Merry Christmas!

 Merry Christmas! 

Here's another teacher candy bucket for your 'viewing pleasure'! LOL!  I also made the teachers some necklaces, too, but failed to take a picture of those! GEEZ!  I attribute that to my pneumonia and lack of brain juice!

I used different My Mind's Eye papers for this one, but still has the same concept to it.  Fun ribbon by Prairie Bird Boutique, of course!  Patsy's ribbons just rock!!!!!!!!!!  (and so does her customer service, too!) You should try her ribbons, just lovely!  OH and of course, you can always iron it flat, too, but I like the shabby chic look!

I hope you enjoy your Christmas and spend it making many wonderful memories with family and friends!  I am lucky to be spending it with my hubbies extended family, even some from out of state, so that is surely a blessing!  But I will miss out on my side of the family, so that's not so happy, but we plan to make up for that in a month or so!

I want to say thank you so much to my wonderful paper-craft followers, friends and design-team sisters!  I really do sincerely appreciate each and every one of you!  Sharing your comments with me here on my blog is like a breath of fresh air each time and gives me that much needed motivation to keep it going!  Life gets very busy, you know, with four kids and it keeps getting harder and harder to find time to myself to craft.  So, knowing that you are all looking out for me, giving me support, really does help me stay motivated and keep the blog up!  I just hope that all of these illnesses will go by the way-side soon, so that I can post more often, like I used to!!!!!!!!  Anyhoo!!!! 

I hope you have a very blessed Christmas

and an even MORE wonderful 2011!

Christmas gift for the teacher!

Papers: My Mind's Eye, I Believe line

ribbons by Prairie Bird Boutique

WOW, just two days until the BIG DAY!!  Sorry my blog has been lacking, I have been down and out with pneumonia for almost a week!  I'm on the mend but now Josh is yucky and Isaac still hasn't gotten over his bronchial infection!  Does it ever end? I guess it is the norm right now with the cool, wet weather, but still!! 

WELL!!  Today at A Little Crafty Place they are sharing some design team creations using the My Mind's Eye I BELIEVE paper line!  This is such a beautiful set of wintery, Christmas papers!  I really enjoyed playing with them to make this teacher gift for KayLee's teacher, Mrs. Weidenbenner!  The buckets are by PRIMA marketing and I filled them with all different flavors of holiday Hershey Kisses! YUM!  I love the new chocolate mint!!  Just like eating a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie! YUM!!!!!!

Hop on over to ACLP and see PART 2 of the MME I Believe paper creations!  Part ONE is HERE from Tuesday! 

ENJOY your day!

Freebie Coloring Page!

Here’s a fun coloring page for your little ones…
(by Melissa Jenkins, of course!!)

It’s a Letter For Santa that they can color
and leave for Santa on Christmas Eve!

(This is just a display, please visit Whimsy Stamps to download!)

AND.... did you see the latest release of
digis from Meljen's Designs??

See Below!!

Be sure to get in on this week's 'SWEET' challenge HERE
and
see these (and other!) awesome images at the store HERE!!

MERRY CHRISTMAS
From Melissa and the gang!

Beautiful song, an even more beautiful reminder!

Tag! You're it!

Happy Tuesday, y'all!  This week at A Little Crafty Place, Claudia is challenging you to put your tag-making skills to the test!  My mom reads my blog most of the time, so I hope she enjoys seeing this!  It's a cute little gift tag with HER name on it!  My kids call her 'Grammy' or 'Grammie' and for space-purposes I used the Cosmo Cricket stickers for the shorter of the two! HA!

The cute digi-stamp-grandma is a digi from Lori Boyd, available at the Die Cuts R Us Store!  She comes along with a Grandpa image, too!  I used my Copic markers to don my mom in a plaid skirt to match the Basic Grey Jovial paper in the tag!  I have to admit, the plaid skirt isn't that bad! LOL!  The vanilla ribbon is from Stampin' Up! and the red crinkled seam binding is from Patsy at Prairie Bird Boutique OF COURSE!!  A bit of a bling at bottom from Basic Grey and POOF a fun gift tag!

My tag's layout was inspired by the Sweet Stop sketch this week SSS86 (below)....

Korin always has the best sketches!!  I hope you enjoyed my tag!  Be sure to pop on over to the ACLP blog and check out all of the other designer's gifttags AND enter your own!!!!!!

Enjoy your day!!

Papers: Basic Grey's Jovial 6x6 pad

Image: Sugar Sticks Grandparents

Letter Stickers: Cosmo Cricut Tiny Type Clear/Black

Coloring: Copics

Base Tag: Manilla Tag

Whimsie Doodles IMPROMPTU Sale!

