Sweet Christmas

Another Christmas card down and that is it - I'm finally finished with my cards for the year!  Woooohooo!
I used Meljen's Design's Little Heart Gingerbread image.  I wanted to do something different incoporating the color pink and so instead of using the standard Christmas colors/papers, I used up some of The Sweet Stack papers that I had in my stash.  I used Crystal stickles on the Gingerbread and around the matting.  I also tore the paper and stickled that along with some outlining the curve where the two papers meet. 

Meljen's Sweet as Candy (or Cookies) Challenge

How excited am I that Meljen's Designs offered the cutest gingerbread men around during their new release!!!   I loved the Little Star Gingerbread and the Little Heart Gingerbread image so much but couldn't decide, and ended up with both, lol.  My first entry for the challenge uses the Little Star Gingerbread image.

I made the following card with watercolor pencils and DCWV The Christmas Stack.  I distressed the image as well as the background papers.  I am entering the following card for the Sweet as Candy (or cookie) Challenge:

Special Delivery

My hubby came home last nite and treated me to my Christmas present early....Michael's was having a huge sale on most everything, and he picked up some new pencils and trim for me for next to nothing since I've been working on limited supplies for what seems like forever!  After oohing and ahhhing, and kissing and hugging, I went to work on this new StampFairy image I recieved for applying to the DT Call.  I am entering the card into the following challenges:

Teddy Stampers Challenge #25 -Christmas Teddies
Splitcoast Stampers Sketch Challenge SC310
Cupcake Craft Challenge #121 - Non-traditional Christmas
Stamp Fairy -Glam It Up Using Glitter Challenge

Card Recipe:
Image and Scalloped Oval:  Artist's Loft watercolor pencils
Papers - DCWV The Christmas Stack
Sentiment:  Inkadinkado Clear Stamps
Ink:  Colorbox Sky Blue Pigment
Stickles:  Silver for the halo, Diamond for the angel's wings, and Crystal around the inside oval as well as around the scalloped circle.
Martha Stewart snowflake trim

DT Call for StampFairy

I was super excited to find StampFairy when they joined the CDAC website.  They have adorable, whimsical digi images that definately tug on your heartstrings.   So naturally when I heard they were having a DT Call, I jumped at the opportunity!    I am most humbled and greatful to be applying for the call along with some very talented and creative women, and I wish each and every one of them the best of luck. 

One of the requirements of the call is to provide a new card using a StampFairy image, along with two other projects.  To start at the beginning, here is my new card for the DT Call using the freebie "Lily Winter":

Isn't she just darling sitting waiting for Santa?  Here I used my Cranberry Colorbox Pigment Ink on the Inkadinkdo sentiment stamp, along with K&Company snowflakes, DCWV The Christmas Stack paper pad and Gold Stickles around the scalloped circles.

My other two choices are cards from previous challenges I have entered.  The first card was entered at Guylou's Inimitability's Give Thanks Challenge using the Louise with Pumpkin image.  The card has special meaning to me because I won my first challenge with it and I was rather proud of how it came out.

My second card and last choice for the DT Call is a card I entered for the Bugaboo Stamps Catch the Bug

Anything Goes blog challenge.  I had seen an ad for Marvy snow markers that had snowy paper tearing - and from that ad, inspiration gave birth to this card

I used a mix of markers (mostly for Eggbert's hat, scarf, and shoes) as well as pencils for the snowballs and snowflakes.  Crystal stickles were used on the snow, silver stickles below his feet and on the small snowflakes around Eggbert and diamond stickles on the paper tearing to give a snowy, glittery appearance.  I also distressed the image with Colorbox Cranberry Ink Pad.



Angels Unaware

“Friends are angels who lift our feet when our own wings have trouble remembering how to fly.”

