New week, new OWH sketch.

Blessings to you, my friends, on this wonderful, sunny autumn day. It's the start of a brand new week and, of course, the day the weekly OWH sketch comes out. Can you believe we're up to #140 already? I absolutely LOVE this sketch and couldn't wait to try it. Really, I mean I don't remember when I've actually made a card and posted it the same day the sketch hits the OWH Blog. I happily present my card:

I matted everything on black cardstock to make it pop. The DS paper and round sticker are from the "Carefree" 6x6 paper pad, and 12x12 "Details" sticker sheet, by Authentique. I used Jan Hunnicutt's tip from Saturday's OWH Blog Skip... adhere your sticker to your paper first THEN punch or die cut. Thank's Jan!! I adhered my sticker to the black cardstock and then used a Fiskar's 1 1/2" scalloped circle punch to punch mat and sticker all in one. Perfecto! I think the black and white ribbon is from May Arts, but I'm not sure. I bought loads of it a while back and don't remember where I got it.

Thank You so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

OWH Midweek Throwdown

This is the last week of OWH birthday month, and this week features SRM stickers. Soooo, we are to use stickers. Now I'm not a big fan of stickers but, I have to admit, these new stickers that are coming out are really cool. The edges/backgrounds are clear so no more awful white that really looks stickerish. [Yep, just made a new word.] I chose OWH sketch #131 and turned it on it's side.

Aren't those penguin stickers sooooo cute? If you know me then you know I love penguins. When I saw these whimsical, happy stickers at Hobby Lobby I just had to buy them. I mean really... don't you think they're cute? I'm really happy with how this card turned out and I think this will be one design for this year's Christmas Cards.

Papers: Authentique 6x6 paper pad, Peaceful collection
Stickers: "Cute Penquin Stickers" by Hobby Lobby
Sentiment: "Christmas Assortment" clear stamp set by Scrappy Cat [gems included]
Border Punch: E.K. Success

As always, Thank You so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

2 Challenges = 1 card

Hi peeps! Yes, I was able to combine two challenges into one card this time. Now that's not an easy task for me, doing two things at once. :)  I figure it I do this enough times I'll get the hang of it and it will be a lot easier.

I'm really happy with how this turned out and hope you like it too. I used this week's OWH sketch #139 for the layout, and this week's Member Challenge at CardSwaps, which is to use the colors of fall. The two strips of paper at the bottom of the sketch is the same paper. I just love double sided paper! :)

Card Base: embossed chevron cardstock by Core'dinations.
Designer Papers: My Mind's Eye "Autumn Splendor" collection from last year.
Frame: Rust cardstock from my stash.
Brown Baker's Twine.
Die Cut: Cuttlebug, "With Gratitude" die using the word thanks; and "Combo Damask Frame" die using just the frame.

Thank you so much for stopping by, hope you enjoyed your visit!

I'm back again!

Boy there sure have been a lot of disruptions lately. Some good, some bad, but all are part of life and life really is good. I try to keep my blog current but sometimes life has other plans. My original plan for my blog was a place to showcase, and share, my love of paper crafts and card making.

Lately I've been thinking of adding what I call "therapy writing". Some of you that have been following me know my mom is in a lovely nursing home and the staff loves her. Still... it's difficult for mom to accept she can no longer do simple things for herself, and it's difficult for me to watch her struggle. So, from time to time,  I will write about some of our struggles.

First on my list today is to share a recent photo of Mom and I, taken last week at my cousin's home.

Mom is the last sibling out of 8 children my grandparents had. Some of my cousins and I, children of mom's sister Esther, have frequent "get togethers". Mom has always been an integral part of these gatherings and we bring her when she's up to it.

