I Was Challenged

Splitcoaststampers is celebrating their 100th Sketch Challenge this week. Every Wednesday they post a sketch of a layout that you are able to follow to get ideas and inspiration. This week is their 100th challenge! They have challenges everyday of the week. It is a great way to get inspiration! I created this Christmas card for the SC100. I have always really liked the Merry set but have to admit I have only created a handful of things that I like with it. I know that a big reason is that the hat looks so cute with multi colors and I have been too lazy to color all the stripes in. Well, I gave into it yesterday and am so pleased with the outcome. I already have my Christmas cards done for this year, but I like this so well it might be one of the ones I do for next year.....lest I remind myself that a new catalog comes out in just 7 months, who knows which holiday sets I will have on my shelf next November!

Happy Birthday....

Here is a card that I made for a customer who is now more of a pal than a customer. Claudia's birthday is this week and I finally got a chance to sit down and play the other night! On splitcoaststampers I found this adorable card in the Wild About You gallery and loved the layout, so I just copied the layout, changed the colors and -pow - here is her card. Hope she likes!

Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! I was so excited coming into the holiday knowing that my husband would have a couple extra days off of work-surely I would get lots of stamping/scrapbooking done! It wasn't in the cards! I got sick on Friday with a terrible cold, I am thinking a sinus infection, and I really didn't have the drive to create anything! Furthermore, we have decided to replace our kitchen and livingroom floors. My husband is doing the work himself (with the help of my dad) and it is taking awhile. The kids were running around like animals so there would be no "me time" in the cards this weekend. Regardless, it was a peaceful holiday and I am hoping that this week will afford me some time in my playroom!

Confession Time

I confess, often I see a stamp set and I scream, "I HAVE TO HAVE THAT ONE!" It happened with City of David, I have never really been to impressed with the christian Christmas sets that Stampin Up! has offered. They are typically too artsy fartsy for my taste. I can't stamp elegantly. I have a dear friend, Jennifer, who can make those artsy fartsy images look breathtaking. She has a style that continually amazes me, whatever she touches looks so elegant. I am so jealous of that! So, when I saw City of David in the new catty, it was on my wish list immediately. A christian stamp set for Christmas that is drawn in a style I can create with. But, then I got the set and have not been happy with hardly anything I have made. Until now, I just finished this and I love it! I don't know why, maybe it is the colors, but this one card will make me keep this set! Enjoy....

Here is another....

Here is my 2nd creation tonight.

My Favorite Time of Year.

Fall is my favorite time of year hands down. I love sweater weather, curling up with a blanket and the smell of wet leaves. But in my stamping, I hardly ever stamp fall creations. As a matter a fact I traded away my only "fall" set, Fall Whimsy, I always seem to jump from summer to winter/holidays. Tonight I actually stole about 45 minutes while Megan was working on homework and had fun creating winter season cards. Here is one of the ones I did. The snowflake is heat embossed with white embossing powder on vellum. Yup, vellum. I stole the idea of embossing this snowflake and putting a brad in the middle from regionals. I was so afraid of heat embossing on vellum, but it worked great, my first try too. The giant buckle card is one that I have done in the past, but not often. I forgot how cute they are! And that Word Window Punch works great for the slit!