Wonderful Cards

I have recieved so many wonderful Christmas cards this year, but check out these four handmade cards, aren't they wonderful? I wanted to share these works of art with everyone because I just treasure them. Thank you Jodi, Jamie, Liz and Trina, I love them!

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Unfortunately this year I just did not get it together in time, so I only whipped out a few of these that are going in the mail today, lol. Oh the card makers friends and family never get any cards, just like the shoe makers kids have no shoes. Isn't that the way though? This has been a busy season for me and most of this month, my extra time was spent shopping and just spending some time with my wonderful husband Joe (we are addicted to "Friday night lights" which we are watching on his X-box through net flicks.) and my son Jeep. Jeep has had a wonderful Christmas Season and is just chomping at the bit for tomorrow. His Birthday is the 26th and so this time of year is a double whammy for him and he LOVES it!

I saw this card and could not resist! Santa to me represents the spirit of giving and love for all children and mankind. St Nicholes is my fav!

I hope you have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.....for those that celebrate the season only, Have a wonderful time and Season Greetings.

Lucky and Blessed

Hi All,

Well, I have not had time to sit down in a creative mood and make anything this week, but I have been lucky and I have been blessed.

A few weeks back I blogged about work stress and asked for some prayers. I want to thank those of you who prayed because God indeed opened up new doors. My last day of work is tomorrow and I start my new job on the 27th. I am really looking forward to working with some great ladies who also share in my passion for stamping! What could be better than that? More money and better benefits! lol. God doesn't hand mediocre blessings.

You know lately I have been into being compliant with my medical checks. I'm a nurse and we are notorious for not practising what we preach. lol. So the first thing I did was go for a mammogram. It was only a year overdue, so I am not feeling too badly about that. But it came back "suspicious." So I had to go back and get a "cone mammogram" (OUCH) and an ultrasound. Did you know when you get a mammogram you are not supposed to wear deodorant? They think that might have been the suspicious looking creature on my first mammogram, lol. Did you know when you get a chest ultrasound that they also ultrasound your armpits? Weird huh? I wasn't expecting that one, lol. The initial mammogram did not hurt, it was not uncomfortable, it was more of a awkward thing than anything. The cone mammogram however, was a tight squeeze and just when I thought she was squeezing all I could stand, the machine squeezed a little more. The girls were not happy, but they understood the necessity. So anyway, I did not realize how much I was holding my breath over these results until today. I actually went to the radiology facility and asked for copies of my results. And thankfully, I know what I'm reading. Benign is a very good word. And under recommendation: regular mammogram check next year. Yippee! This was another great blessing.

First thing this morning, I learned that I had won blog candy from Ann! Whooo Hooo! The only thing better than stampin' up bling is free stampin' up bling! Thank you Ann for the wonderful blog candy! And Colleen sent me a message to let me know! That was lucky.

I won a blog hop from My Favorite Things and just used my $15.00 winnings tonight, can't wait to get the cute stamps in the mail! Thank you My Favorite Things! That was lucky.

I won the blog hop for Joan's ginormous challenge and got some free cuttlebug folders and a snowflake die from Spellbinders! Thank You Joan! That was lucky.

I met my husband for lunch today and the sandwich place was jammed packed, no parking that I could see from the corner. So I decided to go ahead and look in their very small parking lot, because the street parking was taken. As I went to pull in, someone was pulling out of a spot right next to the door and I got in it! That was lucky.

I was picking up some things I needed from Walgreen's the other day and the magic machine spit out a $15.00 off coupon. You know those annoying coupons for things you don't use or never would buy that come out of those? Wow, $15.00 with few restrictions and no limit. So I bought some stocking stuffers today! That was lucky.

So I decided to buy a lottery ticket today, lol. Pushing my luck and blessings or just ready to keep receiving? God has no limits, but he does know what is best for me. So I am asking for a winning ticket knowing that would be in my best interest, lol.

But quite honestly, I feel like huge burdens have been lifted from my soul and my heart and I'm ready to let go and enjoy every single thing, luck or blessings, and be thankful.

Happy last minute holiday stuff!
Holly

Blue Belt Testing

Friday night Jeep had his Blue Belt testing in Tae Kwon Do. He currently has a purple belt. He was a bit nervous, but he knew his form well. Isn't he just the cutest thing ever in his little uniform? We are so very proud of him, he works really hard to memorize and perfect his form.

