absc004 - Peace on Earth

Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let it Begin With Me.

Hello everyone today is Thanksgiving here in America so we are celebrating with a wonderful Turkey dinner and giving thanks for the many blessings we have.

It's also the very first Annabelle Stamps Sketch Contest...Every week there is a Sketch challenge on Friday but the last Friday of the month is the "Contest" sketch and there is a wonderful prize available so you don't want to miss out by not participating in the challenge. You can find all the details on the Annabelle Blog.

For my card today I chose to "flip" the sketch. For this card I used the Holly Branch stamps set. This is a really "versatile" set that can be used in so many different ways. I stamped the sentiment first with Ruby Red ink and colored over part of it with a Basic Black marker. Next I stamped one of the Holly Branches with Versamark ink and embossed it with Detail Silver EP. I stamped another Holly Branch the same way on Whisper White cs but cut that image out. The images were watercolored with ink pads and an Aqua Painter.
I also added some light spatter using the Itty Bitty BG stamp set from SU and Baja Breeze ink stamped off once before stamping onto the white card stock.

Card Stock used: Whisper White, Maroon (Bazzill), My Minds Eye DP-The Merry Days of Christmas line and Parisian Breeze (retired Specialty paper from SU)
Other: Silver Sprinkles (Annabelle Stamps), Martha Stewart Loopy border punch, Word Window Punch(SU), Foam Mounting Tape

3CT41 - So Thankful

HELLO AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL MY (American Friends)
Today is a day we set aside to, "Give Thanks" for the things we are grateful for. I am most thankful today for my faith in Christ and my family. I have included a couple of fall photo's of trees I took here in town and hope you enjoy them.
May your day be filled with wonderful Blessings.

Don't forget to visit the other DT members blogs and tell them how thankful you are for them sharing their art work with you. God Bless

Card Details: Stamps: Leaf - Stamp Oasis
Card Stock: Always Artichoke, More Mustard, Ruby Red, Elegant Eggplant
Other: Designer Paper: Autumn Traditions
Punch: Martha Steward, Circle Nestabilitie Die, Paper Piercing Tool, Signo White Gel pen, Ruby Red brads, Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Claret EP, More Mustard and Always Artichoke Grosgrain ribbon, foam mounting tape.

BC126 - Giving Thanks

HAPPY FRIDAY! - Boy am I "thankful" that the week is over. It's been a bit rough trying to get everything done amidst everything that has been happening here this week. One of our cats, (Harley) developed some problems that have kept me pretty stressed out. You can read about it here if you are interested.

This week the blogger challenge theme is : Giving Thanks - We all have so much to be thankful for and sometimes we just don't realize that it's the "little" things that we need to be grateful for.
I started out this morning trying to create a card and it took me all day because of numerous phone call interruptions, picking up our cat, picking up Coleen, etc...and also not being completely satisfied with the first card I made. I've posted both cards here even though I don't really care for the first card.

My second card I'm happy with. It's actually a (case) of this card by Karen Giron. I like the layout and think this one turned out fairly decent.
The other card is okay but there is just something about it that felt a bit "simple" to me and not at all the look I was hoping to achieve.

Be sure to check out the other BC Members Blogs (Click on the Icon on my sidebar) and also check out this weeks Annabelle Sketch - see post below. Next week a PRIZE is being offered so you'll want to check that out as well.

Details: Stamps on Long Card: Falling Leaves-SU
Ink: Ruby Red
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Kiwi Kiss (SU) - Textured Dark Teal by Bazzill and Designer Paper by Cosmo Cricket.
Other: Black EP, Punch (SU), Brads-Ruby Red, Ribbon-Pumpkin Pie Striped Grosgrain, Metal Label Die (Cuttlebug)

Details: Stamps on Standard card: Give Thanks (Hero Arts)
Ink:Palette Noir Black, Prisma Colored Pencils
Paper: Pumpkin Pie, Ruby Red, Blush Blossom, Textured Teal and DP Cosmo Cricket
Other: Leaf Punch and Scallop Punch-SU, Sprinkles (Annabelle Stamps)Paper Piercing Tool.

