Fa La La La La

Now that I am in the groove of making Christmas cards I can't seem to stop. LOL! so here's another one. Tis the season!

I love these cute little Caroling Bunnies from Eureka Stamps. And the new paper pad that I got from American Crafts had this adorable Falalalala paper in it that seemed perfect for this image. I die cut the bunnies with Spellbinder's Lacy Squares and then inked the die cut with Salty ocean distress ink. The background piece was punched with Martha Stewart Swirling Lace border punch and then I added some very glitzy ribbon. I am entering these challenges:

• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: any holiday
• Tuesday Throwdown: ribbon and lace
• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: B is for bunnies, R is for rabbits, ribbon, etc. 

Thanks for visiting. Hope your day is going well! 

Donna

Day 30 - Do What You Love

Today is the end of the month-long challenge at Beccy's Place. Since we finished the alphabet, the challenge for today was to do what we love. Pretty easy for me since I love making cards! But I thought about for a while and after reading some of the comments left on my Z card, one comment stuck in my head. It was something about starting over at A. So I went back to my A card and decided to end the way I started (with Beccy's Aussie Wreath) but with a twist.

My mother sent cards to everyone. I was always at the store buying cards for her when she could no longer go out to pick them up herself. Shortly after she passed away in 2006, a friend introduced me to stamping and making cards. The rest is history. But one of the things that my Mom drummed into us was to say "thank you" when someone did something nice or gave us something. So to finish of this challenge I wanted to say thanks! This first card was my first iteration. I printed the wreath, die cut the thanks and then die cut a second from fun foam. That way I could pop up the sentiment and not lose any of the wreath. I added Wink of Stella to the bow and then some sequins to the card. And as I studied my finished card I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like if I kept the basic design but changed some things up. So here's iteration #2.

I kept the thanks die the same but decided to add "Christmas" from the Altenew Halftone Holidays stamp set and matching die. since I had intended these to be my Christmas thank you cards. I also added a retired corner punch from Stampin' Up! I downsized the wreath size from the original card too. But I still had another idea, so card #3 was made.

So on this one you can see that I just left the Thanks die cut blank. On all the cards I added Wink of Stella to the bow but on this card I also added it in the outline of the word Thanks! I am pretty happy with all of them but one of the last two would be my favorite. I'd love to know which one you like the best. I thought it appropriate that this last challenge card was a Thank You card. Thank you Beccy for the fun, inspiration, and generous prizes throughout the month. It's been an honor to play along. I love Beccy's stamps and will continue to play in her challenges. Here's looking forward to next November when we can do it again! Congrats to Beccy on the more than 700 card entries this year. We surpassed any other year! I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: do what you love (I love to say thank you!)
• Simon Say Wednesday challenge: anything goes
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: anything goes
• The Outlawz Monday challenge: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes

The twins were a little under the weather today. Lots of runny noses (tis the season!) and Arthur was very tired. Tricia said he's been getting up a lot the last few nights. I think he's cutting more teeth. Hopefully when I see him on Friday again he'll be a little better. Thanks for stopping by. Have a wonderful last day of November! Now to get these Christmas cards in the mail!

Donna

Day 29 - Z

Well, we've come to the end of the alphabet! One more surprise challenge day to go. I have so enjoyed playing along with this challenge. If it hadn't been the alphabet and being able to work ahead I may not have been able to participate every day. But it's been such fun and thanks to Beccy for the inspiration, the fun, and the stash of Christmas cards that I now have on hand. For my Z card I made a double Z-fold card.

I followed the tutorial at Beccy's Place to make the double z-fold card. It was pretty easy to make and I've been loving making these different kinds of folds that I've never tried before. The image is another freebie from Beccy's Place called Penguin. He's trying to stay warm with his scarf and checking out that star (MFT Pierced Star Stax). I colored the penguin with Spectrum Noir and Copic markers and fussy cut him, then popped him up with foam tape. The designer paper is American Craft. The sentiment is from a retired Gina K set. The snowflakes on the sentiment panel, snowflakes on a panel not visible and the inside sentiment are from a retired Stampin' Up! set called Snow Swirled.  The sentiment is die cut with MFT Cross Stitched Ovals. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: z is for double z-fold card
• The Outlawz Paper ala Mode challenge: snowflakes/winter
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Crafty Cardmakers: animal magic
• Simon Says Monday challenge: star light, star bright
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes

That's it for me tonight. Tomorrow is my day to volunteer at Head Start with the twins. My favorite time of the week. And speaking of the twins, I haven't shown a pic of them in a while so here's a recent one of them playing with pots and spoons in my kitchen. Okay they are really checking the spoons to see if they have any food on them. Those two LOVE to eat! LOL!

