Texture is the Featured Style at Southern Girls Challenge~

 This new Folder for me is by Darcie and has so many different shaped snowflakes!  It's a perfect design for the 2-week contest at Southern Girls Challenge.  Nice deep embossing and it picks up the shimmer from the stunning cardstock by The Paper Cut called Vista "Stardream" Metallic.  The white branches were punchies given to me by a friend --I've been waiting for winter cards to use the white ones!

Happy Anniversary Hubs!

 You may or may not know that among my husbands' many talents is that he has played a guitar since he was 14!  He even has his first guitar~His love of music (and the fact that he's never met a guitar he didn't like) led him to have a guitar/music shop on our property.  It's filled to the brim!  Better than some other vices out there I suppose.

So, when I saw this image I thought it was a perfect way to express my feelings on our anniversary!  We've been going together since high school and while life, kids, and jobs have given us a roller coaster life, he has always been there as my Rock.  Here's to the journey ahead Van~am so glad to have you by my side for the ride

Squigglefly Challenge this week is Banners~

Sometimes a simple card for Christmas leaves more of an impact than something you've fussed over for hours.  Squigglefly has a great challenge this week-to use a banner.  I had this neat image from SF's artist, Dawn Collins, called Word Christmas Tree-it can be found at Squigglefly the first week in December.  We like to promote new images the first weekend of each month.  She's getting the season started out great!  Comes pre-colored but I also added the brown around the base and filled in the star. I added the red mat, stamped banner and green vintage rayon seam binding that I like to make.  I saturate the binding with walnut crystals here and there, scrunch it up and leave it rumpled to set the crinkle.  Hang to dry.  With the lighting that I had, it's hard to see the wonderful cardstock that I used as a base-it's called Ice Gold from The Paper Cut.  A glorious crystal shimmer with hints of gold in it-So luxurious!  I'm so in love with all the metallics they make!  They are not only a company that specializes in pre-scored card blanks of Many different styles But have a great line of cardstocks in many colors and treatments.  Check them out!

Whoopsi Daisy Snowgirls breeze into Seems a Little Sketchy!

In the Midwest, we are getting such cold and windy weather.  Guess winter is truly coming~NOT my favorite type of weather.  Especially while I'm lugging around a boot cast on my foot.
This week at Seems a Little Sketchy, we have a great layout to use! And I'm sure you've noticed that I've taken a few liberties with it.. It was kind-of the TriFecta of crafts all coming together.  First, Whoopsi Daisy provided so adorable winter digis of these cute Snowgirls.  Second, the interesting layout was provided.  THEN, I had access to some great pre-scored cards from The Paper Cut that followed, in general, the layout guidelines-this card blank is called the Triple Circle Swinging Z-Fold Card and comes in several colors and is easy to bend and shape into a great card.  You could put any accents on the circles!  I fancy cut the image-with digitals you can make them any size to fit any space!  Added my snowflake stickers and then a perfect stamp.  Thanks for looking!

Gingerbread House w/ Ribbon at Squigglefly! Christmas is coming~

The challenge at Squigglefly this week is Ribbon or Lace.  So create a card or any other object but be sure to add some ribbon or lace too!  Also, if your image has ribbon or lace as part of its picture, that counts too!  We'd love for you to use a Squigglefly image, to be prize eligible it's required, but everyone is welcome to play along.

I'm using something different! This Christmas treat box comes from artist Pammie Lehto.  It's called Gingerbread House and is printed out on 1 full sheet of 8.5" x 10 paper as a template.  There are fold lines indicated and lots of opportunities to add so many different colors-just think of icing colors!  The tiles on the house remind me of those Neco (?) disks  from back in the old days!   I added sugar coating glitter for the shimmer.  Think I've got it all over the place now!  There was a hole/circle at the top of the roof  so I simply turned it into a threaded bow, all ready to give to some lucky child with some tasty treats to eat.  In the end, I added the sugar coating glitter to all the snow locations so it just sparkles.  Then some shaved Ice snow on the rooftop.  I topped it off with some pearl glimmer mist sprayed all over and I'm good to go!  And glitter is everywhere <<smiles>>  Hope you like and that you join us at Squigglefly for a new challenge every week, posted every Monday!  We'd love to see what you're working on !

The Paper Cut is an inspiration for Christmas~ I see Santa!

In the hush of winter night, when the ice crystals form a mist around the full moon, I could swear that the shape of St. Nick and his reindeer is streaking across the sky.  When I saw this very special metallic card stock from The Paper Cut called Lapis, I just knew I had to make a card for the midnight hour.  The shimmer and sparkle from this gorgeous  mat cardstock is hard to catch in the photo but it is stunning.  I sponged my interpretation of ice crystals onto the Darcie embossing folder with a white Stampabilities pigment pad. I used gold Stickles for the stars and red for Rudolph's nose. Then added a fitting inside liner for the snowy weather.  I'm sure you are looking for a unique finish for those Christmas cards~be sure to check out this fantastic site.  It's a great place for pre-scored shape card blanks of all varieties, card/lay-out accessories and awesome cardstocks in many varieties.