You know those days ....the days where nothing seems to go right, and you're ready to pull your hair out but you can't?  Well thats the day I had yesterday.  I won't go into details and bore you with the particulars, but lets just say I needed a happy moment.  And the good Lord must have known that because I got an email from Theresa, a friend of mine that I met over at the CDAC, telling me she had something for me over at her blog Crafts/Friends/Angels.  Well, you can imagine - I lit up like a Christmas tree at the thought of a surprise for no reason at all!!  I was amazed to see she thought me worthy of this award and can't thank her enough for lifting my spirits.  But wait, it gets better.  This morning I get a super lovely comment on my recent vintage card (you can see the image below) from my friend Gina that I met at Guylou's Inimitability group on the CDAC and she had awarded me this on her blog,  Gina Speak.  I also wanted to thank my friend Trina, who gave it to me as well!  I am blessed and grateful to know these women along with Tracy S. who started and continually improves my blog as a huge favor.  Without her, I wouldn't have a such a stylish blog!!!

One of the requirements of this award is not only to thank the woman, or in my case, the women, who sent you the award, but to tell your followers 8 things about yourself and then pay it forward, or send it, to 8 other women who you think deserves the award.  What a fun way to learn more about each other and make someone smile at the same time.

So here are my 8:

1.  My favorite movie is the Wizard of Oz.  It brings back memories of when my grandparents were still alive, and all the magic they brought to my life.  After all, I first watched it in their home.   I love the characters in the movie, the songs, the messages....the movie never grows old for me, never.  And the best part is, I've infected all three girls with a love for the movie as well which makes it better for me when I suggest we all watch it together and they jump in the air and scream " yessssss"!

2.  I love mexican food - the spicier the better.  I think I could live off nachos if given the chance. 

3.  I love the smell of a new book.  I'll actually open it right to the middle and take a whiff of the print.  Something does it for me, I can't explain it.  My grandfather used to take me to Barnes and Noble when I was younger and actually let me do it in the store.  He may of thought I was nuts for doing it, but he let me and I loved him for it.

4.  I'm a born and bred Jersey girl, but in a fantasy world, I would live in Boston.  I've been there several times, totally love it there, and can totally imagine living in a brownstone in one of the suburbs.

5.  I got my FCC license in high school, become a jock on the high school radio station, then on the station in college, and dreamed of making it big as one some day.  Obviously, that didn't happen, lol.

6.  My girls are my life and they've changed my life forever.  I can't wait until the day that I will not only be their mother, but become their friend.

7.   My first ride on the back of a motorcycle was with my hubby.  I actually used to sing the song "Cool Rider" from Grease 2 to him.

8.  I have loved meeting all these wonderfully creative, talented and wonderful women on the CDAC groups and I treasure each and every friendship.

Ok, so now to the good part.  Here is 8 women that I think totally deserve this award (and in no particular order!!):

1.  Lisa

2.  Min

3.  Chris

4.  Melissa

5.  Rae

6.  Ildiko

7.  Lelia

8.  Starla

Tidings of Comfort and Joy

I had just finished two cards and was stumped on which image to use next.  Nothing was sparking my interest, so I turned to my trusty little Print Artist program and picked out this phenomenal clipart image.  One look, and I was hooked on her.  I am loving vintage images lately but have always been intimidated by them since I don't have much of a vintage stash.  But when I saw her, I knew this image was the beginning of my next card and figured, well gee, I guess I'll just go with it and figure it out.  I knew how I wanted to color her right away but needed the help of Mojo Monday's current sketch challenge, MoJo Monday #168, to which I am entering this card.

Isn't she just gorgeous?! And those curls?!  To die for!  The photo really doesn't do the image justice!  I used pencils to color this sweetie and her puppie, an Inkadinkdo stamp slathered in Colorbox Sky Blue ink for the sentiment; with pearls inked to match.  The trim is Making Memories Noteworthy Addie and everything is distressed and curled for a more vintage feel. 

There's Snow Friend Like You

My mother in law was gracious enough to give me the day off from my set of four year old twins.  God bless the woman, hehehe.  Should I rest, I asked myself??  Nahhhhhh!  Time to get a'crafting!  And so I did.  I had already colored this Bugaboo image awhile back when I first nabbed it...all I had to do was finish the design, pick the papers and make it work. 

