Crafters Of Faith Monthly Challenge

Crafters of Faith is a group of Christian bloggers that met and bonded on SplitCoast Stampers.   Every month, on the last day of the month, we post a card with a theme chosen by a member of our group.  This month’s theme was chosen by MaryRose and here’s what she had to say:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." Isaiah 9:6 Hello, Crafty sisters! Can you believe the holidays are here? I LOVE this time of year! Peppermint Mocha Lattes, twinkling lights, Hallmark Christmas movies...every good and perfect gift pointing to our Savior. My favorite part of the season? Christmas carols. I LOVE Christmas music, and I have so many CDs that I have to start listening to them in October just to fit them all in! LOL I have a few favorites that make it into heavy rotation (Amy Grant, Kathy Mattea, Point of Grace, Sara Groves), and others that are strictly instrumental and fill the house with the ambient sounds of the season (Jim Brickman, Windham Hill's Celtic Christmas, and more). This month's challenge: Make a card based on one of your favorite Christmas songs or carols. (The Bible verse I chose is often associated with Handel's Messiah, another favorite!) Make sure your card has a little twinkle to represent the light of the world. Bonus points to anyone who includes kraft and gingham in their design (just because I LOVE kraft and gingham!) So there's your challenge! Plug in that Christmas music and get inspired! I'm even learning some Christmas carols to play on my dulcimer.

 

 

One of my favorite Christmas Carols is “The First Noel” so I went to my favorite resource for images and googled the song.  I found the perfect image that had an antique’ish look to it so I saved it and printed it.  Then I cut it into an oval using my Silhouette.  I adhered it to a slightly larger, black oval to matte it.  The red paper by Recollections, although not quite gingham but as close as I could get, was used because MaryRose said she was giving out bonus points, lol.

 

 

The “Noel” on the bottom right was also printed and cut with my Silhouette. I used a copic marker to color it and washed over the top of it with my colorless blender to try and achieve an antique’ish look.   I adhered a few jewels to the bottom left to give it the twinkle which represents the light of the world.

I can’t believe Christmas is less than 4 weeks away.  I’m not one who enjoys all the hustle and bustle of the season – in fact, it rather brings me down -- so taking some time out to reflect on this challenge and what this holiday is truly all about was just what I needed.  Thanks, MaryRose. 

I’ll end this post by sharing a poem that I wrote back in 2004…

The Reason For The Season
©  Dec. 21, 2004

‘Twas 4 sleeps until Christmas and all through the town,
much hustle and bustle and madness abound.
The people all scurrying about in a flurry,
in hopes that their shopping got done in a hurry.

The children done school & home for a break,
stirred up & excited, give Mom a headache.
And Dad working steadily to pay all the bills,
how that long list of Christmas gifts gives him the chills.

Soon all had lost sight of the wonderful reason,
why Christmas was such a significant season.
Far off in their minds was that day long ago,
when a babe was sent down to a manger laid low.

His birth was a blessing from the Father above,
given to mankind to show His great love.
A treasure so precious to you was bestowed,
on that day in a stable where love overflowed.

God knew that one day His Son's life would be given,
and into His hands & feet nails would be driven.
Christ would die, rise, ascend to his Heavenly place,
Our sins now forgiven by His mercy and grace.

This is what Christmas is really about,
a free gift of LOVE that never runs out.
There is only one present that truly has meaning,
it's the CHRIST that's in Christmas on Whom the star's gleaming.

I hope you enjoyed.

Clear It Out Challenge…

Well, it’s time for another Clear It Out Challenge and this one is going to be a little hard on the eyes so I’m apologizing upfront, lol.

Theme: Ugly Sweater Time
Stash:  Use your ugly, unused scraps of paper from your stash.

The sponsor for this challenge is Digi Darlas and she’s giving away 5 digis to the winner of this challenge.

I decided to take my scraps and cut them into strips.  I adhered them to the card front to create the background.  As you can see, a couple of the papers were glued on upside-down but I think that just adds to the ugliness of it, don’t you? 

