SNSS Christmas Cheer Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog! I'm so happy you could join me today for the Sweet -n Sassy Stamps Christmas Cheer Blog Hop. If you found your way here from Korin's Blog, they you are on the right track. The holidays are just right around the corner, so there's no time like the present to start thinking about holiday cards. What better way to find oodles of inspiration that a blog hop? We have been celebrating since Wednesday, so if you haven't had a chance to catch all the fabulous creations from Wednesday and Thursday, be sure to check the link in my sidebar to catch up on all the amazing work from my fellow design team members.

My card today is made with the Christmas Cheer set from Sweet -n Sassy Stamps. I love this little doggie in the stocking. I colored her up to look like my little fur baby, Lola. Miss Lola has the same sweet and innocent face! As always, I used my SU inks and an aquapainter for coloring. The DP is from Stampin' Up!. I added some sparkle to the stocking by painting on some red stickles, and the white fur trim is done with a snow writer and chunky glitter. The scroll was cut with my Cricut. After adding some rhinestones, because there just wasn't enough sparkle with the glitter and stickles, I decided that instead of a sentiment, I would use this pretty little "Believe" charm which was a gift from my dear, sweet, and talented friend, Judy. For the finishing touch, I added the polka dots to compliment the ribbon with a white gel pen. I also added white accents to the scroll and circle.

Your final stop on today's blog hop will be at the Sweet -n Sassy Stamps Blog. I consider myself very blessed that you could stop by today! I wish you a wonderful weekend filled with everything that you love! May our gracious Lord bless and keep you today and always!

Love Ya!

Takin' the Sweet Stop Challenge...

Good Wednesday morning to ya! Oh my! It's another gloomy day here! We've had such gloomy weather for over a week, so I'm finding my sunshine working under my stamping light! It works for me, but I do hope it's a beautiful Fall day where you are!! Here it is Fall, and I'm thinking more and more about Christmas cards. This card came about from the Saturday Sweet Stop Challenge. Yet another great sketch to get your card inspiration going. Olivia owl is one of my favorite stamp sets, and all the little accessories that go with her allow you to color her up for nearly any occasion. She and all the little extras for her can be found at Sweet -n Sassy Stamps.

I used some of my new Eskimo Kisses paper by Basic Grey, and WOW do I love it! There are such wonderful patterns, and everything coordinates so perfectly. It makes bringing everything together so easy!!! I used a snow writer to add dimension to the fur on her hat, and while it was still wet, I sprinkled it with chunky clear glitter for the bling. I don't think you'll ever see one of my cards without something sparkly, or ribbon. Those are definitely my favorite elements for any card.

As always, I colored Olivia and her accessories with my SU inks and an aquapainter. I paper pieced her tummy, and cut out the holly branch, bow, candy cane, and hat (THAT WAS A LOT OF CUTTING), so that I could pop up the ones I wanted with a foam dimensional. I handstitched the edges of the striped panel, and finished everything off with the wonderful green flat back pearls that were a gift from my Secret Santa last year, Miss Kadie. This was a fun card to put together, and a great sketch! If at all possible, please take the link in my side bar over to the Sweet Stop and take the challenge. Not only can you share your artwork with all of us, you could win a prize! That ought to be some great incentive, so hop to it, and let's see what ya got!!!

Have a glorious day, my stamping friends! I am always beyone thrilled to have you join me, and I treasure all your support and comments. Blessings be to you today and always, and Happy Stamping!!

Love Ya,

Let Your Heritage Shine!

Good morning, and a very good start of the week to you! In celebration of Columbus Day today, The Recipe Challenge Blog is challenging us to celebrate our heritage. In talking to my grandpa, he tells me that way back our family is from Irish decendants, so that's what I'm celebrating today. The Irish flag consists of three equal size rectangles of green, white, and orange, and while my recipe page is 6x6 square, you get the drift. I wanted to keep this one fairly simple, but with my love for bling, of course I had to find a place for some. I used this really neat scroll template I found at my local craft store to trace the swirls, and I handstitched those with orange embroidery floss. Julie sent me some beautiful goodies to play with, like those pretty pearls, and primas from her online store Scrapbook Store At Your Door. Julie is carrying a whole new line of kitchen themed papers and embellishments for all your recipe card needs. Please be sure to check out all the amazing pretties she is offering. They are absolutely fabulous, and so much fun!

