PDCC112 - Happy Holidays Take 2

One more tonight! Then, my crafy time has to go back to the 2011 albums for my sisters gifts. I got a few extra days this year since we won't see them until this coming weekend. And, of course, "Last Minute LaCroix" here is going to push it to the wire! :) I still may cheat and do another challenge this week. Cards are more fun to me than layouts - fooling with the pictures wears me out sometimes! :)

The idea for this card came to me while I was drying my hair Friday morning. Some of my best thinking - brushing teeth, getting ready for work, etc. :)

The Play Date colors this week are more fabulous Christmas colors. The traditional are the best - I love it with tan/kraft color addition.



For my card, I used the monochromatic side of the holly leaves patterned paper from the CTMH Mistletoe kit. It's so pretty on either side! The Olive cardstock is stamped with an accent stamp from the Mistletoe coordinating workshop stamp set in Olive ink. My adorable armchair is from the CTMH "Chairs to You" stamp set (a Stamp of the Month this summer) stamped in Olive ink on patterned paper from the Mistletoe paper kit; the sentiment "May joy fill your heart and home" is also from that stamp set. My beautiful "Happy Holidays" sentiment is from Papertrey Ink's Think Big Favorites #8 set. Both sentiments are stamped in Desert Sand ink.  Cranberry brads and ribbon are my accent pieces along with a Tulip felt heart for the "pillow".

TFL and hope your Holidays were great!! Pin It

Colour Q # 116 - Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!!

I decided to welcome a few stolen moments of quiet this evening while the kids and hubby are upstairs playing video games. It's been a relatively quiet day for us, with our travel coming later this week. I use "quiet" in the "busy-ness" sense of the word. NOT the literal sense. I have a 7-yr old and a 5-yr old - its NEVER literally quiet!

The Colour Q palette this week went right along with my current muse - Christmas themes! I've made a ton of cards, it seems like, and have enjoyed starting some Christmas theme layouts for my sisters 2011 albums. I haven't started my own Christmas layouts yet, but I am looking forward to it. If I have some mojo going in any form, I have to take advantage of it while it's here! And, the past several weeks it's been Christmas mojo. :) No complaints here. I'll take whatever I can get these days. (I know you're feeling me -- Beggars can't be choosers and all that.)



I was lucky this time and had a springboard for an idea due to an order of new stamps that came in! (1) Imagine that! Who me??? NEW stamps? Why that's so unusual!   (2) New products are the best spark of creativity for me. :)

Isn't that patterned paper yummy? It's from K & Co. Brenda Walton's Peppermint Twist collection. This piece was actually cut from a 'photo mat stack'. (whatever to possessed me to buy a photo mat stack - I don't know. Guess I was concerned about my stash waning down to nothing. sarcasm) It's pretty nice for a card - almost the perfect size!

The holly leaves are stamped from the CTMH stamp set "A Holiday" in Topiary ink while the sentiment is stamped in Cranberry ink from the "Holiday Cheer" stamp set.  The kraft paper is Michaels and the coordinating Cranberry ribbon is from CTMH Ribbon Rounds collection. Cranberry colored gem Sparkles also from CTMH are adhered for the berries with my holly leaves.

TFL and hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!!!

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This weeks Tuesday Trigger

My last post for today! Whew!

I wanted to play along with the Moxie Fab Tuesday Trigger challenge this week after I saw it. This is my first time with this challenge. :)  The bird and the monochromatic look on the pillow made me think of my CTMH "Harmony" stamp set that I bought to make pretty winter cards or more mature cards for a different audience. I've only used it a couple of times, so the opportunity to experiment yesterday afternoon was welcomed.

Here is the inspiration photo:



And here is my card using the "Harmony" stamp set, Desert Sand ink, Mocha Opagues gem adhesives, and gold ribbon (from Micheals). All other supplies are CTMH.

TFL! Be sure to check out the amazing artwork over on the Moxie Fab site! It's great inspiration!

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Play Date # 111 -- Thinking of You card

Back with a "Splash"! ..... I've missed the other Play Date Cafe "Splash" challenges, so I am happy to participate in this one. Plus the "Splash" is blue and I LOVE blue.



