Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

May this coming year be filled with happiness for all of you!

Fave 5 creations from 2013

     I'm back with my Top 5 for 2013 to play along with Debby's second Fave 5 game.  You can find all the details on her blog.

     I chose a mix of different stamp companies for my picks.  Hope you like them.  :-)

Rockin' Doggie

Uptown Birthday

Happy Birthday

Make a happy noise

Happy, happy, happy

     Hope you're all ready to start the new year with lots of crafty fun in store.
     Hugs!

Christmas Top Five Favorites

     Hello all!  I hope your Christmas was wonderful beyond measure.  Obviously I have taken a break from blogging.  I have had a few really good days for the holidays which was a blessing.  So far the tests they have done on my heart have all turned out fine.  I still have the stress test to do this coming Monday which is supposed to be the most accurate.  My stomach has decided to leave me alone even though I've dipped my hand into the Christmas goodies more than I should have.  LOL  Thank you to all of you who have been praying for me and checking in with me.  I appreciate it more than you know.  I'm looking forward to starting off the New Year renewed, re-energized, and hopefully healthy or at least well on the way to it.
     I still won't be doing much blogging until then, but I have been stalking all of you and I wanted to play along again this year with Debby's (Debby4000--A Scrap Journey) annual Top 5 Favorite Christmas cards.  My Christmas card collection was pretty sparse this year so there wasn't much to choose from, but here are the ones I chose.  If you'd like to play along, hop on over to Debby's blog and get the details.

Anyu

Winter Wryn

Father Noel

Heralding in Christmas

Winter Bears

     With love,

It's Fave Mo Card time

      This week's challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil will run for two weeks and we want to see your favorite Mo creations that you made this year.  Trying to pick one out for myself was tough, but I finally settled on the butterfly fairies for my frou frou card and I'm throwing in an extra card with the Cupcake Thief for a CAS design.

     Now it's your turn to peruse through your Mo creations and try to find your favorite.  There's a $5.00 gift voucher to Mo's store up for grabs for each 25 entries so jump in the game.

     Have a wonderful and blessed Christmas!

Update

     Thank you all so much for your lovely words of thoughtful encouragement and prayers.
     I wish I could tell you that I have all the answers to my ailments, but it is going to be a process.  I had an EKG on Monday which seemed to be alright.  I will have an Echo done next Monday and a stress test on the following Monday.  The doctor said that judging by what I was describing to him he didn't think I had anything to stress over, but he wants to get some good tests done to make sure.
     Meanwhile I still have good days and bad days.  Yesterday was great and I got some Christmas shopping FINALLY done.  This morning is not so hot though.  I feel so badly about my lack of visiting you all, but other than that little burst of energy yesterday I really haven't been doing anything.  Please bear with me.  I am stalking you all on my Kindle, but I'm afraid I'm just not going to be able to comment on all of your posts.  I'm hoping I'm going to be able to start fresh for the New Year.
     Please continue to pray for me.  I know that prayer makes a difference.  God has a reason for bringing this situation into my life.  Just pray that I can fulfill His purpose for it.
     Have a beautiful blessed day!

A skating we will go

     Doesn't she look like she's having fun.  My friend Nancy asked me the other day if I had ever been ice skating.  Since I live in the deep south, that's a pretty legitimate question and most of you would assume the answer is no.  However, the answer is yes.  My first time was in New Orleans on a field trip in school (Geez that was a long time ago!).  One of the malls had a small indoor rink.
    Now this might sound crazy to those of you up north who view hockey as the big local sport, but we actually have a hockey team on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.  The Mississippi Surge is part of the Southern Professional Hockey League and they are pretty popular with the local sports fans.  Now I said all that to say that I have managed to find myself on the ice a couple of times on their rink when they have free skate time.  It's been a while, but I can honestly say that I have donned ice skates and most likely it was 70 or 80 degrees outside.  LOL

     I have been slowly adding to my collection of Tiddly Ink Wryn's.  I just love this character.  This is Skater Wryn and I have given her some cool winter colors to practice her moves in.  The felt tree was cut with a Sizzix die and then trimmed down to fit the card better.  I just picked these cute Studio Calico birdies up at Hobby Lobby recently and thought they'd be really sweet on the tree.  I thought the tree needed a little something else and I happened to have cut a Memory Box die out that I didn't use.  When I looked at the little snowflakes I thought they'd be great decorations so I snipped them off and added them to the tree.