Merry Keurig to me!

This is what I got for Christmas! I know, I should not pick out my Christmas gift, but I NEEDED it! lol.

Not trying to keep up with the Jones' but my long time coffee maker friend died a few weeks ago. I made Joe run out and buy any cheap coffeemaker because I don't even try to function first thing in the morning without coffee. The cheap coffee maker made weak and luke warm coffee. For a while I tried to "make do." But just before my long time friend coffee maker died, I had a cup of coffee at a fellow Stampin' Up club members home. It was so space age tech that I had no idea how it worked. But once I learned and I had a cup of that FABULOUS Paul Newman's Own Organic Bold, I was in love!

We searched for the same coffee maker we had before. After all, it did make perfect coffee and we still had many many filters for it. lol. They have a newer version and it somehow did nothing for me as far as my "want" button goes. So while out Christmas shopping for the little ones yesterday, Joe kept bringing me by the coffee makers and pointing out that Keurig had less expensive versions. UH HUH, and we also have a less expensive version of a "real" thing, I rationed. So I told him that this was the one I wanted and no, I didn't think that spending so much for a coffee maker was a rationale thing for us to do. Because OMG that is a lot of stampy stuff you know? lol. I told him perhaps for Mother's Day or my Birthday or some occation after the mad Christmas rush. This is a luxury item, after all. And by the way, they are more expensive on line, in the stores they are quite a bit less expensive.

And then we walked into Sam's Club and they had it. A whole stack of them. They came with 60 K-cups and a fill it yourself K-cup filter. OMG! Joe did not need to convince me very long. It was the right price, it had lots of extras and it was the beloved one I wanted and now it's in my KITCHEN!!!!! Yipppeeee.

On the cold winter nights, I like to drink Starbucks Calm tea and I have the teabags at home. So if Joe and I want tea, I have to microwave the water for 3 minutes, each cup. Not anymore, now I can brew out hot water in less than a minute for each cup!!!!

Prior to tasting this coffee at club night, I would never have given this coffee maker a second glance. I am not a "one cup" of coffee person. It's not really in my budget, lol, and it's not something I would have ever considered. So beware! If one of your friends offers you a cup of coffee from their Keurig and you are a coffee lover, you will never be satisfied until you can have this in your kitchen! lol. Now if only Sister could send me more cookie crack to go with my new coffee crack! lol.

Thank you Joe for the wonderful Christmas present, I LOVE IT! And I love you. Because if I want it really really super bad, you will insist that I have it no matter how irrational I am.

hollyesters.com

Sister's website is up and running now, okay to order your toffeebread (cookie crack!) lol.

Another Cattitude Card

Last week, when I made my last Cattitude with the same dp, I saw Jodi's card and I loved it too, so I had to Kopykat her as well, lol.

Hope you like it.

JG1202, QFTD posey's

Oh these posy's! I love them. This card satisfies three needs. The Queen for the Day challenge on Splitcoast where ksnurse, Sheri, is our 38th Queen. I chose her card here.

Then there is the Joan's Gardens Challenge and this is the last day to upload any new entrees. The rules are to use Heartfelt Stamps only, this uses Posy Patch flowers HCPC 3303. And Elegant single leaves HCPC 3314.

Then there is the fact that Joan's mother is going to be 96 this month and we shall shower her with cards for a very special birthday indeed. So this will be mailed out to her this week.

I love these posy's and seem to find different ways to use them. the leaves are so great, perfect sizes for any floral. I used my Stampin' Up designer paper, cottage wall. I also died my own seam binding to match. I love seam binding for ribbon! I used two martha stewart punches for the lattice and the foliage.

Hope you are having a great day!

Remembering Elizabeth Edwards

No, we were not besties, lol, but I had a lot of respect for Elizabeth Edwards. I cannot image losing a child, that would be the single most devastating thing I can think of. I am not sure I would be able to breath or even want to, but she did. And she continued to be grateful and try to make a difference. And then she got breast cancer and she tackled that face on. And then it came back when she was out there trying to get her husbands name out there and telling everyone how wonderful he was and bring votes coming in. Meanwhile, he was out cheating on her. So she was dealing with Cancer and he was cheating. And then she had to publicly deal with the fact that he was cheating on her. And still she was well poised and grateful. And when she found out he had a child out of wedlock, she had enough. She continued to fight the cancer until very recently and she died today. And I want to say that she made a difference to so many women both Republican and Democratic, she was so strong. And I also want to say that I hope she turned his indoor basketball court into a great big scraproom! lol. And if given the opportunity, I hope she can come back to haunt him often.

