super saturday catch up

I sorted through my photos the other week. Organized them by date and took them out of the photo sleeves that they arrived in. I don't print my shots, still use the online pub sites and print most of my photos. Old habits are hard to break.

We have this wonderful nursery here in town that decorates their store so BEAUTIFULLY for the holidays. They set up various photo ops throughout, which makes a perfect backdrop for our holiday/Christmas cards! This shot was taken in a gazebo with Frosty. Unfortunately, Feeney's has been very well known and everyone and their mother comes to take photos (which are free to do!!- even sitting with Santa!) We made the mistake of going Black Friday last year- yikes! never will do that again! I do have our photos from the last few years and it is amazing how much the girls have grown and changed. Making me feel old!

Unscripted Sketches posted another great sketch for us- don't wait, join in with your interpretation!

deets:
paper- Flair, shabby princess, around the block
cricut vine border and the flowers are petaloo christmas
velvet scrap ribbon, misc button, creative memories rub on sentiment, fiskars border punch

two for tuesday, a day late!

rain rain go away, come again another day. we are waterlogged. streets are flooded. yard is a muddy swamp. (sigh) The good news is I get to play inside all day on my craft!!! yah! So, while watching afternoon soaps and doing laundry, I found some time to make these 2 cards. I always start with a sketch. Santa comes from Lord Have Mercy #45. Pulled out my stash of Christmas papers and realized how little of this very old CTMH paper pack I had and wanted to use it up. All matchy matchy in color scheme. The stamp is CTMH- night before christmas, the sentiment is $1, clear g studio, large brads complete the card.

I love this card! It is so sparkly IRL! Kris gave away some old Reminisce papers, which I gladly took! The background swirl was actually a 12" circle (like a large peppermint candy) that I was able to make 2 large cards with it, cut down to size. The ornaments are stickers that matched this set. Silver stretch thread wrapped around, Peace on Earth (SU! set) finish off the card. It took like all of 10 minutes to make this card! LOL!! Isn't it elegant, so sophisticated? Someone really special, ONLY, is going to get this card! Oooopss, almost forgot.... the challenge completed is Colour Create Challenge #30: all white. Yup, it is!

tuesday throwdown

Today color challenge is brought to you by Sherrod Studio. The design team was to create a project using the colors buttercup, cranberry and brown bag (Close to My Heart colors). I started off this card wanting to use my Basic Grey paper pack where the papers incorporated these colors. The stamp set is Friendship Blessings by Sherrod ( you can see Kim's store on the website and while you are there, check out the other design team members cards, and.........don't forget to play along. Each week a winner will be chosen to be our guest designer!!)

Here are the other details on this card:

Sketch Challenge at Card Positioning Systems
Pin Up at 365 Cards, Day 240- use safety or straight pins with a charm (see my shell?)
Stampin Sisters in Christ #10- to express our thankfulness to someone that has done something for you. I have some dynamite friends that stick with me through thick and thin.
Crazy 4 Challenges #8- use 3 shapes on your card. I used a square, rectangles (stripes) oval and a star (my charm!)

Thanks for stopping by this tuesday! See you soon!

Falling Leaves

Wow, can you believe that October is over already? We haven't even done our annual fall hike, with all of this yucky rain that we have had- who wants to hike in mud??? So, when all else fails for current photos, I went to my file of unscrapped pictures that were waiting for me to get my grove on and scrap. Found this photo from last year and went to town! This sketch completed 4 challenges: unscripted sketch, crafty cardmakers #6- autumn colors, Belli Challenge- autumn or leaf challenge, and gingersnap creations- green, orange and brown colors.

The leaf patterned paper is one I made a few years ago trying my hand at emboss resisting. It took a LOT of work and time and probably will NOT repeat this beautiful technique. First I typed out a poem on my computer, erased all margins and printed in a fun font. Next I stamped in versamark, large leaves in a random pattern. Heat embossed with clear EP. Then I stamped in wonderful fall colors the smaller leaves, acorns, and berries. Lastly, with a sponge and light colored ink, I sponged over all of the "blank" white spaces - which make the large leaves POP.

