The end of a nice month!!

  It's very unusual for November to turn out to be one of our better weather months, but we really did luck out this year and today is another nice mild November day.  I'm very thankful for each and every day that continues to be warmer and normal, and it's so nice to still be heading outside and wearing my flip flops!  Woohoo!!

  Today my goal was to finish up my Christmas Cards, which I am very happy to say, is done!!   Another thing I can check off my 'To Do' List.    It's really nice to be on track and to have them all set to go out in the mail.  I think I will plan to send them on Monday, if not sooner.   Last year, I was so late that a few cards did not arrive on time, which is awful.  I do not know what is going on with the mail lately, but I am sad to say that it has been very slow.  I received a Thanksgiving card today from a dear friend who live in Connecticut.  It was post-marked on the 22nd, yet it took 8 days to arrive from CT and that's awful.  Talk about "Snail Mail"...and that was a first class card?   WHY did it take so long?     On top of that the card I sent to Brian and Meg, was returned stating it was a vacant address ....WRONG!  It's not vacant and is truly their valid address??   I have no clue why, but I'm putting it right back in the mail again, as all the information is right.  I know the Post Office seems to be hurting, but if the service is this bad, it will only get people upset and keep them from using the USPS services and that will NOT help!!   I hope both these were flukes, but again, why did it also take 8 days for the card to be returned to me?  Something is very wrong and if that is the way the PO is running now, it's a shame!!

  On a happier note, I did also make a fun new card today and it was inspired by today's new Challenge at the Stars and Stamps Blog.  The challenge this week is to create a card using a digi image and I picked this adorable image from By Lori Designs.  I think Lori's images are always adorable and they always brighten my day.   These cuties were part of one of Lori's Summer Collection and I chose to add two images together for my 'Miss You' Card.

  I hope you like it and hope you'll be inspired to create a card for the challenge too.   If you plan to sent it off to OWH, keep in mind that OWH has already sent out all the Christmas/Holidays cards for this year, so please choose another theme for your card.  You can find the current need list HERE!!

   I'm off now to see what else I can get done today and hopefully, it will be some more Christmas shopping.  I did place a large order from Amazon this morning and that one put a nice dent in my list, but I will have a long way to go!   I am starting to feel a bit more festive and I think that really helps.  I'm signing off for a bit and will be listening to some fun Christmas song via my iTunes!  Music always makes me happy and helps keep me moving too....I LOVE to dance and only wish it didn't hurt quite so much!

Santa's Friend!!

   Today has flown by for me, and part is the reason is that I slept late, but also slept pretty well.  I'm also not feeling too bad today and LOVE these mild temperatures that we've had this month.  This has to be one of the mildest November's we have had in a long time, and this girl is very happy that winter is staying away.

  Once it did get up and finished up the typical morning chores, I knew my next goal was to focus on my Christmas Card list and start printing the labels and writing out my cards.   That task went very well and I have quite a few done and almost all set to mail.  I was also very happy to see that I have more than enough cards already created and that was great news.

   I also received my Shopping Spree code today from Hero Arts and will be looking forward to shopping in the store for some new goodies.  This time of year, I try very hard NOT to buy anything for myself and instead focus on my buying Christmas gifts for my family.  It will be nice to have this spree, but I'm in no hurry and may save it to use for the CAS Card Class I'm taking in January!  Between that and the new release Preview Party on December 10th,  I'm sure I will have a great time shopping!   If you want to join in on the new Preview Party, please go HERE for all the details, or simply click on the link below.

   I have one new card to share today and it was inspired by the brand new Color Combo Challenge being hosted over at 'The Outlawz'.   Below I am sharing a copy of the swatch for this week's challenge.  The twist for this week is to also include Button(s) on your projects.

   I had a lot of fun with this card and started with this cute little Santa and Rudolph digi that I picked up today over at DigiStamp Boutique.   I was just about to start looking for an image to use, found an email from DSB in my inbox and knew I wanted to use one of the Santa's from this collection on my card.  This cute set has a total of six different images and it's awesome!  You can find in the store HERE!!   I'm also planning to submit this card to the monthly Customer Competition challenge over on the DigiStamp Boutique Blog.

   In addition to those two challenges, I am also entering this card to this week's Anything Goes Challenge over at Party Time Tuesdays!  I hope you'll come on over and join the fun!  :)

  Before I sign off, I'd like to also invite your all to take part in the challenge that I came up with as the Guest Designer this week, over at Crafting by Designs.  It's also a color combo challenge and you can find all the details HERE or on my blog post HERE!!  I would LOVE to see some of you join the fun and want to thank the girls that have already created some awesome cards for the challenge!!   THANK YOU Sharon, Gwen and Mo -- All of your cards look fabulous and I'm so happy you played along!!