absc003 - O Come Let Us Adore Him

Hello! Welcome to the latest Annabelle Stamps Sketch Challenge.
For my card this week I chose the stamp set, (Wise Men) from the new Annabelle Christmas line. I stamped baby Jesus with Versamark ink and embossed the image with Black EP and then watercolored it and punched it out with an Oval punch.
Then I layered this onto Sage Shadow cs and embossed the sentiment with the same black ep and the star with Gold Fire Opal EP and added a jewel to the center of the star. I added small scalloped photo corners and mounted this to Brushed Gold cs.

My card base is Always Artichoke cs layered with DP by DCWV Christmas line. I embossed a piece of the Always Artichoke with the Swiss Dots Cuttlebug embossing folder and added punched pieces of the brushed gold card stock. My embellishments are Dew Drops because I didn't have any of those fabulous sprinkles in the correct color I needed but do check out all the fantastic colors of the Sprinkles that are available on the Annabelle Stamps store.

Don't forget to visit the Annabelle Blog to see all the other DT members card and try the sketch out yourself.

Have a great weekend.

3CT40 - 'Tis The Season

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....but in a "Non-Traditional" way.
Welcome to this weeks 3CT Challenge - Create a Christmas themed project with NO
Red or Green. Sounds pretty simple right?....Not so much when every single piece of Christmas DP that I went through seemed to have red or green in it somewhere. Then I hit upon this piece of Heidi Grace paper sitting in my drawer that I bought last year and had yet to use. I love this color combo together and it's certainly not traditional at all.
I chose to use Snowboard Fluffles (Stampendous) for my focal stamp. I colored Fluffles using Prisma Color Pencils and added a touch of shimmer to the snow with a Silver Spica Glitter pen and a fuzzy ball to his/her (does anyone know what sex Fluffles is?) hat. It started out White but I dyed it with a Night of Navy ink pad as I didn't have the re-inker. I embossed some Creamy Caramel cs with the Snowflake Cuttlebug Embossing Folder and brushed it over a Craft White ink pad then added a strip of ribbon (American Crafts) don the middle. Next up I added the sentiment (computer generated using Lucinda Handwriting font)and added the snowflake brad covered with Frosted Lace stickles to complete my card.

Card Details: Stamp: Stampendous
Card Stock: SU-Night of Navy, Creamy Caramel, Whisper White, DP by Heidi Grace
Ink: Palette Noir Black, Night of Navy, Prisma Colored Pencils, Gamsol
Other: Ribbon (American Crafts), Snowflake Brad (Making Memories), Spica Glitter Pen, Frosted Lace Stickles, Pom Poms

Now head on over to Kerry's Blog and check out the fabulous, fun and festive creations made by the other DT members and don't forget to visit their blogs and leave them a little "comment lovin'" - Have a Great Day!

BC126 - A Blustery Day

Hey it's Friday and you all know what that means. Yep, It's Blogger Challenge Day.
Our theme this week: Happy Fall Y'All - Cards relating to Autumn/Fall.
This is one of my favorite seasons so I loved this challenge.

Before I forget don't forget to check out my post on the newest Annabelle sketch below this post. We'd love to have a few more people join in with us on the sketch challenge.

I chose to use an image from: www.ladybugandfriends.com by Joan Elliott but apparently it is not available right now as I could not locate it on their website.

The image was colored with Prisma Colored Pencils and cut out with a Nestabilitie Die. I computer generated the sentiment.

Card stock: Chocolate Chip, Pumpkin Pie, Old Olive and DP by KI Memories.
Ink: Prisma Color Pencils, Gamsol, Palette Noir Black ink.
Other: Swirls Cuttlebug Embossing folder, Small Maple Leaf Punch, Leaves (source unknown)

Don't forget to visit the other BC Members blogs to see their Fall creations.

