Stampin' B's Holiday Card Challenge

For this week's Stampin' B's DT challenge, Faith is our hostess. Her challenge to us was to make a holiday card. I decided to go with a snowy CAS Christmas card. I love these sweet snowmen and this awesome maraschino baker's twine from The Twinery!

I used the following challenges in the making of this card.

• Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge:
• EtsyInspired Challenge: to be inspired by the wares of the Queen of Tarts Cakes Etsy store. I was inspired by these delicious snowmen cookies.
• Crafty Creations: Christmas is Coming
• Papertake Weekly: Cut It Out (punches, etc.)
• One Stop Craft Challenge: Snow People
• Simon Says Challenge: Let It Snow
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: anything goes
  

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. (Because of Thanksgiving, I posted a bit early this week. The official post on the Stampin' B's DT blog will be up and running at 12:01 AM EST on November 25.) We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks for stopping by!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: SU So Many Scallops
Paper: various card stock, Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas DP
Ink: SU baja breeze, Palette toile pink, Marvy LePlume II cherry marker
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, EK 1.25" circle punch, SU scallop circle punch, SU decorative label punch, dimensionals, white grosgrain ribbon, red rhinestone, maraschino baker's twine from The Twinery

SCS Inspiration Challenge Samples

Hi and Happy Saturday, everyone!

I was so excited to be asked by SmylinStef on SCS to make sample cards for this week's Inspiration Challenge!! This was an SCS first for me. I really enjoyed getting two cards ready, and couldn't wait to share them with all of you.

This week’s inspiration site is Plaid Pony Vintage, a small independent company selling vintage clothing, accessories, and housewares for vintage obsessed guys and gals. Can I just tell you how fun it was to browse this site? I kept coming across things that my family owned and used while growing up, which, I have to say, was kind of scary. Since when have things from my own lifetime become "vintage?" I don't feel old enough for that! (Although my driver's license may tell you a different story . . . )

OK, enough rambling (time enough for that at the end of this post). Let's meet today's cards!
Because I was born and raised in Ohio, I was immediately drawn to this Ohio souvenir plate. I’ve seen all of those places! In fact, I think my mom may actually own a plate just like this one, so it was a nice trip down memory lane. But more than the nostalgia factor, I was drawn to all of the great design possibilities. See those cardinals in the center medallion? (You can click the plate to enlarge it.) Cardinals are Ohio's state bird, that's where I got my inspiration for the focal point of my card. Then I stamped the design on the large circle myself to imitate the rest of the pattern on the plate. I used four different stamps from my four favorite stamp companies: the cardinal is from Mark’s Finest Papers, the primrose is from Flourishes, the toile-like vine is from The Angel Company, and the pattern on the photo corners was punched from a chrysanthemum from {ippity}. My card measures 5” x 5” square.

This CAS Christmas card was inspired by this awesome vintage Holly and Poinsettia Apron. Last month I bought a small collection of various designer papers for Christmas, and among them was a great holly and poinsettia pattern with updated flair from Cosmo Cricket. I decided to go CAS on this one to let the DP really shine.

The Noel sentiment is from Mark’s Finest Papers and is punched with the new decorative label punch from Stampin’ Up! I highlighted the edge of the label with gold lame Smooch (available from MFP). I added red rhinestones and some SU real red grosgrain ribbon, and that’s all! The time it took for the Smooch to dry was longer than it took to make the whole rest of the card. :)

No other challenges for today's first creation aside from the SCS Inspiration Challenge IC259. I was so wrapped up in really capturing my inspiration plate in this card that I didn't even think to try to look for other challenges to spark my creativity. Everything I needed was right there in the souvenir plate!

