Wednesday, October 28, 2015

More Holiday Cards

Hello!

I'm doing a little blogging with my light dinner tonight 8-) popping in to share a couple of Thanksgiving cards I made earlier today and late last night. I had a special order for several more Thanksgiving cards and I wanted to get them knocked out while having fun playing along with challenges. (I kid. It was my mom wanting some more. Hee hee. She likes to send out cards at Thanksgiving.) :)


I love this first card. But it's hard not to because it uses Basic Grey's Persimmon papers. (I'm still hoarding my precious little 6x6 pad of this stuff.)




I was completely inspired by the sketch this week at CAS on Sunday. I do have mine turned a bit and that was an accident (in my room without my phone {GASP} and working from memory) but I like it the way I have it anyways.
 
 

The panel is PTI's Rustic White embossed with the PTI Woodgrain impression plate. The sentiment is white heat embossed on CTMH Outdoor Denim cardstock using CASual Friday's Amber Waves stamp set.

I am also playing along with the following challenges:
Glitter & Sparkle's Fall/Autumn challenge This Weeks Challenge

PDE Linky Party Anything Goes 

Addicted to Stamps and More Holiday challenge. GRAB OUR BADGE!


Now for the other Thanksgiving card I made this morning during quiet crafty time (so blissful).

 
I used WPlus9's Doodle Buds (such a fun set) and inspiration from the current Muse Challenge, a card by Tracey McNeely, using the two flowers as the focal point and sentiment across the bottom in a similar fashion.
 
 
I stamped and colored the flowers with Copic markers then die cut and layered over a panel I had stamped and embossed using PTI's Canvas & Linen impression plate. It seemed to need a little something more, so I sponged Distress Ink Rusty Hinge around the edges - and I like how it adds to the rustic fall feel for the card. The sentiment is from CASual Friday's Amber Waves and is white heat embossed on a dark brown strip of cardstock.
 
Simon Wednesday Challenge BlogI'm also playing along with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge Anything Goes
 
Fashionable Stamping Challenge Changing Seasons    Fashionable Stamping Challenges
and Addicted to Stamps and More Holiday  theme challenge. GRAB OUR BADGE!
 
 
Phew. That's all for me tonight! I have more Christmas goodies I've made to share here - just have to find the time to get them posted. Please check back soon!
 
Thanks so much for stopping by to visit! I love visitors, comments, and followers! :)
 
God Bless,
Mandy
 
 
I John 3:23  NKJV (New King James Version)
  And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.


Pin It

Sunday, October 25, 2015

October 2015 PaperTrey Ink Blog Hop

Good evening!

It's been a while since I've played along with the monthly PTI Blog Hop and I wanted to this month. I thought I'd pop in really quickly before I head off to bed and share another Christmas card. (You will get sick of them on my blog, I'm afraid.)   8-)


Blog-hop-logo

Blog hop inspiration
 
 
 
I used my Think Big Favorites #20 stamp set and O' Tannenbaum stamp sets.
 
 
 
I die cut the tag using MFT Tag Builders 4 and the Limelight panel is die cut using Blueprints 13 after I stamped the Sketched Chevron Background using Limelight ink. The fun little circle at the top of the tag is die cut from a cork sticker and placed over the top of the tag. Before removing the tag from the die I sponged Fossilized Amber Distress Inks on the edges of the tag and pulled it into the image.
 
 
I'm also playing along with Christmas Card Challenge, Anything Goes, this week and Freshly Made Sketches.
 

 
 

 
 
 
Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit! Please do so again soon! I just love having visitors, comments, and followers. :)
 
 
God Bless and have a GREAT week,
Mandy
 
 
 
I Timothy 6:6   NKJV  (New King James Version)
    "Now godliness with contentment is great gain."
 
 
 
Pin It

Saturday, October 24, 2015

In the Christmas Spirit

Well, I've broke the seal on making Christmas cards and now that's all I'm making. ;) I'm having fun playing along with challenges and turning it into Christmas to give myself a head start. If I remember correctly, I ran through all my cards last holiday season and I don't plan to let that happen again!

I finally got my hands on the Birdie Brown Jingle All the Way stamp set - I've been pining for it since early this year when I first snooped around the MFT website. :D It is so fun to color, which is my new interest now. I have to change things up now and then to get my mojo going.

I made this card yesterday based on the MFT Card Challenge colors and sketch over at CAS Colours & Sketch blog.