Copics Used:

skin--E000, E00, E11, E13, R20

hair--E50, E53, E55, E57

clothing--G40, G43, G46, C00, C0, C2, C4

skates--C00, C0, C2, C4

grounding--C00, C0, C2, C4, B0000, B000, B21

     I'd like to enter this card into the Tiddly Inks Christmas, holiday, or winter scene challenges and the following others.

Dream Valley--Christmas
That Craft Place--Christmas
Cute Card Thursday--Christmas Catch Up
Simon Says Stamp--let it snow

     Have a blessed Sunday!

Supplies:
Paper--We R Memory Keepers "Winter Frost", Bazzill, Georgia Pacific, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Tiddly Inks "Skater Wryn", sentiment from Create with TLC
Ink--Iced Spruce Distress ink
Tools--MFT. Die-namics Fancy Flourish, Sizzix Christmas Tree #2, Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped Ovals, Memory Box Snowflake Corner
Miscellaneous--Michael's flower, Recollections pearls, Studio Calico wooden birds, white felt

December Daily update

     First off I hope that you are all enjoying this wonderful holiday season.  I know I've been pretty scarce on the bloggie scene.  To be honest this past fall and winter have been an up and down roller coaster for me health wise.  It seems that I have worried myself into some sort of stomach problems (i.e. ulcer or whatever) that causes me some pretty down days.  I thought the round of meds the doc had given me had cured the problem, but it came back with a vengeance.  They are actually sending me to a cardiologist Monday for some tests to make sure it's not my heart.  That's where my pain seems to be centered so they want to rule that out.
     So basically I have fits and spurts of feeling good enough to do anything, therefore not as much crafting going on as I would normally do or surfing the web.  I have managed to get some work done on my December Daily though.  I haven't decided whether I'll take it past Christmas or not, but if I don't I'm about half way there.  YAY!  So here's what I have to share.

     While digging in my stash I found an old set of embellishments from Making Memories that's colors matched my papers perfectly.  The little sentiment strips and buttons were in it.  The number circles were a free download I found on line.  The first page is mostly journaling.  For the photo I purchased some of the Simple Stories Snap photo pocket pages and trimmed it to fit.  It was too long so I stitched the bottom closed and cut off the excess.

     I added another photo for the other side of the photo pocket and Like my friend Nancy who just posted deets on the cutest Christmas tree mini album, when you open the pages they are all facing right side up.  I wish the album had been side bound for easier opening, but it is what it is.  The day two page is an insert I created since the album only came with six pages.  This page flips out to reveal two pocket pages inside.

     I filled my pockets with journaling tags and matted photos.  The Christmas Santa calender in the right hand pocket was a freebie off the internet.

     The back side of the insert is another pocket page holding days 4 and 5.  Day six is an acrylic album page.  I have never worked with an acrylic page before and was a little lost on what to do with it.  However the photos worked out just right for it to be tree decorating day and I thought this beautiful picture of the lights would look wonderful framed in frost.  I used some ancient Opaque white Stazon I had which wasn't working to well.  I managed to get it looking decent and then I added some transparent sparkly embossing powder.  You have to be careful when embossing acrylic.  It will warp and I had to flatten out my scallops several times.

     Got the start and finish of the tree done by my baby girl on the other side of the acrylic page.  For day 7-8 I created another insert with a fold down flap.  The front of the flap has a cute Jillibean Soup mini bag to hold the journaling tag.  I didn't get a pic of the folded down flap so you can see the snowman cookie jar page.  This thing was a booger to photograph in my lightbox.  I will be doing a video of it later and things will be much easier to see then.

     This page features a small part of my Lenox snowman collection.  My mom has bought me several of them over the years and I decided to capture the Snow Band.  I added a couple of stars cut from corrugated cardboard and will probably add something else to that bare bottom corner.
     Need to get some more pics developed so I can share some more pages.
     Have yourself a wonderful weekend!

TSG gift giving

     I know that the closing of There She Goes came as quite a shock to lots of crafters.  I was honored to be a part of the DT for over a year.  Some of the Trendsetters will be showcasing some gift giving projects this month as a kind of farewell.
     For my project I created a tea bag dispenser.  You can find a great tutorial for making this box right here at Splitcoast Stampers.
     I used one of Wendy Leach's fun images for the focal point.

     My fellow Trendsetters have some great projects to share too.  Make sure you check them out.
     Be blessed!