I am entering the second card in these challenges:

• Simon Says Stamp Challenge: Sparkle (I added some sparkle with my red rhinestones)
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge: FTTC93, Christmas cards
• Critter Sketch Challenge: Texture (I added some texture with some grosgrain ribbon)
  

OK, before I go I wanted to share a few other items I found on the Plaid Pony Vintage website. I just thought it was so funny to see listings for this Uncle Wiggly game and this Dungeon Dice game, too. Not only did my family have both of these games when I was growing up, they ended up with me after I was married, and we still play them with our kids today. Isn't that a hoot? We play "vintage" all the time. OK, now that I think about, I am starting to feel old . . .

Thanks so much for stopping by to share my little slice of bliss for today. Have a great weekend!

Cardinal Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Greetings of the Season, Flourishes Calendar Set 1, The Angel Company Vine, {ippity} Now & Always
Paper: MFP natural vanilla bean fleck CS, SU basic black CS
Ink: Marvy LePlume II black marker, Palette noir black
Accessories: CM circle cutting system, Spellbinders Lacey Circles, SU photo corners punch, foam tape, black pearls, Offray sheer petal rose

Noel Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Musical Holiday
Paper: MFP natural vanilla bean fleck CS, The Paper Company red CS, Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather DP
Ink: Marvy LePlume II pine marker
Accessories: SU decorative label punch, SU scallop trim border punch, gold lame Smooch (from MFP), foam tape, red rhinestones, SU real red grosgrain ribbon

Stampin' B's Snowflake Challenge

Welcome to Thursday!! Time for another Stampin' B's DT challenge. This week Joanne is our hostess, and her challenge to us is Snowflakes, Snowflakes, Snowflakes. Done and DONE!!
So my dusky evergreen scene is framed in snowflakes and matted on some shimmery, silvery snowflake DP from Pink Paislee. And I was SO thrilled to be able to add this luscious lilac baker's twine from The Twinery that I won in the Off the Wall Craftiness Challenge a few weeks ago. Plus, I used my brand-new Martha Stewart Nordic snowflake punch and SU jewelry tag punch for the first times (along with my new SU Tiny Tags stamp set, as well). It's so much fun to play with new toys! :)

I was able to incorporate a few other challenges into this 5" x 5" card:

• Create For Fun: CR84FN4, to use purple, light purple, and gray
• Card Positioning Systems: CPS 193
• Speedy the Cat's Friends Challenge: #29, Snowflakes
• Paper Sundaes: #44, Pick Your Own Sundae Toppings! Choose at least two of these toppings: punches, ribbon, embossing, or the color blue. I used lots of punches, and I'm counting my pretty new baker's twine as ribbon.
• Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge: FTTC93, Christmas Card

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for checking out my creation for today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers A Walk in the Woods, SU Tiny Tags, SU Christmas Punch
Paper: SU whisper white CS, The Paper Company CS, Pink Paislee Tinsel Town Collection DP
Ink: Palette inks: violette, lavender sachet, charcoal
Accessories: CM circle cutting system, MS Nordic snowflake punch, SU boho blossoms punch, SU jewelry tag punch, sponges, dimensionals, rhinestones, pearls, baker's twine
Techniques: sponging, punches

Blue Christmas Joy

OK, I am really excited about the card I made this morning. After yesterday's less than stellar creation, I am super pleased with this one!!
Today I focused on completing the last of the {ippity} release week challenges, INRC3FALL2010, to use {ippity} stamps to create a Christmas or Holiday card that is in non-traditional holiday colors. So no red or green. . .

I don't have any {ippity} holiday stamps, so I had to think a bit on this one. In the end, I thought that the woodgrain star from Authentic Man would be perfect. The sentiment was a little harder, as I have nothing {ippity} that was Christmas-y. I decided to make a pennant banner {one of my fav techniques!} spelling out JOY with letters from the {ippity} sentiments that I DO have. The "J" comes from Authentic Man; the "O" comes from Love in Return; and the "Y" comes from Faith Blooms.

