Monday, December 26, 2016

Monday Madness but no Mojo

The Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge crew is still on vacation, leaving me on my own.  And, although I have a million and one things I should be doing, I stole a few minutes to finish this card for Aunt Beck's birthday on Wednesday.
Sentiment, papers and cricut cuts are CTMH.  Corner die cut was a gift from my blogland friend, KT Fit Kitty.  And the cake is a Craft Lounge stamp.


Well, things to do, places to go, people to see.



 

Friday, December 23, 2016

Christmas Gifts

Cookies cooling, more dough chilling, wash drying, 
Debi resting
at least resting long enough to drink the cup of tea (that I've already heated in the microwave 4 times) and post some little Christmas gifts I made.

For my gal pals at card class I crocheted these little dresses with a sachet packet inside.


 And my mother has been looking for a hat box for her Red Hats.
I picked up this box at AC Moore and then fancied it up the lid with some washi tape, 3 rows of lace, ribbon, pearls and bows.

 Dryer buzzing, no more loafing!

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Peanut Butter Day

Today, after some morning gift wrapping and an afternoon of playing cards, I finally got to some cookie baking.  My older brother has a severe allergy to nuts.  Hence, I always try to make the cookies with nuts all in one day, so I don't contaminate the rest of the ones I make with the oils.  So today was peanut butter cookie day: Peanut Butter with a Hershey Kiss on top (Matthew's & my DH's favorite), Peanut Butter & Corn Flake No Bakes (Nick's favorite & super easy to make) and Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chips (Rob's favorite).  My kitchen is warm and smells yummy!

I ended up with a few free minutes until the meatloaf is finished baking and thought I'd share this group of Covington Bear cards I made.  The kit was designed to make 8 cards, but the US postal service frowns and charges extra for cards more than 1/4" thick.  
By only using 3 layers on each card, I made 16 cards in all, 4 of each design with some slight differences.


I am entering this last card in the following challenges:
The Crafty Addicts Challenge #31 - Anything Goes/Let It Snow 
A Snowflakes Promise Challenge #35 - Christmas theme; optional Winter
Craft Your Passion Challenge #342 - Always Anything Goes
Pile It On Challenge #123 - Any Holiday 

Thanks for visiting!

Monday, December 19, 2016

Monday Mischief

Even without the weekly Mojo Monday sketch (they are vacation until Jan), I made my final 2 Christmas cards!  The mailman just took them from out mailbox, and they are on their way.
I used a new Decorative Star die from Crafter's Companion, Stampin Up sentiment stamps and CTMH glitter paper and tape.

Challenges:
Glitter n Sparkle Challenge #219 - Christmas with glitter
As You Like It Challenge - Favorite Christmas Song (Star of Wonder has always been a favorite of mine.  Probably because, when I was very much younger, the music was in my piano lesson books and I could actually play it half decently.)
Fab n Funky Challenge #331 - Glitter and Sparkle 

Time to pack up the Christmas stamps 
and start some Christmas wrapping!
Plus, I need 3 birthday cards for next week! 
 

Sunday, December 18, 2016

Oh Deer! Another Sunburst/starburst card

Last evening we entertained our 10 and 12 year old grandsons while their parents did some Christmas shopping.  
This kept all 4 of us busy until dinnertime! 
Notice our tunnel disguised as a Christmas gift - Nick's idea and Matt's wrapping, complete with bow.
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Here's the card I have to share with you today.
Using 6 different patterned papers from the CTMH Oh Deer paper packet, I made 6 different Christmas cards with the sunburst/starburst design.  This card features a Cricut cut deer and sentiment.

inside sentiment is from ODBD
Challenges:
Crafty Cardmakers Challenge - Christmas with a twist
Fantabulous Cricut Challenge #291 - Christmas (I used the CTMH Artbooking cartridge for the deer and the new CTMH Flower Market cartridge for the Merry Christmas.)


I just remembered there is no new Mojo Monday Challenge until January.   You might want to come back tomorrow to see what mischief I get into without their direction!

Saturday, December 17, 2016

Sunburst/starburst card & CTMH Card Class 12/13/2016

The technique I used for this card is called sunburst by some and starburst by others.  
 The Oh Deer and Seaglass glitter papers are from CTMH.  
I used die cuts for the white circle and candles; a punch for the glittered circle; and the CTMH Artiste Cricut cartridge for the glitter bow.  
I'll be entering these challenges:
My Time to Craft Challenge # 336- Christmas in non-traditional colors


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These are the 4 cards we made at Joyce's CTMH card class on Tuesday. 








Now I really must leave this spot.  
It is way too close to the oatmeal raisin cookies I baked Thursday!
Maybe, just one more.....

Friday, December 16, 2016

Horse in the Wilderness by Debbie Eckles

Warning: Do not start this book if you still have Christmas cards to get out, cookies to bake, gifts to buy, etc.  
  
I normally would not pick up a book about a horse unless it came highly recommended or the author was a favorite of mine.  Neither was true about Horse in the Wilderness.  The online description of this book, however,  about a missing horse and then a missing child, peaked my interest.   This wonderful story is not just about being lost and then found, but also about trust, forgiveness, and love.
Set in the mountains of Arkansas, in the small town of Orchard Springs, Autumn Parker returns home to work in her father's store; her cousin, Jerry, and his son return to the family cabin because they need a place to live; and Brent arrives to take a mid-year music teacher position; and a mysterious vandal is making life pretty miserable for one of the local farmers.  Their lives intermingle as each begins to find their way in this enjoyable read. 

I would classify the book as a Christian romance/mystery.  It is well written, although it does contain a few typos.  (Typos really annoy me!)  I read the Kindle version and thought the ending was disappointingly abrupt.  I was surprised that it did not have discussion questions included, as I think it would be great for a book club.**

**Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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I finished the book this morning and then headed out in 24 degree temperatures to get some Christmas shopping done.
When I returned home, 4 hours later, I dropped the packages on the floor and headed right to the kitchen to turn on the tea kettle!
My feet were so cold, I wish I could have crawled into the cup like the cute kitty on this Christmas card.

 I paper pieced the striped CTMH paper onto the digi image tea cup.  Then stamped JOY onto it.  The cat was colored with markers.  I fussy cut the dollop of whipped cream, pushed it into the versamark pad and then added white embossing powder and heat embossed it for texture. The entire image was then popped onto the die cut hexagon.

Challenges:


Stay safe this week-end!  
We're expecting some snow overnight.