Advent Countdown

 I have been scrambling the last few days to complete the Karen Foster Advent Calendar I purchased last year after Christmas. Since I was going to be babysitting my granddaughters today I needed to have it done so they can begin using it on Saturday, December 1st.
I read that it takes about 5 hrs to do. I think it took me a wee bit longer.

  The paper is from MME collection "Merry". I just love the pastel colors and thought this would be perfect for two little girls.  Each box is 1.5" by 1.5".

 Here are some close up shots with some embellishments.

  Of course I had to top it off with some frill.

 Inside each box there is a chocolate goodie

or a slip of cardstock (I used the Christmas Label die; forgot to take a picture) with an activity on it. Some activity examples are: Read a Christmas picture book, find a red kettle and donate the enclosed money, make a gingerbread hous with grandma. And for Christmas Day: "Sing Happy Birthday to Baby Jesus".
When I took the calendar over to them today, Olivia, the oldest was so excited that she wanted to open the first box right then and there. I told her she had two more sleeps before she could do so.

Not sure if this counts towards CASology's Challenge, but it's worth a shot. After all, it's about time:

Now it's back to finishing my Christmas cards.
Thanks for taking a peek.

On a Roll!

  This is my 3rd consecutive week that I have played along with Retrosketches' Challenges. I'm on a roll.
  Here is this week's sketch.

 

 Of course if you follow my blog, you know this will be a Christmas card. In fact I liked the way it came out, that I made a total of 7 cards. Now I only have 37 cards left.

  Here's a  close up of the sentiment. I used the canvas impression plate on the front panel  to give the card some texture, but it didn't show up in the photo. Do you think I need to add some red rhinestones to the holly berry on the ribbon?

 Thanks for taking a peek.

November Blog Hop

  Wow! I can't believe that it's PTI's Blog Hop already. With all the prepping I was doing for Thanksgiving, I completely forgot. Thank goodness for the email reminder. I must admit when I saw the challenge I was taken aback.

 

The challenge is to select one of Nichole's favorite covers above (or a cover of your own) and use it as inspiration to create a really unique project.  

My first reaction was, "Are you kidding?" I still have 45 more Christmas cards to make. I thought I would just skip this month's hop.

After closer examination of the covers, I focused on the variety of colors on the cover of  Weekend.(it's on the bottom left corner)

I still mangaed to make a Christmas card.

I used the Christmas tree die from Layered Postmarks and cut two tree before using my Linen/Canvas impression plate. The Simply Chartreuse tree is popped up with dimensionals. The sentiment is from Wreath for all Seasons.

Here's a close up shot of the trees.

Thanks for stopping by to take a peep. I know with all the Christmas cards I still have to make, it is going to take awhile for me to visit everyone's blog, but I'll eventually do so.

Retroskteches # 38

  Two weeks in a row entering in a challenge by the same sponsor! That's a first for me! Once again I found the sketch in this week's Retrosketches very appealing.

 Here's my take.

 I used Rustic White and Ocean Tides card stock.  The trees were stamped in  Soft Stone.

I decided to add the sentiment in the top corner. I used Soft Stone on this too! 

Thanks for taking a peek!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

  Just a quick post to wish every one a very happy Thanksgiving.I know I have much to be thankful for this year as always. Here's my latest banner.

An up close of one of the pennants. The leaves were stamped using wood mounted stamps from Hero Arts and Great Impressions. I used my Copics to color them; then I fussy cut them

Thanks for taking a peek.

Just a bunch of Turkeys! Gobble, Gobble!

Just a quick post showcasing one of the Thanksgiving cards I made for my granddaughters. I was brave again and used my sewing machine to stitch the pattern paper to the Dark Chocolate. This was my first attempt stamping on ribbon. As you can see it bled some and became distorted. Luckily my granddaughters can't read yet!

  The little critter is made using a scalloped Nestability with parts of the Christmas label die and fillable frame die. I used the berries from the Holly Jolly die for his feet.

  I made a 2nd card just changing the body part using different pattern paper. Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.!

Retrosketches #37

     Phew, I am going to make the deadline for the current Retrosketches Challenge #37. I just love this week's sketch.

It is such a fun, versatile layout. I can see myself using this same sketch for a variety of Christmas cards.

Here's my version:

The paper is from Teresa Collins' Christmas Cottage Collection. The santa is from Winter Snow Globe colored with Copics. I used puffy paint on his hat, cuffs and bottom portion of outfit.

  The inside sentiment is from Think Big Favorites # 20.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek.

Nothing Original Here!

  I always feel that Thanksgiving crafts get the bum wrap from me. I'm usually just winding down from Halloween and anxiously waiting to begin my Christmas crafting. When I saw Nichole's card using the shape up pumpkin, I immediately knew I would be casing this card to send to my family for Thanksgiving.

This card is great for mass producing when using a variety of pattern paper.

 Here's an up close shot.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Celebrating 90

  Just a quick post today. My mother-in-law turned 90 last month. My sister-in-law called me the night before her party and asked me to make a banner using blue and yellow for her party. I was half way through when she called back to inform me that my mother-in-law was just admitted to the hospital and the party was cancelled.

