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.