Melyssa from WHIMSIE DOODLES thought she'd be generous before Christmas and help you save a little moolah!  From now until Dec 19th at midnight, she's offering 20% off everything in her store!  AND with your purchase you also get an extra FREEBIE digi (similar to the one above)! 

CLICK HERE to read all of the details and then GO SHOP!  Use Promocode SAVE20 to get in on the sale! 

Have a nice evening!!

SSS85 ANOTHER SKETCH CHALLENGE!!

I just LOVE my 'Sweet Stop' sketches!!!!! 

Well, they aren't MINE really, but I do LOVE Korin's sketches!!  I used this SSS85 sketch below for my latest Lollipop Ella/Claudia & Company Stamps creation using Basic Grey's PYRUS papers and ribbon by Prairie Bird Boutique!  A little Copic-love for coloring, of course, and a row of pearls by Stampin' Up make this card perfect for ANY occasion!

Thanks for popping in!  I hope you enjoyed my creation-of-the-day!  Be sure to check soon to see the latest and greatest from Claudia & Company!

Enjoy your weekend!

FREEBIE COLORING PAGE!!!

Melissa Jenkins (creator of Meljen's Designs) designed a Merry Christmas coloring page!
She is planning on designing more coloring pages like this and other fun freebies.

 
Visit Whimy Stamps to download the coloring page.

Please share what you make using this fun page with Melissa at our BLOG!

The Christmas Blues

No, I am NOT sad!  I am facing this week's challenge at the Whimsie Doodles BLOG AND at the Stamptacular Sundays Challenge blog AND at the iCopic Lover Challenge blog!  USE BLUE!!  So, I decided to make this card using some Baja Breeze cardstock (OF COURSE cuz it's my favorite!) with these beautifully soft papers by Basic Grey!  And this Bauble Leah by Whimsie Doodles is such a cutie, so I decided to pop her on top!  I love this wittle angel! AW! 

See below the details of my 'glass beads' ornament and sparkly angel wings!!

I used this week's Card Patterns Sketch 93 for my card, it gave me some place to start!  Easy peasy sketch and fun, too!  Pop on over to Whimsie Doodles to play in the challenge!  AND to the store HERE to see all of the new angels and wintery new images, too! 

 See you tomorrow!!

Sketch Challenge!

HAPPY TUESDAY!  Have you ever needed a little 'PUSH' to get you started doing something?  I know I have!  And with card-making, starting with a sketch (also known as a layout) really does get me moving in the right direction.  I can look at the sketch and decide whether or not I should use a round focal image, or a tall one, then I look at the design and imagine what papers would look good together with the focal image I picked out already... Eventually, I get to this.................

This week 'A Crafty Little Place' has provided the first step for you!  A very easy peasy sketch to get your juices flowing!!!  I used some beautiful paper by Cosmo Cricket called Mittle Weather, available now at Die Cuts R Us!!  Isn't is all pretty in purple and snowflake shapes??  I love this!  I used Maree Truelove's Wreath for my card, along with a sentiment stamp from Stampin' Up!  And no card is finished unless it has some crinkled seam binding ribbon from Prairie Bird Boutique!  Tell Patsy I sent ya!  You get 15 yards (5 yards each of three different colors) for just $5.00!!!!!!  SUCH a deal and she's so fast, too! 

Pop on over to ACLP and play along this week using the sketch below!  You can tweak it just like I did, too, it doesn't have to be exact, it's just for inspiration!  Be sure to check out all of the creations by the ACLP designers using this sketch and these Mitten Weather papers over at "A Crafty Little Place" now!

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

Whimsie Doodles Release Day

Happy 5th of the month!  And if you can think back, what does that mean?  Release day at Whimsie Doodles!  Being a past designer for them, I was asked to guest design for them this month!  To see the full release of all of her adorable images, including ANGELS and even a set of rubber stamps, go to the Whimsie Doodles Blog!

I am using PJ Leah for my adorable card!  I colored her with copics that coordinate with the Basic Grey's Jovial paper line (available at the Die Cuts R Us store Here). Buttons are by Stampin' Up and ribbon is by Prairie Bird Boutique!

Whimsie Doodles has a new challenge each Wednesday, so be sure to come back and see what I come up with for that!

Enjoy your day!

PRE-COLORED STAMPS!!!!!!

Melissa Jenkins has ventured into a new area of digital stamping!!

Pre-colored digital stamps! (‘Moose Lights’ pre-colored digital stamp –

this is just one of her images, please visit the shop to see them all!)

