Color Dare 49--God's timeless truths

I think this scripture from Romans offers up a great new year's resolution to us all. The colors for the color dare are bashful blue, cameo coral, and soft suede. I used the scripture from a Stampin' Up set and the swirl is from Verve. The flower punch is from Stampin' Up and the leaves from Martha Stewart.
I was excited to read that one of my cards for last week's color dare challenge was mentioned in the honorable mentions. I find these wonderful challenges to be very motivativing in getting my creative juices flowing. I am fortunate to have the time to do many of these and I thank the creative minds who come up with all the wonderful ideas. It takes away some of the work for me, and that saves me time to be able to make more cards. I hope you will find a new challenge of two to try this year and that you find your stamping time to be very theraputic for you as I find it to be for me. The only other thing I would add is to wait on the Lord! Trust Him in all things and claim the blessings that are yours in 2010, which are revealed to you in those faithful prayers.

Midnight Madness Sketch Challenge #34

I just got this stamp today for half price and couldn't pass up the chance to use it for this challenge. I decided to chose soft colors that were determined by the design paper from Basic Grey that I used. I drew the lines for the rainbow with six of my copic markers. Love this Martha Stewart corner punch that I kind of reversed. The leaf punch is from Martha Stewart as well and the little flowers I bought at Hobby Lobby and they already had the rhinestones attached. I used my nestabilities for the ovals. You can find the Midnight Madness challenge here.

MOJO Monday #119

I thought this was a perfect sketch to highlight a scripture. This stamp is from Verve and the papers are from Paper Trey Ink and Stampin' Up. I also used some design papers from my scrapbox. My new year's resolution is to keep my scraps more organized and make use of all that I can. It will help me be GREEN and it will help me save money!!!
Keep the faith as spoken of in this message from Hebrews, and may your 2010 be full of HOPE!

Stampin' Sisters in Christ #19

The challenge for the Stampin'Sisters in Christ challenge is to make a new year's card. I've decided to make one that might bring an extra message of hope to someone who has had a rough 2009. The butterfly is from Kitchen Sink Stamps as is the sentiment.

Belli Challenge #81 Tags

I decided to make a wedding tag with my new lily of the valley multi-stepped stamp set from Kitchen Sink Stamps. Their challenge  this month is tags also, so I'm hitting 2 birds with one stone on this one!! I used new leaf, pear tart, and cottage ivy Memento ink pads on this. I corner punched the corners with two different punches, and I had a instant gift tag for the next wedding gift I give!!!

Family albums

These are my pages for the family albums we add to every Christmas. Each family does a dozen sets of pages for each family and grandchild to have a set. So I had a dozen spreads to make and it usually takes me a good part of a day.We have all year to work on it but I usually do my usual procrastination the week before I need them. We have done this for over 10 years and they have become quite a treasure.It is the only scrapbook effort I make for the year.  I have a daughter in law that complains about doing it, but the results are so worth the effort and it will be something to treasure as each year passes. We do this instead of giving gifts for that side of the family. I'm glad it has become a family tradition for us. Those wonderful traditions are what make Christmas so special. I hope you and yours are richly blessed this Christmas with togetherness, love, and joy, and comforted by rich memories of Christmases of the past.

FTTC 47_ATC

Wow, these are fun to make, quick to make, and uses up some valuable scraps. I'll have to make some more of these ATC projects. I had the poppy out from my SCS color challenge card, so it seemed to work with some scraps I had left over from my scrapbook pages I have to make 12 sets of for my family members. We do scrapbook pages for each other as our Christmas gift to each other and then add it to our wonderful family book of which we each have one. They have become quite an heirloom. My sister, Lynn, is the creative genius of this project that we have done for over 10 years now. You should see the elaborate year division pages Lynn makes to separate the years in the book. She takes each family member's picture to use on the page. It has ranged from being in snowglobes to jumping out of wrapped packages. It is always amazing what she comes up with on those pages. This year we had elf hats and was passing a toy through a window frame. Can't wait to see how that turns out. I'll have to take some photos and load them here on my blog to share.