So, try your hand at this great sketch, I rotated the sketch for my layout to fit, and don't forget to leave a link directly to your PROJECT, not your blog so we can see all of your great ideas!! Unscripted Sketches is waiting for you!

2 more for thursday

I wanted to clear off my table so, in order to do so, I pulled out my sketches for this week and used this great paper from MME. This card above is for Lord Have Mercy #64. I love her work! This sketch was easy to work with. In order to get my sentiment onto the paper, I tried an old technique of cutting my saying into strips and adding them hodgepodge onto the card. The tea cup is an OLD DOTS stamp from CTMH, before acrylics! Yikes- picked it up at the thrift store recently! Love using it.

This card is for last fridays sketch over at Friday Sketchers. A bit late in the game, but still made it in! whew! Again, an old DOTS stamp, colored in with prima watercolor pencils and waterbrush. I think I may take all 3 cards and make a great christmas present for my SIL! shhh.....

see you soon!

thursday challenges

In between getting my hair cut and making greek chicken pie for greek day at school tomorrow, I managed to crank out this card- for 4 challenges no less!

here are the deets:
The Pink Elephant #37- sketch that I rotated
365 Cards #236- Pretty Paisley (DP from MME- asparagus paper pack)
Caardvarks- new tall card
and The Secret Crafter Saturday Challenge- dig deep (the image is an old DOTS stamp before it became Close to My Heart, probably 8 years old?? and the paper is from last year)

thanks for coming by today!

More Christmas cards....

Tis the season. I think. Blogs are either on halloween, fall, or christmas. Since I am vendoring at a few craft fairs this fall, thought it would be a good idea to work on some Christmas cards to sell.

I was able to complete 3 challenges for this card:
Creative Card Crew #33- babies and children. No better baby to use than the image of Christ here. There really is no other greater love.
Stampin' Sisters in Christ #9 - show a project with Christ's birth or the nativity
The Secret Crafter- to use old stash. This paper was from CTMH winter catalog 2007. I only had a few scraps of the striped left to use up and it worked perfectly. The clip is an old metal embellishment from a contest in 2006 (i think???) and the image is one I have had from CTMH for a few years now and is perfect for my Christmas cards.

Tuesday Throwdown #2- Sherrod STudio

Our challenge this week was to do an emboss resist. I love these little gingermen from Sherrod Studio! This versatile set is called Fresh Baked. I took a sketch from CPS this week and used that as my starting point. Kris gave me some old Flair christmas paper and I used this great vintage "music" and "holiday words" dp as my background papers. CTMH cranberry cardstock. The raffia ribbon is a prize from a challenge I won and the flowers are Petaloos christmas poinsetta group.

Now onto the gingerbread men. First I stamped the outline of him onto chocolate cardstock and embossed him with white EP. Now, before I cut them out, I used dark brown distressing ink and sponged each one to make them look like overcooked cookies! LOL! Yes, that is probably how they would turn out in my home!! It makes the white EP really stand out! Then I used mini red rhinestones for the eyes, stamped in a sentiment off of the set, attached with a misc button.

Only 2 more months to shop for presents for the holidays! I started my shopping over the weekend and got some great gifts (the best ones are the ones that appear without you having to really look for something!) I even discovered a new warehouse bookstore where I got a great cookbook by William-Sonoma for $10 (yes it is a $30 retail book!) and yes they are all new. Kids got some great stocking stuffers (can't beat $1.00 books!) Can you tell that I am excited by my finds????

Have a great day- Hugs

Unscripted Sketches #27

Isn't the Cuppie cute? He is a prize that I won over at The Fresh Batch one week. They were generous in the images I rec'd and some great ribbon/raffia. I colored Cuppie in with my NeoMarkers (just like copic but less expensive!). The paper is a RAK from Kris, CTMH sorbet ricrac and ribbon, copper brads, safety pin and prisma glitter. If it is your special day, then Happy Birthday to you!