Melissa colors these herself from some of her selected favorites from her digi line, and she is just thrilled to offer them to you all! There will be new ones each month. If you’re lacking coloring supplies, or if you’re needing to get a card done fast, these will be perfect to help you out. :-)

 CLICK HERE to see the pre-colored digis! 

(You’ll see some of Crissy Armstrong’s lovely images there too!) 

Melissa's first release is all

Christmas-themed!

Enjoy!!

Skating Mia!

Happy Tuesday!

It's another 'ACLP' day!  Today the designers at "A Crafty Little Place" are featuring creations using the Basic Grey CURIO LINE of papers!  If you love romantic, shabby chic, then you will LOVE these papers!  This normally isn't my style or choice of papers, but I do love the colors!  DO NOT adjust your monitors!  The colors here are light peachy-pink, kraft brown and mossy-green yellow!  Skating Mia makes these look even prettier, don't you think?  I used last week's Card Pattern's sketch (below) to inspire my layout and I used Copics to color match Mia to the papers!

Pop on over to ACLP to see what's new and find all of these items at the Die Cuts R Us store today!

Enjoy your day!

Papers: Basic Grey Curio line

Image: Jane's Doodles Skating Mia

Coloring: Copic Markers

Pearl: Kaisercraft

GOBBLE GOBBLE!!!!!!!

Happy Turkey Day!  Today marks the official release of 3 commercials out of 4 being about Christmas and what you 'just have to get' your children, spouse or yourself on December 25th!  HAHA!  And don't think that you will be able to ride in an elevator or be put on hold without hearing 'I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas' or any other traditional Christmas song!! 

SO, I might as well kick it off with Melissa Jenkin's NEW release (below) featuring this uber cute Christmas tree and a couple mugs of cocoa!  And it wouldn't feel like Christmas without carrolling snowmen and a glimpse of homemade Gingerbread men ornaments hanging from a primative Christmas tree or two! 

See all of them HERE at the Whimsy Stamps store and pop on over to see a handful of creations by the Meljen's Designs DT on the blog, which also announces the new challenge of the week, Buttons & Bows!! You could win 3 images of your choice, including ANY of these below, if you are randomly picked! 

I based my card on this week's Sweet Stop Sketch Blog challenge below!  I didn't finish the inside due to time constraints (had to bake some cookies, you know!), so I can't officially enter it, but I do like the sketch!  Korin always has good sketches!!

Thanks so much for checking in on me! 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with PIE and NAPS!  That's what I am aiming for anyways! 

Blessings to you and yours!!

MY CARD: papers: Basic Grey Eskimo Kisses

Button: Stampin' Up!

Ribbon: Prairie Bird Boutique

Crushed glass glitter by LSS.

Joy Snowman!

HAPPY TUESDAY!!!!!! 

Are you excited that Thanksgiving is just TWO DAYS AWAY??? I don't know about you, but I LOVE ME SOME PIE!!!!!!!! HAHA!  There's nothing else that says 'Thanksgiving' better than some homemade pumpkin pie!  I can't wait to eat some!   But, since I have to wait, I might as well get crafty and make some cards, right?!!

SO, here you go!!!!!!!!! A Crafty Little Place isn't having a 'formal' challenge this week, but asked us to use these awesome papers by Basic Grey from the Marjolaine line!  Aren't these beautiful?  When you first look at the collection, it doesn't really make winter come to mind, but I really wanted to use this sweet Joy Snowman digi by Jane's Doodles, so I made it work!

A close up of the glittery SMOOCH by Stampin' Up!, isn't is lovely?  It goes on like a nail polish and dries quickly, so that is wonderful for last minute gals like myself!  The bottom scallop of the card was made by a punch by EK Success, snowflakes by Martha Stewart punches and of course I used COPICS for coloring and crinkled seam binding by Prairie Bird Boutique!!

Pop on over to 'A Crafty Little Place' to see this week's challenge post and all of the creations that the Design Team made using the Marjolaine line by Basic Grey!  And don't forget that Claudia couldn't wait until Black Friday to begin offering awesome steals and deals!  Check out the Die Cuts R Us store every day this week, INCLUDING Thanksgiving, to get in on some awesome sales!

Papers: Basic Grey Marjolaine 6x6 collection

image: Joy Snowman by Jane's Doodles

Copic Coloring

WANT ONE????

If you are ONE of the FIRST 12 people who place an order for $100 or more beginning tomorrow at the

DIE CUTS R US STORE HERE

you will get one of these totally awesome Limited edition sets by Quickutz!!!! 

