Merry Monday Calm Christmas for Queen Susan

The Queen for the Day Challenge at SCS is to choose any Queen 146-195.  I'm choosing 151.  My friend Susan B. (susanbri).  When Susan posted this card, I immediately placed it in my favorites.  I love all of Susan's cards but this is my all time favorite!

Imagine my delight when I opened some happy mail and found Susan's gorgeous card inside!

Mine isn't as elegant as Susan's. Hopefully it expresses the same peaceful feeling. 

Merry Monday is continuing the "critter" challenge so you still have time to join in.  So many beautiful cards in that gallery.

Pixie's Snippet Playground has opened the gate for another week.  I used snippets on my design piece and the sentiment so I'm skipping in.  Thanks so much Di for spotlighting my gingerbread card. Those gingerpeople must be on their honeymoon cause I still haven't found them.  If they show up at the Playground, nab 'em!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Calm Christmas

Ink:  Smokey Slate, Basic Gray, SU Marker (Garden Green)

Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Gray

Other:  Ovals Dies Bigz (retired), Extra Large Oval Punch, Basic Pearls, Corner Rounder Punch (Fiskars), Musical Flourish EF (Cuttlebug)

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

Sparkling Snowflakes for Queen LM

I got this beautiful snowflake die from Impression Obsession after seeing them on Loll's card. And I very promptly cut some out of white paper. This little piece was left over and tucked aside.  I placed it over a piece of Glimmer Paper and I really love the way it turned out.  See what you think.

As it sits here on my desk it sparkles in the light.  I just can't pick up all that sparkle in the photo.

The Queen for the Day at SCS this week is LM (aka LM Stamps).  These cards made me think of negative cuts so I'm taking these over to honor her.

Ways to Use It challenge, also at SCS is 

You're Tagged make a tag: using it on another project is optional!

It's hard to see the clipped corners, but there's a tag on there.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge is having a 2 week go this time and Simon says

Bling It On !!! ,,, time to PARTY !!

i.e anything sparkly goes, glitter, gems, stickles, glimmer sprays and paints etc :-)

The Friday Mashup (which I hadn't played in a long time) says

Bring on the Bling!!!

Here's your Mashup Challenge:

1. Create a project using the colors "Real Red, Gumball Green, Bermuda Bay & Crumb Cake."
2. Create a project with some "Glimmer/Shimmer/Bling. "
3. Or Mash it Up and create a project "Real Red, Gumball Green, Bermuda Bay, Crumb Cake & Glimmer."

 This week's challenge will run for 2 weeks, so there's extra time to play along with us!

I've got the bling covered.

And of course, Pixie's Snippet Playground where snippets are always welcome. Di and Parsnip have decided to leave the Playground gates open until the 28th so you've still a little bit of time to play there.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R.) Another enablement from Loll!

Ink:  Encore Silver

Paper:  Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Other: Silver Taffeta Ribbon, Basic Pearls, Silver EP, Tag (my stash)

I'm so glad you took the time to stop by.

Enjoy!

Wonderful Blessing

I love the quiet peace of Crumb Cake and White.

This is for the Featured Stamper at SCS this week, Roberta (aka stampin'nana).  Roberta has not only inspired me with her beautiful cards, but has encouraged with her many comments. My colors are different than on this beautiful card and my scene is in a circle instead of a square, but the story is the same.

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)

To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.

 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.

 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.

 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for,behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.

 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.

 And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

 And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.

 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

 And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

 And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

 But Mary kept all these things, and pondered them in her heart.

 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Luke 2:4-20

So glad you stopped by.  Have a blessed Christmas.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Little Penguin

There's still time to join the Merry Monday challenge since it's been extended for the rest of the month!  We are enjoying all these critters so much that we don't want to stop them coming!

Here's the challenge

There are so many wonderful creations in that gallery.

Even if you don't have time to stamp, do go take a look.