Hop over the Unscripted Sketches and check out the other designers work! Fabulous!

Fab 5 Friday

No, not 5 cards today, but this card completed 5 challenges this week! Yup, I am getting so much better at allocating my craft time! Here are the deets:

Sketch Saturday- sketch
Saturday Spotlight #2- dress up those trees!
Stamp Something - BLING!
Creative Card Crew- scallops
Crafty Creations- blue

Supplies: CTMH ocean paper, Reminisce glitter Snow day papers, CTMH tree stamp from Nature, Peace on Earth- SU!, karen foster snow brads, MS lace doily scallop punch, liquid applique for the snow, then heated to add dimension, and blue glitter from MS.

2 for Tuesday

I actually have the morning off! My afternoon will be filled with cooking, laundry and picking up our 1 dog from the vet (she had her teeth cleaned today...) so I decided to relax, save my energy and make some cards! wahoo!

The above card, all of the elements just worked together. Not on purpose mind you, but in the end, I was surprised at how my brain worked to make it all happen! Used the swiss dots folder and it matches the dots on her dress sleeves. The stitching on the dress, my faux stitching onthe card, the look of stitching with the DP work. The term "sew" ties it all together nicely!
Challenges: Our Creative Corner sketch, Cuttlebug Spot- embossing and monochromatic, and 365 CArds Day #226- use the word "so" on your card: my "sew" is creative!

This card is following the sketch over at Lord Have Mercy. I just found her blog a few weeks ago and am amazed at how beautiful and inspirational her work is. Check it out. I also played along with Cupcake Craft Challenges #60 this week- buttons and stitching. My sewing machine hasn't been used in a bit, so I have ventured into faux stitching. Purchased a lady bug embosser (makes holes for you) and used a white Zig pen, hard to see the white, but I like the subtleness of it. Button on the felt flower finishes off the card. The papers and stamp sentiment are Close To My Heart stock.

Sherrod Studo Sketch Challenge- Tuesday Throwdown

The Design Team of Sherrod Studio is doing a sketch challenge today over at Sherrod Studio! Each Tuesday Throwdown will bring a new challenge! This week is a sketch. I love the distressing on my card today. The size is 6x6 and works perfectly with the stamped image from Harvest Blessings. I colored the pumpkins in with marker, highlighted with orange and went back over the entire thing with deep yellow to blend in the colors. The pumpkins are cut out and popped for dimension. Satin ribbon and photo hangers complete the small details on this card.

Stop by next Tuesday for Emboss Resist challenge!

sunday sketch challenges

I am finding that I am trying to successfully combine many challenges into one card. Not that I can't make individual cards, but time is shorter nowadays and it is actually more CHALLENGING to see how many you can get into one card!

The baby card successfully completed 5 challenges!

Lord Have Mercy sketch #42
Creative Crew #31 It's a celebration
Crafty Creations #36 All Shades of Pale
Stampin' Sisters in Christ #8 baby card
Just us Girls #2 technique of paper piecing (my blocks!) and to use the color pink for breast cancer awareness

This card completes 5 Challenges:

Card Positioning Systems #137- sketch
Tuesday Taggers - use autumn colors
Stamp Something brown and something, but brown is the predominant color
365 Cards Day 217 tone on tone stamping- used MS leaves stamp to do my background
Secret Crafter Saturday #53 autumn colors

There you go! Have a great day!

so sketchy saturday

I am spending the afternoon with 2 of my DDs, making cards. They are making daddy b'day cards and I am playing with some challenges.

Using K&Co. Sera Sera specialty papers (which are beautiful but very difficult to really use!) some misc wide satin ribbon, charms from Mike's, MS butterfly stamp, Fiskars apron punch, string pearls, and CTMH stamps, I put on my thinking cap to come up with this beautiful card. I completed 5 challenges with this one card!

