With Gratitude

This is my second post today. I was inspired to play along with Dawn and Jane's Chicka Challenge early this week, since the theme was to make a card dedicated to gratitude.

I just took three pumpkin pies out of the oven and am enjoying a relatively quiet day at home before I head over to my parents' house for Thanksgiving dinner.

I have a lot of gratitude this Thanksgiving. I'm grateful for my family and friends. I'm thankful I now I have a new job that is meaningful for me and challenges me every day. Most importantly, I'm thankful for my health, and that I'm a cancer survivor and made it to one year in remission.

What are you grateful for? Thank you for visiting my blog and sharing an interest in a fulfilling, creative hobby! Have a most Happy Thanksgiving!

Card details:
Ink, cardstock, button and twine by PaperTrey Ink; Stamps from Stampin' Up!

Color Inspiration Challenge

I love Dawn McVey's color challenges. This was a fun challenge, and as I've perused the entries of other challenge participants, I see that a few of us had similar ideas in mind!

These colors were a fresh change from the more earth-tone inspired autumn greetings I've been creating lately. I'm so used to adding a sentiment to the fronts of my cards that it felt odd leaving this one blank. But the more I looked at it, the more I felt that if I added anything else it would just be too crowded, so I left it alone.

Thanks for looking, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Card details:
Cardstock, ribbon and stamp by PaperTrey Ink; Versamark watermark ink; Martha Stewart 3-in-1 butterfly punch; Pearls by A Muse and Basic Grey.

Noel

This week's Chicka Challenge was a challenge for me. I had a hard time deciding which item that was gifted to me to use to make a card. I have several choices! My mom gave me my first PaperTrey Ink sets a couple of years ago. It was all of the Borders & Corners sets, which coordinate with the Marvy punches. I finally decided to use the Borders & Corners oval set as part of my Noel card. It took no time at all to make, but the result was elegant and simple.

Card details: Stamps, ink, paper and ribbon by PaperTrey Ink; A Muse pearl stickers; Corner Chomper; Marvy punches.

My Fabulous Friends

Happy Monday! I didn't get a ton of crafting in this weekend like I planned, but at least I got the two birthday cards done that I had to have for this week. I also made sure to ink up at least one stamp that I had never used before so I could qualify for this week's Chicka Challenge! Both of these cards use the "Friends til the End" set from PaperTrey Ink I love all of their sets, but this one in particular is one of my favorites. Both flowers were colored in with Copics. I had a lot of fun practicing my blending techniques on them.

I spent a good part of my weekend re-organizing some of my craft supplies. I've outgrown some of my current storage solutions, and have been looking for suitable replacements for quite some time. I discovered some great boxes at Office Depot called "The Really Useful Box." They totally live up to their name and come in multiple sizes, styles and colors. I purchased their 3L size to store my PTI stamp sets and ink pads as well as Nestabilities that I have in CD cases. They fit perfectly. I also found a great upright file box that comes with hanging files, and bought two of those to try out for my 12 x 12 papers. So far I like them a lot. I recommend checking them out if you're in the need for some new craft storage.

Thanks for looking, and have a great week!

Card details:
Stamps by PTI; Copic markers; Memory Box and Neenah paper; PTI and Memento inks

When I Count My Blessings...

This week's Chicka Challenge is to actually cut and use one of your extra special papers in your stash. This was very difficult for me because I have a TON of paper in my stash, and I consider most of it special! LOL! I finally decided on this beautiful oak leaf and acorn paper from PaperTrey Ink. It's part of a collection of six patterns in the Autumn Abundance line. I love pretty much everything from PaperTrey Ink, but this has to be one of my all time favorites. I also initiated a couple of images from their Fall Elegance stamp set. The glittery brown tag rim is new from Making Memories. I used it with their Tag Maker tool. I was really pleased with how this card turned out. I'm giving it to my mom on Thanksgiving. :-)

Thanks for looking! Have a fabulous week!

Card details: Cardstock, designer paper, ink and stamps all from PaperTrey Ink; Brown glitter metal tag rim and Tag Maker tool from Making Memories. We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper.

Don't Get Your Trunk In a Twist!

This week's Chicka Challenge is to make a card using a zoo animal. This was very hard for me, since upon close examination of my IMMENSE stamp collection, I've confirmed that very few of my stamps are of animals! However, I did find that I had this funny elephant stamp with a twisted trunk (thanks, Mom!) and thought it would pair well with the A Muse sentiment "Mama said there'd be days like this." This card would be good for someone who is going through a stressful time, and to remind them that life is too short to get one's "trunk in a twist"!

Thanks for looking, and Happy November!

Card details: Note card and sentiment from A Muse; Elephant image by Claudia Rose; Memento ink; Copic markers; EK Success and Marvy punches.