Fancy Pants - Pocket Chick Pick!

I have something exciting to share!  I am a Pocket Chick Pick over at Fancy Pants today!  Earlier this month, I shared this tree with Fancy Pants on their Facebook page. 

One of the Pocket Chicks - Cindy - contacted me and asked if they could feature the tree on their blog.  WOW!!  Do you think I've been a little excited to tell you?  You've got to go to the post because Cindy made a winter tree, and it's so pretty!  Fancy Pants was so kind!  They sent me their new Hot Chocolate collection to play with as a means of thanks.  Gosh, it is just amazing to have my work featured!!

Everyone have a safe and happy New Year's Eve celebration tonight!

The Studio

Yay - I can finally spill one of my pieces of good news!  I am excited to tell you that I am on the design team for The Studio Challenge Site!  I am on the card team, so that's what you'll see from me!

I hope that you'll follow along and participate in the challenges.  There are so many talented designers - you will be inspired!!

Sassy Lil Sketches

It's the 28th and time for a new sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches!  Be sure to stop by and see the awesome work from some of the DT members.

This month's sponsors are

You have until January 5th to submit any projects from this month. If you have time, squeeze in a project for an entry for one of the great prizes!!

Here's to Another Year...

I love this New Year's set of printable stamps from The Cutting Cafe.  Regina always has such great ideas!!  New Year's always makes me think of silver and black, so this is what I came up with using the two sides of CTMH's black textured cardstock.

I've used two of the 23 stamps in this set.  The script is the Happy New Year background, and I couldn't resist this sentiment.  I don't know where I found that magnificent black organdy, but I want more!  The little red metal rose is Making Memories.

After this week, my hours go back to part-time.  The holiday was so busy working all those hours.  And I ended up catching a severe cold that put me in bed for three days last week.  I still didn't have a voice on Christmas, but at least I was feeling better!  Speaking of Christmas, I have many photos to share which you will see in layouts along the way.  But I have to share my very favorite picture from the day ~ these two sure are best buds!

Happy New Year - Christmas Card Challenges

This is my last week to be Guest Designer at Christmas Card Challenges.  I have so enjoyed sharing my artwork for this wonderful challenge blog!  I am looking forward to starting with the challenges after this one as a player again, so that I have my cards done for next year.  It's just never to early to start!

This week's challenge is to CASE a past DT card.  I chose to CASE one of Steph's cards:

Here is what I did with that great pattern in her card:

I used Bo Bunny Midnight Frost to create this card.  I loved the snowflake on her card, so it was easy to incorporate that into mine. 

Keep watching my blog this week as I have some REALLY exciting news to share on New Year's Eve! Well, I really have two great things to share, but I will finally be able to reveal one of them on New Year's Eve. 

Are you having a warm, wonderful, and fun holiday so far?  Ours has been lovely!  I look forward to hopping your blogs to read all about your blessed days!

Blessed Christmas to All!

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.

I am wishing you and yours the loveliest and most blessed of Christmases!

Happy Holidays

Since it was first posted earlier this month, I have been trying to find the time to complete the Imaginisce sketch by Liz Qualman.  It is such a cute sketch!

I used the Cottage Christmas collection to create this page.  I used the Slice FaLaLa card to cut the snowflakes and stockings.

These two nephews of ours (they belong to Jerry's twin brother) love to play with their Uncle Jerry.  This was five years ago, but still they love to play jokes on Jerry and generally have a good time. 

Do you all have your shopping done or will you be out in the stores tomorrow? Hope you're planning a fabulous Christmas celebration!

Sarah Hurley Challenge - Last Minute Christmas Christmas Cheer

Here's a tag card, I made for this week's Sarah Hurley Challenge.  It seems like everything has been last minute for me this year - LOL!! - so it was easy to come up with an idea!

These are all Sarah Hurely images, and I've added prisma glitter and stickles.  Do you have something last minute you need to make for a celebration after Christmas?  Give this challenge a whirl!

Sassy Lil Sketches 21st Reveal

You just have to run over to Sassy Lil' Sketches - this is an amazing sketch! 

Now I know it's a busy time, but remember that you have until January 5th to get your fabulous artwork in to be eligible for a prize from either Lawn Fawn or Stamping Dragon Designs.  The DT got to work with some of the images from Stamping Dragon Designs, and I just LOVE the one I got work with!  (By the way, their whole store is on sale 40% off until Christmas Eve. )

At first glance it looks like a summer frame, but take a peek at how I made it work for Christmas ~

Other than the digi image, I used all Close To My Heart for this layout.  This was our very first Christmas as a family - 1989.  Shane was such a stinkin' cutie!!