Oh, I've discovered an even better way to easily make pennant banners!! Want to know my secret?? I recently found this fabulous EK Success diamond punch (available from Amazon.com) As soon as I saw it, I knew it would streamline making pennant banners, especially when it comes time for stringing up all those little pennants. Punch a diamond, score across the middle, fold around a piece of cord for stringing, and adhere the front to back on the inside. Couldn't be simpler!!

I also used these challenges in the making of this card:

• Splitcoast sketch challenge SC307: I flipped the sketch to make it work with my pennant banner design element.
• EtsyInspired: #114, to be inspired by the wares of the Happy Day Designs Etsy store. I was inspired by the colors of this beautiful bracelet.
• Tuesday Taggers: Peace, Joy, Love, to use one of these words featured somewhere on your project. I'm tickled pink that I have both JOY and PEACE on this card!
• Critter Sketch: Texture (added with embossing)

We will be having our Thanksgiving dinner away from home next week, so DH requested that we have a turkey of our own either before or after, primarily for the leftovers we so enjoy!! So last night I roasted a turkey breast for supper, and oh, it was heavenly. The house smelled so good! We gorged ourselves and still had enough left over for turkey sandwiches for tonight's supper and two portions of turkey chunks for the freezer (these will be made into one of our FAVORITE turkey dishes on rush-rush nights in December).

Last night I also was finally able to finish getting my Thanksgiving cards to family and friends ready for mailing: jotting a note, signing, sealing, and addressing each one. I stopped at the post office this morning after delivering DS and my neighbor's daughters to school. Another task crossed off my list for this week!!

So, that just about does it for my little slice of bliss today. I hope you are having a super day of your own!! See you again soon :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} sets: Authentic Man, Love in Return, and Faith Blooms
Paper: PTI kraft CS, The Paper Company CS scraps, DCWV Winter Mat Stack DP
Ink: ColorBox frost white, Marvy LePlume II prussian blue marker
Accessories: EK diamond punch (for pennants), white EP, heat tool, buttons from my stash, hemp cord, white embroidery floss
Techniques: embossing

{ippity} 3 on 3

Well, this is one of those cards that I decided I may as well post even if I don't like it so much. I made it for two challenges on Splitcoast: today's color challenge to use perfect plum, baja breeze, and pear pizzazz, and an {ippity} release week challenge, INRC1FALL2010, a 3-on-3 challenge to use 3 different {ippity} images and 3 layers. I was so excited as I planned this out, but now that I'm done it doesn't really do much for me. And the colors just seem so muddy. Ah, well. I still had fun making it, and it will "do" to let someone know I am thinking of him or her, even if it isn't the most spectacular of cards. I guess they can't all be masterpieces, right??

I tried to incorporate a few other challenges as well:

• Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge: #23 (in case you couldn't tell, I flipped the sketch. Had to make my vine stamp point the right way!!)
• Crafty Creations: Buttons
• Delightful Challenges: Glitter It Up
• Cute Card Thursday: Anything Goes
• Paper Sundaes: #44, Pick Your Own Sundae Toppings! Choose at least two of these toppings: punches, ribbon, embossing, or the color blue. I used embossing, punches, and I even have "faux" ribbon!
• Critter Sketch: Texture (added with embossing)
  
• Stamps R Us: Sparkles and Scallops
• Tuesday Throwdown: Buttons and Bows

DD's middle school has parent-teacher conferences this week, so she had early release today and will for the rest of the week. We got to have lunch together, just the two of us. How fun!! We made pizza bagels, and she had fun munching on the pepperoni and cheese ingredients while we waited for them to get all melty in the oven. I'm really looking forward to having her company at lunch for the rest of the week!

Well, that's it for me today. I have many more things to cross off on my TO-DO list. Thanks for dropping by today to see what I'm up to!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} Now & Always, {ippity} Love in Return
Paper: SU baja breeze CS, SU pear pizzazz DP, DCWV textured CS
Ink: SU baja breeze, Versamark, ColorBox snow white
Accessories: SU scallop border punch, SU 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, MS deco fan corner punch, Stampin' Pastels (perfect plum), sponge applicator, foam tape, rhinestone, white EP, scissors, button, hemp cord, glue dot, glue pen, Studio G Sparkle Writer
Techniques: Poppin' Pastels, embossing

Blog Candy WINNER!!