  And now I'm signing off and will have some dinner and then get back to work on finishing up my Christmas Cards.  I like to mail mine early and will be very happy to make that goal this year.  Last year, I was much farther behind and then also ended up having to buy cards, as I did not make enough.  It's nice to be ahead on something and I hope I can continue to stay on track.  If all goes well, I would like to start on a little bit of Christmas decorating on Saturday.   How about you?  Did you already start your decorating or do you start later?   Have you scaled back this year or do you still go all out??

Are you shopping today?

    It's Cyber Monday and I know that this is the first year, I've found so many great deals.   I am very happy to slowly be checking of my Christmas Shopping lists and finding some great gifts for my family.   The best part is that I'm doing it all from the comforts of home and don't have to battle any crowds or long lines to find some fabulous deals.  I shop more and more online each year and I especially love any stores that offer Free Shipping, especially when it's offered with a sale too!   I also have been checking out some of the crafting specials, but have tried hard to only shop for Christmas, and not for me!!  So far, so good, but the day is not over yet!!

 I'm also catching up on my blog and spent quite a bit of time working on cards this weekend.  Now, I'm taking the time to post an update and share them with you.   I've been trying to limit my computer time and takes lots of lots of breaks to keep the pain level down!  I also saw my doctor today and will be starting a new med, which may or may not help with some of my pain and fatigue.  I also had bloodwork done to check on my thyoid levels and such and to see if there were any significant changes.   I'm not overly thrilled with trying a new med and can often be reluctant to do so, but I've also been flaring so much lately, that I knew it was time to do something.  I just can't stand feeling so lousy and the relentless fatigue.   I have NO energy and the idea of decorating for Christmas (something I once LOVED), is something I am dreading...and it NOT fun to dread something you should LOVE?   But, when it makes you hurt even more, it's hard to want to cause yourself more misery and that's that one part of Fibro I really hate so much.   It takes ALL the FUN out of life and makes everything so much more difficult.   I do HOPE this may help, but I'm not going to get too excited, plus I know it'll take some time, before I notice any change...it's always a slow process!

  On a happier note, I feel like I do have a little mojo back and had fun making cards again, after feeling so lousy.   My first few cards were created on Saturday and the first one was the Paper a la Mode challenge over at The Outlawz.  It's  a cute recipe challenge and I took advantage of the big sale at Silhouette to add several new images to my collection.   Most of the images were 50 cents and that's a great price and a perfect way for me to build my library.  I've been using my Cameo more and and more every day and totally LOVE IT!!

   My next two cards were inspired by the new challenge at Catch the Bug (Bugaboo's Challenge), which is Silver, Black and Bling.  I loves using black and white, and the silver was a bonus color that I thought would make some cute Christmas cards.  These are the two cards I created and I'm submitted them both to the challenge:

   I LOVE snow people and both of these cuties are digi's from Bugaboo.   I colored them with Copics and a Silver Gel Pen and added Glitter for the extra sparkle and bling.   My papers are from Basic Grey - Little Black Dress and my sash and both cards were a lot of fun to create.

    My next card is another Birthday card, which was very easy and basically is a simple card where the Sentiment is the main theme.   I printed out my Sentiment and then used a Circle punch to cut it out and then added a bright lime green mat.  I then cut out a border of birthday hats from some older patterned paper and also matted that in the same bright green.   A perfect 'Guy' card, but one that could work out for a gal too.

   My next card was created for a new challenge at Crafting by Designs and this one is for the "How Sweet it Is" Challenge that was posted on Friday.   My images is another oldie but goodie from Bugaboo, which I also colored with Copics and 'blinged' up with blue gems.

  And next is a card I worked on today and this one is for the new Greeting Card Challenge over at The Outlawz.  This week's them is Anything Goes, and I stayed with my Christmas theme and created this card, which also features another fun image from Bugaboo.  As you can see, I am huge fun of Jodie's fun and whimsical images and I also LOVE to color them.

  And that's it for now!    I still want to try and make a card for this week's CAS Challenge at The Outlawz and also a card for the new sketch that was posted yesterday over a the Stars and Stamps Blog.  If you want to join me, you can find the CAS challenge - HERE and this week's OWH Sketch (shown below).  I'm off now to work on that next!   Hope you all had a wonderful Holiday Weekend and that you find some fabulous deals on Cyber Monday too!

 UPDATE:   I am really on a roll today and it feels good to have accomplished so much.  I should point out that I did not make ALL these cards today, it's been over the past couple of days and only the last three were cards that I had actually created today.   

  I'm back with an update and have two more to share and the first is the card I created based on this week's Sketch at OWH.  It was the perfect way to use up some of my scraps and I used the sketch to create a card that could be used for Christmas, but also for Winter Wishes!!