Have fun with the challenge!  I am anxious to see what you do!

Holiday Travel

On Sundays this month, I am the guest designer over at Christmas Card Challenges.  It has been such a pleasure to make cards for this wonderful challenge site!  Today's challenge is to incorporate holiday travel into your card.  There was one journey that immediately popped into my head:

This is one of Stampin' Up's digital stamps.  I brought it over to Print Shop and changed the colors to make it what I wanted it to look like.  I printed it on Bo Bunny paper.  Such an easy, but beautiful card!

I have to apologize for not being around much lately and for posting things a little late.  I have been working almost full-time - and loving every minute of it!  And I'm really glad to say that my job went from seasonal to permanent.  That is a huge blessing and I am so thankful!  What it doesn't leave a lot of time for is reading blogs and crafting.  But this is just for a bit.  I am quite certain that after the first of the year, I will be getting less hours, and I'll be right back to crafting every day.  For now, I cram it all into one or two days, so you'll see spurts here and there.  Other than the osteoperosis in my hips, I am also thankful to say that my health is really good and I'm able to work with no problems.  That's such a blessing - thank you, Father!

Shane is loving school, and he has already learned how to keep my short hair trimmed.  He was born for cosmetology - and it shows.  He wakes up excited to go to school every day, and Jerry and I love seeing that!  His future is definitely looking exciting!

I am happy to say that I am finishing up my cards tomorrow, and they will be going out in Tuesday's mail.  Nothing like the last minute, huh?  I thought rather take my time than hurry through, so that each one is special.  So this year, late is better than never!  That's why I love Christmas Card Challenges so much.  Next year, I will be completely on top of this thanks to that challenge blog!  But just ot let you know how behind I am this year, I'll let you know that Jerry and I started and finished our Christmas shopping today.  It was a full day, but it was relatively easy.  It was a sunny warm winter day, and the stores and mall were quite festive.  And it's always a pleasure to spend a day out with my hubby!

I hope to catch up with all of you this week.  In the meantime, please know that I am sending happy Christmas wishes your way!

Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Cherie's sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches is for a card this week.  Have you joined the new community yet?  Here's the link.  There's lots of fun going on over there!  Right now there is a card/tag challenge in the forum.  You'll get to know some fabulous people - maybe even someone that lives near you!

I used some Fancy Pants Hot Chocolate for this challenge:

What a pretty winter paper - and such a variety in that collection!  The sponsors this month for SLS are Lawn Fawn (an alpha set) and Stamping Dragon Designs.

Sarah Hurley Challenge

Oh gracious!  I should have posted this yesterday, and I will tell you a secret.  I didn't realize that Thursday had come and gone - oh my!  Do not tell anyone that I behaved like the strawberry-blond that I am!  So without further ado, here is the sketch for this week's challenge at Sarah Hurley -

This is what I did with it -

I needed to do a different season other than Christmas, and I so love these elements from Sarah's Woodland Whimsy CD.  I think this would make a very good boy or man card.  What do you think?  If you look closely, you'll see that I pop-dotted some more owls on top of the other one to give some depth.  I also did that with the moon.  Then I added some glossy accents to the moon and owl eyes.  As I said, I just love this set!  What can you do with the sketch?

Yippee!!

I was so excited to find out that I made the Top 3 at Really Reasonable Ribbon for this box!  I LOVE ribbon, so I always think their challenges are great fun!

Take Time to Chase the Snowflakes

This is my 3rd post for the day, so be sure to scroll down.  I have had such much needed paper therapy time today, and I've gotten quite a bit accomplished!

My first card is made for The Cutting Cafe:

I used a couple of Regina's printable stamps for this one - Snowflake Colored Backgrounds and a sentiment from the Snowflake Huge Circle.  The use of pearls makes this eligible for the Ladybug Crafts Ink challenge.

I also wanted to make a Christmas thank you card for The Studio challenge.  We need those after the holidays!  I used the sketch from Card Patterns.

I used my FaLaLa Slice card to make the snowflakes and the Words & Expressions Thinking of You card for the "thank you."  The two types of kraft paper worked out pretty well for this card!