Clearing out mom's home that she's lived in since 1946, and that I was born and raised in, is no easy task. Mom, being raised in the Depression, has saved everything! It's time consuming going through her possessions and, yes, emotional. I keep telling myself it's easier doing it now while she's living, but it's difficult non the less. It's also difficult trying to take care of things in a non objectionable, unemotional manner when the emotional child within me wants to throw a temper tantrum and run and hide! I was recently down at the house and for some reason went into the basement. SHOCK!! Half the basement had water in it. I called the plumber and the main sewer line had gotten blocked with tree roots. It took the poor plumber two and a half hours to snake out the line and remove tons of roots.

So, thank you for taking time to stop by and say Hi!

Christmas in Spetember

I made this Christmas card for the Member Challenge over at CardSwaps. This week it's a color challenge with red being the dominant color.

The cardstock is darker red than the photo shows and looks much nicer. (Sure wish I could take good photos) I used a brand new embossing folder and stamp. The folder is from a new to me company named Crafts-Too and it's called Snowflake Banner. After embossing I used my craft knife to cut out the center so the white card base would show. The new stamp is Christmas Peace by Stampendous and was inked with Festive Berries from the Winter Bundle by Ranger. (I don't know if this bundle is still available) Some touches of Stickles, a white bow, and call it done!

Thank you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

An Authentique Halloween

This week's sketch #136 is up over at OWH's Stars & Stamps. I made a card using all Authentique paper products. Well... except for the sparkly ribbon. I'll admit I'm not one of millions who get into decorating for Halloween. Gasp... the horror!! Yeah I know, I'm a rebel. I do, however, love making Halloween cards and I figured this challenge, along with some new paper, would give me a jump start.

 

The houndstooth print and polka dots papers are from Authentique's new Enchanted collection. There are really fabulous papers and stickers in this new collection. Yeah, I'm a BIG Authentique fan! The tickets and spider web circle are from the Enchanted Details sticker sheet. I mounted them on black and orange cardstock. The sentiment is from the Enchanted Elements sticker sheet. Love the sticker words and alphabets! I mounted the black words on orange cardstock. To finish it off I added some sparkly ribbon from May Arts.

 

Thanks you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!

Gift Card Holder

I made this gift card holder for my mom to give the kids. Can you believe... it's made of an envelope and a couple of folds!Soooo stinkin easy!!

 

The red cardstock is cut slightly smaller than the folded envy. I die cut the fancy tag from Spellbinder's Shapeabilities set called Antique Frame and Accents. I used Cuttlebug's Polka Dot embossing folder to give the tag some dimension. Next I cut a black swirl using PoppyStamps die called Ivy Tendrils. I added some more dogwood flowers, like the ones I used on the card.

 

 

 

I got the brilliant idea to use the small flower box die from PoppyStamps Inc. This is one idea that actually looked as cute on paper as it did in my head. (heeheehee) For a little extra dimension is popped the window box up using foam tape. I love dimension!

 

 

Here's a photo of how the envelope looks after it's folded. I'm trying to do a tutorial on this for later in the week. Stay tuned!

 

Again - Thanks you so much for stopping by.... hope you enjoyed your visit!

 

Wedding Card

Now that I'm back home I'm able to post the kids' card the way it's supposed to look... not all wonky. The only thing I can think of is that their Wireless wouldn't allow the photos to upload properly.

Brandy's colors were red and black, so I wanted their card to highlight those colors.

 

The background layer is embossed with Cuttlebug's Script Texture. The frame is from Spellbinder's Shapeabilities die set called Antique Frame and Accents.  I didn't like the white frame on the white background so I got creative. I thought it would look good with the kids' names and wedding date sooo... I did a little playing in MSWord to get the type of font and color I wanted. Then it was simply print a few on a sheet of cardstock and die cut.

 

I popped the frame up with foam tape for dimension. Next I cut a black swirl from Cheery Lynn Designs' Fanciful Flourish die. There are two sizes. This is the large one. For the small flowers I used a tiny dogwood punch by CarlaCraft.

 

 

I made the envelope box from a template I've had for years. I used Sizzix's Elegant Bouquet embossing folder which is made for Stampin Up!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by... hope you enjoyed your visit!