GINGERBREAD

While I am not a lover of snow, I am a lover of gingerbread.  This week's A Muse challenge is entitled "Sugar & Spice".  I absolutely adore this patterned paper -- it's a pink shimmer, flocked sheet called "Jolly & Bright" from the Fresh From the Oven collection by Heidi Grace Designs from Fiskars.

Stamp by Stambilities;  cardstock from the Victoriana package from Jo-ann's Crafts;  ribbon and pearl stickers from Michael's;  Rich Cocoa Memento ink from Tsuekeniko;  colored with Copic markers.

SNOWFLAKES

I'm not a lover of snow.  Having grown up with lots of it and not enjoying the feeling of being cold, I'm beyond happy every winter, now that I live in the South, to hear that my friends up North are enjoying the snow they receive, while I run around in t-shirts and sweaters.  However, while I don't like the cold, I enjoy the motif of snow and snowflakes so this week's A Muse challenge -- to create a card with a snowflake theme -- was right up my alley.  Here is my offering:

Stamps by A Muse Artstamps (wood mounted);  Rich Cocoa Memento dye ink;  Twinkle Stickers by A Muse;  cardstock and ribbon from Michael's;  Snowflakes embossing folder by Cuttlebug;  patterned paper sent to me by a friend, probably made by DCWV.

 

HERE COMES CHRISTMAS ... READY OR NOT!

Christmas card making and sending out the door has begun in earnest.  Of course, we are barely into December but, like October and November, it will go fast!  Here are two cards I've made -- one in a previous year and one this weekend.

Stamp by American Art Stamp, Jet Black StazOn ink, cardstock and ribbon by Michael's, image colored with Prisma colored pencils, patterned paper and stocking sticker sources unknown.

Stamp by Hampton Art Outlines;  Jet Black Memento ink;  Faber-Castill india ink markers;  Copic markers;  Smooch ink;  baker's twine by Doodle Bug Design Inc.;  blue and blue metallic cardstock by Michael's.

A Muse Dry Emboss Challenge

The challenge this week from A Muse is a card featuring dry embossing.  I LOVE to use my embossing folders!  I have a Sizzix Texture Boutique and I love using an embossed panel in place of patterned paper.  Now, I do love my patterned paper, don't get me wrong!  But, many times it doesn't turn out quite the way I had envisioned.  Embossing very seldom lets me down!  This card features my favorite embossing folder.  It seems like the perfect Autumn scene to me -- tree with falling leaves, pumpkins, the picket fence, even some floofy grass/wheat stalks.

Embossing folder by Sizzix;  "Yam" cardstock by Bazzill Basics;  embossed panel Core'dinations;  Gold Lamé, Snickerdoodle and Pumpkin Smooch pearlized accent inks by Clearsnap Holding;  orange gingham ribbon by Hobby Lobby.

Fun Day at the Store

Thursday I went to Archiver's to make a couple of Christmas cards.  What a fun time that was!  The store sponsored a make-and-take weekend to jump-start our holiday card-making, and to sell stamps and supplies.  We made a 3x3 mini card using a much-larger Hero Arts stamp but only used one corner of the stamp, then we made a regular-sized card using a stamped image as well as a gilding pen, gold Stickles, and Copic markers.  It was really nice to try out some items before buying, which I will be doing before the holidays are over!  Here's what I made:

Hero Arts unmounted rubber stamp set;  silver embossing powder and Diamond Stickles by Ranger Industries;  red Tombow marker;  Glossy Accents by Ranger Industries;  red and white cardstock by Bazzill Basics;  design by Archiver's.

Horn wood-mounted stamp by Inkadinkado;  "Joy to the World" unmounted rubber by Hero Arts;  gold gilding pen by Krylon;  gold Stickles by Ranger Industries;  Crimson and Grass Green Copic Markers;  die by Tim Holtz;  red, green & white cardstock by Bazzill Basics;  design by Archiver's.