Thanks to everyone who joined in the fun of my blog candy drawing!! I'm thrilled to say that I now have had over 6000 visitors to my blog. Amazing! Thank you all for your following, your visits, and your comments. I truly appreciate all of your support!!

OK, it's time to announce the winner of my blog candy package, drawn via random.org this morning.

MEG,
of Corgi Creations,
it's you!!

Congratulations, Meg!! Please contact me via email at ejkeaton {at} comcast {at} net by noon EST on Wednesday, November 17, 2010, to claim your prize!! (Be sure to include your snail mail address to I can mail this out to you.)

Again, thank you to everyone who played along. You are so much a part of my little slice of bliss. :)

Scalloped Christmas Thanks

Happy Monday! I have a really quick and easy card to share with you this morning. This will go into my stash of thank you notes for my family to use after Christmas.

Here are the challenges I incorporated into this card:

• EtsyInspired: #114, to be inspired by the wares of the Happy Day Designs Etsy store. I was inspired by this beautiful bracelet.
• Paper Sundaes: #44, Pick Your Own Sundae Toppings! Choose at least two of these toppings: punches, ribbon, embossing, or the color blue. I chose to do some heat embossing on my {ippity} flower image and used some wonderful punches.
• Caardvarks: Holiday Die Cuts

Thanks so much for checking out what made me happy today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: {ippity} Now & Always, SU Tiny Tags
Paper: MFP natural vanilla bean fleck CS, SU basic black CS, Basic Grey Jovial DP, October Afternoon Very Merry DP
Ink: Versamark
Accessories: MFT Jumbo Scallop Dienamics, SU 2-3/8" scallop circle punch, SU 1.75" circle punch, SU jewelry tag punch, black EP, dimensionals, baker's twine
Techniques: embossing

Margaritas!

Don't forget about my BLOG CANDY!
You can still enter up through 11:59 p.m. EST tonight.
I'll draw the lucky winner using random.org in the morning
and make the announcement at noon tomorrow.

How was your weekend? Ours was fabulous!! It started on Friday when our DD brought home her very first report card of her middle-school career. It was outstanding!! We are so very proud of her. To celebrate, we let her pick a pay-per-view on-demand movie for us to watch for our family movie night. So after our Friday homemade pizza, we all watched her pick, The Karate Kid (2010), and loved it!!

Saturday morning started off with, of all things, a power outage!! Thankfully, it lasted only 45 minutes or so, but it reminded us--yet again--of how much we rely on our electricity. DH and the kids started out in the yard on the leaf raking. Meanwhile, I was busy in the kitchen making homemade bread, baking a pan of apple crisp, and starting beef stew in the crockpot. Once that was all wrapped up, I joined the leaf crew outside. By midafternoon, we were all rewarded with a fantastic-looking yard and a fantastic homemade supper. But we were all completely wiped out!! All that raking and fresh air got to us and everybody turned in early.

We capped off our terrific weekend with a wonderful session of geocaching this afternoon. It was cool out and a bit cloudy, but the conditions were perfect--no bugs! And with most foliage off the trees and brush, it was much easier to get around. We found both caches we were seeking, and the kids were able to swap out some treasures at each cache. We even explored the area around the site of a former (and historic) mill and mill pond. Such fun!

