Cheers to You

Happy Sunday! Gray and gloomy here today but at least a little warmer before the cold sets back in. I took a long walk this morning and got almost 10,000 steps in. My daughter and son-in-law are coming for dinner so I am trying to post before I head up to cook. And the Colts are winning so it's an amazing day, even with the gloomy weather. The bummer is I have to go back to work tomorrow. But only a 4 day week.
My card today is for a birthday. I'm not happy with the photography. What looks blue is really purple.

This was a free image from DeeDee's Digis as a freebie at the Outlawz. The sentiment is from the same set. Both the image and sentiment are cut with Spellbinders dies. I used the sketch from the Outlawz Wednesday challenge. I added some twine and some star brads to complete the card.

I am entering these challenges:

• Seize the Birthday: anything goes
• Sentimental Sunday: lots of layers
• Outlawz Wednesday challenge: sketch
• Hiding in my Craft Room: free style
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

Well, I am off to start cooking. My Colts won and I am a happy camper. Hope your Sunday is wonderful too!

Donna

Glad Tidings

Today I had time for one card. I need to knock a few more cards out this weekend so I am ahead of the game when we leave for Boston next week. So I had one more progressive challenge to go in November. Cutting it pretty close here but wanted to get it in for the From the Heart Progressive challenge.

I chose to use lots of bling on this card. The image and sentiment are from the November Stamp of the Month from From the Heart. I paper pieced the ornament with my daughter's paper from her wedding invitations (so I think this will be her Christmas card this year). I colored the image with a mixture of Copics and Bic markers. I inked the sentiment piece with Certainly Celery Stampin' Up! ink. I added some bling that I recently found at Michael's and a piece of ribbon. I used my white gel pen for some faux stitching around the base of the card.
I am entering these challenges:

• From the Heart Stamp of the Month: use the stamp of the month
• 52 {Christmas} Card Throwdown: pick a previous sketch (I used sketch #32, September 2014)
• Beccy's Place: baubles
• Outlawz Sunday challenge: bling it on

Hope your weekend is going well. I am not looking forward to going back to work but we only have a four day week this coming week so maybe it won;t be so bad.! Happy Saturday!

Donna

Brighten my Day

Happy Black Friday! Did you do any shopping today. I went out with some of my sister-in-laws for our annual Girls Day Out. We had lunch and then walked through some shops. I didn't buy anything. So I still have all my Christmas shopping to do. Hmmm.
I have a card for you today.

This is a Simon Says card. I used pieces from Simon Says card kits, with the exception of the ribbon which comes from my stash. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Simon Says: anything goes
• Outlaw Monday: anything goes

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. We drove home this evening after our Girls Day Out so I am now hoping for some crafting time this weekend. Happy weekend to you!

Donna

New Challenge at the Outlawz

I tries to post earlier today but since we are visiting with Tom's family, my Internet connection wasn't working. He finally had to reboot the network connection. I am just glad that the connection came back before I needed to post my last guest designer post for the Thursday Outlawz Challenge. I want to thank Pat and the design team for having me as a guest designer this month. I've enjoyed my time immensely and it's been so fun. So this week's challenge is sparkles for Christmas. So here is my card.

Our sponsor this month is Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. My main image is from Stitchy Bear, colored with Copics and embellished with lots of Burgundy Stickles. I used some faux stitching around the main image. I used a Martha Stewart border punch above the image and added a ribbon and bow. The holly leaf and candy piece are stickers embellished with some Stickles. The background paper is from Authentique. The sentiment is from a set I won in a blog candy but has no name on the set. I used the Paper Players sketch as inspiration.
I am entering these challenges:

• Paper Players challenge: sketch
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes

I hope you will check out this fun challenge and play along this week. The Outlawz is such a fun place with challenges 7 days a week.  Always something fun going on.
Today is Thanksgiving and before I go I'd like to wish you and your family a very Happy Thanksgiving! Have a wonderful day full of fun and food but remember, the people are more important than the food. Best wishes for a great weekend!