   My second completed card was one that had been inspired by Sunday's CAS Challenge over at The Outlawz.  This one was very different for me and the idea was to use your "Negative" cut outs and make them the focal point of your card.   I'm not loving this card, but think the idea is very cool and really loved the cards the gals on the Design Team created.    If you want to see their cards - please go HERE!!  

  Here are two view of my card which I created using a new Memory Box Die.  If you are a fan of Memory Box dies, you'll find a wonderful new collection has been released!   I buy most of mine at my LSS, but you can also find them online at Ellen Hutson and also at Simon Says Stamp!!  

  And one more fun tidbit to share!   Jennifer McGuire is currently running a great daily post about great gifts for crafters.  She calls is her 2011 Holiday Gift Guide and I think it's awesome.   She started it last week and I totally LOVE it.  Not only has she come up with fabulous suggestions, but she also links you directly to the products, at Simon Says Stamp, which has become one of my favorites places to shop online.   They've teamed up and are also offering an awesome discount on each of the goodies that Jennifer shares on her blog.   I think the idea is fantastic!  You can check it out on Jennifer's Blog starting with Day 1 - HERE!    There will be a total of six days and Day one and two have been posted!    Very cool idea!!

Black Friday and a Challenge!!

   Woohoo!  It's Black Friday and for those of you who LOVE to shop, today is one of the best days to find some fantastic deals, and just in time for Christmas.  You can bet that I'll be doing some online shopping today and will also be checking out the sales on Cyber Monday.    I still have quite a few gifts to buy and I'm hoping I can find some goodies today.   I'm really struggling again with the misery of Fibro, but did place one order this morning and have been slowly working on some cards!

   Normally, I'd be off to hit the Annual Black Friday Sale at my LSS (Absolutely Everything), but that event was held early this year and I was there last Saturday.  It's kind of nice this year to be home and one of the first times in many years and I have not been up super early to heard out of a big sale.   I used to LOVE to shop on Black Friday, but now the long lines and crowds are way too much for me.   It was even hard waiting in line last week at my LSS.  My back and feet were aching by the time I made it back home.  I did briefly, think that I might try to go to AC Moore or Michael's, but I do NOT have to rush and only need to go to pick up some supplies for candy-making, and luckily I still have time to get that done.   For me, it's much easier to shop from home or hit the big stores, during the week, when most people are working.

   Today, I'm am inviting you all to play along in a brand challenge being hosted over at Crafting By Designs - A wonderful small little craft group that I joined this past Summer.   I love the smaller size and try to play along in the challenges every week.    There are typically two or three new challenges every Friday and I hope some of my friends will join me in my Color Combo Challenge.  The group is also currently open for new members - so please come on over and join me for a --

   Color Combo Challenge

Crafting by Designs

Friday, November 25, 2011

     I was very happy and excited when Doris asked me if I would like to create a project for this week’s challenge.  I decided it would be fun to host a Color Combo Challenge and found this lovely inspiration image at Design Seeds.

      Your challenge is to use at least (3) three of these luscious colors to create a project in a Winter Theme, which includes some “frost”!!  It will be your choice, as to how you create ‘frost’, you may use glitter, shimmer mist, inks or bling – pretty much anything you want that will add some sparkle and shimmer!  Be creative!  Since it is a color challenge, please be sure to stick to these colors.  You may also use white and black, as neutrals, but the majority of your project should be true to the color palette! 

     My card was created with an inking technique I learned from Jennifer McGuire and Tim Holtz.  I started by taking several Distress Inks and applying the ink colors directly to my craft mat.  Once I had all the colors down, I heavily misted over theme with Perfect Pearls Mist.  Next, I took a piece of white watercolor paper and ran it through the color on my mat, picking up the paper and moving it from different areas to make sure I had it covered well and had included all the colors.  You can pick up some and move you paper round and pick up more.  It’s a fun technique and makes each background different and very unique.   Distress inks are the perfect inks for this technique, and were created to react with water and liquids.  You can also do the same with Distress Re-inkers for a more concentrated look.    Once you paper is full of color you want to let it dry for a few hours.  You can usually create a few different backgrounds with the ink on your mat, so use it up!!

     I let my background dry while I colored my image, which is a cute little snowman by Heather Ellis.  I think her images are adorable and buy them directly from her website her.  She’s the artist who also created the adorable Pure Innocence line and many of those cutes can also be bought from her website in digital format.  I used Copic Markers and Stickles to color my image and tried very hard to stick to the colors in the swatch.  I then mounted my image on some lavender paper and put it aside.  Once my background was dry, I did end up using my heart gun to totally dry it, I used a new embossing folder to add some detail and texture to the right side and added my snowman image on the left. I then simply added lots of bling to match the colors from I had used on my snowman.  I finished by adding my sentiment and some matching baker’s twine and ribbon.

