Oh We Are Merry! FMS 101

It's a bit early for me to be thinking Christmas right now but when this delightful single stamp arrived this week I had to use it!  But it has been a very merry week around here starting with a two cake anniversary gathering for me and my husband and ending with a trip to the county fair where Emma got her first taste of fried dough, french fries and vinegar and soft swirled ice cream!  Hey I didn't say it was a healthy week - just a merry one!

Here's Emma tasting that ice cream cone.....and you also get a sneak peek of me and my new all natural gray hair!

               I am hosting this week at Freshly Made Sketches - hope you join us!

                      

                                   

100 Sketches! FMS100

There is a big celebration going on at Freshly Made Sketches this week in honor of our 100th challenge! Besides a wonderful sketch, there are giveaways and extra inspiration from past designers!  It has been so much fun designing with this team for the past 100 weeks and I am looking forward to the next 100!  

I used Smoky Slate and Crushed Curry together on my card today.  And I am thinking Smoky Slate could be my favorite new color - it definitely resembles my hair color these days. My hair has finally grown out and is all natural - time for a new profile picture!  And yes I am all gray but it's much more fun to say that my hair is Smoky Slate............might have to get a Crushed Curry sweater for the fall!

Thought you might like to see the very first card I designed for Freshly Made Sketches....way back when.....

                            

Our 100th sketch is actually a flashback to our very first sketch!  Hope you join us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                                           

Sweater Weather....PPA168

Sweater Weather Designer Paper quite possibly could be my favorite item from the new Stampin' Up Holiday catalog.  The designs are warm and comforting like any good sweater should be.  I am a cardigan fan  - especially if it has big buttons or toggles - and definitely pockets.  Now that it is cooling down here I have dragged a few sweaters out of the closet recently.  Always fun to see what was left behind in a pocket last spring.  This week's find was one earring.......no clue where the other one is.  Here's hoping the next sweater I pull out has the other one..........or a five dollar bill......

                                              Join us at Pals Paper Arts this week!

                                   

It's Your Day.......Almost.....FMS99

It's almost time for the big day around here!  Miss Emma is headed for her first birthday in four short weeks.  She is almost ready to walk and talk.  So we await the first official step and that first official word.  Right now her major talent is to mimic laughter. When she hears someone laugh she copies it and then laughs herself!  In the meantime we are all coaching her trying to get her to say something.  And of course we all have our own agenda as to what word we are practicing with her.  My daughter has a busy day of meetings tomorrow so I will have Emma for ten hours.......wonder how many times I can say Grandma in ten hours.........

                 Rita designed a sweet sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!


                                                

Pals Holiday Catalog Hop

                               



Welcome to the Pals Holiday Catalog Hop!  If you arrived from Beth's blog you are right on track! This month the Pals are featuring items that are available in Stampin' Up's new holiday catalog - everything you need for Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas!

My card features the sweet Christmas stamp set called Wishing You along with the beautiful holiday designer series paper Season of Style.  I used Retro Sketch 76 to create this card with a homespun Christmas feeling.  

And it seems that my cards are never complete nowadays without a candy dot or two or three scattered around!


Now you are off to Papercrafts by Patti for another holiday treat!
                   

Line Up List: 

1. Colleen Mollema at My Crafty Habit
2. Peggy Noe at Pretty Paper Cards
3. Lisa Ann Bernard at Queen B Creations
4. Angie Blake at Angie's Musings
5. Debbie Mageed at Secret Stamper
6. Diane Roberts at Score at Four and a Quarter
7. Barb Furlong at The Love of Stamping
8. Mary Fish at Stampin' Pretty
9. Debra Simonis at Deb's Stampin' Grounds
10. Laurie Chilton at Stampin' Ink
11. Penny Nichols at Sierra Stampin!
12. Amy Williams at Stampin' on the Range
13. Shannon Jaramillo at Ezpeasycards
14. Nicole Watt at Pixel Maven's Retreat
15. Nancy Gleason at MyStampinSpace
16. Beth Beard at My Little Craft Blog
17. Linda Callahan at Stampin' Seasons
18. Patti MacLeith at Papercrafts by Patti
19. Sherrie Gross at Stampin' Sunshine
20. Kerry Willard Bray at Stampgoodness
21. Brian King at Stamp With Brian
22. Nicole Picadura at Scraps & Stamps
23. Kim Czenszak at Live Love Stamp
24. Rae Harper at Wild West Paper Arts
25. Michelle Gleeson at Stampin Mojo
26. Shannon Hokanson at Paper Works
27. Dawn Tidd at Tiddbits from Dawn
28. Lynn Kolcun at Stampin with Avery's Owlery
29. Susan Itell at Simple Stampin'
30. Martie Pollard at The Crafty Bandit

                                     

Thanks for the Inspiration! STS #1, PPA167

Oh that Lesley is at it again!  She has started a new challenge site called Seize the Sketch.  The first sketch is delightful and I just had to play along using the colors from Pals Paper Arts this week. These colors are so tropical and "retro cool" at the same time!

And yes I am old enough to remember when a typewriter like this was modern and kitchen sets came in these cool colors........hmmm so does that make me retro cool?

High Flying.......FMS98

My son-in-law is a pilot and has a birthday this month so I thought this card would definitely work for the occasion.  And there's not a chance he will be reading stamping blogs so no worries that he will see the card before his birthday!  

Someone else was flying this week - Miss Emma has discovered swinging and loves to fly high!  She definitely got that from her father because her mother and grandmother like their feet firmly planted on the ground!

             Jen Mitchell has a terrific sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                       

Time for Tea........PPA166, PP156

This sweet image is from the set Tea Party. Being a tea drinker I had to have that set for sure! It must be my British heritage that has led me to start and end every day with a cup of tea.  And in times of crisis, illness or just plain gossiping the first thing I do is put the tea kettle on.  My grandmother never said hello when she entered my house - her first words were always "Put the kettle on, luv!"  I'd love to stay and chat some more but there's some whistling coming from my kitchen......

I combined Pals Paper Arts Color Challenge this week with Leanne's wonderful sketch at The Paper Players.