Snowman tag card

I don't know where I got this idea, but I love these easy little gift tag cards. I bought 6X6 samples of Candy Cane Christmas with Jamie's dsp share and I have been able to make the most from these and the scraps. LOVE it. The snowman is from Tags til Christmas, both SU.

Tags!

When I saw Inking Idaho's tags, I had to scraplift them right away. These are going out to sister for her toffeebread packages, she is having a display this weekend.

I love this love letter dsp from SU, I used Riding Hood Red and Old Olive as well as ribbon. I used the tags til Christmas SU set for the sentiment. I could not find a To and From stamp that I know I have around here somewhere, lol, so I used my white gel pen and wrote it myself. I also used my tab punch and ran it through the big shot with the lattice folder. LOVE it!

Joan's Garden Challenge JG1202

Joan is having another great challenge and when I read the prize, I knew I had to take some time out and whip this up. The color inspiration came from this card.

I used Heartfelt Creations posy patch swirls HCPC 3304 and Posy Patch Flowers precut HCPC 3303 along with a border punch, my Spellbinders Nestie and Ella Blue gcd paper. Ink: Versafine Vintage Sepia - I was so thrilled to find out this matched so well. I sponged it onto the bg of my frame as well to keep the same color combination.

Hope you like it and cross your fingers I win, I would be so thrilled!

Push Mobile Cub Scout Race

This is my Jeepy driving and it looks like he had a wonderful time today. He is so proud that his dad is the one who builds these for his pack every year. He goes around telling everyone, lol.

They won the most spirited award this year! Whooot! We love trophies.

Cub Scout Push mobile winners!

This is Jeep (right), Joe (middle) and fellow cubscouter, Rory. And the push mobile that my Hottie (Joe - yeah he's taken girls, so sorry) made. The right is a cut out Wolf head (they are the Wolf pack) and the left is the tail. And the middle is the "most spirited award". The boys painted it with their scout colors and apparently they had a wonderful time at the races today.

My First Teapotter Tuesday

I've been seeing the Teapotter's on Splitcoast Stampers for over a year now, but this is the first time I have been able to participate in one of their Tuesdays. Luckily, this is a special Tuesday and this card will go to someone who needs cheering up and loves cats.

When I read that she loved cat's, I immediately thought of my uninked "Cattitude" stamp set by There She Goes. And so I went there for some inspiration and found this card. Yes, I am a shameless KopyKat aren't I? lol.

I didn't even realize that the teal was wrong until I was done, but it's still good. I also did not have a green card stock to match the pixilicious dsp, so I used a prisma pencil and went all around the edges and then used the gamsol to spread it around. I love that. I also had some seam binding that I dyed with olive green and it came out light, so this was a good match as well. I colored the cat with prisma colored pencils and used gamsol. I paper pierced around all those edges but I don't know if it really shows up well in the picture. The purple cardstock is some PTI I had in my stash, it matches the pixilicious really well. I used my SU punches for the sentiment and added brads and a heart wire.

Thanks for looking, I hope you are having a fabulous week.

It's in the bag

I saw this bag uploaded on SCS and wanted to make a larger version, I just love this. Any ideas what I can put in the bag? Oh yeah, I am sending this to Sister to put a bag of Toffeebread into for a gift. lol. It's the perfect size.

I used bells and boughs stamps on a regular lunch bag. Colored it in with Always Artichoke and Cherry Cobbler ink using blender pens. I also used my tags til Christmas set on the tag with C.C. ink. The beautiful silk ribbon was a gift from Linda, thank you! I used my scallop punch to punch the top of the bag and the bottom of the tag to match.

I saw this card and wanted to finally use my PTI set, on my couch. I didn't really like this dsp I got in a sampler from my friend/on line demo Jamie, until I saw this card and was inspired to use it. It's Perfect for a fall couch card! lol.

Stuff: On my couch and additions from PTI. buttons from SU, dsp: Autumn Spice from SU mini, Memento black ink, Cajun Craze ink, Spellbinders nesties, early espresso and pear pizzazz card stock. Ribbon is May Arts from my stash.

