2011 Best Dressed List!

Pals Paper Arts is unveiling its best dressed list for 2011 today!  We had so many beautiful creations this year it was hard to pick a favorite for each month!  I got the honor of choosing April and November! 


We had a punch challenge in April that proved to be very popular!  We stampers do love our punches!  I chose this beauty done by Nance Leedy.  Subtle and oh so elegant!

A ribbon challenge in November inspired Sandie Conner to think outside the box!  I loved her creative use of ribbons on this adorable little gobbler!

Head on over to Pals Paper Arts to check out the rest of the best for 2011!  We hope you join us next week at PPA when we kick off the New Year with a color challenge..........and a few new faces!

Noel......PPA125...Tags

Looking for some holiday spirit?  Break out the cookies, warm up the hot chocolate and.......... 


1.  Watch The GriNch - the cartoon version narrated by  Boris Karloff!


2.  Recite the pOem "Twas the Night Before Christmas" and have the kids (of any age) add sound effects every time you pause.


3.  Read the book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever - it is the best Christmas story ever!  Well except maybe for the original one  :)


4.  Write this out:   "ABCDEFGHIJKMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ" 
Tell your family it's a clue to a Christmas carol and promise to sing it for them if they guess it. If they can't figure it out they will have to sing for you. When they finally give up say:  "No L"  and then sit back and enjoy the show!


Wishing you a wonderful holiday season!

They Say It's My Birthday!

And it is my birthday!  Before I head off to work at the library I thought I would share some of the wonderful hand stamped cards I received so far today!  Nothing like being optimistic that there will be more waiting when I get home from work tonight!

My crafty friend Sharon sent me this sweet treat!  She knows my #1 food group is cake!

This flower came all the way from California hand made by Patti MacLeith!  That wrapped denim ribbon center is fabulous!

This "cherry" delightful creation arrived this morning from my walking partner Barb.  And I am happy to report the card was accompanied by a tin of hand dipped chocolate covered cherries! Beyond delicious!

And this perfectly vintage card was sent by the Wee Inkling lady herself - LeAnne Pugliese! And yes I adore it!

Finally this beauty in blue from the Pals' Fearless Leader Mary Fish!  Nothing like presents and bling on your birthday!

Holiday Greetings 2011! PPA 124

 

The Paper Players recently had a challenge to use a non-Christmas stamp to create a holiday card.  With that in mind I created this card for PPA's sketch challenge using the typewriter from a brand new set called You're My Type. Makes me think of someone just sitting down to type out the annual Christmas newsletter.  Someday I may just do one myself..........after I get signed releases from family members so I can write the good stuff :)

See You on the Christmas Tree! FMS 15

See you on the Christmas Tree!  I have no idea what that means but my parents said it to me every night during the Christmas season once our tree was up and decorated.  So naturally I said it to my kids. I smiled this week when I opened my daughter's Christmas card.  It was signed "See you on the Christmas tree!" Putting up the Christmas tree is still one of the all time best activities of the year.  There is nothing better than lighting it up for the first time - always magical!  Taking the tree down...........another story........


                      

Let's Celebrate - with Blog Candy......PPA123

Fred is clicking his heels in excitement because Pals Paper Arts is "Puttin' On The Ritz" this week!  Go for the glam and enter your card in our challenge.  I'd be clicking my heels together if I could because it is also time for our annual Blog Candy Blowout!  By entering a card this week at PPA you will be eligible to win blog candy from each and every design team member!  How much fun that will be for one lucky crafter to receive all of those packages of goodies! Enter your card by next Tuesday and that lucky crafter could be you!

                             

December Birthdays.......FMS14

My daughter and I share the same birthday week - the week before Christmas!   Between upstate NY winter weather and the holiday rush it hasn't always been easy to pull off two family gatherings before Christmas - but we manage!  Now you may be thinking that since my daughter is all grown up and I am oh so old that we really should just combine our birthday parties.  Seriously?  We only get one birthday a year and we are both determined to celebrate it on the exact day we were born!  That has led to some creative ways to celebrate and get people together!  So again this year we will gather on the 14th and the 20th and then again for Christmas on the 24th and the 25th.  Interesting that our family never celebrates New Year's together..........wonder why.............