 
 
 
 
 
 
I colored the Santa and tree using PrismaColor Pencils. The white panel is cut using MFT's DoubleStitched Rectangle die and I sponged PTI Soft Stone ink over my Tim Holtz Fair Isle stencil in the area behind the cute little images. The back panel is After Midnight cardstock with the Sketched Chevron background stamped in After Midnight ink and then die cut using Blueprints 13. I added a few dark red glittery enamel dots by My Mind's Eye.
 
 
 
My next card is Paper Smooches fun. I used the Tiny Hearts die to make this cute little wreath.
 
 

I die cut all three size hearts multiple times in two different green colors and a few in the red. I stamped the sentiment using the PS Christmas Sampler and die cut the panel using MFT Blueprints 13.
 
I'm playing along with this week's SPARKS Anything Goes challenge and Freshly Made Sketches.
 
I think that's it for me today! I'll save my other Christmas projects to share with another post. Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit! Please do so again soon. I love to have visitors, comments, and followers! :)
 
God Bless and have a wonderful week,
Mandy
 
Matthew 5:16  NKJV (New King James Version)
    "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven."
 
 


Pin It

Monday, October 19, 2015

Happy New Week

Hello!

I'm popping in this morning to take a little crafty break (making more Halloween bookmarks :D) to share a couple of cards I made this weekend. I had a little inspiration when I glanced down at my desk and saw my Distress Inks still sitting out from making my Halloween project. I decided to play around with Spiced Marmalade, Peacock Feathers, and Cracked Pistachio.





I rubbed the ink pads on an acrylic block, spritzed with water, and then painted onto watercolor cardstock using a small brush. I die cut "you" twice from the colored panel using SSS Hello You die set. I stamped the sentiment from the coordinating stamp set onto a white cardstock panel die cut using MFT's Double Stitched Rectangle die set. The circle panel was die cut using MFT's Polka Dot cover up dies. A CTMH Juniper cardstock panel stamped with MFT's Diagonal Stripes Background Stamp in Cracked Pistachio Distress Ink was hand trimmed down to a little flag to peek out from behind the sentiment panel. Easy peasy!

I am playing along with the following challenges:

CASology

A Gem of a Challenge, Dots or Stripes - Take our badge and spread the word!

Addicted to Stamps and More - Anything Goes - GRAB OUR BADGE!

and CASual Chic - Tic Tac Toe -  - (Die-cutting, spritzing, coloring)


Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit! Please do so again soon! :)

God Bless,
Mandy


Romans 2:10   NKJV (New King James Version)
   but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. Pin It

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Halloween AND Christmas

That's right! I'm doing it all. :) After almost a week out of my craft room due to Fall Break and the whole family being at home, I'm using the upcoming holidays to boost my mojo and get me back in the spirit.

I've had a fun little project churning in my mind to make bookmarks for The Piglets' classmates. They have AR reading programs and track how many words they read each quarter, so I know they are all reading.


A shot of all of them (23).



I used CTMH's Frightfully Fun stamp set and BoBunny's 6x6 Fright Delight paper pad die cut using MFT Blueprints 13. The circles are Neenah Solar White cardstock diecut using MFT Stitched Circles STAX. I colored the images with Prismacolor Pencils (and a few with Copic markers. I just don't have very many markers yet. Boo.) After coloring each image, I brushed on water spritzed Distress Inks in Wilted Violet, Cracked Pistachio, Mowed Lawn, Peacock Feathers, Fossilized Amber, or Spiced Marmalade. I also used Spellbinders Lacy Circle dies with PTI Black cardstock and Bazzil Black cardstock to mat the images before adhering. The black ribbon and orange twine are some from my stash I was most happy to use up and both came from Michaeal's (the twine from the $1 bin!)

I had the most fun coloring images while hanging out with my sister (via FaceTime!). We like to spend some of our days crafting together, but since we are 3 hours away technology is our friend. Now I just have to pin her down long enough for me to make about 20 more for The Sultan's class. :D

I wanted to play along with the following challenges:

Just Us Girls, Halloween colors -

Cut It Up, Halloween Tags - Cut It Up
PDE Linky Party, Halloween colors -

and the CAS-USAL Chic Challenge Tic Tac Toe'ing
(Coloring, Spritzing [water and ink spritzed], die cutting) -


After finishing up my first round of Halloween projects, I wanted to shift and take a break. And I wanted to play along with the current CAS(E) This Sketch! challenge. (I plan to play along again with this one.)