Last night, I had a chance to experiment with my CTMH "Friendship" stamp set using the damask shapes for background stamping in Black ink on white cardstock. I was really excited to try out my new Papertrey Ink sentiment from the "Think Big Favorites #10" stamp set. I stamped it in "Lagoon" colored (CTMH) ink on white cardstock and wrapped it in We R Memory keepers Baker's Twine.

I love how this one turned out. (AND it's not Christmas!)

TFL! Have a great week. Pin It

Mojo Monday - 219 -- More Christmas!

I have been addicted to making Christmas cards this week- as is evidenced by my posts. I just want to try all the challenges with Christmas cards.   :)   ... Never mind, I have Christmas GIFTS to finish tackling! I am procrastinating WAY too much on those. I'll make myself crazy over the next few days, rushing through to finish on time.  Claaaaaasic Mandy!

I really liked this week's Mojo sketch and wanted to jump back into my Recollections - "Naugty or Nice" paper stack. I struggle with layering patterned paper and decided to give it a whirl this time. That's what challenges are for! Right?

I decided to back each of the trimmed patterned pieces with CTMH Olive solid cardstock. I think it coordinated perfectly. The sentiment is stamped in matching Olive ink with my *new* "Everlasting Life" stamp set. I have enjoyed adding it to my cards. The script used in the verses is beautiful. Red glitter "Jingle" brads and sheer ribbon from the Colonial White ribbon rounds collection served as great accents, I think. I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

Here is the sketch and my interpretation:

TFL!!! Pin It

Colour Q Challenge - #115

Hello again -

I'm knocking out blog posts this afternoon! Taking advantage of a few stolen moments of quiet. The kids are actually enjoying a little outdoor time in the sunshine today. It IS a beautiful day.

This week's Colour Q challenge is using these colors:



I used my dotted background paper from last year's "Jingle" paper pack. (This piece is my favorite from the kit!) The snowflake accent piece is also from the "Jingle" kit - trimmed down from a patterned piece of paper. I inked all the edges in Tulip colored ink. The "Holiday Trinkets" ornament is stamped (Rock N Roll technique) in Pear ink and accented with Baker's Twine from We R Memory Keepers and with the Opagues pearl adhesive gems (center of snowflakes). The two scroll stickers are from the coordinating cardstock stickease that came with "Jingle" and the sentiment is from the new "Holiday Wishes" stamp set. (All CTMH except the twine).

Thanks for looking -- have a Merry Christmas! Pin It

H2H - Virtual Christmas Card

Good afternoon!

I am setting aside time today to get some blog posts up. I have done housework, wrapped presents, and done laundry. Now on to more "pleasant" tasks!

This weeks H2H challenge is to create a Christmas card any style design, using CTMH products, of course.

I chose to make a card inspired by my holiday Scentsy warmer! I love this one. It works perfectly on my foyer table with the red and white accents.

For my card, I used Cranberry colored cardstock and white embossed snowflakes from the Holiday Trinkets stamp set. White Daisy pigment ink is around the edges of the cardstock. I added a bow made from White Grosgrain ribbon (Micheal's) and a small banner with the sentiment "Christmas cheer" from the December Word Puzzle stamp set. The red glitter brad is from the Jingle collection related accents. I loved how this one turned out....

Thanks for looking -- Merry Christmas!!!

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Moxie Fab: Get Inspired In the Kitchen Challenge

hello -- two posts in one evening! I know!

But I have to stay up just a little later. The hubby was watching the Stephen King movie "Bag of Bones" and I couldn't resist peeking a few times and hanging out in front of the TV for a few moments. It was quite engaging, but, OF COURSE, I am traumatized. I have watched an episode of a favorite sitcom while blogging to replace the trauma with better thoughts. :)  

The "Get Inspired" Challenges over at the MoxieFabWorld are interesting. I love trying something new. And, this time, I'm really pleased. I started with the Kitchen challenge which hinges off of this inspiring photo.



The pattern on the plate reminded me of some paper I have in my stash that my sister bought me. The K&Company Amy Butler paper pack has a piece with this exact same pattern. I have always liked it, but struggled with how to use it on my projects. Even as I started this card, I had a hard time figuring how to get it in. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE patterned paper and want to get better at working it into my cards!