Supplies:
Paper--Fancy Pants "Home for Christmas:, Bazzill, Kraft Outlet chipboard, Copic Xpress-it Blending card
Stamps--There She Goes Clear Stamps "Tis the Season" and "Holiday Cheer"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa, Walnut Stain Distress ink
Tools--There She Goes Just For You die, Nestabilities Classic Ovals and Classic Scalloped Ovals, Marvy Uchida 1" circle punch
Miscellaneous--button from my stash, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String, Offray ribbon

Hold on tight

     Time for another challenge at Mo's Digital Pencil.  This week our lovely Debbie wants to see something with "animals, insects, or fairies".
     I don't make too many fancy fold cards, but I was inspired to make an easel card with this cute image of Bella and Bronte called "Skating".

Copics Used:

skin--E000, E00, E11, E13, R20, R30

hair--E07, E08, E97

coat and hat--R35, R37, R39, R59, N3, N5, N7

scarf--G24, G28, G29

skates--C00, C0, C2, C4

dog--W1, W3, W5, R20, R30, N7, NE

scarf--YG03, YG93. YG95, BG32

grounding--B0000, B000, B21

     Hope you can find some time during this busy holiday season to play along.  You just might win a gift certificate for $5.00 from Mo's store for your stocking.

     Happy Thursday!

Supplies:
Paper--American Crafts "Jolly", Bazzill, Ciopic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Mo's Digital Pencil "Skating", sentiment from Hero Arts
Ink--Memento Rich Cocoa, Sakura silver gel pen
Tools--MFT Die-namics Little Open Scallop and Fishtail Flags Stax, Nestabilities Ribbon Tag Trio
Miscellaneous--Basic Grey button, Kraft Outlet Baker's Twine, Diamond Stickles, Polar White Flower Soft, Liquid Applique, Offray ribbon

I'm a SugarPea!!!!!!!!!!!

     whoosh!!!!  That's me letting the air out from the big secret I've been keeping in for a while now.
     I have been blessed to be able to call some amazing card makers my team mates over the last few years.  One of those super stars is Wendy Ramlakhan.  Wendy has started a brand new journey in her life by opening her very own online stamp shoppe featuring her very own line of high quality clear polymer stamps called SugarPea Designs on January 9th, 2014.  You can read all about it on the SugarPea Designs Blog. 
     I am so excited to announce that I was asked to be a member of the very first SugarPea Design Team!  You're going to recognize LOTS of names on this team cause Wendy has collected some uber-talented ladies to create with her stamps.  
      SugarPea Designs will begin the sneak peeks of the very first release on Monday, January 6th and the doors will open up on January 9th!  With each and every announcement of a design team member, there will be gift certificates up for grabs as well as some additional giveaways as we approach the grand opening.  So if you would like a chance to WIN a $10 gift certificate to SugarPea Designs for our very first release then ...

Here's what you need to do:

1.  Head to the SugarPea Designs Facebook Page and "like" us

2.  Become a follower of the SugarPea Designs Blog

3.  Become a follower of my blog

4.  Go back to the SugarPea Designs Blog and leave a message

     If the winner has the SugarPea Designs fan badge posted on their blog at the time we chose the winner, you will receive a $15 gift certificate instead!  The winner will be announced here and on the  SugarPea Designs Facebook Page at noon on Sunday, November 24th!

     Have a great day!

And away we go!

     Brrrrr this card makes me cold, which isn't hard to do since I'm so cold natured, but I hope I've conveyed some winter frostiness to you.  It's the start of a new month of challenges at Mo's Digital Pencil and were kicking it off with one of our letter challenges.  This time around we want to see things that start with an "I".  I've used the adorable "Anyu and Nanook" from Mo's store.
     The edges of my DP mats and image are edged with Iced Spruce Distress ink so there's one "I"--ink.  I used a Memory Box die and a Tim Holtz on the edge die to cut some snowflakes out of "I"rridescent glitter paper.  For the top edge I used Glossy Accents and Diamond Dust to create some sparkly "I"cicles.  Had to start my coloring over when I messed up the sled, but I'm really happy with how this one turned out.
     Here's a close up.

