Mom and I have been busy!

For the MMMY4 today, MariLynn had a picture of a wonderful teapot........you'll have to go see it in the gallery.......this computer is being VERY temperamental this AM!! Anyway, this is done in cameo and white, and I had this ribbon that matches perfectly!! The cb bg is Tiny Mosaic, and the sentiment is from Espress Yourself. We added some flowers, and now we will stoop for a while. We are thinking about a trip to M's. Hmmmmm........anyone want to join us??LOL!

The CC today had wonderful colors to work with: Vanilla, Cameo, Burgundy, and Artichoke. We decided to use our favorite set, Bloomin' Beautiful. We just love this flower, although the whole set is fabulous.

The flower is painted in cameo, and darkened with burgundy. Trust me, it's really there.

Not much to add beyond the ribbon, and few bg layers and some brads. We like the way it came out, and hope you do too.

Twick or Tweet

The hostess for this week's Doubledog Dare Challenge is Joanne (sleepyinseattle), who sent us a bag of Halloween stuff. The DARE was to make a Halloween card with the materials she provided. I should have taken a picture of the things she mailed.......ribbons, papers, pumpkins, ghosts, images, .....what fun!!

Here is the card I made.....I just loved the bats! But I have to tell you that the image of the skeleton with the dog taking a bite of his leg bone just cracks me up. I would have ordered the set for this image alone!

Please feel free to join us in the DARE. Make whatever Halloween card you want, just put DDC in the keyword at SCS so we can find it! Have a great day!

Mom is Visiting!

When Mom comes to visit, we do every challenge! We make cards nonstop from morning to night, taking time out in the afternoon for a glass of wine, but that's it!! Today we did the two challenges at SCS.

The wiper card was new to Mom, but not to me, although I have only made one of them before. We took a lot of time deciding what to use for the sentiment........I thought I had a million SU sets for Christmas. turns out I only have three complete ones, so we were a little limited, but we both like how it turned out.

The CAS challenge for today was to make a sympathy card. Mom doesn't have a lot of experience with CAS, so she was really surprised when we were done in about four minutes. We both like this one too.

Have a terrific day.......no commenting from us.......we're too busy making cards!!! LOL!

See you in a couple of days! Hugs to you all.

Another for Riley, Our FS

Because I saved NINE different cards I wanted to case of Riley's (and that was only on the first and the top of the second pages of her gallery!), I decided to go back to my addict...ahem.....craft room, and do another. I had saved this cutout from a card I received last Christmas, and thought it was perfect for this layout. I cb'd the middle section of the three bands, and used a punch for the scalloped circle, but that was about it. Add a couple dewdrops, a ribbon, and done. And speaking of done, I am, for the day. Seeya tomorrow!!

Reindeer for Riley

Riley Fitzgerald is the Featured Stamper today on SCS. I always love to see what she has posted. Her layouts are wonderful. I had to keep the theme, layout, and colors of the card I chose to case. What I changed was the dp, the image (still keeping the reindeer), the ribbon, and added a sentiment and pearls.

I am still working on Christmas cards, and the theme of Riley's card was perfect. I hope she likes what I have done in her honor.

Today it is raining like time (as my Grandfather used to say......and I STILL don't know what that means!LOL!). The grass seed that DH put in yesterday should take really well. I am dying to watch the Patriots play in the rain this afternoon....not as good as snow, but who needs THAT?????? We'll spend a lazy day, and since I twinged my back yesterday, that works for me. Have a great day......kick back and relax!!

IC Xenia Talor Tiles

The Inspiration Challenge at SCS today was a gallery of tiles by Xenia Talor. They are all beautiful! The one I chose on which to base my card is called Summer Trees. Obviously I used Fall colors to make this Thanksgiving, my first venture with the new In Colors from Stampin' Up. Very simple.......in fact, Clean and Simple.

Thanks for looking, and have a great weekend!

Half-Done Card........COOL!

How cool is the challenge this morning!! The LSC today is to start with a preprinted note card, and finish it in a Clean and Simple style. What took the longest was finding a note card in the back of my closet! The black and gray was so pretty, it really told me what to do, so I added more of those colors, and since the envie and a tiny strip on the bottom was pink.............
I had some flower die cuts from a million years ago, made by K & Co., and this one of the rose was staring me in the face, so on it went. I love punching and die cutting, so this was a snap. I am liking the results. Maybe I'll finish up the rest of the package, and tie them together as a quick gift!! Thanks for looking. Hugs to you all.