The image is by Digi Darlas and it was colored with copics (YG 61,63,67 / R22 / E000,00,11,29,35 / B01,04,06 / R81,85 / W-0 & Colorless Blender) and Bic Mark Its (Rambunctious Red/Salmon Pink/Spring Green/Lemon Yellow/Prairie Berry). 

I created the sentiment on my printer with PeaMillyMix free font.  I used pop dots to pop-up the image and the sentiment and that’s it!  Easy, peasy.

Hope to see you at the Clear It Out Challenge Blog where you can join us for this challenge.

New Feature…

Hi friends.  I just wanted to let you know about a new feature I’ve added to this blog. It’s a “Share With Me” option which can be found on the toolbar just below the header for this blog.  It’s my hope that those of you who use the digital sentiments & freebies I create, will share a picture of the card/layout/project that you’ve created by linking it up through the linky tool.  So check it out … or better yet … use it!

Annoying Mr. “Anonymous”…

I’ve been getting a ton of anonymous response scams to my posts.  I don’t know of any way to stop them other than to use word verification for commenting.  I don’t really want to do this as I fear it will discourage people from commenting and I love to read the comments. Granted, these “anonymous” responses only show up in my email and not on the post itself but I still have to delete them from my inbox.  What to do, what to do?  Do I just leave things as is and continue to delete from my inbox …. or do you have any other suggestion on how to handle this annoyance?

Challenge Time on the Clear It Out Challenge Blog

Grab all your RED supplies and join us for an anything goes challenge!

Our sponsor this week is Sassy Studios

Break out your tucked away RED supplies and create any paper creation.

Don't forget to link back to the Clear It Out Challenge Blog so you are eligible to win the Sassy Studio prize!

Here’s my card.  It’s called “Keeping It Simple”.  Doesn’t need a lot of explanation since it’s pretty straight-forward.  I figured the background paper (Michael’s Recollections) had enough going on that I didn’t really need to add a whole lot more.

Hope to see you over on the Clear It Out Blog where you can join me in the challenge.  Enjoy :-)

Thankfulness…

Good evening, friends.  Today’s post is a card I created for a group that has really been there for me when I needed them to pray for me, encourage me, rejoice with me in the good times and cry with me in the sad times.  Crafters of Faith is a group of Christian bloggers that met and bonded on SplitCoast Stampers.   Every month, on the last day of the month, we post a card with a theme chosen by a member of our group.  This month’s theme was chosen by none other than me.  Here is what I challenged them with ….

Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." I Thessalonians 5:16-18 Wow, it's hard to believe that there is only 3 more months left of 2012...where has the time gone?? Some of you may know from reading my blog this week that Autumn is my favorite season of the year. In Southern Ontario it is quickly making its appearance and where I'm from the colour of the changing leaves can be quite spectacular. It's so inspiring--I just love it! Autumn also includes my most favourite holiday celebration--THANKSGIVING!! It's hard not to love a holiday that calls on us to give thanks for our blessings. I realize not everyone around the world celebrates this holiday, and our friends in the U.S. don't celebrate until November, so for this challenge you can choose to make either a card for thanksgiving OR a thank you card for someone who has been a blessing to you. Please use at least 2 designer papers and 1 embellishment, and most importantly, have fun! I can't wait to see what you've created!

 

Although my card is very simple and I’m a day early with my post, I am especially proud of it because it’s the FIRST card I’ve made using my new Silhouette.  The Cameo Silhouette is a machine that is jam packed with the possibilities of so many amazing ways to create.  I’m only just beginning to learn of all the magic it has in store for me.

 

With Hurricane Sandy looming, I whipped this card up just in time to beat the storm’s arrival in my town. Although we didn’t experience anything like our friends in the Eastern U.S., we did have some very high winds and bucket loads of rain.  I’m thankful that the only damage we sustained was a felled fence in our backyard. 

 

This card was made by taking one of the label shapes and welding it together to create the base for the card.  I added a couple of designer papers and an image that I found online and colored with my copics.  The label in the middle was created on the Silhouette as well.  Both the label and the pumpkin image were created with a feature called “print and cut”.  I printed the images on my home printer first and then the Cameo magically cut around it with a slight offset to give it the white border.  Pretty cool, eh.  I tied on a bow and called it a day. 

