Cool Cat

Hello friends!  It's a sunny and cold Sunday here, and I plan to go on walking trail with my daughters this afternoon.  They have been there before, but I never have.  I'm very much looking forward to it!

Oh, and I did make the Pumpkin Rocks from the Maida Heatter's Book of Great Cookies yesterday.  They are delicious!  Upon request, I substituted chocolate chips for the raisins that the recipe calls for.  My family doesn't like raisins much, but I sure do!  My daughter found a copy of the book for under $10 if you are interested!  (Remember in my previous post I mentioned that Amazon sells it for $104?!) I shop for a lot of my books at Thrift Books.  Some are used, some are new, but even the used ones can look brand new.  

I'm playing in a new-to-me challenge today:  The Male Room!  Masculine cards only are accepted, and I think that's a fun challenge.

Isn't this dapper black cat adorable?  He's wearing a black glitter bow tie!  I found this little bow tie in one of the Stampin' Up! scrap bags I get from time to time.

Memory Box Large Sitting Cat cat die; My Favorite Things BB Cool Cat sentiment and paw print stamps, Stitched Sentiment Strips banner die; Stampin' Up! bow

Check out his tie....awww.

The Male Room is also looking for new Design Team members!  

Here's a link to this particular challenge, which is Animals.  

Wishing you all a beautiful day - no matter what you are going through, or where you are.

Sending love to you!

God bless you,

Sweet Coffee

Hello friends, Happy New Year!  It's been a tough week for our country.  My emotions have been up and down.  One thing I remind myself is that God is in control.  So important to keep looking at Him, and not at the circumstances around us.

I have a card to share today, and I am playing in challenges, too.  That makes my heart happy. 😊

Tim Holtz / Stampers Anonymous - Fresh Brewed Blueprint coffee stamp; Quick Kutz Hot Drink coffee cup die; Memory Box Classic Tags circle tag die; twine; Stampin' Up! Brown Sugar cotton twine

This is a birthday card for my youngest daughter, who discovered the elixir of coffee while in her first semester at college.  I began drinking coffee when I was about 22 years old, and I never looked back.  LOL  

Here are the challenges I am playing in:

• Krafty Chicks Challenge #541 - Stamp Act - use a stamp
• Time Out Challenge #178 - Life In The City.  My daughter goes to college in the city, so this is where she drinks her coffee!
• NBUS - never before used stuff!  The Tim Holtz coffee stamp and Quick Kutz coffee cup die are new to me
• The Card Concept - Winter Warmth - my style is Clean & Layered (was a bit tricky to pick a style I used here, but I think this might be the best match).  I was inspired by the warm winter drink -- although, hey, I drink coffee ALL year!

The weekend is upon us, and I'll be baking cookies called Pumpkin Rocks from Maida Heatter's Cookie cookbook.   (Though I found the exact cookbook I own on Amazon, which is featured in this link, the price is a staggering $104.34 for the hardcover version.  Are you kidding me??)

Psalm 121:1-2 ESV

A Song of Ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

God bless you!

Poinsettia Punch

Hello again!  Tomorrow is my last day off from work (been off for a week) and it will be a short work week, with New Year's Eve quickly approaching.  I have enjoyed my staycation very, very much.  😃

I have two cards to share with you, both featuring a beautiful poinsettia from Simon Says Stamp's The Magic of Christmas - and all items used are listed beneath the photos.  

I was going for a dramatic Christmas card with the first one here:

Simon Says Stamp The Magic of Christmas poinsettia, 'Christmas' & 'Blessings' sentiments; Stampin' Up! Peaceful Boughs pine dies; pearls; vintage thread; tag from stash; Papertrey Ink; Ranger Glossy Accents 

I layered some pine boughs beneath that GORGEOUS poinsettia, and I created simple patterned paper by using the 'Christmas' sentiment from the same set, in red on red.

Then I used Glossy Accents as beads of 'dew' on the poinsettia, which was colored with Copic markers.

This is what it looked like, all ready for its close-up, in my photography light tent.  I have a small collection of items and greenery to place around my cards as they get photographed.