See the glorious details HERE on the ACLP blog!  Claudia just couldn't wait for 'Black Friday' to show her appreciation to her fabulous customers, so you are going to be able to take advantage of her generosity as early as TOMORROW!  Start making your shopping list NOW!

ENJOY!!

Face the SPARKLE!

Hi PEOPLE!  Long time, I know!  It has been a crazy-busy week!  Besides the typical 2 hours of homework every night with the kids, regular shopping, cleaning, and homey stuff, Eli and I had haircuts, then had a few jewelry things to wrap up AND I had to figure out coordinating clothes for ALL SIX of us for our new Church Directory picture!  Who KNEW that doing that would be so much work!?  Josh came home this weekend to be in the picture, too, of course!  And his paternal-grandma is having her Thanksgiving tomorrow so he's getting a headstart on that pumpkin pie! I AM SO JEALOUS!

Just a few more days of the Fall/Thanksgiving 'feeling',

then we will be facing this..............

YES, that's right, all things Christmas! YAY and BOO at the same time for me!  When the holidays come I am a wicked stressball, but I ALWAYS end up being blessed with wonderful memories, so that's good!

My card features a Happy Holiday Wreath by Meljen's Designs and is supah BLINGY with Martha Stewart extra fine glitter to let you know about the new challenge this week!  You have till Wednesday to get your card entered for a chance to win three images of your choice, so play along!!  My papers are by Basic Grey, the Jovial 6x6 line that you can see HERE at the Die Cuts R Us store and my wonderful crinkled seam-binding ribbon is from Patsy at the Prairie Bird Boutique!!

Pop on over to Meljen's main blog and check out the challenge details!  OH and you have just one more day to get in on the Fisher Moose giveaway HERE, too! 

GOOD LUCK!

New Challenge Blog!!!!!!!!!!

If you know me, I LOVE challenge blogs!  Well, I got wind of a new challenge blog called Card Makin' Mamas!  Isn't that the cutest??? So easy to remember, too!!!!!!!!

A new challenge has been posted and I AM SURE that you can play along this week, because it is ALL about HOLIDAYS!!!!  So link your creations to the CMM challenge blog and you could just win their prize this week!!!!!!!  What is it?  Well, "JUST" four images of YOUR choice from Meljen's Designs digi line!!  That's some incentive, eh?

I have a holiday card being posted on here tomorrow that I am going to be entering into Jessica's challenge, I hope you can play along, too! 

See you in the morning!

Special Release TODAY!

Today we are celebrating the LIFE of Keith L. Smith!  Who is he?  He is the father of Melissa Jenkins, the creator of Meljen's Designs!  Melissa's father passed away one year ago today and we have decided to celebrate his love for fishing with a special release of these images below!  Aren't they cute?

Today, of course, is bittersweet for Melissa.  While I am sure she is sad and misses him terribly, I KNOW she is grateful for all of those special moments she shared with him and that HER KIDS shared with their grandpa!  We hope that you celebrate his life with us today!  There's a special give-away of Fisher Moose on the main blog HERE and also on FACEBOOK HERE!  Enter both to double your chances to win!

You can find all of these images (and MORE!)  HERE at the Whimsy Stamps store! 

Love you, Melissa!

I am thinking of you today!

Altered Challenge at ACLP!

Papers: Basic Grey's Pyrus Collection

Good morning, Ladies!  Here's a new challenge from A Crafty Little Place!!  AND LET ME TELL YA, it was definately a CHALLENGE for me...  I am not an altered art type of gal, but I do like how this turned finally.  I used some GORGEOUS papers by Basic Grey from the PYRUS LINE!  LOVE THESE, they are my new favorite papers!!!  When I saw these pears and funky flowers, I just fell in love!  These subdued fall colors reminded me of caramel apples, so I decided to use some caramels I had in the pantry for this 'altered challenge' at ACLP!! 

Won't this make the cutest gift?  I think KayLee's teacher may get this next Wednesday before Thanksgiving, but then again, it's kind of tricky to give 'caramels' when you don't know if they are caramel-lovers or if they have dental work that keeps them from enjoying them!  Oh well, my mother-in-law LOVES caramels, so maybe she will get this instead!

 Close Ups of the Pyrus papers by Basic Grey and candy bucket!

I used a punch by EK Success for the double scallop at bottom and my trusty circle and scallop circle Nestibilities by Spellbinders for the bucket top. A little dab of Prima flowers with a coordinating brad and an array of ribbons from my stash give it a nice touch at top!

I hope you enjoyed my candy bucket and that it inspired you to join us at A Crafty Little Place with an altered project!  I can't wait to see what you make!

See you tomorrow!

HUGE News from Claudia & Company!