Wood Grain Tag Holder

I saw this card on SCS and wanted to try to KopyKat using my wood grain background stamp. I really like the rustic feel to this one.

I used my wood grain background stamp and stamped soft suede onto vanilla card stock. Then I sponged with soft suede, crumb cake, creamy Carmel and vanilla. I used my fancy tags spellbinders die with vanilla card stock. I used old olive and riding hood red card stock. My Martha Stewart branch punch and some dew drops I had in my stash. I also used vintage brads (retired from SU.) As well as the retired gingham ribbon in real red.

Tags some more

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*******************************************I found my sizzix tags die! lol. On the prior tags I had to use my Spellbinders large scallop squares die to make the tops of the tags and then while rummaging through my stuff, I found the tags die I forgot I bought! I love that! It's like Christmas to find something you need right that minute. lol.

I used Patterned pines on these two tags and bells and boughs Christmas greeting on the one.

I have looked at numerous tags on line and so I cannot recall who did what, but thanks to all the lovely crafters out there for sharing their ideas and inspiring me!

Tag, your it!

I saw this cute little card and wanted to KopyKat it into some tags for Christmas. What a great idea to make the dsp into packages, I love it!

I used Candy Cane Christmas dsp, oval punches, and tiny tags and matching punch from SU. I got the Bakers twine from Really Reasonable Ribbons. And I used real red cardstock as well as Baja Breeze.

Queen for the Day 37, for Kathy

Congratulations Kathy, I just love this card you made. Of course I don't have that pure innocence image......yet, lol, but I did use this one. Part way into Kopykating your card, I just decided I could not cover any of more of this cute little designer paper, so I left out the other panels and made it a quick and simple card.

I got a sample of this designer paper from my on line friend/demo Jamie. Now that it's sold out I wished I would have just bought a whole pack, lol. Isn't that the way it goes though? lol.

Details: My Favorite things Pure Innocence "merry kissmas", Stampin' up Candy Cane Christmas dsp, real red and baja breeze card stock, red bling by Kaiser Kraft, branch punch from Martha Stewart. And yes, I used cool shadow copics on my snowman, lol. Dazzling diamonds glitter.

Queen For the Day 36

Congratulations to Maxell on her rein last week for the Queen for the Day challenge. My goodness, what an amazing gallery. I saw her card using the retired S.U. Peaceful Wishes and came across this upload as well. I have had these tiles waiting for me to do something with for over a year now, lol, and wanted to make some festive Christmas tiles. Maxell, thank you so much for sharing a wonderful gallery and for your inspiration.

Tiles were purchased at home depot in the flooring department. I have 4 ink pads in Craft ink from SU and used three here: Chocolate chip, old olive and Rose Red. I then used some Champagne Mist Shimmer Paint from S.U. that I mixed with rubbing alcohol and stored in a mini mister, just gives it a subtle shimmer. Bake at 325 for 30 minutes, let cool and then spray on crystal clear semi gloss finishing spray (I added some more shimmer mist while this was wet) and let dry. I will place some cork with adhesive on the bottoms.

Tags til Chrismas treat holder

This was the final project of our SU club. We used an envie and sealed it, cut it sideways at the two inch mark. Ran the bottom through a crimper, layered the top with Candy Cane Christmas dsp and real red card stock and then used real red ribbon. We stamped the tag with real red and cut out with the square Scallop punch, and layered on a piece of baja breeze. Inside is a mini bag of skittles. So cute!

Contempo Christmas Gift card Holder

We made this in our Club night as well, and I am loving the Contempo Christmas set. I told myself I had ordered enough Christmas sets and to just be good, but oh, I could not do it and for $11.95 for the clear set, I just could not be that good! lol. That top layer is adhered to the left hand flap, as well as the bottom tag. Under the top flap is a slot for a gift card. When I first saw this card sample, I was a bit confused and thought it might be difficult, but it turned out to be very easy and so cute. Love the little rhinestone brad on the top of the ornament too.

I THINK this is pear pizzazz, real red and melon mambo.

Thanks for looking

Club Tag

Hi, we made this in our S.U. club on Thursday night. I LOVE IT!!!! Isn't this a cute idea? Thank you Rhonda!