2nd post today.......WT Leaves

For the WT today, the theme was leaves. I have been working on making a bunch of cards for the Fall, so this fit right in. I was really foolish in thinking I could just whip off a CD case. I hadn't done one in a long time, and it took forever of course. My carft table will take an hour to clean up. I used just about everything I own (well not really!) I have posted the two sides so you can see front and back, and I hope you like it. This one will go to my MOM, who loves shaker cards. I think you can see in the front picture that the sequin leaves are free-floating. I had planned to do a pocket card (thanks Wendybell!) for her as a surprise, but she was here, and wormed it out of me. Both my DD and Mom are able to do that!! Enough. Thanks for visiting. Have a creative and fun day.

Divine Diva Inspiration Challenge

The DDIC this week takes its inspiration from this beautiful fabric. The print is by Kobayashi called Chysanthemums, and I wish it was still available, because it's so gorgeous. The beige background and the variety of flowers, plus the wavy lines give it so much dimension.


My version of this fabric is here, below, done in beige, with razzleberry, durango, curry, and a touch of bermuda bay. I tried to keep a variety of flowers, as in the original, added some wavy lines, and used the punch as a textural dimension.

The layout for my card is an easel, the directions for which can be found in the SCS forum under

TLC242. Very easy and fun to do.

I hope you will join us in the DDIC .....just be sure to put those letters in your keyword so we can find your card in the SCS gallery.

Be sure to check out what all the other Divas have done with this challenge. Click on their names on my sidebar! See you again on November 5th.

Belli Challenge #76 and SC250....Two today!

The Belli Challenge today is sponsored by Creative Cuts and More. They have the most wonderful die cuts, and a fabulous assortment of windows, special folds, and a great variety of things for your creative projects. Their papers are gorgeous. Go to their website here :
http://www.creativecutsandmore.com/

The Challenge today is to make a Fall or Thanksgiving card with at least one leaf. I used CC&M's library pocket card, and a wonderful Karen Lockhart stamp. The leaves are punched out, markered and sponged. Feel free to join us in the challenge. You can upload your card to our blog
http://www.bellichallenge.blogspot.com/ and also to SCS by putting CBC76 in your keyword. Check out what the other DT members have done!!

The Sketch challenge today at SCS is pretty easy. I figured it was about time to use some of my RED paper! These little snowmen from Hero Arts are so cute! It's easy to color them because the area for each color is so small. I used my cb Snow Dots , a MS punch and some ribbon.....voila! I have another Christmas card to add to my growing pile.

Thanks for joining me here today. Have a fun and creative morning.

........and now for the DDC!

Julia (artystamper) is the hostess for the Doubledog Dare Challenge today. She dared us to make a coffin for Halloween candy.

It was easier to make than I thought it would be, and I have two views for you to see....the inside is dp, and the "eyeball" candy will be fun for my DGS Jake. The rope is to keep the Mummy from climbing out!

Julia gave us the website for the template here:

http://www.marthastewart.com/article/coffin-treat-box?lnc=07a19db8cdcee010VgnVCM1000003d370a0aRCRD&rsc=collage_crafts_gift-crafts

Please join us and when you upload to SCS, please put DDC in your keyword so we can find it!!

A Little Birdie............

What a terrible day it is here!! Very hard rain, and dark, dark, dark!! Impossible to get a good clear picture of my card this morning. It's a little fuzzy, but I think you can see it all right.

The color challenge forced me to open a new color, Bermuda Bay, and how FABULOUS it is!! A totally different color than Teal. I almost didn't get it. Watercoloring it, I could tone it down or use it full strength, and the bird really shows up against the muted browns of the owl. I hope you like it.

Julia has posted the Doubledog Dare Challenge, and it's rather involved, so I'll be back later with a different kind of project, a Halloween COFFIN. Sounds fun, huh? Seeya later.

I am in shape....Round is a shape!

At 3:30 this afternoon I decided to do the CAS challenge. thumping is not something I am particularly keen on, but I did it anyway. Of course the bg I chose to do it on doesn't show it up at all, so you'll have to take my word for it. I have had this image for a long time, and finally inked it to go with the sentiment that I think is funny. The silverware is actually silver, and I can tell she's a lot like me, except for the curly hair. I am always ready to have food put in front of me!!! I think I will send this off in the morning to my Mom, who will get a kick out of it. She didn't join us this weekend to see the grands, and she's probably feeling a little alone. A card should perk her up. When she gets one, she calls right away, and we have a chat about it. That's it for me. Seeya tomorrow.