The solid looking background piece behind the focal patterned paper is from the Felicity paper kit (CTMH). The brown patterned piece is from the Topstitch paper kit.

I stamped the rose from the Trellis stamp set (CTMH) twice, once the outline in Smoothie colored ink and the fill-in with Sorbet colored ink. The leaves are second-generation Olive ink. The sentiment is from the Sympathy Card Chatter stamp set (also CTMH) in Chocolate ink. Colonial White fibers wrapped around the patterned paper and the Colonial White Opaque gems finish it off   (they are my favorite addition!) 

Thanks for looking and have a great week!

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PDCC110 - Snowflake Holiday Card

Good evening.

I hope you had a weekend of more crafty time than I did. I didn't log very much time at all. Thankfully, I was able to squeeze out a few cards on Friday night.

I loved the colors over at Play Date this week. Red and blue together is one of my favorite color combinations. And, this one has the lime green thrown in, too. Even better!



I used the snowflake stamps from my CTMH "Holiday Trinkets" stamp set. I haven't made as good of use out of those as I should have. I am now wanting to use them on everything. :)

The scalloped card is from Studio G; I picked up a set at Micheals - just to try them out. The sentiment stamped is from CTMH's "Holiday Commentary".

My stamped snowflakes are in CTMHs Crystal Blue, Dutch Blue, and Sweet Leaf. The sentiment is stamped in Cranberry. The Bitty Sparkles are also CTMH. The banner was hand-cut from scrap cardstock.

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a great week.



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Mojo Monday 218 - Christmas gift expanded

In my previous post, I displayed a 4x6 piece I had designed to be framed for a desk or side table for a friends Christmas Gift. However, I've changed plans! 

When I ran my errands and actually remembered to shop for a photo frame, I couldn't find anything to suit me and ran across one that got my mind going in another direction. 

Now, she will get a collage frame that showcases two horizontal 4x6 photos (in this case, artwork by Mandy!) and 2 vertical 5x7 photos which I've dedicated as space for her two new grandbabies! Each are 1 yr old and I thought with the winter theme, photos of them in their winter garb and cute knitted toboggans would be adorable! Besides -- what grandparent doesn't love displaying pictures of the grandbabies?

The finished project looks like this: 

I used the Mojo sketch this week to springboard for my other horizontal 4x6 artwork (I just flipped the sketch around to work for my frame) . I love how it turned out....

      

This one is using BoBunny Midnight Frost patterned cardstock, letter sticker (M is the initial of my friends last name), layered chipboard and sticker. The added 'bling' in the center of the snowflake and on the initial is CTMH. 

For closeups of the bottom horizontal 4x6 artwork, see my previous post.

Thanks for looking! Have a great rest of the week. 

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Friday Mashup #35 - Winter Theme

Hello --

I am excited to have knocked out another Christmas gift!

I wanted to make a small framed piece of artwork for a family friend for Christmas using the "Everlasting Life" stamp set I recently purchased from CTMH.

Last night, I decided to just go for it.  I had the BoBunny "Midnight Frost" paper kit laying on my desk (ALSO FROM LAST YEAR) -- by the way, I think all I did last Christmas break was buy paper. ... Anyway, it finally came together in my head. I knew I wanted to use the stamp set for a displayed verse, but I was completely unsure of color/theme/and paper. (The best part!)

The Friday Mashup challenge this week involves making a "Winter Theme" project. If you are familiar at all with this paper kit from BoBunny, it screams winter. (And, beautifully so, I might add.)



Here is my project for this theme:

I used two different pieces of the BoBunny paper (Both the background navy piece and the vertical accent piece with snowflakes). I inked the edges with CTMH White Daisy pigment ink; stamped the verse in Outdoor Denim (CTMH) and stamped the snowflakes from the December Word Puzzle stamp set (CTMH - Retired) using second generation Crystal Blue and Rock N Rolled Crystal Blue for the smaller flakes). The chipboard snowflake stickers are from the BoBunny coordinating layered chipboard set and the sticker photo corners are from the coorndating 12x12 sticker sheet. Blue fibers are Ardonaments (as old as my son is, I promise!) and the white waxy flax and pewter photo clips are CTMH.

Thanks for looking! Don't forget to check out the fabulous entries over at Friday Mashup. Have a great week. Pin It

PPA 122 - Celebrity Color Challenge

Season's Greetings.

