Holly Jolly Day

 I have one more progressive challenge to get done this month. So my card today uses the image for The Outlawz Progressive challenge for December.

The image is from Moon Flower Digital Stamps called Gina Christmas Elf. I colored her with Spectrum Noir markers, fussy cut the image and then added some Stickles to areas of the image. The designer paper is from American Craft. The sentiment is from Doodle Pantry (sadly out of business). I die cut the image area with Gina Marie Designs Mosaic Triangle Squares. I had found a scrap of paper on my desk that I was going to use as the present and went looking for a bow to add to the top but found this fun 3D package that I added on top of the scrap. I am entering these challenges:

• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch 
  
• The Outlawz December Progressive Challenge: use Moon Flower Gina Christmas Elf
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes Christmas
• Merry Little Christmas Blog: anything Christmas goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: anything goes

We had the twins all day today. I am really worn out tonight. We had a blast. They got a marble run for Christmas and it was the first time they got to play with it. These 4 year olds don't have much of an attention span (usually) but Arthur spent all day playing with this marble run. Valerie flitted in and out and did some other things but I was amazed at how this held his attention. It was a great day with them! Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Health Care Worker Thank You

 Scribbles Designs has a "Give the Gift of Thanks This Holiday Season" event. They will give you an image and sentiment of your choice free if you make a card and send it to someone who is helping with the Covid-19 crisis. So I requested an image and sentiment and here is the card that I intend to send to my doctor's office.

The image that I requested is Brrr Health Care Worker. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and fussy cut it out. The designer paper is from my scrap box. The die cut is Spellbinders Heart Circles. I colored the heart area with a CR1 marker and then colored some of the cut out die hearts and put them back into several of the cut outs and added some to the white space in the circle. I chose this sentiment because I thought it was versatile for lots of things and I liked the script font. The sentiment is called Health Care Worker Thank You.  The base card is white card stock so I can add a personl note on the inside easily. You still have a couple days to order your free image and sentiment and play along. Our health care workers deserve a thank you, don't you think?

I am entering these challenges:

• Scribbles Designs Give the Gift of Thanks This Holiday Season: use your choice of image and sentiment
• The Outlawz Festive Friday challenge: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: anything goes

Hope your week is off to a great start. We are working at Teacher's Warehouse fixing some furniture that needs some help. Thanks for stopping by today. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Let It Snow

Happy Sunday! A new card today for one of the progressive challenges for December. Imagine That Digis by Kris gave us a fun image this month called Raymond's Snowman. 

I took the main Raymond image and digitally added it inside the circle image (also part of the set). I fussy cut the circle. For my background I was going to do emboss resist until I finally realized I don't have many larger snowflake stamps. Really? How can I be stamping this many years and not have snowflake stamps? So I knew I had snowflake dies. So I die cut a number of snowflakes and temporarily adhered them to my card base. Then I used Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink and inked around the die cut snowflakes. After I took the snowflake dies off the paper, I used two of the snowflakes at the bottom of the card with a green piece of card stock and the word "winter" from a piece of ribbon. 

On the inside I used a couple more of the inked snowflake dies to go with one of the sentiments from Raymond's Snowman stamp set. Hoping to use this for a February birthday. I am entering these challenges:

• Imagine That Digis by Kris Progressive challenge: use Raymond's Snowman
• MFT Birthday Project challenge: winter wonderland
• Pattie's Creations challenge: winter fun
• Jan's Digi Stamps challenge: anything goes
• The Outlawz Wednesday Sketch challenge: sketch 
  

Hope your Sunday is relaxing and creative. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Reindeer Games Day 7: A Color Challenge

Welcome back to my second post today. Just trying to finish up some challenges before time runs out this year. Can you believe it's almost time to ring in a new year! 2020 has been quite the experience! Will 2021 be better? I pray that's true! My other card for today is for a color challenge at Catch the Bug Reindeer Games.

