CASology #21: Time

Hello, friends!  It's been a busy week but I am happy to have found some TIME to make a card for the CASology challenge this week.
(Get it? I know, a comedian I am not.)

My first thoughts went to Christmas song phrases such as, "It's the most wonderful time of the year," "It's Christmastime in the city..." etc.  However, I don't have any stamps with these phrases.  (Bummer.)

SO...next thought.  My Hero Arts "Cuckoo" clear set which includes cute clock and time images/phrases.  Perfect!  I paired a sentiment from this set along with a paper-peiced chair image from Jane's Doodles free digi images (look HERE on the right sidebar).  The patterned papers are from the My Mind's Eye "Stella Rose Hattie Boy" 6x6 pad.

I hope you are all having a good week...take good care and thanks for stopping by!
Judy

Christmas Bling Wreath Set

 

Hello, friends!  I am back again with a set of Christmas cards using the Hero Arts Wreath of Leaves and a sentiment from the Very Merry Christmas set.  I added gems or pearls or bows (or some of each) to the cards to give them a little pizazz...some "bling" if you will!

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this one is my favorite...

 

 
Thanks so much for stopping by!
Judy

Christmas Cards with BLING!

 

 

Hello, friends!  I hope you all had a lovely weekend.  We had a great time celebrating Thanksgiving with family over several days; on top of that, my oldest son participated in a 3-day soccer tournament that concluded with a second place overall finish (and a nice trophy, too)!   Back to the grind today...and what a crazy week it is shaping up to be!

Despite the busy long weekend, I was lucky enough to find a few hours of crafty time and I made a handful of Christmas cards using all Hero Arts stamps and lots of bling!  I will be entering all of them in the current Hero Arts Monthly Challenge.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would have blogged them all separately but I can see that the week ahead is going to be crazy busy, so this may be my only blog time for several days. 

Thanks for stopping by, I do appreciate your visit!
Judy

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello, and Happy Thanksgiving to all my American friends visiting today!

Before we head off to dinner with family, I wanted to share a quick card I made for the Week 20 Challenge at CASology.

When I saw Donna's card, I laughed to myself because I have one favorite Thanksgiving stamp in my stash, and it simply states "Eat Ham."  The stamp is an older Inkadinkado image and I get a chuckle every time I look at this fella.

I embossed the image and watercolored it.  Simple as that.

OK, off to Thanksgiving dinner...thanks for stopping by!
Judy

Scramble Cards and Then Some

Hello, friends!  Just figured I'd share the cards I made as part of this weekend's 24-Hour Scramble at Hero Arts.  No idea what I am talking about?  Check out the Hero Arts Flickr Discussion threads to get all the details.  What FUN!

In the midst of another very busy weekend, I was happy to be able to participate in two of the scrambles.  The first one I did was the second scramble hosted by Judy in which we were challenged to make a "Christmas thank you" card.  (I need lots of these after Christmas!)

The second challenge I did was the final (12th) challenge hosted by Janet following a "time" theme.

(Janet also happened to post a thread regarding a Flickr app for the iPhone and I was thrilled to find it!  I was able to upload pics of my cards and post them in my Flickr account within seconds!  Of course the picture quality isn't as good as my Nikon camera, but it was so much faster!) 

Now for the "then some."  I recently received my goodies from my Fab Five win at Hero Arts (see pic HERE) and I had to play with them.  I used some awesome Bazzil papers I won from Shelly and embossed some HA images in black.

I think this sentiment goes so well with the Nativity scene stamp...I do believe in the miracle, the real reason for the holidays in the first place!

OK, two days of work this week and then we are all off for Thanksgiving vacation!  (I think I can, I think I can!)  I have my cards for Vera's card drive all packaged, ready to bring to the post office tomorrow, and then I'm ready to start focusing on Christmas cards for teachers and close friends.  I'm SO looking forward to it!

If I'm not back in the next day or two, I want to wish all those celebrating the holiday a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I am grateful for all of you and I count you all among my many blessings!

Take good care,
Judy  

Just Trying Something...

Hello friends...I am just experimenting with a Blogger app I downloaded for my iPhone. I want to see if I can actually take a picture and blog about it all from my phone.

This card is an entry for the current Hero Arts challenge.

Here is the card using a Hero Arts blossom flower and Envelope Pattern background as well as a computer-generated sentiment.  Gold Stickles add the needed "bling!"

(Photo quality is not that great but I took this at night...I'll have to try again in the daylight!)

Thanks for stopping by!

Judy

 

Edited to add:  This is the picture I took in the daylight...obviously much better!

 

 

CASology #19 and SSS: Thanks

Hello, friends!  This is my second post for the day (almost unheard of for me!), but I had some time to share a card I made for two challenges.

 

 

Both challenges are looking for cards related to the theme of THANKS (or Thanksgiving at SSS!), and so I created this CAS card for both CASology and Simon Says Stamp!:

The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink (Think Big series) and the pumpkins are both paper-pieced using Studio G stamps from Michael's, with the smaller pumpkin popped up for dimension.  Quick and easy!

This card is going to my mom this Thanksgiving...she does so much for us!

Thanks for stopping by,
Judy

Merry Christmas Snowman Set

Hello, friends!  Just stopping by today to share a set of Christmas cards I made for the Caring Hearts Card Drive using my favorite snowman ever!  I think this wraps it up for me, I need to send these cards in before the November 30th deadline!  I am sending in about 15 cards...although I think they'd be happy to receive even one!  Be sure to check it out...such a great cause.

 

So, I mentioned my favorite snowman ever.  Have you met this fella?  He is part of the "Vintage Christmas" stamp set sold at Jane's Doodles Shop.  LOVE him!  I really like paper-piecing his hat and scarf.  Fun, fun, fun!