Donna

Reindeer Greetings

Happy Saturday! The weather has taken a turn for the better here. We made it into the 50s today without any rain so far. Although they say the rain is coming. But I am just enjoying the warmer temperatures. Our snow is disappearing so maybe we won;t have a white Thanksgiving after all. LOL!
So my card for tonight has some reindeer on it. I jazzed them up a but.

The image and sentiment is from Bugaboo Digital Stamps. I just love the reindeer with that "what the heck" look. I used the Bugaboo Stella Sketch to mae the card. The dotted background paper is from Close to my Heart. The other two papers are from my scrap box. I think both of them came from Hobby Lobby so they are probably Paper Studio. I colored the image with Copics and added Gold and Yellow Stickels and self-adhesive rhinestones for some bling!
I am entering these challenges:

• Stella Sketch: sketch
• Creative Knockouts: bling is the thing
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Crafty Hazelnuts Patterned Paper challenge: cover the card in patterned paper
• Crafty Hazelnut Christmas challenge: anything goes

Hope you are enjoying your weekend so far. Yesterday was my last day of work until December. I am on vacation. Yippee! I am hoping for some serious crafting time this week. I cleaned the house today so I am getting my ducks in a row. Happy weekend. Take care!

Donna

Fowl Play

Last night when I posted I was kind of in a hurry and forgot what card I was posting.I have CRS: can't remember sh... (stuff)!  So I titled my post the wrong thing and had to go back and correct it. Well, tonight I do have the fowl play card to post. The first time I saw the sentiment I knew I had to use it. I laughed out loud!

The sketch was the Tuesday Morning Sketch from last week (I must have liked it a lot!) The sentiment is from Create with TLC. And the turkey is from Crafty Paws. The background papers are scraps from my scrap box. I used a Martha Stewart corner punch and Spellbinder's Labels 13 for the sentiment. I added a few self-adhesive gems. I hope you like it as much as I do. I laugh every time I look at it.
I am entering these challenges:

• Creative Knockout challenge: bling is the thing
• Delightful Challenge: you're a gem
• Simon Says: thanks/Thanksgiving
• Cut It Up: let's talk turkey
• Outlawz Monday: Happy Thanksgiving

Still below freezing here, but I am thankful for not much snow and the promise of a little warm up on the weekend. If you are in upstate New York, my prayers are with you. I can't imagine all that snow. Thanks for stopping by today and remember..... don't get arrested for fowl play this holiday season.

Donna

Challenge at the Outalwz

Happy Thursday! I am again a guest designer for the Thursday Outalwz challenge. This week the challenge is really easy: use your favorite colors at Christmas time. The challenge is always anything goes with a twist. If you use the twist (your favorite Christmas colors) you are entered twice for the prize. Our sponsor this month is Stitchy Bear digital stamps. Here's my card.

I am very traditional for my favorite Christmas colors. I love red and green but I also like to add a pop of gold. My image is from Floppy Latte Designs. I colored it with Bic and Copic markers. The image was cut and backed with Spellbinders Circle and Scalloped Circles and I used faux stitching around the image. The sentiment is from a Gina K stamp set. It was embossed with gold embossing powder. I embossed the dark green background card stock with the holly swirl embossing folder. And of course, my favorite plaid paper in the background. My embellishments are a gold button and gold ribbon. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.

I really hope you will check out the Thursday Outlawz challenge and join us. Everyone can use another Christmas card to send out to friends or family this year. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: the sketch
• Sentimental Sunday: brads, buttons or bows
• Through the Craft Room Door: anything goes
• Love to Create: make it for Christmas

Thanks for stopping by. We are on the down side of the week. Two more days to work and I am on vacation! Hurray. Still very cold but at least during the day it gets up to the freezing mark. Haha!

Donna

It's the Grinch!

Still bitterly cold today. I think tomorrow we might get to 30 degrees. That would be a real warming trend. We got a little more snow but not much. Just enough to make the roads really slippery again. Usually we wish for a white Christmas. This year we might see a white Thanksgiving. I can't ever remember having snow on the ground for Thanksgiving.