Thanks for stopping by! Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Donna

Day 28 - Y

So I had several ideas for the letter Y but I finally went with "yellow." Not terribly innovative but I liked how it turned out.

I used Beccy's Place Christmas Lantern, which is a freebie on her blog. I colored it with Spectrum Noir and Copic markers and then inked the background with Mustard Seed distress ink. The image is die cut with MFT Cross Stitch Ovals. The sentiment is from a retired Gina K stamp set called Blessed is the Season. I added Wink of Stella to the bow and the flowers. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: y is for yellow
• Sketch Saturday: sketch turned 90 degrees 
  
• The Outlawz Twisted Thursday: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: any holiday
• Crafting by Designs: get ready for Christmas

I am off to make my Z card this evening and then we'll have to figure out what the last day might bring. Hope your Monday was great! Thanks for stopping by.

Donna

Day 27 - the letter X

Well, the day has finally arrived for the letter X. I thought a lot about this one. The obvious would be Xmas but I was never a fan of using it. Since I started my research on X I found that the X in Greek stands for Christ so it's a perfect legitimate substitution for Christmas. But I still wasn't satisfied with that so I started looking around. I found that one of my Christmas stamps from Simon Says Stamps had Xs and Os as the theme so that's the direction I took for X.

This is a retired stamp set (Big Holiday Wishes) from Simon Says Stamps. It was one of their kit stamp sets. The Xs and Os and the sentiment are from that set. I was going to leave it really CAS and maybe add some sequins but then I got this bright idea to maybe add a stencil in the background. So I chose the MFT One Way Chevron stencil and when I started to ink it up with Tumbled Glass distress Ink it reminded me of a Christmas tree. And then I thought I should decorate the tree, so I pulled out the MFT Happy Pawlidays set and stamped and colored a bunch of ornaments. The star is die cut from Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitch Rectangles, die cut 4 times and stacked on top of each other. The sentiment is die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. The star is coated with Dimensional Magic and the ornaments have Wink if Stella. So Xs and Os to you all! I am entering these challenges"

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: X is for Xs and Os (Hugs and Kisses)
• My Favorite Things Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Rudolph Days: anything goes Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes Christmas

Thanks for stopping by to check out my X day card. Hoping for some crafty time this evening after dinner. Hope the start to your new week is awesome!

Donna

Day 26 - W

One more for today. I had this card finished before I left for Thanksgiving. It was the last card I had done so now I have to get ahead again. The end of the month is very close! But I have ideas for the rest of the alphabet. I just have to play with designs. For my W card I went back to the obvious: wreath. But I used a Beccy's Place wreath that isn't listed under the Christmas Freebies but I thought it would work.

The wreath is the Berry Wreath and it's a freebie at Beccy's Place. I paired it with a Create with TLC sentiment inside the wreath. The designer papers are from American Craft. and I used the Martha Stewart Swirling Lace border punch. I used a Spellbinder's Scalloped Heart to back drop the wreath and added gold glitter glue on each scallop. I used the Tuesday Morning Sketch for inspiration. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: W is for wreath
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Anything Goes with Create with TLC Element: sentiment from Create with TLC
• The Outlawz Friday challenge: Christmas
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Crafting by Designs: get ready for Christmas

That's it for me tonight. I am beat! Tomorrow is another day. Thanks for stopping by and hope you have a wonderful Sunday!

Donna

Beautiful Winter Bird

Happy weekend! I am a little late getting my weekend going or my weekend has been very long. We were away over Thanksgiving and got back very late last night. This morning the twins came to spend the day. I wasn't expecting them for lunch and dinner but that's how it panned out. And I think they are returning tomorrow for the day. So my time has been limited and I am really tired this evening. In fact when I finish my posts I just may collapse into bed.
Day 25 was another departure from the alphabet at Beccy's Place. The challenge for yesterday was to use any freebie that Beccy offers. If you've never checked out the freebies at Beccy's Place you are missing out. She has a ton of freebies and they are so wonderfully organized. Evert time I go there I find one that I have missed. You need to stop by and check them out then use them in a fun challenge over at Beccy's Place. If you check out Day 25 she has another cute freebie posted. So I used one of the Christmas Freebies called Cardinal and Holly.