I've also included a picture that I took of Coleen a few weeks ago. There was this gorgeous fall tree that we passed every day on the way to her pre-school so one afternoon I took her and got some photo's of her sitting in the yard with all these beautiful fall leaves around her.

DID YOU KNOW...that I have another blog? Yes, it's called (Wishes, Dreams and Other Things) - I haven't posted on it in awhile but there is a new post there with another picture of Coleen if you'd like to check it out. From time to time I will also feature some cards so it won't strictly be NSR. - I should also mention that this blog has Music on it so you might want to turn your speakers down if you don't want to listen to the music.

absc002 - I love Presents, How 'bout you!

Call me a kid at heart but I love getting presents. For those who think Christmas is only for kids, "Bah, Humbug!" - Yes I love opening gifts on Christmas morning and I hope that never ends. It's always so much fun to rip open the package to see what's inside.

It's time for the newest Annabelle Sketch Challenge. Let me just say last week we had a couple of players which was wonderful but I'd really love to see more people taking part so check out the sketch and give it a try. You can post your card on the new Annabelle Blog

This week the Annabelle Sketch Challenge was a real "challenge" for me. I just could not think of how I was going to incorporate that Triangular Shape into a card. In fact I even e-mailed Andrea for some help. She graciously showed me her card for the sketch but that still didn't help me think of any ideas. I went to bed that night and while trying to go to sleep the idea came to me to use presents to form a triangle of colorful packages. The next morning I set out to create my pyramid of presents and I had them all stamped and paper pieced and ready to be mounted when I decided to run the image through the Cuttlebug. Okay normally that would be just fine but I had already glued on all my (Sprinkles) except for the 2 larger ones with the raised bows. "Word of Warning" do not do this. It smashed those beautiful little sprinkles flatter then a pancake and ripped my pieced presents on top of it. (Insert Sad Face). I of course had to start all over but I persevered and am quite pleased with how my card turned out.

Details: Stamp Sets: Helen's Party (for the presents) and Holly Branch (Sentiment).
Card Stock: Handsome Hunter, Ruby Red, Whisper White and Designer Paper (DCWV - Holiday Christmas Collection.)
Ink: Palette Noir Black and Handsome Hunter
Accessories: Christmas Ornament Cuttlebug Embossing Folder, Large Corner Punch-SU,
Small Scallop Corner Punch-EK Success, Sprinkles-Annabelle Stamps, Silver Cording-SU

PLEASE check out the other DT members blogs and see what they did with this sketch.
Then try it out for yourself. It's a lot of fun!

3CT38 - Christmas Cardinal

Hi - Hope you all have been having a great week so far. I took a few days off from Stamping/Blogging this past weekend as it was the PBR Finals. For those of you who aren't familiar with the PBR (Professional Bull Riding) let's just say it was one exciting finish to crown a new Champion. Congratulations Kody - You deserve it!

Okay but now back to card making....This week the challenge for Three Clover Thursday is, (Birds and Bugs) - I don't own many stamps of bugs (icky creatures) but could have found some if I looked really hard. Instead I decided to go with Birds and do a Christmas card (hey, I need to start getting them made pronto!).

I chose the Cardinal Stamp from the retired SU set, (Christmas Cardinal) and stamped it on watercolor paper with Palette Noir Black ink and used various ink pads and my Aqua Painter to watercolor the image. Then I added a tiny bit of Crystal Effects to the berries and colored the birds eye with a Gold Glitter Pen. I cut this out with my Nestabilitie Die and then cut out (by hand)a slightly larger size in Handsome Hunter. My card base is Creamy Caramel layered with Ruby Red cs. The wonderful designer paper is from Die Cuts With a View (DCWV) Holiday Collection. The sentiment is from Annabelle Stamps (Holly Branch) set and was embossed with Topiary Tapestry EP(PSX). The punch is by EK Success (Double Morocco Lace) - Isn't it fabulous!
I added Felt Poinsettia (Hero Arts) brads by Queen and Company and Chili Sprinkles from Annabelle Stamps.