The ribbon is the cherry cobbler seam binding from the mini. No sewing required, but Rhonda had this amazing idea. First we tied on the ribbon, then we dampened the ends with water, arranged the ruffled look and held it with a fork (yes, the eating utensil fork), and then heated that side up with fork in place using our embossing heating guns. OMG, what an amazing discovery! The ribbon just stays right in place.

She cut the tag using the two tags die with Crumb Cake paper. Ran the early espresso through the big shot with finial press folder, the Deck the Hall's dsp was cut using a 1 1/4 square punch. The Always artichoke label was punched using the new Decorative Label punch, the leaves were cut with a big shot using the little leaves sizzlits die and the bird was made using cherry cobbler card stock with the two step extra large bird punch and also ran through the finial press folder, with a little pearl for the eyes for a final touch. The peace on earth is from the Four the Holidays set. So sorry I did not order this now, but you know, I gotta stop somewhere, lol. The words were stamped with Early Espresso and everything was sponged with Early Espresso. I'm loving all the tags this year and this is one of my fav's!

OMG, I'm in the basket!

Sister was out shopping the other day and saw this in a customer's cart, so she took a quick picture with her phone, (sneaky!) Isn't that too much? I'm in the basket, lol.

The Toffeebread Spread

My Sister had a Toffeebread (tm) tasting and ended up selling most of these bags, I'm telling you, it's fabulous! Once you taste it, you HAVE to have more, lol. I'm still waiting Sister! lol.

Chef-a-bella

I saw the cutest card design on SplitCoastStamper's and I had to KopyKat this! She is pure genius! I knew I had cosmo cricket "material girl" here somewhere......after the great hunt, I found it and it did not include the cute little dp sheet she had used. So I continued to hunt and hunt. I was thinking, "Okay, there must be something matchy around here somewhere." lol. I found it in DCWV The cafe Mediterranean matstack. I like it! I had one sheet of not quite so navy left in this stack and was so thrilled. I cannot remember who's blog I read the little trick to use the Spellbinders big scallop rectangle to make the borders with, but whomever it was, a great big hug and thank you to you! I used PTI cream card stock and Kaiser pearls. The ribbon is from my stash and I wanna say it's also PTI, but I cannot be sure.

Needless to say, I got very little done around here today, lol.

Thanks for looking.

Holly

Aviary

This is the cutest little stamp set, I had to have it. I saw Iliana's card and had to use what I had to come close to her design. So adorable. My on-line demo sent me little samples of the in-color dsp, so I was able to use that here. Thanks Jamie!

I had purchased some samples of the older designer series dsp and still have most of it, so I was able to find some pumpkin pie dsp for the middle layer. The top layer is pear pizzazz. I did not have the Early Espresso ribbon, so I substituted all the brown with chocolate chip, although I will admit, it looks much richer in the Espresso. I also used my teeny tiny wishes and the yummy SU pearls, I can't seem to get over these, perfect size, easy to use.

Thanks for looking.

Unity Tree

I love this Unity Tree and will never tire of using it, lol. It's one of my go-to stamps. This is a second card for the QFTD35 challenge at splitcoaststamper's. Here is Sue's card that gave me inspiration.

And here is another Theresa Momber card that I loved the design.

So I combined the two fabulous cards and came up with this. I added some bling in the tree because I loved that idea. lol.

This is another card that will be going out to Michelle, our QFTD34, for her kids. I was thinking sometimes they have teenagers getting chemo and cutsie cards don't always work for them.

I used Unity Tree by Unity. Big scallop Nestie - I did the out of the box technique and then cut down the first layer. I sponged on PTI aquamist and used the same color card stock for the background that was embossed with a cuttlebug folder. Followed by a black border and used another PTI red. I also used my S.U. teeny tiny wishes for the sentiment. And the windows and modern label punches.

Thanks for looking.

Rhonda's Christmas Tag

This is the cutest little Christmas tag I have seen! I love the pink and Kraft with the vanilla. My local SU demo made these and had them hanging from a teeny tiny pink Christmas tree. Oh it was a beautiful site. Why do I have one? Well, if you ordered enough you got to take one home and there was a folded note on the back that had a prize. My prize was mini lunch sacks that will be coming with my order. I love free stuff but what in the world will I ever do with those sacks? hmmmmm, will need to critically think about this. I do have Jeep's birthday coming up, I wonder if they are going to be big enough for goodie bags? Anyway, I made her stop everything and tell me the ingredients of this tag. She used the tags die for the shape, fancy foliage for the words on the blushing bride card stock that she cut out with the new decorative label punch. Christmas post for the mail date on kraft, dp out of the mini, boughs and bells for the background stamping, one of the new embossing folders, vintage something, lol. One of the new blingy brads in the mini and some satin ribbon that she ran some stitching through. I think it's beautiful. LOVE it. And wanted to share it with you. Thanks Rhonda!