                       

Classic Christmas....PPA122

I used the beautiful color combination at Pals Paper Arts this week and worked the Mojo sketch using a stamp from Easy Events.  The result - Classic Christmas!  

Merry Merry Merry! FMS13

I am a live in the moment kind of gal.  I rarely take a camera with me - I prefer to go through life not peering through a lens.  I was not the mother snapping pictures of my kids at Disney World or rushing the stage to get a good shot of my tap dancer. I never took videos at Little League games. I just enjoyed the events!  But perhaps if I had handled a camera more throughout the years I would be better at taking pictures of my cards.  What happened to the score lines on my card?  They just disappeared right into the picture.  And what happened to the warm Crumb Cake color?  Just faded away.........sigh.......this card made me smile - until I snapped the picture!  I think I will just leave you now and look at the real thing clipped up on my card display rack~!

                                                                                               

                                       

Pearls For You.....PPA121

Pearls dress up any occasion!  So keeping in the spirit of the holiday season - and the challenge at Pals Paper Arts -  I broke out the pearls!  Hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful - and ended with pie :)

Christmas Bells.....FMS12

The very talented Jen Mitchell designed the sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  So in honor of Jen and her new policy of using up designer paper (that seems to abound in so many of our craft rooms) I dug out last year's Deck the Halls. My die cut circle fit perfectly after a bit of fussy cutting around the poinsettias and the holly leaves.  The bells are embossed in gold  - and ready to ring in the holiday season! 


                                                  

Dear Santa......PPA120

Dear Santa,
     I hope you like this letter I am sending you!  I dressed it up with beautiful sparkles - just for you!  And I wouldn't mind at all if you left me something sparkly too!
                                   xoxoxo  Linda


                         
Pals Paper Arts is hosting a sketch challenge this week. Join us and dress that sketch up any way you'd like!

Truly Thankful.....FMS11

Doesn't this oval frame look like a turkey platter? It reminds me of Thanksgiving dinner - which reminds me of one more thing that I am thankful for this time of year.  My wonderful sister-in-law cooks a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner every year - and all I have to do is show up with dessert! "Freshly Made" of course!


                     

Pals (119) and Players (71)

There's a lot going on with this card - just like the holiday season! Pals Paper Arts challenged us this week to do a holiday card and I decided to follow the recipe at The Paper Players.  Let's check that list of ingredients:

3 Pieces of Designer Paper:  Silver Glimmer, Letters to Santa, Marina Mist Stripes

2 Ribbons:  Cherry Cobbler Seam Binding, Old Olive Narrow Taffeta

Punch:  Look carefully - there's the edge of of a one inch circle peeking out as a tab to open the card.

Glitter:  Hmm the silver cord is sparkly and how about the glittery paper?  And then there are those random bits of silver embossing powder scattered here and there where they aren't exactly supposed to be!  That definitely added extra sparkle!

'Tis the season to make a list and check it twice.....

Simple Joys.....FMS 10

Snowmen are definitely one of the simple joys of the season - and look how happy this one is to be in the middle of all that joy!  My Design Team friend Rita Wright designed a wonderful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Hundreds of Stampin' Up! demonstrators attended convention in Salt Lake City last July.  And out of all of those demonstrators I met Rita - and actually ran into her

more than once! We even managed to get in some quality chat time during a Make and Take session.  I find it amazing that a few months later we ended up on the same design team........simple joys.........

                                                

                                    

Guest Stamper - Trina

My friend Trina is a very creative and talented stamper.  She designed these invitations for her son's wedding using Cards and Pockets folders and Stampin' Up stamps.  She spent hours overlaying images and embossing.  The results were gorgeous!  Her description of this amazing project:

"I created these wedding invitations for my son’s wedding. His fiancée, Jessica, and I decided on the invitation pocket fold and colors. Sam and Jessica made all of the decisions regarding the wording of the invitations and the other information. I purchased the precut invitation card stock (cream puff) and precut invitation mats. I cut the cream puff cardstock for the inserts by hand. Sam and I created all of the printing on my home computer. I stamped and heat embossed the flower, leaf, and butterfly designs on the front of the envelopes, envelope liners, and invitation pocket fold fronts and inside. They were my own designs. I also stamped the monograms on the front of the invitation belly band. The dinner menus and favors matched the invitations. Making these invitations was a true labor of love!"

