Lots of Hugs...and Love!

    My all time favorite sentiment is "Hugs" and it's a sentiment I have always loved and one I used often, especially on the cards that I create for Operation Write Home.   Hugs and Love and also how I sign almost all my personal cards and both words to me, show that someone really cares.  That's extra special when it comes to Operation Write Home and one of reasons I became an OWH card-maker.

   Today, I'm back again with four new cards to share and much like yesterday, all of these cards were inspired by today's new Sketch from the Stars and Stamps blog.   I have been taking part in the Sunday Sketch challenge for the past couple of years and I truly LOVE it.   I want to also take a minute today to say a very special Thank You to Julie, who has been the sketch designer at OWH for the last two years.  Today is Julies last day in this position and after today's sketch she'll be handing reigns over to Marlene, who I look forward to meeting soon.

    And here is a copy of Sketch #153, which was the inspiration I used for each of the cards I created today.   I loved the sketch and also wanted to stick with a Hugs and Love theme, so I created cards that will work for any day as well as Valentine's Day too!

 And these are the cards I created with Julie's farewell Sketch! 

The first two are pretty much identical to the sketch.

 

And these cards were also inspired by the sketch,

but not so much as an exact match!! 

 

  As you can see I used up almost every last bit of my Pink and White paper from Echo Park - Dots and Striprs, which has long been one of my favorite EP paper sets.  I even bought the 12" set, after living these pattens in the 6" pads. 

  It's been a JOY to be back at my desk and now two days in a row!  Woohoo!  Feeling back to normal again and very much looking forward to a very creative week.  I'm so happy to be feeling much better and realizing just how HAPPY I am when I can create.   My next goal today is to work on a fun New Year's card for a CAS Challenge being hosted over at "The Outlawz".   For that card I already know I'll be using my Cameo and have already picked up a few cute designers from the Silhouette Store.  I will also be back to my LSS on Thursday for our the monthly Silhouette Group meeting, which is always fun and educational.  We learn some new hint or tip at every class and we have to cancel last week's class due to bad weather.  Oh, and speaking of "bad" weather, our rain did eventually turn to snow last night and we ended up with about 2-3" on the ground, which apparently is not enough to plow.  At least not on our little road, because the plow never came.  It actually looks really pretty today, everyone on our road has stayed home today so the road is covered with fresh clean white snow....no dirt, no mud and not even a tire track. ....just a few little foot and paw prints from Scout and me.

   I've also realized that putting little boots on Scout is quite a challenge, but he really doesn't like the cold ...and today with temps in the 20's it's the coldest day we've had since I have owned him.   He went out quickly with Hubby first thing this morning, but it's been tough to get him out.  I did put the boots on and he can't seem to walk well in them, but after that trip out, with his little fleece he quickly did his business and literally ran back up on the deck to get inside.   I dried his little cold paws and wrapped in a nice warm blanket.  We have our woodstove going today, so it's super warm and toasty inside and he was very happy to be warm in a matter of minutes.   I'm with Scout...I don't want or need this yukky cold snow and hope it all melts very fast!!   Having ...cold, wet snow on your little paws is NOT fun!    

    And lastly, I am not quite sure who to THANK, but I did get a nice email from a friend of one of my blog followers and the best part is that I have already found a great Dachshund Rescue in Rhode Island.  It's one I had already looked at and added to my bookmarks, but having now knowing a Volunteer there, makes me feel even better about all of this.   Now, I am in the process of filling out an application and think I will definitely plan to rescue a slightly older Dachshund or maybe even a Dachshund mix.   It makes a lot more sense for me to have a dog that is pretty much already house-trained and one who does not have the high energy that a puppy would have.  I have to remember that there are days I do not feel wonderful and I need to have dogs that won't require daily long walks, just in case.   A day like today, when it's so cold that I dont' want them them even be out, let alone be taking a long cold walk.    I do know I do not want to adopt a high energy or super active dog who needs to do a LOT of running.   I'm not confident in keeping up with a high energy dog or one who really needs to run.  I know that would also be too hard for me, but I do have a feeling there are plenty of older dogs who would be perfect for both me and Scout.    Wish me luck and to whomever referred  me -- Special Thanks!!

Creating and Loving it!!

   I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you created some awesome new memories with your family and friends.   We had a quiet holiday, but it was still very nice and I was treated very well this year.  Thank you Santa!!