 

I’m thankful for so many things.  First and foremost, I am thankful for my Lord and Savior, sweet Jesus. I am grateful He makes all things new!! I am thankful for His presence in my Life and that He calls me into partnership with Him. I am thankful I am His beloved and He is mine!

I am thankful for my sweet husband and beautiful daughters.  I am thankful that God has bound our hearts together in love and that we can share our faith with each other as we all pursue God's universal purpose but also our individual destiny in Christ.

I am thankful that God has brought together women who have the same heart to minister to other women through this group!

I am so very thankful that there is always enough of whatever it is I need in Jesus.

And of course, I'm thankful for my online friends ~  I ♥ you!  May we all live each day with a heart of gratitude. 

My thoughts and prayers are with all who have experienced devastating losses, whether it be a family member or a personal possession, due to Sandy.

PS: If you want to view the cards from the other Crafters of Faith ladies, you can find them listed on the right side of my blog.

A Sunday Surprise

I sure hope you have had a pleasant and restful weekend and I pray that the Lord keeps you and your family safe if you are affected by this crazy “Frankenstorm”.  Here in Southern Ontario we are only experiencing bucket loads of rain so far and I’m hoping that it doesn’t turn to snow.

So what’s this “Sunday Surprise” all about you may be asking.  I’m excited to let you know that from time to time I will be posting a surprise freebie on Sundays.  This will not be a weekly thing because .. well .. where is the surprise in that, lol.   

I’m delighted to share today’s surprise with you.  It is a free printable bookmark made by me.  Keep it for yourself or share it with someone who loves to read.

This bookmark can be resized before printing if desired.  Just print, cut and enjoy *smile*

DOWNLOAD HERE or HERE

Digital clipart used was purchased at Digi Web Studio and is the artwork of Alice Smith

Keep checking this blog to see when the next “Sunday Surprise” will be.

The Friday Freebie…

Time again for another digital freebie.  I’m taking a different route this week and posting a card sketch for you.  I really hope you will enjoy it.  Just right-click on the sketch and save it to your computer.

Don't forget to come back next week for another Friday Freebie!

And the winner is …

ME *grin*

I want to thank Nicole Robinson over at Scraptastic Memories for nominating my blog for the Liebster Blog Award.  This is my first blog nomination since I started blogging a short while ago so I'm really excited to be able to share this news with you.  Please be so kind as to check out Nicole's blog.  She's an awesome card maker and has some clever ideas to share!

The Liebster Blog Award is an award that is given by the blogging community to new up and coming bloggers with less than 200 followers. It's designed to be a blog award in the pay it forward fashion to share your dearest and most beloved blogs.

RULES FOR ACCEPTANCE:

Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to their blog. Post the award onto your blog. Give the award to five bloggers who you appreciate that have less than 200 followers. Leave a comment on their blog letting them know that you have given them this awesome award!

PAY IT FORWARD:

So now comes the fun part! I am going to give out 5 nominations, which is very hard....I love so many blogs.   Here are the 5 fabulous blogs with less than 200 followers that I would like to pass the Liebster Award on to:

• Carolina Little at Cardolina Scrapolina
• Erin at CreatErin
• Emily at For The Love Of All Things Crafty
• Lynn B. at My Cards N Stuff
• Stephanie at Steph’s Scrap Happenings

Congratulations, ladies!  I will be leaving comments on everyone's blog to let you know you have won this award and I hope you will accept and cherish this award as I have.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to follow me!  I hope you have a great day!

Question Of The Day…

Good happy Sunday morning to you!  It’s a beautiful fall day here in Ontario.  The sun is shining and the leaves on the trees are so gorgeous right now.  As I drove my daughter to work earlier I started thinking about what an awesome artist God is to be able to paint those colors just perfectly on the trees and in such a spectacular way.  I’m seriously impressed, lol.

