The Snowflakes Are Falling

Diva Laurie provided this week's Verve CAS sketch.  I'm glad it's CAS week because time was short and I needed to get the last Verve sketch of the month done in order to qualify for the draw.

Since it's Christmas on my blog now, I was sorting through my Christmas papers and came across this absolutely delicious Snowfall Blizzard paper by Bo Bunny which I got on sale after Christmas last year.  Just love this colour combo and the glittered snowflake and flourish pattern is sooo pretty that it was hard to cut into!  Ever have that problem?!

I crimped Verve's Tagged Rectangle die and added a brown snowflake to it -- heck figured since I had a red snowflake on Monday's card, why not have a brown one today.  Added some silver bells and a bit of cording to add to the sparkle.  Gotta love it when Mike's has a 50% off coupon and you have two kids in tow who can each use a coupon for you.  Needless to say, I am a happy mama as I now have gold, silver and multi-coloured bells in my stash :) 

So excited to see what Julee has put together for this Friday's Verve release!  Keeping my fingers crossed in the hopes of being the lucky person who wins the entire release (sending subliminal messages to Random.org as we speak LOL!).

Have a fabulous day and just want to let you know how much I appreciate all of you who share a bit of your time with me in my tiny corner of blog land ((hugs))! 

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve) 
Paper: Snowfall Blizzard (Bo Bunny) Cocoa, Cool Caribbean 
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Tagged Rectangle Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Snowflake Die (Cuttlebug), 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Button, Silver Twine, Silver Bells, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

CAS(e) this Sketch

When I saw this sketch on the new CAS(e) this Sketch blog, I immediately thought of an owl nesting in a tree hollow, so I pulled out my Stampin' Up owl punch and wood grain embossing folder and went to work.

A simple sentiment along the bottom with a few leaves for a pop of colour (needless to say, there was a big smile on my face when I was able to add a few leaves wink, wink) and the card was done.   Quick and easy :)

To all my blogging friends on the East Coast, my thoughts and prayers are with you as you weather Hurricane Sandy!

To everyone else, thanks for popping by today!



What's In It? 
Stamps: Warmest Regards (Stampin' Up), Leaf Prints (PTI) 
Paper: Early Espresso, Kraft, Only Orange, Real Red, Always Artichoke, So Saffron 
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:  Wood Grain Embossing Folder (Tim Holtz), Lattice Embossing Folder (Stampin' Up), Circle Nesties, Owl Punch (Stampin' Up), Leaf Die (PTI)

Mojo Monday #265

Since it's the last Monday of the month, it's round or square week over at the Mojo Monday blog.  Two sketches for you to choose from, or you could get ambitions and use them both :)

This time around, I chose the square sketch.  Out of character for me, but this one spoke to me as I love using my lacy squares Nestabilities.

A Christmas theme has has begun on my blog, and I had great fun using this wonderful MME glittered paper called I Believe as my starting point.  Needed a "pop" of colour so I punched out a snowflake and added red embossing powder so it would nice and sparkly.  Oh how I love snowflakes...it's my winter replacement for leaves LOL!
You can check out all the challenge details are over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are here)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

Hard to believe November will be here in just a few days!!  Time to start the Christmas shopping!  I like to be done by the end of November so I can focus on the joy surrounding the season :)

Have a fabulous day and have fun with the sketches.     

 

What's In It?
Stamps:  Glad Tidings (Verve) 
Paper:  On the Bright Side (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso, Real Red, Old Olive 
Ink:  Black , VersaMark 
Accessories:  Lacy Square Nesties, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart), Red Embossing Powder,  Black Half Pearls, Gold Twine, Button, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #160

This week's Just us Girls inspiration Challenge is brought to us by Lisa, and she has selected this gorgeous picture loaded with inspiration.  I loved the pumpkins scattered through out so decided to make one.
Last week while strolling through blog land, I saw this wonderful pumpkin card by Jen Del Muro and wanted to use it as a springboard for my card. 

I started out with a large circle, added a large oval to the middle of the circle and then a half circle to each side to give my pumpkin a bit of width.