 
Since I've also been wanting to use my MFT Whole Herd cow on a Christmas card, I thought I'd give it a whirl with this challenge. I had to cut this hat off of a snowman from my Paper Smooches Freezy Fellas set. Not the best fit. Lol. But I have a santa set on its way to me. (eek. I have a hard time NOT buying up every Christmas stamp I see. :-O I could pick out, at least, 10 more I would like to buy right now.)
 


 
 
Now that I look at it after a night's sleep, the hat looks really bad. LOL! But it was fun. When I get a new hat, I will try it again. :) The sentiment is stamped in Lawn Fawn Cranberry red ink using MFT's Grand Holiday Greetings stamp set. I used the washi tape in the top left corner to cover up a boo-boo. Ha! And the black strip to ground the Christmas cow. :D-
 
I'm also playing along with:
 
and Christmas Card Challenge, Anything Goes -
 
 
 
Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit! Please do so again.
 
God Bless,
Mandy
 
Romans 15:13  NKJV  (New King James Version)
     Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.




Pin It

Monday, October 5, 2015

1 Sketch - 3 Occasions!

Good morning!

Happy Fall Break to you. :) Well, it is for us, anyway. So far we have done nada. We had a trip planned to North Carolina but based on weather conditions and half of us getting over a lingering cold, we cancelled that one. Just didn't think it made sense to go. So we are on a Staycation.

So, I'm popping in to share some cards I made last night when I finally had enough energy to do a little creating. It was quite therapeutic. I felt so much better afterwards. 8-)   (Nerd smiley)

I started with Freshly Made Sketches for my jumping point, knowing I wanted to make a Halloween card with bats based on the current Curtain Call challenge. And, for some strange, nerdy reason decided to challenge myself to make a card for Christmas using the same sketch. THEN, I decided it was working for my Mojo so much that I made one for Thanksgiving, as well. Covered all my holiday bases for the rest of the year. 8-)



Here is what I did (first):



 
 
I used my circle punches and 6x6 BoBunny Fright Delight paper pad for the circles. The bat is stamped and heat embossed in white using my CTMH Frightfully Fun stamp set, the BOO stamped the same way from CTMH Trick or Treat Sweets set. I finished it all off by outlining the card base with my Signo Broad white gel pen.
 
I'm also playing along with The Paper Players current Halloween challenge.
 
 
 
 
For my second card, I wanted to make a Christmas card, but make it a little different than the first, while still following the sketch.
 
 
 

 
 
I used my Simon Says Stamp Candy Cane Christmas stamp set, MFT Double Stitched Rectangle die and Diagonal Striped stamp set, Lawn Fawn's Cranberry ink, and MFT's Limelight ink. Very simple - took just a few minutes to make!
 
I'm also playing along with Addicted to Stamps - CAS challenge.
 
GRAB OUR BADGE!
 
 

 
And here is my third card - Thanksgiving - since I was having so much fun. :-)
 
 
 

 
 

 
 
I used my Lawn Fawn Harvest Season stamp set - embossing the leaves in gold before watercoloring with my Zig Clean Color pens. It's all on a panel of watercolor paper. I layered the panel on a card base from Cocoa CTMH cardstock.
 
 
I'm also playing along with the Less Is More - Jewel Colors challenge.
 
We'd love you to display our banner
 
 
 
Ok! I think that's all for me today! I've been trying to type my post and talk on the phone with my parents. :) Always an interesting time. hee hee!
 
Thanks SO much for stopping by to visit. Please do so again soon!
 
God Bless,
Mandy
 
 
 
Romans 2:10   NKJV   (New King James Version)
 
     but glory, honor, and peace to everyone who works what is good, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 
 


Pin It

Friday, October 2, 2015

Pre-WCMD Fun

:)

I'm looking forward to WCMD tomorrow! :) With the weather like it is here (NASTY rainy, cold, windy) and half of us getting over being sick and the other half trying to fight it off, we have a good excuse to stay home and stay inside tomorrow. I hope to veg out in my space and get creative. There may be some time for packing thrown in there, but that's a coin toss at this point.