Cardinals are one of the few birds that stay around our area for the winter. And given their beautiful bright color they are very noticeable in our barren landscape. So I couldn't resist using this beautiful digital freebie on my card. The image is colored with Copic markers and die cut with Spellbinder's Lattice Rectangles. The sentiment is from a retired Gina K set called Winter Foliage. The designer paper is from American Craft. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: day 25 use a Beccy's Place freebie
• The Outlawz Wednesday Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes; option use a doily
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper: use patterned paper

Thanks for stopping by. I will be posting my W card very shortly! Have a wonderful Sunday!

Donna

V is for Vintage

Happy Thanksgiving! I am headed out the door for Thanksgiving dinner. My brussel sprouts and squash casserole is ready to go. I wanted to quickly post my V card.

This card was a real thought process. I started thinking days ago about my V card. I was having a tough time coming up with anything. In talking with my DH he suggested vino. And I had a design in mind with wine. But in the middle of the night I woke up and into my mind popped Virgin Mary. So as I was perusing my files, I ran into several images that had vintage Santas. So I changed my mind again and this card was born. Several days ago Beccy posted a tutorial for coloring on pre-colored images, so I tried that with this image and I really liked the way it turned out. The image is from Create with TLC. The sentiment is from Bird's Cards. The kraft card stock is embossed with the Holly Swirls embossing folder. The plaid paper is my favorite from American Craft. The border punch is from Martha Stewart. The embellishment is from Beccy's Place called Holly Branch. I inked the edges of the image with tea dye distress ink for a more vintage look. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: V is for vintage
• Sketch Saturday: sketch 
  
• Anything Goes with Create with TLC: use a TLC element
• Crafting by Designs: get ready for Christmas
• Merry Monday challenge: Santa 
  

Time to go. Dinner calls. Hope you have a wonderful celebration and a relaxing weekend.

Donna

U is for U-fold Card

So a couple of days ago I was browsing through a fancy fold blog hop and up came a cute called that was named a U-fold card. Bingo! Lights went off behind my eyes and I knew what I was going to do for my "U" card. This was a fairly easy card to make and lays flat for easy mailing.

I used Beccy's Place image from the Snowman Digital Stamp set. I colored the image with Copic markers. The papers are from my scrap box. The tutorial I followed can be found here. She calls it a Bridge card but every other tutorial I saw called it a U-fold card. The dimensions are easy to follow and it's fun to do. The sentiment is from AlteNew Halftone Holidays. I embellished with some three dimensional snowflakes. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: U is for U-Fold
• Crafty Sentiments Designs: Baby, it's cold outside
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Friday Outlawz challenge: Christmas
• Crafty Friends challenge: add a sentiment
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes; add some blue

We are away from home for the next few days for the Thanksgiving holiday. I'm looking forward to some time with family. Our trip in took a bit longer than usual because of construction, accidents and heavy traffic. Wishing you a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my US friends. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

Donna

Teddy Trims the Tree

So it's "T" day at Beccy's Place and I chose an image from Bugaboo Stamps. The image is called Christmas Teddy Tree.

I used a variety of different markers to color the image but mostly Copics I think. The die cut is Spellbinder's Tear Drop Circles. All the  printed designer paper is from American Craft. Each of the layers is backed with black card stock. The border die is Spellbinder's Triple Scallop Border. The sentiment is from AlteNew Halftone Holidays. I used Mowed Lawn Distress Ink on the main die cut. To finish off I used three red self-adhesive gems.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: T is for Teddy and Tree
• Stella Sketch: sketch 
  
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: 3 designer papers
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes; use some blue
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut Patterned Paper: used patterned paper

This morning I spent 4 hours doing my pricing for Opportunity House so I am ready to do some crafting. Hope to get some in this evening. Thanks for stopping by. Tomorrow morning is my fun day with the twins at Head Start. Since my hubby is in vacation this week for the holiday he's going to join in the fun. Have a super day!

