Leafy Thank You...STAMPlorations Giving Thanks Linky Party, Cards In Envy~Thank You Card Challenge, STAMPlorations~Anything Goes Challenge

Hello,

*Palm smack on forehead*!!  Soooo...I decided to create a card for Shery's STAMPlorations Giving Thanks Linky Party,

by drawing inspiration from the cool photo over at STAMPlorations November CUTplorations Challenge.

Brilliant idea....I thought. Stamped my Trendy Leaves in a scatter-y pattern, added a Sentiment Builders Thank You, tossed in a few stamped splatters and stood back, rather pleased with the arrangement.  In fact, I was *so* pleased, I made a second.

Took photos, did the usual pre-post preparations and was all set to publish when it dawned on me: I had NOT used a die on the card!  YEESH!  Oh well, at least it fits a couple challenges! Perhaps I should focus on reading the 'fine' print (which is as obvious as the day is long!!) far more closely!

Another *palm smack* for good measure! 

NOTE: Thrilled and honoured to be selected as a First Class Badge Winner at Cards in Envy~Thank You Challenge.  THANK YOU! 

Heading off to:

Cards In Envy~Thank You Card Challenge

STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Have a Magical Holiday Season...25 Days of Christmas Tags

Hello

Surprise!! Sweet, talented Tracey McNeely’s 25 Days of Christmas Tags isn't done quite yet! Today, I have the wonderful opportunity to join in on *Day 26* (25 days was just not enough!) featuring STAMPlorations products. 

As you know, I am completely besotted with the Warm Hands, Warm Hearts stamps and dies sets, so...our they came to be tag-ified once again.  The sled is nestled atop the Dots All Over stencil...

and here, atop the Stained Glass stencil...

Please be sure to check out Tracey's site, where you'll find inspiration - and prizes! - galore!!  Come play along, too!  The gallery is open until Dec. 2. 

Also joining:

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #453~Tag, Ornament or Bauble

STAMPlorations Holiday TAGplorations

STAMPlorations November Theme & Sketch Challenge~Stamps and 3 of Anything (going with the theme: three gifts coloured in three colours)

STAMPlorations Never-Ending Anything Goes Challenge

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Sparkly Trees Merry Christmas....Tag, You're It Challenge #61

Hello!

Welcome to Tag, You're It Challenge #61, where we're drawing inspiration from the gorgeous tag designed by ultra-talented Loll Thompson, our Guest Featured Designer. The Northern Lights sky, sparkly trees, shimmer showdrifts: I want to bundle up and spend some time in this lovely, peaceful scene.

Loll Thompson

Guest Featured Designer 

I drew inspiration from Loll's background (wish mine was brighter...hmmmm), the shimmer, which I mirrored in my mini forest, and a 'merry' sentiment. My photo doesn't capture the glisten of my water-droplet 'stars' but it's there...in real life...

Eeek...my trees are a tad tipsy!  Let's pretend that the winds are blowing, as they are 

here all. the. time. *grin*

Please head over to see how my amazing team-mates interpreted Loll's tag.  A whole lot of ingenuity and pretty about to happen...

Lindsey M-p (Guest Designer)

 Donna

 Erin

Jeanne

Kara Lynne

Anja

Now, it's your turn on the stage. Looking forward to seeing your Loll-inspirations in the gallery!

Also sharing at Tracey's 25 Days of Christmas Tags, with colours/images connected to Daria's tag from Day 14.

 Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Wise Men Bearing Gifts....Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #221~Anything Goes

Hello,

We're back from our travels, having headed west to honour the life of my husband's sister, who passed away last week.  A roller-coaster of tears and laughter. Her husband (of 35 years) and daughter (19) did her proud with the celebration that featured songs, stories, slides and speeches, all infused with deep love. I'm incredibly proud of my husband's speech, with tales shared of little brother-big sister antics and bonding. Being her sister-in-law was an honour and a joy. I miss her...

Deep breath and on we go...

Welcome to Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge #221~Anything Goes, which we all know is one of YOUR favourite challenges as much as it ours!

Today, I finally "card-ified" one of the images of the three Wise Men that I've been colouring for Kathy's The 30 Days Colouring Challenge with a variety of pencils.  These are Prismacolours. Nothing fancy...just plain ol' colouring...

I've made six so far (a couple using metallic pencils that I'm sort of  'hmmm....' about).  Easy to colour and wonderfully spirit-lifting those three kinds are....

Now, turning the stage to you! Looking forward to seeing you in the gallery.

Also sharing at:

Make My Monday Challenge #35~CAS Christmas

Creative Corner Challenges~Anything Goes

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Thank Ewe...Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #385~Thanks

Hello,

Time for Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #385, where *Thanks* is the inspiration cue.  Check out the yummy mountain of frosting on these treats...and the chocolate letters!  Scrumptious!