    Today, I'm super excited to be back at my crafting desk and back to creating some new cards.  It feels like it has been ages, so I have been looking forward to this day.  I started my day by heading out to "Absolutely Everything" my LSS, with one of the gift certificates I received to shop there.   Today is a special day at the store known as "Bag Lady Day" and we have these special bags that we take along to fill up and everything that we can fit in the bag is 20% off -- a fabulous deal and today I picked up a few more stamps from the new Hero Arts 2013 release.  Woohoo!

   I was off early as we are expecting our first significant snowfall, of the season -- about 4-6" in our area.  I'm hoping for a little less, but we'll just have to wait and see.   After listening to the weather last night, I almost thought I would have to miss out on the SALE, since they were talking as if the snow was coming in the morning.  But, when I got up this morning, there was not sign of snow, so I watched the weather again and was happy to hear that the snow would be starting later....sometime around 1 pm!  Perfect, as that gave me plenty of time to shop and be back home safe and sound.   And now, it's almost 4:30 pm and it's still not snowing.  I am so happy I went, because I would have really been disappointed if I had stayed home (because of the storm), only to find out the snow was coming in much later.    I guess we must have the hardest weather to predict because our forecast are often wrong.  I also find it's best to be prepared, but wait and see, because it's typically never as bad as they say.  Plus, it is New England and it is winter, so snow and cold are sadly part of life.   We've had many huge storms and as long as we have power and heat, that's what matters most.  Right now we have all we need, so I'm ready, or as ready as you can be.

   We have about a inch of snow on the ground already and my sweet little Doggie, is just like his Momma, he does not like the snow or the cold and has NO desire to go out, when it's really cold or wet.  Speaking of my little "Scout", he also had a fun Christmas and had his own share of cute new gifts, including a set of pet boots, called Pugz....!!  This is a picture of what they look like, only I have not had a great deal of success in getting his to stay still while I put them on.  He does, however like his new fleece jacket and that's been nice for him these past few days.

  Below are a couple newer pics of my "Scout", all snuggled up in a new fleece blanket.  I'm finding that I adore him so much and I'm considered rescuing or adopting another dog and have started looking to see if I can find local breeders.  I think, I really want another Dachshund and I'm learning toward  adopting a older dog, versus a puppy, but I'm just in the early stages of looking.  If I decide to get a Puppy, I will wait until Spring arrives, so that I have nice weather for training.  If I go with an older dog, it could be sooner, but not until I get home from my trip out to California.  If anyone knows any Dachshund Rescues or Breeders in my area, please share!!  I'm loving this guy so much and think a friend for him, would also be wonderful, since he previously lived with a big sister, "Ries" a Springer Spaniel.

   I'm sharing my newest card and these were pretty much all inspired by some of the most recent sketches over at Operation Write Home's - Stars and Stamps Blog.   After falling behind in the number of cards I send to OWH, I had considered retiring, but one quick note to Sandy, reassured and reminded me, that ANY amount of cards is always welcome -- plus, I know how much I love doing my part to help out, even if on a slightly smaller scale.  I've always loved this group and I'm honored to be a part of this!  Special thanks to Sandy for helping me realized this!  

   This was the first sketch I started with, with is the most recent and is Sketch # 152 - which you can find over at the Stars and Stamps Blog HERE!!

And these are the cards I created based on this wonderful sketch!!

   I put my Silhouette Cameo to good use for each of these cards and started by cutting a variety of the shapes on each card, from assorted scraps of papers.   All the Squares, Circles and Scalloped Circle were cut on my Silhouette!  Oh how I love that machine!! 

  My next two cards were also both inspired by another OWH Sketch and it's this ONE, which was from the week before.  Sketch # 151.

For both of these cards I "flipped" the sketch and was very much in a 

Pink mode, using some of the favorite papers from Echo Park.  The Sentiments were

stamped in Hero Arts Shadow Ink and are from Paper Smooches!!

   And that my friends is it for today, but it felt SOOOO nice to be at my desk and I'm looking forward to being there again tomorrow, working on more cards!   There will also be a brand new sketch over at OWH, as Sunday is always Sketch Day -- always a day I love to spend time creating! 

   Oh, and I have already signed up for my first online class for 2013 and it's another class hosted by Jennifer McGuire and Kristina Werner in the Online Card Classroom.  It's another that I know I will love, because it's all about "Clean and Simple Cards" and they are some of my favorites.   The new class is called Clean and Simple Cardmaking 2 and you can enroll now, by going to the classroom HERE!!  This class starts on January 28th, so I'll be working on some of the card, while I am in San Diego -- the perfect way for me to stay busy on the days, when the kids have to work  I had already planned to bring along some of my craft supplies!!  Yippee!!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing everyone a

Very Merry Christmas!!