Copics Used:

skin--E000, E00, E11, E13, R20, E30

clothing and shoes--BG53, BG70, BG72, BG75, BG78, N1, N3, N5, N7

dog--W1, W3, W5, C00, C0, C2, E93

sled--E31, E33, E35, E39, E51, E53, E55, E57, E70

grounding--B21, B000, B0000

     Hope you can find time to play along with our challenge.
     I'd like to enter this card into the following challenges:

Bearly Mine--Christmas sentiment
Creative Craft Challenge--non-traditional Christmas colours
Going Grey with Scrap-Creations--holiday
Ladybug Crafts Ink--blue and white
Loves Rubber Stamps--anything goes
Oldie But a Goodie--ribbon or lace (seam binding, bling, and Diamond Dust are all several years old)
Papertake Weekly--anything goes
Ribbon Carousel--anything goes
Songbird--die another day (4)
Craft-Dee BowZ--anything goes with a handmade bow
Eureka Stamps--button it up
My Craft Spot--sparkle and shine
Stamp and Create--anything goes
The Pink Elephant--winter
Creative Inspirations Paint--Christmas
Totally Gorjuss-snow

     Happy Thursday!

Supplies:
Paper--We R Memory Keepers "Winter Frost", Bazzill, Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--Mo's Digital Pencil "Anyu and Nanook", sentiment from Hero Arts
Ink--Ranger Archival Jet Black, Iced Spruce Distress ink
Tools--Memory Box Precious Snowflakes die, Tim Holtz Snow Flurries On the Edge die, MFT Die-namics Mini Tab and Solid Bracket Border dies
Miscellaneous--Glossy Accents, Diamond Dust, bling and button from my stash, Hug Snug seam binding, Kraft Outlet Baker's Twine, Polar White Flower Soft

I'm making a December Daily!

     Yep, I decided since we have so many activities planned for this month that it was time for me to bite the bullet and actually create a Daily December mini.  I've wanted to do one of these for years, but didn't have the time or activities to fill it.
      Besides finally creating something I've had on my to do list, I have managed to put a dent in my ridiculous craft stash.  The base for the album is a Prima canvas album set.  I'm only showing you the cover cause that's all I have done so far, but there are five more pages.  I think I picked up about three of these when I found them cheap at Tuesday Morning.  The paper collection is several years old.  I'm not sure where I got it.  I almost want to say I bought it at a consignment sale at one of the LSS.  It's Cosmo Cricket and I love the colors.
     The collection has cardstock die cuts and a couple of sheets of cut apart journaling pieces plus the papers.  I cut a mat of one of the papers slightly smaller that the canvas base, inked the edges with Walnut Stain and then hand stitched with some DMC pearl cotton thread around the perimeter.  The snowman came in individual pieces that I embossed for a little dimension and layered.  I stamped "December Daily" and "2013" with some Martha Stewart alphabet stamps onto one of the journaling pieces and a kraft tag from Recollections.  I added a die cut fishtail banner cut from vellum and stitched with the pearl cotton.  Another die cut, a star, was inked and layered on top of the vellum topped with a button.  I added a pull tab that was actually cut from the collection packaging.  For embellies I added a star paper clip, some bling, a doily, brad eyes, and some stitched ribbon.  We only get snow down here once in a blue moon so I created some on my cover with my dotty stamp, Versamark, and white embossing powder so my December memories will include some of the fluffy stuff.
     I've already gotten my photo for day 1 so I'll be working on it soon.  I know I won't be posting my pages daily because I don't have a good photo printer and need to get them printed at Wal-mart, but I'll share as I get them completed.
     Wish me luck.  This is a major project and I want to actually complete it.

Merry Christ-moose

     Well, I guess we're in the home stretch for Christmas now aren't we.  This guy's all decked out and ready to celebrate.  He is one of the stamps in the latest releases from There She Goes.  The set is called "Merry Christ-moose" and he's perfect for our new "Christmas Critters" challenge on the TSG blog.

     Normally our household is fairly quiet during the Christmas holidays, but this year the schedule is filling up fast with all sorts of activities.  Because of this I'll have a fun post to share with you later today.

     Meanwhile, grab a critter and come play along.

     Happy Monday!

Supplies:
Paper--Carta Bella "Christmas Day", Bazzill, Kraft Outlet Light Kraft, Copic XPress-it Blending card
Stamps--There She Goes Clear Stamps "Merry Christ-moose"
Ink--Memento Tuxedo Black and Rich Cocoa

Copics Used:

moose--E23, E25, E29, E79, E93

antlers--E71, E74, E79

lights--R35, R37, R39, R43, YG03, YG95, YG97, Y11, YR21, YR23

Tools--MFT Die-namics Sentiment Strips, Nestabilities Classic Circles and Classic Scalloped Circles
Miscellaneous--Glossy Accents, buttons from my stash, Kraft Outlet Hang Tag String