Color challenges aren't my favorite kind of challenges but I do muddle my way through them sometimes. LOL! Here's my card:

The image was last week's freebie at Bugaboo Stamps. It's called AKV Reindeer - Skate. I combined the image with a Beccy's Place sentiment from Dasher and Dancer digital stamp set. The image is colored with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Cross Stitched Rectangles (retired). The designer paper is from my stash. That was the most difficult thing about this card. Trying to match the paper that I have to the colors in the challenge. The card base is a dark brown and I layered with dark brown and off white card stick. The main image is inked with Candied Apple Distress Oxide ink. The brown polka dot stripes are ribbon from my stash. To complete the card I added some brown self-adhesive gems in two of the corners. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos Day 7: color challenge
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch 
  
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Merry Little Christmas Blog: anything Christmas goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything Christmas goes

That's it for me today. I have a few other cards on my list before the end of the year but I am glad to have completed the Reindeer Games challenge. Thanks to Jodie and the design team for all the wonderful inspiration at Catch the Bug. And thanks for the extended time to get the challenge done. There is still time to play along if you'd like to. Thanks for stopping by. Please stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Day 6 in Reindeer Games

 I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and can sit back and relax this long weekend. After cleaning up the mess we made yesterday with opening gifts I decided to work on cards and challenges to try to get caught up. So today I am finishing off Bugaboo Reindeer Games challenges. Day 6 is a photo inspiration.

And here is my card:

I kept this card clean and simple. The image is Bugaboo's Chimney Reindeer Peeker. I had him printed and colored already on my desk. I fussy cut him. The stripes of designer paper are from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. The sentiment is from a retired stamp called Holiday Sentiments from Creative Visions. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos Day 6: photo inspiration (above)
• Atlantic Hearts Sketch challenge: sketch 400 
  
• Merry Little Christmas Blog: anything Christmas goes
• Winter Wonderland: anything Christmas goes
• The Outlawz Monday Greetings challenge: Christmas clean

I will be back a little later with Day 7 of the Reindeer Games challenge. It's been a very quiet day here. No twins to race around and make a mess like yesterday. But here's a picture of them enjoying one of their Christmas presents. They love to swing and now they can both do it at the same time if they want to.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a super day. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Reindeer Games Day 5: Make Us Laugh

 Merry Christmas! Hope your Christmas Day this year is relaxing and fun with your bubble family. We had the twins and their parents over for gifts and dinner and Zoomed with our two sons in Boston. This was the first Christmas that the twins really understood what was going on so it was lots of fun!

I am trying to finish up my Reindeer Games challenge from Bugaboo. Day 5's challenge is to make us laugh.

The image that I used is Bugaboo's Puppy - Enough Reindeer colored with Spectrum Noir markers and then fussy cut. The sentiment is from the same stamp set. The designer paper is from my scraps of Decosse's Dynamite Doodles with a kraft card base. I used MFT Single Stitch Line Rectangle Frame to die cut the sentiment and striped frame. I finished the image with Recollections Glitz Glitter on the pup's hat and Glossy Accents on the pup's nose. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Reindeer Games Day 5: make us laugh
• Sketch-N-Scrap: sketch
• Simon Says Wednesday challenge: sparkle and shine
• Tuesday Throwdown: anything goes
• Scrapping4Fun: Christmas or winter

As Christmas day 2020 closes out, I wish for you the joy that Christmas brings in the new born child Jesus, who came to save us all. May be be with you throughout the holiday season and throughout the coming year 2021! Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Reindeer Games Day 4 Bingo

 I am back today with the Bingo challenge from Bugaboo's Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos. This was such a fun card to make!