 

So, last winter I had stamped this fella multiple times onto various patterned papers and cut them out, then stashed them away for later.

 

Later has arrived!  Here is what I came up with, mixing and matching hats and scarves.  The sentiment is computer generated using different font colors to match the papers I used; I also played with a bunch of embossing folders to add some textures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close-up of the Stickles sparkle...

 

Since I had the paper pieces pre-cut, this card set took no time at all.  Love that!

Thanks for peeking...have a great day!
Judy

Birthday Card Set

Hello, friends!   I have a few days off and I am so happy to say I made some cards just for the fun of it!  No challenges, no card drive, just refilling my stash.  It's funny, I never realized how rarely I make cards anymore just for the fun of it. 

Anyway, I was playing with a free cupcake digital image by Kim Hughes at Paper Smooches and printed it several times onto various patterned papers, then fussy cut them and mixed and matched the pieces.  I also printed a free sentiment form Hannelie (found HERE) onto cream and kraft cards.

On the cream cards, I stamped various Hero Arts backgrounds, then attached the cupcakes.

On the kraft cards, I attached the cupcakes, then dry embossed using a variety of folders.

Each of the cupcakes has red Stickles added to the cherry...I love that it adds some fun but it is still a perfectly flat card for mailing!

 

This little collection has sufficiently replenished my stash...yay!

     

 

Thanks for stopping by!

Judy

CASology #18: Orange

 

Hello, friends!  Just stopping by with a card I made for a co-worker who has been extra helpful to me this school year and I want to give it to her before Thanksgiving break.  I am submitting it for the current CASology Week 18 challenge.

 

I stamped the Papertrey Ink wreath in brown, then overlayed the dots wreath in orange.  I added some gold Stickles for a little sparkle (see below).  I stamped the envelope pattern from Hero Arts onto the base of the card in gold shadow ink. 

The sentiment is a free digi download from Hannelie's blog, Desert Diva.  She has an awesome collection of free sentiments...you should check them out!  (And thanks, Hannelie!)

Thanks for stopping by,
Judy
  

CASology #17 using a CAS(E) Sketch

Hello, friends!  I have a quick share today following the sketch from CAS(E) this Sketch! Challenge 4 using the theme from CASology Week 17: SUGAR.  I am just under the wire with this one...hope I make it in time!

 

I kept this one extra clean and simple and make one of many thank you notes I will need this holiday season.  I embossed the candies from the Sweet Stamp Shop onto Bazzill patterned paper (thank you, Shelly!), cut them out, went over the edges with a black marker, and covered them all in Glossy Accents before mounting to the card.  The sentiment is from Papertrey Ink.

 

 Here is a close-up of the Glossy Accents:

 

Things are slowly recovering around here, the kids went back to school on Friday, but we still have lots to do.  People in our town are still without power...however, the crews are working day and night to get everyone back up and running. 

 

While this whole storm experience has been very stressful and sad, I have seen many glimpses of goodness and love that have been very heartwarming, too.  For example, the older couple that live behind us lost power, and (thinking nothing of it, honestly) we ran an extension chord from our house to theirs for several days so they could at least keep their refrigerator on, and we gave them a few C batteries for their radio.  Luckily their power was restored but they have called, stopped by, brought us candy, and repeatedly expressed their gratitude to our family in such a heartfelt way!  When we were at church they made several announcements about gathering canned goods to be delivered to families in need in neighboring communities, and our kids immediately looked to my husband and I to make sure WE were going to do that.  That warmed my heart.  On the way out of church, my 8-year-old took a brown bag that was labeled with a list of needed food for the food pantry and said, "We need to do this, Mom."  I agreed.  We all agreed.  And THAT warmed my heart.  It makes me so happy to know that my children are learning to be compassionate, empathetic people who are aware of the needs of others and are willing to do something to help. 

 

So, in the midst of the stress and the rebuilding, there are so many examples of love and care around us, and I thank God they exist.  I thank the people who are acting as God's angels on Earth right now to help all those affected by the recent storm.  As the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu said, "Great acts are made up of small deeds."  So true.

 

On that note, have a great day!

Judy

   

 



CASology #17 : Sugar

Hello, friends!  I'm glad to be stopping by with a card for the 17th challenge at CASology using the cue word "sugar."

I know I should be thinking of Halloween candy this week, especially with this cue word.  However, in light of our recent hurricane and the fact that Halloween around here has been officially postponed until next Monday (November 5th!) I am not really in the Halloween spirit.  The kids go back to school tomorrow and power is being restored around the town, but so many other issues have arisen that stress is still running high (e.g., no gasoline to be found, many roads closed due to repairs and construction).  I am very grateful that we are all safe, but we are all still so sad about the destruction that has occurred all around us. 

So, instead of a Halloween card I decided to make a card for my nephew's 3rd birthday. 

Stamps Used:  Inkadinkado "Birthday Cupcakes," Sweet Stamp Shop "Sweet Tooth"

Embossing Folder: Sizzix "Lines & Circles"

This particular nephew didn't plan on it but he spent his actual birthday in Disney -- on an unexpected, very extended vacation due to the storm -- and is flying home tonight to a house that has had no power for several days. 

Last year we had an unexpected snow storm on his birthday...here was the view from his deck during his birthday party.  (I'm almost afraid to see what next October 30th will bring!)

On a more positive note, my sister-in-law had a beautiful baby boy this October 30th, and everything went smoothly despite the hurricane.  Ah, thank God for the circle of life!  Our wonderful extended family continues to grow...I now have 15 awesome nieces and nephews! 

OK, sorry for the long post...thanks for stopping by and thanks for all your support, too.

Take good care,
Judy