OK, so onto my card for today. This is for one of the margarita-loving gals in my book group whose birthday is coming up in a few weeks. You can see in the closeup photo how I added "salt" to my margarita glass with some lime-green glitter glue!
Challenges:

• Off the Wall Craftiness: Challenge #33
• Sketch Saturday: #129
• Crafty Creations: #93 Buttons
• Delightful Challenges: Glitter It Up
  
• Cute Card Thursday: Anything Goes

Thanks for dropping by to check out my little slice of bliss for today!! See you again soon. :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Unity Margarita Moments
Paper: MFP limeade CS, SU pretty in pink CS, The Paper Company white CS, Basic Grey Nook & Pantry DP
Ink: Palette noir black
Accessories: CM oval cutting system, SU photo corners punch, SU modern label punch, colored pencils, Studio G Glitter Writer, pink buttons from my stash, pink rhinestones, dimensionals

BLOG CANDY!

I'm still busy getting ready for this week's Mark's Finest Papers Blog Hop to show off the new November stamp set releases. All the fun starts tomorrow! However, in lieu of a card to share with you today, I wanted to celebrate a small milestone I reached last week: my blog has crossed the 5000 visitors mark!! That put a huge smile on my face. :)

So, I'm offering a little BLOG CANDY to my followers for helping me reach this milestone! Up for grabs is this adorable Stampology clear stamp set called Light the Candles. As you can see, it is super for birthdays!! There are 11 images in this 3.75" x 5.75" set. I'll also throw in some other goodies to sweeten the pot. :)

To enter my random drawing for this blog candy:

• You should be a follower of my blog or become one.
  
• Leave me a comment on this post telling me your favorite stamping technique (one per person please).
• If you have left one or more comment(s) on my blog prior to November 8, 2010, you may have a second entry in the drawing! Just leave me a second comment with a link to one of my blog posts on which you commented.
• Maximum entries per person: two.

Entries for the blog candy drawing close at 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, November 14, 2010. I will announce the winner here on my blog on Monday, November 15, at noon EST. The winner will have 48 hours to contact me via email to claim her prize, or the winner will be redrawn.

Thank you so much for all of your encouragement and support! Your comments are my little slice of bliss.

Good luck in the drawing!!
Emily

Shades of Blue for Christmas

Another holiday card that I was able to squeeze in today. I had a lot of fun making this--the embossing was so fun, and I had a wonderful time pawing through my collection of beaded trims to find just the right embellishment for this card. But I'm a little disappointed with how it turned out. It just lacks that visual punch I was after. Ah, well. Still, it's another card to add to my stash of holiday cards and I got to play in a list of great challenges, which were:

• Moxie Fab World's Tuesday Trigger, to be inspired by the following photo. I obviously was inspired by all the great blues (although I don't have anything in those gorgeous cobalt shades, so I had to go with SU's pacific point instead), but I was also inspired by the gold in the bangles, and the "high" fashion made me reach for some fashionable beaded trim.
• Waltzingmouse Sketch Challenge: #22
• Flourishes Warm Winter Wishes Challenge (FLLCNOV10): to make a winter card using shades of blue. I was thrilled to use my new All That Glitters set that I just won from Flourishes last week.
• Moxie Fab World Challenge: Diggin' on Damask. I have a great set of damask elements stamps from The Angel Company and used them to make my own damask designer paper for this card.
  
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Relish to Embellish. I got to use some fabulous beaded trim for this card!

Thanks for taking a peek at another card made here on Bliss Road! :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Flourishes All That Glitters, The Angel Company Fantasy Flourishes
Paper: SU pacific point, SU whisper white, MFP Bang Up Blue linen finish CS
Ink: SU pacific point, Versamark
Accessories: CM corner rounder punch, sponge, gold EP, heat tool, dimensionals, scissors, sewing machine, beaded trim, gold cord
Techniques: embossing, machine stitching