Santa & Winter Wishes

I so wanted to use the image that Laurel provided for her blog candy challenge.  It's such a sweet vintage Santa, and I found it to work perfectly with kraft paper:

I used the sketch from CPS for the week, and this also fits the challenge for Frosted Designs - ribbon.  This is a much simpler card than I am used to making, and it was fun! The paper is Canvas Home Basics, the ribbon is May Arts, and the pewter brad is from CTMH's Mistletoe collection.

I used the sketch at Our Creative Corner for the next card. 

I made this card using two stamps - New Fallen Snow from CTMH and the Unity freebie from Paper Crafts magazine.  How generous were they to put a free stamp in the last issue?!  The paper is Midnight Frost from Bo Bunny, and the ribbon and gems are from my stash. This cards fits the Sentimental Sunday challenge - Let it Snow with a sentiment and Frosted Designs - ribbon.

My Creations Cube

The challenge at Really Reasonable Ribbon is to make a winter themed project that is anything but a card.  I love these little My Creations Cubes from CTMH, so I put one together.

I have used all CTMH product.  I think this will be a perfect decoration to hold some of our snowy pictures!

Peace on Earth

Last week I shared that I am the Guest Designer over Weekly Christmas Card Challenges.  It's week two, and the challenge is Angels this week.  I couldn't help but pull out a long since retired stamp from CTMH.  It is actually one of my favorite Christmas stamps.

I stamped the angel on some Fancy Pants Christmas Magic and did a good amount of layering.  The sentiment is a journaling block from the same collection.  The ribbon and pearls are from my stash.

I am so glad I found Christmas Card Challenges!  I will start right away making my cards using their fabulous weekly prompts.  If you are so inclined, give it a try this year!

If you haven't heard, we've been hit hard with snow here in Minnesota.  From Friday night to Saturday night, we gained 20+ inches of snow!  It has been pretty, but wow, this weekend was not so much.  It was very blizzard-y yesterday with blowing snow and drifts.  Many stores and businesses closed early yesterday, but we're back to normal today.  The Minnesota Vikings football stadium is a dome, and it collapsed from the snow - what a thing to watch on the news!  I can't remember the last time we had this much snow consistently before Christmas.  There truly have been some years when we've had no snow on the ground at all for the holiday. Now it's turned to bitter cold - below zero temperatures, so it's another indoor day.  Lots of scrapping to do, so I am okay with that!

Blog Candy from Laurel

You have to pop over to Laurel's blog. She is a fabulous artist, and you will love her work!  Something I love about Laurel is the attention she gives to detail.  She is giving away some blog candy, and in order to win, you've got to create with an image she has given us.  Be inspired and have a ball creating!

Christmas Cards to Share

I am determined to have my Christmas cards out this weekend, so I am still busy creating them.  I suppose in the end it would be easier to make a bulk card, but I am really enjoying making each one as unique as a snowflake!  And speaking of snowflakes, I have been using them a lot on my cards!  This first one is based on a sketch from CPS that you can find here.

I just can't get enough of Bo Bunny's Midnight Frost.  Such gorgeous and peaceful paper!  I've used two Slice cards - FaLaLa for the snowflakes and Words and Expressions Holiday Words for "peace."  The stamp is one of Unity's Itty Bitty stamps.  I put glitter on the tree and star.  The gems are from Recollections.

For the next card, I used a sketch from Card Patterns.

I used some of Echo Park's Merry Christmas on this one.  Although there is green and a little bit of red, this card very non-traditional for me.  Of course, wouldn't we all like snowflakes to fall in chocolate!  The edge is Martha's double loop punch, and the snowflakes are from the Slice FaLaLa card.  Ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon, and the buttons/waxy flax are CTMH.  That wonderful sentiment is from Penny Black.

I finally have my house decorated!  It took some time this year to get everything up.  The tree is not decorated yet, but we are doing that as a family tomorrow evening when everyone is home.  I hope you are all enjoying these marvelous December days before Christmas!

Table Decor

Time for a new challenge over at Sarah Hurley Challenges!  This week our guest designer Paula wanted us to make Christmas decor.  I found these jars at Michael's and thought they were so cute!  I decided to make place cards from them for the Christmas table.

I kept them quite simple so that  they wouldn't take up much room on the table.  I filled them with chocolate peppermint.

What piece of Christmas decor can you come up with?  I would love to see it!  Remember there's also still time to enter the Christmas gift bag challenge!

