XOXO Mojo

Hello all :)  Managed to squeeze in a little card making time and it sure felt good even though the old mojo was moving in slow gear.

We had a delightful Christmas.  Hubby cooked a prime rib roast on the BBQ to perfection (I'm drooling just thinking about how good it was) and complimented it with Yorkshire pudding, a huge assortment of veggies and side dishes and my mom provided dessert in the form of apricot crapes and some of her home baking.  Hmmmm hmmmm good!!  I have also satisfied my puzzle making bug for yet another year.  Five puzzles down and one on the go to wrap up the season.  Being able to poke my nose into two books (finished The Help - great book - and am working on Ken Follet's latest book Land of Giants) and have thoroughly enjoyed staying up late and reading in bed (sometimes far too late!).

Since this is round or square week over at the Mojo Monday blog and since I just love making round cards, I figured it was the perfect launching pad back into the stamping world :)  With Christmas behind us, it's time to move on to Valentine's Day cards.  I looooove hearts, so this is one of my favorite types of cards to make.  Be forewarned,  you may get sick of seeing them over the next month or so!

It's hard to believe this year is drawing to a close, but I must admit I am glad to see it go.  It has been a tough year in many ways, so I am looking forward to a much better 2012.



What's In It?
Stamps:  Love Notes (Verve)
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Romance, Silver, SU DSP
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Lacy Circle, Circle, Scalloped Heart Nesties, Hearts Embossing Folder, 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Marvy Heart Punch, Button, Silver Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Merry Christmas

Wishing each and every one of you a blessed Christmas as you celebrate with family and friends.  Thank you for all your support and kind comments this past year.  I greatly appreciate the time you take to leave a few words of encouragement and know that each one is a treasured gift and greatly appreciated :)    

I am in awe of how many wonderful, kind and giving people this hobby has introduced me to. Card making  cyber friends rock (((hugs)))!

Thank you for making this a wonderful year in blog land and I look forward to sharing 2012 with you!

Blessings,

Glad Tidings

 This is Jen's last SFYTT for 2011 and it was a nice easy one to work with.  Phew, as time is tight right now and I almost forgot to do it!

I snuck in one final Christmas card using MME's Lost and Found as I just love the colours in this line and I'm sure I can use one last minute card somewhere :)

Out came my Verve snowflake and I embossed the image with clear embossing powder on Artichoke and a scrap of tan paper I had in my stash.

First card I have made in seems forever, and it sure felt good!  A short reprieve amidst the busy schedule we have up through Christmas.  Not sure if I'll get back before the New Year as I have a few books I'd like to poke my nose into over the break once all the company is gone.

Thanks for popping in today and hope your Christmas preparations are going well :)

 

 What's In It?
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve)
Paper:  MME Christmas Lost and Found, Always Artichoke, Tan, Linen Cream
Ink:  Black, VersaMark
Accessories:  Lacy Circle Nesties, Clear Embossing Powder, SU Corner Punch, Red Twine, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Inkspiraions Christmas Joy

Hi all :)  I haven't fallen off the face of the earth just yet, just super, super busy!! Can't wait for a bit of down time over Christmas and hopefully some stamping time too!

Today is a bitter sweet day.  Inkspirations is celebrating its 100th challenge, but is also closing its doors.  Keesh has been running this challenge for approximately four years and with the huge host of challenges available in blog land and her having a very busy life right now, she felt it best to shut the door on this chapter of her life.  A huge thank you to you Keesh for all the amazing challenges you have provided.  I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the DT for the past year and a half and wish to thank you for the fabulous opportunity (((hugs))).

But before Inkspirations signs off, we have one last challenge to enjoy :)   This week's challenge is Christmas.  Simply create any sort of Christmas goodie:  a card, 3D item, altered item etc.  I am the first to admit that straying beyond cards is not my forte, but it is always good to stretch the old wings and dive into something that is not your norm.  After some pondering, I decided I would finally cover some wooden letters and make myself a little Christmas joy for my craft area.

