What's the Weather like where you live???

As I've mentioned more than a few times (anyone tired of hearing of our weather??) the weather here has been snowy...like setting records. Today's challenge on SCS by Judy (Joy in a Jar) was to make a card depicting the weather. I had made this card front a little while ago practicing the brayered sky look. It just seemed plain, so I had never done anything with it.

Today when I was flipping through my blue cardstock, I found a card front with this Irish blessing script already stamped, another discard. I decided to use my Top Note die on the script cardfront, and then played around with it and decided to put it on the side with the moon peeking out behind it.

Well, you put two discards together, and you get one pretty decent card. I really like it when that happens, as I don't like anything to be wasted. So, this is what I came up with and it will most likely be used as a sympathy card.

I hope you enjoy it, and hope you are able to use your discards today!! Thanks again for stopping by...

And really, what's the weather like at your house today???

Magnolia-licious Challenge: Clean and Simple!!

I love clean and simple, and am striving to go back to that for my designs. We are in thaw mode in Colorado today and the white fluffy stuff is melting away. I brought out these Fall colors for my Tilda, two of the in-colors from SU that I have completely forgotten about!! My Tilda is presenting the last of the Fall harvest, a sunflower, for your enjoyment! The white border and sentiment is a rub-on.

Thanks for looking, I have uploaded a few cards in the last couple of days, so scroll down if you have time. Hope you like my card, it took much longer to color than assemble!

Purple Pretties

Yesterday I wore my purple cabled sweater and a two tone purple/lavendar coat. The challenge on SCS was to make a card using purple, and the inspiration carried over into my wardrobe!

So this snowman was an image sent to me by my good friend, Pat Smethers, along with a pile of others. The white buckle is a piece of Maya Road chipboard that I painted and added a dusting of glitter. The ribbon is a lavendar polka dotand an aqua button is tied to the bow with floss...Layout is simple, I love simple layouts, and was this week's MojoMonday sketch, seen in my sidebar. Just click on the logo! I like the whimsy in this card, it makes me smile.

We had at least a few more inches of snow yesterday will have to look at the paper for the final numbers, but at least 20 inches total of snow here. I was so ready to get out of the house yesterday after being inside for 3 days...it was great~ With the upcoming weather forecast in the 50's, most of it should melt off in the next few days.

Thanks for popping in, and hope you're having a great day!!

Kraft Elegance

This is one of those experimental cards that took me three times longer than it should because I didn't know what I was doing...I stamped this tree with Stazon white, no luck, Craft white, (looked good at the time but by the time my card was finished you could barely see the ink), then Craft white with dazzling diamonds, didn't work, then Craft white with Pearl white embossing powder, didn't work, then Craft White with Winter White embossing powder by SU, we have a keeper!! I was up past 1:30 so please tell me it wasn't a waste of time. Hee...well, I am writing this down so the next time I pick up these colors, I'll remember which combination of ink to powder to use. This tree is from Papertrey Ink, and I love them...so many possibilities. The buttons are from the Poppy collection, the paper is also Papertrey Kraft, and the ribbon is SU.

I love the outcome, even though it took awhile! What do you think? Please scroll down to the next post to see what came to our house yesterday, it definitely got me in the mood to stamp Christmas cards!!

Hope your day is happy!!

Copper gets Snow!!

Good morning! It has been snowing here since night before last, steadily slowly and without let up!! These pictures give you an idea just how much...the first one is our Corgi named Copper . He didn't get to tunnel far off the back deck before realizing it was an insurmountable task for his short 4 legged body and turned around! No potty breaks for him for at least another 8 hours, hee!! The other photos show the back deck railings with the snow piled on top and in the background, the giant evergreen tree overladen with snow. It is supposed to snow more today, and I hope it doesn't as my husband's flight was cancelled once and he is scheduled to arrive here this afternoon...hopefully before dark and with shovel in hand!

While this is beautiful to look at and wonderful to stamp inside when the sparkly snow is falling, it is a worry with loved ones traveling the roads!

This snow is supposed to set a decade long record for our state...I'll let you know the latest in inches on my next post but as of last night it was 17 inches in Fort Collins!!

I have a card to upload later today, so I'll look for ya then!!