Donna

S is for Santa and Snowman

I am back with my "S" card this afternoon. I wanted to do Santa but found this adorable trio and I got a snowman so you get two "s's" for the price of one. LOL!

The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Christmas Trio Block. It's colored with a variety of markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitched Rectangles.  I used three different patterned papers from American Crafts The Color of Memories paper pack. It's a much older paper pack and I found it on clearance the other day. I added a button for the reindeer nose. The sentiment is from The Little Paper Shop (no longer in business) and I heat embossed each sentiment with black embossing powder. To finish off I added some Stickles to Santa's hat and the snowman hat for the holly berries. Each of the blue backgrounds are a different shade of blue but the photo makes them look all the same.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: S is for Santa, Snowman
• Catch the Bug Bingo challenge: middle column: Bugaboo image, embossing, button
  
• Monday Outlawz challenge: winter holiday or snow
• Merry Monday Christmas challenge: Santa Clause
• A Bit More Time to Craft Extra: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes; use some blue
• Bugaboo Crafty challenge: use a Bugaboo images

Looking forward to some more crafting time before we leave for the holiday. One more day and we'll be heading over the river and through the woods. Have an awesome day!

Donna

R is for Reindeer

Happy Monday! I am a bit behind after the weekend. My FIL was visiting so that took some time. Our electricity was off for 12 hours on Saturday and our Internet was off for almost 24 hours. It's amazing how dependent I am on those little things that I take for granted. So I do have my "R" card done but that's it. I have to get busy again.

Check out the expression on this deer's face! It goes so well with the sentiment and it's will probably be exactly the way I look about December 20th, after my kids start arriving home for the holidays. I hope I'll be ready! I just love this reindeer set called Dasher and Dancer. The designer paper is from American Crafts. I cute a frame with MFT Single Stitched Line Rectangle Frames. The sentiment is from the same set and is die cut with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. I was so pleased with this card. I just love that cute little deer.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: R is for reindeer
• Crafty Friends challenge: add a sentiment
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Christmas
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: furry friends
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• MFT Sketch challenge: sketch 
  

I am off to have some fun in my craft room. Thanks for stopping by. A busy week around here as everyone is preparing for Thanksgiving. Take time to relax with family and friends!

Donna

Q is for Quick

Wow! The last 24 hours has been "fun" to say the least. Yesterday we had very high winds and then storms came through. It knocked out lots of trees and branches. About 4:45 pm our electric went out. It was out for almost 12 hours. So we made dinner on the grill and then went to a friend's house to play games for the evening. Not much we could do when we came home so we went to bed. We had the twins yesterday too. They got to experience their first candle-lit dinner. So we expected everything to be back to normal by the time we got up but that wasn't the case. Not Internet service for another 12 hours. So I had my "Q" card done but I couldn't post it.

This was a really quick card. I used the pre-colored image from Beccy's Place Nativity stamp set. I stamped a sentiment from a retired Stampin' Up! set and added a die cut star. The corner punch is an old Stampin' Up! punch and the white card stock is just glued under the punched corners. So east peasy.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: Q is for quick
• Crafty Friends: add a sentiment
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes; use some blue
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes Christmas
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by. We have a very windy, dreary Sunday. We have friends coming for a chili dinner and then cards. So I'll be away from the computer this evening. Have a wonderful Sunday!

Donna

Stars in the Heavens

Good morning and happy Saturday! The twins will be coming today for a visit and to see their great grandfather who is visiting with us this weekend. He loves to watch what they do. I'll have to start thinking of meals so I know what I am going to feed them. They are good eaters and like everything so it really isn't difficult.
Yesterday, Beccy through us a curve, took a break from the alphabet and gave us a great sketch to work with. If you've visited my blog often you know that I love to use sketches when designing cards. So I may have to use this one more than once.

I turned the sketch and used an oval instead of the circle but I'm sure you will recognize the sketch in my design. This also shouted "lots of layers" at me so I used lots of layers. LOL!

So I guess you can see that stars were my theme for this one. I found the sentiment that I wanted first and then I decided on the image and it just snowballed from there. The image is Nativity from Beccy's Place. The star DP is from this month's Decosse's Dynamite Doodles Starry Sky paper. The blue strip is embossed with the Tiny Stars embossing folder from the Paper Studio. And I added three sequin stars for embellishments. The sentiment is from Create with TLC and I added some gold glitter glue to some of the stars. Each layer is backed with blue paper from my scrap box. The blue embossed paper is a left over from my daughter's wedding invitations. I colored the nativity image with Copic markers. 