Happy Snowman

I just love this snowman image from Holly Berry House!! He's so jolly! Even though he's a pain in the **** to color, I always love the results. Today he is bright with markers, and the RED really makes a statement, don't you think??? I had fun doing the new Easel Card technique, and it's so easy, I'm sure I'll make more of them. I'm getting a good dent in the number of Christmas cards I need to make.......when we go to NH in November, that's the only stuff I'll take with me.
We had a wonderful day yesterday, watching three of our grandchildren perform. John and Tommy play Pop Warner Football. The day was bright and sunny, but chilly with a pretty good wind. At eight and nine, they are so cute in their football pads and helmets with these little bottoms in spandex pants! DH took lots of pictures. I'll have to post those later. Granddaughter Erin, who is 12, had a cheerleading competition at Assumption College in Worcester. It was fascinating to see what these girls can do! Her team got a first place Trophy!! It was in the gym, so it was pretty loud (and so was the guy I was sitting next to!!!), but I could see everything!! Such fun!!

Today is R & R time. It's chilly here, leaves are changing quickly, and I dread the winter ahead. I think I'll just focus on today. Have a great one, and thanks for joining me here. Hugs.

Parisian Peacock

I don't always do the Inspiration Challenge, but today when I looked at the incredible choices, I fell in love with the glass wall hanging of the peacock. I took a picture of it so you could see how closely I followed the design. After two days of no stamping, I was entertaining thoughts of doing something in my favorite color, but this piece was too beautiful to pass up. DH and I have had a busy couple of days, in spite of the fact that he has a pulled muscle in his groin (EEEEEEEEEWWW!!), and has a terrible head cold. We managed to go off our diets, but are still within reach of our goals. I have less than 6 pounds to go, and I am feeling better in my body.

I woke up with a headache, but I never let that stop me from stamping. I have two design team cards to make for the middle of next week, so I'll be working on those today. Tomorrow we are going to watch the DGS's (age 8 and 9) play Pop Warner football, and DGD's Cheerleading competition. If I get a chance to do the FS it will be late. Have a great weekend my friends, and thanks for looking here again. Hugs.

Round Two, B/W/ and RED!

I really did like the sketch challenge this morning. The snowman card I made got me to thinking about how many Christmas cards I have made, and how many I need. I like to do each one differently, and that takes time. October isn't too soon to start. I checked my list, and I am not even halfway there, so here is another card for the sketch.

I love silhouette stamps, and I think this one from The Paper Garden is wonderful. I wanted to add something with a little pizzazz, and pomegranate ribbon seemed to work the best...........and you know how I adore any shade of RED. I have no idea what the company is that made the bg print.....I had just a little piece left.

I like this one a lot. I hope you do too. the rest of the day I'll be glued to the TV.......baseball at its best!! I just love the playoffs!! Bye!

Unassembled Snowmen

For the SC today, I had some Christmas dp right on top of my table. I love this saying, and this snowman paper seemed to be just perfect. I had to just cut one out and pop it up.

I also had my new MA snowflake punch there, and went nuts using it. All the extras that punched out got used too.

Yesterday after all our errands, we went out to lunch (falling off the diet), but we were so good! Steak and veggies, a glass of wine, and I still lost weight! How great is that??! Today I promise to be good.

Have a great day! Hugs to you all!

Doubledog Dare Challenge

Today I am the hostess for the Doubledog Dare Challenge. I challenge you to make a masculine Get Well card. No ribbon or flowers allowed. Anything else goes. If you play along, please put DDC in your keyword. Mine is here, combined with the CC on SCS.

The colors for today are mellow moss, kraft, and white craft ink. I really like this combination, and it was so easy to use with the DDC. I love this ship stamp from Post Modern Design (it's a cube!), and it shows up better than I thought it would with the white ink. I made some waves, added brads and a hand written sentiment, and that was enough.

We are off to the grocery store and a few errands, so I'll be checking back in with you this afternoon. Happy stamping!

Animals for a Monday!

Happy Monday! Well, that weekend really flew by! Mom was here and enjoyed the WCMD Challenges, and so did I. We got the first group of them done before company came for dinner. I did the rest after she went home in the morning.

The cards for today are for two different challenges. The leopard is for the CAS35, which had a wonderful website from which to choose inspiration. I chose a pillow that was done in a leopard pattern. Luckily, last week I had gone to M's, and they had a sale on animal print ribbons. Gimme some of those!!! Bought some for me and some for Mom too. I love the In The Wild set..........great leopard, don't you think???


The second card I made was for the Technique Lover's Challenge. Today Lynn had us make Faux Suede, and IRL it looks like it! Very simple.......rub the CS against a table or anything with a hard edge and break the fibers. Then when you separate them, the inside looks like suede, and you get two sheets. I love this image of the peacock. I cut the thank you off the front and put it on the side of the wood so I could use the image alone. Works great!. I used my favorite MS border punch and a couple of brads. Very easy. Actually, I guess I made TWO CAS cards today.

