Saturday

Just 3 more days left in this year.  Seems to have gone by quickly.  Watching Christmas movies and enjoying the relaxed evening.  Went to a favorite outlet today....found some neat stuff!  Now it is raining outside and it is getting colder.  Love this time of year!

COLD!!!!

It didn't work out to go the the parade....shoot!  It really was too cold and I had some cards I wanted to make.  I got a Silhouette a few months ago and today I wanted to make some Thanksgiving cards to send to family in Oklahoma.  Had fun with it!  I love how it cuts!  It amazes me every time!!  I cut a few things that were really delicate....and they turned out beautifully! I get excited every time!  :-)  Here are some pictures of what I did today:

 
 Tried out the cut slider cards....used for Thanksgiving Theme, love the way it turned out!

 I used a Cuttlebug folder on the Pumpkin

This is another Silhouette card cut, it cut on the machine like butter!  Love it!!!

What a week!!!

What a LONG week!  I felt like I had worked a week by half day on Tuesday!!  The year is winding down and everyone is trying to get everything done in the next 5 weeks to meet goals, customer needs and it means extra hard work.  I finally got some fall decorations up around the house and have a couple of pictures of the mantel to show you.  I got the Indians for my birthday one year....LOVE THEM!  The other things I've accumulated over the years.  It has been mild weather this week, but Sunday will be a high of 38....AND that is the day for the Christmas Parade down town.  We are going to bundle up and go.....it should be fun!  

The picture in the background is a picture of a painting from a little town where my mother was born and raised.  Her uncle was the clerk of court and she went with him to this house as a girl in the late 1910's....she ate apple pie with the lady of the house while her uncle conducted business.  Then my dad worked with the son of the owner and went there from time to time to visit his friend.  So it has a special meaning to me.  I bought it for them many years ago, and after my dad died and my mom was moving she gave it back to me.  I love this picture, it reminds me of the wonderful people that first loved me unconditionally and showed me what that meant.

Thanksgiving Cards

Boy!!  I can't believe how time has flown by!  Lots of neat stuff going on and a few bumps in the road, too!  Today was a day off work so I decided to let it be a day to try some new things.  I recently traded cars and I've been wanting to try to cut vinyl with my initials for the back glass.  I played around with some fonts and found something I liked and set it up in Silhouette, watched a couple of You Tube videos on how to cut, burnish and then apply the vinyl.  I took a deep breath and made a go of it!  I was so excited with the way it cut, the ease of getting the process going....and wa-la I now have a monogram that I did myself on my back window!!  I was so excited!!!  Then I had found a couple of quotes and wanted to use it to make a couple of Thanksgiving cards...found it on Kates Cuttables...love this site!  Here is the first one:

I had a chance to go to an Archiver's store my birthday weekend and found the flower stamp and die cut package that I used on the front,  I colored some clear "bling" with brown and added to the 3 corners and used Brown Wink of Stella on the brown words to make it pop!  And on the center of the Sunflower.  Now for the second one front and inside:

                      

I found the leaves and acorn in the Silhouette store and decided to add leaves to the inside, too.  Also used the Brown Wink of Stella and the clear on the words inside and out.  I like how they both turned out, will be adding them to the CardsTV challenge and hope for a set of stamps!!  Yay Mary for her stamps!!  I would love to own all of them....maybe someday!

I hope you enjoyed your Monday and that you remembered the wonderful men and women that have faithfully served our country!  Thanks to all of them!!

God Bless!

Paper Playtime Challenge

OOPS!!!  Been a while since I've updated anything...boy Lots of stuff going on!!!  I was finally able to hire someone to put up railings down the front steps of my house!  YAY!!  I've wanted to do that for YEARS!!!  Found a new doctor that is helping me with my back, hip and leg pain! Have a ways to go, but I finally do have hope!!!  I had a small windfall recently and decided to get a Silhouette Cameo!  So far.....I LOVE IT!!  Doesn't rip paper, cuts intricate items so beautifully!  Wish that had been out before I spent so much $ on Cricut machines (Expression, E2 & Imagine) and all the cartridges!! The Imagine has been a disappointment in that it seems to lose its place and starts cutting out way off from the design.  Frustrating!!! I am still learning how to use the Silhouette software, but have gotten a few things printed, cut and on cards!  EXCITING!!  Also love browsing through the online store and have found so many neat things!  Haven't bought too much but have a LONG wish list!!! :-)
I saw the challenge for Paper Playtime and decided to try something with the Cameo for it!  I like how it turned out...hope you do, too!  I cut the layers at 2.25, put it together and popped up in the middle of the card.  Had some My Pink Stamper stamps and used that for the sentiment, stamped a butterfly and colored in with glitter gel pens and then loaded it up with buttons!  It was fun and she turned out sweet!  Here she is:

Love the eyelashes!!  Cut out like a dream!  