I'm taking a few more days off, but will be 

back creating and blogging very soon!!

Creating for the Children of Sandy Hook!

   I still can not get my mind off of the horrible tragedy in Connecticut.  My heart breaks for everyone who lost a sweet child and a family member that day.  Let's all hope and pray we never ever experience such a day and that something will be done in the hopes of making school a safe and happy place for our children.

   Today, I'm very happy to be sending of a package of handmade cards for the children of Sandy Hook.  When I read about the wonderful plans that Amber has put together, I knew I wanted to do my part to help out.  If you want to be part of her great ideas, please hop on over to her blog Damask Love HERE - for all the details.   She has already raised over $4,000 in PayPal donations and is has had a fantastic response from the crafting community, including many of the companies we all know and love.

Donate Here

    To keep up to date on the activities of "Drawn Together" you may also want to follow Amber's Twitter Feed Here or LIKE her Facebook Page - HERE!

     I am also planning to put together a package of supplies to send out later this week.   You can follow along to find out exactly what the needs are and we hope this will continue for many months.   We want these children and families know how much we all care and we want that caring to continue for a long time!  I'm so proud of Amber for putting this all together so quickly and even more honored to donate some cards. I know lots of wonderful card-markers and I hope I can inspired you to help out too.  You can find all the details and updates, as well as a PayPal donation link on Amber's Blog!   Let's all do a little something to make these sweet children smile again and know they just how much we ALL care!!  

      In the meantime, I'm also trying very hard to finish up my last minute Christmas shopping, wrapping and cooking and have not felt very good this week.  Just my luck, right when I have the most to do, my Fibro always seems to slow me down...but I'm NOT stopping and I can't wait to sit back and relax!   I hope you are already for your Holiday and hope everyone have a Very Merry Christmas!!   

Heartbreaking day.....

 How you can help!!

If you have been touched by this tragedy, 
there is a way you can help!
Please go HERE for more details!!




I made my cash donation today and also will be writing to Amber about a craft supply donation, as well as making a card for one of the children.   I'm so happy that I found her site and am very happy to do my little part to help out!!

Lots to share today!

   When I sat down to type I was surprised to see that I have not made any posts since last weekend?  Wow?  ...Where does the time go??   I can't believe it's already Friday and another week is ending?  It's not as if I was off doing all kinds of fun things...I've pretty much been home all week and haven't done much of anything.

   Today, was my first day out of the house in a couple of days and although it was nice to go to the hair salon, the rest was running errands -- nothing exciting.  On the upside, one stop was at the Post Office and I'm very excited to say that ALL of my Christmas Cards are now in the mail.  I hope everyone has them soon and they all survive their trips all around the country.  Making handmade cards is such a joy, but it sure has become expensive to send them out -- more and more every year, which to me is the only downside fo this wonderful hobby.  When I first started (just over six years ago), I sent out 5-10 cards a week to my friends and family, it was my way of practicing and they all loved getting lots of cards.  Overtime, I started mailing less and less, but still always send homemade cards for Christmas, Birthdays and any special events.  I also love receiving cards and hope to see some in my mailbox soon.  

    And while on this subject, I'm still very happy to be creating cards for Operation Write Home and look forward to continuing this year too.   I'm especially excited about the fabulous new "Interactive Card Project" that Sandy Allnock, designed for the OWH cardmakers and was amazed to see how much time and effort she has put into this wonderful new idea.    If you are new to OWH and have not heard about Sandy's amazing new project, please take a minute to hop on over to YouTube and watch the first video or simply click on the video below.  I was so excited when I watched it this morning and I can't wait to try out one of the many new interactive cardmaking videos she had put together.   As of now, there are over 100 videos full of a wide variety of ideas on how to easily make a wonderful assortment of cards!      Way to go SANDY -- I'm blown away at all your hard work and think this idea is awesome!!

 

    I also can't begin to tell you how nice to feels to read mail from the Heroes who receive our cards and to know just how much they all enjoy them and how nice it makes it for them to keep in touch with their family and friends.   This will be my fourth year or being an OWH cardmaker and I am very honored to be part of the awesome group.  If you would like to join in -- please visit the main paper of Operation Write Home where you'll find all kinds of information on how to get started!  

  And speaking of OWH, I especially love to take part in their Sunday Sketch Challenges and the first couple of cards I'm sharing today, were actually created based on the Sketch from last Sunday.  This is a copy of the sketch, and you can find it directly over at the Stars and Stamps Blog -- Here!