Thankful Turkey

It was a busy Saturday! I did a lot of baking today: pumpkin bread for church coffee hour tomorrow, homemade bread to have with our lunch today, and cornbread to go with our chili for supper tonight. The house smelled delicious--all day long!! I've also been busy getting blog hop projects ready for the Mark's Finest Papers November stamp release. (The blog hops for 6 new MFP sets start on Tuesday and run through Friday.) But I also was able to squeeze in a few more holiday cards, including this Thanksgiving card.
This was such fun to make! The turkey image is a digi I picked up with a gift certificate that I won last month from Karen's Doodles. I think this little guy is just adorable! And he was a blast to color with colored pencils. I also had fun using some of my new Stampin' Up corduroy buttons (purchased from the clearance rack. Don't you just love a bargain??). Here are the challenges I used to create this card:

• City Crafter Challenge: CCCB week 29, Get Your Digi On, to use a digi image
• Get Sketchy: #63
• Cupcake Craft Challenge: #115, Thank you with autumn colors
• Tuesday Throwdown: #24, Give Thanks
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Relish to Embellish
• Delightful Challenges: Stitching
• ABC DT Challenge: Sew Special
  

Thanks for checking out my little slice of bliss today!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Karen's Doodles Turkey Sitting digi image, Mark's Finest Papers Thankful for You (sentiment)
Paper: SU pumpkin pie, DCWV Indian Summer Stack DP
Ink: SU pumpkin pie
Accessories: MS loops corner & edge punches, SU large oval punch, SU scallop oval punch, CM corner rounder punch, colored pencils, dimensionals, sewing machine, brad, SU corduroy buttons
Techniques: machine stitching

Yuletide Fireside

I really had fun creating the card I made yesterday! The Free for All Challenge on Splitcoast was "Tail Waggin' Greetings," which was to make a project (any theme) using something that has a tail. Well, Speedy the Cat has a tail and I think this image of him wearing a Santa hat is adorable, so I decided to use him for a yuletide greeting as he gazes into the fireplace!!
This card gives you a sneak peek of two different Mark's Finest Papers stamp sets that will be released next week: Christmas Postage Due (Speedy) and Brick Wall. Last Saturday I made a different sneak peek card for Brick Wall using only the butterfly and flowering vine images from this new set. After seeing my sample, my friend Colleen was puzzled by the set name, and I then realized how provoking it was to sneak peek a set without its titular image! So, Colleen, this sneaky peek is for you. :)

This card was kind of a departure for me. I'm not sure that I've ever created a scene like this, but I sure did have fun!! The problem is that I could probably have spent the rest of the day adding more and more little details. It's like decorating a doll house!! Some of the details:

• I white embossed the brick wall image on red card stock to create the fireplace. After adding a scrap of black for the opening and scrap of kraft for the mantel.
• Creating a somewhat realistic-looking fire gave me pause. In the end, I sketched a rough flame shape on white card stock, colored in some orange flame centers, and cut it out. Then I used vellum to cut out a slightly larger, similarly shaped set of flames. After sponging the vellum shape with yellow ink and drying it with a heat tool, I attached it as on overlay with a glue pen.
• The rug in front of the fireplace is from a piece of embossed card stock that I found in an SU scrap pack from Colleen. (Thanks, Colleen!!!) The texture was just what I was looking for to make it look like something woven! I sponged it with some old olive ink to match my "decor."
• Like my mantel decorations? I added a swag of tinsel using a tube of Studio G Sparkle Writer. I found the tiny stocking image among some ancient mini stamps from The Angel Company.
• I knew I needed something to hang on the wall above the fireplace. I thought about making a wreath somehow, but didn't have any good images for one. While I was mulling over making a wreath with punches somehow, I suddenly remembered that I still had a few items left on an awesome card of decorative brads from Making Memories. Some have the coolest little home-dec-like frames and I thought that a trio of these would be perfect as wall hangings!

As you would suspect from me, I incorporated a few challenges as well:

• Cute Card Thursday: Gently Does It, to use vellum or tissue paper on your project. I used vellum to make my fire flames.
• 4 Crafty Chicks: Challenge #10, to use the color combo Riding Hood Red, River Rock, Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, plus a neutral. I had to substitute a bit, but I think I came pretty close.
• Caardvarks: to create a new holiday card using die cut(s). Check out the oval rug and the photo corner in the upper left.

