Warm Wishes

 I hope everyone had a fun celebration ringing in the new year, and along with the new year comes a cold snap in our weather. As the cold winds start blowing, it's time to share a card sending you some warm wishes. The background was embossed with a Darice Snowflake Swirl ef while the mug of warm cocoa was made with a Penny Black "What's in your Cup" set of dies. The warm wishes sentiment was double cut with a Sweet 'n Sassy set of ticket dies. I added a few drops of pale blue Nuvo drops randomly on the card to match the little blue heart on the cup.

I'm sharing this with -

Can You Handle the Pressure? - A/G embossing with a twist of "winter"

Word Power January2025 Challenge - showcase the sentiment

I'm taking a break from blogging while I try to sort through a lot of tech issues with my camera and computer. I've also collected a massive amount of crafting supplies through my blogging years since 2009 and it's time to step away from it for a while and clear the clutter.

I don't know when or if I'll be back to blogging cards again, but I never say never. Thanks for all your support and friendship through the years. I appreciate each and every one of you.

I guess I'll see you when I see you, so have a great day and take good care of yourselves in the meantime.

Keep smiling 😊

Carol

Happy New Year

 Wishing everyone a very happy, healthy, prosperous, and blessed new year in 2025. I hope it's a better year for all of us as we leave 2024 behind.

Cheers!

Carol

His & Hers

Now that Christmas has come and gone, I thought I'd move onto the next holiday which will be Valentine's day. I used that favorite Gummiapan bunny and die cut him from gray cardstock, then dressed him in a pastel blue suit with a tiny red heart on the front. The heart dies are from Impression Obsession (sadly now closed) and I used (r) SU! papers that look like old wood. The white heart was cut from some SSS pre-embossed woodgrain cardstock. The sentiment panels were die-cut with Kat Scrappiness dies and the sentiment was heat-embossed with white ep on black. I added a silver heart brad accent just for fun. That's one for him...

 and here's one for her. This bunny was cut from white and is wearing a pink outfit and has similar strips of woodgrain paper and a heart-shaped brad. 

Blink your eyes and Valentine's day will be here I'm sure.

Entering in the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - use your craft dies

I'm sending up lots of heavenly love to my departed husband as we would have been celebrating our 56th wedding anniversary today.  I guess that's why I'm in the mood for special love cards.

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do.

Carol

Rudolph Day for December

 I have a Christmas card to share today that was made with left over strips of red & white polka dot paper and a piece of black and white designer paper that matches. I stamped and colored the Tim Holtz crazy dog image with Copics and then die cut that panel with a Lil Inker stitched rectangle. I added the fun Santa hat done with a die that a sweet friend sent me, and added a pre-printed Simon Says Stamp sentiment.

I'm entering this card into the Rudolph Days December Challenge

Here are some more of the treat boxes I made this year. I used random snippets of dsp and some punched Martha Stewart snowflakes, along with some tiny stickers and brads for the centers The Merry Christmas sentiments were done with a KaiserCraft die from mirror red cardstock.

These were filled with old fashioned candy straws in flavors of peppermint, cinnamon and peanut butter. There were also spearmint and cinnamon gumdrops in some of those boxes too.

I made a couple of the Lawn Fawn Tiny Boxes with the deer add-on for my friend's grandsons. I added a couple Hershey kisses and a few M&M's in each one.

Last but not least, I made this gift envelope for my auto mechanic. I put a little bit of green in it because he always goes above and beyond to help me keep my car in good running order. The gnome is a Brutus Monroe die and the sentiment is from SU! heat embossed with gold. I added a few sparkly stickers in red and green just for fun.

Sorry about the bad photos. I've been having camera issues for some time now that I just can't seem to correct.

That just about wraps up my Christmas for this year, but thanks for stopping by and make it a great day whatever you do.

Carol

Wishing You Joy

Christmas has arrived and whatever you celebrate, I wish you joy!

May it be a peaceful day for each one of you - filled with lots of love and many blessings.

Carol

Gnome Treat Boxes

 I made a few of these treat boxes and they've all been given away. I used a SSS Gnome die and each one of them was made from snippets of red and green designer papers to put them together. I figured it was a great way to use those tiny bits of designer papers that I never throw away and I actually used up a lot of them to make these little guys. I colored their noses with a Copic marker but the rest were made up of snippets of different papers - even the backing pieces. 

I'm sharing them with the Snippets Playground Challenge #496 since they're all made with snippets (except the boxes of course)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Christmas preparations are all finished by now and you can just enjoy the season.

Have yourself a fabulous day!

