smile. sparkle. shine A Merry Winter Scene

 I am finding myself feeling very nostalgic this year as Christmas approaches. One of my friends shared her picture taken with Santa at Hutzler's in Baltimore Maryland when she was three. It's cute as can be, and I love the dress she wore. YES, little girls wore dresses then and through most of our school years. Talk about vintage, lol!

One thing I love remembering is ice skating in the neighborhood. I found a creative kick from the set by Honey Bee called Sleigh Bells Ring, which also has me singing along. It's that time of year! 

This set came out last year but it's new to me. I enjoyed adding sparkle to the sled, ribbon and skates with foil papers and silver Stickles.

My card was created so that I could play along with these challenges: 

NBUS

The Card Concept with my Clean and Layered Style

Tic Tac Toe Challenge where I chose snow, layers,  and celebration

Hope your week is off to a good start! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Card details: The Falling Snow Background (Honey Bee) was stamped on white card stock with Warm Wool ink (WPlus9 Designs) which also provided the ribbon die cut from Under the Mistletoe dies. The sentiment is from Penny Black Stamps. Coloring with Copic markers. 

I love Christmas!

 It's absolutely true that Christmas is my favorite time for making cards! Here's another one for you using Say It With Stamps I love Christmas set.  Actually I like this sweet image so much I colored it a few times and made two cards to share. 

I combined it with a cover-plate die also from Say It With Stamps! called A2 Knit. I took inspiration from the product package and used the plate as a background. Have a look! 

Using a favorite non-traditional color combo makes me happy! I placed aqua card stock behind the white piece. I love the look and texture this die gives! Dressing it up was easy with snowflakes, gems, and glitter along the snow. 

For the second card I used traditional red and green with a background of a night sky inked in blues and dotted with snowflakes using white acrylic paint. 

I used the sentiment included with the set and added an arched window and red mat. You know what's so special about the set? There are a few different options to place in the girls hands. Instead of candy canes she can hold gifts, a tree, a stocking or a steaming cup of hot cocoa. How fun is that! When coloring with Copic markers I gave her a nose, mouth and pink cheeks.

I'm playing with some challenges at: 

Hand Stamped Sentiments 

Krafty Chicks  

SSSWednesday Challenge   add some sparkle

I've really enjoyed sharing with you today and I appreciate the time you took to spend here. Much thanks. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

The Paper Players: What a wonderful year!

 Hello and welcome to my blog today. It's Sunday and I'm here with the last challenge of the year for The Paper Players #621. It's a moment of sadness as my year as guest designer has come to an end. I am so so appreciative of the chance to create with the lovely and super talented ladies on this fabulous team.  I will continue to be inspired by you all and will play along often. Your challenges are the best out there! 

Delightfully Ann has chosen a color combo for us this week. I pulled out a die that's new to me but it's been around awhile. 

I came as close as I could with the colors, using some retired papers and vanilla card stock for the mug.  I love the bit of holly and added Crystal drops for a bit of texture. 

I hope you will enjoy checking out the DT samples as they are so creative and fun! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Under the Mistletoe

 Hi, I took a break from decorating and wrapping to make a card today! I've been into greenery this year and there are so many dies that make it easy! The Under the Mistletoe Dies will work so well in combo with other greens, but for today I'm featuring them in a simple layout. 

I paired them with some Tartan Plaid paper and a bell of gold mirror card stock. Inspired at Freshly Made Sketches, I'll be entering this also at: 

Festive Friday  where I chose Gold, red, and Christmas 

Time Out Challenges

I'm so thankful that you stopped by today!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Dies: Under the Mistletoe by WPlus9, Merry Christmas - Birch Press Design, Tartan Plaid paper 

Candy Cane Lane Part two

 Hello, welcome back to my blog! 

If you saw yesterday's post you know I have cards three and four featuring the SimonSays Stamp card kit and Candy Cane Lane papers from Prima. 

Stripes and polka dots, what's not to love?  All it needed was a mat for the sentiment piece and a few die cut snowflakes. 

I love the next one with the bold and fine stripes. 

The Santa was cut out, including the banner and embellished with the candy canes in the kit.  I am happy to have used all the paper up except for a few scraps left. 

I hope to have more posts made with the rest of the kit soon. 

Just a personal note: Did you hear about Moore County NC which had a sabotage of it's electric power substations on Saturday? 

