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.

A Haunting We Will Go...

Happy Halloween! It's finally here. My house is all decked out and the candy is ready in the bowl for all the little ghosts and goblins to stop by tonight. I'm expecting quite a few trick-or-treaters since it's Saturday night, so I made sure to get a BIG bag of candy from Costco!

On to my card. This card is one of the favorites I made this year. I think the alcohol-inked background is what made it really pop. I wanted to create the look of dusk, so I used a blend of red, orange and purple toned inks. It's super easy to use the inks, and I don't think you can really "mess up." If you don't like the result, you can wipe the slate clean-literally--by using the blender solution and swiping it over your glossy cardstock. Jennifer McGuire has some excellent tutorial videos on her blog using the alcohol inks. Visit her for some great inspiration!

Thanks for looking, and happy haunting!

Card details: kid parade stamp by 100 Proof Press; sentiment by Impress; Martha Stewart pumpkin punch; Adirondack alcohol inks; white glossy paper; black cardstock; Versafine ink; clear embossing powder.