The image is Bugaboo's Reindeer Peeker. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with MFT Stitched Circles. I inked the edges with MFT Cherry Crisp ink. The designer papers are from my stash. I used up several scraps of designer paper. The sentiment and the packages are from MFT Happy Pawlidays stamp set and I used the coordinating dies to die cut each of the packages. The sentiment is die cut with Clear Designer Stamps Designer Labels (sadly out of business). I inked the sentiment with MFT Elf Green ink. To finish off I used a white gel pen to give a little definition to the bows on the packages, the ornaments on the reindeer and the candy cane. The reindeer nose has glossy accents on it. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Reindeer Games Day 4: Bingo (designer paper/Bugaboo image/die cut or bows/Bugaboo image/sentiment)
  
• Cheerful Sketches challenge: sketch 

  
• Crafter's Cafe challenge: holidays
• Simon Says Wednesday: Christmas critters
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: anything goes

The twins are coming tomorrow for lunch and they are staying the night. We are going to take them to see Christmas light displays after it gets dark. So I have to go cook dinner for tomorrow evening. I know from experience that you don't have time to cook while they are here. So if I only have to heat something up it goes a lot smoother. So that's my goal for the rest of the afternoon. Thanks for stopping by. Three more days to go with this challenge. Thanks to Bugaboo for giving us extra time this year! Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Anything But a Card

 Day 3 of Bugaboo's Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos is anything but a card challenge. What I was hoping to do before Thanksgiving was make sets of tags to give as gifts around Thanksgiving so the recipients could use them on Christmas gifts. Well, that didn't happen so I thought I'd start early for next year, I created this set of tags.

I used Bugaboo's Snowflake Reindeer Silhouette. I used my photo editing program to add some color to each of the reindeer. It's difficult to see in the photo but the yarn and stamping match the color of the reindeer. The ink colors I used were MFT Cherry Crisp and Elf Green and Distress Oxide inks Fossilized Amber and Seedless Preserves. Not sure why that one yarn looks blue because it's purple in real life. The "to" and "from" are from a retired Gina K stamp set called Holiday Greetings. I used an ek Success tag punch to punch the tags and a small hole punch to punch the hole for the yarn.

Here is the entire set of the tags. So I have a head start on next year! Hurrah! I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos Day 3: anything but a card
• Christmas Craft All Year 'Round: gift (set of tags)
• 613 Avenue Create: anything goes (vintage)
• Cupcake Inspiration: snowflakes
• Scrapping4Fun challenge: Christmas or winter

That's it for me tonight. I have some things to do tomorrow to get ready for having the twins overnight on Wednesday. We are going to take them out to see Christmas lights Wednesday evening. But I hope to get some crafty time tomorrow. Hope to see you back then. Thanks for stopping by. Please stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Reindeer Games Sketch

 Back home again this afternoon after a short visit with Tom's Dad to give him his Christmas presents and wish him a Merry Christmas as we won't be there for Christmas. It will be the first time that I can remember that we haven't been home for Christmas in over 45 years. But this is definitely a strange year. When we returned this afternoon I wanted to work on more of the Bugaboo Reindeer Games challenge. My card today is for Day 2's sketch challenge.

The image is Bugaboo's Reindeer Trio. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and fussy cut the image since it had a border around it. The stars are coated with Yellow Stickles. The background papers are from my stash. I die cut 4 small stars from MFT Pierced Star Stax and glued them together to give the star some dimension. It also has some Yellow Stickles on it. I am entering these challenges:

• Bugaboo Reindeer Games Holiday Chaos Day 2: sketch challenge 
  
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: anything goes
• Tuesday Throwdown: anything goes
• Merry Little Christmas challenge: anything Christmas goes
• Winter Wonderland: anything Christmas goes

I am glad to be back home and counting down to Christmas! We will have a quiet Christmas eve and Christmas day and our Christmas will be on Sunday. The twins and their parents will come for lunch and then we'll Zoom with our boys in Boston. So I have a couple extra day to put everything together. Thanks for stopping by today. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Catch the Bug Holiday Chaos

 Bugaboo has their Christmas challenge this week and the theme is Reindeer Games. I've been busy this week so this is the first opportunity I've had to actually start on the challenge. So my first card is all about Reindeer Games.