Card Patterns #36 - use the sketch.
365 Cards Day 224- Two Techniques to create a foreground and background. First you see the orangish paper, then the gold punched DP on top, 3D the image and added butterflies with the wings crimped to look like in flight
Crazy 4 Challenges #6- create a card with a thankful theme. I am blessed/thankful to have so many wonderful friends in my life to help through the good times and the bad
Cute Card Thursday- use a charm (joy brass charm)
365 Cards Day 223- stamp a shadow. I chose to stamp 2nd generation flowers onto my sentiment to allow it to stand out and to give dimension. I also created shadow by popping the sentiment and bending the wings of butterflies.

Thanks for checking in today! Have a great one!

Announcing the Winner for the Halloween Blog Candy!

If you are:

itsabrt@gmail.com is the winner of the halloween blog candy!

congratulations! Please email me at : kbecker (dot) ctmh [at] gmail (dot) com

with your U.S. mailing address, I will get this out to you! If I don't hear from you by Tuesday, Oct 13th, I will choose another winner.......

-Kelly

Birthday Month

This is for an fellow DT member on Unscripted Sketches. Today is also my hubby's b'day, but I don't think that he would like a fairy b'day card.....

Fairy is a digi image from Soft Pencil, scrap patterned paper, buttons, punches, NeoHobby markers.

Thanks for stopping by. Check out the other DT members blogs at US!

Fab Friday Continued

I found myself with some extra time today and decided to use up the yellow scraps I found on my table. The above card is for a site I found a few weeks ago, Lord Have Mercy. This is a sketch challenge. I took some stickers and placed them on my Honey Cardstock (CTMH), then cut it smaller to allow the black to make things pop. Bobunny Pet line, misc wooden stamp and misc flowers in my stash. Michaels ribbon, buttons, leaves finish off this card.

This card is for Friday Sketchers. Followed the sketch, but turned my card upside down to allow for the flowers to hide some open space on my image. The image is a digi from Inky Impressions that they gave free a few weeks ago. Background Paper from K&co., petaloo flowers, gold brads, satin ribbon. I didn't choose a sentiment as I wanted this card to be for whatever.

Fabulous Friday

Hellllllooooo Friday! I am happy the weekend is here- lots to do: pumpkin patch, apple picking, hubby b'day, softball tournies, relaxing, shopping (whew the list is exhausting!) But in my excitement of Friday, I made 2 cards today that meet a number of challenges!

The above card, using all CTMH cardstock, was made for Daring Cardmakers- Autumn Purple. She was inspired by the color purple this season, and I am reminded of the commercials with purple make-up. For those of us that grew up in the 80's, it really isn't a fashion we wish to repeat! Hello, leg warmers? metal belts, plaids/flannel look? It didn't look good then- Madonnaish looking, why now would it look good?

This card completed 8 challenges! Yup, I can't believe that many! Here we go:
1)Twisted Thursday- use metal on your card ..... pins and dragonfly charm
2)Cute Card Thursday- use a charm.....dragonfly
3)Inspirational Card Sketches...... the card sketch for inspiration
4)Inky Impressions #18- using a II stamp (my fairy is a digi from them) and to use fall colors.....brown, golds, greens, even blue!
5)Cupcake Craft Challenge- use a bug on your card.....dragonfly
6)Pile it On - 3D..... pop dotted the image, ribbon for texture
7) Caardvarks- use ribbon in a creative way....well, I used ribbon as an embellishment and to create a place to ground the hat pins and sentiment.
8) Color Throwdown- use kraft, olive, cocoa, honey (CTMH colors...!)
Whohoo! Off to make cream puffs for tonight! Have a great weekend!

Thursday Challenges

I don't think that I am ready for Hallmark, but I do think that I would rather make a masculine card than pay $4.00 for one! Masculine cards are so hard for me to make! Hubby's b'day is Saturday and I have been struggling with what to make and to give as a gift. He never wants for anything- typical male, as he needs something he just goes and buys it.

This card is for 2 challenges:
Color Throwdown #63- kraft, olive, cocoa and honey

Twisted Thursday #28- use the sketch provided and to use something metal or a metal tag on your card (that's the twist!)