Thankfully my local dollar store had all the letters I needed - though I was freaking out at there being no "O" when I happened to glance down and found one that had fallen to the shelf below - phew!  A coat of white paint on each letter and then I covered them with various papers and added a little something to each one.  It looks great up in my craft area and I can't think of a better word to describe what Christmas means to me :)

Kids are off school as of today and I'm looking forward to decorating a gingerbread house, baking and decorating cookies, wrapping gifts etc. with them.  Having to do squeeze some work time in there too, but at least there are great "Christmas prep breaks" in between :)   Have a great weekend and thanks for gifting me a bit of your time amidst the busyness of today :)

 

What's In It? 
Paper: I Believe Christmas Pad (My Mind's Eye) 
Accessories: Dollar Store Wooden Letters, Lacy Circle and Circle Nesties, The Cat's Pajamas Snowflake DIe, Martha Stewart Snowflake and Fern Punch, Marvy Snowflake Punch,  SU Flower Punch, Half Pearls, Gold Bell, Dimensionals

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #99

For some reason, this sketch caused my brain to go mush.  Ever have one of those days?  My initial thought was to use the tree from Season of Friendship, but it was too large so had to go with Plan B.  That lead me to this wonderful set and a breath of spring amid all the Christmas cards.  Hmmmm... I do recall I did a spring card last week too.  Yikes!  It's not even officially winter and I'm already wishing it away LOL!

I kept things CAS due to time constraints - craaaaaazy busy week for our family and next week is no better!  Nothing much to explain about it, and even no excuse about using a butterfly in the middle of winter :-p

Looking forward to school being out on the 16th.  Kids are off for two weeks and I always enjoy having more of their vacation time before Christmas versus afterwards.  You can make cookies, gingerbread houses, wrap presents etc. and fill in the time until Christmas Eve (that's when we celebrate) quite nicely.   When the vacation falls into the end of the first week of January, the time seems to drag much more as all the excitement is over. At least that is my experience with my kids.  This year they are back on January 3rd and you jump right into the New Year :)   

The rest of the Design Team has some fabulous cards for your inspiration.

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Just a reminder that each week Keesh will select a winner and an honorable mention and post their cards on the Inkspirations Challenge blog.  We'd love to see your card posted as a winner, all you have to do is play along.

Next week we have a bit of a treat for you as it is time to celebrate challenge number 100!  Hope to see you then.





What's In It?
Stamps: Flight of the Butterfly and Inspired by Nature (SU)
Paper: Real Red, Brilliant Blue
Ink: Garden Green, VersaMark
Accessories: Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, White Embossing Powder, 5/8" Black Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Black Half  Pearls.

The True Gift of Christmas

With a busy, but effective weekend behind me (house decorated for Christmas, company over on Saturday night, Christmas letter written, son's soccer game, helping my daughter study for a test etc.), I finally managed to sneak in a bit of time in my craft area.  The added bonus being it is contest week over on the Mojo Monday blog :)

After inundating you with MME's Lost and Found Christmas papers lately, I figured this Echo Park paper from last Christmas would be a nice twist.  I had a heck of a time finding a second blue for this card (other than navy), and after going through every blue I owned and the back sides of DPs, I finally had to settle on Bordering Blue as nothing else I had really worked.  Nothing like getting to know your paper up close and personal LOL!

The Cat's Pajama's snowflake die was calling my name again and a burgundy snowflake was born.  The distressed stripes embossing folder on the bordering blue panel symbolizes the wood in the stable and gave a nice background for the sentiment.

Thanks for popping in today amidst the business of your day!!  Back on Friday with my Inkspirations card.

 


What's In It?
Stamps:Richly Blessed and Tag Time (Verve)
Paper: Echo Park, Night of Navy, Bordering Blue, Burgundy
Ink: Black, Baroque Burgundy
Accessories: Cat's Pajama's Snowflake Die, Distressed Stripes Embossing Folder, Curvy Bookplate Die (Verve), 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Fiskars Threading Water Punch, Marvy Snowflake Punch Button, Twine, Bling, Half Pearls, Silver Brad, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Inkspirations Color Challenge #98

A wonderful bright pallet chosen by Keesh today and one that had green so I was happy LOL!  I combined it with one of Chupa's older Sketch and Stamp sketches.  


With the overload of Christmas cards lately, I thought it would be fun to go in a spring/summer direction this time.  Absolutely LOVE this sentiment and every time I read it I remind myself to speak the kind words I am thinking of and not just leave them in my mind.  I know I sure appreciate a kind word, and in a world that tends to focus on the negatives of life, it is always nice to get some positives to help you along in your day :) 

The rest of the Design Team has some fabulous cards for your inspiration.

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Just a reminder that each week Keesh will select a winner and an honorable mention and post their cards on the Inkspirations Challenge blog.  We'd love to see your card posted as a winner, all you have to do is play along.