I thought I would finish it anyway as I felt she could still have it hanging in her room.

 I have made many banners. This was the first time I added flowers to one. I used the Beautiful Blossom die.

 My mother-in-law is fine now for the time being. This is the third close call within the past year we came to losing her . She is a strong woman. Every time she recovers I think of her as a cat having nine lives. She is truly amazing.

Sweet Life Birthday!

     I have always liked the layout of this card by Melissa Bickford. Since April '11 I  have been meaning to case it, but never have. Sewing on card stock is not my forte; this is most likely the reason why I procrastinated so long.However, needing to make an extra special birthday card for my new daughter-in-law, I caved in.

 

 

     When I began making this card, my intention was to use Sweet Blush, Melon Berry and Pure Poppy inks. Instead I switched out the Prue Poppy for Canyon Clay. I am so happy I did as I think this fits the season better. Plus, I love how the roses turned out in this combination.

 On the inside I used the new Over Under Easy Sentiment.

 Here is the gift card holder I made to hold the gc for her favorite store: Forever XXI.

 The tag that was on her gift.

 Thanks for stopping by to take a peek.

You're Invited.

     I'm hosting Thanksgiving this year for my family as well as my daughter's in laws. I decided to send out invitations since I only had to make six of them. Usually everyone just sends out E-vites. Gosh, how could I do that being a card maker? Just sinful, especially since I have the time and supplies.
The base of the invitation is Card Basic. I had that die for so long and never used it. However, I managed to use it twice within a two week period. Go figure.
The image is from 2009 Autumn Tags stamped in Canyon Clay. I think that is a perfect autumn color. The background paper is from Hobby Lobby. I used my computer to generate the invite

 Here's an up close shot of the image.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek!

Backwards Card

 Do you ever come up with an idea for a card, make it and as you post it realize you did it backwards? Yep! That is what happened to me with this card. That's what I get for not recording my ideas; the senior moments take over.

 I should have the orange on the outside and the black inside. Oh well!
Here's what the inside sentiment looked like.

 Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas tags

   I like to get my Christmas shopping done as soon as possible. Since I have bought several gifts already and need to wrap them, I thought I should make up some tags. Here's what I came up with so far for this year.
  I am also doing a Christmas tag class with my former co-workers next week. I needed something quick and simple since they will be making ten tags.

  I used the pattern paper Peace Be Still from last year's release on the tags below, but you can barely see it in the photo.

 In addition to these 6 tags, they will be making tags from the following dies: snowman, Christmas Tree, Damask snowflake and the ornament shaped tag.

Thanks for stopping by,

Banner Ghost

    I'm still trying to catch up with posting all my Halloween cards/projects. Just couldn't get in the mood to upload my pictures and write my blog.
  This is my favorite Halloween card I created this season. I just love all the colors and that cute little ghost! I ordered the Card Basic die when it first came out, but never used it. (Sound familiar?) The sentiment was stamped on the back.

 The ghost is made from several strips cut from the double ended banner die. It was inspired by Marybeth of Marybeth's time for paper.  Check out her blog.

 Thanks for taking a peek.

Framed!

  On the PTI forum, Danielle Flanders started a thread for a November holiday card challenge. The goal is to make a holiday card a day during the month of November. Good intentions I did have. Problem was it took me 2 days to make my first card. I had the sketch in my head, but had a difficult time picking out the colors I wanted to use.

 I just love those diagonal stripes made with the newly released Super Stripe set by PTI.. Just perfect for a Christmas card. The background pattern paper is from Teresa Collins' Christmas Cottage collection

 I was going to put this in the dynamic duos challenge until I noticed the tad of orange in the snowman's nose. Oh well. Thanks for stopping by.

Trick or Treat Banner

You wouldn't know it from the October posts on my blog, but I have done a lot of crafting for Halloween.
When I saw the Halloween projects that Maile Belles created with the Spider dies, I knew I had to purchase them. I made two of these banners; one for my daughter and one for me.

Here's some up close shots of the individual banner pieces.

Thanks for stopping by.

Trick or Treat!!!

Happy Halloween. It has been a very cold and wet one here in Cincinnati. Lucky for me I had the opportunity to spend the day with my granddaughters. I have been teasing my 4 year old granddaughter Olivia that I was going to give her a bag of "tricks" for Halloween this year since I am always bringing her treats. She would respond, "Noooooo, Grandma, I want a treat!". This is what I gave them.

A bag of worms; gummies of course! The cut out from the spinner's die makes a great worm!

 Bat Poop! Chocolate covered raisins. This was their favorite.

  A Mummy Candy bar.

 All of it was put in this Frankenstein bag I made.

 Of course, I had to give them a real treat.

 A favorite here in Cincinnati: pumpkin cookie from Busken's Bakery

My precious granddaughters. Of course, the Chocolate Queen is already hitting her stash!

 Here's hoping your Halloween was full of yummy treats! Thanks for taking a peek.