Another look... She makes me happy!!
God Bless!!

Child's Birthday Card

                                         Challenge#126: "Make a Wish"

Make a child's birthday card!  

The next challenge for a child's birthday card gave me the idea to use the new cartridge I just got from Ebay.......B is for Boys!  Cute cartridge!!  Also used Lyrical Letters (Jumbo) for the number 1 at 3 inches!  It looks orange, but it is really red!!!  I know a couple of little boys turning one this year so I thought of them when I made this card:

I used my Imagine machine for the images....and stamps for the inside!  I thought it turned out sweet.  Not too baby, but still a little boy look!  I'll have to make some others and decide which ones will be mailed out to the little tikes!  Have  a great day and God Bless!

St Patrick's Card

Cardz TV Stamps DT Challenge #25 

“Luck of the Irish" 

Make a card, layout or craft project using hand stamped, digital stamped or electronically cut Shamrocks or Leprechauns. 

Well today I tried working on challenges and wanted to do something different! I looked through my cartridges.....and reorganized them, too.....and found a neat cut for shamrocks on the Celebrate with Flourish cartridge. I also cut a couple of small shamrocks from the Paperdoll cartridge. Used a couple of embossing folders, some stickles and stamps and here is the final product with the outside first and then the inside:

I added some green sparklies to the inside, I'm pleased with the outcome....just wish it had been a better photo. Thanks for looking!!

Crafty Cardz Challenge #125

Crafty Cardz Challenge #125 "Critter Cuties"

Make a Valentine card with a critter

My card for the challenge is a simple card using the Studio G papers and Studio G Die Cut Shapes from WalMart.  I also used the Sizzix Pop Up card die and then decorated the inside with the papers and dies; the stamp was from a Recollections set I got a couple of years ago.  Also used the Martha Stewart punch for the border inside and Elegant Edges for the front layer.  I thought the die cuts were cute and just made the card sweet!  Hope you enjoy!  Thanks for your time in looking!

I love how the inside turned out.....hope to make more pop-up cards and have an added surprise inside!!  Have a blessed day!

Rebecca

Challenges

WOW!  2 posts in one day!!  HA!  I was inspired to make something I could use for several challenges, so here is what I made.  I found the card base (cut at 5 inches) in "Life is a Party" Cartridge with the heart cut out for the layer (cut at 4.8).  Then I went to the Imagine and used "Snow Angel" for the paper color for the layer piece and then the background behind the heart.  The sentiment is from a $1 bin as well as the clear gems on the snowflakes.  I used the Cuttlebug Snowflakes embossing folder on the layer piece, sponged on VersaMark dazzle and then used clear embossing powder to give the snowflakes a shine.  Punched out Martha Stewart snowflakes for the upper left corner and called it done!  I like how it turned out, hope you do too!  Thanks for taking the time to look!!  This was a FUN day off!! 

I'm entering in Beccy's Place - Anything but Rectangle
      Craftyhazelnut's Christmas Challenge - Let it snow again
      Challenges 4 Everybody - Anything goes
      Papertime Challenge - Use Sentiment Stamp   \
      Charisma Cardz - Anything goes


I would LOVE to win something!!!  But just getting this done and posted makes me SMILE!!!

President's Day

Well we got through Valentine's, had snow flurries on Saturday....really beautiful coming down, I played around with stuff in my craft room yesterday and have the day off today!  I've been trying to find extended Cuttlebug B plates....no one carries them anymore.  Online they have $8 shipping.....UGH!  I have some Sizzix pop-up sets and really would like to use them....been trying to figure that out, need the plates!!  :-) Anyway here is a picture of the cupcakes for work....looked pretty!  They were a hit!

Today I'm going to work on some challenges.....hope I can get things accomplished!!  Have a great day!

God bless and hold you in His hands!!

It's Valentine's EVE!!  My daughter wanted to make cupcakes for her coworkers as a treat so she baked the cupcakes and I decorated with the icing....then sprinkles.  They turned out cute!  I'll try to get a picture of the 2 we held out for 'us' for Valentine's Day.  A couple of years ago I bought a cupcake 'stand' that is red and a swirl shape, she is going to take that to display her cupcakes.  I told her to take a picture and send it to me, so I'll post it when I get it from her.
Valentine's isn't my favorite holiday.....but the card sales help fund my habit!!  Sort of hard to make those cards when there isn't love or romance in my own life to share or inspire.  Oh well, maybe the Lord has plans for me to meet the last love of my life in my future.  After all, it is in His hands!
Happy Valentine's Day!