I was thinking Christmas tonight and decided to keep it CAS.

 I found these tags of movie quotes at the Happy Tulip. The one from "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" caught my eye and I thought it would make a cute card. I cut out the tag and punched the hole and added the ribbon and the flower. I love plaid paper and this was on my desk.

Entering these challenges:

• Outlawz CAS: take us to the movies
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: Christmas
• Party Times Tuesday: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by tonight. Hope you are keeping warm and being crafty!

Donna

Fall Thanks

Our fall has quickly turned to winter. We got several inches of snow although not as much as they were predicting. Tonight and tomorrow night we could be looking at below zero wind chills. It's just way too early for this. The roads were icy this morning and it's snowing again tonight. The winter is going to be really long I'm thinking.

Back to fall for my card tonight.

I used this sketch last week and really liked the results so I tried it again. After I printed this I lost who did this image. So if I find it I will correct this post. I colored the image with Copics and used Spellbinders circles and scalloped circles to cut it out. I used the French Scroll punch to cut the border. The patterned paper is Basic grey. Another CAS card!
I am entering these challenges:

• Stamping Boutique: thankful
• Outlawz Friday: thanks or Thanksgiving
• Hiding in my Craft Room: think fall

Hope your week is off to a great start. Thanks for stopping by. Stay warm and safe!

Donna

Merry & Bright

It's snowing away here as I type. It's beautiful outside but I wouldn't want to drive around right now. We'll be having Thanksgiving dinner tonight with my daughter and new son-in-law. We have dinner with them on Sundays and next week we have other things to do. So we are doing it a but early. The turkey is in the oven and I still need to make the sweet potatoes.
With the snow I was thinking Christmas today. I'm not sure that I like this card but I'm not sure what else to do.

I don't really have a Christmas border punch so I used this French Scroll punch to make a number of border strips out of scraps. I layered those on the card and added the punched star with a Gina K sentiment. I inked the edges of the star and the card and added some gems. Pretty simple. What do you think? What does it need?

I am entering this into these challenges:

• Simon Says challenge: we're seeing stars
• Beccy's Place: border punches
• Crafty Hazelnut: Go Green

I just looked at our weather forecast. We have a winter weather advisory as the snow teams down until mid morning tomorrow. So we;ll see how that goes. It's very early for snow around here. Here's hoping you are safe and warm and crafty today.

Donna

Baby, It's Cold Outside

I can't believe how cold it was today. I don't think we got above 30 today and it was windy and snowy most of the day. We didn't get much accumulation but it's a little early for snow around here. We have another cold one tomorrow. I think at least Saturday we are supposed to get above freezing. We are having Thanksgiving here on Sunday since next Sunday I have a baby shower and we have to travel for the actual day. We'll celebrate with my daughter and son-in-law this weekend and then watch the Colt hopefully beat the Patriots. Oh that would make me sooooo happy!

One of my co-workers had surgery to replace her knee so I made a card for her for everyone to sign. Veru simple but I really like it.

Isn't that cookie jar adorable? This is from the progressive stamp set for this month at Imagine That. I love the little tag: Chocolate is a girl's best friend. If I had surgery I'd want a lot of chocolate. I used a scrap from my stash and added the little banner with the embossed sentiment. The sketch is close to the Sweet Sunday Sketch. I popped up the cute little cookie jar.

I am entering these challenges:

• Imagine That: use the stamp from the progressive challenge
• Sweet Sunday Sketch: the sketch
• Hiding in my Craftroom: Super Scrap Saturday

Thanks for stopping by today. Hope you are warm and cozy. Please stay safe!

Donna

Outlawz Thursday Challenge

Happy Thursday! I am back with another challenge this week at the Outlawz. This week we are being Thankful. Thanksgiving isn't very far away and I am thankful for so many things. Thanksgiving dinner with our family has alwasy been one of my favorite times. Here's the card I made for the challenge.