Source

Our generous sponsor is Lawn Fawn, who are offering a stamp set and 6 X 6 paper pad to the winner! Cool!

I decided to bring out one of my LF sets....and create a "THANK EWE" card!  Tee hee!!

Please be sure to visit the Cupcakes blog to see the wonderful designs from our Surprise Sweeties and my wonderful team.  You know what happens next: you create a project of you own and join us in the gallery.  See you there!

****Before you go: CUPCAKE INSPIRATIONS is having a DESIGN TEAM call for those who love working with digital images.  Click HERE for details.

Also sharing at:
Words 2 Craft By #32~Small Hearts, Large Gratitude (my sheep is small, but her *thanks* is gigantic!)

Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, 

it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude. ~~ A. A. Milne

CAS-ual Fridays Challenge #161~Be Thankful

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Baby, It's Cold Outside...Inkspirational Challenge #122~Chill, Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #222~Grey, White, Red

Hello,

A skiffering of snow this week, combined with brisk, cool temperatures, (I wore long-johns the other day to stave off the early-morning cool of the car seat during my drive to work!) sparked plenty of ideas for the new Inkspirational Challenge #122~Chill

Of course, *chill* can refer to more than just cool temperatures, as you'll see by the fabulous interpretations from our talented guest designer, Teresa, and the rest of my incredible team:

Sandie

Shauna

Pia

Nonni

Kim

Marina

Yvonne

Me? I went with 'chilly temperatures'...and this happened...

The LF alpaca image and sentiment give me the giggles!

*Alpaca* myself up now and let you get on with visiting my team, then

creating a card/project of your own to share in the gallery!

Until then, "Chill, dudes"!  

(Okay, got the goofies out of my system....it's been a rather stressful week...sighhhh...so 

thank you for indulging me in my zaniness...)

Also joining:

Merry Monday Christmas Challenge #222~Grey, White, Red

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

JOY, JOY, JOY...CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge #199, The Paper Players Challenge #321, Double D Challenges~Traditional Christmas Colours, Stamp Ink Paper Challenge #74~CAS Christmas

Hello

Just a quick post to share what happened when I combined CAS(E) this Sketch Challenge #199

The Paper Players Challenge #321~

and Concord & 9th's Joy stamp, along with Red Berry Gloss Crystal Nuvo Drops (this is a cool product!):

An easy-to-mass produce Christmas card...which I did...10 times.  More may be happening!

Same card, just being all photo-op happy....

NOTE:  Honoured and delighted to be selected as A Cut Above over at The Paper Players. THANK YOU, Jaydee!

NOTE: Thrilled and honoured to be a winner over at CAS(E) this Sketch #199!  THANK YOU for filling my day with JOY!

That's it....
We have to travel west this weekend;  'quiet' time will be on my agenda so hopefully, I can do some commenting catch-ups.  And maybe even get a little colouring in....

Also sharing at:

Double D Challenges~Traditional Christmas Colours

Stamp Ink Paper Challenge #74~CAS Christmas

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge #11~Anything CAS Goes (optional colour twist: purple),

Hello,

I'm back, joining the talented STAMPlorations CAS design team as a guest designer, with a reminder post  for the STAMPlorations CAS Card Challenge #11~Anything CAS Goes

As you know, I'm smitten with the Warm Hands, Warm Hearts set and since the sweet sled, loaded with gifts, hadn't had a play, it was time to change that!  Serious cuteness! I paired it with a  Stained Glass stenciled background and a sentiment from the same set. Easy-peasy CAS!

NOTE: Honoured to be selected as a Design Team Pick over at Stamp, Ink, Paper Challenge #74!  THANK YOU!

For more inspiration, please visit the rest of the team:

Toni

Karola 

Harriet 

Stephanie 

Linda 

Lisa

Suchi

Ksenija

  

Please join us in the gallery!

Looking forward to seeing you there!

Here are the absolutely friendly, simple "rules":

You can link up to 3 CAS cards.

You can enter a CAS card with or without the optional color twist.

Non-STAMPlorations products are OK

Badges for winner and top picks are voted by the design team

1 winner drawn from those who use the color twist wins a $10 gift certificate

See? All the more reasons to play along!!!

Also sharing at:

Stamp, Ink Paper Challenge #74~Clean and Simple Christmas

STAMPlorations Anything Goes Challenge

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Nativity...FUSION Challenge~Joy (Nov. 17)

Hello,

Have you finished your Christmas cards? I have...NOT! Not even close! Perhaps I'm dilly-dallying because I so love making them and want to stretch doing so for as long as possible. Yes, that must be it! What else could explain my slow-pace (ummm...disorganized?)?  At any rate, if you're in panic-mode, as I am, our new FUSION~Joy challenge is sure to spark ideas.  Look at that gorgeous Joy image; the CAS sketch; a combination of both!  Perhaps a 'something' to mass-produce (my mass-producing halts at about 8...after that, I need a change!)....