 

A Muse Pink & Brown Challenge

I am now a new A Muse Studio creative consultant!  My starter kit arrived on Thursday, after Jonathon's surgery, so I got to play while he snoozed.  This is my entry for this week's A Muse weekly challenge -- make a card using the colors pink and brown.  I used as many of my new products as possible, and enjoyed making this card that I will be sending to my October Monday Mailer swap partner in my online stamping group.

French Roast cardstock from A Muse Studio;  brown and white cardstock, Reflections from Michael's;  pink cupcake patterned paper, "Sweet Treats" by Reflections from Michael's;  Sew Easy Fancy Floss (baker's twine tertiary) by We R Memory Keepers;  French Roast and Bubblegum pigment inks by A Muse Studio;  Spun Sugar distress ink by Ranger Industries;  colored pencils by Prang;  Cool Blue Copic marker;  twinkling stickers by A Muse Studio.

Surgical Tales

I see it's been a week since I've posted anything.  I would be dismayed by that except for the fact that my husband had surgery this week to change the battery in his spinal cord stimulator so I have the best excuse!  Everything went very well, except they do want you to get up early and come to the hospital before the roosters are up so they can get done with you and get you home.  That part is good -- the getting home.  The early rising is NOT so good, at least for me.

They asked us to be there at 7:45 a.m. and at 7:40 a.m., as we were pulling up to the traffic light at the corner where the hospital is located, the phone rang and one of the surgical staff was calling to see if we could come in early.  Hmmm.  Yeah, sure.  I think we are coming in EARLY, thanks very much!  We arrived 5 minutes later and they got started pretty much right away, poking holes into Jonathon for an IV and shots of all sorts.  The doctors came in to talk and the nurses did their tasks.  When they were ready to take him back into the operating room, I left with his plastic bag of clothes.  Since my brain wasn't even close to beginning to function for the day, I went to the info desk to ask where they had said the patient lockers were.  There was a fellow standing there in scrubs who started to talk to me as I approached the administrative lady behind the desk.  He was just SURE I was with the McLaren party and seemed quite determined to talk to me about that hapless soul's case.  I had a hard time shaking him off me and all I could think was "Please stop talking to me!"  Early morning to me is like having a migraine -- I have sensitivity to light and sound.

All in all, everything went pretty smoothly and we were back home by early afternoon with a pocket full of prescriptions, able to spend the rest of the day taking it easy on the couch.  I'm looking forward to being back in full swing this coming week with new cards to show off.  Enjoy your weekend!

Deer Season in Georgia

Regular deer season opened today here in Georgia.  It's been primitive weapons for a couple of weeks but Jonathon doesn't do archery, though he says he might not mind getting a muzzle loader.  Anyway, it's been a challenge!

 

First, he got his area all ready a few weeks ago, then about 10 days ago someone came and stole his deer stand.  <sigh>  So he came up with some other ideas and thought he would try putting his tractor in the horses' run-in shed because the deer cut through our pasture behind that shed.  There's a creek where they get water back in the back of our property.  He put a pallet on the tractor (somehow -- I haven't seen it), then put a chair on the pallet.  The idea was to look through the space between the top of the wall and the roof.  There's about 18 inches there.

 

So he gets up early, dresses warmly because it had turned cold, goes out while it's still dark.  And here come the horses.  "Well, surely you must be out here to feed us.  Yes, we know it's dark and we never see you at this time of day and we always eat late in the afternoon.  But, here you are now."  Sheesh!  So they stomped around and snorted for a while before giving up.  Then Stella gets the bright idea, "I'll kick the tractor.  That will annoy him enough to either get down from there and feed me, or get down from there and ...."  Clearly, she didn't think that through all the way.  He wanted to bean her in the noggin.  Actually, I think he really wanted her to get in the way when he was shooting a deer and he'd have both deer and horse meat in the freezer.  But, he wouldn't come out and admit that.

 

Needless to say, it was WAY too noisy for any deer to come by.  He's out there trying again now that the sun is going down (sunset is about 7:45 today) but I think he's wasting his time today.  It looks like Bambi's mom gets to live another day!  It's chicken livers for the dogs again tonight....

Countdown to Halloween!