Christmas Stamp-a-stack

My local demo, Rhonda, had a Christmas Stamp-a-stack last night. These are the cards we made. They are S.U. only. My favorite is the gate fold red and green. It was great to get out of the house and yak while doing my favorite thing. Plus, how great is it that I can go somewhere else, meet other people that are as addicted to the craft as I am, and have everything all set out and cut ready for me to stamp and assemble? Pretty darn terrific! We made three of each.

Tropical Party Sponging

This is for the Queen For the Day today, Sue. Here is her card that inspired me. I love this set and it seems I will never get tired of using it, so I am glad I bought it before it expired.

I was trying to channel Theresa Momber's sponging skills. She is the bomb when it comes to sponging a perfect scene, so I used her tutorial and this is my creation for the day.

This is also going in the mail to the QFTD 34, as Michelle is not able to carry on her mission to provide children cards to the Chemo kids and sympathy cards to the parents who lose those children. It's not too late to get involved and help out, the information is here and if you send Anne a message, she would be happy to let you know where to send any cards. Michelle suffers from MS and has not been able to recover from the summer heat so that she may continue crafting. We are hoping she will feel better soon, but in the meantime, all donations would really help those little one's and the parents out.

Stamps: Tropical party, teeny tiny wishes.

Ink: Memento black, cantaloupe, Tangelo, grape jelly, angel pink, rose bud.

also SU basic gray, and copics C5, C7, C3

Paper piercing with mat by SU, window and modern label punch by SU

Paper: SU white, no name black, PTI pink.

Thanks for looking!

Happy Birthday Hottie

Guess who's birthday it is tomorrow? That's right, it's my Hotties Birthday! And he is my biggest supporter in this hobby, lol, literally and figuratively speaking, lol. I've been so busy with work these past six days that I haven't had a chance to really think about what I would make him. I went to my "favorites" on SCS, (what a cool feature huh? A place to store all the cards I want to KopyKat later on.) And came across this one I had tagged as a favorite.

I just love the way she did her tie. I tried to get that satin to appear as relaxed as hers, but no can do, lol. I loved her card design though. I used Stampin Up's Riveting set. Pear Pizzazz and Chocolate Chip ink. I used October Afternoon's Fly a Kite dp and PTI's dark brown. And a vintage brad from S.U.

Thanks for looking. I hope he likes it!

QFTD34 Part Two; There she goes Puppy Love

This is another card going to Shellapoo/Michelle. I could not make one for a girl and not one for a boy, lol. I actually KopyKat'd another Holly! You can see her card here. She did such a fabulous job with hers, I almost hated to post this, lol, but it was a lot of fun to make. I REALLY love these puppy love stamps from There she goes, they are so adorable.

I decided to use a stamp from a retired Stampin' Up set, Bow Wow, for the background. I colored the hearts real red with a marker adn the bones river rock. Then I sponged a retired color (lol) creamy caramel on that. I used real red for the fence and used a similar punch that Holly used. Then I had to figure out how to make it look "fence like." So I used my copics Grey's to make lines and shadows and sponged on some creamy caramel onto that. I colored the puppy in copics and SU markers real red and regal rose. The other colors on the Nestie octagon are copics. I added a black octagon to layer and some Recollection bead stickers onto that. The ribbon was a great win from Really Reasonable Ribbons.

Pure Innocence Christmas for the QFTD 34

This weeks Queen for the Day is Michelle, AKA Shellapoo. She makes cards for children and sends them to a children's hospital for children with cancer. Anne Ryan explained that Michelle has not been able to make a card since May due to her M.S. So the request is to make a card for a child and send it off to Michelle so she can forward some more cards on to the hospital. As you can image, this is right up my alley and something I want to make a priority to continue to do as often as I can. Michelle, I hope you are able to make cards soon!

