a Charming Christmas

Hi guys. The Christmas season is upon us. I love this time of the year...despite the cold. :) The peacefulness of falling snow. The lights. The decorations. The excitement in the air. The story of miracles...and the anticipation...family...traditions...and our first ever Christmas with our little boy.

...and I love having a reason to sit down and make some cards to send out to friends and family.  :)

I've been wanting to make a card using a sketch I found online. I've seen so many different versions of this card sketch...but I managed to add a little something that I hadn't seen on any card before....

something from my stash that I don't use on cards a whole lot anymore...

a charm...

Here's a look at my card:

some challenges:

Clear it Out -- Anything Goes

Oldie but a Goodie challenge -- Ribbon and/or Lace

Papertake Weekly -- Anything Goes

Shopping our Stash -- Anything Goes (the charm has been in my stash for a loooooong time!)

 Thru the Craftroom Door -- Anything Goes

LEJ Designs -- Christmas is Coming

Use is Tuesdays -- Anything Goes

Season's Greetings

Hi guys! I've loved working with Inkadinkado clear stamps this Christmas time. I've finally figured out how to get a clear and crisp image every time...and now there's no stopping me when I get started with stamping...

but as long as cards are being made, all is good, right? :p

I'm not a big fan of the "Season's Greetings" expression -- I like the good old "Merry Christmas". The Christ-child is a big part of the Christmas season (He is after all the whole purpose behind the season). But I liked the look of this stamp and decided to make one card using it.

I added a punched border  to make things a little bit interesting. Love the bit of extra the border punches add to cards...

Finally I added a border of punched snowflakes to the bottom of the card, 'cause it was looking a little bare. Added some bling to spice it all up...and the card was complete. :)

Thanks for dropping by my blog today. Hope I've inspired you  a little bit. :) Have a blessed day. :)

challenges

Simon Says -- Anything Goes (with Martha Stewart Products)
-- used the Martha Stewart snowflake punch
Party Time Tuesday -- Anything Goes
Word Art Wednesday -- God's Goodness/Anything  Goes
Crafty Bloggers Network -- Christmas Anything Goes
FAb 'n' Funky Challenges -- 3 of anything on your project
-- used 3 punched snowflakes
Stamping Sisters in Christ -- Make a Christmas Card
Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps -- Christmas
Sparkles Monthly Challenges -- Christmas is Coming
Delightful Challenges -- Red & Green
Creative Inspirations -- Traditional Christmas Colors

1st blogaversary blog hop

Hi peeps! I know, I'm overdue for a 1st blogaversary (this should really be celebrating my 3rd!!!) :p ...but I never found the time (or came up with anything creative) to do to celebrate the milestone(s) for my blog. Then Michelle said she was doing a blogaversary blog hop and I decided to join in. Blog hops are always so much fun!

You're gonna want to bundle up for this one...or make yourself a nice steaming cup of hot chocolate...'cause it's gonna be a snow-y one!!! :)

If you have come from Darlene's blog, then you are in the right place. If you stumbled across our blog hop, go to ScrapbookingSOS to start the hop from the beginning.
If you get lost along the way, here's a complete list of everyone in the hop:


1. Michelle O'Driscoll - ScrapbookingSOS.blogspot.com

2. Darlene -  http://scrappygolucky.blogspot.com/
3. Divinity - http://www.scrap-n-patch.blogspot.com/  << You are here!

4. Mary Eisen - http://www.mestamp2.blogspot.com

5. Lori Apgar - http://www.scrappinmystressaway.blogspot.com

6. Pattie Beach - http://paperplates-pjbeach.blogspot.com/

7. Heather - http://www.housesbuiltofcards.blogspot.com

8. Sue in CT - http://sueinct.blogspot.com/

9. Cindy deRosier - http://www.cindyderosier.com

10. Jean - http://pagesintime.blogspot.com

11. Marianne - http://mylifeincraft.blogspot.com/

12. Joyce - 1ashjoy.blogspot.com (with a great sketch and challenge)

13. Emily Kincke - http://emily.kincke.com/

14. Back to Scrapbooking SOS

Now on to my creation...

The theme for this hop is SNOWMAN/MEN. It's been one of the strangest winter's I have ever experienced. No snow (or hardly any anyways) until January...and even now there's so little on the ground it's sad! The weather too is soooooo unpredictable...lots of extra warm days and then weeks of soooooo cold you don't want to spend more than a few minutes outside! So there haven't been a lot of snowmen made this winter....

....that hasn't stopped me from creating them on paper though...at least here the sun can't get to them and melt them back to a puddle of water. :p And I'm not frozed through either........ :p

I used white cardstock with a shimmer...which I embossed with two different folders. Then I used the Fiskars Apron Lace border punch to create the border around the image. Punched out a few snowflakes...and added some bling. TFL :)

Now head on over to Mary's blog and see what snow-y creation she's come up with. :)

Non-traditional Christmas

 I've been making a lot of green Christmas cards this week, but yesterday I discovered how awesome blue is for a Christmas colour. Non-traditional maybe, but it fits well with snowflakes. Here's a blue card I made today -- blue, white and red. I know -- it's a little 4th of July, but it works for me! :) Christmas shouldn't just be about the reds and the greens!!! TFL

the embossing is a little hard to see on the photos. here's a close up:

A Spoonful of Sugar -- Relish to Embellish
The Crafty Calendar Challenge -- Winter & Snowflakes
C.R.A.F.T Challenge -- Dry Embossing (I dry embossed the white squares the snowflakes are on)
I Did It Creations -- Holiday Colours Mixup (I used the 4th of July colours for a Christmas card)

Bring on the Snow!!!

No -- I don't want winter to arrive yet...but I figured the title worked great with the card! LOL I'm enjoying our Indian Summer -- although it has cooled down here recently...and there's a chance of flurries in the next few days!! :(

I've been wanting to get started on some Christmas cards in the last month, but I've been waiting for some inspiration! Today I found a freebie (the big snowflake) on a blog site, and decided to try making a card with it. Totally non-traditional colours, but somehow shades of blue always work with snowflakes.

I'm not totally impressed with how the card turned out, but it's okay. I loved working with the Martha Stewart border punch. I really need to get one of those for myself -- I love it!!! :)  TFL

Challenges:
Dottie's World -- Christmas Card, Anything Goes
Sarah Hurley -- Xmas Card -- Red & Green Must Not Be Seen!
Delightful Challenges: It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas
Karber Christmas Challenge: Use A Digi
Crafty Cardmakers -- Use A Freebie
Pear Tree Designs -- Free For All