My Top 11 Cards of 2010 ~

Hey all!  I've seen a lot of people posting their top ten cards they've made in 2010.  While they were all playing along with a blog hop, I've missed that boat.  You can *officially* call me the Queen of Procrastination!  ;o)  I thought it would be fun to look through what I've made and post my favorite cards - this does not include my favorite projects of 2010 - just cards.  I have things saved by names and not dates, so these are in no particular order.

Embossing paste thank you card.  This was a new-to-me technique that I think looks so boutique-y.  It's beautiful but I only have the one stencil and haven't pulled it out again since making this back in March. 

Celebrate Spring card.  This card is somewhat heavy on the right side, but it all works together and has remained one of my favorites throughout the year. 

Airplane congratulations card.  One of my favorite things about stamping/card making is that you can make an image that you aren't all that impressed with into something that you love.  This card really came alive for me when I sponged the cloud shapes around the plane and then added shading to it.  Really easy but with big impact IMHO. 

Poinsettia Patterns baby card.  I love this card.  It's so simple but I love the color combo and the die cuts behind the sentiment. 

Celebrate Lanterns card.  This one layer card is so fun!  I love the pink and orange color combo and that the lanterns are from a Christmas stamp set - they're ornaments.  And look ma, no coloring!  I rarely just stamp a card anymore!

Boo & Snookie Birthday card.  I loved paper piecing the shell on this adorable little snail.  I've learned so much in card making this year.  The first and foremost is that my process goes so much faster if I pick out a sketch and papers to work with before I begin coloring!  LOL  I know that most people know this already, but sometimes it's hard for me to not just color first! 

Dahlia Birthday card.  What can I say?  I just love this one.  It was one of the first times, if not the first, that I used embroidery floss instead of ribbon, and I adore it!  

Cherry Blossom Thank You card.  I love the softness of this one which was accomplished with color pencils.  The only thing I'd change up on this one is popping up a couple of blossoms. 

Drucilla with pins card.  What can I say?  She's a little demon and I love her!  It was also the first time I used some pins in my design.  So fun...I just hope they don't poke the recipient!  lol 

Margarita Mojo Birthday card.  Lots of emboss resist and dimension in this card.  It does make me crave a margarita too!  Yummmm...

Lily of the Valley Thank You card.  I love the simplicity of this card again.  I wanted to make it one layer so it's colored with pencils instead of my beloved Copics.  This is also the card that made me have a Doh! moment.  I fell in love with the frames like everyone else in the stamping world this year.  After making this card and measuring and still not being happy with the straightness of the frame, I realized that all you have to do is make a template.  Trace lightly around the template in pencil, stamp, and follow over pencil lines with a multiliner.  Soooooo much easier!!

Hope you enjoyed my little stroll down memory lane today!  I would love if you all would do it too!  Another fun thing about this hobby is seeing how different everyone's tastes are!  Hope you all have a fantastic day!!  :o) lyss

Amber's InKredible 21 Day Challenge ~

Hi all!  I'm here today with a project for the Amber Ink 21 Day Challenge.  I get so organized at the beginning of the year, start lists here and there as a gift idea presents itself and then lose everything or don't have enough time to order things to get here in time for the big day.  I hope to get a jump on my holiday shopping in 2011, so when I saw Dawn's holiday planner, I just knew I had to make my own!  Just think, a designated place for all those lists!  {swoon}

I used four different iPapers in this little 4.5 x 6" planner.  The first is on the front and back covers and is called Spin Pin: Holiday - Holly Tiny.  It's a fun paper that totally reminds me of a big bowl of red and white ornaments with some holly sprigs thrown in!  The focal image is pieced together from 'Tis the Season to be Pretty.  It's the Amber girl, the tree and the trio of presents.  It's colored with Copics based upon the iPapers I used.  I really had to tame the inner demon that wanted to embellish this with Stickles, glitter, flock and Flower Soft!  lol  This needed to be left sans fun stuff so it wouldn't stick and catch on things in my purse.  Bummer...  ;o)

When you open the book, you'll find the Holiday Cheer paper in purple tiny.  The ornament is another piece from 'Tis the Season to be Pretty and is colored with Copics.  Again, I just wanted to leave things simple and clean so they didn't catch on anything or fall apart.  Behind this page is plain notebook paper.  I can use a page per person, write gift ideas in pencil, then go back and mark what I ended up getting in pen.  This can serve as a reminder of what was given and those items I didn't get start the new year as the gift idea list or can be erased if they no longer apply!