That is where I live. Fortunately, we didn't lose power but the problem is still continuing with over 30,000 homes/businesses without power. It's scary that this can happen! The community has come together to provide food, shelter and places to charge electronics, etc which is very encouraging.

Give extra hugs to the ones you love today!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Candy Cane Lane SSS December Card Kit

Hello, crafters! I'm excited to be bringing you today's post with the first  two of four cards using the Simon Says Stamp December Card Kit. I fell in love with the Candy Cane Lane papers from Prima and over the weekend I had a blast creating four cards using just the papers and a few embellishments.  

On this card I featured this sweet girl with gifts and embellished with the pretty poinsettias cut from the paper. I piece my favorite papers behind her and embellished with pearls. I love the femininity, vintage look, and pale pink and red combo.  The saying is one of my favorites for Christmas!

The next card features more poinsettias embellishing the deer I snipped from the patterned paper, complete with the sentiment. 

Aren't the papers the sweetest? More pearls, yes, please! I will be back tomorrow with the next cards.

Thanks so much, your visits mean so much to me! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

HoHoHo for The Paper Players!

 Hello, and welcome to my blog, I hope that things are going well for you. It's Sunday and for challenge #64 at The Paper Players, LeAnne has a super fun theme for us. Ho! Ho! Ho! Feature a Santa on your project. 

Believe it or not, I did not have a Santa in my stash. Really! All the more reason to find the cutest die in the Simon Says December Card Kit. I often avoid kits, but this one features fabulous papers and an interesting assortment of new things to try. 

I love the vintage look! For Santa's beard and mustache, I delighted in using the white velvet card stock. It feels so soft! I chose white card stock for his hat and used Copics to add color to the hat and face.

The selection of papers includes the text so I cut them out and the card is ready to go! Silver glitter paper makes the tiny stars and snowflakes twinkle. 

This square card measures 4-1/4". You can bet I will be back with another card or two or three from these wonderful papers. 

I sure hope that you will join us and play along at The Paper Players! This wonderfully talented group will inspire you every time! 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Also adding this to the challenge at NBUS, 

SSS Monday Challenge Holiday Cheer, SSS Wednesday Challenge Anything Goes

JOY at Christmas for the Color Hues

 Hello crafting friends, it turns out that I'm again shocked to turn the calendar and realize that it's the last month of the year. Already! Can you believe it? December 1! Our weather is expected to be at freezing or below all day. Our hearts and prayers go out to you those who had tornadoes yesterday!

You CAN believe that there's another great challenge for us at Color Hues! Nancy has chosen the combo of Navy and Cream for challenge #54 and you have until Dec. 28 to join in! 

I thought these elegant shades were perfect for me to pair with lovely supplies from The Greetery. I used various blue Oxide inks to sponge the pieces of the die cut rose and added gold embossing and accents. Few embellishments were needed with the intricate background and bold floral. I added one blue gem to the center of the sentiment. 

Please check out the wonderful creations from my friends, I know you'll be inspired to play along. 

It's my first time to feature the Elegant Arches set, so I'm entering this at NBUS and the Sisterhood of Crafters who ask for anything Christmas or Winter, and Peace on Earth Christmas Challenge. 

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Supplies: The Greetery - Elegant Arches stamp,  A2 Arches Dies, BotaniCuts Rose Die

Sentiment: SSS - Stained Glass Greetings

Sending Love at Christmas

To my American friends, did you have a wonderful Thanksgiving? We had a busy fun-filled feast and family time. Now that the holiday is over,  I'm able to get back into the craft room to have some fun. 

I'm still playing with the Sizzix embossing folder, Winter  Pattern, embossing it on Pear Pizzazz card stock (SU!) this time. 

 I embellished using the Layered Poinsettia die (Waffle Flower) cut in cream and gold mirror card stock. The sentiment is from The Greetery. I embossed the top line of script in gold. 

I call this clean and layered in style, what do you think? 

Thanks for stopping by today!

Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

Christmas Blessings for the Paper Players

 Sunday has come around again, and I'm happy to welcome you to my blog. Laurie has a great sketch for us at The Paper Players #619 and I can't wait to share my card with you. 

I love sketch challenges and holidays are my favorite time for card making. Now that for the US our Thanksgiving Day has passed, let's get down to some serious  creating for Christmas!

I bought a new multi-level embossing folder from Sissix called Winter Pattern, and ran it through my Big Shot using Baked Brown Sugar card stock. I carefully daubed white craft ink just along the top of the images and love the depth it created to the overall pattern. 