I have a quick question for you and I would absolutely LOVE to hear your opinions.  As some of you may know, before I got started in paper crafting I was a digital designer for many online scrapbooking stores.  I would love to know how many of you are interested in that area of crafting.  I am thinking about possibly creating digital items such as papers, elements and even card fronts to give away from time to time as freebies but I don’t want to put the time into that if there is no interest.  So please let me know if this is something you would like to see me offer.  Of course, handmade cards will still be my main focus so no need to worry about that. 

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday and blessings to you and your family.

Look what I got!!

About a month and a half ago I posted about a giveaway that Kadie at In My Minds Eye Creations was having.  Well, guess what…I won!!!!  And just this week I received my prezzies in the mail.  Take a look at everything I won …

   

   

   

These pictures really don’t do the haul any justice.  The box was brimming with all kinds of wonderful items.  It cost over $30 just to ship it to me.  I’ve been so anxious for the weekend to get here so I could start using it all.  I don’t even know where to start … I mean, look at all that paper, ribbon, stamps, embellishments and so much more!

I’d really love it if you went over to Kadie’s fantastic blog and show her some love.  Thanks, Kadie!!

Let’s Dress It Down A Little…

I thought I would share another version of the card in the post below.  Sometimes life can get hectic and crazy (more times than not for me lately) and you don’t have a lot of time to sit and create.  Sound a little familiar? I’m sure I’m not the only one that experiences days like this from time to time.  Here’s a solution … for those days when you’re in a hurry and just don’t have the time to get your stamps & markers out but you still want to put that special handmade touch into your card … just dress it down a little.  Don’t worry, you will still have a lovely card to give away.

See…..

 

Happy creating!

Oh My…Clear It Out Challenge

I’m so embarrassed … I completely missed telling you about the new challenge that’s happening over on the Clear It Out Challenge Blog.  I guess better late than never, right?!Many of us are gearing up to start our Christmas cards, have you started? Maybe this challenge will help you. (Don't celebrate Christmas? It's ok, keep reading.)

Theme: The GIFT Challenge (Focus on the word gift. Your project may have a gift on it,  or maybe you'd like to showcase a gift you have, be creative!)
Stash: Anything goes (let us know what you've used

Below is what I came up with.  My gifts can be found in the paper (Recollections Bright & Jolly) and the image (Melonheadz Illustrations).  The cute little fella is colored with copics #R29, #YG61/63/67 & #E000/00/11.  I made the red string by taking some twine and coloring it with my red copic marker (R29).  I love this trick when I’m in a bind and can’t find the color I need.  I used some snowflake brads by Recollections and a die cut (sorry, can’t remember the name of the company that made it) from my stash.  The sentiment was created with my HP printer on white cardstock (CK Alis Hand font) and colored in with copic marker #BG000 (another great tip when you don’t have just the right color cardstock on hand)

Isn’t the inside just the cutest …

 

Our sponsor this week is the talented Nikki from Melonheadz Illustrations.

The winner this week will win a $15 gift certificate to her etsy shop

If you haven't seen her work, or perhaps would like to snag a freebie to use in your creation, head on over to her blog, you'll love it!!

Need Opinions...

I'm thinking about selling my cricut and getting a silhouette. I've heard a lot of good things about it but I'm wondering about what you guys think. Do you own one? Would you like to weigh in on the pro's/con's of the machine or give me your thoughts on the cricut vs silhouette?

Something A Little Different Today...

I love to read.  It's one of my favorite past-times aside from card making.  That's why today I decided to post something a little different.  I've composed a list of my top ten favorite books that I've either read in the past year or have on my must read list.  Take a look (click on the book for more information):

Autumn Thoughts

Tomorrow it’s October 1st.  The crispness in the air, the dew on the morning grass, the change of colors in the leaves on the trees…and those that have already fallen to the ground…are all signs that Autumn is definitely here.  I’ve composed a top ten list of my favorite things about Autumn.  Is yours on the list?

10.  Cooler Weather; not a huge fan of the hot stuff.

9.  Change Of Color; in the trees, in the grass, even in the sky...the perfect autumn color palate.

8.  Crunchy Leaves; so much fun to jump in.

7.  Apples And Apple Foods; apple cider, apple pie, apple sauce, apple butter, caramel apples. Shoot, now I'm hungry, lol.