 

She has entered her design into a contest at Cards and Pockets.  If you would like to vote for her - click here.  Scroll down to Petrina Zimmerman under the DIY category.

So Elegant - PPA118

Pals Paper Arts has a beautiful color challenge this week!  I love all of these neutrals - they are so classy!  But these lovely colors present another challenge - how to photograph them well!  I struggle with pictures when using white - or in this case Very Vanilla (with a bit of Soft Suede spritzing on it).  The white background takes a blue tinge and the Vanilla just isn't rich and creamy like it is in real life.  I do use daylight bulbs and a light tent but if anyone has any other helpful hints I'm listening..................
  


                                     

Flowers For You - FMS9

My DT friend Tui Nathan designed the sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Tui is from Australia and this summery card using Calypso Coral, Berry Blossoms DSP and flowers from Simply Soft is made with thoughts of Tui as she heads into summer.  We in the Northeast are well aware of what is coming our way after two October snowstorms - and it is not summer!  I also love exchanging e-mails with Tui - she says good morning and when I answer back I end with good night.  She greets the day 13 hours before I do! Reminds me of the Beatles song........I don't know why you say good-bye......I say hello.......
                                   
                             

Happy Halloween!

In keeping with the Halloween spirit I played around and created something fun for Carrie Gaskin's KaPow Challenge this afternoon. We already had Trick or Treat Night in our neighborhood over the weekend - during a snowstorm actually!  My dog kept barking at all of our visitors and I had to pick her up to keep her quiet.  So I handed out treats with a poodle under one arm and a basket of candy in the other. Doesn't everyone?  I opened the door at one point to Dora the Explorer and Snow White.  Dora asked me why I didn't put my dog down and I answered:  "She barks too much but she stops when I pick her up - and I don't know why that is."  To which Snow White replied:  "I know........she likes loooooove......" Wishing you lots of treats and loooooooove on Halloween..................


                                

Tying It Together.....PPA117

 

Oh it's a sweet challenge at Pals Paper Arts this week - Clean and Simple with a ribbon!  I followed the Mojo Monday Sketch using Well Worn DSP along with Cajun Craze, Not Quite Navy and River Rock. The Not Quite Navy Ribbon and Linen Thread tie things together quite nicely..... nothing worse than loose ends..........

                                                         

Just My Type!

The first typewriter I ever typed on looked very much like this one! It was an amazingly intricate machine that I found totally fascinating.  I loved everything about it from the clacking of the keys to the dinging of the bell. I hated to leave it behind when I headed off to college with my brand new Smith Corona Electric!  And so I love this fabulously detailed image from  Established Elegance! I snipped it out, popped it up and "typed" Boooooooo! 

I followed the Freshly Made Sketch below and will also be submitting this to Stampin' Royalty's Halloween challenge. 

Freshly Made Sketch 8

PPA Sketch Challenge 116

My friend Maria takes beautiful photographs. One of those beautiful pictures was the inspiration for this card above made for Pals Paper Arts sketch challenge.  Maria and I got together recently to talk about using her pictures as the focal point of cards. I made a quick sample for her which I have posted below. The photo is from her trip to Italy.  I love the sepia tone of it!  I trimmed her picture and just added some ribbon and a sentiment to create the bottom card.  So simple - yet so pretty!  Last I heard Maria was making friends with a brand new paper cutter, cardstock and ribbon and was going to introduce them to some gorgeous photos........can't wait to see her results!

Christmas Joys....FMS7.....

Christmas cards, Christmas trees, jingle bells and sparkle - just a few of the joys Christmas!  This past weekend we headed out to a tree farm to pick out our Christmas tree.  This beautiful Fraser fir will be coming home with us mid-December.  There will be snow, hot chocolate, Christmas carols and that delicious smell of pine in the living room.  The joyful list keeps growing........

Beautiful Inspiration.....PPA115

I would love to tell you that my front door looks just like this gorgeous inspiration photo at Pals Paper Arts.............but it doesn't.  This entryway is beautifully decorated for fall with just a hint of Halloween.  Inspiration for this card came from those fall colors with Pick Your Poison DSP providing just a hint of Halloween.  There are plenty of leaves on my front walk so I think I'll head out to catch me a few crows!

Pals Paper Arts Inspiration Photo