This next divider is the Starburst tiny Blue iPaper.  The starburst is also from the 'Tis the Season set.  I lightly colored a couple of areas with Copics and then sparkled it up with red and silver Spica pens and a Sakura clearstar pen.  Behind this is an envelope to hold any of those fabby coupons that start coming around Thanksgiving...you know, the Target book, the Bed Bath & Beyond and the ValuPak stuff.  A penny saved is a penny you can spend on stamps!!  lol 

Last, but certainly not least, is the Receipt section.  This iPaper is the Snowflake Lace tiny red.  It's so pretty!  I'm such a sucker for snowflakes...I really have to restrain myself to not buy every snowflake set out there!  The mistletoe image is from 'Tis the Season.  I colored each little title item with a color from a different iPaper to tie it all together.  The berries were too small to add any shading to or anything, so they're dotted with the clearstar pen.  Behind this is another envelope.  I am so excited to have somewhere to place all of these receipts.  No more important receipts floating around my purse!!  Yay!! 

Probably the best thing about this little book is that I made it with easy to open key rings.  I can add or remove things as needed.  Like right now, I just got the idea to make myself a Christmas card section.  I make a new list every year and can't decide who gets what card.  Now, I could write what card they got and whether or not I sent anything else.  For example, for the past two years I've added large lottery scratch off tickets to all my brothers' cards.  This year I completely forgot about it!  If I had my list, it would act as a reminder! 

So the theme for Amber's InKredible 21 Day Challenge is organization!  Bop over to the challenge blog to find out the details and add your entry!  You should also check out the other Torchbearers - they have some amazing projects full of organizational inspiration!! 

Cheryl Ann

Jane

Laurel

Lindsey

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a super day!  We're off to take the Zaniac to his first matinee, Tangled!  Wish us luck that he'll sit through it...it's almost 2 hours long!  :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: Amber Ink 'Tis the Season to Be Pretty 
INK: HP printer ink
PAPER: Amber Ink iPaper Holiday Cheer Tiny Purple, Snowflake Lace Tiny Red, Spin Pin Holiday Holly Tiny & Starburst Tiny Blue; PTI SS White, True Black, Enchanted Evening & Pure Poppy; notebook paper; envelopes

OTHER: Copics {B000, BG10, BG15, BG23, BG9, C1, C3, C5, E00, E11, E25, E27, E29, E55, E57, E59, G07, R20, R29, R39, R59, V09, V17, YG06, YG09, Y11, Y13, Y15, Y21, Y32}; Copic Spica pens: Red, Silver, Lemon; Sakura Clearstar gel pen; Spellbinders large & small petite oval dies; key rings; crop a dile; PTI Fillable Frames 10 & Mat Stack 3 dies

An Announcement & the last of the Christmas Goodies ~

Hi all!  I'm super excited to tell you that I've been chosen to be on the first ever design team for iCopic!!  The store carries Copics {of course!}, airbrush systems, Washi tape & stamps galore!  I get to be on the team with a few other fantastically talented ladies - Wanda, Linda & Samantha - our fearless leader.   Make sure to bop over to their blogs and bop around for some serious eye candy!

Now I have a couple more Christmas cards and another altered elf stocking to show you.  I hope the elf stocking makes it to the recipient before she sees it on here!! {wink}  The first is a rejected publication card.  I saw a negative space card using tons of buttons...immediately, I thought of making a snowman!