Happy Friday everyone :) 





What's In It?
Stamps: Kind Words (Verve)
Paper: So Saffron DSP, Rose Red, Wild Wasabi,
Ink: Black, VersaMark
Accessories: Label Nestie, Flutter By and Elegant Leaf Die (Verve), Corner Rounder, Crimper, 1/4" Green Gingham Ribbon, Paper Piercer, Black Half Pearls.

Merry and Bright

 
Well, Sankiri got the old brain cells a churning with this sketch!  Oh my!  So many elements to deal with my simple mind had some time wrapping itself around this sketch.  However, once I got to working with it, it fell  into place quite nicely.  Love a good challenge :)

I decided to use the same papers as my last card as they were still out on my desk with the bonus being the addition of another Christmas card to my stash.  Love this fun snowflake die from The Cat's Pajama's and it was perfect for the circle on the sketch. 

Yeah, November Verve sketches are all done and now we play the waiting game for the announcement of this month's $100 Verve gift certificate winner.  What a wonderful Christmas present that would be!

Thanks for popping in today!  Always enjoy the company :)

 

What's In It?
Stamps:  All Year Cheer I (SU)
Paper: Fancy Pants Paper (Brrr), Burgundy, Certainly Celery, Kraft

Ink: Black
Accessories: Snowflake Die (The Cat's Pajama's), Circle and Scalloped Circle  Nesties, Corner Punch, Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, Gold Twine, Gold Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Celebrate the Season

I loved this week's MFT sketch - no skewed panels LOL.  It was on my my hit list  all week and I am just now getting to it.  A little "me time" as a break from all the work I'm doing for hubby, as well as a great excuse to make another Christmas card. 

Love this Fancy Pants "Brrr" paper - it's green (my favorite colour) and has lots of  snowflakes on it - score!  I gleefully used my Cuttlebug snowflake die for the big, burgundy snowflake, and after rejoicing in the fact there was no skewed panel on the sketch, I ended up creating one of my own - go figure LOL!

Thanks for popping in today.  Have to get this month's last Verve sketch done so I'll definitely be back before Thursday at midnight.

Until then, I'll be basking in the BC Lions football team's Grey Cup win (equivalent of the NFL Super Bowl) yesterday.  They played and won at home - can't get much better than than :)   



What's In It?
Stamps:  Amuse, Verve 
Paper: Fancy Pants (Brrr), Certainly Celery, Burgundy, Kraft 
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Cuttlebug Snowflake Die, SU Scalloped Border Punch, Crimper, 1" Circle Punch, Script Embossing Folder, 5/8" Tan Grosgrain Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, Gold Cording, Gold Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

A My Mind's Eye Christmas

This week's Mojo Monday sketch made me have to pause and think once again.  Love the challenge of being able to master a sketch, and hate it when a sketch works me over, or even worse, beats me to a pulp!  Yeah...it's that competitive part of me again LOL!

I am still madly in love with this particular design of My Mind's Eye Lost and Found Christmas paper.  Went back to my LSS last week and got six more sheets of it so I have lots to play with and most likely a stock for next year!  Just love the stylized Christmas trees with the sparkly red star on top and the colour combo is right up my alley.

Christmas means snowflakes in my books, so out came these fabulous Verve snowflakes.  I embossed them in white on some Artichoke paper and cut them out by hand as the matching dies are still on my wish list versus in my craft room.  The empty space on the right of the sketch gave me grief, but since this week's sketch creator Debbie filled it with an image I figured I could do the same LOL!   I opted to use a tag and dressed it up.

Trusting all my American friends and followers had a great Thanksgiving, and your Black Friday shopping was successful if you chose to get out and brave the crowds.  We'll be watching the Grey Cup (Canadian version of the Super Bowl) today as the BC Lions are in it and we hare hoping for a win!!

Challenges:  Crazy 4 Challenges - Snowflakes




What's In It?
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve)
Paper: Lost and Found Christmas (My Mind's Eye), Always Artichoke, Vanilla, Burgundy
Ink: Black, Versamark
Accessories: Snowflake Embossing Folder,  A Cut Above Dies (Verve), 5/8" Tan Grosgrain Ribbon, Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch, Buttons, Red Bling, Gold Twine, Gold Half  Pearls, White Embossing Powder, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Inkspirations Sketch Challenge #97

First of all, Happy Thanksgiving Weekend to all my American followers!  Wishing you a fabulous time with with family and friends!  Eat some turkey and trimmings for me :)

Love the sketch Keesh came up with this week.  The basic layout allows you to dress it up or lean more toward the CAS side of things. The sky is the limit :)

I went for a more CAS look and pulled out some PTI dies to accomplish just that.  I decided to go with this great MME Lime Twist polka dot paper (oh how I love my dots LOL!) which I got over at Paper and Such (Julie's low shipping fees are the best!).  I paired it with my favorite PTI flower die and used Melon Mambo to make it pop.  Was a fun card to make and I can definitely see myself using this sketch again :)     

The rest of the Design Team has some fabulous cards for your inspiration.