  In addition to the challenge at CBD, I am also submitted this card to the new Copic Coloring Challenge being hosted today at The Outlawz.  Should you created your card using Copics or Promarkers, you too can submit it to both.  Their theme this week is -- Anything Goes!!

    I hope I have now inspired you to create something colorful and fun!  You can create any type of project, as long as it’s in a Winter or Christmas theme and includes at least, three of the colors from the inspiration photo.  I can’t wait to see what you all come up with and will look forward to seeing your creations.

     Afternoon update:   It's been a very quiet and relaxing day for me.   I did a bit of online Black Friday shopping this morning and worked on some cards this afternoon.   I still need more Christmas cards and also needed two birthday cards for this week.   These are the other three cards I did get done!

    

  And I think that will be it for today!!  I have already decided that I'm going to make myself a nice turkey sandwich for supper and then will sneak in one more dessert, as a treat!!   I have been trying to be very good and not overindulge, especially since I have a doctor's appointment on Monday,  

   Hope you all had fun and for those of you out shopping, I hope you found some great deals.  I still have lots of shopping to do, but I'm so lost on ideas for my family this year.  My kids still have not given me their wish lists and keep saying they don't want anything or that money is fine, but I still want to give them things to 'open' too.    My Mom is the same way, making this such a challenge.   The only person I really have much for is hubby and that's because he's very easy to shop for.   As for me.....I'm dreaming of an iPad!!   If Santa does not bring me one this year than I'm going to save up and use any money I do receive to go towards my dream gift.     How about you, what do you have on your Wishlist?    

Thanksgiving Wishes....

    Just a little note of happy wishes to everyone who is celebrating Thanksgiving today.   Cherish those wonderful memories and always be thankful for every day!  Live each day with love in your heart and a smile on your face.


    

Hugs,

I WON a Hero Arts Shopping Spree!!!

....WooHOO!!   What a wonderful way to start off my Holidays!!    I found out this morning that I one a $50 Shopping Spree at Hero Arts !!!  I am one very excited and happy girl!!

     After spending most of my morning cleaning and baking, I just turned on my computer now and started checking my emails.  Imagine my surprise when I saw this in my daily email from Hero Arts -- "

   

Congratulations to Lisa Haines, whose October 26 comment was randomly selected: “What a fabulous card! I just bought this new set and LOVE what you did with it. You shared some fun tips too! THANK YOU!!”   Lisa, please email us at the winner’s address located over in the sidebar and we’ll get you all set up to shop."

    What a wonderful surprise and a great way to start my day.    Please sure to hop on over to the blog to check out today's new Sneak Peak Video too!  It's a cutie for sure and will make you smile.  I have become such a huge Hero Arts fan and I'm especially happy that my LSS, Absolutely Everything is taking part in the new 2012 Catalog Event!!   I hope they'll be some fun new classes too!

   My thanks to Hero Arts for this awesome prize!  I'm sure I will have a great time picking up some new goodies.   WOOHOO!!  You made MY day!!

    I'm heading to my desk now to work on a card for a challenge, but wanted to be sure to post about this wonderful surprise!!    What a way to start my day!   THANK YOU!!

Short....but sweet!!

   I have a short, but sweet little post today along with two new cards to share.  The chilly cold air and heavy rain is due here tomorrow and I can feel it today!!   Brrr!!!  Was I cold when I headed out to my chiro appointment this morning and to think a day like today in January, will be feeling warm!  UGH!  Winter is soooo NOT the season for me!!   I dread winter and kept hoping the milder weather would hang on longer, but it's not here today!

   On a more upbeat and happy note, I wanted to share too very sweet and happy cards that I created today.  I'm totally enjoying using my Copics again and always LOVE to color.   Both of these cards were created with digi images that I colored with my Copics and accented with Stickles and Glitter.   These are my favorite type of cards and they make me smile and feel happy, even on a bad day.  These sweet little digis are both e from DigiStamp Boutique and I think they made very sweet Christmas Cards.  I hope they will make you smile too!!

   Oh, and speaking of cute, have you seen the wonderful new release from Hannah and Lori Boyd?  It's the cutest set of wonderful Hannah and Roo images and Lori released this set yesterday in a wonderful bundle.  Here is a copy I grabbed from her store, which you'll find HERE!!

   I think they are ALL so adorable and of course, it didn't take me long to buy my set.  These sweet new images are available at this special bundle price for a limited time only!  -- Hurry on over and pick up your set today.    Check back tomorrow, as my next card will feature one of these adorable images?   Do you want to guess which one?    No hints today - I hope to see you all back tomorrow!!

Camp is over....and I'm BACK!!!