The snowman shape is cut out using circle nesties.  I traced it lightly onto the cardbase and then applied tons of Tombow mono multi glue to adhere all the buttons.  I added some pure poppy baker's twine around a scrap of paper as the scarf, a few scraps for the hat, some pearls and rhinestones as the face and buttons and finally some birch twig tops for arms.  The sentiment is embossed and some snowflakes from PTI's Snowflake Serenade were stamped to finish it all off! 
Next is a card I CASED from Dawn at Wplus9 Designs.  I fell in love with this set {Poinsettia Patterns} and stamped off quite a few cards as soon as I got the set.  Her card is much more glamorous but I loved the simplicity of mine all the same.

Some double sided satin ribbon from Hobby Lobby, pure poppy baker's twine and a button finish this off just fine.  Since I was going from memory on the CASE, I forgot to add any pearls or even Stickles.  Linking it now, I realized it might have given it that extra umph! I was looking for...    Oh well!  There's always next year's cards to think about!  lol

The last Christmas card is one that my hubby actually picked as one of his favorites...kinda floored me!  lol

This sweet, little, vintage Santa is from Rubbernecker Stamps.  I fell in love with him a couple of years ago, snatched him up, stamped him off and colored him...then let him sit for at least a year!  How sad is that!?!    His hair and parts of his clothing are swirled with white Liquid Applique...such cool stuff!  The background is some PTI Distressed Dots paper stamped with Background Basics: Christmas text.  He's pop dotted over some hand-cut vellum snow drifts with a sentiment from PTI's Holiday Button Bits. 

And last, but not least, here is another altered elf stocking.  It's on it's way to Annie's house!  Hopefully it's gets there tomorrow...

I used the Cosmo Cricket Mitten Weather line for the papers and sponged everything with Ranger Distress Vintage Photo ink.  The rusty snowflakes and jingle bell are from some Joann's holiday sprigs...they sold out really quickly! 

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm rearranging the stamp world and getting organized for the New Year!  I hope you all have a fantabulous Christmas and ring in 2011 with a bang!!  I really appreciate all of my blogging buddies...thank you all for all your fabulous comments and support!  Happy Holidays!!  ~lyss



Birthday Binder ~

I finally did it!  I finished my mom's birthday calendar!!  A couple of years ago, my super friend, Annie, made me a fabulous birthday calendar.  I pulled it out over at my mom's house one time and she just thought it was the absolute best thing ever!  So when PTI came out with the Calendar Basics set, I knew I had to have it all for Xmas presents.  Too bad this is the only one I got done!  I bought the die page and 5 mini calendars and everything!  I hate wasting money!!  Ugh...I can probably whip a couple out quickly if I can find the time and my son will get out of my hair for long enough! LOL
Anyway, here's the binder calendar.  I used the Labels 5 dies for the spine label.  It's just perfect in my opinion.  I wanted it to stand out, so I embossed it with Versafine Onyx Black and clear embossing powder.  Here's the front.  I drew a ton of inspiration from Denise's binder for her Mom.

I chose the color combo based on asking Mom what her favorite color is...either pinks and purples or blues and greens.  Hmmm...love Scarlet Jewel, Sweet Blush and Smokey Shadow together from some cards that Nichole Heady has done, so I ran with that.  The border is the Victorian Lace border die layered in the SJ and SB - in hind sight, I should've run the paper through the Xyron sticker machine before die cutting it.  I think I may make another of these for my MIL so I'll have to remember that!  My only complaint on this die is that there isn't a very large top to the border, so it's hard to attach it.  The center is a strip of SB and Vellum.  I stamped the mums from the Year of Flowers line in SJ randomly on the vellum and then stamped over it with a large wooden script stamp in Memento London Fog.  Super subtle but very pretty IRL.  The label is Fillable Frames #4 and is up on dimensionals...I think I may change that too.  It will be too *out there* to get torn off.  The black parts of this  are embossed as well.  A little SJ twill covers all the Scor tape used to hold it all in place.

The inside cover is finished off to cover the ends of the twill and to provide an area to hold some larger envelopes.  Mom likes to have the larger card envelopes to be able to print and send pics (white envelopes included).  I love the negative pieces from the VL border die so I used those to pretty up the inside.  A quote from Verve's One Person is embossed for a little extra and to not leave it so plain. 