After a LONG weekend of doing housework and laundry (Trying to catch up from several days absence), I was able to squeeze in crafty time last night.

I had fun pulling out my Christmas themed paper (FROM LAST YEAR I NEED TO USE!) and stamp sets.

For Pals Paper Arts color challenge, the "Mistletoe" paper from CTMH 2010 worked beautifully!




And here is my card using CTMH's, Cranberry, Olive, and Colonial White:

I stamped "Peace on Earth" sentiment from the CTMH set "Everlasting Life" using Olive ink. The paper Poinsettia is from the Mistletoe coordinating accessories. Cranberry ribbon and "bling" finish it off.

TFL and have a great week. Pin It

Play Date Cafe - Early Christmas Gift

I am excited!

I have in my possession a GREAT photo of my Dad and Uncle from when they were boys. It belonged to my Grandmother and I have wanted to do something special with it for years. However, anytime I tried to PhotoShop it, my efforts weren't met with much success. I tried it again this week and finally came up with something that worked!

Once I started planning my layout, I realized the scheme I wanted matched up perfectly with the Play Date Cafe challenge this week.

I made two copies of my little framed layout - one for my Dad and one for my Uncle. We go to his (my Uncle's) house each year for Thanksgiving, so I wanted to have the copies ready this time to surprise them. I can't wait to give it to them! :)


Here are the Play Date Challenge colors....




And here is my framed "surprise"....

Apologies for the picture quality; it's not the best.

For the recipe; all products used are Close to my Heart unless otherwise noted.

Striped paper - Sarsasparilla paper kit (retired); Patterned Paper - Passages paper kit (retired); large photo clip from Passages coordinating elements (retired); Mileposts Shapes (seen here); "Live Inspired" stamp set (seen here) (eagle - top right corner, dial - bottom left corner, and postage stamps on kraft Milepost Shape tag); Chocolate waxy flax; Buttons Basic Assortment; natrual twill ribbon; ribbon slide is Hodgepodge Hardware from Stampin' Up!

Thanks for looking! Hope you are having a great Turkey Day Week so far. Travel safely and enjoy your family time! Pin It

PPA120 - Holiday Wishes

Happy Thanksgiving week!

This means a little extra time off work for me which is a good time for me to start all my "gifts". My most time-sensitive project is a set of Christmas cards I want to make for a close family friend.

Last weekend, my mom and her best friend spent the day in our area Christmas shopping and then spent the night with my family (since they live 3 hrs away). As a "Thank You", 'Grandma Glenda' bought me a stack of Christmas paper for my craft room. I think she felt sorry for me - not having very many supplies and all. Anyway - after a heated debate in which I repeatedly contended she did not need to buy me anything (!!! puh-leeze!), I decided to make her a set of Christmas cards with the paper she bought! Ha! I will get the last word after all! :)   I have made her cards before as a Thank You when her and Mom babysat and so on. She always loves them; so I am happy to make her some.

I decided to use the Pals Paper Arts sketch this week to add to her set. I LOVED how this one turned out.

I used the Recollections paper (Michael's) and "Close to my Heart"-ed it up. (That's a new word, I've coined, by the way.)

Here is the sketch:



And here is my card:

Here is the recipe --
Patterned Paper: Recollections "Naughty or Nice" paper stack
Gold Ribbon: Celebrate It! Michael's
Solid Cardstock: Bazzil
Glitter Rubons: Close to my Heart
Sentiment Stamp: Close to my Heart, "Holiday Wishes" stamp set (yes, that so happens to be the name of the set AND the phrase I stamped. That looks confusing!)
Colonial White cardstock: Close to my Heart
'Twilight' colored ink and matching "bling" Close to my Heart

Hope you like it! Thanks for looking! Have a great  Thanksgiving Holiday and be safe. Pin It

Clean & Simple Stamping card - Patriotic

Whoa - 3 cards and 3 posts! A record.

For this sketch with Clean & Simple Stamping I wanted to use it for a patriotic card for my brother-in-law for Veteran's Day tomorrow. He served twice in Iraq (when my nephew was born and when my niece was born) and we are so proud of him! I like to send him patriotic cards when I can.

This sketch was perfect.