   Today was our very last day in Holiday Card Boot Camp and I had a great time.  If you are looking for some wonderful inspiration for your Holiday Cards, this is one class you will not want to miss.  For more details, please visit the Online Card Class site HERE!!  I was thrilled to learn that the next workshop will start on January 9th and with feature Julie Ebersole, who will team with with Jennifer and Kristina for their next workshop - Clean & Simple Card Making!!   WOOHOO!   As a nice little perk for attending Boot Camp, all the students were allowed to enroll today.  Enrollment for everyone else will start on November 23, so please stay tuned for more details.    I enrolled today and think it will be the perfect way to pass those dreadful cold and dreary January days!!

   After having so many wonderful new ideas, I'm very excited to continue working on my Christmas Cards and made this first one today for several challenges, including a brand new Greeting Card Challenge at The Outlawz.  I have to admit, I have kind of missed having the extra time to take part in many of my favorite challenges, but I'm happy to BE BACK and will be playing in many this week.  

   This fun little card features a new digi from Bugaboo and was colored with my Copics and Glitter,  It's been awhile since I have colored and I really did miss it.  Coloring is soooo relaxing and truly is a  joy for me!!  Love it!!

   My card is called "Christmas Hugs" and would be perfect for anyone!  It was inspired by a variety of challenges, all outlined below.

     This card is being submitted to each of these challenges and everyone is welcome:

• The Outlawz - Greeting Card Challenge - Must include Gifts/Sentiment
• Here Come the Boys - Cards for Boys/Men - # 15 - Red White and Green
• Two Sisters Challenge Blog - Let it Sparkle
• The Cheerful Stamp Pad - Who is wearing a Santa Hat?

     My next card was also colored primarily with my Copics and is another sweet little digi image named Mistletoe Jasper.    He is from DigiStamp Boutique and you can find buy him HERE!

   The cute little sentiment is another brand new stamp I picked up on Saturday at the big sale at my LSS.  It's by Inky Antics and I just thought the Sentiment was perfect.   I know my friend Kerry would LOVE it!!  

   This fun little card is being submitted to these new challenges:

• Lollipop Crafts - #58 - Anything Goes
• Pan Pastel UK Challenge Blog - Frosty and Brights
• Paper Playtime - # 61 - Say it with Sentiments
• Make It Monday Challenge - # 64 - Anything Goes

   And that is it for today!   I'm still taking things slow and easy and having such a hard week last week.  Tomorrow I am off to a much needed Chiropractor appointment and looking forward to it.  Hope you all have a wonderful and very creative week!

Feeling better....WooHoo!!

  After a few days of feeling so lousy, I am so thankful to be feeling better.   Today has also been the first day that I've had a lot of time to create and actually felt good too!  Yaay!!

  Yesterday had started out nice, but after getting up at the crack to dawn to get to my LSS for their Annual Thanksgiving sale -- pretty much did me in.  Even so, it was well worth the trip and I also took the time to stop at Bath and Body Works on my way home to pick up a few more Christmas Gifts.   I was soooo tried when I got back home and ended up taking an afternoon nap...a huge help.   After my nap, I felt re-freshed and worked on a couple more cards for Holiday Card Boot Camp.

  Both of these cards were inspired by the cards that Kristina shared with us on Friday and both were fun and actually quite easy to create, which makes it very easy to make a lot of cards in a short time frame.  These cards could easily be reproduced and that's was the goal of Friday's class.   This first one was put together in a matter of minutes and it came out to be a fun little card.

 
   My next card was created using a tag and based on a design that Kristina had shared with us.  The stamp is brand new and one I found at the sale yesterday -- SCORE!!

   My "Peace Heart" card was also inspired and created to enter into this week's 'Love Ya' challenge being hosted over at Crafting by Designs.

   The next card was created for Saturday's new Paper a la Mode Challenge over at The Outlawz and this card is also another idea from Boot Camp.  It is designed as long/tall card, which can work out very well for those to like to put cash in a card or even a newsletter.  It was another card where I created my own little tree by simply cutting scraps of Christmas papers into a variety of triangle shapes.

     As you can see, once I started to feel better I had on a roll and had a great time making these fun, quicky cards.    The next one was inspired by another cute challenge at Crafting by Designs and this challenge was to use Buttons somewhere on your project.

    Of course, I'm very much into making my Christmas cards right now, so that's been my main focus and this card is another card that will be sent out this year.  It's done in a snowflake theme and in a fun color combo or Red, White and Baby Blue -- my touch of non-traditional colors.

  

    My next card is another very easy card, it actually took me longer to come up with the design and sentiment than it did to put it together.  This is a very CAS style card and was creating for today's new CAS challenge over at The Outlawz.   The girls challenge this week is to create a CAS card in a thank-you theme, using Fall colors.    This is the card I created to submit and this would also make a nice Thanksgiving card. 