I'm too cheap to buy the pre-made PTI pages, so I created them on my computer.  I did print them on SS White though - gotta love the sturdiness of their cardstock!  Each page is stamped with the flower of the month in Smokey Shadow second generation.  I'm holding out for my PTI order to get here so I can finish December.  Mom will just have to wait for January's release for this beauty to be fully finished!

So that's it!  I'm so happy with it, and I hope she will be too!  I'll just have to find out where she stores it, so I can slip some cards in there from time to time...I haven't had time to make any of those! 

Hope you're all having a wonderful week!  I'm off to go clean up the tornado that hit my craft cave these last couple of weeks!  Happy Holidays!!  :o) lyss
Challenges:
Paper Sundaes #49: Cut it Out
Papertake Weekly: Anything Goes
SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: PTI Calendar Basics & entire Year of Flowers line; Le London Script; Verve One Person
INK: Versafine Onyx Black; Memento London Fog; PTI Scarlet Jewel, Smokey Shadow & Sweet Blush; HP printer ink
PAPER: PTI Kraft, Scarlet Jewel, Sweet Blush, SS White & Vellum
OTHER: Spellbinders Labels 5 dies; PTI Victorian lace border die & Fillable Frames #4 die; PTI Scarlet Jewel twill; Scor tape; Filigree clear embossing powder

An Amber Girl for Santa ~

Hi all!  I'm back, as promised...although a little late in the day!  I got my holiday cards from Shutterfly yesterday afternoon and had to get everything off in the mail, do some last minute shopping and finish up my first project for Amber Ink.

This year my son is sooooo into Christmas!  It's been a lot of fun decorating and shopping and even wrapping presents knowing that he is loving every minute of it!  We've decided that we have to make Santa some cookies on Friday - oatmeal chocolate chip!  Yum!  This plate has a few lemon cookies on it and they're already gone. lol  Now, I think that Santa works his little tail off in the cold, so he needs a little extra somethin' when he stops by for the Zaniac - a sweet little Amber girl and a warming shot of whiskey!  {wink}

I used the tree and Amber girl from the digi set 'Tis the Season to Be Pretty for Santa's place card.  I really wanted to use some fun iPaper on this little card.  The Amber girl is printed directly onto the Snowflake Lace Tiny - Red paper and paper pieced.  The sentiment is my block writing...my hand writing is just too messy!  I used Copic Spica pens to add a little sparkle.  Every girl needs a little sparkle!  Some Icicle Stickles on the snow and a gold Spica pen on the star give just a little bit more to this easy-peasy little place card. 

Hope you are having a great day and are all ready for the holiday!!  Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm off to go wrap another eight million bags of presents! lol  :o) lyss

Challenges:

Copic Creations #41: Sparkle!

The Pink Elephant #90: Winter Wonderland

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: 'Tis the Season to be Pretty
INK: HP printer ink
PAPER: PTI Pinefeather & SS White; Amber Ink iPaper digi Snowflake Lace-Red-Tiny
OTHER: Copics {BG10, BG99, C1, C3, E00, E11, E15, E29, E31, E33, E37, E43, E49, G24, G28, R20, R24, W5, W7, Y26, Y28, 110 Spcl Blk}; Copic Spica pens Gold, Red & Black; KaiserCraft red pearls; Recollections white pearls; Icicle Stickles

On your marks, get set...

GO!!! That's right, I'm carrying the torch this month for Amber Ink!!! WooHooHooey! The fabulous Kerri Michaud passed the torch to me, and I am extremely excited! Thanks so much, Kerri! I am honored to be a Guest Designer for this fabulous company for one whole month.  When my month is over, I get to choose somebody to pass the torch to! How FUN! Would you like to meet the rest of the th(Ink) Tank for December?