Mojo Monday Challenge #118

This was a quick card that I made for the MOJO Monday Challenge #118.I used papers from the Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses collection and Stampin' Up cardstock: pretty in pink, soft sky (my stash is dwindling--sniff, sniff) and riding hood red. The poinsettia is a premade embellishment. The border punch is a Martha Stewart, the queen of crafts. The stamp is from Stampin' Up. I'm down to those last minute cards and this being a wonderful sketch for the quick and pretty, I gave it my ten minute limit on my time schedule today. Hope everyone is welcoming Christmas into their hearts and that the world can see the difference that makes!!! God bless you and yours this Christmas season.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #18

This sketch is provided by SSCC for this week's challenge. The scripture was from Luke describing the night Christ was born. I used this as the theme of my card. I love this design paper because of the black and soft shade of blue so I used that as my color scheme for this card. The stamp is from Stampin' Up and I used various nestabilities and oval punches for my shapes. I hope everyone experiences God's peace and joy in this season. May the light of that star and the light of our world send a glow of warmth from our hearts as we spread His love around the world.

Stamp Simpply 119 - snow

I did this for Sharon Johnson's Stamp Simply Challenge 118 to make a CAS with snow. This is a one layered card that I masked and sponged the snow and sky. The deer is from Layers of Colors stamped in versamark and then embossed with silver powder. The sponged colors are soft sky and baja breeze. The snowflakes are from Stampin' Up.

Color Dare #47

This week's colors for the Color Dare Challenge are green galore, real red, and chocolate chip. I was organizing my scraps from the pile that had accumulated by the paper cutter and I found this red dp so I made use of these panels for this challenge.

KSS Crew Challenge card

The challenge for December is to do a tag, or bag, or wrap! I did this tag, not using the usual Christmas look. This tag could go for any special gift for the most special lady of our lives. I love Kitchen Sink's rose. It has always been one of my "go to" stamps. It is just instant beauty at your fingertips. I used angel pink, rose petal, and rhubarb stalk Memento inks for the layers. Unfortunately I have somehow lost one or two layers of my leaves that go with this set, so I punched some out. That is the only disadvantage I have found about clear stamps---they become invisible to me at times, and I have lost a few!! Not that my messy stamp table has a thing to do with that!!!

MMSC32

I love this Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses paper. The card base is sweet blush from Paper Trey Ink.

The rose is from Kitchen Sink Stamps. It is one of my favorites. KSS are such unique stamps with the multistepped layers. It looks like a photograph! Maria is a fabulous graphic artist and her experience in this art field are a real strong point in her stamps. If you haven't tried them, it's time you do!!

MOJO Monday #117

It's Monday and it's MOJO time. I loved this simple sketch and decided to take a little break from the Christmas card route I've been in. This little turtle is a stamp from Inkadinkadoo. The Dr. Seuss quote is a Verve stamp and the border punch is from Martha Stewart. The scallop, inverted scallop, and circle are Nestabilities. The paper is sweet blush from Paper Trey Ink. The design paper is Basic Grey and the pink and green is from Stampin' Up.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ Challenge #17

Scripture:

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourself treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

This is for the Stampin' Sisters in Christ challenge to give up some of the treasures I have been hoarding for a while now. I thought these rhinestone flowers would be beautiful on Christmas cards, but have not parted with very many of them. After reading this scripture, I was also reminded of the treasures laid before the Christ Child by the Wise Men of the East. How very precious God's gift through Christ is to us. So, while I am looking over the tiny treasures I've stored in my craft room, I know that this scripture speaks volumes to me. Christ is the treasure of my heart  and how I rejoice that nothing of this earth can take it away. If I practice His ways and His truths I truely will be blessed with those things that are not of this earth and are certainly the wonders of the Lord working in me. Be Christ's instrument this blessed season and show the world who your heart does belong to!!

