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.
****
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


*************** 
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.”

********
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.
 

Monday, December 12, 2016

Missing Mojo Monday

My niece's birthday is Wednesday.  My To Do list for today begins with "Mojo Monday bday card for Roxanne".  Unfortunately, the Mojo Monday team is taking a well-deserved vacation until after the New Year.  I don't begrudge them the time off, but they really left me hanging here!  What to do?  What to do?  I scanned some of the other current sketch challenges, but nothing spoke to me.  Finally,  I decided to go to my Layouts I Like board on Pinterest.  
(The sentiment is a CTMH stamp; I have no clue where I got the owl stamp.)

This card will be in the mailbox and off to Chicago as soon as the liquid glass on the eyes is good and dry.
Challenges:
Connie Can Crop Challenge #53 - Baby It's Cold Outside 
Crafters Cafe Challenge - Christmas and/or Birthday
4 Crafty Chicks Challenge #328 - No Patterned Paper

Have a lovely day.  Hope it's not icy where you are!
 

Friday, December 9, 2016

Joyful Stars Close To My Heart December Blog Hop

Christmas is fast approaching.  Not a particularly good time for Barbara to fall and bust a hip. With my temporary craft area (moved from the dining room table for Thanksgiving thru Christmas) littered with Christmas papers, I chose some of the Close To My Heart Oh Deer papers to make her a get well card.  I thought a busted hip definitely deserved an Oh Deer! 



 
It wasn't until after I made this card, that I decided to use it for the December Joyful Stars Close To My Heart Blog Hop.
 photo JoyfulStarsBlogHopBadge3_zpsa824a544.jpg 
 Welcome to the Joyful Stars December blog hop, where a group of talented Close to My Heart consultants, and me, gather to share ideas with you in a fun blog hop.

After cutting the letters for the card above out of the beautiful CTMH sea glass glitter paper, I was left with a negative that I just could not resist using.


 

Now, since this is a blog hop you might have arrived here from Andrea Sherman's blog.
Your next stop is my friend, Tracey Pierce's blog.   
 The hop is circular. So if you are just starting here, simply continue hopping until you find your way back, making the full circle.  If you get lost, the complete list of participants is on Joyce's blog

Enjoy!

Beary Merry Christmas

Well, this card is a conglomeration of items.  


My friend gave me the bear, all cut and ready to go.  The plaid paper was in my most recent Cardmaking and Papercrafts magazine.  The embossing folder is SU.  The bow tie is CTMH ribbon.  The Santa hat is a Crazy Birds accessory stamp.  And the sentiment stamp is from Sweet & Sassy.  
All together, they made a pretty good guy card.
Challenges:
Crimbo Crackers Challenge #121 - Non-traditional Christmas 
Through the Purple Haze Challenge #114 - Winter/Christmas Colors 
The Male Room Challenge #50 - Christmas/December/Celebrations/Winter
Cardz 4 Guys Challenge #149 - Christmas Animals
My Time To Craft Challenge #335 - Christmas Animals 

 
Well, the darn dryer is buzzing, and buzzing, and buzzing.

Don't forget to stop by tomorrow for the December CTMH Joyful Stars Blog Hop.

There it goes again! 
BUZZ!!!!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Birthday Card Stencils

After deleting my camera software and reinstalling a newer version, I can once again edit photos to post.  I suppose I'll have to work out the bugs until I'm satisfied with the edited versions.  To me, the photos below look much better in the picture file than when I add them to the blog.  They seem to lose their brightness in the transfer.
 


 Even the white background paper and cardstock doesn't look white.  This is so frustrating!

Aside from the poor photos,  I wanted to show you this card I made for a friend who loves horses. 

Using a CTMH cricut cartridge, I cut one of the horses for the carosel out of cardstock.  Then I used the negative, secured to the gray cs with a bit of washi tape so it wouldn't move, to sponge in the horse outline.  For the inside I used the actual horse I had cut and sponged around it before stamping the sentiment inside.
Die cuts are from ODBD (card front frame and candles) and Tattered Lace (inside bow).
Happy Birthday sentiment is a CTMH stamp.  
The inside sentiment is from ODBD.
Papers are from CTMH.

Challenges:
Crafter's Cafe Challenge #162 - Christmas and/or Birthday 

Added 12/7/2016
So I fiddled with different software programs and discovered I could edit the pictures but not save the edited versions.  And, of course, the program I was using is no longer available as a download.  What to do?  Buy a new camera?  I don't think so!!  Then right before I went to bed last night I did some digging in one of my dresser drawers and found the original camera box and cd with the software.  I was out all day and just got home a bit ago.  I switched on the computer; turned on the tea pot; uninstalled all the junk I tried yesterday; made a cup of tea; popped the cd into the drive; reinstalled the software and....

   Much better!