Purple Torchbearer Cheryl Ann
Pink Torchbearer Jane
Brown Torchbearer Laurel
Orange Torchbearer Lindsey

You can read more about us all on the Amber Inklings blog and see some cute pics too!  I'll be back tomorrow with my first card for Amber Ink.  Before I go, I want to wish my sweet friend, Kerri, a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!  Just for fun...you should bop over to her blog and wish her a fabby day!  It would be great to see her get swamped with birthday wishes!!  :o) lyss

A challenge & a tag ~

Hey all!  It's still quiet here on the Scritchfield front.  Trying to get the mojo up to finish everything!  I have an exciting freebie for you today!  My talented friend Cathy drew up a free digital stamp set based off of the elf stocking I altered.

You can get yours here.  Isn't it adorable!?!  It comes all assembled or as pieces in both jpg and png files so you can build it like you want.  So fun!!  This will be perfect for finishing off a few of those last minute cards.
Cathy is also having a little challenge on her blog to use this digi for a chance at a prize.  Go here to find out all about that!  I hope to have some time today to get to play myself.  After a year of being home and looking for a job, I had my first face-to-face job interview this morning.  I'm still trying to get over the nerves!  Once I do, it's off to the craft cave for me!  lol

Now for the tag.  My new friend Laurie tagged me on her blog the other day.  I love learning new things about the authors of the blogs I stalk, so I thought I'd play along!

1. Four shows you watch:
     ~ Castle (If you haven't seen this, you MUST check it out!!  So funny!!)
     ~ Modern Family (hilarious!)
     ~ Cougar Town
     ~ Sons of Anarchy (so sad this season is already over!!)
2. Four things you are passionate about:
     ~ My family
     ~ My friends (I think everyone is passionate about these two things)
     ~ Legalization of Marijuana (don't know if I should let this cat out of the bag, but I really think the US could gain a lot of tax money, reduce a lot of cost to taxpayers and medicinally benefit from this legalization.  MJ is truly a much lesser evil than the general population believes and is much less harmful than alcohol!!)  Oh, and I'm not an MJ smoker, I don't like it.  I just don't think we should let the alcohol, tobacco and prescription medication industries rule over this anymore.  Huge cash crop for the US!!
     ~ Making stuff with paper!
3. Four words/phrases you say a lot:
     ~ @*!!  Sadly, I cuss like a sailor...I'm working on it though! ;o)
     ~ No worries!
     ~ Because I said so!
     ~ I know, right?!? 
4. Four things you've learned from the past:
     ~ Hindsight really is always 20/20
     ~ Sometimes having a filter is a good thing!
     ~ My parents knew about a lot more than they let on...glad they let me make some mistakes and learn some lessons on my own!
     ~ I never know quite as much as I think I do! lol
5. Four places you'd like to go:
     ~ Australia/New Zealand
     ~ Thailand
     ~ Hawaii or Fiji
     ~ Croatia
6. Four things you did yesterday:
     ~ began setting up my website to sell my cards...coming soon!
     ~ drank wine and cried - I'm a weepy wino!
     ~ dishes
     ~ bought more stamping stuff (like I really need more stuff!!)
7. Four things you're looking forward to:
     ~ my son opening his presents on Xmas morn.  He's so into it this year...makes it so much more fun!
     ~ a new job {{crossing fingers}}
     ~ finishing my projects - completion is such a nice feeling that often gets overlooked!
     ~ dinner!  (leftover pot roast magically transformed to enchiladas)
8. Four things you love about Winter:
     ~ cozy sweaters
     ~ making Xmas stuff
     ~ snow (although we haven't seen any here yet! Strange for Colorado!)
     ~ the anticipation of Spring
9. Tag 4 people to play along
     ~ Kerri
     ~ Julie
     ~ Annie
     ~ Bethie
 Sorry I don't have any eye candy for you today!  Hopefully, I'll be back tomorrow with something!  Hope you're having a great day!!  :o)  lyss

Glitter Flower Mojo ~

Hi everyone!  Sorry I haven't been around much this week.  I'm trying to stay away from the computer and challenges and focus on all of the Christmas presents and cards that I promised myself I'd make this year.  lol  I'm back with a card to play along with a few challenges:

Mojo Monday Sketch #168

JUGS Technique Challenge #63: Sparkly Stained Glass

Cute Card Thursday #142: Floral Frenzy

I always like to play along with the Mojo Monday sketch...but especially when it's prize week! lol  Hey, you can't knock me for trying out for free Verve stamps!  I love the Verve line!  When I saw the current challenge for the JUGS blog, I knew just what I wanted to do.  I had it all planned and sketched out on scrap paper when I made it over to my mom's.  The card went together relatively quickly - that is, except for the dry time on the Glossy Accents.  I'll quit blabbering now, here's the card

The large and small flowers from One Person were stamped on some scrap acetate (what all the PTI sets come on) in Palette Noir ink.  I heat set it just to make sure it didn't smudge and b/c I was working on a timeline.  On the backside of the acetate, I covered the flower with Glossy Accents in sections and then dumped glitter on - yellow for the flower centers, green for the leaves and then 3 different MS pinks for the petals.  I realized after an hour that I was going to need some assistance to finish this card, so I turned on the space heater and set the acetate sheet in front of it.  lol   I don't know if you can tell, but the smaller flower is popped up on a dimensional in the center.  This stained glass technique is so fun!  I want to make some super glittery Xmas ornament cards now! 

The sentiment is from Beautiful You.  It's stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and embossed with Filigree clear embossing powder.  The background paper is from a digi pack, and unfortunately, I can't find it on my computer to tell you what it's called.  I didn't want to do a huge bow b/c it would block the sentiment, so I added a little bit of embroidery floss and tied it up.  The only thing I'm now realizing I forgot is a string of black rhinestones under the sentiment panel.  If I make it over to my mom's today, I'll add them and repost a pic.  So for now, just use your fabulous imaginations!!  lol  ETA: I've posted the new pic.  :o)  Thank you for stopping by today and for your fantastic comments!  Every one of them is so very special to me!  Hope you're having a nice, relaxing Sunday!  :o) lyss 

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: Verve Beautiful You & One Person
INK: Palette Noir; Versafine Onyx Black
PAPER: PTI SS White; digi dp (sorry can't remember name); acetate
OTHER: Filigree clear embossing powder; Martha Stewart glitters; Doodlebug glitters; Glossy Accents; Black saddle stitch ribbon; Black embroidery floss; dimensionals; Spellbinders large & small classic rectangle nestibilities

Henry Mouse and Gift ~

Hi all!  Hope you all had a great weekend.  Mine was pretty good.  My step-daughter came over with her boyfriend (first time meeting him) and two of her good buddies and had dinner on Saturday evening.  It was fun!  Her bf was great with the Zaniac, so he gets a plus in my book!  lol
I was able to knock out another gift for a crafty friend yesterday.  I used a ton of challenges to keep that mojo moving – I’ll list them all at the end of this post.  We’ll start off with a group pic

I used Henry Mouse with an ornament from Whiff of Joy stamps and colored him with Copics.  He is colored in blues to follow along with a few challenges and to coordinate with the paper. Here’s a close up so you can see all his sparkly goodness

  I added glitter to the snowflake on the ornament by removing the marker color with a colorless blender, coloring it with a white gel pen, coloring with a glue pen and adding some super fine and sparkly glitter.  He’s sitting on some *snow* – Polar white Flower Soft.  The mistletoe hanging from his tail has white opal liquid pearls on the berries.  Looking at this close up, I’m realizing that I forgot to add the white flock to his hat…I’ll have to go back and do that!   The sentiment is from Verve’s Holly Jolly – such a cute font, don’t you think?