6.  New Falls Clothes; every girl loves new clothes.  My favourites are the fashionable scarves, jackets and boots.

5.  Warm Treats; snuggling under a blanket with some hot tea and a good book on a cool day.

4.  New Fall TV Shows; Once Upon a Time, and Revenge just to name two ... woot woot.

3.  Fall Activities; apple & pumpkin picking, corn mazes, hayrides, corn roasts, fall festivals, carving pumpkins and roasting pumpkin seeds.

2.  New Beginnings;  I don't know if it's because I work in the educational field and a new school year begins, but don't you just get the feeling that new and exciting things are bound to happen in Fall?

And the #1 favourite thing about Autumn -- Thanksgiving; I love a holiday that calls on us to give thanks for our blessings.  And the smell of the turkey cooking all day is pretty good, too.

And with thanks in mind for the many blessings in my life, I made this card.  Enjoy.

Crafter’s Of Faith Autumn Blog Hop

It’s time again for the Crafters of Faith Blog Hop. Crafters of Faith is a group of Christian bloggers that met and bonded on SplitCoast Stampers, to craft, fellowship, make friendships and more!! I am so blessed to have you stop by and celebrate the beauty of AUTUMN with us!  If you are just visiting and would like to hop with us, welcome! If you hopping along already, you should have arrived from Liz D’s blog.

This month, our hostess is Carol S! She gave us a wonderful Harvest challenge and here is what she asked us to create:

"I love FALL, the colors and the smells! I would like to propose that we make a card with fall colors, it should include fruits and vegetables to remind us of the harvest. When my kids were small, I canned peaches and pears, made pickles and such. So much fun to open those jars in the dead of winter! I am looking so forward to the fall festival of Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles). To Biblical historians, this is the actual time of Christ's Birth and many people believe this will also be the season of HIS return. Blessings All"

 
To celebrate in this glorious season upon us, here is the card I created for you!



  This card was made using:
* Recollections Graceful Paper Stack
* Fiskars Scalloped Border Punch
* Quikutz Die - Nesting Flowers

 And colored with  Copics:
* YG03/61/63/67
* R22/24
* E31/35/37/95
* V12/15/17
* Y11/15

And Bic Mark Its:
* Rambunctious Red
* Adobe Orange

From here, continuing hopping to Darlene's blog to see what Autumn splendor she has waiting for you!

We also have a special little giveaway for one lucky hopper today and you can find that on Kelly's blog - the last stop on the hop

Thank you for stopping by today! In this glorious season of Fall, and the wonders of the earth changing to gorgeous colors .... in a time of gratitude and thanksgiving ... we wish many blessings for you!

To God who gives our daily bread
A thankful song we raise,
And pray that he who sends us food
May fill our hearts with praise.
Thomas Tallis (1505-1585)

Hey Heyyyy, it’s my birthdaayyy

Haha, I started this post last night and then I got distracted and forgot to post it so I’m putting it on the blog now. Let’s see how many of you read past the title and realize that my birthday was actually yesterday.

My family took out for dinner to East Side Mario’s for my birthday last night.  I love that place.  Their salad is the best and I had the seafood linguine as my entre.   It was soooo good.   The only time I get to have seafood is when I eat out because my family doesn’t like it so I really enjoyed it.

I was surprised by my girls with a new camera .. really surprised!! .. but I couldn’t take the picture of the card below because I had to charge it first.  This card was one that I made just because.  I don’t have anyone in mind for it yet but since I haven’t posted in a few days I thought I’d share it with you now.

Clear It Out Challenge Card

This weeks challenge was to make a project with an image of a child(ren) on it using any stash you had on hand.

Our awesome sponsor for this challenge is the uber cool and oh sooooo super sweet Melissa Jenkins of Meljen’s Designs.

Meljen's Designs is a lovely stamp company owned and illustrated by Melissa Jenkins. She illustrates whimsical rubber and digital images inspired by her kids and family.

Meljens' is offering 4 digital images to one lucky winner!