We are supposed to leave for vacation Sunday morning sometime after church, but not sure if it's going to actually happen. It depends on The Sultan's fever and how The Princess is feeling, as she seems to be coming down with the cold, too. BD has been fighting it off all week. It's taking down everyone in its path this fall!   However, if that's the worst that happens to us, we can't complain. A staycation is never a bad thing. We are all big ole homebodies; we will have a good time here regardless.

On to my PreWCMD activities. Since I'm still on the mend (but most definitely better), I took some chill time in my space today and yesterday. This afternoon I spent a lot of time making some Christmas tags in a fun way and I will share those later with another post. I want to get some good pictures. Be sure to check it out - it's a fun upcycling project that anyone can do and I've been most pleased with how it turned out.


So -- up first is my favorite card of this trio.

 
 
I made this one yesterday and I'm still so happy with it (sometimes my excitement over my work wanes as time passes). It sat out on our kitchen bar, which is my staging area until they are blogged, and I've liked looking at it each time I passed it today.
 
My inspiration came from the current Muse: Christmas Visions challenge. I was so excited when I saw the Pure Innocence snowman on the Muse card. I have drooled over it a few times in the MFT store myself. But, I have one so close to it (thanks to a fun little MFT sale) and I reminded myself it's silly to buy two that looks so similar. (Darn you practical side!)
 
 

I drew my inspiration from the stamp, the colors of the scarf, the matching striped background panel, and the scallops. I felt it really needed that twine bow to section off the scalloped edge and thought it was worth straying from the original to finish it off.   :)  The background panel under the snowman is watercolor paper brushed with watered down Distress Inks (Wilted Violet and Salty Ocean). I colored the snowman on Neenah cardstock (just now trying this out and SO happy with it so far! My PrismaColor pencils moved over it like BUTTAH!) and colored with pencils. I don't know why he's so fun to color, but I love it. The little heart is stamped in Lawn Fawn Cranberry ink from the SSS/HA Prayers stamp set that was released as part of STAMPtember.
 
I'm also playing along with Christmas Card Challenges #43 - Anything Goes and Virginia's View Challenge #19 - All Things Colored.
 
 
 
My next card I made today. I really had fun with it as well. Honestly, anything coloring, regardless of the medium, floats my boat these days. It's new for me and put a much needed change in my crafty repertoire which I had grown bored with up until a few short months ago.
 
 
 
I combined the Pure Innocence "Better Get Better" stamp set and MFT Blueprints #22 based on inspiration from the current MFT Sketch challenge.
 
 
I don't really have any square dies (and Heaven Forbid I actually cut a square with my paper trimmer :-0  ha!) so I substituted the shape from the Blueprints for that part of the sketch. I need to use it more and loved it over the stripes and with the colors I chose. The paper is My Mind's Eye, as well as the glittery enamel dots I used. The girl is stamped/embossed on watercolor cardstock and colored with the Zig Clean Color pens and then hand-trimmed.
 
I'm also playing along with Just Add Ink's Inspiration photo challenge:
 
JAI #282
 
I used the pinks and neutrals, dots and stripes. I love how it's soft, but then again it's really not. 8-) I'm sure there's a term for that - maybe I shall call it Goldilocks for now.
 
 
And last and least (Grrr. I didn't like how it turned out.)   ....
 
 
I started this one yesterday and finished it up today. I randomly stamped the branches from WPlus9's Botannical Bunch stamp set and was originally going for a holiday feel. Then changed my mind to use my new set from SSS/HA Prayers. I had to get this set because most of the cards I send out are from the sick list and prayer list at church. I just keep a bulletin on my desk each week and try to mail them out on Monday or Tuesday (emphasis on the word try. I'm not successful every single week, but I'm still striving.) So that practical side jumped up and told the rest of me that I would use this set alot. And I do love that black die-cut 'prayers' on here. I guess I'm not wild about the branches or the color choices. ?
 
I did it all based on the current sketch at CAS(E) This Sketch!.
 
 
 
 
I'm also playing along with Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Anything Goes and Cards In Envy - Colors of Fall challenge.
 
Share Our Badge!Simon Wednesday Challenge Blog
 
 
 
 
Well that's it for me! That was a long enough post, I supposed. I'm sure I could prattle on all night, but this NyQuil isn't going to sleep itself off! ; )
 
Thanks SO much for stopping by, as always! Please do so again soon! I love to have visitors. :)
 
God Bless,
Mandy
 
 
I Peter 1:4    NKJV  (New King James Version)
     to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,

Pin It

Popular Posts