The image is Kidz Reindeer. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares. All the background papers are from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles. I backed each of the layers with black card stock. The sentiment is from my stash. I think it may have come from Doodle Pantry (sadly out of business). I finished off the card by adding some red stars. I am entering these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Holiday Chaos: Day 1 Reindeer Games
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
• Merry Little Christmas Blog: anything Christmas goes
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas: use the word "merry"
• Crafter's Cafe: holidays

I thought I would wait until tomorrow to post this but since I got the post finished I thought I'd just go ahead and post. Tomorrow we'll be busy with other things so here it is! Thanks for stopping by. Be safe and God bless.

Donna

Sympathy

 I finally got the cards sets completed that I am giving as Christmas gifts. I made 4 more birthday cards and 2 sympathy cards. I forgot to take pictures of the birthday cards when I got them done. I wrapped the cards and then thought how stupid that was. But I did get a picture of the two sympathy cards that I finished off the sets with.

The cards are similar but just a little different. I used the same die as the focal point: Birch Press Caprice Hearts die. This is a three layer die and I used scrap blues for each of the hearts. I used slightly different colors so they have a little different look. I inked the backgrounds with Salty Ocean and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide inks. The sentiments are from Simon Says Stamps Sympathy Greetings Mix. I used two of the greetings on the first card. The banner greeting is heat embossed on a black card stock banner. The second card I used Versa Fina Black Onyx ink to add the sentiment.  I love the hearts. I'll have to remember them when I start making Valentine's Day cards. I am entering these challenges.

• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• QKR Stampede: anything goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• Love to Craft: anything goes
• 613 Avenue Create: anything goes

I am super happy to have the card sets done. I am going to start on the Bugaboo Stamps Holiday Chaos challenge. I am so glad that they are giving us extra time to do the challenge this year. I just haven't had time this week and they are already on Day 6. Hope your week has gone well. Thanks for stopping by today. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

4 Times the Thanks!

 I am back again this evening with 4 more cards, all very similar in appearance but I used different images on each one. All the backgrounds are from a piece of wall paper scrap that I had lying around. It has a very nice texture to it. All the cards use the MFT Thank You Circle Frame cut from green scraps from my scrap box. All the images were die cut with MFT Stitched Circles (although you can't see the stitching as it is under the Thank You Circle Frame).  All images are from Beccy's Place.

Image: Beccy's Place Frog and Oleander

Sequins from my stash

Image: Beccy's Place freebie Peonies in a Vase

Sequins from Neat & Tangled

Image: Beccy's Place Wild Rose Digital Stamp set

Sequins from Neat & Tangled

Image: Beccy's Place freebie Mum's Flowers

Sequins from Neat & Tangled

I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place December challenge: use a Beccy's Place image and sequins
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter (card #1 has a frog)
• A Bit More Time to Craft Extra: anything goes
• 613 Avenue Create: anything goes

I really like these simple cards. I think those receiving the card sets for Christmas will like them too. I have two more sympathy cards I am working on right now. So I am getting closer to finishing up my card sets for Christmas gifts. Hope your week is off to a great start. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Get Well Wishes

 I am finally back again with my last get well card for my set of cards for Christmas gifts. I need 4 sets this year and I try to make them a variety of cards. 

The image is from Beccy's Place called Old Well Digital Stamps. I die cut the image with MFT Stitched Squares. All the layers are backed with black card stock and the base is also black card stock. The purple plaid is from my stash as it the green polka dot patterned paper. The purple with shite polka dotted ribbon is also from my stash. I used six sequins for embellishment. After adhering the sequins I added Gina K Crystalline Drops to each sequin to give them some extra sparkle. The inside of the card uses a sentiment from the Old Well stamp set "Get Well Wishes." I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place challenge: Beccy's Place image and use sequins
• Sweet Sketch Wednesday 2: sketch 
  
• Love to Craft: anything goes
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts challenge: anything goes

I hope to get more cards done this afternoon. I need to finish my sets off this week. Yesterday we had the twins all day. I was hoping to get them to cooperate to make a Christmas ornament for their parents but they weren't too interested. In fact my DH brought over a pan of water to wash their hands after doing hand print, and Valerie was much more interested in playing in the water than painting her hand and making prints.