Our leaves are turning, and lots are already falling. Our friend Cheryl looked at the driveway as they were leaving Saturday, and said, "Your tree threw up!" That's how many leaves are down!! Have a wonderful Autumn day. Hugs to you all.

World Card Making Day

What a fun day! The card posted yesterday, and all the cards that are here today were made for the World Card Making Day challenges at SCS. One was posted every hour, and I worked like crazy. When the break came at 4:00, I cleaned up, and was it ever a mess!! We had our friends Tom and Cheryl coming to join us for dinner and cards, so the kitchen absolutely had to be clear of scraps, stamps, punches, scor-pal, daubers,.......etc. you know!! Mom was here until noontime today, and she loved following along with what I was making. She is really incredible.........her 87 year-old fingers are still very nimble!! She likes to copy (CASE) what I make, so she went home with a bunch of new cards to send out.

Some of these challenges were A REAL challenge, but all in all, they were great fun. I hope you enjoy looking at what I have done. I planned to take the rest of the day off, but I looked to see who the Featured Stamper was, and when I discovered it was Lois Bak (clownmom), I knew I would be at it again!!

The deets for these cards ore on my SCS gallery if you care to look. I'll be back later with my card honoring Lois!!

By the way, I did manage to sneak in a RED card here and there! LOL!

World Card Making Day

Today is World card Making day, and Mom and I just finished the first challenge, using the sentiment as the focus......maybe the flower is a bit of a focus too, but we like what we have done. We will do a few of these, and still have time to play with a few techniques we have yet to try. Check back with us later, there may be more here to see.

These cards will be sent to the troops. Do some of the challenges for those guys and gals who can't rush off to a store to get one for a special occasion!!

I'll Have a RED Christmas!

I love Elvis's song, "Blue Christmas", but that's NOT my idea of the holiday.............mine is RED. Now isn't that a big fat surprise!!

The LSC today was to make a card or project with a Christmas tree on it. I love this big tree image by Paper Inspirations, and Versamarked it on a piece of RED paint chip. I had a whole bunch of assorted gems...little ones....that were left over from other things, and some wonderful new Martha Stewart ribbon. How's that for limited supplies and CAS?

Mom is on her way to spend the weekend, so my time for commenting is a little short, but be assured I am checking out your blogs and SCS with her.

Thanks for looking. Have a fun day.

A Nutty Morning!

Literally from the sublime to the ridiculous! The WT challenge this morning was to pizzazz up your sentiment. I thought I would look in my sentiment drawer for a word or two, and came up with "Greetings From the Nut House", which this is at all times. In place of the nut, I stamped an acorn to match this wonderful paper from The Paper Patch. Then I dug out my MOMR faceless Mona Lisa, and my favorite Groucho face, put one over the other, and voila - a card for a friend who will think this is funny.

I was in that kind of mood this morning....you know, the one where everything strikes you as hilarious???? I seem to have a lot of them (could it relate to being retired???)

Anyway, I hope you get a smile or a chuckle out of this. Don't let me be the only one who sees the humor in it.

Have a great day. Tomorrow I'll be back to normal, or at least more normal!

Divine Divas Inspiration Challenge #13

The DDIC this week comes from art.com and the painting below called "Golden Day II" by Jo Moulton. I really love the soft hazy quality of the colors, and the squared off layout with the leaves and swirls.



My card on the right continues the Autumn theme, but with some changes. Rather than keep the tile-like background, I used a soft dp and burlap. I liked the branch and abstract designs, so I put those in mine too. My single tree is sponged to give it the same look as the painting. Couldn't resist adding an organdy ribbon, could I? I hope you like it.



Please be sure to check out the blogs and galleries of the design team, to see their cards and projects inspired by this fabulous art (located on the left side of my blog), by highlighting their names.



If you would like to use this art piece as inspiration for a card or project of your own, Please upload it to SCS with the keyword DDIC.



Join me here again for the next DDIC in two weeks, on October 15th.

Two Challenges - SC248 and Belli (below)!

A day for challenges!! If you know me at all, you know I can't go many days without making a card with some RED......so here it is. No stamping today on this one, just a variety of punches. I've had this wonderful RED plaid paper for ages, and it sure was time to bring it out. I couldn't resist using a fabulous ribbon, and at the last minute stuck a little snowflake (punched of course) on it as well. Hope you like it, and that you will look below at my card for the Belli Challenge too.