MMSC#31 and Color Dare #46

I decided I better double up on some of these challenges so I can get them all done!! The colors for the color dare challenge are taken with teal, rich razzleberry, and kraft. The sketch is from MMSC #31 and the extra was to do a little project to match. So, this is a card and a matching candle. I bought a bunch of these calendars at Michael's in their dollar bins. The design papers are from Stampin' Up and Basic Grey.

House Mouse Challenge #58

The challenge was to use non-traditional colors on a Christmas card. I used sweet blush cardstock from Paper Trey Ink and a piece of Basic Grey dp. Copic markers were used to color in this precious House Mouse image. I added snowflakes and pineneedles on the side with rhinestone flowers.

Banana Split Sunday_staying warm

This is for Sunday's Banana Split Sunday Challenge to stay warm!! I used the steaming coffee mug from Flourishes to warm up with. It is paper pieced with a lovely piece of Basic Grey design paper.I used really red SU cardstock for the cardbase and stamped some SU snowflakes in platinum planet and rich cocoa inks. I used my pine punch to make the pineneedles and a red rhinestone flower.

Stampin' Sisters in Christ

I was so glad to see the challenge for today on Stampin' Sisters in Christ to make a card telling someone you are praying for them. I have a very dear friend who just found out very recently that her sister has a brain tumor, surgery was done immediately, but the doctors were not able to remove all of the cancer they found. These women as children lost their own father many years ago on Christmas Day, after what was to be a non-life threatening procedure. My friend struggles to find a joy about Christmas because of this sad event and now this Christmas she is faced with the news about her sister. I am sending this card as an alternative Christmas card to her and I ask for prayers from all of you wonderful Christian Sisters for peace and a spirit of grace for this Christmas season as my friend and her sister and their families face this difficult situation at this Christmas season. My friend is a faithful Christian, and totally believes in the power of prayer. I know she will feel your prayers as God helds my friend and her loved ones close to Him this Christmas.

Friday Sketchers #81

I decided that the really fun way to make the rest of my Christmas cards is to find every challenge I can and make it a Christmas card theme. I loved this one that I found over on the Daily Dare today called Friday Sketchers. The stamp I used is from Penny Black, the papers are various design papers from my pink scrap bag. I used my nestabilities for the center scallops, inverted scallops and circle. Martha Stewart punches provided the snowflake. I used copic markers to color in my tuxedo black Memento inked image. Half pearls surround the snowman. I have to tell you, it has been snowing at my house since this morning and this is such a rare thing for those of us who have been raised on the Texas Gulf Coast area. This is a record for the earliest snow we have ever received. In my liftime I think I've only seen falling snow around 8 times and I am over a half of a century old!!! LOL I am just loving the peacefulness of the snow softly coming down. Most of it is melting on the ground but some of it is accumulating. God sends us unexpected surprises sometimes, just so we can be in awe of who He is!!!

Color Throw Down #71

The colors for the color throw down this week are olive, red, pink, and brown. I used a piece of Basic Grey design paper that featured red and pink and then I added real red and chocolate chip cardstock to the old olive card base. The wreath was made with the leaves from the Carte Postale set from Stampin' Up's retired collection. The sentiment is a Studio G stamp. I punched out the flowers and the pine needles. The flower centers are chocolate pearls. I was very honored to see my CTD card from last week's challenge recognized in the top three. Wow! I've been a fairly faithful follower of this challenge for quite some time, so it was nice to get the "nod."

MMSC #30

I cuttlebugged the snowflake background on the gold panels. I also cuttlebugged the white label shape with the Victorian folder. This angel is from the Reneissance Angel set, which was retired by Stampin' UP. I used my spellbinders to cute my shapes. The image was stamped in Versamark and embossed with gold embossing powder. Angels are one of the things I collect, so I just had to pick one for my winged image.