Sketch # 149

 

A few more "Owl" themed cards -

created with my Silhouette Cameo!

   I also used the Sketch as my inspiration for this card, which can pretty much be used for any type of card.  All I need to do is decide what type of sentiment I want to add.  For now I left it blank and will add my Sentiment, when it's time to mail out this card.  I think this one would be nice for Valentine's Day too.   I also used my Cameo to cut the fun little Flourish on this card and used the scraps left over from the cards above.

  I actually started these cards last Sunday, but then seemed to off track and I finally finished them up today.  I also have another cute Christmas Card featuring my favorite Hero Arts Stamp of this Holiday Season.  Its' the wonderful Wire Star and I'm sure you have noticed a few cards, I've made with this stamp--Love it!!  This card was created for a fun little challenge over at the Hero Arts Flickr Group.  Barb, came up the fun idea of her own little giveaway to take the place of the monthly challenge, which is on hold for the month of December.   It's open to all and you can find all the details in the Group Discussion HERE!

  This was a very easy card to create and I started it by inking up the stamp in Versamark and stamping it directly onto some Tide layering cardstock.  I then added Verdigris Embossing Powder and heat embossed it.  This color is so pretty and looks wonderful, all on it's own.  Once it was cooled I used a variety of Ranger Distress Stains to color it in.  I used Peacock Feathers, Shaded Lilac and even the new Gold Distress Stain, along with some Perfect Pearls Mist to color my star.  I dried and set it with my Heat Tool and then cut it out!   My card was created with a "Snow" Hero Arts Card and then I layered on some teal Basic Grey (Indie Bloom) paper which I embossed in my Cuttlebug with a Lifestyle Crafts embossing folder.  I add a strip of darker teal cardstock down the center and embossed that with a new Sizzix Embossing folder and then added my star.  The little bow is a Memory Box die and I cut it from Ranger Foil Paper.  

   My next card was one that I was inspired to make after seeing a "Snowman" Themed challenge hosted over at Crafting by Designs new challenge blog.  I LOVE snow-people and actually have quite a collection of them in stamps and digi images.  This cuties is one from Bugaboo Stamps and is a digi image that I colored up with my Copics.  I also added a layer of 3D Crystal Accents, but it's not showing to well in this photo.  I used the same embossing folder as in the card above and the patterned paper on this one is also form Aspen Frost, also by Basic Grey

   NOTE:  If you love Bugaboo Stamps, as much as I do, then you'll want to head on over to the store now and stock up during the 50% off sale.  The sale ends on December 26th!

 And I have one more card to share, which is my "FAIL" of the week and the fail part was adding the Glitter, which was a last moment thought, that was NOT good.   The die cut itself was one I purchased from the Silhouette Store during their big sale.  I cut it directly onto patterned paper with my Cameo and then cut out the ornament and added it onto cardstock.  A super quick card, but a fail and one that won't be send or used. I will save the ribbon and the actual card, if I can easily remove the ornament.   I like to recycle as much as I can before this hits my recycle bin.    Just goes to show that not every idea works out like you might hope!!  The good news is that I can easily cut several more of these ornaments, since I know have it in my Library.  Oh, how I love my Cameo and I'm so happy that it seems to be working a bit better this week.  

  I'm also not sure I really LOVE the look of the little Gold Pearls, which I added on just before the Glitter!   I think the glitter may have worked better if I had chosen a better color.  What do YOU think?

   Tomorrow, I'm going to try to get some more shopping done, something that is such a challenge this year? I did get pick up a gift certificate to the Hair Salon for my Mom today, as we both go to the same place.  I'm also going to get her one for a Spa Pedicure and have a few small gifts done.   But, I still do NOT have a thing for the kids and it looks like they'll be getting money and gift cards, which they do like.   This also will really cut down on my wrapping, which is something I LOVE to do...I love beautiful papers and lots of ribbons too--but it's a back-breaking task, so having less to do, will be a good thing!!     Christmas just isn't the same as when my boys were young and I'm really missing those days....feeling very melancholy this week too!    

   

   Oh, and I bought a wonderful new Christmas Album on iTunes yesterday and love it. It's Michael Buble's - Christmas Album and I think it's going to become one of my favorites!    If you are looking for a new album, I highly recommend it!!   He's not to hard on the eye either...what a hunk!!

Snow Snow...go away...!!

    I am one who would be much happier if we never had any snow and I know I could easily live in a climate where the temps never went much below 60!   Pretty much exactly what it's been like for Brian and Meg since they moved to San Diego!  Oh, how I wish we could all have moved out there together...that would be like a dream come true...maybe in time, we will!   I would be very very happy to live in that climate and I almost most to LA, way back when I was 19.  I often wonder what my life would have been like, if I had made that move?  Hum??