I thought I had put this set away until next summer, but decided to try it out with brown as an accent color, and love it! The berries took me awhile to color because I was trying to achieve the shading of the berries, other than that this went together pretty quickly. The button in one corner is a chocolate colored with a polka dot sheer ribbon added to the top with my fast grab tacky glue. Then the other corner needed "something," so I tried a double looped bow with two ribbons using my bow-easy and it worked!! That was an exciting discovery. I had spent a bit of time making a sentiment for this card, then by the time it was assembled, had forgotten about it. So when I found it, I tucked it on the inside, that way when it's ready for sending I can add it if I want.

Thanks for coming by for a quick visit today. The weather is cool outside, but the sun is shining!! Another beautiful fall day here in Colorado!!

Mothermark's Birthday Surprise!!!

It's pretty certain that all those who love Mothermark (Da Muddermark or Cindy as I know her) on SCS have either heard or played a part in this year's momentous birthday surprise!!

The Plan was "hitched" months ago by Pat and Shirley, to search and rescue the Wild Wild West Man (stamp set) and lassoo him up, landing him on Mothermark's doorstep. Pat made a very cool, very large distressed chest with the Buckleman's help and put a buckle on the top using the WWW cowboy!! If you haven't had a chance to see her "stage coach box"...here is the link:http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/1515797?&cat=500&ppuser=76845

She and Shirley contacted many many friends of Mothermark's months in advance with the opportunity of contributing to the gift and adding a card to the chest!! What fun it was, and how proud I am of everyone's secrecy, as we all know it takes tight lips to carry out a plan of this magnitude!!!

Another SU friend decided to join in on the fun and with a little bit of prankster, donated another "WWW" stamp set that had those exact words, along with a cowboy hat, and rope. At a small dinner at Texas Roadhouse, I had the fun of handing over all of these goodies to Cindy and watching her reactions unfold. Two other stamping friends, Pam and Carn, joined us for a small dinner out.

Cindy was amazed as you can see from the pictures!! Starting with the little package of round stampers, progressing to the beautiful chest holding cards from so many friends from all over ...was by itself a little overwhelming.

My assignment was to bring the ladies a picture of Cindy's reaction to receiving the long coveted and joked about Wild Wild West man ...and the only way I thought I could do that was to hand her the stamp before she lost control of her tears!! She was that moved, and there was not a dry eye among us. So as she was sifting through the cards and getting more and more choked up, I reached in, and pulled the set out from the bottom of the chest, and showed it to her. She was the most surprised I have ever seen anybody!!!

Thanks to all the wonderful friends on SCS for making this all happen for Cindy...It was a surprise of a lifetime! And thanks to Pat and Shirley for making this such a memorable and fun event to take part in!!

Season that Sparkles

This card was made for the Flourishes Design Team October challenge celebrating the debut of the October release set. You were to have fun creating a card that sparkled, and I did!
I do not own any Christmas Flourishes stamps, but two of my friends contributed to this sparkly ornament card, Joyce provided the shimmery burgundy ribbon, and Peggysue the cute penguin image last year. Thanks so much friends!! I made a frame from the ribbon, added stickles and shimmerz to the image, and a little stardust glimmer to each individual snowflake for added sparkle.
On the back of the round mat I only added one small dimensional, in case the recipient wants to remove the center ornament for hanging. This was a lot of fun, though time consuming to make.
And wouldn't ya know it, our snow has melted just in time for a sunshiney day to take this lil guy's picture!!
Thanks so much for stopping by...and your comments are always so fun to read!!
Have a wonderful day, and great weekend!

Just Ducky!!

In the stamping world, I find inspiration from so many things...window shopping, a front porch, a swatch of fabric, and in this case, a great piece of writing!!

A great friend of mine, known as Peggysue on SCS, wrote an article recently on a blog that is new to me. I am including a link :http://womentowomensharingjesus.blogspot.com/ so you can have the pleasure of reading it for yourself!

I have a long time affection for ducks, so her title caught my attention right away! Even though Peggysue's words weren't related to stamping, my mind settled on these things. I thought about how even in stamping, I go through times when I don't know where my style fits in, or somedays, even what my style is. If I compare myself to others I easily become discouraged and lose my joy of creativity. While I enjoy learning different techniques, I sometimes become overwhelmed with all the new and latest die cuts, gadgets, and now the world of digi images is emerging. Sometimes I just want to run and hide. So rather than run, I think I will waddle on over to my stamp desk now... and find contentment and happiness with creating in my own little corner.

Thanks Peggysue, for inspiring me with your words and insight.

And I've given this some thought...there is only one kind of duck I don't want to be...look at my card...you've heard of a "sitting duck..." so I will keep moving and hope you will read the entirety of Peggysue's entry and be blessed!!