I haven't actually tried this recipe yet. It was one in my stash of many. My family really loves roast pork loin, and I'm always looking for new flavor variations to try. This one sounds so yummy! In fact, I may try this one tonight! Please be sure to let me know how you like it, should you decide to give it a go. I'd love to hear what you think!

Thank you so very much for stopping by today! May you have a day filled with blessings, and happy stampin' to ya!

Love Ya!


Supply List:
Paper: Georgia Pacific white card stock, Garden Green, Pumpkin Pie SU card stock
Accessories: Swirls template, Prima flower, half back self adhesive pearls (from Scrapbook Store at Your Door), DMC embroidery floss

Snow Funny Peachy Keen Challenge

Hello, and good morning to you! It's a beautiful day!! It's time for another Peachy Keen Challenge, and this week our challenge is to use purple, blue, three snowflakes and a sentiment. I think I managed to accomplish all of that here, however I had quite a time, because purple would be a color that I have very little of in my stash of paper. Note to self: MORE PURPLE PAPER! I did find this K& Co. paper in my collection, which has a faint strip of Pale Plum in the plaid. I love, love this paper.

This What's Snow Funny image PK-19 has to be my all time favorite image EVER! I have tole painted this little guy from Kathy's Paint On A Happy Face books for years. I actually found a wooden sled the other day, where I had started painting this little guy, and never finished it. That's on my list of things to do before Christmas. I'll have to share it with you when I'm all done. I will need to find my tole painting books, first, though, since those are all packed away. I haven't tole painted for probably 5 years. I hope I haven't forgotten how to use acrylics!! I colored this funny fella up with my SU inks and an aquapainter. There's a whole lot of sponging going on along the edges, and a good dose of bing too. Oh, how I love my bling!!! This was a great challenge, and I'm starting to get a good start on holiday/winter cards with the challenges lately. Please be sure to play along with us at the Peachy Keen Challenge Blog. There are always drawings for great prizes if you play along! Let's see where this creative challenge leads you!! Also, be sure to check out the wonderful samples from the rest of the Design Team girls. Their talent will knock your socks off!
Thanks for stopping by today! As always, it's a pleasure to have you visit. I hope you've found some inspiration, and that you'll find time to play with us. I wish you a day filled with family, friends, fun, and of course, happy stamping!! May you be showered with blessings today and always!

Love Ya!

Supply List

Paper: Not Quite Navy, Pale Plum, K&Co. DP, Canson Watercolor Paper

Ink: Various SU inks for watercoloring, Jet Black Stazon

Stamps: What's Snow Funny from Peachy Keen Stamps

Accessories: Martha Steward snowflake punch, Rhinestone swirls, Rhinestone singles, Crystal Effects, Glitter, 2 Way Glue Pen, Ivory Taffeta Ribbon, White Gel Pen, Micron Fine Tip Marker

Lovin' From The Oven...

Good morning! Yep! It's recipe challenge Monday, and today, I do indeed have some lovin' from the oven to share with you. That's our theme for this week. Be sure to hop on over to the Recipe Challenge Blog, and play along. There's always yummy things in store for you when you visit there.

The recipe I'm sharing with you is one I've had and used for years. I've never had it fail me (unless the yeast is bad), and they are so easy and Mmmm, mmmm good! I will tell you that if you have a stand up mixer that does kneading, then that will make them so much easier. I just mix all my dry ingredients into the bowl, and start the mixing process, then add my wet ingredients. So, so easy peasy!!

I used some of the new DP that Julie is stocking in her store, Scrapbook Store At Your Door. She sent me some of the most gorgeous papers last week, and I can't wait to show them off to you. Of course if you can't wait, you can always go directly to her store and check them out for yourself. While you're there, be sure to check out those wonderful rhinestones that come in a strip for you to shape and use any way you'd like! The are awesome!!!!!

I finally got to play with my new toy! My Cricut Expression came a couple of weeks ago, and I've been so busy, that I hadn't had time to sit down and figure out how to use it! I did play with it some last night, and suffice is to say that I still have a lot to learn. Oh, I think this baby has potential, though! If the operator can figure out how to make it sing, we'll become very good friends! I just KNOW it!! ;-)

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope your weekend was a fun and relaxing one. I did a lot of stamping. Had a great time with my fellow Sassy Stampers at a Stamp-A-Stack! We made so many pretty holiday cards. What a great way to spend World Card Making Day!! Wishing you a day filled with glorious blessings!

Love Ya!

October Kit Cat...Woohoo!!