This card of Shellapoo's reminded me of my little pure innocents stamps begging to be inked. I did not have her image but I decided I could substitute. It just so happened that the featured card on SCS was this one. Oh it called to me, so I used her lovely card design. Okay, I totally KopyKat'd her whole card, but I did use different paper, lol.

I think my card is smaller than the original. I made it 4X51/2. I used Riding Hood Red for the bases. I used Basic Grey's Eskimo Kisses dsp. Nestie oval and scallop oval, as well as the tag. A corner rounder punch for the tops. I used a snowflake punch for the corner and layered with bakers twine (that I got from Really Reasonable Ribbon) and a button. Someone asked how I paper pierced these images. It's very easy, you just stamp the image on designer paper and then fussy cut outside of the black, apply glue and adhere to another stamped image. I color first though. I water colored the RHR on the snowman and scarf, mitten and boots. I used copics for her skin and the snowman. Last I used my glue pen and added some Stampin' Up's dazzling diamonds and oh the shimmer is so much better in real life!

I am so excited to be able to send this card to Michelle to forward to the hospital.

Morning Cup

Oh yes, a morning without coffee ... is like sleep. Until someone wants something, looks at me, or starts talking, then a morning without coffee is like...Waking Vampira, lol.

I saw this card on some one's blog and then went in search for it on Splitcoast Stampers and found it! I absolutely loved her design. I added another layer and a punched border but really it was just too perfect to change. I think she might have used black brads, but they are a challenge for me to place in just the right spot, so I cheated and used pearls, lol.

Stamps: Morning Cup by SU - current (I love the new wood less stamps they sell, they are so much easier to use on an acrylic block.

DSP: Love letter - current. I love this paper and think I might hyperventilate if I run out, lol, good thing I can get more! I used Riding Hood Red and Very Vanilla card stock.

Ink: Memento tuxedo black, and I used chocolate chip for sponging the edges.

Other: pearls, two punched borders, twine.

I stamped the cups and pot on riding hood red card stock and also on the designer paper and cut them out. After cutting out the pot I remembered I had recently purchased a Fiskar's fingertip control swivel knife. OMG, it cuts like buttah! Those little itty bitty holes in the cup handles were no problem and so I know I am going to be using this a lot. I stamped the coffee pot on the Very Vanilla card stock and then added the layers. The card size is 4X 51/2. I think the border reaches a little above the 4 inches though.

Thanks for looking!

Halloween 2010

This is what our Halloween looked like this year. Joe decorated the front of the house with spider webbing. You cannot see in the picture but on the front siding there are masks hanging and they look very very ugly. In lieu of a pumpkin, we opted for a pumpkin mask around a ball, looked scary when it got dark, lol. Inside the window was a Haunted House figurine that a witch and a ghoul flew around the top. We had scary music playing on the CD right under the window too.

Since we were taking Jeep out trick or treating, we put a chair outside the door with a bowl full of candy and a note that said, "The dead command you to take one, and only one candy." Jeep came up with that one, lol. When we got home, there indeed were only a few candies taken from the bowl. We don't get too many trick or treaters but we like to go all out anyway, lol.

This year Jeep's best friend Luke, wanted him to come over with some other friends and go trick or treating in their neighborhood. So we dressed him up as Harry Potter and off we went. Luke is Zorro. We took a group shot of all the boys and Joe got a picture of Jeep and Luke in the action. They had a ball. The ran, laughed, talked, argued, and laughed some more. Luke's dad owns a Little Cesar's pizza and we are always spoiled with some pizza before any group event.

Jeep is such a wonder. He has two parents dotting on his every need and still he has the softest heart and truly appreciates every little thing. He is an absolute joy to be around. Other parents know him from school and the daycare he attended prior to going to school and they will sometimes run across a store yelling, "JEEP!" just to come and say hello. He loves to talk to everyone. What a little personality.

Well this concludes my bragging for now, lol. Many thanks to kind folks that left their lights on and handed out candy this year. The kids absolutely find this whole tradition thrilling and quite fun.

God's Beauty fall card

Yippee, Hurray! I finally found some time and creativity to make a card. I'm a week late on our Queen for the Day challenge card. I saw Broom's card here and went searching for my leaf stamps. Okay, I pulled all of them and tried to think about what I would do. Then I went looking through the galleries and saw this card. And kinda used the best of both worlds here. lol.