There's some exciting news from Claudia, owner of Claudia & Company Stamps and the Die Cuts R Us store!!  See the full announcement HERE on the blog, but in short........

Select Puddle Jumpers are NOW going to be available as DIGITAL STAMPS!  WOOHOO!!  I don't know about you, but that IS some exciting news to me!!  AND my card is an awesome example of "WHY"!!

I used the teddy bear (below)from the Puddle Jumper SAMMY digi set for my card today!  I took the teddy bear and made it larger (JUST ONE of the THINGS you can do with DIGITAL stamps, TEEHEEHEE!) into a Christmas bear!!   The set of Sammy and Bear is just $3.50, so affordable for such a versatile set! 

And let me remind you that when you purchase digital stamps, there are No shipping charges!!  That can save a lot of money, not to mention that when Claudia emails the images to you, you can begin to create with something NEW without ever having to leave your home to purchase some crafty-goodness!  And on a cold, wet, and almost-wintery day like today that is not just wonderful, it is CONVENIENT!! Haha!

Also, another big announcement is that Claudia is going to be holding a special sale the week OF Thanksgiving!  No more waiting until BLACK FRIDAY to take advantage of great deals!  That's right! You will be able to take advantage of special promotions beginning a week from today on November 22nd!  Be sure to check out the sale at the Die Cuts R Us store on Monday! 

Till then, why don't you POP on over to the main blog and check out all of the new creations by the Design Team?  You will be glad you did!

ENJOY YOUR DAY!

New Release in RUBBAH!

Woo-hoo, more rubber stamp designs are here! Join in the hop (it starts at Crissy’s blog) and see two new designs by Melissa and other lovely designs by Crissy and Ann!

These are a part of Melissa's new and exclusive Whimsy Stamps line and will ONLY be available in rubber. Here are Melissa's TWO new rubber stamps!!

‘Cozy Little Snowman’

Melissa said, "This one was inspired by the little Rankin Bass ‘Frosty the Snowman’ cartoon with the little magician’s rabbit! Also, I just love woodland creatures in wintertime."

‘Elf Bell Mouse’

Melissa said, "This little one was my favorite, and came to me right away. I love Christmas mice, they remind me of the ‘‘Twas the Night Before Christmas’ poem…and the bell this one is holding was inspired by Santa’s sleigh bell from the ‘Polar Express’."

Purchase them HERE at the Whimsy Stamps store!

Getting into the spirit with a Color Challenge!

Papers: Basic Grey Jovial Collection

Image: Wreath by Maree Truelove

Pearls: cream

A new challenge is facing you at A Crafty Little Place!  It's a color challenge!  And what gets you into the spirit of the holidays better than the colors of RED, WHITE and GREEN?? 

 

I used some wonderful papers by Basic Grey, from the Jovial line which are just drenched in these holiday colors!!  Just gorgeous!  You can see the Jovial collection that Claudia has in the Die Cuts R Us store HERE!  

 

For my card, I used Maree Truelove's new wreath image and of course had to add some Prairie Bird Boutique seam binding ribbon to add some shabby-chic style!  A Stampin' Up! button threaded with some twine atop the ribbon really shows off the color challenge nicely!

 

Be sure to check out all of the Designers color challenge cards using the Jovial line at the ACLP blog!  I look forward to seeing what you make this week at A Crafty Little Place! 

 

See you tomorrow!

WINTER CELEBRATION HOP!

Welcome to the

Claudia & Company Winter Release Party! 

If you are already 'hopping' then you should have come here from Krista's awesome BLOG! 

If not, you may want to start at the beginning HERE!

You have seen a couple of sneaky peeks over the past week, but here's the full collection of images!  Introducing a new Gingerbread House, by Jane of Jane's Doodles.......

Then of course, the beautiful Wreath by Maree Truelove......

And Skating Mia by Jane's Doodles........

Hop along and leave some love as you go to be entered into the prize drawing!  All of these images can be found at the Die Cuts R Us store!  And of course you can see tons more inspiration at the Claudia and Company BLOG each week! 

I hope you enjoyed my cards today!  If you like, become a stalker, er uh, I mean a Follower!  I love having new crafty friends!  Hope to see you again soon!

{Now, HOP ALONG to Margie's Blog! 

She's super stylish!

AND so are her creations!}

Here's the complete list.......

Claudia & Company Blog

Sandra

Tori

Pam

Risa

Shelby

Krista

Nicole (you are here!)

Margie

Tracy

Jacquie

Kim

Sheri

Lysa

Lori

Kadie

Our wonderful guest designer:

Mercy Kerin

Claudia