I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: sketch above
• Anything Goes with Create with TLC: use a Create with TLC element
• Get Creative challenge: holidays
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes; use some blue
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Christmas
• The Friday Outlawz challenge: Christmas

Make it a wonderful weekend! The time is flying by and this week is our Thanksgiving. We'll be traveling so it will make it difficult to craft. Fortunately, our Thanksgiving comes earlier in the month this year so it will give me time to play catch up when I get back home. Enjoy your day!

Hugs,

Donna

Thankful

Here's another card that I did to send for a Thanksgiving card. This is the image for The Outlawz progressive challenge this month.

The image is called Harvest Night by Shell Becker. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir and Copic markers. The frame was created with MFT Single Stitch Line Rectangle Frames. The sentiment is from Create with TLC and die cut with Spellbinder's Grommet Tags and inked with Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber DI. I used two red brads to attach it to the card. The background is the autumn leaf napkins that I bought at the Dollar Tree.
I am entering these challenges:

• The Outlawz Progressive challenge: use Harvest Night image
• Anything Goes with Create with TLC: use a Create with TLC element
• QKR Stampede: Give Thanks
• Crafting by Designs: let's be thankful
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: furry friends (cat in image)
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter

My FIL is coming for a visit this weekend. I've already cleaned his room and bathroom but I need to clean the kitchen and dining room too. I am sure the twins will be here for a visit at some point. Great Grandpa always likes to see them when he visits us. Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend!

Donna

Fowl Play

I am scrambling to get my Thanksgiving cards ready and out by this weekend. So I have a few of them coming up. A quick one tonight for one of my sons.

The turkey image was a freebie this week from Little Scraps of Heaven. The circle behind is Spellbinder's Picot Edge Circles from ecru card stock. The leaf paper behind is actually a napkin. I spent a morning doing several different kinds of napkins this week. So you might see these napkins again. The sentiment and the banners are die cut from MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags. The sentiment is from Create with TLC.
I am entering these challenges:

• Sketch Saturday: sketch 
  
• Anything Goes with Create with TLC: use a Create with TLC element
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Die Cuttin' Divas: thanks or turkey
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Time for bed. It's been a long day. Hope you are ready for the weekend and some crafty time. Take care!

Donna

P is for Poinsettia

My card today means a lot to me. I love how it turned out. I envisioned it much differently than it turned out but I really like the changes I made.

Poinsettias come in a lot of different colors, but two years ago I started buying a blue poinsettia and I will continue to buy a blue poinsettia until I have moved on from this world. Two years ago on November 23rd our first grandson was born, more than 2 months early. He lived four hours and then God decided to call him home to make him an angel. Alex was born with lots of medical problems and had he lived he would have had multiple surgeries and a lot of misery and pain. For his funeral, I bought a blue poinsettia. That poinsettia and the poinsettia that I bought last year in Alex's memory lasted well into March and April. Alex is still with us and will always be in my heart. So when I started thinking about this card I knew I had to color the poinsettia blue for Alex. The image is called Winter Set from Eureka Stamps. This is one of the four images in the set. I colored it with Copic markers and used Wink of Stella on the poinsettia. You can't tell from the photo but it has lovely glitter on the flower. The sentiment I believe is from Beccy's Place. She has a number of freebies very similar to this one but I didn't find this particular sentiment among them. I printed the sentiment on light blue card stock and made the card base the same color. The image was already outlined in black so I decided to make the accent color black. I used a Stampin' Up corner punch and embossed the white background with the Holly Swirl embossing folder. The border punch is from Martha Stewart. My card is dedicated to Alex, my little angel in heaven!
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: P is for poinsettia
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Addicted to Stamps and More: holidays 
  
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts challenge: border time

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my card. Almost the weekend. Have a crafty day!

Donna

O is for Ornaments

Happy rainy day Wednesday! It was a very dreary day here. I went to Head Start this morning to help with the twins' classroom. Most of the kids were very sleepy and tired. Valerie was playing with her ear a lot so I suggested that they call the doctor. They are checking into an ear infection. Her appetite was down today too. I'm hoping that things improve for her.
My card today features a new set of dies that I have from Birch Press called Ornament Trio.