Like I mentioned earlier, the image and sentiment are both from Bugaboo stamps.  I used a mix of markers (mostly for Eggbert's hat, scarf, and shoes) as well as penciles for the snowballs and snowflakes.  Crystal stickles were used on the snow, silv below his feet, silver stickles on the small snowflakes around Eggbert and diamond stickles on the paper tearing (which I'm not so sure you can see) to give a snowy, glittery appearance.  I also distressed the image with Colorbox Cranberry Ink Pad. 

So here he is - all ready to play with his friend in the snow.  Watch out!  You might get hit with a snowball!

Guylou's Christmas Card Challenge

Sweet Joy
So I won my very first challenge over at Guylou's Inimitability a couple weeks back.  It was Guylou's Give Thanks Challenge and I had a lot of fun creating my card for that.  I was totally thrilled with the win, because then I could pick ANY digi I wanted to play with!!  Well lemme tell you, it's a lot harder than you would think having to choose just one!!!  Luckily for me, Guylou just released her new Christmas images.  It took me forever to decide, but with the help and input from my darling hubby, I went with Louise and Candycane.

We endured a crafting crisis when I spilled distress ink all over the original patterned paper.  There was just no salvaging it...but I think my Plan B worked just as well.  Colorbox pigment inks were used for distressing and the sentiment stamp by Recollections.  I used Crystal stickles for her hat, cuffs and pom-poms.  If you haven't already, go visit Guylou's digi stamp store http://guylousinimitabilitystore.blogspot.com/ for all her latest Christmas digi images - I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Going on a Sleigh Ride

Over at the CDAC, Guylou (G as most of us like to call her) from Guylou's Inimitability offered this adorable Chuck image for the Freebie Digi Challenge.  He was so much fun to color but had some mishaps along the way with the card itself.  So, as a dear friend told me once, every mistake is an opportunity for a new creation. 

I used colored pencils again, lol, as well as the diamond stickles for the snow up on his sled.  Silver stickles were used within the scalloped doily.  Again, the sky blue Colorbox ink was used for the sky and for the Recollections Joy sentiment stamp.

Family Christmas Memories

From home to home, and heart to heart, from one place to another. The warmth and joy of Christmas, brings us closer to each other. - Emily Matthews

We have this program on my laptop called Print Artiist.  Awesome program with some pretty cool things on there - one of them being quality clipart.  My husband found this image and I fell in love.  I love it for the vintage Christmasy feel; making me want to listen to Bing Crosby croon White Christmas.  I love it for it reminds me of the love between family and for Christmas memories with family. 

While I was so nervous about using colored pencils, my dear friend inspired me to give it a shot.  So I am proud to say, I used pencils for the very first time!  There are diamond stickles scattered around the ground for a snowy appearance and Colorbox sky blue pigment ink for the "sky" background and for the sentiment stamp by Inkadinkado.

Believe in the Magic of Christmas

Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful ~Norman Vincent Peale

Something happens around Christmastime.  I can't explain it.  Maybe it's just me.  But something about the songs, the lights, decorations and special smells of warm homemade goodies, makes you happy.  It truly is magic.  People are more loving and forgiving, and the world for a time seems a much nicer place to live in.  So in honor of the joy and magic only Christmas truly brings to our hearts and homes,
I made this card for Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #166. 

I used the ever adorable Kaela image from Design2Delight and a clear, acrylic Inkadinkado stamp for the sentiment.  I adorned her halo with gold stickles and her wings with diamond stickles.  She looks ready to sprinkle some magic on you today and isn't she looking adorable doing it? 

Celebrating World Kindness Day

The best portion of a good man's life - his little, nameless, unremembered acts of kindness and love.  ~William Wordsworth

For this week's current Bugaboo Stamp's Catch the Bug Challenge, we were asked to use a specific card sketch and relate it to friendship, thinking of you, thank you or anything in between.  So in honor of spreading a little kindness, I am entering this card using Bugaboo's Freebie Friday image, Eggbert.  The main snowflake was pop-dotted and glittered with silver stickles, as were the tiny two in the corner. 