And here is my card....

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H2H - card #2 this week!

Another card AND the subsequent blog this week. That's the hard part!

I wanted to participate in the H2H blog this week, because it has been so long since I have got to do so. This challenge called to use metal somewhere on your creative project. I don't use metal as much as I used to and I've been hoarding my pretty brads, clips, and what-nots!

I was excited to see my Shimmer brads (purchased along with the Olivia kit last fall) were a perfect match for this bronze colored ribbon. It was a great match to the patterned pieces from THIS fall's Dreamin' kit. FYI - I almost seized up when I punched those 2 circles out of that Dreamin' paper! ha! It hasn't been cut yet! -- I punched those 2 blue circles and put it UP! I'm not kidding! I went and found 2 other coordinating colors from some scraps so I wouldn't "waste" anymore. Maybe, I should just give up and frame the patterned paper and let it go. : ) 

My sister and I made a card a few weeks ago with a similar pattern. We really liked it and I decided to use that idea this time.

Here it is.....

Thanks for looking! Have a great weekend! Pin It

Colour Q #110

Hello there!
I am exited that I was able to squeeze some cardmaking in one night this week. That seems like a major accomplishment. I barely even WALK BY my craft room these days. With hectic work schedules and kids in school, it just doesn't seem to happen for me now.

So I couldn't make any excuses for not blogging this weeks cards, since the chance to make them is so rare! I am stealing a few moments even now, as the kids are playing across the street, the hubby isn't home yet, and I am stuck waiting for files to load onto my work computer!

When my friend, Gina, and I discussed this weeks challenges, we both thought the Color Q colors this week screamed Thanksgiving. Since that is a holiday I rarely take the time to get creative with, I enjoyed it. The blue was different - and that's what makes it fun.

This "Grace" paper (now retired) from CTMH just keeps on going! I've made so many cards (even after a complete album for my Mother-In-Law's 60th birthday!) with this paper. I have to admit, while I'm usually ready to "use a kit all up", I'm glad this one lingers. I think it works so well on cards.

The stamped sentiment is from the CTMH November Word Puzzle (also retired). It doesn't get out of its case much, but I was proud I had it for this. The mocha pearl (MY FAVORITE accents these days!) are also CTMH (surprise!).

Here are the Colour Q colors:


And my "Thanksgiving" card with these colors.....

Thanks for looking and have a great weekend! Pin It

Color Throwdown and Card Patterns

Hello - one more post!

I have another card I made during my hours of crafty solitude. I combined the sketch challenge from Card Patterns blog and the colors in Wednesday's Color Throwdown.

Here are the directions:

And here is my card using the CTMH "Grace" paper kits and coordinating "Childhood Portrait" stampset. The tree and birds are embossed in Cocoa and the ribbon is from the CTMH Buttercup Collection.

TFL!!!

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Colour Q Challenge #105

I loved the colors in Colour Q Challenge this week!

I was able to craft this card earlier this week. How I squeezed in the time to craft mid-week, I don't know! It's a mystery to even me now. :)

Here are the colour q challenge colors:


and my card....

I used one of my newest CTMH stamps, "Unscripted". It's one of my favorites. I bought it to use with the "Dreamin'" paper kit. I have yet to use the paper, but the stamp set has been put to good use! The sentiment is from a Stampabilities rubber stamp. I used the colors Olive, Chocolate, and Lilac Mist from CTMH.

TFL!

TFL! Pin It

H2H - sketch challenge

Hello there!
Another beautiful weekend here in TN. And, I had a great weekend with some family in town for part of the weekend. My neices and nephew played with my children all day Saturday. They had a blast!

Everyone left late Saturday afternoon and hubby took the kids out to run some errands and grab a bite to eat. I stole away in my scrap room for some R&R (aka. craft time BY MYSELF!) :)

For the H2H sketch, I chose the Olivia paper kit and coordinating stamp set from LAST fall. (I know it doesn't seem like it'd be that long ago, but it has been!) I combined this sketch challenge with the Crazy 4 Challenges recipe challenge.

Recipe Challenge – Use only LEAF images, your card must include a rust or burnt orange color (but is not limited to only this color), only 2 fibers (ribbon, lace, twine, fabric) and only 3 embellishments (but whether you choose to use just 3 embellishments, or 3 different types of embellishments is your call!) No leaf images? Use a plant or flower with leaves image!

