Merry Christmas! FMS267

I don't do Project Life but when I received the December kit as a gift I was delighted with all of the elements! I managed to make about a dozen Christmas cards from the various pieces, papers and embellishments including this sweet one using the tiny wooden trees.

So I am signing off until 2017 and wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.  I hope you get to spend time with family and friends......and may Santa bring you everything on your list!

My talented friend Jen Mitchell has designed a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Hope you find some time for yourself to create and join us!

Happy Birthday

TO ME!

My friend Brian King is the guest designer at Cas(e) this Sketch this week so I had to play along!  Now I am off....cake and ice cream await!

Baby It's Cold Outside! FMS267

Snow's falling..........temperatures are falling......but a fur coat and a hot cup of coffee can get you through just about anything...................

I love this simple sketch designed by my talented friend Jen Timko!  Hope you join us at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                                 

It is also time for the Coffee Lovers Winter Blog Hop!  Crazy fabulous designs and prizes happening there - don't miss it!

Stamp Sets:  Winter Fox by Lawn Fawn, Christmas Pines by SU, Winter Wishes by SU

Year's End.........PP325, CTS#201

I can't believe my year with the Paper Players is coming to an end.  It has been an honor "playing cards" (as Michele Ferguson would say...) with this fabulous group of ladies!  I was delighted when they asked me to be their guest for 2016!  They are an amazing group.....yes talented for sure......but oh so warm, caring, supportive and fun!  It has been a wonderful experience and I thank them from the bottom of my heart!


It wouldn't be Christmas around here without watching Rudolph.......the animated version narrated by Burl Ives.....a true classic!  Can't you just hear him singing Silver and Gold?  That's the first thing I thought of when I saw Jaydee's challenge this week at the Paper Players. 

                                         



I was following the sweet sketch from Cas(e) this Sketch this week when my daughter walked in.  She started braiding the silver and gold cord I had on my desk while we were chatting.......and I said, "Wow I like that....hand it over!"  Such a fun accent! Derailed the sketch plan a bit but I went with it!
                                                                    

                                                    


Stamp Sets:  Freeform Greenery by Altenew, Merry and Bright by SU

So Much to Love.......FMS266

There is so much to love about the new Sealed With Love stamp set, coordinating dies and designer paper that I just had to put aside my Christmas card making and sneak in an early Valentine!  But don't worry I won't be able to stray away from holiday activities for long.....someone I know reminds me to stay focused on Christmas fun......after all Santa is coming soon!

Our resident Artisan Amy O'Neill has this amazing ability to make beautiful collage style cards in her own clean style - enjoy playing with all of the elements of her sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches!

                                                        

Stamp Review Crew: Christmas Pines, CTS#200

The Stamp Review Crew is featuring Christmas Pines today.  The possibilities of that set with its matching diecuts are endless.  I kept mine simple in the spirit of that sweet sentiment.  Recovering from this crazy pneumonia has made me slow down and simplify my life recently.  But on the plus side of it all.....................

1.  On line Christmas shopping has never been easier and the packages are now rolling in daily!  "Free shipping" are my two favorite words!

2.  I have caught up on some wonderful shows......The Crown,Gilmore Girls, Bosch......and all those Christmas specials.

3.  My favorite authors released new books this month.....Lee Child, John Grisham, John Sandford, Janet Evanovich, David Baldacci.

4.  I am wearing out my iPad browsing stamping blogs - amazing talent out there!

5.  I have missed a few gatherings but Emma brings goodies home to me. 

At a birthday party yesterday she couldn't pick just one treat for me so she picked three......and yes I ate them all!

Enjoy the hop I plan to!

If you missed Martha's wonderful work head back there!

Otherwise your next stop is with my amazingly talented friend Mike Funke!  Enjoy!

I used the sketch from Cas(e) this Sketch for my design. Congrats to that talented team on their 200th sketch!

Make it Snow!......PP324

As you probably know by now our family adores snow so I was delighted with Nance's snowflake challenge this week at the Paper Players!  I was also delighted by that inspiration photo and used it to choose my colors.  I sponged distress inks on white and cut the snowflake panel with the Northern Flurries Snowflake die from SSS.  The results were terrific!  Holly Jolly Greetings from SU provided the sentiment done in Sweet Sugarplum for the first card and Marina Mist for the second.  There are two more cards on my desk awaiting yellow and green sentiments. I love how each panel was different - like unwrapping a package as I removed it from die!

Someone else I know was rocking snowflakes this week........yes those are polar bear sneakers........

 Hope you join us this week at the Paper Players.......make it SNOW!!!