  My next card is my last card for today and this one was created for this week's Sketch Challenge over at the OWH Stars and Stamps Blog.   I am also including a copy of this week's sketch and invite eveyone to come on over and play along:

Sketch # 96

  And this is my card with a Sentiment that says -- Happy Everything!  This is another stamp that I bought yesterday while shopping at Absolutely Everything!   I thought it was really cute and added the little hearts as a little extra touch!  It could be used for any any day card or also for Valentine's Day too!  

  This is another sketch that is great for using scraps and I did use quite a few on this card!   If you are new to Operation Write Home and would like to create cards for OWH, please go HERE for all the details!!

  Tomorrow, I'll be heading back to Holiday Card Boot Camp for our final day!   I can hardly believe that the workshop is ending already - seems like we just started!  I know I'll miss it and all the fabulous inspiration it's given me for my Christmas Cards this year!  I am so much further ahead now and it'll be awesome to have them all done soon and give me lots more time for all the other things I want to do!!  

  Hope you are having a great weekend, feeling well and finding lots of time to create.  Have a nice night too!!
 

.....another Fibro day...UGH!

      Just a little post to let everyone know I'm still feeling lousy and battling this Fibro Flare!  I'm hoping it will end soon because I really miss my crafts and my online friends!!

A not so terrific Thursday....

....I'm chilly today and despite seeing a little sun early this morning, it's pretty much been one of those cold and gray November days.   We've been really lucky to have made it this far with such good weather and I hope we still have more coming.
 
    For some reason, I'm also not feeling very creative today and it SHOWS in the cards that I have to share.  I don't seem to have any Mojo and feel tired too.  I guess I'll simply call it another Yuk kind of day and hope tomorrow is better.

     All three of these cards were inspired by a really cute card that Kristina Werner shared at Holiday Card Boot Camp.   I actually followed her instructions to make each one and they are all Gift Card holders!   I have seen many different styles and tutorials, but I really found this one to be easy to follow and I really the size of the finished card.   I'm sure everyone has their own way to create them, but if you want to see how Kristina creates here, then I highly recommend you join Boot Camp!!

    These are my finished card and each one is designed to hold a standard size gift gift.  The cards are held in a little pop-up section that is in the inside!    I will be making more of these once I come up with some better colors and styles!!

Inside/Side View

   

     These really are very cute and so fun to make!   Each of the designers that created cards to share today, shared some fabulous ideas and inspiration!!   I'm still really enjoying class and can hardly believe it's already almost over!!  

    Hope those of you who are in Boot Camp and having as much fun as I have and I'll also be looking forward to seeing all your cards, so please keep on sharing them in the Gallery and on your blogs.

    I'm off now to relax and can tell already that I'll be very happy to get to bed nice and early tonight.  Tomorrow, I have a few little errands to run in the morning and then I am very much looking forward to a very relaxing Pedicure appointment in the afternoon with Acacia.   Yippee!!
   

Happiness is Creating!!!

  And I am very happy today to be feeling rested and relaxed and also excited to be back sharing some of my new cards.  I also want to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Acacia, who is the sweet girlfriend of my son, Alex.  I hope you are having a great day and enjoy your Dinner out Alex and your friends!   I'll also be looking forward to seeing your for my Pedicure on Friday and will talk to you tomorrow!

   My second little shout out is a little Thank you to Brian (my oldest son), and his girlfriend, Meghan, who came by for a nice little visit today.  They brought me a sweet little pot of flowers and the pot is very cool, and in my favorite color -- Purple!!   They also hung out in my craft room and used my supplies to create a card for one of their friends.   They are both so talented and I was so impressed with the card they designed.  I wish I had thought to take a picture before they left.  Brian did most of the lettering and designed the envelope and Meghan did the drawing and coloring with my Copics.   Love you Guys -- Thanks for the flowers and for the surprise visit---a special treat!

  I am also very happy to be feeling better, but I'm trying to be careful and not send myself into a flare.  I have a hard time knowing what is too much some days and since it can vary, it's a hard thing to figure out when to STOP and rest!!  I LOVE creating so much that it's even harder to stop, especially when I have so much I want to do.   I am very happy that the extra rest has helped and that I did not miss too much time from Boot Camp.  I'm also happy to be back in my craft room and have some new cards to share today!   All four cards were my own designs and each one has some technique or element that I have learned from classes.

  Yesterday, was another photo card day in Boot Camp and since I'm not a big fan of that style card, (nor do I have great pictures to send out), I decided to color some digi images to use instead of photo's.   Coloring with my Copics is always very relaxing and even on my worst days, I can almost always colors.   This first card has such a cute image, which is from DigiStamp Boutique.  I'm also going to enter the card into the November Customer Appreciation Challenge which you'll find HERE!!   This card was so easy and this adorable image makes it such a happy and sweet card!!