The tin is decorated to match the card.  I recycled an old tea tin to package up some extra buttons.  Any crafty girl would love those, right?  The snowflake is cut from sparkly foam paper and topped with an Ocean Tides button and white thread that also has a sparkly ribbon strung through it.  The tag is cut from the Perfect Presentation Tag Set 1 file.  I added a strip of the dp matted on ocean tides cardstock.  The ornament is also from Holly Jolly and is stamped in Smokey Shadow ink.  The sentiment is from PTI’s Fillable Frames #9 and is stamped in Versafine Onyx Black and clear embossed.  A couple medium and one tiny jingle bell finish this little tag off.  Hope you enjoyed my post today!  Have a fabulous Tuesday!  I’m off to squeak in under the wire on a few of these challenges!!  ~lyss

7 Kids College Fund Challenge #9: Non-Traditional Christmas Colors

Crazy 4 Challenges #66: Sketch

Cute Card Thursday Challenge #141: The Blues

StampsRUs Challenge #10: Holiday Cards

iCopic Lover Challenge #9: Inspiration photo

Paper Sundaes #47: Gift It!

Papertake Weekly Challenge: No Red & Green (yeah, this might be a stretch!)

Verve stamps: Triple Play Challenge Winter 2010

Whiff of Joy Challenge #93: Christmas, no red or green

Holiday Card Promotion with Shutterfly

Hey all!  Thanks so much for all your comments on my elf stocking!  You all are so great!
I’m back today to tell you about a fabulous promotion happening with Shutterfly.  They are offering 50 free holiday cards to bloggers.  Click here to find out what you need to do to get in on this!
In the past I’ve ordered photos from Shutterfly and been very pleased.  The service was quick and inexpensive, and I was super happy to not have to buy new cartridges for my printer after all that photo printing!!  The cards I receive from friends and family every year are always so beautiful – the colors are so vibrant!  Take a look at all the styles to choose from!  You can get folded greeting cards, flat stationery cards or flat photo cards in a variety of backgrounds and fonts.  You all know that I like to make my Christmas cards every year, but I also like to send a family photo along with it.  This year I think I’ll add this one to the cards I send out.  Don’t you just love it!  Those vintage style ornaments are adorable, fun and funky!
Shutterfly has some great deals going on right now, so be sure to bop over and order yours today!  I think for next year, I’d like to do a family album for the grandparents like these.  Oh, and I would love to get some canvas wall art of pictures from our honeymoon and European vacation.  Now I just have to get my step-daughter over to here so we can get our family photo…that’s easier said than done!  lol  She’s one busy teenager!  Thanks for stopping by today!  ~lyss

An altered Elf Stocking ~

Hey all!  Told you I'd be back.  I'm going to make this really short and sweet...I think I've contracted the strep throat...as well as an ear infection.  Ugh.  Thankfully, my parents took my child so I can lay on the couch, drink tea and watch chick flicks all afternoon!
A couple of years ago, I saw a paper pieced elf stocking decoration that I fell utterly in love with.  I right clicked and saved all the pics so that one day I could make something just like it!  Well, while browsing around Hobby Lobby last year, I saw some plain wood elf stockings in their holiday section and bought three of them thinking that I could alter them and give them away.  Yeah, that didn't happen.  I pulled them out again this year and have completed one.  It's a bit harder to get the paper just how I want it, pick out the papers that I think go great, etc.  I'm going to keep this one for myself as there are some problems with it that I hope to fix before making the other two as gifts.  Now, as far as cost I would guess that these are less than $3.  It uses about one sheet of 12x12 patterned paper plus the snowflake embellishment.  If you have a bit of time on your hands, you really should make one! 

I used a few retired Basic Grey Figgy Pudding papers on this - I adore that line, so gorgeous!!  I had to remove the top part of the stocking to get it all papered the way I wanted.  Kind of a pain, but so worth it!  The little heel and toe parts are the backside of the main stocking paper.  They needed a bit more interest, so I stamped the smallest snowflake from PTI's Snowflake Serenade in Scarlet Jewel ink.  The edges of all the papers and the wooden stocking are sponged in Ranger Distress Vintage Photo ink.  The back side of the stocking is covered in another paper from the same line, and the top of the stocking is from a plain brown paper from the same line.  I didn't want to take away from the snowflake, so I didn't add anything to that part.   