Believe it or not, I'm still working on Halloween cards, though it's about time to stop and get them into the mail!  I made one earlier this week for a friend.  The idea was found in one of my card magazines and it seemed simple enough.  Well, it was simple, though the frequent adhesive malfunctions complicated things.  I believe the card will survive the journey through the U.S. postal system, though she may have to re-stick the eyes.

Black cardstock (with white interior) by A Muse Studios;  white twill from Jo-ann Crafts;  twill distressed with Antique Linen distress ink by Ranger Industries;  white and black cardstock for eyes from Recollections by Michael's;  1 inch punch by The Paper Studio and 5/8-inch punch by Mauvy Industries;  twill adhered to cardboard from the Post Office;  adhesives unnamed to protect the not-so-innocent!

Busy as a Bee!

Wow!  What a busy week it's been!  I haven't gotten back to post as soon as I thought I would.  But, I'm here now!

This is a card I made as a Monday Mailer for my card swap group.  I wanted to use my new A Muse wood-mounted fox stamp, which seemed like a good theme for Fall.  The kraft cardstock used for the card base and edge-punched band, and orange sparkle cardstock used to mat the fox stamped image are "Recollections" from Michael's.  The punch is by Martha Stewart Crafts.  The ink is Timber Brown StazOn by Tsukineko.  The orange button is from Wal-Mart, the baker's twine in orange, white and black is from the Halloween assortment by Doodlebug Design, Inc. bought at Archiver's.  The patterned paper is from the Fall-themed Cornucopia value pack paper pad by Me & My Big Ideas.

This is another card I made for a swap.  I saw the stamp and was smitten, then found the trim and was smitten again.

The card base is plain white cardstock and the red mat is red cardstock, sources unknown.  The punch is by EK Success.  The inks are Timber Brown and Blazing Red StazOn by Tsukineko.  The trim is from Hobby Lobby.  The brown edge-punched strip is from the earthtone 3x6" collection by Bazzill Paper Co.  The stamp is Nature's Dance by Penny Black from Hobby Lobby.  There are red crystals on the ends of the twigs, which are hard to see;  their source is unknown.

 

Happy Fall, Y'all!

Hello, friends, both new and old!  This is my first attempt at doing a blog, so bear with me.  My purpose is to share with you my favorite things, which currently is cards, especially those for the Fall season and the holidays coming up.  Today I'm going to share with you two that I've made recently and one I made a couple of years ago that I was quite fond of.  Now before you go thinking I'm full of myself, please keep in mind there are many, MANY more I will NOT be showing you as they did not turn out quite as I had envisioned.  So, yes, I will be keeping secrets!

This is the card I made for a swap called Falling Leaves.  Stamp is from a set, "Wavy Autumn Wishes," by Hero Arts;  patterned paper "Autumn Leaf" from the "Autumn Splendor" line by We R Memory Keepers;  corrugated shapes "leaves" by Little Yellow Bicycles;  jewel stickers by Little Yellow Bicycles;  kraft cardstock "Recollections" from Michael's.

I saw the pattern for this card in Paper Craft magazine and had to make it for this year's Halloween card.  The tree and spider stamps are from a Hero Arts clear stamp set called "Frightful" that may be discontinued but, as of this post, still available to be ordered off the Hero Arts website (www.heroarts.com).  The inks are Jet Black StazOn by Tsukineko, and Tim Holtz Antique Linen, Dried Marigold and Faded Denim Distress Ink by Ranger Industries.  I stamped the black images first, let them dry completely which doesn't take long with StazOn, then blended the distress inks over the black images using Tim Holtz blending tools.  When those inks dried, I sprayed the piece with Irridescent Gold Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels.  The shiny dark blue cardstock is Reflections from Michael's and the orange cardstock is Yam by Bazzill.  The orange 3mm crystal stickers are Elements by Mark Richards.

I made this swap a couple of years ago for my card swap group.  The cardstock, ribbon and metal swirl came from Michael's, the patterned paper is Luster Dandelions in the Wind from the Max's Backyard Collection by Cloud 9 Design, and the stamp is Dandie Trio from Stampendous.