The image is a pre-colored image from Dearie Dolls and the sentiment is from Create with TLC. The Backgroud patterned paper is from Basic Grey. I inked the sentiment after cutting it with Spellbinders squares. I added some ribbon and a few self-adhesive gems. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketch with the twist of leaves and pumpkins.

I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• DigiStamps4Joy: Preparing for the Holiday/Fall
• Bugaboo: show us your food
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Today is my maintenance  class and my weigh in this month. Yikes I am glad that pumpkin pie is only an image and not for real. LOL! My wish for you is happy times with family and friends this Thanksgiving season. Thanks for stopping by. Happy Thursday!

Donna

It's a Cupcake Birthday

Happy Monday. We had beautiful weather today. The temps weren't too bad. I went for a long walk at lunch time. The temps are supposed to dip for the rest of the week. So I'll have to get my exercise inside. My next weigh in is on Thursday. Hope I at least maintained my weight. With holidays coming quickly it's going to be hard to hold it together. But at least I know how to get it back down if I do gain a few pounds. So onto my card tonight. I needed a birthday card for my BIL later this week. So here's his card.

The image is from Bugaboo. I used the Stella sketch to make the card. I used some Die-namics border dies and Spellbinders scalloped Oval. The image is colored with Copics. The sentiment is from Hero Arts. I printed the plaid paper from a free fall plaid set but I don't know where I got it from. None of the paperwork that accompanies the set has the company name. So I am entering these challenges:

• Stella Challenges: sketch
• Pile It On: special occasion
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Hope your Monday has been great! Stay warm and comfy! And have a super week.

Donna

A Merry Little Tag

Sadly, the weekend is coming to an end. I got a lot of cooking done today but not as much crafting as I hoped to do. I did make a trip to Michael's and picked up a few things that I needed. I did manage to get one card completed. Another Christmas card. The tag was created for the progressive challenge at DigiStamps4Joy.

The cute little tag is from DigiStamps4Joy and I added the sentiment from Creative Vision. The image is colored with Copics and I added some faux stitching around the tag. The background is all scraps from my scrap box. I embossed the strips with the Holly Swirl embossing folder. And I used Berry Lace die cut for the border. I also added some candy cane ribbon to the tag. The tree is decorated with some Stickles.

I am entering these challenges:

• DigiStamps4Joy Christmas Progressive challenge: us the progressive digital stamp
• Hiding in my Craftroom: Super Scrap Saturday
• Paper Players: colors: cherry cobbler, very vanilla, mossy meadow

As the weekends ends I am hoping that you've had time to relax and craft. And hoping that the week ahead is productive! Take care!

Donna

CAS Snowman Christmas

Happy Saturday! One of my rare posts on the weekend. Although during the winter that may happen more often. When the weather gets cold and snowy I don;t go out to our other property as much. And I would happily go if I had an Internet connection out there. I don't miss the television but I do miss Internet. I've been keeping an eye on Beccy's Place this week. She is showcasing Christmas this month. She posts a holiday card each day and one commenter wins one of her digital stamps. And each day she posts a challenge to go with the card and on Saturday you can win additional stamps if you've joined in the challenges. So this is the first one that I've done. The first day was a CAS card and here's mine.

The snowman is a Beccy's Place image. The image was pre-colored. I used the sketch from Freshly Made Sketches.  He's against a snowflake embossed background that was inked over with another color to try and lighten the snowflakes. Then I added some enamel dots and a sentiment. I tied the twine after wrapping it around the background a few times. I like the finished card!

I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place a Month of Holiday Cards: CAS
• Freshly Made Sketches: sketch
• C.R.A.F.T. challenge: winter
• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas challenge: keep it flat
• Outlawz Paper ala Mode: cute Christmas

Thank you stopping by. I hope your weekend is going well. I am working on getting my handouts and training ready for our Girl Scout event next week. I hope to finish early tomorrow so I can go back to crafting and get a little cooking done for this week. Hope you find time to get crafty too.

