Stamp Review Crew: Festival of Trees

You can make some amazingly beautiful cards from the set Festival of Trees.......and you can also make some very fun ones!  Perhaps I watched the Grinch too many times this week because there is a definite Whoville look about this card!  Can you tell I am ready for some Christmas fun? Christmas fun officially started today around here with a family dinner - my birthday! (I am eating my second piece of birthday cake as I type!) Next up is a bit of last minute shopping and cookie making before Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.   And then I am accompanying these three characters to Disney World over New Year's!  I am a lucky gal!

Hmmm I may have gotten some inspiration from this photo as well!  I hope you enjoy the Stamp Review Crew's Festival of Trees Hop!  Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season!

If you are on track you have just seen Rochelle Blok's wonderful work!  I am the end of the line but if you missed the beginning click on "Next Blog" - you don't want to miss Bronwyn Eastley's amazing creations!

No Snow in Sight! PPA280

Hoping this penguin from Snow Place brings us a white Christmas!  It has been an unusually warm December around here and my family is dying to bust out the skis! In the meantime Emma got to escape to an indoor water park.  It was such fun until the fire alarm went off and everyone was evacuated to the hotel ballroom.......which wasn't quite as cozy warm as the water park area.  Here she is bundled up and waiting to go back and splash!

Thankfully all was well and she got in a bit more pool time before bed!

Hope you can get a bit of craft time in this week and join us at Pals Paper Arts!  A fun sketch awaits!

                                               

From the Stacks......FMS217

This card is headed south to a friend who is a librarian.  We both love books - and crafting - so I thought she would enjoy a Christmas tree made out of books! I used a file box image for a tree stand and stamped the "due date" with a rotary date stamp.

Here's another book tree that is on display right now at our local library! 

I am delighted to be hosting the last sketch of 2015 at Freshly Made Sketches!  We will be taking a short break so the linky will be open until January 4, 2016.  Hope you get a few minutes to sneak away and craft during this busy holiday season!

Stamp Sets Used:  To Thine Own Shelf by Simon Says Stamp, Snow Place by SU!, Rotary Stamp SU!

National Cocoa Day

It's time for another Coffee Lovers Bloghop! Lots of fun....lots of prizes!  Tea drinkers and Cocoa fans are also welcome -  I belong to this second group...tea and cocoa!  So in honor of today being National Cocoa Day I inked up this sweet little fox from Lawn Fawn enjoying a cup of hot chocolate!

This card is for my daughter's birthday tomorrow.  She loves snow......she loves hot chocolate.....mmm foxes not so much......but two out of three should work!  (The inside says "and warm birthday wishes")

I actually made this card yesterday afternoon using the sketch from Global Design Project.  I decided to take a bit of a snooze before writing up my post and slept right through the deadline....so much for a short nap!  But here is the sketch I used:
    
                                                    

You have plenty of time though to join in the blog hop!  Amy and her crew do a wonderful job putting this all together.......enjoy!

Snow Place Like Home.....FMS216, MM183

Not sure I want to live in an igloo but this one looks rather festive all decked out for the holidays! And it might just be the North Pole getaway spot for Santa when he needs some time alone during this busy season.  We went shopping Saturday and stopped at "Santa's house" to say hello but he was no where to be found.  Emma looked all around for him and we finally convinced her he went back to the North Pole for dinner.  Whew this Santa thing can get very complicated!

Coloring master Rita has a wonderful sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!
                                                             


Merry Monday has a Candy Cane challenge this week so I am also linking up my igloo card with its candy cane chimney!


                                                                



Stamp Sets:  Snow Place, Holiday Home
Paper: Merry Moments DSP, Cherry Cobbler
Brick Wall Embossing Folder

Stamp Review Crew: Jingle All the Way

Let's be real - it is the first week of December and we are already feeling the pressure that comes with the holidays! No worries - if you want a beautiful yet oh so simple Christmas card look no further! This set with the coordinating thinlits does all the work for you.  I paired it with that fabulous DSP Winter Wonderland to get elegant and classic Christmas cards.  You can sit in front of the TV enjoying those holiday classics while you crank the Big Shot and trim the paper! Looking for something a bit more complicated?  Come see me mid-January!

If you haven't seen Mike Funke's wonderful work head back there!  I am the end of the line but if you missed the beginning move on to my good friend Dawn Tidd's blog!  She always has wonderful "Tiddbits" in store!

Morning Wake Up.......CTS151

In the spirit of total disclosure I admit to perhaps a scream or two when I opened the email from Chrissy asking me to be a guest designer this week at CAS(E) this Sketch!  I am delighted to join in with such a talented group of gals this week!