Here’s a look at the front and inside of my card.  The sentiments were both made by me.  They were this week’s featured freebie and you can get them HERE.  I used autumn colors because it’s beginning to look like fall around here.  The image was created by Melissa Jenkins (Meljen’s Designs) and you can find her here HERE.  She’s colored with copics (R81/83/85, E0000/00/11/35, YG63/65/67 & B4/6/8). 

 

Hope to see you at the Clear It Out Challenge Blog where you can join us for this challenge.

Quick Note ..

I just want to let you know that the Friday Freebie will posted later than usual tomorrow.  I have a busy day so it will not get uploaded until the evening at the earliest.  But PLEASE check back tomorrow night or Saturday morning for your freebie.

Thanks!

Wednesday Wonders…

Wednesday … hump day.   Have you ever wondered why it’s called that? Some may not know that the reason Wednesday is referred to as hump day is because it’s the middle of the work week .. 2 days down, 2 to go .. meaning that one has made it "over the hump" towards the weekend.  Makes sense, right?

Just for fun I’ve compiled 10 things that make me go “hmmmmmmm” in the night.  Maybe you can come up with some answers.

1. Why isn't phonetic spelled the way it sounds?
2. Why are there flotation devices under plane seats instead of parachutes?
3. Why do fat chance and slim chance mean the same thing?
4. If 7-11 is open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, why are there locks on the doors?
5. Why do we drive on parkways and park on driveways?
6. Why isn't "palindrome" spelled the same way backwards as it is forwards?
7. Why is it that when you transport something by car, it's called a shipment, but when you transport something by ship, it's called cargo?
8. Why does your nose run and your feet smell?
9. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
10. Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do "practice"?

Makes you kind of wonder, doesn’t it.  So now that I have you thinking, allow me to share with you a card that has absolutely nothing to do with this topic, lol. The background paper was made by stamping one individual flower multiple times over the entire piece of cardstock.  The sentiment and flower stamp are from the Stampin’ Up retired stamp set “Simple Friendship”.

Enjoy…

Giveaway Alert!

Check it out!  Kadie, at 'In My Minds Eye Creations" is having a giveaway!  Starting now through Sept 30th, you have a chance to win a CUTTLEBUG!

There will also be a second prize up for grabs that will include a SEW EASY tool, pad and 2 applicators, 500 sheets of 6x6 paper, SU ink pad and a few other choice stamps and embellishments!

All you have to do to get entered to win is:

* Be a follower of her blog
* Leave a comment on her giveaway post
* Spread the word about the giveaway in a post or on your side bar

Even if you already have a Cuttlebug, please feel free to enter! You may have a friend that you could bless with this gift or one of the other prizes. :)

Two winners will be chosen with the help of random.org on the morning of October 1st. 

A Little Bit ‘O’ Christmas…

This weekend I decided to pull out my Christmas stash and make a couple of cards.   Every year I make cards for my family and friends at Christmas.  I make approximately 60 cards so I thought I should get a jump start on it so that I can have them all done by mid November.  I usually make about 6 different cards – 10 cards of each type.

The two cards were made with paper from the Recollections Sugar Plum paper pack.  I love the papers in this pack.  The little red envelope on card #1 was made by me and there is an image with steps at the end of this post so you can see how I did it. 

 

  The first photo is the outside of the card and the second photo is the inside of the card.  The sentiment is from the Cornish Heritage Farms - Heart Warmers stamp set.

 

 

 

 

 

This photo shows the inside of the card.  I used some of the paper from the front of the card and stamped some white cardstock with an Inkadinkado sentiment from the Warm Holiday Wishes set.

 

 

 

 

  Here is a photo of the outside of card #2.  This is a tri-fold card.  The sentiment (Cornish Heritage Farms - Heart Warmers stamp set) holds the card together by tucking it under the little green snowflake to the right of it.  The bow was made with several pieces of twine tied together to make several loops.

 

 

 

 

 

This is what the inside of card #2 looks like.  I used the Spellbinders Beaded Squares (Part Number S4-315).  and some of the Recollections paper that I used on the front.  Once again, I used the Inkadinkado sentiment from the Warm Holiday Wishes set.