I went with the sketch this round, using PTI stamps/dies.  Truly easy to reproduce...which maybe I did *grin*...

For outstanding inspiration, please check out what my amazing team-mates have created.  So many gorgeous designs...

Becca Cruger
Betty J
Jeanne Jachna
Karren Johnson
Linda Callahan
Lyndal Higgins 
Michelle Leone
Michelle Lupton 

Michelle Williams

For those of you new to FUSION challenges, and for those good friends returning: a quick outline/reminder of how things work:

PROCEDURES:

1. Play with just the sketch challenge.

2. Play with just the inspiration photo challenge.

3. Or you can create FUSION by combining BOTH challenges into one card.

4. Use the challenge graphic and link back to Fusion in your post.

Plenty of choices, right? Right!

Your turn!

What sparks your creativity? Sketch? Photo? Both?

Looking forward to seeing how this FUSION challenge will inspire you!

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Joy To You Always....Serendipity Stamps Blog Hop and Half-Way Challenge Reminder (Texture)

Hello

Mid-way through the month (going way toooo fast!) which means it's time for the Serendipity Stamps November Blog Hop, where this month's theme is Welcome; perfect  for those of you preparing to welcome guests in celebration of US Thanksgiving and the upcoming festive season.  

The DT are ready and rarin' to go with their Welcome-themed cards, which also feature this month's challenge technique: texture. When you hop along with us (you should have arrived here from wonderfully talented Patti Kehl's  blog) you're in store for a  double-treat: the joy of seeing marvelous inspiration AND the opportunity to win a $20 gift certificate to one commenter randomly selected from all the blogs. You can leave comments through to midnight Nov. 20th; the winner will be announced on Mary's blog on Monday, Nov. 21st.

Mary's Blog

Marybeth Lopez

Miriam Napier

Patti Kehl

Carol Mayne (you are here)

Vickie Zimmer

Jeanne Jachna 

Julie Warner

Karen Amidon

Over the weekend, my husband I went on a forest hike and as we walked, flutters of snowflakes were making a delicate appearance. Talk about marvelous inspiration for my first card: a monochromatic grey palette, a birch trees embossed background, a scattering of sparkle-paper snowflakes (Snowflake Reverse Die) and a silver embossed sentiment (Joy To You Always).  In real life, this is a shimmery card!

I'm not one for using embossing powders often (warping, limited space, etc. etc.), but when I do, oh, how I love the effect. Maybe more colours of ep would boost my investment in this technique. Now that's an idea! *grin*

Since I had my grey card-stock out, a second card made an appearance (I'm so predictable!). Texture, this time, comes from the sparkle of the Ornament die and, again, the silver embossed  Joy To You Always sentiment.  

Two more cards for my Christmas stash.  Let's not discuss how many more I need to do! Someone needs to get organized! 

Before I send you off on your *joyful* way, a trio of important items:

• Sale Alert! From now through Nov. 21st,. it's 20% Autumn and Halloween categories. No coupon code required. Happy shopping! 

• Have you played in our current challenge yet? We're inviting you to join us with *Add Texture* over atSerendipity Stamps Challenge #61

Whatever you choose, be sure to include at least one Serendipity Stamps image (stamp or die) on your design!

• A reminder that the stamp of the month (50% off) for November is this darling Snowperson with Wreath

 

That's it from me; the stage is now yours!

Looking forward to seeing your creativity in the gallery!

Be sure to link up at the challenge blog by November 28 11:55 pm, US EST,

Also sharing at:

Christmas Card Challenges #48~Glitter (my snowflakes and ornament are soooo sparkly!)

Creatalicious Challenge #103~Anything Goes

Thank you for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!

Joy To You Always...Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #384, Serendipity Stamps Sponsor

Hello,

Today, I'm joining Cupcake Inspirations Challenge #384 as a member of the DT for this week's challenge:  Serendipity Stamps.  Mary is generously offering a $20 Gift Certificate to the winner, so be sure you play along!

The Cupcake sweeties are tantalizing us with this lovely, intricately detailed treat, focusing on turquoise, gold and midnight.  Eat this? Eventually, but some careful gazing and admiring of the artistry that went into this design would certainly take priority. And if the outside looks this grand, I can only imagine what awaits within...

Source

For my card, I went with 'simple, yet detailed,' using the Angel die cut from gold shimmer cardstock (crazy challenging to photograph) and Joy To You Always sentiment. The stars are a Memory Box stencil...

Please be sure to check out what the Cupcake gals, along with guest designers from Serendipity, have created.  WOW guaranteed!

Your turn!  How will turquoise, midnight and gold inspire YOU?

Also sharing at:

That's Crafty! Challenge~There Must be an Angel

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with me; your visit brings me joy!