Here's a closer look that allows you to see the three levels of embossing.

My sentiments and dies are from The Greetery, the JOY sparkles in the red mirror card stock. 

I sure hope you'll want to play along at The Paper Players! We love it when you do! 

I will also add this to two other challenges: at Peace on Earth Christmas they have a mood board.

 For the Tic Tac Toe Challenge I chose the top row across.  Holiday, Die, Embellishment. I hop

I hope this inspires you to be crafty. Have a wonderful week!

 Be yourself
     Have delight in your craft
         Make something beautiful!  

Clean and Simple for The Paper Players

Welcome to my blog, hope you're having a great Sunday! Joanne has a wonderful Clean and Simple Challenge for #618 asking us to use a Christmas theme. I pulled out some pretty patterned papers and the Frosted Gingerbread Bundle by Stampin' Up! and here's what I came up with! 

 I loved the bell as an ornament surrounded by some greenery and peppermints. I can't wait to see what you will make!  

The Paper Players DT has some amazing cards to inspire you! Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and if you're traveling stay safe! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

 

Merry and Bright for Coffee Lovers

 Hello, and welcome! 

I think the Coffee Lovers Blog Hop is still going on, and I'm hoping today's card will make it in before the deadline so I will keep this post short. 

I found this cute snowman in a coffee cup already assembled in my stash. When I made on last year, I made two so it's nice that this little guy was all ready to go. I don't know if he is in a coffee or teacup but he is holding a gingerbread cookie!

I'm playing along at  Coffee Lovers Blog Hop 

and I'm using the lovely layout from Freshly Made Sketches.

Thanks so much for you visit today! Wishing you a good weekend! 

You Warm My Heart

 Hi everyone,  Amy Tsuruta hosts a wonderful challenge celebrating Coffee for you lovers out there! I prefer tea but dug out a retired set from The Cat's Pajamas so that I could play along! 

A bit of sponging, masking and Copic coloring and my card is done. I just love this little bunny.

 Entering the fun at the Blog Hop!  You may want to do the same, there are tons of prizes and wonderful cards with the cuppa theme. 

Joyful and Blessed with Color Hues

 Hello, stamping friends! How's it going with your holiday crafting? I realize today that I should have started much earlier on sharing Christmas cards on my blog since I have so many sets that are new-to me that I will never fit them in! 

Our mid-month colors are lovely and timely, chosen by Julie for your inspiration at Color Hues Challenge #53. My card uses the Winterberry Bouquet stamps and dies, and the Cathedral die from The Greetery.

I wanted the cathedral window to shine as the main element, so I  stacked die cuts with gold mirror card stock  on the top and tucked in just a few of the gorgeous winterberry foliage. The bottom layer is SU Very Vanilla card stock, and I used a Vanilla taffeta double bow to add balance and dress up the design. I kept to our colors of scarlet and green, and hope that the three neutrals are allowed: white, gold and cream. I guess you know me and won't be surprised that I had a very hard time limiting my colors this time! 

The sentient strip (also new out of the packet!) is from Jolly Snippets rubber stamps by Penny Back. These are small sentiments with really unique phrases for Christmas or winter themes. 

I know you will love seeing what the amazing DT has created to inspire you, take a good look and them dive right in to play along! 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!  

I'm entering these challenges :

Tic Tac Toe 

and NBUS using the Cathedral Die for the first time. 

using the middle row across 

a

Hope All is Well

 Hello! I'm back again to for a quick share. I really loved this sentiment from the Just a Hello Floral stamps and dies (Pinkfresh Studio) and there are others like it included in the set. The dies cut the words out so it's easy to highlight your sentiments. 

I colored the beautiful florals with Zig markers onto watercolor paper, after embossing the images with black ink and heating clear embossing powder. The bouquet is die cut and layered over lightly textured blue paper. This would look better if I'd added some dimension, but I needed it flat for mailing. 

I find I'm needing just a bit of de-stress time in the craft room, I'm aiming for a bit of time each day to create. Helping me limber up my creative skills is one benefit, and the other is that I can delve into some supplies and styles that need to be re-discovered. 

I will share this today at Simon Stays Stamp Wednesday challenge where they ask for Thinking of You cards. Thanks so much for your visit! I wish you a wonderful day and really appreciate you spending just a bit of time here on my blog. 

 Be yourself

          Have delight in your craft 

               Make something beautiful!