 

 

 

STEPS FOR WATERFALL ENVELOPE:

Start with a 4x6-inch piece of paper and follow the steps below…

I finished it off by adding a brad to hold the flaps down.   This makes card #38 through 57 of the 100 cards in 100 days challenge. (10 of card #1 and 10 of card #2).

Crafters Of Faith: Monochromatic Card

Today's card is one I made for the Crafters of Faith blogging group ~ a group of Christian bloggers that met and bonded on Split Coast Stampers to craft, fellowship, make friendships and more!

This month, our hostess was Liz W.  She celebrated a birthday this month and told us that her birthstone is a peridot – her favourite shade of green.  Her challenge for us was to use our own birthstone color and make a monochromatic card.  A monochromatic card is one that uses tones of one color.
 
Since my birthday is in September and my birthstone is a blue sapphire, this is what I ended up with…although the brick looks white in this picture, it is actually a very light blue…

    

This card was fun to make, although it was a little time consuming.  I started by stamping an image of a tree onto a piece of light blue cardstock.  I coloured it in with various shades of blue copics (B93, B95, B97).  I cut it into 1/4-inches wide strips, then cut those strips into 1-inch blocks offsetting them by 1/4-inch.  I had to be very careful not to get the pieces mixed up.  Before adhering the pieces to my base layer I sponged the edges with some blue ink.  Then it was time for me to put the puzzle back together again by adhering each piece onto a piece of medium blue shimmery metallic cardstock.  I left off a few pieces to add some interest.  I adhered that to another piece of light blue cardstock, added the sentiment at the bottom, and adhered all of that to my dark blue card base.

I’m still plugging along with my 100 cards in 100 days challenge and this makes card #37 of the challenge.

Why not take some time and check out what the other girls in the group have made…

• Sharon  (You are here)
• Kelly
• Patti
• Carolina
• Liz W
• Liz D
• Carol
• MaryRose

Thanks for stopping by.

Busy Busy Busy!!!

Just popping in to post real quick so that you know I’m still alive.  It’s a week before the kids come back to school and we have much to get ready in preparation for their return.  I can’t believe how fast the summer break went.  Now that the new school year is set to begin I’m actually kind of excited at the prospect of seeing the students walking the halls again.  It’s been quiet without them.  Oh, I know I’m going to regret saying that and in about 2 weeks time I’ll be wishing for just one quiet moment in my day but it’s the nature of the job … and it’s a job that I love!!

On another note entirely, have a look at card #36 of the 100 cards in 100 days challenge.

Remember to enjoy the moments!

A Happy Birthday To Hubby

My hubby’s birthday was yesterday.  He turned 55 which means that he’s officially a senior in the USA.  Since we live in Canada and you aren’t a senior here until 65 he’s kind of excited by the fact that he is now eligible for the seniors discount whenever we visit stateside.  He robbed the cradle when he married me so I won’t be eligible for many, many more years .. but I’m ok with that, lol.  Take a look at the card I made him.  Sorry that it’s a little blurry.  My camera wasn’t working properly. 

And if I were still counting … this would make card #35 of the challenge.

It’s Time For Another Clear It Out Challenge…

It’s time once again for another Clear It Out Challenge. This weeks challenge is to create a card based on something that inspires you (photo, person, colour palette, etc) and to include something glittery.  I made my card based on a photo and I gave it to my niece for her birthday on the weekend.  I used glitter and diamond glaze on the balloon to make it pop (no pun intended, lol).  One of my favourite parts of this card is the monkey (created by Bugaboo Stamps) that moves up and down and tips from side to side. I embossed the strip in the middle with my cuttlebug and sponged some Tim Holtz Distress ink on the top to help the embossing stand out.  I wrapped it up (pun intended haha) with some leather string.  Take a look…

 

The inspiration is based on this photo which shows the fabulous fall colors that I love.   It’s my favourite season of the year, too.

 

Our sponsor for this challenge is Bugaboo Stamps.  And because they are so awesome they are giving one lucky winner…

Woot! Woot! I just love Bugaboo Stamps :)

So check out the Clear It Out Challenge Blog, show us your project, add something glittery and don't forget to post a picture of your inspiration :)

This makes card #34 in the 100-in-100 challenge.