   The inspiration for this card was creating a circle shaped card, which I then matted and added to a square card base.  The snowflakes where then stamped directly on the card base and I added pearls to the centers. I also used some white stardust Stickles to color the 'snow' around little Hattie, who is one of my favorite new digi characters!!!

   My second card also features another cute and fun digi image and this one is from Bugaboo Stamps and is one from the Rudolph collection!  Super Cute.   This image was also colored with Copics and as I often do, I used lots of non-traditional colors on my card.  

   The next card was inspired by some of the very CAS style cards that have been shared in Boot Camp.  I did not use any idea in particular, but simply created a card without any image and used scraps.  The tops section is a left-over scrap from my favorite winter collection (Winter Joy) that Bo Bunny put out last year.  I sure wish they had brought it back, because I LOVE IT and have hardly any left!!

  And my final card today was also one that I created without any one card or color combo or idea in mind.  This is pretty much how I create most of my cards.  I come up with my theme (Christmas lately), and then either start by picking out papers or colors.  In this case, I knew I wanted to use my Holiday Cheer Hero Arts/Sizzix Die set to cut out some cute little trees.  I cut them all from scraps of Christmas papers -- JillyBean Soup and Echo Park!!   Next, I created layers for some of the trees, simply by cutting some triangles by hand and then ripped a piece of scrap paper to use a the ground area, something I say Jennifer do in one of the cards she created today.   I created my little scene, added glitter to my ground area and also added some pearls and gems as decorations for my little trees.   I competed this card with a sentiment from a brand new Stamp set (Stylish Sentiments) that I bought from PaperTrey Ink.  I have seen this set used many times and totally LOVE IT!!   What a wonderful set and I'm so happy that I ordered it.

  And that's it for today!   I want to also take  minute to say THANK YOU to everyone who has stopped by to leave a well wish or a comment on one of my cards!   I am really touched by all of you and THANK YOU so much for taking to the time to visit.   It's means a lot of me and I'm also very thankful to have such sweet, kind and caring friends!!    

  Have a wonderful night!  I'm hoping to craft again tomorrow and have some new cards to share!  I can't believe that Boot Camp will be over soon, but I sure have LOVED it and really love seeing all the cards that everyone has been sharing in the Gallery and on your blogs!!   Some of my favorite card ideas come from those of you who share them with others -- THANKS!!

Resting and Relaxing....

.....I'll be back tomorrow.....

thanks for all the wonderful wishes.....

Hugs,

 Lisa

Oops!! What did I do??

... Here I am raving on and on about Holiday Card Boot Camp and how much run I have had making all these new cards.  I've also been feeling great.....well, I should say, I was feeling great, up until today.   I think I may have been pushing myself a bit too much, and I'm not paying for it.  

  This is the part of Fibro that makes me crazy...and the part that is so disappointing.   As soon as I woke up this morning, I knew right away that I was feeling much too exhausted and felt like I could have slept for hours.   I ended up snoozing three times, and then pushed myself to get up.   When I start a day feeling this much fatigue it's never a good sign and here it is only early afternoon and I feel like I could go to bed.  I have no energy and I am so sore, and grumpy because I wanted to do much more!   Grrrrrrrrr!!!

    I'm taking the rest of the day "off" and will be resting my back and neck and also working on ideas for an upcoming challenge that I will be hosting over at Crafting By Designs for the Friday after Thanksgiving.   I'm also going to out the next two mornings for a few pampering treatments -- hair highlights tomorrow and I'm having my nails done on Wednesday.   I'm looking forward to both and they are always nice and relaxing, perfect timing.

  My card today was inspired by one of Kristina's sketch designs.  Oh, and speaking of her designs and card ideas, she has put together a fantastic Virtual Card Club, which is this years version of her 2011 Holiday Cards Series.   You can find it HERE on her blog and it's only $5!!  How awesome is that!!  I bought mine last week and will enjoy reading through it all while I'm resting this afternoon.   It's full of pictures, instructions and even includes all the supplies she used on each project.

  The card I created today is a Circle-Shaped and they are always fun to make.    I love circular cards and now that I have my Silhouette Cameo, it's a breeze to cut out several and have them all ready to go.  I also used my Silhouette for the scalloped circles and layers I used on this card.  The burgundy snowflake was cut with a MS punch and the gorgeous olive green large flourish is another die from my Memory Box collection -- it's actually a favorite!!

  And that's it for me for today!  I'm going to read and relax and hope that tomorrow is a much better day!!   Hope you are ALL having a nice day!  Special thanks to everyone who has been visiting my blog and leaving such wonderful comments.  I would LOVE to visit you ALL every day, but it's not possible with Fibro and I hope you all understand!