Donna

Eat Beef

Welcome to the deep freeze! Today was cold, windy and wet. We aren't supposed to get much above 40 this weekend. Now I know that's not really the deep freeze but it feels really cold here. I did the treadmill inside tonight instead of doing my outside route. I need to keep up with my exercise. I have to weigh in next Thursday at my maintenance class and with Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up I have to make good choices. Speaking of Thanksgiving, here's a card for you tonight.

The image is from CraftyPaws, a freebie from last week. I colored him with Copic markers. The background paper is one of my shaving cream technique sheets I made. The other papers are from Doodle Pantry. The pearl swirls are from Zva and I used some extra from the swirl to decorate the Beaded Ovals from Spellbinders. I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches.
I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: sketch
• Outlawz Monday: fall colors
• Sweet Stamps: stripes
• Delightful challenge: include patterned paper
• Bugaboo: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by. Hope you are staying warm. Have an awesome weekend!

Donna

Guest Designer at Outlawz Thursday Challenge

I am honored this month to be a guest designer at the Outlawz Thursday challenge. Each of the next few Thursdays I'll have a card that follows the great challenge. Our sponsor this month is Stitchy Bear Digital Stamps. This week the challenge is to use a button or buttons. So here's my card.

I am using a Stitchy Bear image. My original thought was to use buttons for the snowman's eyes and the buttons on the coat but I would have had to blow the image up pretty big. I really love this image. I think it's adorable! As I was putting it together it brought back memories of winters when I was a little girl. My Mom would always tell us to "Button Up!" before going out the door to play. So I decided to use that on my card. I found the ribbon in my stash. The sentiment I cut out with a Spellbinder's tag. The background behind the image is embossed with the snowflake embossing folder. The image is colored with Copics. I added the buttons with a little twine tied into them as embellishments.
I hope you will join us this week for the challenge. Add a button or buttons to your project and play along with us!

I am entering these challenges:

• Part Time Tuesday: anything goes
• Sentimental Sunday: anything goes
• Pile It On: feeling cool
• Through the Craftroom Door: anything goes

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope your week is going well. Halfway to the weekend.

Donna

Cause for Celebration

How is the weekend over already? I swear weekends go so fast while the weekdays go so slow. I am grateful for my job. My SIL has been out of a job for over a year and she just found a new one so I made her this card.

I made an easel card to celebrate her new job. The wine bottle image is from Beccy's Place. I colored it with a combination of Copic and Bic markers. I used the Spellbinder's Heart Pendant to showcase the sentiment from Create with TLC. I dressed up the pendant with some emerald green Stickles. The inside sentiment was something I drummed up on the computer. and embellished it with some Stickles also. I sponged some red ink on the inside sentiment too.
I am entering these challenges:

• Beccy's Place challenge: use an image from Beccy's Place
• Outlawz Thursday challenge: easel card
• Delightful Challenge: swirls and curls
• Simon Says: anything goes

That's it for tonight. Wish I had found more time this weekend to  make cards but it just went too fast. Hope your weekend, Halloween and the start to November was a great oner. Make it an awesome week!

Donna

Stirring up a Batch of Fun

Happy November! Where did October go? Christmas is creeping up too fast! And of course I am not ready. LOL! I think if someone is ready for Christmas now I really dislike them. Haha! I had a little time today to do a card.

I used the sketch from Tuesday Morning Sketches. The image and sentiment is from Doodle Pantry colored with Copics. I used a chevron embossing folder to give texture to the red background strip. I inked the Spellbinder's tag die that I used for the sentiment. Then I added the little gingerbread men as embellishments. These were two little buttons that I took the backs off. I am entering these challenges:

• Tuesday Morning Sketches: the sketch
• Doodle Pantry challenge: use a Doodle Pantry image; anything goes

I still need to do my handouts for my Math & Science training. I am hoping to finish that off tomorrow. But I'd love to get more crafting in too. Have a wonderful Sunday! Hope your weekend is going well.

Donna