I am entering this card at NBUS #21 (thank you for still running this challenge, Darnell!) as the Simon Says Stamp poinsettia and sentiment stamps had not yet seen ink.   

The next card was for my oldest daughter, who looooves bling and shiny things.  😁

Simon Says Stamp The Magic of Christmas poinsettia; Stampin' Up! Peaceful Boughs pine dies; red rhinestones; Ranger Glossy Accents; cream twine; Fiskars Star punch; Papertrey Ink Tag-Its #8 Mini 'joy' sentiment 

It was difficult to capture the gold mirror polka dot patterned paper, so I photographed it two ways. Two kinds of red gemstones were added to the pine greenery, and they look a whole lot better in person, too.

As in the first card, this poinsettia also got the Glossy Accents 'dew' treatment.  If I'd had more time, I might have used Glossy Accents on the entire poinsettia, for some real excitement.  LOL

Thanks so much for your visit, and God bless you!

Glad Tidings, Plaid Tidings & more

Hello friends, Belated Merry Christmas to you!  I hope it was full of blessings for you and your loved ones.  For those who struggle at this time of year, or especially this year, my heart goes out to you.  There are so many complicated emotions that can accompany Christmastime.  

I love this season because we get to celebrate the birth of our Savior.  💓

As much as I wanted to share these cards with you during the month of December, I just ran out of steam.  LOL  So, here are a bunch of cards that seem to have a couple of themes running through most:  Glad Tidings and Plaid Tidings, with a few other twists in the lineup.

The first card was for my husband.  I got new dies, from Paper Rose - both the stitched tree and the deer (LeAnne, thank you for enabling me!), and they go so well together! 

Paper Rose Stitched Trees, Deer Family dies; gold sequins; Simon Says Stamp Magic of Christmas pinecone stamp; Papertrey Ink Angled Labels die, Silent Night sentiment; Verve Christmas In The Air sentiment in background

I'll be linking this one up to the NBUS challenge #21 (Never Before Used Schtuff), as these dies are brand new!

The next card was for my youngest daughter, using a bottlebrush tree stamp set from Papertrey Ink.  Love how the little trees came out. 

Papertrey Ink Joyful Christmas bottlebrush trees, Christmas Blessings sentiment; Gina Marie Designs Eyelet Elegance Rectangles die; Hug Snug white seam binding; pearls 

Made a second one, and there are very subtle differences between the two, including how the bow was tied.  Hard to see in the photo, though.

The next is for the stash, and was simple to make but has a good pop to it.  The tree was punched from gold and plaid paper (this was in a Stampin' Up! scrap bag I bought).  I added gems to it, and stamped a couple of Verve snowflakes with Distress Ink on red cardstock, to create my own patterned paper.  The effect reminds me of flocked wallpaper from the 1970's.  Ha!

Stampin' Up! tree punch; Verve Glad Tidings sentiment, snowflakes; Papertrey Ink Angled Labels die; red rhinestones

Every now and then, this little Lawn Fawn bunny comes out to play.  I think he's the cutest.  He's sporting a blue-green scarf as he glides over glistening snow-covered hills in the moonlight.

Lawn Fawn Winter Bunny; Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags die; Flourishes Warm Winter Wishes sentiment; My Favorite Things Stitched Basic Edges die; glitter glue; rhinestone; white cotton twine

Our cat, Cristabel, gives my husband a card for his birthday, Father's Day, and Christmas, so here is the card she gave to Dad this year.

Papertrey Ink For The Guys 'dad' die; red rhinestones; Paper Rose Stitched Trees die; Memory Box Large Sitting Cat die 

The next one is for my stash, too, and it's different, and not at all the expected Christmas colors.  This has more of a peaceful, wintry feel.

Stampin' Up! Garden Pleasures birdhouse & bird stamps, Brushed Silver cardstock, patterned papers, snowflake die; rhinestone; Verve Glad Tidings sentiment; Papertrey Ink Angled Labels die; glitter glue

The next four cards have a plaid thing going on, as you will see.  Those little corrugated Christmas trees were in a Stampin' Up! scrap bag I bought, so I had quite a few to play with.