I cut the star out of a metal sheet that I picked up years ago, cut with the Cricut and embossed on the cuttlebug. The leaves were cut, again, with the cricut, the patterned paper is really old Flair and the cardstock is all CTMH.

Off to do some virtual shopping for saturday!

Fresh and New

I just love this sweet girl from DOTS (before it was Close to My Heart). I found her at the thrift store last week and have been busy using her on my projects! I made this card for The Fresh Batch and used more scraps on my table. The flowers are thicker stickers, fussy cut my own leaves, paper is Debbie Mumm Baby Girl pad, buttons from stash, and briefly colored in the sweet patchwork girl using markers.

Stop by on Tuesday for the announcement of the Halloween Blog Candy winner!

Recovering....

...from this weekend and World Cardmaking Day! What a fantastic response we had over at Unscripted Sketches! Many lucky winners rec'd blog candy (my deadline is tonight-drawing in the morning! see halloween candy photo,click on it, leave a comment)

I am trying to clean up my room, lots of little things to move out, but it is one of those projects that when I have 5 minutes here and there I can take care of something! While waiting for the afternoon bus to bring home Daughter#1, I made these quick cards.

The baby card uses a digi image (I think from Soft Pencil). The DP are Bobunny, sketch is from Card Positioning Systems #136, and the star paper is like a homemade paper with silver embossed stars. The Hello card uses Debbie Mumm baby girl, petaloo flowers, bling and misc satin ribbon. The sketch is from 365 CArds #218 Super Sketchy Sunday.

Whew- glad to have these done and one less paper pile on my table! Have a great day!

Fall Blessings

I started this card off in my head in a different set of colors. As is bound to happen, once I got started, the color palette changed into more fall colors. Funny, today in Philly, the weather is very much Indian Summer. We were out and about doing school shopping and I was totally amazed at the number of people picking pumpkins. For me, the weather has to be MUCH cooler. But I am reminded of the beauty of fall, the abundance of blessings in the many forms in my life, and the grace of God.

Creating this card reminded me of the blessings of the wonderful girlfriends in my life. I certainly don't thank them enough for their wisdom, guidance, support and love that they shower on me on a daily basis. So here's to you wonderful, dear friends of mine (you all know who you are!). Thank you for all that you do for me, you are appreciated and loved.

deets: we are memory papers- spice and marigold, coordinating embossed cardstock diecuts, misc flower, CTMH button, misc mini rhinestones, Sherrod Studio sentiment stamp (friendship blessings).
Challenges: Weekly, Sherrod Studio stamping
Bobunny: sketch challenge
Pile It On #18- 3 dimensional (flowers and buttons and sentiment popdotted)
Crafty Creations #35- leaves/autumn theme (fall color palette, browns, reds, rustic looking)

ABC-challenges: embossing dry or wet (my center piece is embossed diecuts!)
Stampin Sisters in Christ #7- let the earth rejoice (flowers and the abundance of friends)

My Stamp Bargains! Happy WCM Day!

Did you enter my blog candy give away??? Don't wait, the deadline is 10/5! See the photo on right to take you to the comment section!

Onto these cards.... Aren't they the cutest? I found these old DOTS woodies at the thrift store yesterday and only paid $0.75 each! LOVE IT! They are so cute and best of all, they are helping me to figure out the blending of NEOPIKO markers! Great inexpensive alternative to the $15.00 sets that may or may not work for me! The deets on this card are: sketch challenge over at Sweet and Sassy Stamps #24. Today being World Cardmaking Day, I decided to do some challenges that I have never done before or haven't done for a bit. Mix it up a bit! I also used the challenge over at Crazy 4 Challenges, which was to use stitching (faux or real) and I chose to faux route. It is also for The PInk Elephant #34, RECIPE: use dots, punch and a tag.

This cutie was just playing around with a sketch from Crazy 4 Challenges #4. Was late with it, deadline was yesterday, but she will go into my growing stash of cards.

So, what are you doing for today?