    Speaking of JOY, I am very happy and excited to say that I have finished up all of my Christmas cards and will be mailing them out very soon.  I have them all stamped and addressed and ready to go and that's a good feeling to have it done.

    Today, I have quite few new cards to share and all of these will be put away for next year, or sent off to Operation Write Home for next season.  There are still many challenges being hosted with a Christmas or Winter theme and that's what inspired me to created most of these cards today.

    My first card was colored and created for the newest "Copic Coloring Challenge" over at The Outlawz, where the theme this week is a easy one -- Anything Goes!  I decided to color up this sweet little "Dress Up for Christmas" tree image, which a fun digi from  A Day for Daisies.   I colored it with my Copics and then added a light layer of 3D Crystal Lacquer over the top to give it extra shine.  My papers are a variety from my stash and my Sentiment is from a Hero Arts set.

  My next two cards were both inspired for the newest challenge at The Outlawz, which is today's Paper a la Mode Challenge.   Our theme for this week is "Birds" and while I did think about using the card above, I decided to make something fun and whimsical, so I put my Cameo to work to create these fun little Owl Cards, which I designed using the Print and Cut Feature after importing some of my favorite Christmas digi backgrounds into my "Pattern Files".  That way I could use the Fill feature and color in the owls with fun Christmas designs.  

   I also used my Cameo to create many of the die cuts you'll see on the next few cards, starting with this one, where I cut several snowflakes.

  And on this card, where I cute the snowflakes and the banner and then cut them directly from patterned papers.  I created my own background using a new stamp from Impression Obsession along with some Field Greens Shadow Ink and and a matching Hero Hues Foliage Cardstock.  

  And next I have a super quick and easy card that I created with one of the adorable pre-colored die cut images that I purchased from Lili of the Valley.   I simply trimmed the image a bit and layered it onto some black cardstock.  I picked out more matching papers and printed out a cute little digital sentiment -- put it all together and had this sweet little card.  I added a hint of glitter to the image and highlight the sentiment in red, with a Copic Spica Pen.  I also embossed the card base with a snowflake embossing folder!   I find these images are perfect when you are lacking MOJO or when you don't have time to color!   You can make several cards quickly and easily and they are all as sweet as can be.   They have a wonderful selection and they are very reasonable and also ship FREE!    Each sheet of six little images if just about $1.65 USD and you can create six different cards, which I think is awesome!    I also recently bought some of these amazing Mini Masterpieces, which are equally as wonderful!   

 My next two cards were also cards that feature a variety of die cuts, some I cut with my Cameo and others were cut using Dies from Memory Box and also from Sizzix.  There are so many amazing and wonderful die cuts now available and they make such nice cards!!  This first card contains a fabric type die cut that came packaged from Bazzill as well as the banner, which I cut on my Cameo.  

  This one features the Holly Vine and Crisp Bows, both from Memory Box, along with the two stars which I cut on my Cameo.   This card is actually pretty much a case of a card that Jennifer McGuire created and shared with us in last year's Holiday Card Bootcamp 2011.    Whenever I feel like I need some new inspiration, I will often go back to one of the workshops I've taken and review some of the Videos and Files for new ideas.  I think it's fabulous that we all have "forever" access to all the class content.    It's also fun to go back and look at the Gallery, especially when my MOJO is missing!  

     Today was a great day for me and it's my favorite kind of day.   I'm feeling pretty good, my pain level is controlled, I'm comfy and warm and I had lots of time in my craft room.   I could have easily stayed in ALL day and the only reason I even went out, was to take little Scout out, for a little walk.   He also doesn't like the cold, snow or even cold rain, so he's very content to skip our longer walks for days when the weather is much better.  He's a perfect dog for me and likes to come in and enjoy the warmth of the woodstove, or his his cozy blankets.   He's sleeping right next to me on his blanket and that's how he spends most of his day.  Happily lounging on his blanket, going out for walks or playing with his toys!  He stays very close to me and you can almost always find him, in whatever room I'm in.  He does also LOVE Alex and if Alex has been gone for a while, then he LOVES to be with him in his room and even sleeps in there every so often!    We are lucky to have him and very thankful that he's adapted so well to his new home.  He's a wonderful little dog and makes us all happy.

   

      I'm also happy that the snow is not sticking and can't wait for the mild air to move in.   Woohoo!!  Think SPRING!!!