Peace

I am one day late in posting a Sassy Lil Sketches design reveal.  Even though it's not my turn to do a page, I am always anxious to show you Cherie's great sketches!  Have you joined the forum yet on the new website?  You are able to load your work right there on the gallery, and I think you'll have a great time getting to know others!

This is what I with this sketch using one larger photo:

This tree is one of the first that I look at when we've had snow.  It is right at the base of our deck, and it's just so beautiful!  The snow was particularly heavy about a week ago, and the snow clung to the branches for a couple of days.

I've used all MME Lost & Found Portobello Road paper for this layout.  Slice cards used are Words & Expressions Holiday Words and FaLaLa.  The crocheted lace is from my stash, and the gems are CTMH.

Why don't you give it a try at Sassy Lil Sketches?  The sponsors this month are jsut fabulous!  Lawn Fawn has donated a great alpha stamps set, and Stamping Dragon Designs has donated digi images for another winner!

This and That

I wanted to sit down and write a "this and that" post.  There is just so much going on right now!

First, I have to tell you that it was Shane's first day of school.  We are so proud of him!  Here, I have to show you his class kit:

Can you believe it?  These are the materials he needs to learn how to make women beautiful and men handsome.  I am waiting for the maincures, pedicures, and to have my hair cut by someone other than me. (Yes, I do cut my own hair!)  I am so excited for Shane because I just know how good he is going to be at this.  A mother knows, you know!

I have been working like a mad woman.  Retail is so much fun this time of the year!  I have seen a lot of people in the last few weeks, and I have seen very few cranky people.  I truly do think that people love to give.  There are so many people coming in with lists off of church trees for people in need or for the Salvation Army Angel Tree.  I love helping people shop for those gifts!  I've also learned how much I love to help a mother buy a suit for her son.  It's almost as if you see a boy turn into a man the minute he puts on that jacket and tie!  I didn't know what I would think about the men's department, but I sure do like it there.  I should find out this week if my position will go beyond the seasonal position to permanent.  Keep your fingers crossed for me - it would be great to stay on!

I have some days off soon, and then I will finally put my tree up.  When I haven't been working, I've been crafting, so my house is really suffering, too.  I have a day off tomorrow, but I have to force myself to stay away from my paper, embellishments, and stamps.  I need to clean, wash clothes, and get going on the rest of my Christmas "to-do's."  I still have cards to finish, more cookies to bake, and all my shopping.  Look at the Christmas ticker on my left sidebar.  Not much time left - LOL!!  These next couple of weeks are going to be a blast!

Well, I just wanted to catch up.  I haven't been able to comment as much as I'd like, but I am reading your blogs.  You are all so creative, and I love that we are all so connected through blog land!! 

xoxo, Brenda

Guest Designer at Christmas Card Challenges

Stephanie, the DT coordinator at Christmas Card Challenges, contacted me some time ago to be a guest designer for the month of December.  Well, how could I say no?!  I love this blog and the whole idea of getting cards done all year long.  If you haven't been there, you'll have to stop by and check it out!  Each Sunday in December I'll be one of the designers bringing you a new card for the current challenge.  I hope I see lots of you playing along!

All rightie, the first challenge for the month of December is monochromatic.  This was easy for me, and right away I pulled out my greens.

I have to tell you something honestly.  Every time I pull out Close To My Heart cardstocks and inks, I fall in love all over with paper crafting.  I used New England Ivy, Olive, and Garden Green to make this card.  The tree stamp is CTMH Evergreen, and the sentiment is a CTMH alpha set.  Sanding the edges of the layers gave me the appearance of snow.  This card has many layers, so it will be a good, sturdy card to mail.

Pop over and visit the Christmas Card Challenge blog.  Even if ou are done for this year, you can get a head start on next year!  So, what colors will you be choosing for this challenge?  I can't wait to see!

Monochromatic is the final challenge for Caardvarks, so I am also entering this card in that challenge.

Birthday Wishes and Some News to Share!

I saw this sketch on Sketches in Thyme, and I wanted to give it a whirl today.

I decided to veer off from making Christmas cards and create a birthday card for the Party Time Tuesdays challenge.

Items used: Recollections kraft paper and gems; Crate Restoration paper stickers; CTMH New England Ivy cardstock; Slice Think Pink card; Prima flower; Raindrop Echo sentiment

Now I have some good news to share with you!  I am so honored and excited to be a part of the new Scrap Tiffany Design Team!