Creative Belli Blog#75

The Belli challenge this week is sponsored by SHIRLEY'S2GIRLS, who provided us with this fun image. Make some time to go and look at their fabulous website!!!Our challenge was to use this image to create a Halloween card with glitter or bling. I wish you could see how glittery and glitzy the bg dp with the stripes is.........perhaps I should have covered up less of it.

The purple bg is done in stripes with the cb folder, and the main panel and the dp stripes(DCWV) were cut with a Nestability. The image is colored with markers, and she is holding a tag in her hand with a spider (which I find yucky!). I finished it up with a couple of bat brads, and a variety of ribbons to match the colors.

If you would like to join us, make a card with what you have on hand - just be sure it's Halloween themed with bling! Be sure to put CBC75 in your keyword when you upload to SCS. Also, link it to our blog so we don't miss it.

Don't forget to check out the other cards made by the Belli Team. You'll find links to their blogs on the left side of mine.

A 3rd Post! Can You Believe It???

Teapot Tuesday goes on in the absence of our fearless leader. MariLynn has suggested we still have our Tea Parties while we wait for Cindy to return. She posted a lovely Autumn beauty to inspire us, keeping in mind our party will involve hayrides and warm spiced cider. Doesn't that sound heavenly?? I'm packed (a toothbrush and a change of undies!) and ready to go. The Fall leaves on the teapot made me think of Autumn Days, the new set from SU. This is an envelope card, and the two pictures show how it looks closed, and the inside piece as it comes out.

The design is by Wendy Weixler (wendybell) who graciously called me on the phone from Utah to give me the directions. I think this is such a wonderful presentation for even the simplest card. Thanks so much Wendy.........I'll be making a lot of these!!

See you tomorrow. I'm done for the day - FOR SURE!!

2nd Post for the DDC and the CC

Right after I posted my first card today (which is below), I saw that our Doubledog Dare Challenge had been posted too. I like to combine the challenges when I can, so I went back to creating.

Out Hostess for the DDC today is Beverly (beestamper), who dared us to use a sketch she uploaded to the SCS forum. If you would like to join us,please put DDCin your keyword.

Hope you like this one.

Happy Snowman - Better photo? than below???

Happy Snowman

I guess I could have chosen a better bg to photo my CC card for today. I wanted to gray to show up, and the glitter to shine. I guess it does.

I love this image from Holly Berry House! It was a good thing I got up really early this morning, because it took FOREVAH to paint. I wanted to wait for each color to dry so they woouldn't beed into each other. I like to use nontraditional colors for Christmas (in fact any holliday), so the CC this morning was just right for me.

Have a wonderful day. Hugs to you all.

2nd Post - for CAS

I decided to also do the CAS today as it was a color challenge. I thought this Make An Impression stamp of butterflies was just right. Maybe I should have used a lighter pink marker? I was afraid it would be washed out, but maybe I was wrong.

Anyway, it was fun to do while we are waiting. Great things happening here today! The guys are coming to pump out our septic system (STINKY!), and a guy is coming to measure to replace the glass in one of our sliding glass doors (we have 3 sets, and one part is cloudy). Isn't that fabulous? As a result (and because we have lost weight - 10# for me, 20# for DH) we are celebrating by blowing the diet entirely with lunch out, and dinner at DS's. Back to the diet tomorrow.

If you are still reading along, please take a look at the funny card I made earlier this morning below.

Shameless Case!

This card is a shameless case of someone from a wonderful card on SCS, but I don't know who made it. if it's yours, PLMK. The TLC today is the foil embossing technique, and how cool!....I just got the Diamond Tool folder for my CB.

The sentiment is computer generated.

My Uncle Warren is a wooden toy maker. How great is this card for him??? I have already made his birthday card, so this will just be a whatever one, which is okay. he loves to get these creations from me, and saves EVERY ONE!

Have a great day. hugs to you all.

For Nancyruth, a Story

I was so happy to see that Nancyruth Levine was the SCS Featured Stamper today! She was the first person whose card I commented on, and she sent it to me!! that's how I knew SCS was a wonderful place. How fitting that she be honored today, and with a purple card for the purple one she sent me, so long ago.

I changed the main color and image, the tie to a bow, the butterfly in place of a button, and left off the sentiment. The layout was so pretty I kept it, along with the punched edge.

I spent a busy day yesterday with DH, watched some of the RedSox before company came for dinner, and we all played cards until bedtime. Being retired is exhausting stuff!!!

Have a great day. Hugs to you all, and thank you for all your nice comments and responses to my cards. I love to hear from you!!