Creating is truly a JOY!!

.....and I have had such a wonderful week of creating!!  Not only have I felt pretty good all week, (knock on wood)...but, I have also had a lot of time to spend creating and that's my passion.  I feel so lucky to have a hobby to keep me busy and I also LOVE to learn new things and meet others who love creating, as much as I do.   I've also loved being in Boot Camp and can hardly believe that the first week is over.  I am very excited for the new week to start tomorrow and have now caught up on all of the card ideas that had been sitting on my desk.

   Today, as been a fun day and it's a day I created a few new challenges cards and also some more Christmas Cards.  My first card today is a CASE of card I feel in love with on Julie Ebersole's blog.  I'm finding that she is really so much fun to follow and her style is very much what I love.  When I saw her card, I knew right away that it was one I wanted to try and it's also the card I created for this week's 'Use Your Scraps' challenge at Crafting By Designs a fun little craft group I really enjoy.  If you are interested in joining a nice small online craft group, CBD is currently open for new members.   It's a very friendly, yet comfy and small group of crafters who love to share ideas and talk all about crafts.  They also have challenges each week, making it perfect for me.   You can sign up here and I would LOVE for some of my craft friends to join me there.

  I think Julie's card is adorable and since I had everything in my stash, it was also a really fun and easy card to create.  She even has a video on her blog and I LOVED using these adorable little mini bags----Soooo cute!!  It's also the very first time I've every made a card with any type of pocket!!    I am submitting my cute pocket card to each of these challenges:

• Catch the Bug Challenge Blog - Include a  Pocket
• If this Shot Fits -- Scrap it - Try something New

  My next card was created with a few challenges in mine and was also somewhat inspired by the CAS Style of Julie's card.   I am submitted it to a few new challenges, as outlined below.   This Holly design paper is from my stash and it's one of the papers that I love so much that it's almost hard to use it.  That was part of the challenge at The Outlawz, was to use a favorite paper.   Another challenge for me, since I have such a LOVE for papers and have such a wonderful selection.

   This card is being submitted to each of these challenges:

• The Outlawz - Sunday CAS - Use your Favorite Paper
• Christmas Card Challenge - Challenge 50 - Holly or Wreaths
• Two Sisters Challenge Blog - Anything Goes

  After finishing that card, I had enough scraps left to make a second card, where I used much of the same papers, but simply changed around the design a bit.  Another very CAS card -- very easy and a great way to use up scraps!

   I am submitting this card to these challenges, and you are all welcome to play along:

• Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Whatever lights your Candle (Sparkle for me)
• Mark's Finest Papers - Favorite Technique - CAS Style

   I have one more card to share and this one was created for one of my favorite challenges, which is the Sunday Sketch Challenge hosted every week over at the Stars and Stamps Blog.   If you are interested in creating card for OWH, you can find ALL the details here.   Currently the need for cards at OWH is Valentine's Day and general cards as noted on the blog HERE!  

    NOTE:  Operation Write Home is no longer in need of any additional Christmas Cards for this year and has already shipped them off.   If you do have extra Christmas Cards that you would love to donate, there are still many other wonderful card drives looking for them.  I am happy to share one with you that is being hosted by Jennifer McGuire, called Cards that Care.  You can find all the details on Jennifer's blog here and this drive is accepting cards through November 30th!!   Another wonderful cause and one that I also was happy to donate to!! 

   I choose to make a Valentine card based on this week's OWH Sketch and have also copied over the sketch to share with you here.  You do NOT need to make a Valentine Card and can make any theme that fits their current needs.    For more inspiration and ideas, please hop on over to the blog HERE!

OWH Sketch

My Card

   I hope I have inspired you to create and will be looking forward to being back in Camp tomorrow.  I love it so much and have have tried hard to plan my schedule so that I have lots of time to create.   I'm also loving that I have so many of my Christmas Cards already done and that's awesome.  I love to shop and create everything for Christmas in advance, so that I can totally relax and enjoy the Holidays.  I still have quite a bit of shopping to do, but I'm lost as what to buy this year.  I'm waiting for my kids to give me their Wish Lists, so that I have some ideas of things they really want or need!   I try very hard to put a lot of time and thought into my gifts and to make sure they are all things that they LOVE!!    I've told everyone that all I really want is craft related goodies and would be happy with a gift card to any of my favorite stores.  I am so easy to shop for and LOVE anything and everything my hubby and boys buy them!  They are the best and always spoil me!! 

  Wishing everyone a happy day and hope you are all having FUN, at whatever you are doing today!!  My hubby is baking some chocolate chip cookies and I can smell them baking....Yummy!!