Carol

Season's Tweetings

 I've had this Lawn Fawn stamp set for a while and don't use it nearly enough, so today I'm sharing a Christmas card I made with it. I colored the little birds with Copics and stenciled some clouds behind them with some tumbled glass distress ink. I die cut both the image panel and blue panel as well as the card base with Lil Inker stitched rectangle dies. This one has already gone out in the mail and I'm glad to have put this cute stamp set to use once again.

I will share this card with the following challenges:

The December 2024 Stencil Fun Challenge - Winter/Christmas

the Triple B December 2024 Challenge - Blooms, Birds, Butterflies 

(use 1,2 or all 3)

the Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge #78 - A/G Christmas

the Allsorts Challenge Week #812/13 - Use Your Dies

Thanks for stopping by and as always, I wish you the best day ever!

Carol

Christmas Poinsettia

I used an older Spellbinders Poinsettia die to create this card. While the pieces were still in the die, I took a gold paint pen and drew through the lines on the petals which gave the poinsettia a more festive look. Unfortunately the paint pen malfunctioned on one of those leaves and leaked all over it, but I managed to hide most of the blotch of gold ink under another petal. I decided to use it instead of creating another one. I curled each petal around a pencil to shape them and then popped the flower up on dimensionals, along with the leaf. The embossing folder is a poinsettia design by Taylored Expressions. The sentiment is a pre-printed one by Simon Says Stamp. I added a ancient gemstone to the center of the flower and called this one done.

I'll enter this card into the following challenges:

The Peace on Earth Challenge #78 - A/G Christmas

Can You Handle the Pressure? Dec 14, 2024 - A/G with a twist of Poinsettias

(must use an embossing folder)

The Triple B December 2024 Challenge - Birds, blooms, or Butterflies

(or use all 3)

the Christmas Kickstart Challenge #93 - A/G Christmas

the Allsorts Challenge Week #811 - Lots of White or A/G

Thanks for stopping by and have a great Monday.

Carol

 

Hark the Herald Angels Sing

I've had this Simon Says Stamp Stylized Holy Star die for a while and decided to use it to make a Christmas card.  I cut it from gold mirror paper and white, and placed it on a stenciled background done with Pink Fresh Layered Sunburst stencils and some assorted yellow inks. I die cut some tiny angels from snippets of a thick, shiny white cardstock I've been hanging onto for eons. A friend sent me a few sheets probably ten years ago and I decided it was high time to use those little bits of pretty white festive cardstock to create the angels (done with I.O. dies) and used a gold paint pen to color their halos and wing tips. The sentiment is by Creative Expressions and was cut from mirror gold cardstock. Since I cut the large star with 2 colors, that left enough pieces to create another card with the 2nd star in alternating colors.

 I kept the stenciling lighter on this card but it was made much like the first one. That's two Christmas cards I have finished for my stash.

Sharing with the following challenges:

The December Stencil Fun Challenge - Winter or Christmas

The Peace on Earth Challenge #77 - A/G Christmas

                the Snippets Playground #495 - Must Use Snippets

I have no idea what in the world is going on with blogger, but it's not cooperating at all today. I always center my posts but today nothing will center when I click that link until I click it 4 or 5 times. Also my comment section is completely filled with older posts (6,7,8, and 9 years old) and it's annoying because I'm unable to get to any new posts because of all the old ones clogging up my blog reader list. Maybe if I take a moment to click my heels together 3 times things will magically return to normal again?? LOL 

😆😝😡 

Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all the best possible day. .

 Carol

 

Christmas

 I've been asked to guest design for the Allsorts challenge #110 which has a theme of "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas" or you can choose the Anything Goes option.

Through the years, I've used this process to make cards from leftover strips   of designer paper that are too small to make cards with, and that's how this card came together. I cut the strips randomly into tiny pieces rather than dispose of them. I still have a Xyron machine that transfers a layer of adhesive onto a piece of cardstock, so I used that with a piece of white cardstock and just added the cut pieces of red and green papers to the adhesive - leaving spaces between them. After all the bits were adhered, I sprinkled on some gold embossing powder and heat embossed the whole piece which adds a fun touch of gold to the spaces between the bits of designer paper. I cut two tags from red and green cardstock; rounded the bottom corners and layered one on top of the other. The sentiment was done with a (r) SU! Merry Everything stamp set; stamped with Versamark and heat-embossed with gold ep and I used a coordinating (r) SU! punch to cut it and place it on the two tags. The tiny white bow was the finishing touch. 

I hope you can find time to play along with this fun challenge. I look forward to seeing what you create. 

Thanks for stopping by and make it a great day!

Carol