Snowy Saturday's Three Challenges in ONE!

Hello again everyone! I hope you are enjoying your Saturday wherever you are. It is freakin' C-O-L-D here today: -31*C (that's about -20*F for my friends to the south...) Remind me again WHY I live in Canada??? ;)

But, the weather does give me a good excuse to stay inside and craft - like I really *need* an excuse? I haven't done Jen's Sketch For You To Try for a LONG time so I popped over there to see what she has this week:
Great sketch, isn't it???

Then I remembered a new weekly Color Challenge my friend Tamie did on her blog a couple weeks ago so I clicked over to Scrapmaster's Paradise to see this week's combo:

I was really feeling click-happy so I "happened" upon another FAB blog: Moxie Fab World. See - it even has FAB in it's name! This week's challenge was to create a paper crafted holiday project (card, gift bag, tag, layout, home decor, etc.) that incorporates some kind of critter. Well, I can do THAT! :)

Recipe - Stamp: Snowman Bird (Hampton Art) Paper: Kraft, Brocade Blue, Bashful Blue, Whisper White, SU! DP 6x6 paper pad Ink: Bashful Blue, Versafine Onyx Black Accessories: Nestabilities (square and Labels Three), ticket corner punch, slit punch, CB embossing folders, paper piercer, kraft ribbon, button, snowflake/tree brads, adhesive pearls, Copics, sponge dauber

I wanted to try Gretchen Barron's technique to make that cool two-toned scalloped border and it works perfectly on this card.

I feel like I *should* be out and about braving the crowds to finish my Christmas shopping but I really just want to stay inside, drink Chai tea and craft. Enjoy the weekend everyone. :)

Another Mojo Madness and a New Color Challenge

Are you tired of me using the Mojo Monday sketch yet? I apologize if you answered *YES!* but I really think it is a FABULOUS sketch - so versatile. If you are here for the first time, here's the sketch:
I found a new Color Challenge while I was blog surfing the other day. Dawn McVey has her own line of stamps at Papertrey Ink and a new set will be released on December 15 so stay tuned for that. Anyhoo - this week's color challenge is pretty cool...

Since I still had Soft Sky out on my table from the last card, that's what I used for the light aqua option. I also used Really Rust, Chocolate Chip, Kraft and Very Vanilla and some retired SU! DP. And, YES, I used my new Verve stamps again. I AM IN LOVE with this flourish circle frame... LOVE IT!!

Recipe - Stamps: Thankful Accents (Verve) Ink: Chocolate Chip Accessories: Nestabilities, ticket corner punch, circle punches, swirls embossing folder, swiss dots embossing folder, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, satin ribbon, sponge dauber, dimensionals

That's going to be it for me tonight - it's supposed to get C-O-L-D and snowier this weekend so I'm seeing much more crafting in my future...*insert big grin here*

Enjoy your night and thanks for stopping in.

EXCITING Friday!

OMG, OMG, OMG!!! I am soooo excited! I finally got some time to craft and since I hadn't checked out this week's Color Throwdown, I clicked on over to find this week's color challenge (more on that in a minute). I saw the colors and scrolled down some more to see who the Featured Stamper from last week's challenge was (and it was a beautiful card from Debi's Crazy Life), scrolled down a bit more to see that MY PIC, Lori, received one of 3 Honorable mentions for this card, and that YOURS TRULY won some absolutely fantabulous Magnolia Stamps!!! Could the day get any better??? Oh yeah...CRAFTING!!!

This week's Color Throwdown was this and I combined it with the Viva la Verve Sketch over at Splitcoast:


I HAD to use some of my new Verve stamps so this is what I came up with:


Recipe - Stamps: Thankful Accents, Grateful Heart Plain Jane (Verve) Ink: Versafine Onyx Black, Riding Hood Red, Pretty in Pink Paper: Riding Hood Red, Wild Wasabi, Pretty in Pink, Soft Sky, Whisper White, SU! DP Accessories: Nestabilities, ticket corner punch, corner rounder punch, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, clear embossing powder, argyle embossing folder (Cuttlebug), Riding Hood Red taffeta ribbon, button, red metalllic cord, slot punch

I've got supper in the oven so I hope to have time to do one more card tonight. Thanks for stopping by - only 14 more sleeps! Are you done your shopping???

Mojo Monday Madness - Take Two!

So - I told you I LOVED this week's Mojo Monday sketch and I really, really do! I love it so much, I made another card and combined it with this week's color challenge over at Splitcoast: Always Artichoke, Barely Banana and Rich Razzleberry. You wouldn't *think* that those colors would go together but I think I made them work.