My sketch is from:

This is one of those cards that made me feel really good when I finished it and I hope you like it as well. Be sure to check out the other DT members blogs and leave them some comment lovin

It's A Sketch for Annabelle Stamps

Hello and Happy Friday! - Welcome to the very 1st Annabelle Sketch Challenge. You can find all the details here

It's also Blogger Challenge Day - Which I'm sort of "cheating" a little today since the theme this week is, Technique's and quite frankly I really didn't have time to find a technique and do a card for it. So I'm fudging a little since my card is Watercolored and that is a technique. We were also suppose to find links or give instructions on our technique but again that just escaped me and I'm sure you're all familiar enough with the technique and can "Google" it if you need further information.

For this card I used one of the new Christmas release sets from Annabelle Stamps called, Wise Men. I stamped the camels on watercolor paper and just watercolored one camel and cut it out. Then I stamped the Bethlehem image and watercolored it, masked it off and sponged in the sky. Next I stamped the star and the sentiment. All were stamped with Palette Noir Black ink and watercolored using an Aqua Painter and various ink pads.
The paper I used is from Basic Grey (Figgy Pudding line) from a couple of years ago. I also used a piece of Pumpkin Pie along with Old Olive and Garden Green.
The accents are Silver Sprinkles available from Annabelle Stamps.

You can give this sketch a try and post your creation on the new Annabelle Blog using the Mr. Linky feature.

Also don't forget to check out all the techniques from the Blogger Challenge group by clicking on the BC Icon on my sidebar.

I hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully next week won't be so hectic and I can actually do the BC challenge like it's suppose to be done.

CIC31 - Love Bugs

Happy Hump Day! - Here is my entry for this weeks CIC over at Hope Stamps Eternal Aren't those the sweetest cupcakes you've seen in a long time. I mean look at those adorable little mushrooms and the pretty flowers and cute little ladybugs! - Who wouldn't be inspired by such charming cupcakes.

I took my inspiration from, The colors (Black, Red, Yellow, White), the Ladybugs and the circles/polka dots (on the mushrooms).
My image is from a current SU Hostess set - Love Bug. I chose some patterned paper (The Paper Patch) that I've had in my stash for years now and paired it up with Basic Black, Real Red and Yoyo Yellow and Whisper White cs. The bugs were colored with Prisma Colored Pencils. I added some yellow felt flowers (Maya Road) mini red brads (Queen and Co.) and some Polka Dot ribbon (source unknown). I also used a Cuttlebug Folder for the white Daisy Chain and added the Loopy Punch from Martha Stewart. I added a bit of shimmer to the bugs wings and antenna using Spica Glitter Pens. I love how fun and cheery this turned out.

I tried and tried to get a brighter picture of this card but just couldn't seem to do it so this one will have to do. It's really much brighter in real life.

I hope you'll give this challenge a try. It's really FUN and very Inspiring!

Halloween Cuteness

Well another Halloween has come and gone but I wanted to share some photo's with you.
The little "Witch" in the picture is my granddaughter, Coleen (Age 41/2) She borrowed our broom (which closes down to a smaller size) so she could have her picture taken riding a broom!

The "Fireman" is my nephew, Andrew (Age 3)
He wasn't real cooperative about getting his picture taken but this one wasn't to bad.

The "Lion" is my nephew, Timothy (Age 2) - His mom made his lion costume. The other people in the photo are his parents and my brother (The one hunting the lion)

It was a nice night for the kids but we barely had 35 show up. Most people take their kids downtown where merchants pass out candy so most of those who do show up are the older kids. We had 2 girls show up dressed in costumes that sort of looked like "hookers" and when they said, "Trick or Treat" I asked them, "What kind of tricks do you do?" You should have seen the look on their faces....PRICELESS!