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Just a reminder that each week Keesh will select a winner and an honorable mention and post their cards on the Inkspirations Challenge blog.  We'd love to see your card posted as a winner, all you have to do is play along.





What's In It?
Stamps: Wishing You (Verve)
Paper: MME Lime Twist, Not Quite Navy, Melon Mambo
Ink: Black
Accessories: Flower and Label Die (PTI), 1/4" Black Grosgrain Ribbon, Crimper, Button, Twine, Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Christmas Blessings

Diva Tosh came up with a wonderful sketch this week.  I need a few more Christmas cards so I jumped at the chance to make another one.  My starting point was these wonderful Echo Park papers and I gleefully put navy and brown together because when I was growing up it was a big no no to wear them together.

I love the shape of this Stampin' Up ornament punch!  My original intentions were to heat emboss something on the ornament but the silver paper is very slick, so rather than risk it, I decided to put a punched out snowflake on it instead.  I'll save the daring stuff for another day LOL!

The font of this Christmas Blessings sentiment is perfect for this card as it ties in wonderfully with the shapes on the DP.  It's the first time it's seen ink (why, I ask?!) and using it on this card has convinced me to add the large scale Plain Jane version to my Verve wish list :)

Thankfully, we had a nice weekend so I was able to get my Christmas lights up.  Only glitch was the fact our front trees and shrubs have grown quite a bit so we need to get a few more strands of lights so it doesn't look like I quit half way through putting them on LOL! 

To my American friends, Happy Thanksgiving a day early :)  Enjoy your time with family and friends and indulge in some turkey and other goodies for me - yum!  Best of luck to those of you who are daring the crowds on Black Friday!




What's In It? 
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve)
Paper:  Wintertime (Echo Park), Night of Navy, Early Espresso
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, SU Ornament and Border Punch, Crimper, Martha Stewart Snowflake Punch, Marvy Snowflake Punch, 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Button, Silver and Red Twine, Button, Silver Half Pearls, Bling, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

A Verve Noel

When I first saw this sketch I was a little leery due to all the layers, but once I started working with it things fell into place.  My starting point was some delicious Kaiser Craft Winter Wonderland paper, which unfortunately is mostly covered up.

I used Labels 17 nesties for the two side panel shapes and the doily is a PTI die.  The snowflake is embossed in bronze and hand cut (yes, the newly released dies to fit this snowflake are on my wish list!), and since I don't own burgundy buttons or half pearls, I had to use dark red ones instead...but I think they passed as the burgundy paper is more towards the red side - phew!

Now that I'm working for hubby again, I'm coveting any craft time I can get :)  Mind you I can't complain too loudly (just quietly to all of you lol) as I get to work from home which saves me driving time etc. and allows an easy transition to the after school kids.  Love the fact we can work together as a team and since my parents did so for about 40 years, I guess it is in my blood :)

Have a fabulous day and thank you for stopping in today (((hugs))).  


 

What's In It?  
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve) 
Paper: KaiserCraft, Basic Grey, Burgundy 
Ink: Black, VersaMark 
Accessories:  Snowflake Embossing Folder,  Bronze Embossing Powder, PTI Doily Die, 5/8" Silver Ribbon, Crimper, Red, Silver and Black Half Pearls, Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Techno Throwdown

This week's Techno Stamper Monday Lunchtime sketch was one I wanted to use as I had a hankering to use Stampin' Up's Season of Friendship tree and the large panel fit the bill.  I paired it with the wonderful combination for this week's Colour Throwdown.   However, that was when things came to a grinding halt!


Ever had one of those cards that just works you over?!   Since I didn't want to be outdone by some paper and ink (I know, sad statement LOL) and I was too stubborn to toss it out and start again, I pressed on....mercilessly letting the illusion of getting the card to work out torture, taunt and challenge me to get it right.  I almost didn't post it, but decided I should just as a reminder of how some times things fall together and other times your creative gears get ground but good. 