I die cut the ornaments twice from two different designer papers and then used the die cut inlay technique. I used Gold Stickles to accent the ornaments. I added the panel to a light blue card stock base. The sentiment is heat embossed with white embossing powder on black card stock. I used Altenew Halftone Holidays for the sentiment and die cut it with MFT Essential Fishtail Sentiment Strips.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: O is for ornament
• Addicted to Stamps and More: holiday
• Inspiration Destination: anything goes
• Penny's Challenge: anything goes
• The Outlawz Monday Greeting challenge: Happy Holidays
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes

Hope you like my "o" card. Thanks for stopping by today and hope you will come back to visit again. Have a wonderful day!

Donna

N is for Nativity

Happy Tuesday! I thought I was going to get to craft today but I wasn't able to even get near my desk until after dinner. It was a good thing I had this project started last night as all the little pieces gave me fits as I tried to glue them together. Instead of inky fingers, I had sticky fingers from all the adhesive.

This is an ornament that I made from an empty ribbon spool. I wrote a tutorial for how to make these in 2016. For this one I used Beccy's Place Nativity stamp set. I covered each surface of the ribbon sppol with scraps from my scrap box and then punched or die cut the greens, the star and the flowers from scraps. The star is actually 4 stars glued together for added dimension. These are so easy and fun to make. They make great little gifts or a nice tag for a gift.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: N is for Nativity
• Crafty Cardmakers: anything but a card
• Get Creative challenge: holidays
• Happy Little Stampers: anything goes with dies
• The Outlawz Thursday challenge: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes

That's it for tonight. I did pick up the twins from Head Start today and although Valerie still has a runny nose she was a much happier little girl. Tomorrow is my fun day as I volunteer all morning in the twins' Head Start class. It's always so much fun to play with the kids. Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a lovely day!

Donna

M is for Mouse

Happy Monday! I used to dread Mondays but now I enjoy Mondays a lot. I almost always go to volunteer at Opportunity House on Monday and I so enjoy the interaction with the other volunteers while we are working. And Monday I usually get caught up with laundry and dishes and whatever else I didn't get done over the weekend. Really I have reversed everything I used to do when I worked. But that's retirement!
To day is "M" day at Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards and I chose this adorable little mouse to play with.

The image comes from Gerda Steiner and is the November Progressive Stamp called Balancing Ornament Mouse. I added this image inside a sentiment circle from Just Yolie. The circle is die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. The backing is Spellbinder's Circle Hearts. I added two heart brads on either side and a sprig of holly for embellishment. The designer papers are all scraps from my scrap box.
I am entering these challenges;

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: M is for Mouse
• Gerda Steiner November Progressive challenge: use Balancing Ornament Mouse
• The Outlawz Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• Crafty Friends challenge: Christmas
• Simon Says Monday: It's a stitch up (die cut stitched circle)
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes

I hope to get some crafting time in tomorrow. We'll see how the day goes. I hope your week is off to a wonderful start. Take care!

Donna

L is for Lights

Another exhausting day. Poor little Valerie is just not feeling very good. At least her temperature was down today but I could tell she just wasn't her happy self. She slept on my shoulder again for over an hour. She just didn't want to be in her crib. Arthur was his usual happy self and getting into everything. He has a habit of crawling behind a couple of chairs to get to an end table with lots of "fun" wires on it. Gotta keep your eyes on him.
So today is "L" day at Beccy's Place a Month of Holiday Cards. I picked lights as my "l" word because that's one of my favorite things about Christmas. We always have lots of colorful twinkle lights on our tree. I am not a white light person. Our tree is always very colorful. And we decorate with all the ornaments that my three kids made as they grew up. One of these years I will have to pass them all on to their respective owners but for now they still grace out tree. So I had all that in mind when I made my card.

We had two dogs while the kids were growing up so I thought any of the kids would appreciate this card. The stamps and sentiment are from MFT Happy Pawlidays stamp and dies set. That cute little pup all tangled in lights just makes me smile every time. I colored the images with Spectrum Noir and Copic markers. I masked and then inked the background with Peacocok Feathers and Broken China distress inks. The circle is die cut with MFT Stitched Circles. The designer paper is a scrap from my scrap box. 