This little guy was in the $1.00 bin at Michael's one day.  I was so excited to find it.  I needed some cards for Luke's and Jack's teachers and thought this one would be perfect.

I stamped him on a piece of Whisper White scrap then stamped and embossed some snowflakes around him using the emboss resist technique to sponge some Broken China Distress Ink.  I sponged some little snowbanks by tearing a sticky note and sponging around it.  I still struggle with my sponging and have trouble getting the color even.  I'm hoping that practice will yield to success.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Penguin (Michaels), Handy Christmas Greetings (Amy R.)
Ink: Whisper White, SU Markers (Basic Black, Real Red, Crushed Curry, Pumpkin Pie), Broken China (Tim Holtz)
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red
Other: White EP, Polar White Flower Soft, Pom Pom (my stash)

I have especially enjoyed your comments about my Gingerbread Man Person card!  If I find those 2 little rascals, I will snip off a leg, pronto, LOL!  You guys add so much fun to my life!

Thanks for visiting.

Enjoy!

Merry Gingerbread Man

Do you remember the story of the Gingerbread Man?

It was my youngest daughter's favorite story when she was 2.  When her Grandpa bought her a gingerbread man at the bakery, she promptly bit off his feet so he couldn't run away!

I had 3 of these little gingerbread men.  When I went to make a card with them, there was only this one.

I still haven't found the other 2.

I'm thinking the fox got them. 

 Maybe.

I was going to CASE this card by the Queen for the Day 2 weeks ago, Gail (GailNM).  I was going for the 3 tags but had to rethink that.  It probably would have been too crowded with all three on the card, so maybe it was for the best.

Still, I'd like to find the little guys.

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge says 

Bling It On !!! ,,, time to PARTY !!

i.e anything sparkly goes, glitter, gems, stickles, glimmer sprays and paints etc :-)

There's not a lot of bling, just a few rhinestones.  I'm  hoping that's enough to get me in the door.

The Ways to Use it Challenge at SCS is YOU'RE TAGGED.  Make a tag.  I used a sneak preview item from the upcoming Stampin' Up! Occasions catalog.  It's the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch.  There's an Angled Tag Topper Punch too, but I'm a sucker for scallops.

Pixie's Snippet Playground will let me in for another go at the swings,  since I used some snippets for my tag.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Scentsational Season (retired),  Warm Words (retired)
Ink: Baked Brown Sugar, Real Red, Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red, Garden Green
Other:  Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, Pinking Hearts Border Punch (retired), Holiday Collection Framelit Dies (retired), Real Red Grosgrain Ribbon (retired), Snowflake EF (Darice),  Kars Snowflake EF (Cuttlebug-retired), Holly Punch (Martha Stewart), Red Rhinetstones (stash)

I'm so glad you could stop by during this busy time.

Enjoy!

White on White Thank you

I finally got some photos edited and thought I'd share.

The Featured Stamper at SCS this week is Sandie (aka sistersandie).  As Bridget says, Sandie is one terrific sister.  She has such a clean, elegant style.  I love everything in her gallery!  This is the card I've used for inspiration and was actually posted after the challenge was issued.  Ask me if I'm running behind on things these days!  

The Paper Player Challenge this week is Sandy's choice and she chose

Curtain Call is asking for sweet snowflakes.  I hope it's OK that mine are all white icing!

Shopping Our Stash says use one main color on your creation. It can be ombre (gradient colors), tone-on-tone, or a mix of all one-color scraps. Neutrals are allowed.  I guess you could say my main color is white with a side of silver.  Is silver a neutral?

Addicted to CAS is still having a Snowflake challenge.  Even though I was the Guest Designer for this challenge, I'm going to slip in there with these snowflakes.

I forgot to mention before that the winner of this challenge gets to pick 5 Digis from 

That's about enough for one post!  I hope you'll check out some of these challenges.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Four You
Ink:  Encore Silver
Paper:  Whisper White
Other:  Silver EP, Basic Pearls, Snowflake EF (Darice), Organdy Ribbon (stash)

Thanks for the visit.