The snowflake is cut with the Spellbinders Create a Flake 1 snowflake dies.  They are embossed and then sponged with Antique Linen ink while still in the die.  Ranger Glossy Accents was added to the raised portions and then covered with glass glitter a la Sherry Cheever.  I added a few sprigs of the Martha Stewart twig punch to the largest snowflake, threaded some brown hemp twine through a Scarlet Jewel button and then through all the snowflakes, wrapped a couple of rusty jingle bells around the twine, threaded through another button, then through a hole in the stocking.  I tied a loop of twine to hang it from, threaded another Scarlet Jewel button with the twine and tied it off with a knot and a big fat bow.  Done!  And I love it!  The only part I don't like is the back...I shouldn't have tried to use glossy Mod Podge.  I can see the brush strokes and it really wasn't necessary at all.  The next two I do won't have that stinky stuff on them!  lol  Well, thanks for stopping by!  I'm off to go snuggle on the couch some more with my tissues, hot tea and a good movie!  :o) lyss

JUGS Challenge #61: 3-D Holiday Embellishment

A Crafty Little Place #66: Anything Goes

Basic Grey Challenges #34: Recipe challenge

Really Reasonable Ribbon #13: Anything but a Card - Winter   I hope twine counts for ribbon!!  lol

P.S. I forgot to mention a really cool *new to me* blog I've found.  House of Hepworths does a lot of crafty projects and DIY things around the home.  I'm entering this in her crafty post that she has every Thursday.  Super great place to find tutorials and crafty projects throughout blogland!  :o) lyss

Happy Birthday Dad ~

Hello again!  I'm not kidding when I tell you that my mojo has been running on full steam.  It almost seems as if this crafty space away from home is working out for me.  I have to be more organized about what I want or need to work on when.  My mom only lives 1 mile away from me, but I have a hard time getting out of my house.  I'm a bit of a homebody or hermit!  LOL  Anyhow, my Dad's birthday is on Saturday so I just had to get his card done today! 
Meet Boo & Snookie!  I was lucky enough to win this darling stamp during the release hop for the new Emerald Faeries line of stamps.  My dad loves gnomes and faeries and forest creatures, so I knew this would be the image for him.

When I initially started this card, I wanted to use it for the Copic Creations challenge of shading on paper piecing.  The shell and belly area of the snail are pieced with a grungy looking orange paper from the Basic Grey Archaic line.  Well, I missed that challenge!  The new challenge is #40 Light Source.  I chose to do the light source from the upper left to right overhead.  Amazing to me b/c almost always I do the light source from the upper right - maybe because I'm right handed ???  IDK.  Once it was all colored up and matted, I covered the shell and belly with a thin layer of Glossy Accents.  I used two other papers from the 6x6 pack, but you can't see the middle one due to all the twig punches on it.  Whoops!
Not much else to explain on this card.  Here are the challenges I'm entering it for:
Basic Grey Challenge #34: Recipe challenge
A Crafty Little Place #66: Anything Goes
Copic Creations #40: Light SourceCute Card Thursday #140: Blast from the Past - I chose challenge #131 a sketch challenge
Moxie Fab Card Creations: Birthday Card Challenge
Paper Sundaes #46: Adorn the Corners
Tuesday Throwdown #27: Embellish it!
Now don't roll your eyes or anything...but I'll be back tomorrow!  I have a super cute altered item that I made today.  It's not perfect but I love it all the same!  Thanks so much for stopping by!!  :o) lyss

SUPPLIES ~
STAMPS: Boo & Snookie; PTI Mother
INK: Memento Rich Cocoa & Tuxedo Black
PAPER: PTI Dark Chocolate & Rustic Cream; Basic Grey Archaic 
OTHER: Copics {B000, B21, B24, B34, B97, B99, BG10, C7, C9, E00, E11, R20, YG91, YG93, YG95, YR12, YR15, YR18, Colorless Blender} Blue, Silver & Black Spica pens; Ranger Glossy Accents; Martha Stewart twig punch; hemp twine; PTI Terracotta Tile button; Spellbinders tag trio dies; Cuttlebug Vintage dies; Koh-i-Noor color pencils; dimensionals