Fred she Said + The Paper Cut =Great pair for Christmas!

What an opportunity to join 2 powerhouse companies in some great Christmas cards!  Using the Scallop Circle scored card from The Paper Cut in Berrylicious, I couldn't resist doing a snowy card for this first one.  AND it was perfect timing for the new release of the pre-colored image, Emma and The Snowball, from Fred she Said, so that I could use her inside the snow shaker.  The Paper Cut also carries these Impression Obsession shakers in large and small circles & Ovals.  I love how easy they are to use!  

The second card is in the same TPC series but using the wonderful Christmas color, Wild Cherry. The snowy red plaid background paper is so festive both on the front and inside.  The flourish reminds me of snow flurries! And, as you can see this Emma image from Fred she Said, comes with a variety of color combinations in the set as well as in plain outline so you can color in your own colors!  She's thought of everything~

Now in this smaller shaker from IO, I added a little silver and crystal seed beads in with the snow and like how it weighted down the snow a bit.

National Teddy Bear Day....Yesterday! My Squigglefly Image

 Well as much as I tried yesterday to get this adorable card posted in time to celebrate, I ran out of time!  But this image from Squigglefly called Teddy Driver by Marla Shega, is such a perfect example of a Teddy Bear!  This artist continually draws images with gorgeous shading and fantastic detail-what a joy to color! 

I'm planning on doing 1 for each season, changing the colors in the trees and maybe putting snow on the fairway?  Definitely a manly Birthday card and I sure need more of those!

Please join us at Squigglefly to see ALL the artists' images in the Shop-We have new images and sets premiering the first Saturday of every month and all sell at very reasonable prices.  AND come and play with us on our weekly challenge and Win a digital image!

Squiggle Fly is going Dotty--I'm thinking Snow!

This week at Squigglefly, Rhonda's Rowdy Rascals  are asking that we use Polka Dots on our creations and the winning prize is a free digital from our Vast library of images from their talented artists.  What a great opportunity!!   The image that I'm using this week is Christmas Baby Reindeer by Fawn Palmer.  Now this image holds a special place in my heart because it was the image that I used when I actually got published in a magazine!  It was so exciting!!  I also layered a sentiment from the Have a Merry Christmas Set by our own Charlene Mitchell, Design Team Member.  I'm just getting comfortable with that process and plan to use her phrases a lot more!
Now, I know I'm not showing a lot of Dots/Snow but I didn't want to detract too much from the featured image on the card.  Guess it could be pointed out that there are Burgundy Stickles polkadots/berries on the wreath around the neck~ Alright that might be stretching it a little bit!  Hope you get inspired to get started on your cards soon!!  It's so amazing how quickly this gets the jump on us all!

Whimsey Stamps is Sponsoring Seems a Little Sketchy this week!

This week we, at Seems a Little Sketchy have a great sketch to use-I love the versatility of this layout!  As I'm gearing up for all the Christmas cards I need to get done-what a perfect time to use it!  And the prize for the winner of our two week contest will get 5 free digital images from our Sponsor, Whimsey Stamps.  This week they let us use our own choice for our cards.  I chose a new image from Fred She Said called Emma and the Snowball.  It's one of Tracey's, aka Fred, new digitals and I think it's so great for the Holidays!  I used some snowflake accents and Christmas liner paper-I'm so Happy to make cards for the Christmas season and using this pre-colored image is a great start and so easy!!

Let's be SQUARE at Squigglefly-2x the Winner!

The challenge this week is called Hip to be Square.  So create a square card or perhaps a square tag, show us your Square side.   We'd love for you to use a Squigglefly image, to be prize eligible it's required, but everyone is welcome to play along.  AND the greatest thing is that last week we didn't have a winner, so this week's prize will be DOUBLE!  Two Squigglefly images or image sets for the winner of this week's challenge. WOW!

I'm using the image Noah's Prize Pumpkin by Cheryl Alger, one of Squigglefly's Premier Artists and the Sentiment Give Thanks by our own DT member, Charlene Mitchell.  My square was created by using a scallop square die which I elevated with pop dots.  I love making these seasonal cards during the Holidays.  I'd love to be a fly on the wall at my relatives' homes when they get my special cards just for them!  Pretty soon I will have to fill up all my Fall copics cause I'm using the heck out of them! 

Be sure and check out some of our newest artists and their original digitals as they join this great group of talented people.  They're so creative.  the husband and wife team of Carmen and Graham Gamble are sure to to make their way to your creations!

Remember to get your entry into this week's challenge so that you have a chance to win some of the images from our library~see you there!