And Arthur got into a matching game on the computer with my help!

Thanks for stopping by! Hope all is well in your little area of the world. Please stay safe and God bless!

Donna

Wishing You Well

 I can't believe how many things are cropping up and preventing me from crafting this week. Seems like every day I think I'll have time and the time just evaporates. But this afternoon I just decided I was going to get a card done for some of my Christmas card gifts. 

The image is from Bugaboo Stamps called Wishing You Well. I colored the image with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut it with MFT Inside and Out Stitched Rounded Squares. I backed the image layer with black card stock. Behind the image is a blue card stock piece embossed with Cuttlebug Distressed Stripes embossing folder. The plaid paper is from my stash. The card base is black card stock. The twine is from Paper Sweeties. The little tag is from Impression Obsession  Mini Rectangle Tags 2. The sentiment is from the same Bugaboo set as the image. I inked the words with Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink and then cut the words apart. I am entering theses challenges:

• Catch the Bug: anything goes
• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch 
  
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Sweet Stampers: anything goes
• Creative Knockouts: anything goes

I need one more get well card to finish those out for my Christmas card gifts. So that will be my objective tomorrow before the twins come to spend Sunday with us. Always something going on around here. Thanks for stopping by! Please stay safe and God bless. 

Donna

Happy Birthday

 I really hadn't meant to take an entire week off from crafting but since I crafted almost every day in November and I had some things to catch up on around the house. And I wrote and mailed my Christmas cards. We had the twins twice in the last week; one of them was an overnight last night. I was up with both of the kids last night so I am tired this evening. I am trying to get some card sets put together for Christmas gifts. So this is a birthday card I made using a napkin.

The background balloons is the napkin. Likely it's from Dollar Tree but I've had them for a while. I matted it with black card stock on a green card base. The sentiments are new to me from Simons Says Stamps. These came from the CZ Designs birthday set. You just cut them out and glue them on. Very handy! This was a pretty easy to do card. I am entering these challenges:

• The Outlawz Festive Friday: anything goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• A Bit More Time to Craft Extra: anything goes
• Love to Craft: anything goes
• 613 Avenue Create: anything goes

That's it for me tonight. I hope to get a good night's sleep tonight since I won't have to sleep with my eyes open and get up with the twins several times. Hope you are all well. Stay safe and God bless!

Donna

12 Months of Christmas Link Up New Challenge

 Today begins a new challenge at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. Usually the team has December off but I had an extra minute to put a card together so I told Lisa I'd  help out. Our sponsor this month is Scribbles Designs and our theme is anything goes with no optional twist this month. 

I used Scribbles Designs Dog Bone colored with Spectrum Noir markers and die cut with Gina Marie Designs Mosaic Triangle Edge Squares. I backed the square with black card stock. The sentiment is also from Scribbles Designs called Happy Howl-idays. I die cut the sentiment with MFT Pierced Fishtail Flags (retired) and inked with Salty Ocean Distress Oxide ink. The background papers are fun. The paw prints are from Decosse's Dynamite Doodles Pawsome Holidays.

I found a few fun embellishments in my stash. I think they really fit great with the card! I am entering these challenges:

• Try Stampin' On Tuesday: sketch and optional twist non-traditional Christmas
• Scribbles Designs challenge: layer it up
• Sparkles Christmas challenge: non-traditional colors
• A Bit More Time to Craft: anything goes
• 2 Crafty Critter Crazies: use a critter

It's time to get those last minute cards ready to go. I hope you'll play along with this easy challenge at 12 Months of Christmas Link Up. Thanks for stopping by. Stay safe and God bless

Donna