The pumpkin felt a bit "blah" so I embossed the panels to give it a bit of "oomph".  Still not happy, so I sponged the edges to give it a bit more definition, only to find the middle panel was very pale against the two outside ones.  So in an attempt to rectify that situation, I added some shading to the middle panel but wasn't overly successful....it looks like a dirty pumpkin freshly picked from the field....so that's my story and I'm sticking to it LOL!   The leaves are from PTI's acorn set, I hand cut the stem and added some curly cues.

The rest of the Design Team has some wonderful inspiration over on the Just Us Girls blog, so pop on over and check them out.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week :)

I look forward to seeing your inspired creations :)

 

What's In It?
Stamps:  Because of You (Verve), Autumn Acorns (PTI) 
Paper: Only Orange, Always Artichoke, Close to Cocoa, Kraft, Cream Linen 
Ink:  Black, Pumpkin Pie, VersaMark 
Accessories:  Circle and Oval Nesties, Autumn Acorn Dies (PTI), Swiss Dots Embossing Folder, Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensinoals

PTI October Blog Hop

This month's PTI 's Blog Hop theme is non-traditional holiday colour schemes which we could chose from and make a card or tag with.  Since I love making tags, it was a great opportunity to get a few done for the holiday season.  I managed to use three of the colour combinations and had great fun doing so :)

Loved this colour combination.  Most likely because it is more towards the traditional side and I just love red and green together, no matter the hues.  It provided the perfect combination to create a folded Christmas tree.  I have seen these around blog land but never made one so jumped at the chance to do so.  As luck would have it, I have absolutely no patterned paper with this colour combo on it so I had to go with straight card stock, but I like it :)    Here is an instruction link if you want it.  In case you are wondering, I used half of a 3 inch circle for my trees.  

This next colour combination was more on the cool side and made me think of snow right away - thus the snowflake theme.  Love how the turquoise pops against the grey :)  Hard to see, but I used the musical background stamp on the grey and this little "joy" stamp from Dawn's Signature Christmas set is just the right size for small tags :)  There is always great joy in my kids (and this overgrown kid too LOL) when we get snow here as it isn't a regular occurrence, and usually only lasts a day or two so we take full advantage of making snowmen and sledding down the local hill when we get some.

The rich tones in this colour combination were a delight to work with - though the pink did cause me a few issues lol :)   I love snowflakes and thus my snowflake and "joy" theme carried over from my previous tag.  Joy is such an integral part of Christmas that I love using the word on cards and tags.  Added a few polka dots in the background and a big old snowflake up front to steal the show.

Ran out of time or I would have used a few more of the combinations to create a few more tags.  Have them stored away so may have to used them when time permits.  I truly do enjoy working on a smaller canvas (though sometimes it can be very frustrating too!) and tags are one of my favorite things to create.  The fun part is you can use them as tags or add them to a card.  Will have to wait and see where these end up!

Wishing you a wonderful day and thanks for dropping by!

Christmas Tree Tag
What's In It?
Stamps: Signature Christmas (PTI) 
Paper: Cream Linen, Forrest Foliage, Real Red, Early Espresso, Sage Shadow 
Ink: Black 
Accessories:  Circle Nesties, Star Punch (Marvy), Tag Die (MFT), Raffia

Small Snowflake Tag
What's In It? 
Stamps: Signature Christmas, Background Basics Sheet Music (PTI) 
Paper: Basic Grey, Going Grey, Sage Shadow, Turquoise 
Ink: Black, VersaMark 
Accessories: Scalloped Border Punch (SU), Oval Nesties, 5/8" Grey Satin Ribbon, Snowflake Punch (Martha Stewart), Snowflake Punch (Marvy), Ribbon, Crimper, Silver and White Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Large Snowflake Tag
What's In It? 
Stamps: Polka Dot Basics II and Signature Christmas (PTI) 
Paper:  Old Olive, Close to Cocoa, Pretty in Pink, Baroque Burgundy 
Ink: Black, VersaMark 
Accessories:  Snowflake Cutup (The Cat's Pajama's), Scalloped Border Punch (Stampin' Up), Crimper, Button, Twine, White Half Pearls, Glue Dot

Let The Snowflakes Begin

 
Diva Tosh brings us Verve's fourth sketch of the month and it was a fun one to play with.  I cheated just a bit by omitting the split panel and using a bigger circle.