Papertrey Ink Tag-Its #8 Mini sentiment; gold candy dots; Fiskars Star punch; Stampin' Up! tree & star die, patterned paper strips, scalloped oval, snow embossing folder, crochet lace

Stampin' Up! tree and star, scalloped oval, snow embossing folder; twine; gold ribbon; Papertrey Ink Angled Labels die, Christmas Blessings sentiment

Stampin' Up! tree and star, red snowflake felt accents, Brown Sugar twine; Crafty Secrets vintage stickers; crochet lace; ivory candy dots; Papertrey Ink Tiny Tags round tag die; manila tag; Flourishes Christmas Postcard "Dec 25" round stamp

Crafty Secrets wreath sticker; ivory candy dots; Stampin' Up! tree and star; crochet lace

Not sure how I feel about the next card, but here it is for you to see, nonetheless.  Love the Papertrey Ink sentiment, and those sweet Simon Says Stamp mittens, though.

Papertrey Ink Stylish Sentiments: Christmas sentiment; Simon Says Stamp Winter Warmth mittens; white cotton twine; rhinestones; Gina Marie Designs Big and Little Chain Rectangles

And the final card involves some repurposing.  If you've been reading my blog for a while, you may recall these candles from 2012.  I plucked off the n, o, e, and l from the candle decorations, and put them on a card front for my mom.  

Spellbinders Persian Motifs die; Inspired By Stamping Fancy Alphabet, Mason Jar Add-On II (label), Festive Frames (holly); red Liquid Pearls; pearls

That's it for now!  I've got another (shorter) post in the works to share soon.  

Thanks so much for coming by today, God bless you!

For The Guys - Family Ties

Hello everyone!  How have you been doing?  Hard to believe Christmas is (she squints at calendar) 17 days away.  Yikes.  We've got our house decorated inside and out, but no Christmas tree yet.  We live in a small-ish home, and the dining room is where we need to put the Christmas tree.  My husband and I are working in the dining room as our home office.   It's going to get mighty tight in this room once we put the tree up, so we're waiting just a wee bit longer to do that.  😆

I wish I had some Christmas cards edited to show you today but a few masculine ones will have to do!  There is a 'guy' theme to this post.  I've covered husband, brother and father.  The first card was for my hubby on our anniversary in October.  He has taken up serious cycling during the pandemic.  When the gym was closed back in the spring, he began riding his bike for exercise.  He rides as many as 65 miles in one trip.  One trip!  I'm impressed and exhausted just by thinking about it, all at once. 😂  So I made a very customized anniversary card that features a bicycle and a night sky, filled with stars (rhinestones).  The sentiment is not quite the best for a couple that has been married over 25 years ("as hand in hand we start"), but the part about the road matched well with the bike, and hey, isn't each day the first day of the rest of our lives?

Papertrey Ink The Best Is Yet To Be sentiment stamp; My Favorite Things Bicycle die, Grassy Fields dies; rhinestones; Spellbinders Grommet Tags banner die

My brother has a birthday this week.  I admit to having a weakness for leaf dies when it's time to make cards for guys.  This one was no exception.  It's simple in design, and muted in tone.

Gina Marie Designs Big and Little Chain Rectangles die; Inspired By Stamping Masculine Tags sentiment stamp; My Favorite Things Falling Leaves dies; banner from Stampin' Up!

And the last card was made for the shop around Father's Day.  It's another clean and simple design, with texture that is subtle:  the gray cardstock has a weave to it, the 'rope' circle frame and shadowed anchor provide a bit of visual interest.

Stampin' Up! Sailing Home anchor stamp; Verve Strong Anchor rope circle stamp; Papertrey Ink Family Ties: For The Guys 'dad' die

And that's it for now!  Wishing you well with your holiday preparations in this oh-so-interesting year!

God bless you and thanks for the visit!

Guesting again with Inlovearts!