Here is the H2H sketch....



And, here is my card using the beautiful Pear, Sunset and Barn Red from "Olivia". (Some of my favorites!)

My three embellishments are the button, mocha pearls and Glitter Glitz gel.

Thanks for looking! Hope you have a great start to your week.



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Colour Q - Case a Queen Challenge 104

Hello there -- I am trying to stay on a roll with more regular projects and their related posts!

Last night I was able to produce a card that I wasn't embarrassed of for this weeks ColourQ challenge. (That would be Monday's card -- the embarassment, that is.)

I struggle with the 4 colors sometimes because as a "long-time scrapbooker, new-time cardmaker" , I tend to think there should be patterned paper everywhere! As I'm practicing more and more, I'm realizing the smaller space requires less of the patterns. It's fun to evolve, even if I am so anal that I want to whip out a card that I love everytime!

This week at ColourQ the challenge is to use the four colors below AND case a card previously posted and crowned ColourQueen. This brought on new challenges, but it was fun.



I chose this card to "CASE"....And, here is my card:

I love these colors together like this! They look so happy. It's so interesting how different they can look when grouped and positioned differently.

TFL!

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BOO to you! H2H Cardstock Challenge

H2H -- use cardstock only; at least 3 different colors.

I almost missed this one! I made this card almost a week ago - when I saw the blog challenge at work last Monday (on my lunch break, OF COURSE) I had an idea I had been tinkering with for a while that I wanted to test.

I have been going back & forth on my Homestead alpha trying to decide if I still like it. I've been thinking on different ways I can change it up. I have several baby girl things to make and thought I could easily do something with pink and flowers, etc. But, the stamp kissing came to mind last week!

I have a little problem when it comes to all of the Halloween decor, supplies, and scrapbooking/cardmaking goodies! I want every stamp, sticker, paper, etc. And, I have some cool ones!

I decided to stamp the alpha in black and stamp kiss from the Fright Night stamp set I recently purchased. I used the fence row scenery on two of the letters and a bat from the stamp found in the Mischief  WOTG kit.

I love how it turned out!

TFL! Hope you have a great week!

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My Little Scrapping Buddy

My Little Avery -- such a mess. She's 7 going on 16, I swear! .... But it's so cute how she likes to craft in here with me. We've now even got her little desk set up like a Craft Table. It's ADORABLE. Tonight, I added the lamp for her b/c she is always complaining about it being dark. (and it is)

She loves to take some of my WOTG instructions and make her own cards. She asks for the exact same stamp, wants the matching buttons, everything. It tickles me.

The neatest part is that she's actually quite artistic, I think. (She gets that from her Daddy! I have to work at it and study other things - she just makes stuff up - she can draw - you name it).

She loves using my stamps and she's quite good with them. Tonight, however, I almost fainted  when I caught her opening my white PIGMENT ink AND Chocolate ink.  Me: "whoa - whoa - whoa! What are you doing?"  ..... She then explained she wanted to make the white part of a tree (she was stamping this tree). I was quite impressed, but not certain I knew what she was talking about. I showed her my white jelly roll pen and explained how she could use that. She misunderstood me and marked on the stamp after she inked it up with chocolate. (Never thought of that. I thought it was a pretty good idea.)....I then explained that I meant she could mark on the image after she stamped it. And, I also suggested a larger block as the lower quarter of the tree trunk was hanging off the block. I got told right quick that she meant to do that b/c she didn't have enough room on her paper to stamp the whole tree.  ... OK, beg pardon. ..... She was making an image that goes inside a do-it-yourself planter. Something brought home from Bible class. I keep my heating tool plugged in and upside down in the planter on top of my desk, b/c it displays her art work.

Check out what she did to this tree:

I thought it looked really good! Definitely from Daddy. :)

As I type this, she is reorganizing the top of my scrapping desk and wiping it down really good. MAMASHE!!!!!     AAARRGGGHH -- she gets that from you!

Thanks for indulging the long blog post. She has been asking me to post her cards on my blog. :) LOL! I was so proud of her little "Mini Me" desk, I had to share.

Have a good night! Pin It