COLD...Winter Day!

We have TERRIBLE weather in our neck of the woods today. Left work around 2:00, took twice as long to get home than normal. I'm so thankful I did get home without incident and so did my daughter! I prayed practically the whole way home for her safety!! I got home and saw a new challenge at CardzTV using Red, White and Black only! Thought about it a while and decided to give it a try. I have a friend that asked me to make some masculine cards for her to mail to her son in college......I draw a blank when it comes to masculine cards! SO I decided this one HAD to be masculine and get the ball rolling for my friend!

I used Nifty Fifties Cartridge for the car and Elegant Edges for the mats. I looked through the WalMart Valentine paper I recently bought and some papers from my stash and here is what I came up with. The car is cut at 1.25" for all the layers and the mat is 3.75" for the black, and 4" for the red print and white shadow. I added a 3/4" black strip and put white washi tape with red dots on it and then a strip of black & white twine on top of the tape. Little black buttons (I got from WalMart) in the corners and it's done. YAY!!! I like how it turned out....hope you do, too! The picture looks more orange in color, but I PROMISE it is RED!!!

 

Have a blessed day!!   Rebecca

CardzTV Baby Card Challenge

I got my shelves up in my craft room and CLEANED and organized!!! Ready to get to work! So my first project is to make a card for the CardzTV Challenge for a baby card for the New Year. I LOVE Mary, don't you? She is SOOOOO talented and her Design Team is like no other......I am always amazed at their creations and the talent that they have. WOW! I've been trying to use my Imagine more often and finally set down and linked my cartridges on my Gypsy and this is what I came up with from the Nursery Tails cartridge. I love pink and green together and these images and papers just seemed to fit together....I also have a picture of the INSIDE as well. The pink background paper is embossed from a Darice embossing folder with scattered hearts and then I decorated the card with pink gingham ribbon, buttons and a few pink bling dots in the corners. Everything was inked around with Tim Holtz tea dye ink. I am pleased with how it came together....thanks for stopping by!

First post of 2013! Had a lot going on lately, was sick from just after Thanksgiving to after Christmas.....still have a nasty cough that just won't go away! UGH! Finally got the shelves up in the craft room over the weekend and did some much needed reorganizing! I LOVE how they turned out and all the space and room I have now to work. Did a little bit of work last night for a challenge....will post it in the next day or so. Right after Christmas my toaster oven quit working. :-( So I did some research and found one made by Oster that I like, it is like a second oven, it will hold a 9X13 pan and a 12 cup muffin tin. I've gotten in to making cupcakes and decorating them lately and that will be WONDERFUL to have the 'extra' oven for full size or mini cupcake pans. In the process of looking I decided to update my microwave as well and found a smaller one but still powerful. Both have the brushed stainless steel look and the microwave has a black front for the window and button pad....matches my other black and stainless appliances. Before Thanksgiving I ordered a Kitchenaid stand mixer from QVC and an electric pressure cooker. So I've updated my small appliances and love them all! Well, so far. I couldn't believe how much my Kitchenaid stand mixer could do until we started using it for dips, pastry roll fillings and mixing ingredients for sausage balls! What a time saver! I have had some issues with sciatica for about 18 months so mixing and tugging on things is limited. This has saved me so much, I still get worn out and my back starts throbbing so I know I have to rest but it feels good to be able to get things done without feeling so tortured! I guess you could say these were 'gifts' to myself for Christmas!!! No husband, boyfriend or man of any kind to shower me with 'goodies' so I just treat myself!! :-) Some day, if God wills, maybe He will lead me to a kind, gentle, loving man....but for now I'm learning lots of stuff and am making it on my own. Don't know why I'm rambling....guess it is good to just get things out. Anyway, I am truly blessed to have crafting as a hobby and making cards is my favorite thing! I'm grateful for all the machines and papers and cartridges and punches and pens and cutters and storage areas.....what a lovely space to call my own!! Maybe I'll post some pictures some day. I still have so much to learn and love to watch the talented ladies on various sites that are so kind to share their ideas, inspiration and knowledge. Thanks to each of you that give so much so that those of us that are learning can share the experience of your talent! God Bless us all and continue to keep us in His loving care!! Rebecca