Hello, and welcome to October Kit Cat Sunday! This was my month to host the Kit Cat Challenge Club! Boy, did I ever have fun shopping and planning the kit for this! I've always wanted to do an altered frame, but had never tried it until now. I managed to challenge myself, and I hope the rest of the Cats were challenged too! I sent out kits which included a wooden frame, assorted DP, stamped images from Peachy Keen Stamps, a glue stick, a nail file (yep!), and a few assorted embellishments that the girls could choose to use, or not. The sky is the limit with our projects, as long as the main subject, or theme is followed through. I've seen one other Kit Cat Creation today, done by Jeanette and I see that Michelle has hers uploaded now. Be sure to check out the links below to all of the awesome Kit Cat projects. What a wonderful treat!!!

I chose this great striped paper from Bo Bunny, and I used lots of Tim Holtz distressing ink in Vintage Photo for the edges, and I actually used it as stain on the back of the wooden frame. The images were all colored with my SU inks and aquapainter. I made some grass to sit the jack-0' lantern on, found an old button in my stash for the star, and finished off with this great SU ribbon of which I frayed the edges. The BOO... and EEK! are glitter stickers. All in all, this was really a very simple project that did indeed make me think outside of the box. What a great gift this would make for someone special!! I really do have Halloween photos to use, but they weren't handy, and this little picture of Tanner and Gracee fit perfectly. Good heavens!! Is he cheesing it up, or what? They are so funny. That is actually a picture of them modeling the duds they wore for Tyler's wedding. They were so cute!!!

Please be sure to check out what the rest of the Crafty Kit Cats have been up to:

Kelly
Jeanette
Michelle

Catherine

Susan

Thank you so much for stopping by today! It's a beautiful Fall day outside, and I hope your day is beautiful too! Enjoy, and happy stampin'!

Love Ya!

Sweet -n Sassy Stamps October Release Blog Hop

Good morning, and welcome to the Sweet -n Sassy Stamps October Release Blog Hop! WOW! That's a mouthful!! If you came here from Deedee's blog, then you are on the right track. You will surely want to start your hop at the Sweet -n Sassy blog, though so you don't miss all the information about what you can win, and the fun scavenger hunt. Sweet -n Sassy Stamps is releasing two fabulous sets this month, and this is one of my favorites ever, although I will be hopping over to the store to pick up my own Baked With Love stamp set. I HAVE to have that one!! This gorgeous set is called Forget-Me-Not, and was a special set created by Korin Sutherland to recognize those suffering from Alzheimer's disease. What a beautiful gift!! I just love to distress cards, and I especially love mixing up the sparkly papers with the distress images. I love that shabby chic look!! I used some wonder K &Co. designer paper for this card. I watercolored the image, then added highlights with my white gel pen, and some sparkles with ultrafine blue glitter. I used Crystal Effects and tiny little clear glass beads for the flower centers. I finished off the image by distressing the edges of the card stock, and then sponging lots of Tim Holtz distress ink along the edges. I like to wrinkle, or break down the paper a bit, and even get a few tears along the edges. I just LOVE that look!!

I am very happy with how this card turned out. The Chocolate Chip tafetta ribbon was perfect for this card, and of course, I had to add a bit more bling with the green rinestones. The cross charm was a gift from my very sweet friend, Judy, and I thought it would be such a nice addition to this card and this sentiment. I hope I never forget to give glory to our kind and gracious God for all the many blessings he brings us each and every day!! Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!
This is a little closer look at this beautifully glittered paper, and the rinestones. What a fun card this was to make. I hope you enjoy it, and are inspired by it! Is it starting to get cold where you are? We are definitely in to some gorgeous Fall weather. It makes me want to do lots of baking, and our favorite around here is cinnamon rolls, which brings me to your next ingredient for the scavenger hunt. CINNAMON would be another key ingredient for your recipe scavenger hunt, and for my yummy sweet rolls. I have the easiest recipe that calls for only a yellow cake mix, water, yeast, and flour for the dough. I've never had them fail me, and I think a batch of those would be just the comfort food I need right now.

Thanks for hopping along with me today. I know that you have seen some absolutely wonderful creations along your way, and never fear, because there is more to come!!! Your next stop will be at the amazingly talented Nancy Brown's Blog. I wonder what Nancy has cooked up for you? You'd better head on over there to find out!! Have a glorious day, my stamping friends, and may our gracious Lord bless and keep you today and always!

Much Love,