I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: L is for lights
• MFT Sketch challenge: use the sketch 
  
• Crafty Friends challenge: Christmas
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes
• Hiding in my Craft Room: super scraps
• Sweet Stampers: Christmas

That's it for me tonight. I am definitely heading to bed very soon. This busy weekend has worn me out. Hope you had a wonderful weekend. Make it a great week!

Donna

K is for Kings

Edit: I forgot to say "thank you" to all the men and women who have sacrificed to give us our freedom and the country that is so important to me. May God bless you and your families for your service and keep you in his hands. And a special thank you to my family members who have served. You mean the world to me.
Well, I am pretty tired this evening as we had the twins all day today. And they will be back tomorrow for another day of fun. Valerie was a little under the weather today so she wasn't her usually happy little self but she was so good even not feeling well. And boy can those kids eat. They eat just about everything and they especially liked the banana muffins I made. Valerie didn't want to sleep in her bed so I held her most of the afternoon as she slept on and off. Arthur was his usual smiley self and such a joy to be around. So we'll do it again tomorrow since their Dad is working 11 am to 9 pm. My card today is all about K. Now that seems really obvious but for some reason I had a mental block and had to Google "Christmas words that start with K" to figure it out. LOL! So here's what I came up with.

The image is from Elegant Ornaments from Imagine That Digis by Kris. I used the Flurries embossing folder by Cuttlebug. The holly leaf border die cut is from Memory Box. I added punched little berries to decorate the leaves. I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: K is for kings
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Imagine That Creative Playground: anything goes
• Christmas Alphabet Challenge: w is for white, x marks the spot
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas Extra: anything goes

Bed time might come early tonight, Grammy isn't as young as she used to be. LOL! Have a wonderful weekend.

Donna

J is for Joy Fold

We are up to Day 11 and the letter "J". This Month of Holiday Cards at Beccy's Place is really stretching me and it's been fun trying new things. Today I tried a Joy Fold Card for the first time.

I made a top folding Joy Fold card rather than a side fold. All of the designer paper is scraps from my scrap box. The poinsettias are from Beccy's Place. I fussy cut them and popped the single bloom up as the catch for the top card. I used a Martha Stewart punch for the border. Here's an inside view.

I used the same spray of poinsettias on the inside of the card also. The sentiment was computer generated and framed with MFT Single Stitched Frames.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: Day 11 J is for Joy Fold Card
• Friday Outlawz challenge: Christmas
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• Digi Choosday: anything goes
• Cards in Envy: Typography
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes

I have the twins all day tomorrow and possibly Sunday too. So there may not be much time to craft this weekend. I'll just take it as it comes and hopefully catch up next week. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks so much for stopping by.

Donna

I is for Ink

I really had hoped to get so much more done today but that didn't happen. It was sunshining today and up to 50 degrees so I did get out for a walk. I walked to the post office to mail my Christmas cards to the Caring Hearts card drive. So it was nice to get out and stretch my legs a bit.
So we are up to the letter "I" at Beccy's Place A Month of Christmas Cards. I chose ink as my I word. I made a background with distress inks: peacock feathers, mermaid lagoon, salty ocean, broken china, and tumbled glass. And after that dried I spritzed it with Jack Frost Glimmer Mist. The background has a really nice shine to it.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Water Color Paper for the background. The snow drifts were created with Simon Says Stitched Slopes and Hills. My cute little snow friends are from Beccy's Place: Bobbie Snowman and Jim Snowman (both of these are free). I added a sentiment from the retired Stampin' Up set called Flaky Friends, die cut with Spellbinder's Labels Thirteen and some Paper Smooches snowflakes. I really like how this turned out. My hubby liked it too.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place A Month of Holiday Cards: I is for ink
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: snow white
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: winter
• Crafting by Designs: winter sparkle
• Digi Stamps for Joy: anything goes for the guys
• ABC Christmas challenge: W is for white

Now I ma heading back to my craft desk to see if I can get something else done. LOL! Never enough hours in a day. Tomorrow I volunteer at Opportunity House and then pick up the twins from Head Start. Not much crafting time tomorrow. Take care. Have a wonderfully crafty evening.

Donna