Enjoy!

Little Trees

Here's a couple of very quick and simple Christmas cards.

Pixie's Snippets Playground invites us to use snippets on a card. I used some snippets for the trees and ovals so I'm going over for a visit.

CAS on Sunday is looking for anything Christmas.

CCEE Stampers' challenge has the lyrics to "O Christmas Tree".

Simon Says Monday Challenge is Stamp out 2013.  My trees and the ovals are stamped.

I'm not going to post all the details, cuz I'm in a hurry.  If you have any questions, send me an email and I'll try to help you out.

Thanks for stopping by during this busy time.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Sparkles with Dasher

It's Merry Monday time again and we're almost through the year. Woosh!

As always, Lesley has given us a fantastic challenge!

I used my favorite Christmas animal stamp.  Dasher Rudolph is prancing on this card.  The shine doesn't show well in the photo, but he is embossed and the red rhinestone on his nose and the snowflake really shine IRL.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Dasher, Petite Pairs

Ink:  Encore Silver, Island Indigo

Paper:  Island Indigo, Whisper White, Silver Glimmer

Other:  Silver EP, Stylish Stripes EF, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart), Basic Rinestones, Island Indigo Baker's Twine

I hope you'll find time in this busy week to share a card with us at Merry Monday.  If you've already sent your cards, you can get a head start on next year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Little Gold Tree

What a crazy time of year this is! Slowly but surely I'm working through my "to do" list.  I've even got dinner started on time today!

Here's a very simple card with the tree stamped and embossed in gold. It's matted onto Brushed Gold and an embossed piece of Very Vanilla.  The star is punched from Champagne Glimmer. 

I wish the shine of the embossing showed up better in the photo.  It really is a simple, elegant card.

I'm going to enter it in the Addicted to Stamps challenge where there's an inspiration photo this time.

The gold of the lights on the tree and the fire inspire gold embossing and tree.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Evergreen

Ink:  Encore Gold

Cardstock:  Very Vanilla, Brushed Gold, Champagne Glimmer

Other:  Square Lattice EF, Gold EP, Merry Mini Punch Pack

Thanks for stopping by. 

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Mitten

My Christmas cards are all signed, sealed and to be delivered to the Post Office this morning. What a good feeling to have them all done.  

But I'm still enjoying creating Christmas cards and I'm getting a head start on next year thanks to Lesley and Merry Monday!

Here's my card for this week.

And here's this week's challenge....

It's a good challenge for today since we  had to trade our shorts from Friday to hats and mittens yesterday!  This weather is CRAZY!  But no snow here.  Just a really cold rain.

I used a few snippets so I can visit with Di and the gals at the Playground.  I was so excited to learn that I won the random draw over there.  And what a bounty of goodies there will be coming to my mailbox. I used some snippets for the snowflake, cuff and sentiment.  Why not use some snippets on your card and take it over to Pixie's Snippet Playground.  I see that there are some warming beverages being passed around.

Lesley has reconsidered about keeping the Fusion Challenge going and has a new challenge that will last from now to Christmas.

We can do either of the inspirations or both.  I have done the photo inspiration, using the red and white and the textures of the stocking and pillow.

Lesley has a design call up for this challenge.  If you're interested, be sure to visit this blog and get the details.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe

Stamps: More Merry Messages 

Ink:  Tuxedo Black (Memento)

Paper:  Whisper White, Real Red

Other:  Mitten with Snowflake Die (Impression Obsession), Square Lattice EF, Snowflake EF (Cuttlebug), Corner Rounder Punch (for sentiment), Polar White Flower Soft, Baker's Twine (We R Memory Keepers)

I die cut the mitten from Real Red and the snowflake from a white snippet. After gluing the snowflake to the mitten, I ran both through the Big Shot with the Square Lattice EF.  It gives it the look of a design knitted into the mitten.  I added flower soft to the cuff because I remembered a favorite pair of mittens when I was a child that had a fuzzy edge. They were my favorites.