This yummy MME paper was my starting point.  Love the touch of glitter on the leaves.  It's there, honest, just had a hard time capturing it on camera.

Carried the glitter theme over to the snowflake and used a lot of white accents - most likely due to a subconscious and very direct correlation with the colour of snow lol!  The card is fairly flat, so think I can get away with an easy mailing too :)

Oh, and for the record, the snowflakes in the title refer to the kind on my cards, not the kind that fall on the ground LOL!

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Memory Box 
Paper: I Believe (MME), Night of Navy, Burgundy, Sparkly Silver 
Ink: Black, VersaMark 
Accessories:  Snowflake Die (The Cat's Pajamas), Circle Nesties, Scalloped Border Punch (Stampin' Up), Crimper, Button, Silver Twine, Glue Dot, Dimensionals

Deconstructing Leaves

 
Loved this Deconstructed Sketch as there are so many possibilities for the large oval and "garnish" on the side.  Also quailifies for this week's Hand Stamped Sentiments inspiration challenge.

After a brief hiatus, I succumbed to the temptation of making another "leaf card".  Soon enough, the tide will be turning toward Christmas cards and my beloved leaves will have to be replaced by snowflakes.

While making this card, I think there was a little payback going because I couldn't make up my mind about colours or elements for the life of me!  As a result, I ended up die cutting a bunch of leaves in various colours and shapes before I settled on a combination I liked.  Down side:  I've added a lot of leaves to my "scrap box" which I'm supposed to be trying to decrease in size not increase in size - ugh!  Upside:  I now have enough left over leaves to make a few more cards...sorry, just couldn't resist saying that...wink, wink.

In all honesty, thanks for putting up with my leaf addiction this fall....or, if you've had enough, thanks for being quiet about it and not unsubscribing....{grin}.  You guys are the best, and I thank each and every one of you for sharing a bit of your time with me in my little corner of blog land :)    


 
What's In It?
Stamps:  Leaf Prints and Modern Wood Mats (PTI), Amuse
 Paper: MME, Early Espresso, Kraft, Mellow Moss, So Saffron, Real Red, Cream Linen 
Ink: Close to Cocoa, Black 
Accessories: Leaf  and Mat Stack Dies (PTI), Crimper, Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals 

Mojo Monday #264

Welcome back to another Mojo Monday sketch.  This week's sketch was fun to work with and I enjoyed opening a pack of new-to-me, MME paper called On The Bright Side.

A few layers with brown trim were the base for this fabulous sentiment which is so true!  No miracle is small - love it :)  They are all big to the person they happen to, be it an answered prayer; a narrow miss at injury or an accident; meeting just the right person that can help you out with a situation (job availability, referral to a good doctor, finding a good daycare provider etc.); achieving something you have been striving for for some time just when you were ready to give up; a friend calling at just the right time; a rainbow in the sky as a reminder of a promise made long ago.  They have no bounds, happen all the time, and are a good thing to reflect upon.  What's been your miracle? 

Sorry...a bit of a detour...back to the card!  I struggled a bit with the vertical ribbon banner seeming a bit plain so I added a "Starbuck's heart" (punched from a Starbuck's coffee sleeve) with a button.  Still something missing so I added a touch of bling.  Still not happy with things, so added the two banners in opposite corners.  Phew...amazing what "I'll just add one more thing" can morph into LOL!

You can check out all the challenge details are over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen (you are herer)

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

Thankfully, the rain was not a part of this week's soccer game - yeah!!  However the colder temperatures have set in and my toes were not happy campers by the end of the game!  Time to bring out the full winter gear in order to stay warm on the sidelines.  The good news...neither ran, nor snow, nor sleet, nor cold temps dampen the volume of my side line cheering!  I'm such a soccer mom LOL!
 