I will start in January, and I am going to be on the card-making team.  I am so looking forward to sharing all the new and fresh ideas with you!!

DT Call and New Forum for Sassy Lil Sketches!

Sassy Lil Sketches is having a design team call.  Here is the link - Sassy Lil Sketches Design Team Call.  As a current desing team member, I have to tell you that this is a great bunch of people!  You would absolutely love working with Cherie and Katie!

Also, they have a new forum to join!  Hop on over there to check it out - you'll be glad you did!!

Featured Artist at Ideas for Scrapbookers

I am SO excited to let you know that I am the Featured Artist today at Ideas for Scrapbookers!  Have you been to their blog?  You should visit because there are so many inspiring posts.  If you are stuck or lost a little mojo, it's the perfect place to go and grab some ideas!

I have been scrapbooking for about 20 years. I started back when there was not much product and you had to use a lot of imagination! If I had to describe my style, I would say that I am a clean line and simple scrapbooker. When you look at my pages, the very first thing I want you to see is the picture. But that doesn't mean I don't use embellishment! I love pretty things on my pages, and that's what I want to show you today.

There are so many die-cut machines on the market, and everyone finds their favorite. I use the Slice, and I would say I use it almost every time I craft. But I think I would become bored with my machine if I just cut images from cardstock all the time. I am going to show you how to create a little more flair with a few simple ideas. Perhaps what I show you will be a spring board for you, and you'll think of loads of amazing things to take your diecut images to the next level!

We are getting heaps of snow already in Minnesota, and I love to take pictures of the yard. One of my favorite things to do with my title when scrapping snow is to add that little bit of glisten to my letters. You just need a few supplies - adhesive, glitter, and your diecut letters.

Simply put some adhesive on the bottom of your letters and sprinkle prisma glitter. As you can see, there is no need to be perfect. I like my glitter on the bottom so that it appears as if the letters are sitting in a snow bank. But you could put it on the top or do the whole letter as if you were showing a blizzard. Other items that work nicely for snow are Icicle Stickles and liquid applique.

Diecut flowers are also fun to work with. In the next example, I've cut two flowers - one 4" and one 2-1/2". I grabbed a brad and a couple flowers from my stash along with some paint.

I like to paint my flowers with clear rock candy distress paint. A thin layer doesn't take long to dry, and it toughens up the diecut so that it can be bent and crinkled. After painting, all I did was stack the diecuts with flowers. Such a pretty embellishment that is just so much more!

I absolutely leaf and vine diecuts. When you need that "little something" on your page, they are usually perfect for what you are doing. This delicate leaf is one of my favorites. Again, just a few supplies - the diecut, sanding block, and bone folder.

For this technique, white core paper works best (my favorite is CMTH). I've simply given each leaf a crease and then sanded. Doesn't that simple step help that leaf come alive? By the time it's done, it almost looks real!

Possibilties are endless with diecuts, and I could go on and on. As you noticed with my flower, I used printed paper. Sometimes just using printed paper alone is enough to add interest to your page. There are several other things you can do with your die-cuts, too. Stamp on them, use them as a journaling spot, layer them, rub-on images, emboss, paint, and ink. Next time you cut an image, see what kind of flair you can add! If you do, please post your link in the comments. I would love to vist your blog or gallery and see what you've done!

Sarah Hurley Gift Bag Challenge

It's Thursday and time for another Sarah Hurley challenge!  It was my turn to pick the challenge, and this week I thought it would be nice to inspire you to make some gift bags.  We are in the season when we are going to need them!  Be sure to check out the challenge blog so that you can see what the other DT members did.  Very beautiful bags!

I used the December Daily/Christmas Journaling kit to complete my bag:

What a fun paper and embellishment set to use to make a Santa bag!  It's not a requirement of the challenge to use Sarah's images - you can use your stash to play.  I hope to see some of you join in!!

Fall Frolic

The other day I told you about the sketch at Sassy Lil Sketches.  I, of course, had to give it a try as I found the perfect pictures!  This is Lily Bee's Catching Fall paper:

I really like these types of pictures of Jerry and Chanel.  Remembering back to that day, it was really peaceful, and we had a marvelous walk in the woods.  Now, I have to leave you with a picture from the backyard again.  Today the sky is blue, but the snow is still hanging on the trees.  I grabbed my camera, and Chanel and I went for a walk in our backyard.  So fresh and pretty!