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge # 322 with Robyn's Fetish





I hope you'll be able to play along and maybe win one of their lovely digital designs.

 

Featured on my DT card is Snow Lady Chef, a digital stamp from Robyns Fetish Stamp Shop.
 
I hope you'll join us this week at Tuesday Throwdown Challenge.

Monday, December 5, 2016

Mojo Monday with Issues

For some inexplicable reason, the editing software for my camera has decided to stop working.  I've been fiddling with it for hours.  It opens, it transfers pictures from my camera, and that's it!  
No editing! 
That's going to throw a major monkey wrench into my blogging!
And the monthly blog hop in which I participate is fast approaching!
I wanted to share a second Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge #477 card with you.   It is also my entry for Day #1 of Holiday Chaos at Bugaboo Stamps, where the theme is All That Sparkles!
Bugaboo image & CTMH Sentiment & papers
Additional Challenges:
Sparkle n Sprinkle December Challenge - AG with loose glitter, flocking, or embossing powder (I used glitter and black detail embossing powder)
Crafty Hazelnut's Patterned Paper Challenge - Anything Goes with Patterned Paper
Digi Stamps 4 Joy Challenge #131 - Anything Goes + Make It Sparkle


Perhaps, after a good night's rest, the photo editing software will work tomorrow.
Fingers crossed! 

Mojo Monday Mouse

Normally, I wake up Monday morning, reach for my Kindle and check out the Mojo Monday Sketch.  Today, I was up for a while before I even remembered that it was Monday.  Too much else on my mind, I guess.  Holiday Chaos with Bugaboo Stamps started Dec. 3rd. so I thought I'd use a Bugaboo digi and combine the two challenges, the Mojo Monday Sketch with Red and White Stripes.




Now I have discovered that my mind isn't even functioning this morning.  Although the Holiday Chaos challenge calls for red and white stripes, it is actually a Gift Tag challenge.  
More tea, please!
Challenges:
 


Have a great day! 
 


 

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Just finished reading: The Captain Takes a Wife The Captain Chronicles, 1875 By Doris Durbin

Today I'm wearing my new "book review" hat for the very first time.   Let's see how well it fits.  I hope my loyal followers won't mind this deviation from my normal card posts from time to time.  Perhaps, I'll even include a card reflecting some aspect of the book. 
Now that's a novel idea. 

      The Captain Takes a Wife The Captain Chronicles, 1875 by Doris Durbin was such a delightful read, I am sorry I'm finished. 

     As the book begins Harry Richardson, The Captain, has just received his theology degree from Mercer College and is about to embark on a new chapter in his life, as a circuit preacher in the mountains of northern Georgia.  The Captain really has no immediate thoughts of marrying, although his Aunt had told him that in his new position as a country minister a wife would certainly be an asset.  And then, before boarding the train, Harry comes across a young lady who enlists his aid.  Not only is she in trouble, but she's also in a wedding dress, trying to escape an unwanted arranged marriage.  
    Seeing Harry with Sarah at the train station, his friends reach the conclusion that there is an elopement in the works.  They decide to buy tickets and surprise The Captain with a proper wedding aboard the train.  Also on the train are a young reporter and photographer, ambitiously following what looks to be an interesting story, Reverend Peterson, one of Harry's college professors, and his wife on their way to Atlanta,  several deputies searching for Sarah, as well as a man who looks like a hired gunman.   Why is the man Sarah was supposed to marry going to such lengths to find her?  Poor Sarah has no clue in what she has unwittingly become involved.  But, as promised, Harry does his best to protect her from whatever danger is following her.  A very eventful train ride ensues, with several twists and turns along the way, as this very enjoyable story unfolds. 

This book has wonderfully developed, very likeable characters.  Although occasionally it seemed a bit predictable, there was ample plot movement and various surprises to keep the reader turning the pages.   Once finished, the first thing I did was check to see if there was a sequel available.   And there is!

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.”
*************
Under the circumstances, I think a wedding card is in order:
For this card I used a velum flourish die cut,  a Verve stamp, and
a doily embossing folder from which the center flower was fussycut in 2 layers and popped, sheer white ribbon bow, and glitter gem.

Card Challenges:
Aud Sentiments Challenge #169 - Anything Goes + a sentiment 
 

Power Poppy card

In an effort to keep my craft supplies contained to a small area, I am doing my best to use up some already printed digis rather than getting out a lot of stamps and inks.  My thinking is I won't have another big cleanup before Christmas if I control myself.
I'll let you know how that works out.

This digi from the La Vie en Rose Digital Stamp Set  at Power Poppy has this wonderful area in which you can stamp any sentiment you'd like, making it a very versatile digi stamp.
 I used a CTMH stamp for the sentiment, markers to color the flower, and a die cut by Our Daily Bread Designs.

Challenges:
CCEE Challenge 1648 - Use Red 

 Well, I must go to make some bows.