I hope you'll join us at Merry Monday.  Even if you have all your Christmas card posted, you can play just for fun.  We'd love to see your creations there.  And for some wonderful inspiration check out the site.  Such a talented group of ladies.

Thanks for taking the time to stop by during this hectic time.

Enjoy!

Snowflake Merry Christmas

When Addicted to CAS asked me to continue as Guest Designer, I didn't even have to think about it.  They are such a talented and friendly group of ladies.  Thank you all for including me.  I have so enjoyed being part of this group.

And here's my card....

The challenge this time is perfect for this time of year and brought to us by the lovely Karen...

The snowflakes and embossed background were left over from some projects last month so this was a really quick and easy card.

I added a snippet of ribbon to show off the snowflake properly so I can enter this into the CASology challenge which is

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps: Mixed Medley (retired)
Ink:  Encore Silver
Paper:  Heavy White (PIP), Silver Glimmer, Whisper White
Other:  Not Quite Navy Ribbon, Snow Flurry Bigz Die, Snowflake Punch (retired), Silver EP, Kars Snowflake EF (retired)

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Enjoy!

Wonderful Blessing Peace on Earth

I was so excited to see this stamp in the singles that Stampin' Up! put out this year!  It truly speaks of the reason for our celebration.

It was perfect for a Tent Topper card.

Festive Friday is having their last challenge of the year and asked us to pick our favorite challenge from the past year and create a new card for that challenge.

Addicted to Stamps and More  is having a CLEAN AND SIMPLE WEEK. 
I hope this is CAS enough.

Pixie's Snippet Playground had 100 entries for last week's 100th challenge! Way to go, playmates!  Di has a wealth of prizes to give away if you share 3 cards between last week and this week.  I'm not sure if this is the 3rd or not, but no matter, my snippets let me into the playground and I'm always glad I went for a visit!

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted 

Card Recipe

Stamps:  Wonderful Blessing, Fanciful Christmas and Scripted Greetings (Amy R)
Ink:  Whisper White, Midnight Muse
Paper:  Midnight Muse, Whisper White,
Other:  White EP, Snow Burst EF (retired), Circle Collection Framelits, Scallop Circle Nestabilities (Spellbinder), Scallop Trim Border Punch, Simply Scored, Basic Rhinestones

I'm so glad you stopped by.

Enjoy!

Merry Monday Chalkboard Technique

If you've been playing along at Merry Monday all year, you have a full box of Christmas cards.  Two years ago, I was just getting into the 'make the Christmas cards' mode and in a panic.  

Thanks to Lesley's challenge, I have my Christmas cards done in plenty of time this year. 

Sigh, it's so nice!

Here's my card for this week's challenge.

The challenge this week is

Chalkboard Technique?

I have not been a fan of this technique because I never have liked a dirty dusty chalkboard! Even when I was a little girl, I would ask to stay after school and clean the chalkboards!  How could I intentionally smear up a chalkboard?

But, in looking at this lovely inspiration photo, I noticed the Kraft background and thought that would be a good idea.  It won't show the smears so bad maybe.

Then I thought of blowing snow and thought if I created a snowy scene I could trick myself into not seeing a dirty chalkboard.

Hence a Kraft colored chalkboard with blowing snow not chalk dust.  I'm almost convinced that I like this technique.

After seeing the rest of the design team's cards, I'm liking this technique even better.  Do go and check them out.

Then smear chalk up a card of your own and bring it over to Merry Monday to share with us.

All supplies are Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted

Card Recipe
Stamps:  Warmth and Wonder, Greetings of the Season
Ink:  Whisper White
Paper:  Naturals White, Cherry Cobbler, Crumb Cake
Other:  White EP, Cherry Cobbler Baker's Twine, Stitched Frames Rectangles (Lil Inkers)

Thanks for the visit and for all your encouragement with your comments.  That means so much to me!

Enjoy!