added some self-adhesive rhinestones. I used the sketch from Always Playing with Paper. I didn't use the color challenge, just the sketch.

I am entering these challenges:

• Always Playing with Paper: sketch
• Imagine That!: stamp of the month
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: anything goes

The storm we had today is headed for the east coast. So sorry for sending it on to all of you in the east. I hope your week has gotten off to a great start. Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Fantasy

Happy Sunday! The sun is shining here but we are in the single digits. Very cold outside. We are visiting my FIL this weekend and helping to clean out closets. We found lots of ribbon that I am taking home to craft with. A lot of the ribbon is for flower arranging so we'll see what I can do with that. Today is a new challenge at the Outlaw CAS group. This week is fantasy week. Here's the card I created.

This week I saw a new technique for using up scraps. And with this technique you get two cards. I haven't quite finished the second card yet. The papers were from a Simon Says monthly kit left over scraps. The fairy is from Creates with TLC. The sentiment  is from Gina K. I really like these techniques to use up scraps. I'll be using it again. I added some Stickles to the sparkles around the wand. I hope you will join us over at the Outlawz CAS this week. You could win a year subscription to Through the Craft Room Door e-magazine.

I am entering these challenges:

• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: super scraps; use scraps
• Corrosive Challenge Blog: things with wings
• Simply Create Too: anything goes

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine's Day. Stay warm and safe with all the storms and cold around. Have an awesome Sunday!

Donna

Dog Gone Valentine

For Valentine's' Day and Christmas I always send a card to MArgo, a dog we sit for every once in a while. She's a big, very hairy, black dog that's just a sweetheart. Recently we found out that she has gone blind and I feel so bad for her. So I made her a Valentine this year. Her "parents" get such a kick out the cards.

The image is from Bugaboo Digital Stamps called Puppy Love. I used Spellbinder's Circle die and Heart Circles to die cut and mount the image. The sentiment I made on the computer. I used an ekSuccess punch for the border and added a ribbon through the openings of the border. And I added two pink sticker hearts. I used the Stella sketch from the Bugaboo challenge blog.

I am entering these challenges:

• Stella Sketch: sketch
• Simon Says Monday challenge: red and pink
• Sentimental Sunday: seeing red
• Creative Knockouts: hearts a flutter

Now I have to go get all my Valentine's into the mail. I did mail a couple packages today but I have more cards to get out. Hope your week is off to a great start. Make it a great one!

Donna

Hearts & Flowers

It's time again for the Outlawz CAS challenge. This week the challenge is hearts and/or flowers. I used both on my card.

The hearts are background paper from my stash. The geranium image is from Beccy's Place. The image is pre-colored. The sentiment is from Gina K and embossed with black embossing powder. And I finished it off with some sequins. I used the CAS(E) this Sketch sketch.

I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place February challenge: use a Beccy's Place image
• CAS(E) this Sketch: sketch
• Simon Says: bright & brilliant
• Cards in Envy: Hearts a flutter

I sure hope you can join us this week with some hearts and/or flowers. Just be sure your card is CAS. Join us at the Outlawz CAS challenge. Have a super Sunday!

Donna

Trust Issues

Happy Saturday! I thought I would have time to craft today but it turned out that I didn't get anything done. But I did get this one done last night. This is for my sister-in-law. They tell a story about her as a kid and how she hated raisins. So every time they had raisins for a snack she would swallow them whole so she wouldn't taste them. So when I saw this sentiment I just had to make a card for her.

The sentiment is from Create with TLC and the cookie image is also. The image was pre-colored. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I inked the sentiment with three colors of brown ink: Momento Desert Sand, Tea Dye and Vintage Photoe distress ink. I used a Martha Stewart border punch and added some cooking paper scraps I found and some embellishments of a spoon and cookie batter bowl. I'm really happy with the way it turned out.
I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Hope your  weekend is relaxing. We had a gorgeous sunny day today and the ice melted. Yeah! Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 50s but not sunny with a chance of showers. But I'll take the 50s. Enjoy your weekend. I'll see you tomorrow with this week's CAS challenge at the Outlawz.

Donna

Don't Sweat It

Happy Thursday! One more day to the weekend. We will be home this weekend so I am hoping for some crafting (and cleaning) time. It's been a while since I had some time to clean the house so that's my plans this weekend. We had some snow last night but not much. About an inch and just enough to make the roads slick and hazardous this morning. Out snow fall has been much lighter than usual but I just have this feeling that the worst is yet to come.
February is a big birthday month for me so I've just about run out of birthday cards. So I am back to making them again. Here's the newest birthday card.