Thanks so much for checking out this holiday creation of mine. I had the best fun making it! See you back here soon :)

Card Recipe:
Stamps: MFP Brick Wall, MFP Christmas Postage Due, TAC (stockings)
Paper: SU old olive, PTI kraft, SU basic black, The Paper Company scraps, Pink Paislee Tinsel Town DP, vellum
Ink: Palette noir black, Versamark, SU old olive, Palette paris lights
Accessories: photo corner die cut, oval die cut, scissors, white EP, heat tool, Studio G glitter glue, dimensionals, sponge, Making Memories brads
Techniques: embossing, sponging

Stampin' B's Animal in Die Cut Challenge

Hey, hey!! It's another Thursday!! Time for another Stampin' B's DT challenge. This week Lois is our hostess, and she is challenging us to make a card with an animal in a die cut.
I had to bend things just a bit to make something to meet this challenge. I do not have any die cutting tools/machinery. So I had to work with what I've got: paper punches and my Creative Memories Custom Cutting System. My punches weren't big enough for what I had in mind, so the job fell to my CM tools.

Last month I started making Christmas-themed pull treats (a tutorial may be found HERE on Splitcoast Stampers). These will be for my kids to give their gymnastics coaches at Christmas time. We'll be sliding in packages of Boy Scout microwave popcorn as the treat in these clever packages. Last month I made penguin pull treats. I still needed a few more suitably masculine pull treats (all their coaches are young men), and I thought this reindeer image (from the same Mark's Finest Papers set as the penguin) would be perfect. Here's a photo of the "whole package."
I have a long list of challenges (in addition to this Stampin' B one!) that went into the making of this card. Bear with me!!

• EtsyInspired Challenge: #112, to be inspired by the wares of the BeiLeXian Etsy store. I was inspired to make a reindeer my animal focus by this BeiLeXian card.
• Jazzy Paper Designs Challenge: #15, to be inspired by an album from the Blue Note Jazz label. The colors of my card were inspired by this album by Wynton Marsalis:
• Midnight Madness Sketch: MMSC78
• Speedy the Cat's Friends: Challenge #27, make a holiday card
• Critter Sketch Challenge: #38, anything Christmas
• Paper Sundaes: #42, For the Boys (for a boy or a man)
• Papertake Weekly: Penny for the Guy (cards for boys/men)
• Stamptacular Sunday Challenge: #83, Hide and Seek! (to create a card where the sentiment/words are hidden at first glance). I stamped my sentiment on the paper "ribbon" of this pull treat, which can't be seen until you pull on the ribbon to slide out the treat. You can get a better peek in this close-up photo.

I hope you've been inspired to play along with the Stampin' B's!! If you do make a card, post it on your blog or SCS gallery, and link it up to the Inlinkz tool on the Stampin' B's blog. We'd love to see what you create!! :)

Thanks so much for dropping by to visit today!

Card Recipe:Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Time to ChillPaper: The Paper Company ivory CS, Pink Paislee Mistletoe & Co. Collection DPInk: Palette burnt umber, haystackAccessories: SU word window punch, Creative Memories Custom Cutting System, sponge, Prismacolor pencils, OMS, paper blending stumps, SU corduroy button brad, brad, hemp cordTechniques: sponging, Gamsol Magic

Nutcracker Postage

This card was a blast to make this morning! I was surprised by how easily it went together even though I had a packed morning--a trip to the post office, a stop at the eye doctor's office to pick up my new glasses, a house call from the chimney repair folks, and another repair house call for our dishwasher. (The bad news is that we will be without a functioning dishwasher for at least another week while waiting for the required parts. Boo hoo.) But I managed to play with paper (and give myself a dose of happy!) around all of that and still had plenty of time this afternoon to do my freelance work for the day. Yay!