Work is sucking the life out of me. All my energy and creativity are drained. I am tapped out. At the end of the day, I have nothing left for anyone or anything. I just don't like to live that way. If it were the actual task at hand it would business as usual, but there is lots of added unnecessary stress. Things I have no control over. And so I find myself asking myself, "Is it time to make a change?" Does God have something else in mind for me at this point in life? And so I need to explore those options. And if you wouldn't mind helping me say a little prayer, that would be so appreciated.

For this card I used:

Stamps: God's Beauty - retired from SU, Teeny tiny wishes - current SU

Ink: Crushed Curry - retired SU "in color", soft suede - current

DSP: razzleberry lemonade - retired, Bermuda bay and crushed curry - retired

Other: Beautiful wings emboss lit and border punch -both SU and current. Bermuda bay ribbon - retired. Watercolor brush, sponges.

I hardly used any of the retired "in color" things when they were in and now I'm finding that I really like how they work together for fall, lol.

Thoughts from Reed

I have not had time to create anything this week! I am so going through stampy withdrawls. lol. I did make a card last week for my grandson Reed and had to get it in the mail so it would get there on time. My daughter called me last night to let me know that Reed had actually "borrowed" a card from someone else because he liked it. And when you are four and you like something, it's yours. lol. So she coerced him into giving it back because his Grama Holly sent him his own card. So I talked with him and he thanked me. However he did have one piece of advice for me. He said, "You should put some decoration on the inside Grama Holly, instead of all those words." I nearly fell off my seat laughing. Of course I am going to decorate the inside of the next card I send him and I think for the rest of my life, I will always have something on the inside of his cards. He is "IT" for me. He is the only single thought I can have that warms my whole heart up and makes me know that life goes on. And it does. And it's even better with the decorations on the inside.

Dad's Cake

Just a quick update (before I arrive to work late again, lol), on last nights cub scout bake sale. Each cub scout den got together and voted on their favorite baked good to do a live auction bid with. Jeep thought his dad's cake had it in the bag and was very animated and excited. Well, unfortunately there was this cake with a hatchet and a hand and a bunch of rats and well, you know, it was one of those 7 year old, "Oh that is cool!" So that cake won the vote for a live auction bidding. Well that just did not sit well with Jeep and while he was determined not to cry, he was still leaking tears a little. His den leader saw how upset he was and went over and bid $25.00 for our cake. Which made it the 2nd highest bidding cake of the night. Okay, I am not sure why one of the cakes was going for $32.00 but whatever, lol. So once I pointed out that the hatchet cake went for $12.00 and our cake went for $25.00, Jeep felt much better and happy again.

But then little Kenneth was crushed. He just loved the cake that Joe made. I think they named it scary hill cake. lol. So then he was all upset. I talked with Joe and we were actually thinking about making Kenneth his own scary hill cake, when I saw Kenneth's mom walking out with the cake. The den leader gave his cake away to Kenneth. So sweet! And what a great guy to bid high on a cake to make one little guy happy and then give it away so another one would be happy.

No one bid on one of our cupcake plates. I am not sure if it was an over site because the sheet was on the other side or if they were saving up for other cake bid wars. So I bid $5.00 on our own booglie eye cupcakes and we won. And I was very happy to be taking them back home, lol. They are so yummy with all the sprinkles, m&m's, and candy corn on them. Is it wrong to love your own cooking? lol. I had my eye on some great looking brownies, but I got over bid on them twice and you know, at some point you just have to stop, lol.

Overall a great night and successful cub scout fundraiser. We had a lot of fun. And I have a great memory of Dad's cake.

Don't be afraid to eat the Cake!

One last upload for the Cubscout bake sale this year. This is Joe's invention. He baked a chocolate cake from our giant cupcake pan, and cut the cake to arrange it like a haunted hill. He made that frosting......spooky, but yummy. Vanilla, chocolate and lots of food coloring, lol. The toomstones were made from white chocolate bark and he wrote on them with a toothpick (yes, he is amazing!) He also used some clear horsdorvs picks that have pumpkins and skulls. All I did was stamp the haunted house and trees. Okay, I had to fussy cut the trees and adhere them to eachother and then cut out the haunted house with my Nesties dies, lol. I used another retired Halloween SU set, "home is where the haunt is." And no, I am not selling this one either, lol.

Thanks for looking, all comments bring squeels of delight, lol, or at least a smile.