Enjoy your day and have fun with the sketch :)     

 

What's In It?
Stamps: You Lift me Up (Verve) 
Paper:  On the Bright Side (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso, Starbuck's Sleeve 
Ink:  Black 
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Circle Nesties, Heart Punch (Marvy), Paper Rose (Recollections), Button, Bling, Twine, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #159

Welcome to this week's Just Us Girls challenge.  I am your hostess with the mostess this week, and since it is the third week of the month, it's a colour challenge.  This fabulous combination was showing up on Pinterest in various forms and I just loved it so thought a card would be a great place to use it.

I combined the challenge with a Sweet and Sassy sketch, and as fate would have it, I had a 6x6 pack of SEI's Juliette paper that fit the challenge perfectly - score! 

Still on my rolled rose binge (hey, at least it isn't maple leaves, wink, wink) and opted to use this wonderful Psalm 121:1-2 Plain Jane by Verve.  I just love this verse and have been singing the song by Bebo Norman all day since stamping this card.  The You Tube link is here if you want to give it a listen.

The rest of the Design Team has some wonderful inspiration over on the Just Us Girls blog, so pop on over and check them out.  Then put your creative genes to work and add your card to the challenge post on the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week :)

Thanks for popping by and have a wonderful weekend!

 

What's In It?
Stamps: Psalm 121:1-2 Plain Jane and Dream Big (Verve), French Script (Stampin' Up) 
Paper: Juliette (SEI), Cameo Coral, Real Red, Going Grey, Tan 
Ink: Black, Going Grey, VersaMark 
Accessories:  Scalloped Oval and Oval Nesties, Dreamy Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve), Rolled Rose Die (My Favorite Things), Crimper, 5/8" Grey Satin Ribbon, Button, Twine, Glue Dot, White Half Pearls, Bling, Dimensionals

Happy Valentine's Day

Yes, you read right!  I made a Valentine's Day in October LOL!   Not intentionally...it just worked out for this sketch.

This month's Sketch For You To Try (SFYTT) was giving me grief, and after some pondering, the only solution I was able to come up with was to put flowers in the middle and have the leaves sticking over the sides.  Nothing too creative, but that is all my little creative gene could come up with for this sketch so I went with it.

Found this wonderful heart frame in my "reject" container and used it as the starting point for this card.  Kept things on the CAS side by sticking to mainly white, scoring the background panels for a little something, adding three different sized rolled roses, and finished things off with my "cheat" of using the leaves as the two side panels. 

Thank for visiting today :)



What's In It?
Stamps: Love Notes and Dream Big (Verve) 
Paper: Pretty in Pink, Rose Red, Grey 
Ink:  Black  
Accessories:  Heart Punch Around The Page (Martha Stewart), Dream Leaves Die (A Cut Above by Verve) , Rolled Rose Dies (My Favorite Things), Score Pal, Black and White Half Pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Joyeux Noel

This is my entry for the Verve Christmas Release sketch which enters you into a draw to win the entire release.  Hello!!

I was inspired by the heart Diva Maureen used on her card for this sketch.  She used the jotted heart die for hers but it was too small for my purposes so I used the nestie heart.

I went with a Christmas theme as it is a Christmas release after all.  A pink snowflake came to mind for some reason and where there is pink, I love to use brown :)    The card was great fun to make - finally, a card I wasn't fighting with LOL!  Even went with the French sentiment as a tribute to our bilingual country of Canada.  Have some relatives living in Ottawa (our capital) and work for the government so I think this card will be making it's way across the continent come Christmas.

Can't wait to see what Julee has cooked up for this release, but the patiently waiting part will be tough LOL!

 

What's In It? 
Stamps: Glad Tidings (Verve), Snowflakes (Stampin' Up) 
Paper:  Early Espresso, Kraft, Pretty in Pink 
Ink:  VersaMark and Black   
Accessories:  Scalloped Circle and Heart  Nesties, Scalloped Border Punch (Stampin' Up), Seeing Spots Embossing Folder, Snowflake Die (Cuttlebug), Crimper, 5/8" Brown Satin Ribbon, Buttons, Twine, Glue Dots, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

You Lift Me Up

For some reason, sketches seem to be working me over lately.  Maybe it's the rain that has begun to fall outside after close to three months without it -- okay, any excuse will do right about now LOL!

I pulled out this heart trimmed circle from my "discard " pile as it is growing faster than my kids right now!  Using something from the pile is going to be my MO for the next day, week and month I think!  The rest of the card was built around the heart doily.