Oh, and this uses this week's Mojo Monday sketch which you can check out on my sidebar.

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Yes, we have no bananas!!

I have a few bananas, actually, still left in my freezer. Yesterday I went to a really fun Christmas workshop that my SU demo and friend held at her house. We had several projects to choose from and this is one I made a few of, a bread or goodie box! I had the box but nothing to put in it , so spent the afternoon baking up a few loaves of my favorite banana bread. I am going to include the recipe below, just in case anyone wants to try it.

This was a pretty easy project to make...but I don't have the exact directions.. I really like that it used only one sheet of paper, and then your designer paper was minimal since it only accented the panels. I like to give home baked treats at Christmas so this was a good one for me.

I just kept my loaf of bread in the little foil pan, but it was a bit big for it, so I might remove the next ones from the pan first, and just wrap in clear wrap and tie a pretty bow on it!

The picture isn't the best...we have snow outside...do you remember my last snowman post stating I could wait awhile?? Well, the next day we were hit with snow and ice, and that is early for October. It didn't make for the best lighting and two of my desk lights are out and have to be replaced before I can stamp or take pictures in my stamp room!

Okay here is the recipe from Southern Living. This bread comes out almost the consistency of pound cake and is a whiter version than most...I like the creaminess of it.

Cream Cheese Banana-Nut Bread

3/4 Cup butter, softened

1 (8oz) cream cheese, softened

2 cups sugar

2 large eggs

3 Cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3-4 very ripe bananas, mashed (1 1/2 cups)

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.

Gradually add sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition.

Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in separate bowl; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in mashed banana, pecans, and vanilla.

Spoon batter into 2 greased and floured 8 x4 inch loaf pans.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean and sides pull away from pan. You may need to shield with foil the last 15 minutes to prevent over browning.

Cool bread in pans on wire racks 10 minutes. Remove and cool 30 minutes on wire racks before slicing. Yields 2 loaves.
Thanks for popping in, and I'll share a couple of the other projects in the next few days here. Happy Stamping!

Silly Snowman

Ever have one of those days when there are a million other things you SHOULD be doing, but you can't because a challenge is calling your name?? Today is one of those for me, first the sketch challenge by Rox on SCS and secondly, a Mothermark Teapot Tuesday issued by one of our fun teapot friends, Marilynn.

You can visit the teapot challenge by going to the regular Teapot Tuesday challenge thread and viewing yesterday's post. Cindy is taking a leave from stamping, and Marilynn has so kindly filled in the past two weeks. To keep the spirit of the teapot challenge alive, I made this with a stamp that my wonderful friend and walking buddy, Cindy, loaned to me. She told me I could borrow it until the "crocuses bloom." Now that's clever...I think I had it until the crocuses bloomed, the crocuses died, the leaves on the trees blossomed, withered and fell, before she saw this stamp again. I love this stamp! Thanks Cindy, and if you happen to read this, hope to see you back soon.

This sketch just worked for this image. I used some really cute polka dot brads that my sweet friend, Linda B gave me last year and some stickles for sparkle.

Thanks for stopping by, and as for snow, well, I can wait another month or so for that. Or maybe until the crocuses bloom...whichever comes first!

Hope you're having a wonderful day!!

World Card Making Day!

Well, it's the end of the weekend and I was able to spend most of a Sunday afternoon participating in the World Card Making Day challenges on SCS!!

The first card is my Flourishes Stamps submission for this sketch. This set is a flourished sweet pea boquet embossed in a pearl white and then watercolored. I had a humdinger of a time trying to figure out what was leaves and what were blossoms, as it was white on white. This is one time a paint by number would have come in really handy! All in all, I liked the end result though not sure I like this tilted off it's axis!

The next card was for Gina K's challenge to use the colors pumpkin, chocolate and vanilla in your card creation. I was able to whip this out using some designer paper that I have had forever, and my bowmaker for the silk ribbon. A quick and hopefully elegant card!

The last card was my Magnolia's challenge requirement to make an ornament. I have several Magnolia images, but alas no Christmas or holidays, so was delighted with the paper piecing and if you look really closely, Tilda is wearing cherries on her pinafore~~With a little glitter, it looks pretty Christmas-y, and pairs well with her patterned tights. A couple of ribbons were added, some distressing, and a couple of hours later, here ya go!!

I hope you were able to participate in one if not more of these challenges.

And anybody want to come over...we can clean up my stamp room and eat some of the chocolate hiding underneath the piles!!

Thanks for stopping by!