This card is truly all about the stamping!  I stamped 15 circles in Soft Sky then stamped 14 cups with Pear Pizzazz. Real Red was perfect for that wake up cup! It seems fitting that Early Espresso ink finished it up!

So grab your morning cup of whatever gets you going and enjoy the wonderful cards this team has for you!  Once you are inspired I hope you will join in at CAS(E) this Sketch!  It is a fun sketch....enjoy!

Stamps Used: Lil' Inker Coffee Cozy, Lawn Fawn My Cup of Tea
Inks: Stampin' Up! Early Espresso, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz
Sequins: Pretty Pink Posh Clear

Merry Everything! PPA278, CTS150

We are headed to the tree farm to get our Christmas tree this weekend.  I love seeing the steady stream of cars headed down the road loaded with trees each year.  Wouldn't it be fun to be able to have one already decorated and lit up for the ride home?

If your holiday cards aren't done there is a great color combo at Pals Paper Arts this week to get you going!

I was inspired by this sketch at CAS(E) this Sketch.

SU Stamp Sets Used:  Jingle All the Way, White Christmas, Hello December 2015

Christmas Flurries.....FMS215

I'm ready - it can snow any time now!  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving last week......great food......family fun.....and a beautiful mild day.  But I have turned the calendar page! We always hope for a snowy Christmas so a card using Flurry of Wishes was exactly what I was in the mood to make!

Someone I know already has a fun pair of pajamas to wear Christmas morning!

My snow loving friend (NOT) Jen Mitchell should enjoy the card I made this week using her wonderful sketch!  Hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                                       

Love, Peace and Joy for the Holidays....GPD#012

There's a CASE the Designer Challenge at Global Design Project this week.  Brian King's adorable card is featured so I had to play along.  I love square cards so I kept his layout but headed to the North Pole for my animals instead of the South Pole.  This retired set of Polar Bears by Stampin' Up! is one of my very favorite sets that I will keep forever!

I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving and hope your holiday season is filled with love, peace and joy..........................

Peace but Not So Quiet......FMS214

These old fashion snowshoes from Winter Wishes remind me of a simpler time and the word peace seemed like a good fit for the sentiment. But perhaps I reached for the word peace because yesterday's outing with the Katzenjammer Kids went very well. The doctor pronounced Gram totally recovered and a celebratory trip to McDonald's was in order.

But that did lead to a rather spirited "discussion" about who got the longest French fry.......

My oh so talented friend Jen Timko has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  Hope you play along - it's a great time to work on your Christmas card stash!

                    

Rule of Threes......PPA276, #GDP011

                 

Red and white candy canes are so festive for Christmas. And thanks to the sketch I got to add three of them to my card! It is Christmas card crunch time around here.......I vow to have all my cards done by Thanksgiving......then I swear they will be done by the time the tree goes up the second week of December.........then I promise myself for sure I will finish by my birthday (the 20th)........yes the third time's the charm......

Triple the fun and play along with us at Pals Paper Arts this week!

The Global Design Project has a Christmas theme this week- lots of great ideas there for holiday cards!

                                         

Believe......FMS213

If you believe in the magic of Christmas then you will have no trouble believing that a Lighthearted Leaf can become a Christmas tree!  I do believe but I am not sure if the magic of Christmas is strong enough to make these two behave on our next outing!  I'll keep you posted!

Design Team member Amy O'Neill had some magical news of her own to share this week.  She has been selected to be on the new Artisan Design Team at Stampin' Up!  Stampin' Up! has recognized what we all know here at FMS - she is one talented gal!  She also created our sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches - hope you join us!

                                          

Stamp Review Crew: Wonderland.......CTS#149, PP271

The Stamp Review Crew is featuring the beautiful set Wonderland this week. I have used the gorgeous trees from this set many times. So I decided it was time to use the image I have been neglecting. This sweet little branch doesn't seem to mind the swirl of snowflakes made from embossing paste. Nothing prettier than a Christmas snowstorm!

We headed to Lake Placid again yesterday to visit Mike, Ria and those three pups. 

It is already winter in the Adirondacks and Emma was delighted to find a bit of snow to play in!

If you missed Shana's wonderful work hop back to her blog....otherwise head onward to see what my oh so creative friend Heidi has in store!  

The wonderful sketch at Cas(e) This Sketch inspired my layout today.

The Paper Players are having a CAS Christmas Card Challenge this week!