With such a neutral pallet I tried to bring in a bit of colour, and pink was as good as it got!  Next issue became the sentiment panel. It was too "blah", so I added some bling to try to bring the focus to the middle of the card.  Card was still  "blah" so I added some twine and a pink rose to the bow as well as some pearls around the heart doily.  Called it quits after that as I was burned out.  Hopefully the next card will flow a lot easier!

Thanks for popping in today :)

What's In It?
Stamps:  Brighter Days (Verve)
Paper: Garden Floral (Recollections), Mellow Moss and Sahara Sand (Stampin' Up)
Ink: Black
Accessories:  Heart Circle and Oval Nesties, White Pleated Ribbon, 5/8" Pink Satin Ribbon, White and Black Half Pearls, Bling. Twine, Paper Rose (Recollections), Glue Dots, Dimensionals

Mojo Monday #263

Yeah for another Mojo Monday sketch.  For some reason, this sketch worked me over LOL!  It took multiple changes of colours, papers etc. to finally get to a place where I was happy with it.  Some sketches just work that way :)


The Stella and Rose MME paper saved the day and I used the turquoise as my accent.  A crimped heart from a Starbuck's sleeve made it into the mix - love using those sleeves as they have such wonderfully, deep grooves.

I pulled out Verve's Lean On Me set again as I just love the mix of fonts and the bold part of the sentiment makes such a wonderful statement on a card.

You can check out all the challenge details are over on the  Mojo Monday blog and also get a chance to view all the wonderful Mojo Makers samples!  Should you wish more details on their cards, you can also visit their individual blogs noted below.

Carole Burrage

Debbie Carriere

Julee Tilman (Owner)

Marisa Ritzen

Mary Fish

Sarah Biglow

Teresa Kline

Stephanie Kraft

Wanda Cullen

The rainy weather has finally hit and it came with a vengeance!  This soccer mom got a bit wet on Saturday afternoon watching my son's game but at least the rain stopped during the second half and they won the game.  The bad news is the toxic mix of rain, humidity and curly hair left mommy with a bad case of the frizzies LOL!
 
Have a great day and thanks for visiting.     



What's In It? 
Stamps: Lean on Me and Friendly Phrases (Verve)
Paper:  Stella and Rose (My Mind's Eye), Early Espresso, Turquoise, Cream Linen, Starbuck's Coffee Sleeve
Ink: Black 
Aaccessories: Circle and Scalloped Circle Nesties, Heart Punch (Marvy), Button, Twine, Glue Dots, Half Pearls, Dimensionals

Just Us Girls #158

Vicki is our host this week and the challenge is to use the emboss resist technique. You can find the tutorial here if you need it.

I pulled out Pocket Silhouettes (love the images in this set!), stamped and embossed the image three times and then sponged the image with various inks to create the colour pattern in the background.  My initial thought was to have a trio of the image across a card, but the panels were a bit too wide for all three to fit, even after trimming, so I opted to make three individual cards instead.  It never ceases to amaze me how you can change things up in a significant way by just switching the colour of the card stock.

Here are the individual cards.  First up, white on white.   Just realized you can see the dimensionals through the paper on the left side due to the sunlight...sorry!

Second version, cream on cream textured card stock.

This last one is made with Sahara Sand and I added texture to the base panel because the cream and the kraft twine didn't work on it and I needed a little something. 

Which is your favorite? 

The rest of the Design Team has some wonderful inspiration over on the Just Us Girls blog, so pop on over and check them out.  Then put on your creative genes to work and link your card it to the JUGS blog for the chance to be selected as Chick of the Week :)

Thanks for popping by and have a wonderful weekend!

   

What's In It?
Stamps: Pocket Silhouettes (Stampin' Up!) 
Paper: Glossy Paper (SU), Sahara Sand, Cream Linen, Early Espresso 
Ink:  VersaMark, More Mustard, Rudy Red, Old Olive, Garden Green, Really Rust 
Accessories:  Clear Embossing Powder, Lattice Embossing Folder (SU), Black Half Pearls, Twine, Dimensionals