This card gives you a sneak peek of a new Mark's Finest Papers clear stamp set that will be released next week--Christmas Postage Due. This is a very cool set with lots of holiday postage-y images and sayings. The inside of my card reads "Sending you the Joy of the Season." Perfect, right?

I desperately wanted to play along with the ColourQ challenge this week which featured cherry cobbler, cajun craze, more mustard, taken with teal, and vanilla. I actually have none of those SU colors but was able to substitute pretty nicely for all of them. I just bought last year's SU In-Color markers and card stock at a huge discount (about 75% off), and I was thrilled to find that bermuda breeze, dusty durango, and crushed curry were great subs. So I got to use my new goodies right away!! This is my first attempt at coloring a stamped image with SU markers. It was a little trickier than I thought and it shows. Please be gentle in your comments!! I'm going to need lots of practice.

I also got to use some great new Christmas DP that I got with a gift certificate that I won recently. I used some October Afternoon Very Merry DP (the red poinsettia print) and some Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas DP(the teal snowflakes print). I am loving both of these, I just wish I'd ordered extra sheets of that Echo Park stuff.

OK, enough prattle about my card! (Oh, except to say that this is a 4.25" x 4.25" square card.) Here are the challenges I incorporated, and then I'll sign off:

• today's Splitcoast sketch challenge, SC305:
• colourQ #57:
• Speedy the Cat's Friends: Challenge #27, make a holiday card
• Critter Sketch Challenge: #38, anything Christmas
  
• Paper Sundaes: #42, For the Boys (for a boy or a man)
  
• Papertake Weekly: Penny for the Guy (cards for boys/men)
• A Spoon Full of Sugar: Relish to Embellish (because I was aiming for this to be a masculine card, I kept with more masculine embellishments: twine and silver brads. Couldn't make it too girly with flowers, bows, and lace!!)
• The Paper Players: #22, Anything Goes

Thanks for stopping by today!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Christmas Postage Due
Paper: SU bermuda bay CS, The Paper Company CS, MFP Snow Storm ultra smooth finish CS, October Afternoon Very Merry DP, Echo Park Everyone Loves Christmas DP
Ink: Palette noir black, Stamp 'n Write markers
Accessories: SU 1" circle punch, foam tape, baker's twine, silver brads

Grassland Sympathy

A quick and easy card for this morning! Challenges incorporated into today's card creation:

• Splitcoast CAS91, with Sympathy
• Create for Fun, CR84FN2
• Card Positioning Systems, CPS191

We took our kids out trick-or-treating last night and had a fabulous time, despite the brisk temperatures and biting wind. DH and I wore our winter coats and gloves (and I should have taken my earmuffs!!) and were just barely comfortable. However, the thought of limitless sugary candy must have warmed our kids' hearts because they never once complained about being cold--and this is without the benefit of coats. Neither one wanted to ruin the look of their costume with extra bulk so they let an extra sweater layer underneath their costumes suffice. And the gloves we took along for them just in case? Too much bother!! They just got in the way of handling the candy and treats.

By the time we returned home, my fingers (in my gloves!) were numb but their bare hands were toasty warm. DH and I sipped hot cocoa while the kids sorted, tallied, and traded their candy. And first thing this morning before school, DS had to make both a bar graph and a pie chart of all the different kinds of candy he received. That's my boy!! He's all about the data. Of course, he had me print out his graphs (in color) so he could take them to school to show his second-grade teacher and class. Too cute :)

Thanks for stopping by to visit today!!

Card Recipe:
Stamps: Mark's Finest Papers Bold & Free, Mark's Finest Papers A Walk in the Woods (sentiment)
Paper: PTI kraft CS, MFP hazelnut tan CS, MFP Snow Storm ultra smooth finish CS , SU baja breeze CS, DCWV textured teal CS
Ink: Palette charcoal, SU baja breeze
Accessories: CM circle cutting system, sponge, hemp cord, dimensionals
Techniques: sponging