Recipe - Stamps: Fifth Avenue Floral (Stampin' Up!) Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke Paper: Whisper White, Rich Razzleberry, Barely Banana, Always Artichoke, Lovely Flowers DP (hostess) Accessories: Nestabilities (scallops and circles), Martha Stewart heart border punch, adhesive pearls, ribbon, button, silver cord, Fifth Avenue Floral embossing folder (Stampin' Up!), paper piercer

Guess what came in the mail today??? MY NEW VERVE STAMPS! WOOHOO! Unfortunately I don't have time to play with them tonight (much to my dismay), but I hope to get inky with them tomorrow so stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by - only 17 more sleeps 'til Christmas...are you ready???

Mojo Monday MADNESS!

OMG! I am soooo excited today! To start things off, it's a SNOW DAY!! YIPPEE! That means no school, no work and it's all about ME! :) It is in the -30*C's this morning and I am so glad I don't have to go anywhere.

THEN, if a snow day wasn't enough to make my day, it is MOJO MADNESS over on Julee's blog. That means not only is this week's sketch fun and beautiful but Julee's got PRIZES up for grabs too!! Can you say AWESOME?

I wanted to use my new Verve Stamps ~ this sketch would be perfect for the big, circular frame in the Thankful Accents set ~ but they aren't here yet!!! I'm hoping they'll get here this week so I can make another card. I decided to make a Christmassy card and this is what I came up with:
Recipe - Stamps: Christmas Greetings (Stampin' Up) Ink: Old Olive Paper: Old Olive, Real Red, Very Vanilla, Dashing DP (SU! retired) Accessories: Sheer ribbon, gold cord, button, Swiss Dots and Swirly CB Embossing Folders, adhesive pearls, Nestabilities Circles and Pinking Circles, sponge dauber

Do you love it as much as I do? The picture really doesn't do it justice ~ I'm thinking I should have done the sentiment in Real Red instead of the Olive but...whatever. :) And, of course, I *HAD* to put pearls on it! LOL

OK - so that's my first entry for Mojo Madness. I totally {heart} this sketch so I think I will be using it a LOT this week. Thanks Julee!

Stay warm everyone - only 18 more sleeps until Christmas! Can you believe it???

An Interesting Color Combination...

It's me again - I've been busy enjoying the peace and quiet while DH and DS#3 were gone and DS #1 & #2 were doing "quiet" activities. Love it.

I checked out the Viva la Verve Sketch forum on Friday but the new sketch hadn't been posted yet so I thought I'd pop back in to see if it had been posted yet and, lo and behold, there it was:

Looks pretty simple, right? I combined it with the Diva Coffee Break Designs Challenge for this week which was a color challenge:

Wow...those are some interesting colors...BUT I persevered and came up with this:

Recipe - Stamps: Plain Jane (Verve) Paper: Bermuda Bay, Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Basic Gray, SU! DP (Urban Garden, retired) Ink: Going Gray Accessories: Nesties (Labels Nine), Gray Taffeta ribbon, button, silver cord, paper piercer, adhesive pearls, Swiss Dots EF, sponge dauber

I realize that the pearls are a *bit* off but not much I can about it without making a mess of it all so I have to look the other way. :)

Thanks for stopping by - enjoy your day wherever you are. Tomorrow's Mojo Monday ~ can't wait!

Taylor's Sketch Challenge and the Color Throwdown

I hope your weekend has been as relaxing as mine has. I spent yesterday in front of the fire while crafting and reading - couldn't get much better as far as I'm concerned! :)

I found Taylor's sketch for this week and combined it with the Color Throwdown. Thanks to both for great inspiration:


This card started out as a Christmas card when I remembered some SU! DP from last year I knew I had somewhere but ended up, well, as not-so-much a Christmas card! LOL And I think this might be the first card I've ever made that has NO STAMPING on it!


Recipe - Paper: Old Olive, Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red, Chocolate Chip, SU! retired DP Ink: Chocolate Chip Accessories: SU! Rub-ons, various circle punches, oval punch, swiss dots EF, ribbon, silver cord, alphabet tiles, buttons, paper piercer, adhesive pearls

I'm still not too sure about this card but "whatever!" That has become my mantra lately..."WHATEVER." :) I had fun making it and love the color combination.

I am ITCHING to get my Verve stamps Lori and I ordered last week - I've got a bazillion stamps but none of them are really inspiring me right now. I dig through my cupboard and none of them scream, "Use ME!" Do you ever feel like that?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend - maybe I'll have time to make another card or two this afternoon while DH and DS#3 are out at a 4-H Christmas party. We shall see... :)