Guylous' Give Thanks Challenge

Currently, Guylou's Inimitability is hosting a Give Thanks Challenge.  The requirements of the challenge are to use one of her wonderful images along with the words Happy Thanksgiving, Thanks or Thank You.   Here is my card using the fabulous Louise with Pumpkin image.  I used TLC Creation's awesome sentiment and Creatively Yours' card sketch #7 for inspiration.  I distressed the white cardstock with a glittery copper inkpad (not so sure you can see it in the pic below) and used K&Company's Pumpkin Pie paper pack to tie it all together.

To join in the wonderful world of Guylou's, hop on over to her blog at http://guylousinimitability.blogspot.com/ where you can view plenty of inspiration from her design team or access her online store.  TFL!!!

Warm Gingerbread

Lately I've been hearing comments from people how they're not ready for Christmas; that the stores are decorating too early or goading people into Christmas spending too early.  But not me.  I love Christmas -hardcore.  But one of my favorite things about Christmas is Gingerbread.  Gingerbread lattes, gingerbread men, making gingerbread houses with loads of sickenly sweet candy, gingerbread christmas ornaments or decorations. 
Recently, I joined the new group StampFairy on the CDAC website.  Lo and behold, they were giving away ginger freebies.  Naturally, I did what any good little girl would do - I downloaded him, printed him out and started my journey of ginger love.  And, for added effect, had to put some "Warm Gingerbread" wax on my burner and crank the traditional christmas music.
I got stuck along the way, but all in all, it was a fun journey and I love him to death!  What do you think?

DT Call at Bugaboo Stamps!

One of the very first digi companies I fell in love with was Bugaboo Stamps - their whimsical images by Jodie Mackrell captured my heart from the moment I first laid eyes on them.  In fact, my very first digi download was a bobblehead image from Bugaboo which I colored with my 4 year old twins' Crayola markers!!!  So when the companies blog, Catch The Bug Challenge Blog, posted an open call for a DT, I was so excited.  I am honored to be entering with so many very talented women and wish all my co-applicants the best of luck.

The DT Call requires 1 Bugaboo project and 2 other of your favorite projects. These are the three (3) projects I've chosen to enter for the position:

Nan's Card
Bugaboo offered this cute little bunny as a Freebie Friday image for their weekly challenge a couple weeks ago.  I loved the image and the idea behind it and used my grandmother as inspiration for this card.  Lung Cancer Awareness is symbolized by the Pearl Ribbon.  Unfortunately, I did not have Pearl Stickles, but opted to use the Diamond Stickles I had on-hand for all the ribbons and placed the pearls in the corners as a substitution. 

Eat, Drink and Be Thankful 
How could you not love this adorable little Indian Girl bobblehead from Bugaboo for the Thanksgiving holiday?!  I just had to snatch her up.  The sentiment is TLC Creations and is offered on the CDAC website as a freebie for the current color challenge.

Autumn
Loved this image offered by Mabelle from Whimsy and Stars during the Freebie Digi Challenge a week or so back over at CDAC, and had to use her with my new paper pack from K&Company, one of my favorites.



Yay!!

So I guess its finally official!  I have my first ever blog --finally arranged and complete!!  I'm really not sure if this is all right - but I hope so!!  Thankfully, my hubby is amazing when it comes to computers, and has the patience of saint!!  Thanks to everyone for their tips and advice - and bear with me as I actually start to post pics and posts (I still have NO idea what I'm doing, lol).

Currently over at CDAC (one of my new favortite places thanks to Tracy S.!), their freebie digi challenge is going on and Mabelle over at WhimsyandStars offered this adorable digi that I just had to have and start working on as soon as she was downloaded!!  Here is the card I entered over there - believe it or not, I had colored her several different ways before finally deciding on this color scheme.  I think she came out rather cute, don't u??

So in the spirit of Halloween, Michelle Perkett had a Full Moon Fever Blog Hop over this past weekend.  I bit the bullet and entered with this card which used her Happy Halloween Witch image, even though I was a little nervous about "hopping".  It was my first hop ever (a hop virgin if you will), and had so much fun learning about everyone's Halloween/Fall Traditions and seeing their sparks of creativity on paper.  I can't wait to do it again! 


Wishing you all a Spooktacular Halloween filled with more treats than tricks :)