I think my troubles began when I used white instead of vanilla and then realized my error and had to work it in - first ugh!  Things continued to be issues from there.....I didn't have Basic Grey or Red Riding Hood Ink so had to sub in colours; my tree image was bigger than I remembered but I was determined to use the image so the sketch got pushed to the limits; the teeny, tiny red sentiment panel overpowered the tree so I played around with different cording, ribbon etc. across the vanilla panel and settled on the twine; the tree was still getting overpowered so I added black half pearls to the base of each leaf  to bring it out a bit more; tree didn't feel "grounded" so I added the little strip of black scallops at the bottom to ground it and get my "rule of three" going.  After trudging through the above issues, I think I appeased the competitive gene in me enough to call it a card.  Not one that will win first prize, but at least I got a participation ribbon LOL!

Thanks for listening to my woes :)  Hopefully it encouraged you in some small way and provided you with a laugh as you pictured an obsessed, crazy woman (waving madly at you) competing against an inanimate object called paper!  Trusting my next card will be a much more enjoyable experience - so there, paper LOL!



What's In It?
Stamps: Season of Friendship (SU), Hero Arts 
Paper: Real Red, So Saffron, Basic Grey, Vanilla, Black 
Ink: Going Grey, So Saffron, Real Red, Black 
Accessories:  SU Border Punch, Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Crimper, Black Half Pearls, Twine, Dimensionals

Inkspirations Colour Challenge #96

I'm just loving this week's colour combo and had great fun mixing the colours around to get them to work for me.  I didn't even use a sketch this time!  Came up with this one all on my own but I'm sure it is similar to some out there in blog land and they were my subliminal inspiration for this card.  For the meantime, I'll go with wonders never cease  LOL! 

When I saw red in the mix, I wanted to use it as my pop of colour on the card.  Played around with various ideas and then a light bulb went off and my creative gene started to dance.  The result was Verve's Jotted heart die and "U" die to spell "love you".  Stamped the corresponding words on each die shape and added "so much" at the bottom.

A fun card that may very well be hubby's Valentine's Day card - though remembering to save it and give it to him is a whole other issue LOL!

The rest of the Design Team has some fabulous cards for your inspiration.

Cindy Kirsty Makeesha Renée Brandi Carrie Helen Ilina Lee-Anne Marisa

Just a reminder that each week Keesh will select a winner and an honorable mention and post their cards on the Inkspirations Challenge blog.  We'd love to see your card posted as a winner, all you have to do is play along.




What's In It?
Stamps: You and I, Happy Phrases (Verve)
Paper: Kraft, Bashful Blue, Real Red, Cream Linen
Ink: Chocolate Chip, VersaMark
Accessories: Lacy Circle and Circle Nesties, Jotted Heart and I Heart U Die Sets (Verve), Crimper, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Loving My Bronze Snowflake

 
The first thing that came to mind when I saw the flowers on this week's Mojo Monday sketch was to use a big, sparkly, snowflake, so I dug into my Christmas DPs to see what would tickle my fancy.  I pulled some yummy Basic Grey, Echo Park and what I think is some old Stampin' Up designer series paper that worked well together. 

My  initial thought was to go with a sparkly, red snowflake, but alas, my supply of such paper seems to have run out so I opted to go with a bronze one instead.  My attempt at keeping red in the mix failed as using a red ribbon overpowered the card and totally wiped out my snowflake!  Thus the  monochromatic card. Thankfully I had some bronze twine to help tie things together (no pun intended LOL).  

Hubby has a ton of work for me to do starting the end of this week and carrying on into the New Year, so unfortunately my creative time will have to suffer...sniff, sniff....  Since I refuse to give up my self imposed "Fit and Firm at Fifty" kick until that blessed day in January, as well as having to schedule in all the kids' Christmas activities and getting my own house in order for Christmas, I am hoping to be able to manage three posts a week.  Could be a challenge, but hey, this girl loves a challenge, and after all, tis is the season to believe in miracles, right?!  Will do my best, promise :)

Challenges:  Divas By Design - Monochromatic  
                   

   


What's In It? 
Paper: Vintage Santa (Echo Park), Jovial (Basic Grey), SU DSP, Sparkly Bronze chipboard, Gold, Always Artichoke, Linen Vanilla 
Accessories:  SU Scalloped Border Punch, Cuttlebug Snowflake Die, Martha Stewart Snowflake Die, Half Pearls, 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Button, Bronze Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals