A sunny Sunday...

...and a perfect day to be outside doing yard-work, which is what hubby is doing today for me.  Cutting back all the dead flowers and weeds from my garden and raking up the leaves.   I used to love to do yard work and gardening, but that was one thing that I finally have to give up because of the Fibro.  I miss it, but that is also why I now adore cardmaking and it's my new hobby which keep me very happy and very busy.   Today, I plan to work on a few more Christmas Cards to add to my pile for this season.   

   I have made about 20 cards so far this year and today I was inspired by a few challenges to work on some more.  I started by hopping over the the Stars and Stamps blog and that's where I found this new sketch -

   My next stop was over at the 'Feline Playful' blog, which is the the wonderful creation of Karen Howard and a one stop blog to find out what new challenges are being hosted each day.  I really love how Karen has each challenge listed by day, and also by theme of type.  Karen is also a member of Operation Write Home and that is how I first met her and found her awesome blog.   She has now reached 500 Members and is again offering some awesome blog candy as a celebration this is awesome achievement!  I'm so happy for her and truly enjoy being one of her followers and subscribers to her blog.  It's awesome!   Thank you Karen!!

     I started  my first card using the OWH sketch.   This card was created with a  new set of Designer Paper I bought from Stampin' Up.  This is the Jolly Holiday Designer Series Paper SET and it's gorgeous in very traditional shades of red and green.   I also used three different punches (also from Stampin' Up), to create my Happy Holidays card.

    This card was inspired and created for these fun challenge --

• Stars & Stamps Blog - Operation Write Home - Sketch 39
• Craftalicious Challenges - Challenge # 10 - Anything Goes
• Gingerloft Challenges - Challenge # 4 - Winter

   My second card was also created with the same paper set from SU,  and for this card, I simply used the scrap I had left after making my sketch card.   I simply made up my own design and added a different Happy Holidays Sentiment to complete this card.   This sentiment is from an Inkadinkado Holiday Stamp Set called ' Pattern Play Holiday'.   I bought the set for half price, after Christmas last year.  

    I am a huge fan of sales and never miss a good one and speaking of sales, if you like Stampin' up products, they've been offering some fabulous deals on the clearance rack and if you are looking for your own Stampin' up demonstrator  - I can highly recommend, Catherine Pooler and you can find her site HERE!  Catherine also has a group over at SSC, and she is a very talented crafter. 

      And the best part is that I still have more than enough paper left to make at least another 2 or 3 similar cards and I only used two sheets.  Each sheet is double-sided, making it a great value!

    Now, I am heading over to Two Peas to check out the fabulous new Holiday Thinking Inking Series, being offered and taught by Jennifer McGuire, one of my favorite stampers.  Oh and the best part is that these are totally FREE!  WOOHOO!!

CLASSES ARE at Two Peas - HERE!!

     I took a few of Jennifer's 'Thinking Inking' classes last year and they are awesome, a great way to learn new techniques and try new ideas.  This year there will be 8 weeks of and some weeks they are multiple classes, so this is a wonderful opportunity and the cards and projects are awesome.   Currently, Jennifer is on Week 2, but all the details are there for the first week too!   There are fantastic videos, tutorials and downloads for each project, for the first class in Week 1, go HERE!

     Have fun!!