I used an image and sentiment from From the Heart digital stamps called Birthday Candle Birdbrain. I used my number paper for the background. Colored the image with Copics and inked a background. I added some ribbon and the sentiment also colored with Copics. The inside sentiment says,"You've got that special Birthday glow!" Another sentiment from the set. I used the sketch at From the Heart challenge.

The twist was to make a handmade embellishment. I have some flowers that I crocheted but I didn't like the look of it on the card. So I just stuck with the sketch. I am entering these challenges:

• i {heart} card sketch From the Heart: sketch
• Seize the Birthday: anything goes
• Simon Says: bright and beautiful
• Papertake Weekly: anything goes

It's supposed to be another very cold night tonight but them a warm up for the weekend. Possibly 50 on Sunday. Won't that be a real change! Thanks for stopping today. Make it an awesome Friday and I'll see you again this weekend. 

Donna

Friends Forever

Sunshine today but still very cold out. It took several hours last night to get warm after we unloaded 6300 cases of Girl Scout cookies yesterday from two semis. It could have been worse. We had a little snow but it would have been much worse if it had been warmer and rained. So now that the cookie delivery is done our next project is to have a milk and cookie dunk. We are inviting all kinds of city celebrities to come dunk cookies in milk with our Girl Scouts. I think it sounds like fun!

My card tonight is made with an image from Deedee's Digital Stamps. This is the stamp of the month for February. It's adorable!

This is made from the Forever Friends stamp set. I used a pre-colored image and one of the sentiments from the set. I bought this paper a couple of years ago for the Girl Scout Day Camp where the theme was critters. So I have lots of scraps left over. I used the sketch from Always Playing with Paper.

I only used the sketch and not the color scheme. I cut the tigers from Lawn Fawn's Stitched Banner Die Cuts. The heart is also from that set. I used scraps of paper for the background and twine across the top of the banner. I cut the sentiment from a Clear Dollar Stamp tag die cut and inked it with Memento Desert Sand ink.
I am entering these challenges:

• Deedee's Progressive challenge: use the February digi stamp of the month
• Always Playing with Paper: sketch
• Creative Knockouts: animal antics
• Open Minded Crafting: no pink and no red

Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope wherever you are you are staying warm and you don't have too much snow to shovel. We have a possibility of snow tomorrow. Almost halfway through the week. Make it awesome!

Donna

Deepest Sorrow

The year so far is shaping up to be one funeral after another. I hope this is not a trend. A friend passed away suddenly over the weekend so I am sending the family this card.

The image is the progressive image over at the Outlawz challenges designed by Sandi Samples. The image is colored with Bic markers and backed with Spellbinder's Lacy Squares. The sentiment is from Gina K. The background is scraps out of my box and I added the lace trim and a couple of self-adhesive rhinestones.
I am entering these challenges:

• Sweet Sunday Sketch: sketch
• Outlawz Progressive Challenge: use Sandi's Samples image
• Hiding in my Craft Room: free styles

That's it for tonight. I spent the day unloading two semis of Girl Scout cookies in the freezing cold. I love my volunteer jobs but it took me several hours to feel my toes again. Thank goodness for a friend who gave me hand warmers. Next year I'm buying toe warmers too.  Hope your week is off to a great start!

Donna

CAS Sea Critters

Welcome to another Sunday CAS challenge at the Outlawz. I had fun with my card this week creating with a sea critter. Lots of different sea critters to choose from. Here's the one I picked.

The image is from Clearly Digi Stamps. Sadly they went out of business. You can now find it at DeeDee's Digis. I found this in my sample box and decided to use it. The image is pre-colored. I found the background paper in my stash and thought it was perfect. I cut the sentiment into a tag and inked the tag with a Peacock Feathers. The base of the card is kraft card stock. 

I am entering these challenges:

• Open Minded Crafting: no oink and no red
• Creative Knockouts: animal antics
• Lil Patch of Crafty Friends: anything goes

I bet you have a sea critter in your collection. I hope you will try the challenge and join in the fun. Happy Super Bowl Sunday. Who are you hoping will win? For me it's the Seahawks all the way. We will be driving home this morning so we can be at home for the big game. Stay safe and warm and hope the start of your week is awesome!

Donna