Gray Matter.......Fusion

Oh that inspiration photo at Fusion this week was too pretty to ignore! Unfortunately my camera chose to ignore the fact that the branch is a shiny embossed silver and the polka dots are silver on vellum and the cardstock is brushed silver.  My card looks just gray and white......sigh.....but on the plus side I do like gray and white!

On our Crafty Cousins Day last week we also made wreaths as well as these sweet little snowmen.  We strung shiny bulbs in gorgeous Christmas colors on a circle of wire. The results were beautiful........but since it seems to be gray and white day here on my blog this is what mine looked like - almost finishd....

Our inspiration is beautiful this week at Fusion - hope you play along!

I am also linking to Christmas Card Challenges this week.

Oh Those Snowmen! FMS265

The day after Thanksgiving my daughter had a few cousins over - and Gram of course who never misses a party - to work on holiday crafts.  I must have been thinking of these little snowmen tea light ornaments when I put together this card!

I used the sweet little snowman from Snow Place to spread the joy of the Christmas season.  The embossed stitched circle was done with stitched dies and an embossing mat. Adding an embossing mat to your Big Shot sandwich prevents the dies from cutting all the way through.  Instead the dies leave an impression. I first saw this technique here on Jennifer McGuire's blog.

Narelle has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches!  Hope you join us!

Celebrating!.......PP323

December is crazy enough but when you add in several family/friend birthdays you must organize on a whole new level!  And since I too have a birthday close to Christmas I know it is important to send cards that look nothing like the holidays and to make sure gifts are not wrapped in any sort of Christmas colors!  So I made a few of these cards in bright birthday colors using a soon to be released set from SU called Balloon Adventures and Party Animal DSP.

Thank you for so many kind words and well wishes as I continue to recover from pneumonia.  I have been watching The Crown on Netflix to keep me occupied and sneaking in some on-line holiday shopping as well! 

But I did make it to my daughter's for a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner.  

Miss Emma had been busy working on favors and name cards!  

Her Momma set a lovely table!

Her Daddy wrestled the turkey into the fryer.

             And I brought "crackers" because Gram likes to wear a crown!

Sandy has a great sketch for us this week at the Paper Players!  Hope you join us~

                                                 

Snow Way! FMS264

"Snow way I have allergies!" I sniffled to the doctor last month when she prescribed allergy meds for a slight cough.

"Snow way I have bronchitis!" I coughed to the doctor two weeks ago when she ordered a chest X-Ray.......which came back negative.

"Snow way I have asthma!" I wheezed to the doctor last week when she prescribed a nebulizer for my low oxygen level!

"Snow way I have pneumonia!" I gasped to the doctor a few days ago when she ordered a CT scan.

"Pneumonia it is!" said the doctor when she called with the results.  

Snow way I am leaving this chair for a while!

I have never had pneumonia and hope I never get it again.....but if you have any words of advice for me I am listening!

My talented friend Karren Johnson has a great sketch for us this week at Freshly Made Sketches.  I used my favorite holiday colors of Cherry Cobbler and Crumb Cake with an added bit Basic Gray to update the look.  The embossed snowflakes are from Flurry of Wishes and the sentiment from Snow Place.

Copper and Cobbler......PP322

Santa's all decked out in copper foil and trimmed in Cherry Cobbler for the holidays - kind of a funky look for Santa but I like it!  Makes him stand out in a crowd!  And if you look very carefully at the picture below you see that one tree is not like the others.....stands out in the crowd for a very good reason.....

My daughter's back yard trees are trimmed in white lights except for one which is covered in big old fashioned colored bulbs. Those lights are all we have left of the many strands my dad used on his front bushes for oh so many years.......just makes my heart happy to see them still lit up!

Claire's CAS Christmas Card challenge at the Paper Players is perfect for this time of year!

Stamp Set:  Greetings from Santa

Season of Joy....Fusion, MM222

This card reminds me of my house which has gray cedar shakes, white trim and a red roof. And I always love the added bursts of red when I hang the holiday wreaths on the front and back doors! Red just adds the perfect pop of color with gray and white!

But then again there is nothing like the pop of pink against green - certainly makes one stand out at the Christmas Tree Farm!

I used both the sketch and the photo as my inspiration at Fusion this week! The colors go with Merry Monday's red, white and gray challenge!

Stamp Sets:  Wondrous Wreath, Christmas Pines

So Cool......FMS263

Oh that 80 degree temperature in Atlanta last week inspired my card for sure!  We were given this new set called Cool Treats (available Jan 4 from Stampin' Up!) at the OnStage Event.  There are all sorts of cool treat images in this set!

But I am home and back in the real world where the temperatures are cool.......and my nightly dog walks are brisk but oh so worth it when this super cool moon appears over your house.....

And Cecile's sketch this week at Freshly Made Sketches is pretty cool as well!  Join us~!