Hello all!  We had a busy weekend moving my daughter from one dorm to another, and various other projects around the house.  The move went well, and it was a long day.  She's happy, and the building and her room are gorgeous, with incredible city views.  See the end of this post for a couple of pics. 😀

The kind folks at Inlovearts craft supply company asked me to be their guest again, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity!  I hope you like the creations I made to share.  At the end of this post is a link list for the supplies I used, as well as a discount code for you to use.  Check their site; they have neat and affordable things to add to your crafty stash. 😉

First up is probably my favorite of this bunch.  I LOVE these stickers.  The pack I chose has this sweet blue bird and pretty roses.  I picked a patterned paper from my stash and at first, I did not plan to put the bird directly over top of it, but I really like how it turned out!  The sheerness of the stickers is so lovely.  I had a little file folder die cut in my stash too, since forever, and found it to be the perfect backdrop for the rose stickers, and a sentiment I stamped on.  When the card was nearly complete, I felt it needed one more tiny element in the top left corner, so I used a bit of the Heart Clover Wave border die (you'll get to see more of it in a bit), and just snipped one blossom off and topped it with a pearl.

Inlovearts Heart Clover Wave die, Cartoon and Daily Various Decorative Stickers bird, roses stickers, Stackable Hearts Nesting dies; pearls; crochet lace; mini file folder die cut

I also used tiny snippets of the Stackable Hearts Nesting dies as doilies peeking out from beneath the file folder.  I gently inked the edges, and added pearls (of course).

Up next is a dainty, feminine encouragement card using the Roses Pattern embossing folder.  Sigh!  I love the pattern on it.  Since I wanted to showcase this, I kept other details to a minimum and tried not to cover up too much of it.

Inlovearts Roses Pattern embossing folder

Had to add a pearl to the top of the crochet flower.  You know me.  LOL

So this is the Heart Clover Wave die I was mentioning earlier!  Isn't it fancy and lively?  Each clover is made up of little hearts, so it could be used for Valentine cards as well.  Me being of Irish descent, I needed to make a St. Patrick's Day card.  😉  I paired with it another product I chose from the Inlovearts shop, which is the pale green crochet trim.  I do love crochet trim.

Inlovearts Heart Clover Wave die, DIY Lace Decorative Stickers lace crochet trim; pearls; gold sequins

And in my world, where pearls reign supreme, I just had to top each clover with them.  But with this being a St. Patrick's Day card, where folks think of the 'pot o' gold', I decided to add little gold sequins too.

The Wave Border die set helps make the cutest scenes.  I used sparkly aqua glitter paper to create the prettiest waves for a bright day on the ocean.  The clouds are actually hearts made with Stackable Hearts Nesting dies, cut to resemble puffy white clouds.  Is it too much of a stretch?  I hope they read as clouds.  

Inlovearts Wave Border dies, Stackable Hearts Nesting dies (as clouds)

The fun thing about using this die set is you can use it on both sides.  For the card below, I die-cut the waves on the back of the glitter paper, and just turned the pieces over to reveal waves going in the opposite direction.  

You can tell from the pic below that I used Glossy Accents to cover the boat; I just love using that stuff. 😁

What do you think??  I had such fun making these cards!  

Here is the link list:

(8 colors) DIY Lace Decorative Stickers 15mm：

https://bit.ly/33Lho4e 

(11 varieties) Cartoon and Daily Various Decorative Stickers (25pcs)：

https://bit.ly/2DBllO8

Heart Clover Wave Frame Border Dies：

https://bit.ly/31wI4CW

Wave Border Dies：

https://bit.ly/3kuW7Sc

Roses Pattern Embossing Folder：

https://bit.ly/2ChL7X8 

 I also used this one on a few of the projects, the scalloped nesting hearts:

    https://inloveartshop.com/products/copy-of-stackable-rings-nesting-dies

For your shopping pleasure, there's a discount code you can use, too:

discount code :  G-22206

Thank you so much to Inlovearts for having me as a guest again! 😃

And as promised, here are some pics from my daughter's new dorm room.

Isn't it nice??  What a great place to study and do online classes!  

Thanks so much for joining me today.  I appreciate your visit!

God bless you,